Nerd Girls Save The World: 17 Of Pop Culture’s Greatest Female Geeks

THE X-FILES – SEASON 7: Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigates circumstances around a man who seems to be just a little too lucky in ‘The Goldberg Variation’ episode of THE X-FILES which originally aired Sunday, Dec. 12, 1999 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (Photo by FOX via Getty Images)

15. Dana Scully (The X-Files)

You best believe I’m putting Dana Scully on this list. If you think back to her time on the 1990s megahit show, The X-Files, you might not immediately think of Dana Scully as a nerd. Certainly, when paired with fellow FBI agent and wildly imaginative conspiracy theorist Fox Mulder, she comes off as downright normal. Don’t let that keep you from seeing her inner geekiness, however.

It’s not just the fact that Scully (Gillian Anderson) is an accomplished medical doctor or FBI field agent. Like many people of the nerdy persuasion, she’s got a ton of in-jokes. Many of those focus on the 19th literary classic, Moby Dick. Seriously, go back and check out some of the earlier episodes. She nicknames her late father “Ahab” and he calls her “Starbuck” in return. Scully’s Pomeranian dog is also named “Queequeg”, in keeping with the “characters from Moby Dick” theme that you never thought would show up in a primetime television show.

Like many nerds, Scully doesn’t back down from her passion or apologize for the intensity of her interests. As much as she argues with Mulder, woe betide anyone who tries to tell her she’s wrong or gets in her way. When she finally buys into some of the more insane aspects of the X-Files, she’s all the way in.