Greatest Science Fiction Hero Tournament results

In the final round, our readers have determined that the greatest hero in screen science fiction is Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek. I did not point out statistical upsets during the voting this time in case in biased the results, but it is interesting to compare the brackets to the order the characters fell into in round one, shown below. Note that only one of the initial “top four” actually made it into the final “top four.” In the comments, please point out the villains who should appear in our next tournament.

  1. Ellen Ripley (Alien)
  2. Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly)
  3. River Tam (Firefly)
  4. Sarah Connor (Terminator)
  5. Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek)
  6. Spock (Star Trek)
  7. James Tiberius Kirk (Star Trek)
  8. Doctor (10th Incarnation, David Tennant, Doctor Who)
  9. Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott (Star Trek)
  10. Doctor (4th Incarnation, Tom Baker, Doctor Who)
  11. Sarah Jane Smith (Doctor Who)
  12. Hikaru Sulu (Star Trek)
  13. G’Kar (Babylon 5)
  14. Susan Ivanova (Babylon 5)
  15. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars)
  16. Hoban “Wash” Washburn (Firefly)
  17. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy (Star Trek)
  18. Inara Serra (Firefly)
  19. Doctor (11th Doctor, Matt Smith incarnation)
  20. Han Solo (Star Wars)
  21. William Adama (Battlestar Galactica)
  22. Kaylee Frye (Firefly)
  23. Zoe Washburn (Firefly)
  24. Shepherd Derrial Book (Firefly)
  25. River Song (Doctor Who)
  26. Samantha Carter (Stargate)
  27. Teal’c (Stargate)
  28. R2-D2 (Star Wars)
  29. Luke Skywalker (Star Wars)
  30. Chewbacca (Star Wars)
  31. Benjamin Lafayette Sisko (Star Trek)
  32. Yoda (Star Wars)
  33. Doctor (9th incarnation: Eccelston)
  34. Leia Organa (Star Wars)
  35. Agent K (Men in Black)
  36. Michael Garibaldi (Babylon 5)
  37. John Sheridan (Babylon 5)
  38. Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides (Dune)
  39. Daniel Jackson (Stargate)
  40. Bo Dennis (Lost Girl)
  41. Jack Harkness (Doctor Who)
  42. Buck Rogers (Buck Rogers)
  43. Starbuck (Battlestar Galactica)
  44. Hellboy (Hellboy)
  45. Doctor (3rd Incarnation; Jon Pertwee)
  46. John Crichton (Farscape)
  47. Amy Pond (Doctor Who)
  48. Jeffrey Sinclair (Babylon 5)
  49. Richard Deckard (Blade Runner)
  50. Flash Gordon (Flash Gordon)
  51. Agent J (Men in Black)
  52. Max Rockatansky (Mad Max)
  53. Lyta Alexander (Babylon 5)
  54. Delenn (Babylon 5)
  55. Jack O’Neill (Stargate)
  56. Doctor Emmett Brown (Back to the Future)
  57. Korben Dallas (Fifth Element)
  58. Peter Venkman (Ghostbusters)
  59. Data (Star Trek)
  60. Kerr Avon (Blake’s 7)
  61. Doctor (1st incarnation: Hartnell/Bradley, Doctor Who)
  62. Aeryn Sun (Farscape)
  63. Londo Mollari (Babylon 5)
  64. Worf (Star Trek)
  65. T-800 (reprogrammed) (Terminator)
  66. Laura Roslin (Battlestar Galactica)
  67. Jadzia Dax (Star Trek)
  68. K-2S0 (Star Wars)
  69. Doctor (2nd Incarnation; Patrick Troughton)
  70. Tron (Tron)
  71. Pavel Chekov (Star Wars)
  72. Rose Tyler (Doctor Who)
  73. Nyota Uhura (Star Trek)
  74. Jason Nesmith (Galaxy Quest)
  75. Riddick (Chronicles of Riddick)
  76. Turanga Leela (Futurama)
  77. Bernard Quatermass (Quatermass and the Pit)
  78. Egon Spengler (Ghostbusters)
  79. Ray Stanz (Ghostbusters)
  80. Commander Shepard (Mass Effect)
  81. Jayne Cobb (Firefly)
  82. Wall-E (Wall-E)
  83. Optimus Prime (Transformers)
  84. Morpheus (Matrix)
  85. Roj Blake (Blake’s 7)
  86. John Sheppard (Stargate)
  87. Fox William Mulder (The X-Files)
  88. Marty McFly (Back to the Future)
  89. Alexander Dane (Galaxy Quest)
  90. Sarek (Star Trek)
  91. Geordi LaForge (Star Trek)
  92. Brigadier General Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Doctor Who)
  93. Doctor (12th Incarnation, Peter Capaldi)
  94. Leeloo (Fifth Element)
  95. Simon Tam (Firefly)
  96. Arthur Dent (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
  97. Trinity (The Matrix)
  98. Kira Nerys (Star Trek)
  99. Vala Mai Doran (Stargate)
  100. William Thomas Riker (Star Trek)
  101. Dredd (Judge Dredd)
  102. Donna Noble (Doctor Who)
  103. The Doctor (War Doctor; John Hurt incarnation)
  104. Dutch (Predator)
  105. Rey (Star Wars)
  106. Caesar (Planet of the Apes)
  107. Cornelius (Planet of the Apes)
  108. Neo (The Matrix)
  109. George Taylor (Planet of the Apes)
  110. Doctor (5th incarnation: Peter Davison)
  111. Miles O’Brien (Star Trek)
  112. Dana Katherine Scully (X-Files)
  113. Ellen Arroway (Contact)
  114. Walter Bishop (Fringe)
  115. Dave Lister (Red Dwarf)
  116. Samus Aran (Metroid)
  117. K9 (Doctor Who)
  118. Emergency Medical Hologram Doctor (Star Trek)
  119. Odo (Star Trek)
  120. Vincent/Jerome (Gattaca)
  121. RoboCop (RoboCop)
  122. Quorra (Tron)
  123. R. J. MacReady (The Thing)
  124. Chiana (Farscape)
  125. Snake Plissken (Escape from New York)
  126. Abe Sapien (Hellboy)
  127. Moses (Attack the Block)
  128. Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell)

8 replies on “Greatest Science Fiction Hero Tournament results”

  1. For the villains, how are we categorizing them? Spike from Buffy was a villain, as was Angelus. Magneto likes to skip rope with that line, as does Emma Frost. M’Baku from the movie is a hero, but he’s a villain in the comics.

    Victor Von Doom is a villain, but he doesn’t see himself that way. Neither does Thanos, he’s just mentally unbalanced.

    Are we doing races as separate from the individuals? The Cybermen and the Daleks are villains, Davros is fairly separate from the Daleks, but what about the Cult of Skaro, or Dalek Sec? The Sith are villains, but so are individual Darths. What about the sort of villains that are generic to the point of not being able to pick out one to rank, such as zombies or vampires?

    In the real world, the bulk of the country would see the current US president as a villain, but there are plenty who would feel the same about the previous.

    I think the way we can define villain as any individual that when plucked out of their environment and placed into a different one, if they are still going to be the villain of that story. For example, if Doctor Doom were in the TARDIS, he would still be the bad guy. If Spike from Buffy is around later in Buffy, he’s the hero, so he doesn’t count. (Angelus is a villain, Angel is not.) I think we leave out races/classes like Cybermen, Daleks, Zombies, or Sith, as it’s possible to have a good one of that race/class. I also think for the sake of “not getting into it” we leave out real world figures.

  2. Captain Obvious chiming in:

    Alex, Clockwork Orange
    Old Man Carswell from the bank
    The Daleks– I think this is the one race that gets in collectively
    Darth Vader
    Duras Sisters
    Gargoyle Gang/Big Fire
    Godzilla
    Ghidorah
    Hal
    Hela
    Human race, Planet of the Apes
    The Id of Altair-4
    The Joker
    Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!
    Zebediah Kilgrave aka the Purple Man
    Erik Killmonger
    The Kingpin
    Cersei Lannister (or she genre-excluded?)
    Dr. Emilio Lizardo / Lord John Whorfin
    Lex Luthor
    Loki
    The Master/Missy
    Ming the Merciless
    Proteus IV computer
    The Robotrix
    Roy the Replicant
    Thanos
    Arnim Zola

  3. Given the sheer population, 2019 will be the tournament for villains from TV, movies, and video games, just like the source of the heroes list. 2020 and 2021 will be the years for comic book heroes and villains, since they are so many they really need their own years.

    For species, I’ll only include them as a single group if they are not well defined as individuals. Dalek, Cybermen, the Borg, the Founders, the Bugs from Starship Troopers, etc. will be groups, but not Klingons, Romulans, etc., although individual Klingons and Romulans may appear.

    • Great answers. I presume we are defining a comic villain as someone who’s source material was a comic universe, even if they don’t appear first in the comic? (Harley Quinn and Kryptonite come to mind.)

  4. Cersei Lannister and the Buffy villains are out of this tournament, but are definitely fair game for the future Fantasy villain tournaments. I’ve now got about 150 roughed out, and I’d like to start with at least 512.

    • Can you post the list to a Google Doc something, maybe even with a way to submit new names to it automatically/request R/W? I suspect we’re going to get a lot of duplicate suggestions in the comments otherwise, and I’m pretty sure I can add to the list with a little thought of some shows from my youth and later…, but here’s a random selection to start with:

      Ash (Alien)
      Captain Black (Captain Scarlet)
      Col. Quarritch (sp?) (Avatar)
      Janson (Maze Runner)
      Man in Black (Westworld)
      Morden (Babylon 5)
      President Snow (Hunger Games)
      Servelan (Blakes 7)
      The various Terminators
      Various other “Who” races, incl. Autons, Silence, Weeping Angels
      Zorg (Fifth Element)

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