Who Is The Greatest SCIENCE-FICTION Character Of All Time?

[daBronzeBomma]

Saw this somewhere (am I allowed to say where?) and thought it might be a fun thing to find out.

How about this: It has to be a singular (no teams, no alien races as a whole, no duos) science (has to have a clearly intrinsic and fantastical science element) fiction (has to have a clear author and starting publication date) character (no plot devices, must be a comprehensible individual).

Examples of no-nos would be: no collective crews of the starship Enterprise, no Daleks as a whole, no Mulder AND Scully as one entry, no Batman, no Wonder Woman, no Lord of the Rings characters, no Game of Thrones characters, no religious/mythological/historical figures, no Monolith from 2001.

Example of allowables: space opera, space fantasy

Remember, this would be The greatest, not Your favorite. Greatest here would include both historical scope of influence (real people and other fictional characters they've since influenced), contemporary value (how much more they would be valued over other individual fictional characters today), depth and variety of stories starring said sci-fi character available, versatility of interpretation of said sci-fi character, continuing success in different media, instant recognition, etc.

Let's score it up like this:

1. First Place (20 points)
2. Second Place (10 points)
3. Third Place (5 points)


I'll go first and keep a running tally for as long as anyone is interested.

1. Clark Kent / Kal-El of SUPERMAN (+20)
2. The Doctor of DOCTOR WHO (+10)
3. Spock of STAR TREK (+5)

Please list The Three Greatest Science-Fiction Characters According To You!

[MRP]

1. Flash Gordon
2. Buck Rogers
3. Robby the Robot

-M

[Pharozonk]

1. Flash Gordon
2. John Carter
3. Superman

[Mikekerr3]

Lazarus Long
Michael Valentine Smith
John Carter of Mars

[foxley]

1. The Doctor (Doctor Who)
2. John Carter of Mars
3. Luke Skywalker

[Carabas]

How on earth is Batman not science fiction?

Anyway...

Remember, this would be The greatest, not Your favorite. Greatest here would include both historical scope of influence (real people and other fictional characters they've since influenced), contemporary value (how much more they would be valued over other individual fictional characters today), depth and variety of stories starring said sci-fi character available, versatility of interpretation of said sci-fi character, continuing success in different media, instant recognition, etc.

I think you mean "the most culturally relevant characters".

1) Frankenstein's Monster: most famous character of what is one of the earliest modern science fiction novels.
2) Uhura. Star Trek is obviously an important series, but Uhura seems to me a hell of a lot more influential and socially relevant than Kirk or Spock.
3) Astro Boy. Cultural godfather of manga and animé, compared to which the subgenre spawned by Superman is tiny.

Now, for the greatest character as I see them...
1) Londo Molari (Babylon 5)
2) John Crichton (Farscape)
3) Han Solo (Star Wars)

[Brave Sir Robin]

1. Dr. Zaius
2. James T. Kirk
3. Snake Plissken

[Wedge Antilles]

1. Lt Commander Data (Star Trek)
2. Luke Skywalker (Star Wars)
3. Capt James T. Kirk (Star Trek)

[Cometman]

1. Capt. James T. Kirk
2. Luke Skywalker
3. Robby the Robot.

[daBronzeBomma]

How on earth is Batman not science fiction?

Because Batman's biggest draw is that he is the "most realistic" super-hero. "Anyone can become him with enough motivation, training and money".

His primary strengths are martial artistry, detective work and gadgetry. Batman's gadget tech in his solo stories is traditionally "peak real world"; not clearly advanced or futuristic. There's no intrinsic science-fiction at work in the concept of Batman. You can tell his entire story without any element of the fantastic.

Not all super-heroes are born of science fiction, some are (Barry Allen, Hal Jordan), others are magic or myth (Wonder Woman), and still others are crime noir (Batman).

[Shawn Hopkins]

I'm filing a formal protest about the exclusion of Batman.

[Michael P]

1. Arthur Dent (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
2. The Creature (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein)
3. Tom Servo (Mystery Science Theater 3000)

[daBronzeBomma]

Currently the candidates and their totals:

Arthur Dent ... 20
Astro Boy ... 5
Buck Rogers ... 5
Flash Gordon ... 5 + 5 = 10
Dr. Zaius ... 20
Data (Star Trek) ... 20
Frankenstein's Monster ... 20 +10 = 30
Han Solo ... 5
James T. Kirk ... 20 + 5 + 10 = 35
John Crichton ... 10
John Carter of Mars ... 10 + 5 = 15
Lazarus Long ... 20
Londo Molari ... 20
Luke Skywalker ... 10 + 10 + 5 = 25
Michael Valentine Smith ... 10
Robby the Robot ... 5 + 5 = 10
Spock ... 5
Snake Plissken ... 5
Superman ... 20 + 5 = 25
The Doctor ... 10 + 20 = 30
Tom Servo = 5
Uhura ... 10

I think I added these scores right.

More choices, more votes, please!

[lancerman]

1. Darth Vader
2. James T. Kirk
3. Flash Gordon

[Mister Mets]

Interesting question. I'm not sure how much influence should matter, since it's possible to have a character who is better than any other but only appears in one story in one form.

That's not exactly an issue with my choices though.

1. The Doctor
2. Darth Vader
3. Spock