50 influential fictional women in nerd history

Uhura

Nyota Uhura is truly one of the most important people in the Star Trek franchise, and she helped change the way girls look at jobs in science fields as well as science fiction works. Uhura, who is the communications officer on the Enterprise, taught us that we were not limited to jobs that the men did not want.

She was one of the first women to not be just an object, and it was amazing to see a woman of color taking on the role. Nichelle Nichols broke barriers and fought for her place among the Star Trek cast, and looking back, it was incredible that that show became the juggernaut that it did during that time.

Even now with the rebooted movie franchise, Uhura is pretty awesome. She goes toe to toe with Spock, fights the Klingons and is just generally an asset to the team. Without her, they wouldn’t be able to communicate with the alien races they’re going up against, but more than that, they wouldn’t have the heart that she brings to the bridge.

Nyota Uhura changed the game for women and is still one of the greatest female characters around, and she does it all in a Starfleet skirt.