20 Of The Coolest Female Robots In Science Fiction

Screenshot of Pris in Blade Runner (Image via Warner Bros.)

18. Pris (Blade Runner)

The world of Blade Runner is fairly obsessed with robots. In 2019 Los Angeles, protagonist Rick Deckard tracks down rogue Replicants, humanoid robots that consigned to lives of servitude off-world. Replicants are banned from Earth. However, a number of Replicants have escaped their lives and fled to Earth. These Nexus 6 Replicants are nearly indistinguishable from adult humans. However, they only live for four years, hardly enough time to develop proper tools to deal with their newfound emotions.

The escaped Replicants are led by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), a formidable “combat model” used for defense. However, the relatively sudden development of emotions and self-awareness in Batty and other Replicants make them desperate and dangerous.

Accompanying Roy Batty is Pris Stratton (Daryl Hannah). Pris is a “basic pleasure model”, drawing upon what was by then an established trope of sexy female robots. By the way, how often do you see male robots who are created for the same purpose in science fiction?

However, the newly liberated Pris isn’t quite down with her original programming. She wants to live, after all, despite her restricted life span. She takes a different approach once she reaches Earth, especially when making friends with isolated loner J.F. Sebastian. When Rick Deckard finally tracks her down, she very nearly defeats him.