30 Days of Female Characters: Day 10
Day Ten: Favourite female character in a scifi/supernatural show
Kira Nerys, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Okay, the thing about Kira is that she's absolutely not your run-of-the-mill hero. She wouldn't be run-of-the-mill even if she were male, and for a female character? Almost unheard of on television.
Spoilers for Kira's backstory/character arcs:
Kira Nerys was 13 years old when she first picked up a weapon and became a terrorist. She killed soldiers, collaborators, and sometimes civilians. She planted bombs, committed sabotage, and probably slept with the enemy for information. She hated and it gave her strength.
That's just the backstory.
After helping to free her people from slavery, she was rewarded with a job playing politics with the Federation. She learned to compromise, learned to negotiate, learned to set aside hate for the good of progress, and healing, and because it was the right thing to do. And when the right thing to do was to overthrow a government or three, Kira was always up for the job. And again, when the right thing to do was to surrender and lay down arms, she managed that as well. Kira's relationship with... Not war, exactly, and not violence, exactly. With fighting. With resisting. Her relationship with fighting is incredibly nuanced and fraught and wonderfully written.
Kira's romantic relationships were never that interesting to me, I'll admit, but the writers did a fairly decent job, as far as Trek romances went. They did Kira justice. She took lovers and never married, and parted with them gracefully when the relationship ended. She was never written as needing a romantic entanglement--her romances all happened organically, rising from friendships. And Kira was never a traditional character: she carried another woman's child and became (something like) a godmother to that child, Kirayoshi, but never had one of her own.
Her friendships were rock solid and so interesting! (But DS9 had the best friendships of all, IMHO.) She became friends with her people's religious icon! She became friends with a biracial Bajoran-Cardassian girl, the daughter of her most hated enemy. She became friends with a woman who thought transparent skulls were sexy. *g* And hey, I think she even became friends with Damar and Garak in the end.
Kira never stopped being sharp and aggressive and clever and courageous and flawed. And also kind of adorable: her sad little pout over sculpting the most pathetic clay birds ever. *pets her*
She was a religious person who lived by faith in a Roddenberry universe full of atheists and humanists. I love her for that.
She was angry and scarred from a lifetime of horror and deprivation, and yet somehow, in rebuilding Bajor and Deep Space Nine, in finding the Prophets closer than ever, tangible after all those years of hardship, she also learned to rebuild herself. It's really a wonderful character arc, and in many ways DS9 is more Kira's story than it is Sisko's.
Kira Nerys, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Day 1: Favourite lead female character: Buffy Summers, BtVS
Day 2: Favourite supporting female character: Faith, Angel/BtVS
Day 3: A female character you hated but grew to love: None!
Day 4: A female character you relate to: Dawn Summers and Tara Maclay (BtVS), JJ (Criminal Minds), Keladry (Tamora Pierce)
Day 5: Favourite female character on a male-driven show: Sam Carter, SG-1/SGA
Day 6: Favourite female-driven show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Day 7: A female character that needs more screen time: Nyota Uhura (STXI) and Ashley Seaver (CM)
Day 8: Favourite female character in a comedy show: Kate Beckett, Castle
Day 9: Favourite female character in a drama show: CJ Cregg, The West Wing
Day 10: Favourite female character in a scifi/supernatural show: Kira Nerys, Star Trek: DS9
Day 11: Favourite female character in a children's show
Day 12: Favourite female character in a movie
Day 13: Favourite female character in a book
Day 14: Favourite older female character
Day 15: Favourite female character growth arc
Day 16: Favourite mother character
Day 17: Favourite warrior female character
Day 18: Favourite non-warrior female character
Day 19: Favourite non-human female character
Day 20: Favourite female antagonist
Day 21: Favourite female character screwed over by canon
Day 22: Favourite female character you love but everyone else hates
Day 23: Favourite female platonic relationship
Day 24: Favourite female romantic relationship
Day 25: Favourite mother/daughter and/or sister relationship
Day 26: Favourite classical female character
Day 27: A female character you have extensive personal canon for
Day 28: Favourite female writer (television, books, movies, etc.)
Day 29: A female-centric fic rec
Day 30: Whatever you'd like!
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Kira Nerys, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Okay, the thing about Kira is that she's absolutely not your run-of-the-mill hero. She wouldn't be run-of-the-mill even if she were male, and for a female character? Almost unheard of on television.
Spoilers for Kira's backstory/character arcs:
Kira Nerys was 13 years old when she first picked up a weapon and became a terrorist. She killed soldiers, collaborators, and sometimes civilians. She planted bombs, committed sabotage, and probably slept with the enemy for information. She hated and it gave her strength.
That's just the backstory.
After helping to free her people from slavery, she was rewarded with a job playing politics with the Federation. She learned to compromise, learned to negotiate, learned to set aside hate for the good of progress, and healing, and because it was the right thing to do. And when the right thing to do was to overthrow a government or three, Kira was always up for the job. And again, when the right thing to do was to surrender and lay down arms, she managed that as well. Kira's relationship with... Not war, exactly, and not violence, exactly. With fighting. With resisting. Her relationship with fighting is incredibly nuanced and fraught and wonderfully written.
Kira's romantic relationships were never that interesting to me, I'll admit, but the writers did a fairly decent job, as far as Trek romances went. They did Kira justice. She took lovers and never married, and parted with them gracefully when the relationship ended. She was never written as needing a romantic entanglement--her romances all happened organically, rising from friendships. And Kira was never a traditional character: she carried another woman's child and became (something like) a godmother to that child, Kirayoshi, but never had one of her own.
Her friendships were rock solid and so interesting! (But DS9 had the best friendships of all, IMHO.) She became friends with her people's religious icon! She became friends with a biracial Bajoran-Cardassian girl, the daughter of her most hated enemy. She became friends with a woman who thought transparent skulls were sexy. *g* And hey, I think she even became friends with Damar and Garak in the end.
Kira never stopped being sharp and aggressive and clever and courageous and flawed. And also kind of adorable: her sad little pout over sculpting the most pathetic clay birds ever. *pets her*
She was a religious person who lived by faith in a Roddenberry universe full of atheists and humanists. I love her for that.
She was angry and scarred from a lifetime of horror and deprivation, and yet somehow, in rebuilding Bajor and Deep Space Nine, in finding the Prophets closer than ever, tangible after all those years of hardship, she also learned to rebuild herself. It's really a wonderful character arc, and in many ways DS9 is more Kira's story than it is Sisko's.
Kira Nerys, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Day 1: Favourite lead female character: Buffy Summers, BtVS
Day 2: Favourite supporting female character: Faith, Angel/BtVS
Day 3: A female character you hated but grew to love: None!
Day 4: A female character you relate to: Dawn Summers and Tara Maclay (BtVS), JJ (Criminal Minds), Keladry (Tamora Pierce)
Day 5: Favourite female character on a male-driven show: Sam Carter, SG-1/SGA
Day 6: Favourite female-driven show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Day 7: A female character that needs more screen time: Nyota Uhura (STXI) and Ashley Seaver (CM)
Day 8: Favourite female character in a comedy show: Kate Beckett, Castle
Day 9: Favourite female character in a drama show: CJ Cregg, The West Wing
Day 10: Favourite female character in a scifi/supernatural show: Kira Nerys, Star Trek: DS9
Day 11: Favourite female character in a children's show
Day 12: Favourite female character in a movie
Day 13: Favourite female character in a book
Day 14: Favourite older female character
Day 15: Favourite female character growth arc
Day 16: Favourite mother character
Day 17: Favourite warrior female character
Day 18: Favourite non-warrior female character
Day 19: Favourite non-human female character
Day 20: Favourite female antagonist
Day 21: Favourite female character screwed over by canon
Day 22: Favourite female character you love but everyone else hates
Day 23: Favourite female platonic relationship
Day 24: Favourite female romantic relationship
Day 25: Favourite mother/daughter and/or sister relationship
Day 26: Favourite classical female character
Day 27: A female character you have extensive personal canon for
Day 28: Favourite female writer (television, books, movies, etc.)
Day 29: A female-centric fic rec
Day 30: Whatever you'd like!
I prefer comments on Dreamwidth |
comment(s)