I would add an honorable mention catagory for the many spiritual aspects of Star Trek:Next Generation. Worf’s spiritual quest was remarkable, especially in the episode “Rightful Heir”. “Darmok” ws both a spiritual episode and character who taught Picard something valuable. Wesley Crusher wound up on a sprit quest of his own. There is much to be made of the pinocchio-like quest Data had as he sought to understand and incorporate humanity. Guinan added many spiritual comments. And much of what Troi was dealing with was spiritual as well as psychololical.
Many other characters in other permutations of the Star Trek franchise also explored spirituality, with mixed success. Spock was notable among them, though Chkoteh and others also followed spiritual paths.

First of all, I would like to say that I totally agree with the comment regarding the spirituality of Star Trek: Next Generation! That series was teeming with spiritual aspects.
However, I would like to mention another series that was also created by Joss Whedon…..Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The spirituality of its seven seasons was a bit more subtle than other programs, but covered a wide range of the human spiritual experience. Themes such as love, friendship, betrayal, forgiveness, and self-sacrifice (“Death is your gift”). One of the most notable themes, especially in Angel’s case, is redemption for past sins after being cursed and becoming a vampire with a soul. He was constantly struggling with his own inner evil side and a desire to now do good.
There is an excellent book by Jana Reiss called “What Would Buffy Do? The Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide”. Please check it out! BtVS would actually have been my very first choice for a top ten spiritual character list!!

I totally agree with Diana about Buffy..That show will always be my favorite because of everything Diana posted….what a great show about about friendships….

I am going way back – further than any of these movies or tv shows. The most spiritual Sci-Fi movie of all time in my book is a movie called “Enemy Mine”. It stars Dennis Quaid and Louis Gosset Jr. If you have not seen it, go get it right now! Basically Quaid is a human in the future and humans are fighting in space and their enemies are Draks from Drakonia….Lou Gosset plays the alien and is wonderful! Anyway, both ships go down on a planet and in order to survive, these two enemies must work together. The alien become “pregnant”, as they are assexual and do not have to mate to procreate and the human ends up having to raise Drak because his friend/enemy dies! One of my faviorite movies of all time!

DOCTOR WHO! DOCTOR WHO! DOCTOR WHO!

Enemy Mine is my all-time favorite Sci-Fi movie! I’ve even used examples of principles from to get a point across to my kids.

What about Kira fro ST: DS9. Her faith in the Prophets…..
Peace and long life!

The holistic guru from the crew of Star Trek Next Generation (I can’t remember her name, though!)

Regarding Star Trek, Buffy, Etc.
Thanks for all the comments. I’d like to address a couple of them specifically.
First, I knew when I wrote this that there would an overwhelming general cry of “Star Trek!” populating the comment boards. And, of course, in my internal debates and external conversations regarding this list, the issue of “Star Trek” came up quite frequently.
My personal take on the “Star Trek” thing is, ultimately, this: It was never meant to be a vehicle for speaking seriously about religion or faith on a personal level. Rather, “Star Trek” dealt with religion as a fact of culture (and sometimes a personal obstacle) rather than exploring it as a means of personal growth. I do sympathize with those who would make a legitimate argument for Troi (and she may have made a longer list), and Data, in light of his spiritual awakening upon recieving the emotion chip, was on the short list of ommisions (I will admit to having had a hard time eliminating that one). But ultimately my decision to leave “Star Trek” off the list had to do with what “Star Trek” was primarily concerned with (politics, diplomacy, power, cultural rifts, etc) and its exploration of the personal implications of religion as an afterthought (even if it was a quite thoughtful afterthought…)
As to Buffy, I tried to make this as clear a Sci-Fi list as possible, and disqualified Buffy on the basis of it being more on the “fantasy” side of the equator than the “SciFi” side. I love “Buffy”. It is without question one of the greatest (and a argument can be made for simply “the greatest”) shows in television history. But I had to keep a certain standard and, alas, that meant no Giles, no Willow, no Buffy, no Angel, no Cordelia (all of whom would have been candidates).
This is also why no “Narnia” or Tolkien characters make this list, but hold tight, because there may well be a more general “fantasy” list in the future.
Lastly, regarding “Doctor Who”: you’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger “Doctor Who” than I am. I grew up on the original series (I was born in England right around the era of Peter Davison) and I absolutely evangelize the new series (and “Torchwood”). But I think it’s a sign of respect to leave “Doctor Who” off of this, since the great minds behind shaping the original series in to what it ultimately became -and- the minds (including Russell Davies) behind the reboot are almost to a person in the “hopeful atheist” camp. “Doctor Who” is, I think, a deeply optimistic, wide-eyed, awestruck show, and if there are any common threads among the various incarnations of its protagonist, I think the argument can be made that they are such: optimistic, wide-eyed, awestruck. There *is* something very spiritual about the character and about the show itself, but it exists in large part to describe the universe in a mortal (although vast beyond the imagination) context. Much of its morality is rooted therein. And therefore, despite my love for The Doctor, so as not to do a disservice to its creators, I respectfully left it off this list.
Thanks for the feedback
-John Brooks

I can’t quite pin down why, but your list left me with a somewhat empty feeling.
Personally, I would have included Delenn and G’kar from Babylon 5, one of whom was the leader of the religious caste on her homeworld and used that position to the beterment of everyone, the other being someone who learned to see beyond his own hatred and became the (Grudgingly uncomfortable) founder of his own religion. Both these characters were created by an atheist, btw, but they’re extremely positive portrayals of the power of religion.
I think Commander Adama from the original Battlestar Galactica deserves a mention. While his transition from cynical military/political leader to raging religious fanatic cum messiah wasn’t as well done as it could have been, what I always took from the character is that wether or not he’s crazy, it’s his (Very likely) insanity that allows him to carry the entire fleet and the fate of humanity on his back. Were he not a man of faith, he could not do it.
I feel like I should mention “#6″ from The Prisoner, not because he himself was particularly religious (Insofar as we could tell), but because of the show’s frequent and deliberate Christian allegories, and it’s rather heavyhanded theme of religion as a force for rebellion and social change.
I think I’d be more likely to mention Laura Roslin from the new Galactica than I would Starbuck. Likewise, I think I’d have to say ‘feh’ to your Trek and Star Wars mentions. Roddenberry was well known for having no patience nor regard for religion of any sort, and even after he left the picture, I find it hard to take a show seriously when it uses the Bajoran Religion as a random and inconsistent plot device for seven years, and never bothers to even give their faith a name. As to Obi Wan in ‘Wars – well, if I’ll give you that one, it’s only because I like Sir Alec Guiness.

“Doctor Who” is, I think, a deeply optimistic, wide-eyed, awestruck show, and if there are any common threads among the various incarnations of its protagonist, I think the argument can be made that they are such: optimistic, wide-eyed, awestruck. There *is* something very spiritual about the character and about the show itself, but it exists in large part to describe the universe in a mortal (although vast beyond the imagination) context. Much of its morality is rooted therein. And therefore, despite my love for The Doctor, so as not to do a disservice to its creators, I respectfully left it off this list.”
There is OTOH something extremely Chestertonian in this. Whether RD and the gang acknowledge it or not, DW is at the time an avatar of Innocent Smith.

Although it is hard to disagree with #1, I feel that the exclusion of G’Kar (Babylon 5) is a grave injustice.
I’ve always saw him as a kind of Paul, the man that was this cynical figure until he had his revelation (Damascu road for Paul, capture, torture and liberation for G’kar). The evolution is almost shocking when you compare the first episodes to the last ones of season 4. To comment on what someone else said earlier, the fact that JMS is an atheist is was make G’Kar’s spiritual journey so interesting.

I think #1 was referring to Guinan, from Star Trek TNG.
She was played by Whoopi Goldberg.
Yeah G’Kar has to be put in this list.
I see Yoda as more of a jedi trickster that liked to talk in reverse so that you hang on his every word. It seemed like you never got a strait answer from that little guy.
Delen was also great and should be on this list.
Babylon 5 needs more recognition (IMO).

This list is interesting, but very contemporary. What about Paul Muad’dib from Dune? You might even make an argument for Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still, although he’s probably more easily interpreted as a humanist than a spiritual figure. Now I’ve gone and reminded myself that Keanu Reeves will soon be dead-panning his way through the remake. Ugh.

As an old and avid Sci Fi addict I agree with most of the list. It is a shame to have to leave out so many tho.
“Dune”, the whole series, and several characters teach us about faith, love, and trust.
I don’t think one can write Sci Fi without a trip into the soul of self to find answers of origin. If the author does not find their answers, at least they have to ask the questions, thus become a seeker.
All of us on this site are “seekers.” Some of us have found some pretty profound answers, but none have found them all. If we had, we would no longer be here.

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