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No. 1 sci-fi woman of all time? Ripley, believe it or not

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I’m a big fan of lists, so is Jevon Phillips, a star contributor here at Hero Complex. Here’s his take on a recent tally of the women of sci-fi....or is that sigh-fi? -- G.B.

As usual, there’s a lot to dispute about anyone having a top so-and-so list, but Totalscifionline.com‘s 25 women who shook up sci-fi isn’t too startling. ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and ‘Star Trek’ are the only franchises with multiple entries on the list (and rightfully so). Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley of ‘Alien’ fame was named First Lady of Sci-Fi.

Of course, there were parameters, which the site laid out like so:

We’ve limited ourselves to TV and film - SF and fantasy literature probably warrants a further list all of its own - and in those instances where multiple actresses have portrayed a character, we’ve written who we believe gave the most definitive performance in brackets. No doubt there are many characters you feel we’ve left off.

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Yeah, yeah -- and the site does include a more in-depth examination of each choice. There will be debate over ones who didn’t make it. I really like River Tam on ‘Firefly’ -- but it was short-lived -- and the women of ‘Cleopatra 2525’ and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity in ‘The Matrix’ and ... well, let’s stop there. And there may be some on the list who deserve to be higher. Wonder Woman and Xena, 22 and 23? Hey, I like Leeloo and Claire bear, but not over those two icons.

Again, it can be debated (Lois Lane! ‘Bionic Woman!’) until we’re all breathless, but give the site credit for taking on the task. Here’s their final list. Let the comments flow.

The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi:

1) Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver, ‘Alien’ series)

2) Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’)

3) Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff, ‘Battlestar Galactica’)

4) Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson, ‘The X-Files’)

5) Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton, ‘Terminator,’ ‘T2’)

6) Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher, ‘Star Wars’ series)

7) Rose Tyler (Billie Piper, ‘Doctor Who’)

8) Sam Carter (Amanda Tapping, ‘Stargate SG-1’)

9) Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols, ‘Star Trek’)

10) Leeloo (Milla Jovovich, ‘The Fifth Element’)

11) Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere, ‘Heroes’)

12) Storm (Halle Berry, ‘X-Men’)

13) Pris (Daryl Hannah, ‘Blade Runner’)

14) Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer, ‘Batman Returns’)

15) Barbarella (Jane Fonda, ‘Barbarella’)

16) Sarah-Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen, ‘The Sarah-Jane Adventures’ / ‘Doctor Who’)

17) Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox, ‘Transformers’)

18) Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian, ‘Babylon 5’)

19) Number Six (Tricia Helfer, ‘Battlestar Galactica’)

20) Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew, ‘Star Trek: Voyager’)

21) Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’)

22) Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter, ‘Wonder Woman’)

23) Xena (Lucy Lawless, Xena: ‘Warrior Princess’)

24) Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner, ‘Alias’)

25) Marina (Stingray)

-- Jevon Phillips

Photo credits: ‘Aliens’ - 20th Century Fox. ‘Star Wars’ - Lucasfilm Ltd. ‘X-Men’ - 20th Century Fox. ‘Xena Warrior Princess’ - Reuters.

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