The Toughest Science Fiction Characters Of All Time

Stallone, Schmallone.

By David Wharton | Updated 5 years ago

James T. Kirk
In every group like this, there’s always the hound, the ladies man, the smooth talker, the alpha dog who walks into a room and commands every set of eyes. Captain James Tiberius Kirk may not be the biggest or the strongest or in the best of shape, but this is a man you will follow into hell. And you just might have to. Cool under pressure, able to make the hard calls when the situation dictates, and more than willing to swap saliva with any sexy ladies he comes across, Kirk is absolutely, 100% The Man, and when you get into trouble professionally, you need someone like that, male or female, who can get you out of a tough scrape now and again. Sure, he’ll likely get you into a few as well, but assuming you make it out alive, you always wind up with one hell of a story to tell in the process. Not to mention he’s been in command of an actual spaceship, and how freaking cool is that?

Turanga Leela
When it comes to putting up with a big group of dudes who rarely know what they’re doing, Futurama’s Turanga Leela is licensed and certified. As captain of the Planet Express, Leela has an eye on success and is often the only one who reaches it purposefully, while Fry and the others tend to achieve their happy endings through bumbling coincidence and blind luck. She mixes brains and brawn in such a way that it totally isn’t embarrassing to have a crush on her, right? Not only can she pilot a ship into and out of any situation in the universe, but she’s also pretty handy with the hand-to-hand combat. (Or, in her case, the boot-to-face combat.) Due to her monocular appearance and quasi-orphaned upbringing, Leela has turned low self-esteem into an ass-kicking fuel that makes her a necessity on any mission, space-faring or otherwise. And she’s no stranger to behind-the-scenes romance, and I’m thinking she may find a like-eyed soul in Snake Plissken.