NationStates Jolt Archive

Who is it?

I'm going with Elim Garak from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is of course the former Cardassian agent of the Obsidian Order who is the tailor on the station. He lives on the station as he has been exiled from his homeworld by his father, who was the head of the Obsidian Order.

Garak is an amazing and deep character who is always scheming. He is also the most dangerous character we see in the Star Trek universe.

This definitely comes to light in the famous episode "In the Pale Moonlight." In that episode, Garak manipulates both Sisko and the Romulans in a Machiavelian scheme that ends in the Romulans entering the war. Many fans have asserted that Garak most likely never even contacted his friends on Cardassia. He had one plan all along and stuck with it. In the end, he got the Romulans to sacrifice millions if not billions of lives to join the war on the side of the Federation.

He also is a very quotable character.

After Bashir tells Garak the story of the boy who cried wolf:

Garak: A little . . . graphic for children don't you think?
Bashir: The point, Garek, is that if you lie all the time noone will believe you, even if you tell the truth.
*beat*
Garak: Are you sure that's the moral, doctor?
Bashir: Well what else could it be?
Garak: Never tell the same lie twice.


Sisko: Who's watching Tolar?
Garak: Oh, I've locked him in his room, and I've given him the distinct impression that if he tries to force the door...it may explode.
Sisko: I hope that's just an 'impression.'
Garak: It's uh...best not to dwell on such minutiae.



Bashir: They broke seven of your transverse ribs and fractured your clavicle!
Garak: Ah, but I got off several cutting remarks which no doubt did serious damage to their egos.



Odo: You'd shoot a man in the back?
Garak: It's the safest way, isn't it?


"Truth is an excuse for a lack of imagination."


Julian: It's all true then, even the lies?
Garak: Especially the lies.


As Jem'Hadar beam onto the runabout's bridge...

"Ah, are we glad to see you! Could you point us in the direction of the wormhole?"


"That's why you came to me, isn't it Captain? Because you knew I could do those things that you weren't capable of doing. Well, it worked. And you'll get what you wanted: a war between the Romulans and the Dominion. And if your conscience is bothering you, you should soothe it with the knowledge that you may have just saved the entire Alpha Quadrant, and all it cost was the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal... and the self-respect of one Starfleet officer. I don't know about you, but I'd call that a bargain."

- Garak

The Monolith in 2001

valentine michael smith from stranger in a strange land.

i dunno. there are too many possibilities.

Give me time to debate this one...

Grr... torn between seconding Garak and Malcom Reynolds.

The Monolith in 2001

Pre-Dave/HAL integration, of course.

Because I'm a child of the 80s, and was brought up with books more than TV:
Keill Randor.

He was practical and self-disciplined, had an odd sense of humour, and didn't recognise the concept of giving up. I daresay there are worse potential role models for a ten-year-old. Plus, he was double hard and took absolutely no crap from anyone, yay!

Not sure I'd like to re-read the books, though. The ten-year-old grew up to be a cynical adult, who would probably find the characters too simple and the plots too cliched.

Mind you, these people still seem to like them:
http://www.amazon.com/Galactic-Warlord-Piccolo-Douglas-Arthur/dp/033026186X

G'Kar.

Here we have a character that evolved from a 2-dimensional scheming Klingon-wannabe to a full-blown philosopher and spiritual leader...

...believeably.

Sure, he was obnoxious and annoying in the pilot, and not too interesting a character... but by the time, we got up to season 2 when the Centauri began invading Narn space again, just as G'Kar was ready to let go of the hate in his heart and reach out to Londo, his bitter tears of rage and mouring seemed perfectly at home in this character. When Garibaldi tells his security people to just "leave him alone" as G'Kar weeps in a crumpled ball on the deck, it's hard not to feel like crying with him.

As G'Kar transforms himself over the course of the series, he goes from being petty and hateful to being spiritual and much deeper, eventually conducting religious services on the station. he even writes his memoirs which is elevated to the level of scripture. When offered the throne of the newly liberated Narn, he declines saying "we have just thrown down one tyrant from that throne. Would you so quickly replace him with another?"

And he was funny.

Messenger: Are you Ambassador G'Kar?
G'Kar: well, this is Ambassador G'Kar's quarters, that is Ambassador G'Kar's table, this is Ambassador G'Kar's dinner. Is there some part of this progression that escapes you?

And RIP Andreas Katsulas who played him. Nobody else could have done it.

Bender B. Rodríguez

Marvin, of course. :)

I'd have to say Dukat, he went from a rather shallow villain to a very complex and intricate character. It was hard not to feel sorry for him when Ziyal died.

valentine michael smith from stranger in a strange land.

i dunno. there are too many possibilities.

Oh, yeah, Heinlein for the win! A lot of great characters there. Damned if I can pick just one "best" Heinlein character. They're all the best . . .

This one was quite easy...

Londo Molari (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Londo_Mollari), from Babylon 5.

The most complex and deep character of Babylon 5. Not to mention one of the funiest.

Video clips:

The wit of Londo Molari (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISqDC_IFBWM)

Molari on humans (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se9FNdyKFtk&mode=related&search=)

What Molari wants (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUYpUMaEI88)

Londo talks friendly with Vir (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJxXwmhFcok&mode=related&search=)

The Doctor[/thread]

The Doctor[/thread]

Hardly. Try Cobb Anderson, who freed the boppers, just for one ;)

Bill!

http://www.wwujd.com/unclejessevs_files/Buzz-Lightyear.jpg
Buzz Lightyear.

http://www.wwujd.com/unclejessevs_files/Buzz-Lightyear.jpg
Buzz Lightyear.

BILL!

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n3/n15856.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Cthulhu_and_R'lyeh.jpg/300px-Cthulhu_and_R'lyeh.jpg
Cthulhu.

Phousita from Linda Nagata's The Bohr Maker. Prostitute, gang member, healer, lover, messiah, and holder of the Bohr Maker, how can you go wrong!

(Kudos to anyone who has actually read this book)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Cthulhu_and_R'lyeh.jpg/300px-Cthulhu_and_R'lyeh.jpg
Cthulhu.

Cheap shot LOL!

:)

:)

Oh this is not over...I trump He Who Should Not Be Named with.....

http://i.biblio.com/b/073l/17152073-0-l.jpg

http://www.cartoon-secrets.com/Photos/Looney-Marvin-the-martian.jpg

Boba Fett was pretty cool...until he got thrown up by the Sarlacc and Dengar almost killed him.

http://www.cartoon-secrets.com/Photos/Looney-Marvin-the-martian.jpg

LOL Yeah....not bad...but...far too easy...I could just post a pic of Bugs ;)

So I will trump him with...

http://animationart.com/albums/userpics/10001/thumb_DSCN0005.JPG

Now...lets get serious....

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/adc/10102276A~Jane-Fonda-Barbarella-Posters.jpg

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Rick Deckard or Roy Batty. :)

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Rick Deckard or Roy Batty. :)

Don't be such a Pris! Vote Barbarella!

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Rick Deckard or Roy Batty. :)

Whilst a great film and a great book (DK Dicks original that is)....they are too disparate.

Sorry :(

Don't be such a Pris! Vote Barbarella!

OH!!! Well said! Kudos!

Tarl Cabot
http://www.outofrange.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/tarnsmanofgor.jpg
not really more like Optimus Prime for me

hmmm, there are a lot of possibilities: Mia from Panshin's Rite of Passage, Alan Donell from Silverberg's Starman's Quest, Amber Macx from Stross's Accelerando and Sellars from William's Otherland come to mind.

robbie the robot

my other all time fave is Bib Fortuna...the Twi'lek from Return of the Jedi

yeah ok...im not a nerd...was just born in 1973 so im a star wars kid ;)

hmmm, there are a lot of possibilities: Mia from Panshin's Rite of Passage, Alan Donell from Silverberg's Starman's Quest, Amber Macx from Stross's Accelerando and Sellars from William's Otherland come to mind.

Well, you've out-eclectic'd me . . . *bows and goes to look up some new reading*

hmmm, there are a lot of possibilities: Mia from Panshin's Rite of Passage, Alan Donell from Silverberg's Starman's Quest, Amber Macx from Stross's Accelerando and Sellars from William's Otherland come to mind.

Amber wasn't that interesting. I found the cat to be far more intriguing. A fun concept even.

Tarl Cabot
http://www.outofrange.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/tarnsmanofgor.jpg
not really more like Optimus Prime for me

GOR???? Purlease!!

http://www.dandare.org.uk/JPEGs/Dan_Dare_Returns.jpg

Oh this is not over...I trump He Who Should Not Be Named with.....

http://i.biblio.com/b/073l/17152073-0-l.jpg

You're incorrect. He Who Should Not Be Named is not Cthulhu. You're actually thinking of Hastur.

You're incorrect. He Who Should Not Be Named is not Cthulhu. You're actually thinking of Hastur.

Yeah.

Bugger :(

You're incorrect. He Who Should Not Be Named is not Cthulhu. You're actually thinking of Hastur.

nice to see some HP Lovecraft fans on NS

at 34 years young I thought I was the only oldie that would read such great literature...my congratulations on your good taste...and if you are under 25 you get bonus brownie points ;)

What about Jack O'Neill or T'ealc from stargate SG-1?

Those would be my personal faves.

Or what about the Gunslinger from Stephen King's Dark Tower? Or does that branch off into fantasy?

I have to go with Elric of Melniborne. The albino with the sentient sword.

Tharg The Mighty

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/comics/images/articles/tharg_wide2.jpg

Ahh, but Rubiconic, little did you know, I knew that you would post Bugs Bunny. I had a carrot lined up and everything.

So, do I have to get serious? Fine.


http://www.kotaku.com/images/2006/05/250px-SHODAN_hires.jpg

nice to see some HP Lovecraft fans on NS
I wouldn't have said Cthulhu was Sci-fi, more horror.

I'd have to say Mal Reynolds. Confederate sergeant turned starship captain of the Firefly transport Serenity. Too often we see the bright and shiny side of the future kept polished by the soldiers of some interstellar super-state but very rarely do we get to see the frontier life on the screen big or small (though there's plenty of literature about it).

The Doctor or Marvin.

I wouldn't have said Cthulhu was Sci-fi, more horror.

Star-travelling aliens able to bend time and pass between the dimensions - not sf? Really?

Mr. Crane from Neal Asher's Polity series. Sure he doesn't speak and his mind was fractured to a point that until Brassman he would've found sanity in the next thousand years or next second, but he did kill people in amusing ways.
http://www.amazon.com/Brass-Man-Neal-Asher/dp/0765317311/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-0637961-5899933?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180479457&sr=1-1
I guess Tak from Cowl is close contender. What with being the most dangerous twelve year old before humanity accelerated evolution.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowl_%28novel%29

Star-travelling aliens able to bend time and pass between the dimensions - not sf? Really?
Yeah, I know, I realised that after I'd posted.

Yeah, I know, I realised that after I'd posted.

Sf told in the style of horror though, I'll give you that.

I'm not sure what I think of HP Lovecraft, though. I like his stuff, but I think the fact that almost all of it is written in the first person is a bit poor, plus the guy was a foul racist.

I'm not sure what I think of HP Lovecraft, though. I like his stuff, but I think the fact that almost all of it is written in the first person is a bit poor, plus the guy was a foul racist.

I love first person writing, personally. That would be more personal preference, wouldn't you think?

Wash- Firefly.

Yes. Yes, this is a fertile land, and we will thrive. We will rule over all this land, and we will call it... 'This Land'.

I think we should call it... your grave!

Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!

Ha ha ha! Mine is an evil laugh... now die!

I love first person writing, personally. That would be more personal preference, wouldn't you think?
True. Personally, I can't really get to grips with it. If I do write, it tends to be third-person.

Calum, from Anne McCaffrey's Acorna series, or Ky Vatta, from the Vatta's War series by Elizabeth Moon:

Andrew "Ender" Wiggin from Ender's Game is pretty good.

Garak is too.

So is Dr. Cottle from the new Battlestar Galactica.

I'm not sure what I think of HP Lovecraft, though. I like his stuff, but I think the fact that almost all of it is written in the first person is a bit poor, plus the guy was a foul racist.

really? I wasn't aware of his racist beliefs...and im quite an avid reader of his works...that disappoints me in ways you cant imagine if true

as for his work...while a little stuffy and over emphasised at times...he has an imagination that no other can rival...so much so that people actually believed the necronomicon existed...he was a true genius of suggestive horror...you dont have to be all blood and guts to scare your reader...and he produced stories that kept you awake at night...

the modern equivelent is clive barker...one of the 20th centuries greatest fiction writers...in years to come he will be recognised for the true talent he is

Check him on wikipedia.org. It's especially apparent in one of the Herbert West stories.

I'm going with Elim Garak from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is of course the former Cardassian blah blah blah that only I, IDF, in all my sage wisdom, have stated repeatedly is my all-time favourite prime-time soap opera character, like, ever. Never mind the fact that I am, in fact, a television viewer and not an actual fan of the science-fiction genre, won't you all come validate my complete and utter lack of anything new to offer the fora?

-throwaway dialogue and/or television quotes to follow.



Jorj X. McKie.

Check him on wikipedia.org. It's especially apparent in one of the Herbert West stories.

hmmm...not sure about this...what you have to remember is the climate at the time...it was the 1920s where the body of work he produced was mainly published...political correctness was non existant...and certain words though abhorable now were socially acceptable of the time...not so sure this is enough to summise he was a racist

I'm going to third The Doctor from Voyager.

I'm going to third The Doctor from Voyager.

Might want to check your doctor's, I at least was referring to The Doctor with a retro time-travelling machine.

E.t.

Felix out of John Steakley's Armor (and Vampire$).

"The planet is called Banshee. The air is unbreathable, the water poisonous. It is the home of the most implacable enemies that humanity, in all its interstellar expansion, has ever encountered.

Body armor has been devised for the commando forces that are to be dropped on Banshee -- the culmination of ten thousand years of the armorers' craft. A trooper in this armor is a one-man, atomic-powered battle fortress -- but he will have to fight a nearly endless horde of berserk, hard-shelled monsters -- the fighting arm of a species which uses biological technology to design perfect, mindless, war minions.

Felix is a scout in A-team Two. Highly competent, he is the sole survivor of mission after mission. Yet he is a man consumed by fear and hatred. And he is protected, not only by his custom-fitted body armor, but by an odd being which seems to live within him, a cold killing machine he calls "The Engine."

This is Felix's story -- a story of the horror, the courage, and the aftermath of combat, and the story, too, of how strength of spirit can be the greatest armor of all."

One of the best SciFi books I've ever read.

Grand Moff Tarkin

(peter cushing rocks in that role!)

Andrew "Ender" Wiggin from Ender's Game is pretty good.

Garak is too.

So is Dr. Cottle from the new Battlestar Galactica.

So much of Orson Scott Card is redundant. Like Danielle Steele, read one and you've read them all. But Ender is indeed worthy of this thread :cool:

Jorj X. McKie.

Herbert's best character! ZOMG!

Felix out of John Steakley's Armor (and Vampire$).

"The planet is called Banshee. The air is unbreathable, the water poisonous. It is the home of the most implacable enemies that humanity, in all its interstellar expansion, has ever encountered.

Body armor has been devised for the commando forces that are to be dropped on Banshee -- the culmination of ten thousand years of the armorers' craft. A trooper in this armor is a one-man, atomic-powered battle fortress -- but he will have to fight a nearly endless horde of berserk, hard-shelled monsters -- the fighting arm of a species which uses biological technology to design perfect, mindless, war minions.

Felix is a scout in A-team Two. Highly competent, he is the sole survivor of mission after mission. Yet he is a man consumed by fear and hatred. And he is protected, not only by his custom-fitted body armor, but by an odd being which seems to live within him, a cold killing machine he calls "The Engine."

This is Felix's story -- a story of the horror, the courage, and the aftermath of combat, and the story, too, of how strength of spirit can be the greatest armor of all."

One of the best SciFi books I've ever read.

I much prefer Vampire$.

I'm going to go ahead and add my vote to Garak.

So much of Orson Scott Card is redundant. Like Danielle Steele, read one and you've read them all. But Ender is indeed worthy of this thread :cool:

Well, not sure if I agree with your opinion of Card, but Ender Wiggin in Ender's Game is an original and definitely at the top of my list.

You're incorrect. He Who Should Not Be Named is not Cthulhu. You're actually thinking of censored.
Dammit... it's HE WHO SHOULD NOT BE NAMED THUS YOU SHOULDN"T SAY HIS NAME!!! :mad:

*makes san check... fails.* Damnit!!! :(

Garak is the only cool one in DS9.

I'd vote for Barbarella...

but my own additions...

Anime
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
http://www.themanime.org/images/reviews/legendofgalacticheroesbox.jpg
Both have pulled out victories where defeat was certain when facing the enemy. when they faced each other, the fight would end in a tie.

Lady Spohr
http://www.geocities.com/gatewaytoseikai/crest/img/sporh.jpg
Fleet commander for the Ahb. her family EARNED the right to openly laugh at the Royal Family.

TV.
Jake 2.0 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367344/)
http://www.tvguide.com/images/pgimg/jake-2-0.jpg
able to wirelessly control any electronic device... not to mention the strength, speed, and healing...

Global Frequency (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Frequency)
Miranda Zero and Aleph

Malcolm Reynolds, of Firefly, must get a mention. As should Data from ST: TNG, Ender from Ender's Game, and so many more...

Wait. I've got it. Nachshon, from the MMORPG EVE Online. Born in the hypercapitalistic Caldari State (http://www.eve-online.com/races/caldari.asp), Nachshon became a ship pilot, and left the State to join the paramilitaries of the Minmatar Republic (http://www.eve-online.com/races/minmatar.asp). He is a fierce defender of his adopted homeland, a master of missile combat, and his essay, The True Meaning of Freedom (http://myeve.eve-online.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=489311) recieved significant attention.

Currently, Nachshon lives in the Egbinger system. He flies a Drake (http://www.eve-online.com/itemdatabase/EN/ships/battlecruisers/caldari/24698.asp)-class battlecruiser, and can often be found blasting pirates in the asteroid belts.

Hmmmm... decisions, decisions...

For film, either Han Solo or Klaatu.

For written works, it's a lot harder.
Captain Nemo, maybe...

Hmmm...tough call.

I'll do a short list, I can't narrow it down to just one.

- Elim Garak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elim_Garak)
- Andrew "Ender" Wiggin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender_Wiggin)
- Professor Bernardo de la Paz from Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_is_a_Harsh_Mistress)
- Bender Bending Rodríguez (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bender_%28Futurama%29)

I'm going to be unoriginal here and say Darth Vader.

*ducks*

The Doctor[/thread]
QFT.
no contest. No point even trying to debate. The Doctor pawns all. Who else in the entire universe has the balls to walk out of their spaceship to face down a horde of Daleks armed only with a sonic screwdriver - and then kick their sorry arses?
no-one else. That's who.

Andrew "Ender" Wiggin from Ender's Game is pretty good.
I preferred his sister, Valentine, but that's just me.

Of course, for my choice I'm going with Eccentrica Gallumbits, the triple-breasted whore of Eroticon Six.

QFT.
no contest. No point even trying to debate. The Doctor pawns all. Who else in the entire universe has the balls to walk out of their spaceship to face down a horde of Daleks armed only with a sonic screwdriver - and then kick their sorry arses?
no-one else. That's who.

For some reason, I was imagining the Doctor from Star Trek Voyager, also a very interesting character, who really grew over the course of the show, even though I was watching Tom Baker in my early teens.

For some reason, I was imagining the Doctor from Star Trek Voyager
T'would appear that interpreting the phrase 'The Doctor' is yet another example of the irreconcilable differences between the British and the Americans.

T'would appear that interpreting the phrase 'The Doctor' is yet another example of the irreconcilable differences between the British and the Americans.

I wouldn't go quite that far--I doubt that Voyager's doctor is particularly well known in the US. I only know it because I've been watching the show again on Spike TV, thanks to the wonders of the DVR. It's become a slightly debilitating habit on occasion, as it takes up an hour and a half of every day, even skipping commercials, to watch two episodes.

Oh according to Spike's website, "The Wire" will be on soon. That is one of the greatest episodes with Garak in it.

Valentine Michael Smith (Heinlein - Stranger in a Strange Land)
R. Daneel Olivaw (Azimov - I, Robot)
Liebowitz (A Canticle for Liebowitz)
Johnny Rico (Heinlein - Starship Troopers)
Ellen Ripley (Alien)

Too many more to count.

I didn't include characters from Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon Five or Battlestar Galactica - although they have some of the best characters around - it would have been too easy because the characters have become icons.

agreed Mal Reynolds, I find the sterotypical do gooding chiselled hero such a cliche, I like characters that look after them and theirs first, far more realistic IMHO.

For the same reason I also love Gaius Baltar

I'm going to have to say Ilia Volyova from Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space. She's just so cool in my mind.

If she's not cool enough I'd have to go with The Doctor.

And that concludes my first post.

Herbert's best character! ZOMG!

I wanna be a BuSab Agent...

Who is it?

Cugel, without a shade-of-doubt in my mind. His personality is closer to Jack Sparrow then Jack Sparrow.
A discription when he first appears: ...a man of many capabilities, with a disposition at once flexible and pertinacious. He was long of leg, deft of hand, light of finger, soft of tongue ... His darting eye, long inquisitive nose and droll mouth gave his somewhat lean and bony face an expression of vivacity, candor, and affability. He had known many vicissitudes, gaining therefrom a suppleness, a fine discretion, a mastery of both bravado and stealth.

His first appearence is in The Eyes of the Overworld where he pisses-off a master magician (he burglarizes his house). And so he must travel a great distance, and aquire a valuble artifact. Of course, to make sure he does so, he has a parasite attatched to his liver, which will cause him pain when he strays from his objective.
He appears again in Cugel's Saga (which in my opinion is a superior book, but they are both excellant).

The books are the middle-two in the Dying Earth series, which take-place on Earth in the far-future, where the sun is burning-out, and the end of the World is near.

The Series:
The Dying Earth: the first book. It doesn't have Cugel in it, and it's not funny like Cugel either (more like Lord of the Rings). It's a decent read. It is a collection of short stories, only mildy connected.

The Eyes of the Overworld: Cugel appears here. This book which, unlike the last one, has a very high-grade vocabulary. Virtually everyone in it is a scoundrel, and it's quite funny. It has weird situations (somewhat like HHGTTG). Example: Cugle accidently eats the living embodiment of EVERYTHING (it's name is TOTALITY) and he must travel back-in-time a million years to fetch it (once he ate it, it teleported out of his stomach and back-in-time).
It pokes much fun at religion. Example: Cugle meets these people who all walk on tight-ropes, because the ground is covered with the remains on all who have lived before them, their "ancestors". And if they must walk on the ground, they do so in specially-sactioned shoes, blessed by a priest. LOL.

Cugel's Saga: This is certainly the high-point of the series in my opinion. It has situation, after situation of hilarity. For instance Cugel commendeers a ship at one point, and even though he uses his wits, he loses it when it's owners find him, and the three daughters onboard (who he mistakenly thought were into him) help outst him. When questioned by a man after abandoning it he resonds: "my crew mutinied, and I was forced to depart by way of the mud-flats."

Rhialto the Marvelous: A good read. It can't beat Cugel, but it is never-the-less funny. It centers around a group of arrogant (but powerful) magicans, who are always competing.

Anyway, Cugel cannot be beat in my mind as the greatest sci-fi character. He is as quotable as they come.:)

Maybe I just like the picture, and I doubt he's the greatest science fiction character ever, but I like him quite a bit:
http://images.wikia.com/uncyclopedia/images/7/78/Davidhewlett.jpg

Dr. Rodney McKay!

The Doctor (Time Lord, not Voyager) rules, but there are loads of close seconds... (as mentioned with Garak, G'kar, Seldon - who else has been the major focus through six books after dying - and staying dead - in the first one)

QFT.
no contest. No point even trying to debate. The Doctor pawns all. Who else in the entire universe has the balls to walk out of their spaceship to face down a horde of Daleks armed only with a sonic screwdriver - and then kick their sorry arses?
no-one else. That's who.

Dalek Sec: The Doctor will open the Ark!
The Doctor: [laughing] The Doctor will not.
Dalek Sec: You have no way of resisting.
The Doctor: Well... you got me there. Although... there is always this.

[The Doctor pulls out his sonic screwdriver]

Dalek Sec: A sonic probe?
The Doctor: That's 'screwdriver'.
Dalek Sec: It is harmless.
The Doctor: Oh yes. Harmless is just the word. That's why I like it. Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But I'll tell you what it does do - it is very good at opening doors.

[The Doctor activates the screwdriver, and immediately the doors to the room explode open]

That's one of my favourite parts of Doomsday :D

I'm not hugely into sci-fi, but I found Nessus from Niven's Ringworld a compelling character. Alien, but highly rational.

Also the Mediators from The Mote in God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle. Aliens. Highly rational aliens. With self-doubt and personality crises.

I think I just talked myself into reading more Larry Niven. :eek:

I'm not much for Sci Fi, but my favorite Science Fiction character is Miles Vorkosigan, the handicapped hero of a series of maybe 10 novels and short stories written by Louis Mcmaster Bujold. This is some of the finest and most entertaining writing I have ever read, and deserves to be up there with Heinlein and the other grandmasters of Science Fiction. Highly recommended, but be prepared to be drawn in if you start to read the stories. There are many lists of where to start - the stories were not written chronologically - so look them up or just dig in.

I much prefer Vampire$.
I think it is the better book - but not really SciFi.

And since Felix is Felix... :D

And since Felix is Felix... :D
not Felix the cat :eek:

TV: Garak, hand's down, for reasons excellently narrated elsewhere in this thread. And I say this as a 30-plus year fan of The Doctor (the British one), so I do not do it lightly.

Movies: Kate, from The Handmaid's Tale

Books: too many to narrow down to just one, so my top three would be:


Sam, from Zelazny's Lord of Light
Lazarus Long, from Heinlein's 'Future History', Time Enough for Love, et al
Felix, from Steakley's Armor

Thinking about the aliens from the two books I mentioned before I think what I like about them is this: they are viable creatures, being intelligent and having bodies, but Niven has tried to imagine what millenia more of civilization would do to a sentient species like ours. Hundreds of millenia, in Mote ... and he thereby paints a picture of our own future, as creatures not as wielders of technology.

Oh, and they are creatures evolved within civilization. I want more!

My favourite SF author would be Arthur C Clarke, but he couldn't do a character for shit. That he barely even attempted female characters is a sign of his lack of repertoire there. Heinlein also couldn't write a character (any but his own, anyway,) wrote female characters, but never even attempted an alien, unless you count Stranger. That doesn't neither writer is good, mind ... but they didn't write good characters.

So, can someone recommend an author who writes credible aliens, aliens who are better (or at least more evolved) than humans in some way other than "more intelligent, incredibly devious." ?

Ray Butts *nods*

(from Space : Above and Beyond, the best Sci-fi before the RDM BSG)

So much of Orson Scott Card is redundant. Like Danielle Steele, read one and you've read them all. But Ender is indeed worthy of this thread :cool:

Hmm, Ender's Game. I could almost read that again ...
But Case from Neuromancer. Heck, Neuromancer itself. I guess neither quite rates the thread, but the cast is fantastic. It's character-porn!

But didn't Gibson go to shit after that ... ouch.

Ray Butts *nods*
*...*

Is that a character? Or a brand of anal sunglasses?

Hmm, Ender's Game. I could almost read that again ...
But Case from Neuromancer. Heck, Neuromancer itself. I guess neither quite rates the thread, but the cast is fantastic. It's character-porn!

But didn't Gibson go to shit after that ... ouch.

I don't think so. But for me, his stuff is about the immersion, not really the characters.

I don't think so. But for me, his stuff is about the immersion, not really the characters.

Sorry, whos stuff? EDIT (2) Ah, I see you bolded the tiny text. I missed that. Count Zero was alright, but by Virtual Light he was just doing caracture. Before Neuromancer, there's the short story Burning Chrome, with an almost poetic description of Chrome, a character made of computer code.

EDIT: OK, I'll assume you mean Gibson, since I didn't mention Card in my post. Immersion is the sci-fi thing, any decent sci-fi has it (escapism I guess) and for that I'd say Dune (not the sequels so much.)

The thread is about characters, and I think Case (drug addict, hacker and hero,) Crazy Edo (hardware loser,) Armitage (AI-programmed ex-psycho,) The Finn (worryingly sensible,) Molly (cybernetic assassin and love-interest,) Riviera (psychic artist,) The Flatline (a frozen virtual human,) Wintermute (AI) and Neuromancer (AI) is a cast you just can't beat.

I loved the satellite-trash Rastas too.

Is that a character? Or a brand of anal sunglasses?
... A character, with an incredibly unfortunate name.

Imperial Commisar Ibram Gaunt of course

... A character, with an incredibly unfortunate name.

A particularly brilliant character would probably need Ray Butts. Ordinary Trousers would not suffice. Perhaps even Davros's locomotor-thing would overheat ... little hint to Beek, check out Dr Who and the Daleks for some Cushing, he was also in The Mummy.

OK, if only characters from movies count, I'll move onto less sure ground. Harrison Ford's Deckard in Blade Runner. Desperate, alone, perplexed and barely managing to scape through to the not-so-happy ending. His best role.

tv series: Cat (Red Dwarf) and Data (ST-NG)
movies: Han Solo (SW). Ok, not sci-fi... then Dr.Kelvin (Soljaris - the REAL one, Tarkovskij's, not that zapadnikov cheap remake)
books: R.Giskard Reventlov (Asimov) with Julian "Bean" Delphiki (Ender saga) close second

GORT, (http://www.jeffbots.com/gort.jpg) bitches! (http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases06/images/060419_gort_lg.jpg)

GORT, (http://www.jeffbots.com/gort.jpg) bitches! (http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases06/images/060419_gort_lg.jpg)

Klaatu verada nikto. Take that, Gort!

Klaatu verada nikto. Take that, Gort!

It'll just sit here quietly then...but don't no one start no shit, lest he has to get all Gort (http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com/sf_radio/images/Gort.jpg) up in he-ere.
(I couldn't find him melting a tank, dammit. And the actors name is Lock Martin? Badass...)

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/7830/gortpod5zc.jpg

Ender Wiggin. Never before has so much ass been kicked by an eleven year old with a glorified Nintendo. :D

Captain Kirk.

That had to be said.:p

It'll just sit here quietly then...but don't no one start no shit, lest he has to get all Gort (http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com/sf_radio/images/Gort.jpg) up in he-ere.
(I couldn't find him melting a tank, dammit. And the actors name is Lock Martin? Badass...)


Aww... Gort is nothing more than C-3PO's beta, with a laser.
R.Giskard is still the coolest robot ever.

Ender Wiggin. Never before has so much ass been kicked by an eleven year old with a glorified Nintendo. :D

Then came Bean...
Yay, Ender's cycle rules.

not Felix the cat :eek:
No.

Besides, he ain't SciFi...

Gonna have to go with the God Emperor of the Universe, Leto II Atreides.

Nothing beats a trans-human aberration that has inner memories of hundreds of billions of people down to the Greek classical hero, Agamemnon. On top of that he can basically see the future, lives for several thousand years, designs the method of his own death, he's Fremen, Bene Gesserit...

too many of them

Rick Deckard for Blade Runner
Princess Irulan for Dune
Ambassador Delenn for Babylon 5
H. R. Giger's Alien for Alien
Natasha Yar for Star Trek
Abh Princess for Crest of Stars

and many more

Gonna have to go with the God Emperor of the Universe, Leto II Atreides.

Nothing beats a trans-human aberration that has inner memories of hundreds of billions of people down to the Greek classical hero, Agamemnon. On top of that he can basically see the future, lives for several thousand years, designs the method of his own death, he's Fremen, Bene Gesserit...

you can tell he was 14 year old boy when he became trans-human though. I mean who esle is going to try the excuse "alergic to water" to get out of a bath.:rolleyes:

I vote for John Crichton.

Dukat/G'Kar/Lando are all good characters

Buckaroo Banzai (http://www.banzai-institute.com/)

Cugel, without a shade-of-doubt in my mind. His personality is closer to Jack Sparrow then Jack Sparrow.
A discription when he first appears:

His first appearence is in The Eyes of the Overworld where he pisses-off a master magician (he burglarizes his house). And so he must travel a great distance, and aquire a valuble artifact. Of course, to make sure he does so, he has a parasite attatched to his liver, which will cause him pain when he strays from his objective.
He appears again in Cugel's Saga (which in my opinion is a superior book, but they are both excellant).

The books are the middle-two in the Dying Earth series, which take-place on Earth in the far-future, where the sun is burning-out, and the end of the World is near.

The Series:
The Dying Earth: the first book. It doesn't have Cugel in it, and it's not funny like Cugel either (more like Lord of the Rings). It's a decent read. It is a collection of short stories, only mildy connected.

The Eyes of the Overworld: Cugel appears here. This book which, unlike the last one, has a very high-grade vocabulary. Virtually everyone in it is a scoundrel, and it's quite funny. It has weird situations (somewhat like HHGTTG). Example: Cugle accidently eats the living embodiment of EVERYTHING (it's name is TOTALITY) and he must travel back-in-time a million years to fetch it (once he ate it, it teleported out of his stomach and back-in-time).
It pokes much fun at religion. Example: Cugle meets these people who all walk on tight-ropes, because the ground is covered with the remains on all who have lived before them, their "ancestors". And if they must walk on the ground, they do so in specially-sactioned shoes, blessed by a priest. LOL.

Cugel's Saga: This is certainly the high-point of the series in my opinion. It has situation, after situation of hilarity. For instance Cugel commendeers a ship at one point, and even though he uses his wits, he loses it when it's owners find him, and the three daughters onboard (who he mistakenly thought were into him) help outst him. When questioned by a man after abandoning it he resonds: "my crew mutinied, and I was forced to depart by way of the mud-flats."

Rhialto the Marvelous: A good read. It can't beat Cugel, but it is never-the-less funny. It centers around a group of arrogant (but powerful) magicans, who are always competing.

Anyway, Cugel cannot be beat in my mind as the greatest sci-fi character. He is as quotable as they come.:)
goodness me, I didn't realise someone else on this board loved Jack Vance as much as me.
I've read Cugel's books more times than I care to remember and still find them wonderful reads.
Speaking of the Totality, I love the bit where Cugel sees the mountains just before meeting Totality and even though he's never seen them before experiences massive deja vu. Then, when he's sent back in time to retrieve the Totality, sees the mountains again (but millions of years earlier) and experiences deja vu again.
explanation being that the 1st time he saw them is the 2nd time according to Universal time (UT). When he saw them millions of years earlier was the 1st time UT but the 2nd time for Cugel.
to wit:
A half-mile to the right rose a line of tall cliffs, which instantly attracted his attention, bringing him a haunting pang of déjà-vu. He stared mystified. At some time in the past he had known these cliffs: how? when? His memory provided no response.
a few pages later (after been sent back in time to retrieve the Totality):
For the first time Cugel looked toward the cliffs which rose to the west, and now the sense of déjà-vu was stronger than ever. Cugel pulled at his chin in puzzlement. The time was a million years previous to that other occasion on which he had seen the cliffs, and hence, by definition, must be the first. But it was also the second time, for he well remembered his initial experience of the cliffs. On the other hand, the logic of time could not be contravened, and by such reckoning this view preceded the other. A paradox, thought Cugel: a puzzle indeed! Which experience had provided the background to the poignant sense of familiarity he had felt on both occasions?...Cugel dismissed the subject as unprofitable...
I love how he just dismisses it out of hand - which is typical Cugel.

I liked the story in the Dying Earth about the boy who wanted to know everything. The answers given to him were just sublime, like when he asked about death:
"Death is the heritage of life; a man's vitality is like air in a bladder. Poinct this bubble and away, away, away, flees life, like the color of fading dream."

Another great series of books about the Earth millions of years in the future is Gene Wolf's 'Shadow of the Torturer' series. Indeed, Severian could be considered a great sci fi character.

It would have to be Elim Garak. Over the course of Deep Space Nine you saw him evolve so much as a character. He went from a discraced ex-spy to a powerful member of the Obsidian Order to a Dominion prisoner to a Federation Operative to a resistance leader and eventual hero of the Federation-Dominion War. Plus he was the main character of what I call "Star Trek's money shot", the DS9 Episode "In The Pale Moonlight" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Pale_Moonlight_%28DS9_episode%29), an amazing story which sends chills down your spine when you realise how it similar it is to today's world.

Best. Episode. Ever.

I think it's rare to see such a deep, conflicted character in sci-fi go through so many changes... and not even really come out on top... he's still gotta rebuild Cardassia Prime after the war. 800 million dead on that planet alone! I just hope if Star Trek canon picks up where it left off, they make Garak the President or Prime Minister of a New Democratic Cardassia... it's not like he hasn't earned it!

As a runner-up for best Sci-Fi Charcter, I would have to say Garak's homeboys, Lieutenant Julian Bashir and Senior Chief Miles O'Brien. They were the most "human" characters on Star Trek... even if Bashir was genetically engineered and O'Brien was hammered most of the time. :cool:

Ahh, but Rubiconic, little did you know, I knew that you would post Bugs Bunny. I had a carrot lined up and everything.

So, do I have to get serious? Fine.


http://www.kotaku.com/images/2006/05/250px-SHODAN_hires.jpg

Not bad but meet Bomb 20 ;)

http://www.jeffbots.com/darkstar1.jpg

I am torn between Shepard Book, or River from Firefly.

Shepard Book, who was a preacher, yet seems to always know something about any situation, especially the criminal underworld, and high level alliance programs. It was implyed yet never stated that he was once an Operative of the Parliment. He never once told his back story, which makes him that much more compelling.

And of course crazy River Tamm. The physic, who's brain was mutilated, and had her reality "matrix" shred, to make her much more potent, as well as trained as a lethal assain. Yet through most of the series, you only see her as a crazy helpless girl. The way she is portrayed was very compelling, especally in the episode Objects in Space.

Either way Firefly / Serenity has the most complex and compelling characters in sci-fi.

tv series: Cat (Red Dwarf)

You are completly insane. Or a cat-lover. It goes: (1) Rimmer (2) Holly (Male or Female) (3) Kryten (4) Lister (5)Scutters/Kowalski (6) Kowalski/Scutters (7) The Cat (8) Soup vending machine

And I say the soup vending machine could have had better lines.

movies: Han Solo (SW). Ok, not sci-fi... then Dr.Kelvin (Soljaris - the REAL one, Tarkovskij's, not that zapadnikov cheap remake)

Nah, it's just a great movie. All Kelvin does is wander around looking puzzled, which to be fair I would too.

Not bad but meet Bomb 20 ;)

http://www.jeffbots.com/darkstar1.jpg

Yeah, Dark Star was da bomb :cool:

Not bad but meet Bomb 20 ;)
*image from Dark Star*

Ooh yeah. Not just a bomb. Not just a smart bomb. Not just a bomb with character.
A bomb which knows it is a bomb, and builds its world-view from there!

...er, has anyone taken the name Bomb 20 yet ...?

You are completly insane. Or a cat-lover.

Both, of course.:D

how about miles teg from the last Dune books. Mentat, General, and he can slow donw time/super reflexes.

Yeah, Dark Star was da bomb :cool:

Brilliant film....and the making of it was pretty amazing...good stuff ;)

Ooh yeah. Not just a bomb. Not just a smart bomb. Not just a bomb with character.
A bomb which knows it is a bomb, and builds its world-view from there!

...er, has anyone taken the name Bomb 20 yet ...?

LOL yeah thats the one:)

Let there be light 'eh ;)

As a runner-up for best Sci-Fi Charcter, I would have to say Garak's homeboys, Lieutenant Julian Bashir and Senior Chief Miles O'Brien. They were the most "human" characters on Star Trek... even if Bashir was genetically engineered and O'Brien was hammered most of the time. :cool:

Bashir was also the biggest horndog of the 24th century. How many times did Jadzia shoot him down?

Oh and on the topic of Garak. Would Roddenberry approve of his character? He certainly doesn't fit the utopian mold.

Commander Susan Ivanova.

She IS God. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfNZnOp1iHU)

That and Claudia Christian is STILL pretty hot and a damn nice person :D

Bashir was also the biggest horndog of the 24th century. How many times did Jadzia shoot him down?

Oh and on the topic of Garak. Would Roddenberry approve of his character? He certainly doesn't fit the utopian mold.

He wouldn't of liked the entire series. Roddenberry was pretty anti-religious, so the Bajoran thing wouldn't of gone over with him alive. Nor would the Starfleet secret police and characters like Garak.

...er, has anyone taken the name Bomb 20 yet ...?

who knows,but i did found that scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjGRySVyTDk

Altaira Morbius

Forbidden Planet (1956) - Anne Francis

I didn't really appreciate Anne Francis enough in 1956, since I was only 12, but I do now!

Commander Susan Ivanova.

She IS God. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfNZnOp1iHU)

That and Claudia Christian is STILL pretty hot and a damn nice person :D

Damn - that has been a while :) Great scene, great series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QJ_j92QMew
Kosh: "Good".

Bashir was also the biggest horndog of the 24th century. How many times did Jadzia shoot him down?

Oh and on the topic of Garak. Would Roddenberry approve of his character? He certainly doesn't fit the utopian mold.

Ol' Gene wouldn't have approved of Garak... or Bashir, or anything from DS9 onward, for that matter.

Roddenberry, for all his creative genius, perferred to show humans as they ought to be, not as they are. He liked to believe that humans would evolve drastically in the next few hundred years, when anyone can tell that it's not going to happen, at least not the way he wanted. Humans lie, they're greedy, they cheat, they steal, they sit around and get fat off welfare, they start wars, commit geneocide, and compromise their own beliefs and ethics all the time, sometimes for profit and power, sometimes for the greater good, and sometimes just to survive. None of that will change anytime soon. The invention of warp drive, while it might be a catalyst for change and might unify the planet, certianly won't eliminate the Human Condition.

In my opinion, Star Trek just got better after Roddenberry stopped being involved with it. We got to see real people, with real problems. O'Brien struggling with his marriage and work, and raising a daughter. Bashir and Tom Paris trying to get laid. Guys like Harry Kim who were good people, but had trouble standing up for themselves (seven years as an Ensign? WTF!?). Chakotay, B'Lanna Torres and Ro Laren, who thought that they were doing the right thing, but were regarded as terrorists. Leaders like Sisko who had to make the really tough desicions. And guys like Sloane (from Section 31) who were assholes, but you know you needed them and they provide a vital function because they do the terrible things no one else is willing to do. Kirk, Spock, Picard, and Riker were more like classical Greek heroes... they did what was right because it was right, and there really wasn't much conflict on the inside. Although at least Kirk enjoyed the occassional Orion Slave Girl. :D

Commander Susan Ivanova.

She IS God. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfNZnOp1iHU)

That and Claudia Christian is STILL pretty hot and a damn nice person :D

She used to come to the Southern California Renaissance Faire dressed as a Scot. She was one of the few celebs there who would interact with the players. She was a lot of fun.

jesus guys...ive just read this thread back and it reads like a fucking nerd convention...is this the cream of the NS crop??

I mean come on guys...no wonder you never get laid!

this is supposed to be a thread about the greatest sci fi character ever...not the most obscure!! ;)

I like Feyd-Rautha...Stings character in DUNE...hes not the greatest ever...but he's cool as fuck :cool:

She used to come to the Southern California Renaissance Faire dressed as a Scot. She was one of the few celebs there who would interact with the players. She was a lot of fun.

Mongoose Publishing holds the rights to the B5 RPG. For one of their events (last year, I think) they actually had her come in. She actually participated in a game, playing Ivonova.

It's rare to see personalities that either would do that for fun or at least have enough good humour to participate.

On topic: I've always had a soft spot for Quark, but I'll have to throw my support behind Garak as well.

Mongoose Publishing holds the rights to the B5 RPG. For one of their events (last year, I think) they actually had her come in. She actually participated in a game, playing Ivonova.

It's rare to see personalities that either would do that for fun or at least have enough good humour to participate.

Yeah, I was there :D She's pretty damn cool.

Plus there's a fan who owes one of my mates free beer FOREVER for being allowed to join that game *cackles*

this is supposed to be a thread about the greatest sci fi character ever...not the most obscure!! ;)

Most suggestions are from pretty popular tvseries - nowhere near obscure ;)

jesus guys...ive just read this thread back and it reads like a fucking nerd convention...is this the cream of the NS crop??

I mean come on guys...no wonder you never get laid!

this is supposed to be a thread about the greatest sci fi character ever...not the most obscure!! ;)

I like Feyd-Rautha...Stings character in DUNE...hes not the greatest ever...but he's cool as fuck :cool:

Obscure Earthling?

\

http://www.dandare.org.uk/JPEGs/Mekon_Big.jpg

Greatest 'gang'?

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/a/abcwar2.jpg

Voldar
http://www.monstershack.net/reviews/full/gfx/sccm/voldar.JPG

If your a avid video gamer and do not know who this is... I pity you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cc_screen_kane.jpg
PEACE THROUGH POWER!
PEACE THROUGH POWER!
PEACE THROUGH POWER!

the one with that falcon thing in star wars.

Ten pages and not a word for Gurney Halleck or Duncan Idaho? What kind of sci-fi fans are you people?

All told, I would have to say that Garak, Quark, and Q are the best of the Star Trek series, but only Garak and Quark compare with Adm. Adama on Battlestar Galactica and Londo Mollari, J'Kar, and Marcus Cole on Babylon 5.

If I had to list the top five television sci-fi characters, they would go like this:

1. J'Kar
2. Garak
3. Londo
4. Quark
5. Adama

Honorable Mention: Q, Marcus Cole

In movies, clearly Khan Noonien Singh and Han Solo are the best, with an honorable mention for Lando because he's played by Billy Dee effin Williams.

Greatest 'gang'?

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/a/abcwar2.jpg

Zarjaz!!

Rojaws rocks my world

I'm 2000ads biggest fan

*ducks the thrillsuckers*

good call rubicon! ;)

Ten pages and not a word for Gurney Halleck or Duncan Idaho?
Pre or post-ghola?

Pre or post-ghola?

If I answer, I'd fall off a bridge into a ravine.

You got me; it's been too long since I read Dune.

When it comes to 2000ad...

Johnny Alphas my boy...

Strontium Dog is the best comic strip ever...The Torso from Newcastle...Middenface...Wulf...love it!!

When it comes to 2000ad...

Johnny Alphas my boy...

Strontium Dog is the best comic strip ever...The Torso from Newcastle...Middenface...Wulf...love it!!

Yeah...well nearly....Ballad of Halo Jones just nips the Strontium Dog at the post...

Yeah...well nearly....Ballad of Halo Jones just nips the Strontium Dog at the post...

check it

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/comics/audio/

If I answer, I’d fall off a bridge into a ravine.

You got me; it’s been too long since I read Dune.
*revels in own knowledge of Dune*

Ender Wiggin. Never before has so much ass been kicked by an eleven year old with a glorified Nintendo. :D

Not Ender. Bean is the greatest sci-fi character. He was better than Ender, even if he was less human.

check it

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/comics/audio/

Yeah...been there yonks ago ;)

Its the 30th anniversary of 2000AD as well...shaped my love of comics...well that and Commando! LOL

Yeah...been there yonks ago ;)

Its the 30th anniversary of 2000AD as well...shaped my love of comics...well that and Commando! LOL

haha...to be truthful its the only comic I love...my street cred might be affected if I delved too deep...though I do own the first 50 british released star wars comics...dont tell anyone though ;)

It was the artwork that swang it for me...strips like Nemesis the warlock...sam slade...rogue trooper and the like...really was like nothing id seen as a kid...coupled with british humour I fell in love...

My fave for artwork and sheer weirdness though has got to be Simon Harrisons art in the lesser known 2000ad strip Revere...that whole series made me cream

QFT.
no contest. No point even trying to debate. The Doctor pawns all. Who else in the entire universe has the balls to walk out of their spaceship to face down a horde of Daleks armed only with a sonic screwdriver - and then kick their sorry arses?
no-one else. That's who.

MacGyver.

Of course, he wouldnt even NEED the sonic screwdriver: he would make one out of space dust and a small square of duct tape.

And MacGyver CAN be considered sci-fi because only god knows how he pulls that off.

Zed (http://allstarz.hollywood.com/~seanconnery/zardoz13.jpg)

Arnold J. Rimmer

Wash- Firefly.

Yes. Yes, this is a fertile land, and we will thrive. We will rule over all this land, and we will call it... 'This Land'.

I think we should call it... your grave!

Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!

Ha ha ha! Mine is an evil laugh... now die!

I loved Wash. Actually, I loved all the characters aboard Serenity, but he was my favorite.

Arnold J. Rimmer

Now I've got that damn song stuck in my head! Arrgghh!

jesus guys...ive just read this thread back and it reads like a fucking nerd convention...is this the cream of the NS crop??

I mean come on guys...no wonder you never get laid!

What's wrong with nerd conventions? Hmmm? I generally prefer nerds and geeks to normal people, anyway. And speak for yourself on the getting laid part...

What's wrong with nerd conventions? Hmmm?

nothing if you're a nerd...everything is relative

I generally prefer nerds and geeks to normal people, anyway.

this is a contradiction...see my point above...its all relative...if you fit into the aforementioned nerd 'group'...then normal people to you are your peers and therefore what you would categorize as normal in your own social structure...so to infer that nerds and geeks are somewhat different to 'normal people' is in fact insulting to those of a more learned mind ;)


And speak for yourself on the getting laid part...

I got laid on monday...I have a 6ft 1 blonde bombshell of a girl...and all is right in beekers world :cool:

Han Solo.

Revising my original post, I am replacing Captain Reynolds with the entire crew of Serenity.

*revels in own knowledge of Dune*

All I can remember about Dune right now is that you don't want it in your drink. :p

Ten pages and not a word for Gurney Halleck or Duncan Idaho? What kind of sci-fi fans are you people?


Dude, I mentioned Jorj X. McKie, whaddaya want?

Okay, here's another goodie:

Qarlo Clobregny.

Since this is sci-fi rather than sci-fi and fantasy, I've gotta say my vote is for Ilisidi. Bren, Banichi, Jago, and Tabini are all awesome too. Perhaps Cenedi as well, but one does not see him as much as one would need to be certain.

And Bean > Ender, although both are cool. Ender gets sorta annoying after the first book.

Uh, Samus Aran?

She's dynamite with a lazer beam.:cool:

Wedge Antillies.

what other very minor character ever survived all three movies and got his own book series?

jesus guys...ive just read this thread back and it reads like a fucking nerd convention...is this the cream of the NS crop??

You just walked in an insulted EVERYBODY. No smilie, no opinion, no quote.

I mean come on guys...no wonder you never get laid!

While I'm sure your sex life is very interesting to you, it's a bit off topic.

this is supposed to be a thread about the greatest sci fi character ever...not the most obscure!!

That's why the thread is called Greatest Sci-Fi Character Ever.
What, you haven't heard of some of the characters? Fancy that.

I like Feyd-Rautha...Stings character in DUNE...hes not the greatest ever...but he's cool as fuck :cool:

Several posters have mentioned DUNE.
I guess you're the first to mention the film.

You should read DUNE. It's a good book.
I'm not so mad about the sequels, and Lynches film I don't like at all.

It would have to be Elim Garak.

I think it's rare to see such a deep, conflicted character in sci-fi go through so many changes... and not even really come out on top... he's still gotta rebuild Cardassia Prime after the war. 800 million dead on that planet alone! I just hope if Star Trek canon picks up where it left off, they make Garak the President or Prime Minister of a New Democratic Cardassia... it's not like he hasn't earned it!

If you want to learn more about Garak, I highly recommend THIS (http://www.amazon.com/Stitch-Time-Star-Trek-Space/dp/0671038850/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/105-0041104-0186037?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180586324&sr=1-3) book.

Written by Andrew Robinson, the actor who potrayed Garak, and reveals much about both his past, and his life after DS9's conclusion.

Good stuff! :)

Not a big sci-fi person but from my limited list I'll say Bean.

I sound like a nuttter saying it, but Angus from the Gap series.
-He creates an object of near-infinite mass (blackhole) close to an alien warship.
-He's able to maintain his grip on the ship's hull while the ship is escaping from said astrological phenomena, while said ship is travelling at near C velocities.
-A ruthless cyborg who's able to turn his programmed state against those who try to control him.:gundge:
-He beats The Dragon to a bloody pulp and steals the ship and loot.

I guess the real contenders here are Garak from DS9 (I actually find almost all of Star Trek to be a waste of time, but this Garak sounds like a wolf in the flock), Ender is a very close contender, I haven't read anything novel length by Orson Scott Card. I'd say Ivanova is a wild card (I have seen B5 and Crusade and found them to be actually pretty decent).

The real problem is that Sci-fi is a genre that has neither a ceiling, nor a floor, so naturally people are going to bring up everyone from Flesh Gordon to Dave Lister or John Crichton.

As for sexual activity, well I know I'm making a generalisation, but I'd say a fair few people here have been laid at some point in their lives.:D

Kommissar Yarrick!!

I think no-one has yet nominated... Emperor Pirk!

(www.starwreck.com)

I forgot one of the all-time greats - Miles Vorkosigan. If a deformed, hyperactive, hyperintelligent adrenalin junky can be sexy, then he's sexy.

I like Vorkosigan and Bean as well, actually. Interesting to have limited characters, with some kind of problem.

I'd also like to second the "all of the crew" from Firefly. I've never been more involved with a sci fi tv show, and rarely even with a book.

As much as people knock star trek (justifiably, at times-unrealistic as all hell, as far as human nature) it did give us two very interesting characters. Both Seven of Nine and The Doctor (from star trek voyager) develop in ways that I find just fascinating. Most of the good episodes of that show center around them.

And to the mocker of our sex lives: nothing better than a geeky woman, buddy. and who'll get them but the geeky men, I ask you?

I think no-one has yet nominated... Emperor Pirk!


I vastly prefer their version of Data;)

Desty Nova (Gunnm/ Battle Angel Alita in the west).

Why?

Because he's an antagonist who actually wins against the protagonist.

That's right. The bad guy outsmarts the good guy (Well, girl), and wins. No ifs or buts.

And antagonists managing this are rarer than population three stars.

I think no-one has yet nominated... Emperor Pirk!

(www.starwreck.com)

going to have to buy this now.:(

I could definitely agree with the previous mentions of the Serenity Crew, including Serenity herself.

going to have to buy this now.:(

The free version is imo better, since the ships there actually look like those from the tvseries it parodies.

got have some mention of starbuck in thread about greatest Sci-fi Characters

http://www.bajaclub.homestead.com/files/starbuck.jpg

The free version is imo better, since the ships there actually look like those from the tvseries it parodies.

and in the other version they don't?:confused:

Mr. Rogers in a bloodstained sweater.

Just ask Robocop, the Terminator, Captain Kirk, Darth Vader, Spock and Super Man, and every single power ranger. >_>

and in the other version they don't?:confused:

Less so:

The film itself, Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning, looks just like it always did... at first glance. However, most of the visual effects and all starship models have been replaced with completely new ones, and with the remixed audio track, everything possible looks and sounds even better now than a year ago.

Mr. Spock is the greatest of all time. End of.

my nominations:

michael valintine smith - robert a hienline - strainger in a strainge land
skeen - jo claton - skeen's leap (series/universe)
hilfy chenure - c j cherreh - pride of chenure (series/universe)
havaland tuff - george rr martin - tuf voyaging (series/universe)

and of course

papa schemillhorn - regenald brentner - time and space
nichoels van rijn - pool anderson - polysotecnic league (series/universe)
flinx -
arthur dent, ford prefect, zaphod bebalbrox, et al - douglas adams - hitchiker's guide (series/universe))

gads, there's just zillions of them better then anything that's ever been on the box or in moooovies

these are just a small sample of the FIRST names that come to mind at the moment.

probably dalen of b5, for anyone in something that was on the boob tube.
although the charicters in farscape, were pretty cool.

=^^=
.../\...

I think I'm inclined to agree with the OP. Garak is definitely up there, though Odo is cool as well. Maybe some of the characters from Neon Genesis Evangelion as well, simply because they're so thoroughly psychologically explored.

Dude, I mentioned Jorj X. McKie, whaddaya want?

Okay, here's another goodie:

Qarlo Clobregny.

I've got a first ed of Whipping Star ;)

You might say my favourite sci-fi protagonist is eponymous!

Hiro Protagonist from Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson

You are all wrong.

http://www.chezcomics.com/comics-resources-information-pages/2000ad-prog-comic-information-resources/2000ad-comic-images/judge-dredd.gif