Recently, some media commentators have said that female heroes are coming to the fore in science fiction because of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Mad Max: Fury Road. But female heroes have been around for years in science fiction, depending on your definition of a hero. Here are some that I think fit the label:

Ellen Ripley – The Alien movies
Sarah Connor – The Terminator movies and The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Dana Scully – The X-files
Purdey – The Avengers
Major Samantha Carter – Stargate
Gwen Cooper – Torchwood
Myka Bering – Warehouse 13
Elanor Arroway – Contact
Aryan Sun – Farscape
Katniss Everdeen – The Hunger Games
Oliva Dunham – Fringe
Echo – The Dollhouse
Sarah Jane Smith – The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Starbuck – Battlestar Galactica
Ellie – Tomorrow When The War Began
Sarah Walker – Chuck
Dr. Ryan Stone – Gravity
Charlie Matheson – Revolution
Sarah Manning – Orphan Black
Elizabeth Shaw – Prometheus.

There’s no doubt that female heroes are hugely underrepresented in science fiction, as they are in other genres, but to say that due to two recent movies there is a sudden trend of an increase in the number of female heroes in science fiction movies and television is wrong. 

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