5 Most Inspirational Women In Sci-Fi

4. Echo - Dollhouse

In Joss Whedon€™s two season Dollhouse, college student and activist Caroline Farrell found herself signing up to be a reprogrammable 'doll' rented out to the wealthy to do everything from negotiating kidnappings to, well, more questionable things. When having her personality removed as she become a doll, Caroline and the Dollhouse staff effectively brought forth Echo, a baseline personality that exists in the absence of any other. Confused yet? If she is not imprinted with a specific personality, Echo is reduced to a blank slate, wandering around the Los Angeles based Dollhouse in a docile 'doll state' with no real free will or independent thought. That is, until she gets an inkling of self-awareness and becomes the exception to the rule. Evolving from an 'active' in the throes of tabula rasa to a mentally capable, fully functional badass out to take down the Rossum Corporation (they did bad things like turning people into dolls and manipulating governments all while tiptoeing towards a global takeover), Echo was not only a woman with a mission; she was a woman with an incredible sense of deep-seated drive. Even Dollhouse staff noted early on that Echo naturally illustrated creative thinking that went beyond the imprinted personalities she was given. Eventually Echo started to remember events and personality traits that should have been wiped from her memory. She continued collecting nearly 40 different personalities, using their best traits at will as she achieved higher consciousness. For avoiding a nervous breakdown and adapting so well, we give Echo props. Having all these moments of self-actualization while also maintaining an agenda that includes liberating all the dolls and dismantling a global corporation bent on world domination is a job of work. Rising to the challenge, Echo seemed like the unlikely savior. After learning about her body€™s previous owner, Echo found she had little to lose in the fight assuming that someday Caroline€™s personality would be reinstalled. What this meant for Echo even she didn't know but it seemed pretty grim. Even with this unknown fate looming over her, Echo rejected the opportunity to kill Caroline when Alpha installed her personality into a female hostage. This spoke to Echo€™s understanding that she is a necessary sacrifice as she believed that Caroline could save the world. Caroline's dedication to the cause was unwavering but Echo ranks on this list because we know that she was the savior we really needed.