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Science Fiction has given us some of the greatest characters in the history of literature. Some might attribute this as a fluke, a result of the colorful, fantastic backdrops of the story, but they'd be wrong. What makes a great character stand out are the same things that make a great man stand out. Deeply human flaws (even in non-humans), strength of morale fiber, and in the case of villains, depth of evil and malice. With that in mind, here are the 10 science fiction characters no one will ever forget about, no matter how far in the future we travel.

DARTH VADER

Since his introduction to film audiences in 1977, Darth Vader has perennially been listed as one of the greatest film villains of all time. A master of a sorcerous dark religion, he is brutal, cold-hearted, part man and part machine. As his character develops over the original three Star Wars movies, he is given more depth, and a terrible secret: he was once a good man, turned horribly wrong by forces he could not control.

BUCK ROGERS

Buck Rogers was Rip Van Winkle for the tomorrow crowd. As originally told in 1926, Buck falls asleep in our time, and wakes up 500 years in the future. He is the ultimate fish out of water, made even more so by the fact that everything, and everyone he once knew has been gone for centuries. Still, he manages to persevere, and it's in fact his 20th century pluck and determination that help save him and the future, through countless movies, TV shows, books and comics.

JAMES T. KIRK

Captain James Tiberius Kirk was the first captain of the starship Enterprise that we, or anyone else in the galaxy, ever heard about. He was tasked with the bold mission to go where no man had gone before. In the 1960s TV show Star Trek, and then in countless books and movies, Captain Kirk embodied red-blooded bravado and rugged determination in the face of impossible odds. Part gambler, part brawler, and all man, Kirk beat down enemy aliens, wooed alien women, and became the most famous science fiction hero of a generation.

ENDER WIGGIN

Ender, the title character of Orson Scott Card's story Ender's Game (and subsequent sequels), is a seven-year-old boy with a penchant for war-games, and the dichotomy of empathy and ruthlessness in his dealings with others. Through a grueling series of tests, Ender is prepared to become the savior of the human race, at a horrible cost: he must commit genocide on another. Watching this boy become a man, and then just a shell of a man before he ever reaches

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