20 Of The Coolest Female Robots In Science Fiction

Screenshot of Data and Lal in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “The Offspring” (Image via CBS)

17. Lal (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Lal had an even shorter life than Pris Stratton. Where Pris managed to get at least a couple years of life, Lal could barely manage a month. In all, she only appeared in one episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in the third season episode “The Offspring”.

Of course, you can’t blame Lal for the faulty programming that led to her demise. It’s really Data’s fault. Lieutenant commander Data was part of the senior crew aboard the starship Enterprise. Somewhere in between serving as a high-ranking officer and routinely saving the ship from disaster, he managed to create new life.

Lal was created for two purposes. Data was attempting to recreate the work of his “father”, cyberneticist Dr. Noonien Soong. He also wanted to experience, in his own way, the act of creating a child.

Data’s child at first starts off as a creepy humanoid form. Things get a little better when Lal chooses a human female appearance and persona. In fact, things get really intriguing when the crew notices Lal’s advancements. She starts to use contractions, unlike her grammatically restricted “father”. She even begins to feel emotions, which is exciting until she starts experiencing anxiety.

The emotional distress turns out to be a symptom of a fatal failure in her programming. Lal shuts down, but not before Data transfers her memories and experiences into his own neural net. Touching, if perhaps a little alien.

What’s most refreshing about Lal is how she’s not sexualized by the showrunners. She doesn’t exist to gratify the male gaze of any sort. Though I’m disappointed that she couldn’t become a series regular, it was still a relief to see her for however brief a time she appeared.