Farscape's 10 Best Characters, Ranked

Dec. 28, 2024, 10 a.m.

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Farscape's 10 Best Characters, Ranked

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All four seasons of Farscape are filled with colorful and compelling characters, but certain figures stand out among the rest in the sprawling fictitious universe. Running between 1999 and 2003, Farscape was one of the most underappreciated sci-fi shows but is still championed by its devoted fan base. Farscape put a fresh spin on overused sci-fi tropes while also staying true to its space opera label. Although there were several reasons the show is so enjoyable, the chemistry that exists between the various members of the Farscape cast is one of the biggest factors.

Farscape centers around Ben Browder's John Crichton, an astronaut who has been flung to a distant part of space and stranded there. The show chronicles Crichton's attempts to return to Earth, but the task is very often shelved in favor of trying to survive alongside his newfound family. The show is a co-production between various studios, one of which is The Jim Henson Company - an organization most known for its work on the Muppets franchise. As such, Farscape features several characters played by impressive puppets, which adds a unique feel to the show.

Farscape is so densely populated that naming the best 10 characters becomes a Herculean task. Therefore, there are a couple of major players who don't quite make the cut. For instance, while it's impossible to deny how fascinating the concept of a living ship is, Moya's characterization was always limited by her restrictive communication abilities. So, the show's primary Leviathan doesn't rank here. Similarly, Paul Goddard's Stark was a great character, but there were already others of a similar archetype - and they did it better.

10 Talyn

Moya's son has a very interesting origin & arc

Although Moya doesn't quite make the list of top 10 Farscape characters, her son offers something extra that makes him fascinating enough to put him ahead of his mother. As a Leviathan/Peacekeeper hybrid, Tayln boasts all the strengths of both backgrounds with none of the weaknesses. From a purely canonical aspect, he is a brilliantly designed character, and his Peacekeeper aesthetic gives him an even bigger edge. However, Talyn also displays a surprising amount of personality for a vessel.

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Just like a traditional child, Tayln often disregards authority and often thinks he knows better than his mother. Being so headstrong lands Tayln in huge amounts of danger, but his unique abilities are almost always enough to get him out of any scrape he lands himself in. Just like his eventual captain/pilot, Lani Tupu's Bialar Crais, Talyn's loyalties shift quite often. Although Tayln never truly becomes a villain, his allegiance to Crais starts to make things difficult at points, leading to some great storylines. Their shared fate cements an ultimate bittersweet redemption.

9 Bialar Crais

Played By: Lani Tupu

Crais and Talyn eventually start to come as a pair, and Tupu's character becomes an uneasy ally of Moya and her crew. What separates Crais from his ship is that the captain begins Farscape as the story's primary antagonist. Watching the Peacekeeper gradually transform from a self-assured leader into an obsessive wreck as he feverishly tries to track down John Crichton is one of the best performances in the show.

Farscape's Top 5 Episodes On IMDb Title Season Episode IMDb "Into the Lion's Den: Part 2 - Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" 3 21 9/10 "Die Me, Dichotomy" 2 22 8.8/10 "The Way We Weren't" 2 5 8.6/10 "Liars, Guns and Money: Part 3: Plan B" 2 21 8.6/10 "Infinite Possibilities: Part 2 - Icarus Abides" 3 15 8.6/10

Unfortunately, Crais loses a few points for leveling out into a more predictable character. After stealing Moya's baby at the end of Farscape season 1, Crais becomes much easier to read - for the most part. There are still moments that take the audience by surprise, but he never quite recaptures the same interest as he did pre-defection. Crais is still a very good character, but he's a victim of his earlier storylines.

8 Chiana

Played By: Gigi Edgley

Like several other members of Moya's crew, Chiana entered the story as a prisoner. Unlike the others, she was being held captive by her own people, which immediately made her a very interesting character. After being freed by Crichton and the others, Edgley's character quickly integrated herself among her new allies - the group that would eventually become her closest friends. Watching her journey from a skittish loner into a textbook team player is incredibly rewarding, and her arc is expertly written.

Farscape season 4's conclusion also marked the show's cancelation. However, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars was then commissioned, with the two-part miniseries ending the saga properly.

Farscape's alien characters stand apart from their counterparts in many other sci-fi shows. They not only look fantastic but often their mannerisms and overall demeanors are recognizably not of this Earth. Gigi Edgley's performance as Chiana is one of the best examples of Farscape's illusion of actual alien life. Everything from the way she moves her body to how she delivers her lines just screams sci-fi, selling the lie perfectly.

7 Ka D'Argo

Played By: Anthony Simcoe

Moya's resident Luxan makes his species proud by also being the ship's fiercest warrior. As the show's answer to Star Trek's Klingons, the Luxans live for the thrill of battle, but D'Argo's species ends up being a little more nuanced than their inter-franchise counterparts. On the surface, Simcoe's character is all aggression and bravado, but after getting to know him just a little it turns out that he has an immense capacity for loyalty, friendship, and love.

The race of Simcoe's character is one of the most fleshed-out in all of Farscape, and all that lore helps contextualize his character even more than he does on an episode-by-episode basis.

As well as looking great and being an interesting character in his own right, D'Argo teaches the audience and his fellow crewmates a lot about the Luxan species. The race of Simcoe's character is one of the most fleshed-out in all of Farscape, and all that lore helps contextualize his character even more than he does on an episode-by-episode basis. As an added bonus, his Qualta Blade is very cool.

6 Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan

Played By: Virginia Hey

With all the chaos, violence, quirkiness, and quips that give Farscape its signature appeal, it can be easy to get lost among it all. Zhaan is the port in the storm of it all not just for those aboard Moya, but also for those watching the show. She is the spiritual leader aboard the ship, and also the closest thing they have to a doctor. She is heavily relied upon for medical care and general advice but asks for nothing in return.

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Zhaan's background as a Delvian priest is what gives her such tranquility and a general aversion to violence, but Farscape's worldbuilding around her character doesn't end there. It's eventually revealed near the end of Farscape season 1 that Hey's character is a plant-based lifeform. Such a development doesn't just improve Zhaan as a figure of interest but also the entire show and its associated lore.

5 Aeryn Sun

Played By: Claudia Black

Aeryn's forced defection from the Peacekeepers is what initiates her Farscape arc, and it allows her character to change and grow a great deal throughout the show. Although she remains resistant to her new life for a long while, her instincts for self-preservation allow for a gradual and very rewarding redemption story. Away from her own kind, she is almost a counterpart to Crichton, although she has vastly more experience with the space around them. Regardless, her outward appearance looking so human basically makes her Farscape's secondary protagonist - but one who actually knows what she's doing.

Despite accepting her post-Peacekeeper existence, Farscape does a great job of maintaining the quiet yearning of Black's character to return to the organization that served as her home for so long.

Although she never fully sheds the bluntness that comes with being a soldier raised from birth, Aeryn finds new ways to channel the energy she once expended solely on killing her targets. Despite accepting her post-Peacekeeper existence, Farscape does a great job of maintaining the quiet yearning of Black's character to return to the organization that served as her home for so long. Watching her two sides in constant conflict is where most of her appeal comes from, but she has other awesome traits too.

4 Dominar Rygel VXI

Played By: Jonathan Hardy

As an exiled emperor, Rygel has somehow maintains a shocking amount of pomp and circumstance. Along with his prominent materialism, he demonstrates on several occasions his propensity for selfishness. Everything should always be about Rygel, as far as he's concerned, and he very rarely makes any kind of effort to put others first. Despite technically being one of the heroes in Farscape, it would also be very easy to often interpret his actions and personality as villainous.

Rygel farts helium, and he passes gas when he's nervous. So, some of Farscape's tensest moments can often be alleviated by the squeaky voices of those around him.

While all these negative traits may make it seem confusing that he's ranked as one of the best Farscape characters, it's his wildcard status that makes him so great. It's almost impossible to tell when Rygel will next try to betray his shipmates, and it's even more unexpected on the rare occasion he has a bout of selflessness and opts to put himself on the line for everyone else. Without Rygel, all of Moya's crew would be pretty much constantly on the same side, which would quickly get dull.

3 Scorpius

Played By: Wayne Pygram

Wayne Pygram's Farscape antagonist is easily one of the most underrated sci-fi villains of all time. Everything from how he looks, how he carries himself, and even how he speaks, makes him a truly terrifying opponent for Crichton and the others. As the show's only Scarran/Sebacean hybrid, his lineage is not only unique, but the story behind how he came into existence is one of the darkest facets of Scorpius' character. Just as it seems as though he's about to become predictable, he does or says something that confirms he's a bottomless pit of surprises.

The Scorpius copy, which Crichton comes to address as "Harvey," is essentially identical to the original character, but understandably changes due to his unconventional surroundings.

Pygram also has the unusual opportunity to play two versions of Scorpius. There is, of course, the "real" version, and then there's the iteration that comes to reside only within Crichton's mind. The Scorpius copy, which Crichton comes to address as "Harvey," is essentially identical to the original character, but understandably changes due to his unconventional surroundings. So, the Farscape villain can be witnessed in two very different environments, and it all adds to the compelling legend of the character.

2 John Crichton

Played By: Ben Browder

Crichton is the eyes and ears of the audience, so his confused reactions and learning-on-the-job type of arc are incredibly relatable. Everything Crichton is seeing for the first time, the audience is too, and that helps build a solid kinship between Browder's Farscape character and the viewers. Although this type of character isn't especially original to Farscape, the show does it far better than many of its predecessors, contemporaries, and even many of its successors.

Browder's versatile performances as Crichton allow the character to maintain his jokester personality, often even when staring down the barrel of certain doom.

Browder's versatile performances as Crichton allow the character to maintain his jokester personality, often even when staring down the barrel of certain doom. However, Farscape's human protagonist also experiences several emotional, heartfelt storylines with several members of his crew. He's highly adaptable to whoever he's paired off with. With D'Argo, Crichton always steps up to the plate as a brave warrior. With Zhaan, Browder's character isn't even beyond slipping into a spiritual mindset. It's this flexible nature that makes him so brilliant, plus his own core values.

1 Pilot

Played By: Lani Tupu

Moya's extraterrestrial helmsman is truly riveting. Not only is he by far the most alien-looking character in Farscape, but his backstory, as well as the tale of the rest of his species, is incredibly compelling. Choosing to be bonded for life to a sentient vessel and rooted in a single chamber shows a genuine desire to explore the galaxy, but the sacrifice made by Pilot also benefits the rest of Moya's crew. Pilot also being voiced by Lani Tupu makes the actor's role a Crais all the more poignant, as he plays the pilot of both Moya and her son.

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Pilot spends his existence not only in relative solitude but also in service to others. He has his dark streaks, like almost every other Farscape character, but his otherwise flawless track record only makes those indiscretions stand out far more and warrant further examination of his personality. Without Pilot, Farscape would still be good, but his presence is what pushes the space opera into the realm of the underrated greats.

Source: IMDb