Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “all the world loves a lover.” That’s as true in Science Fiction as anywhere else, although we might make it worlds rather than world. Who are some of the most famous Sci-Fi Sweethearts?

Hollywood seems to believe the theory that opposites attract, since most of these couples are from different planets and some are different species.

Couples in Sci-Fi Movies and TV

1, Sarek and Amanda. (Star Trek: the Original Series) The top couple would have to be Spock’s parents. Sarek was a Vulcan ambassador. Amanda Grayson was a human scholar. In Professor Jean Lorrah’s Star Trek novels published by Pocket books, Amanda is a linguist and the inventor of the Universal Translator. Sarek was played by Mark Lenard (1924-1996), Amanda by Jane Wyatt (1910-2006).

2. Han Solo and Leia Organa (Star Wars) He was a smuggler, mercenary pilot, a scoundrel and a reluctant hero. She was a princess and senator. Both were human, but from different worlds, both astronomically and socially. However, Star Wars: The Force Awakens *SPOILERS) proved that passion alone is not enough to sustain a relationship. Instead of Happily Ever After, they divorced. Han was played by Harrison Ford, Leia by Carrie Fisher.

3. Wash and Zoe (Firefly) Hoban Washburne was the pilot of the Firefly-class ship Serenity, his wife Zoe Alleyne Washburne, was the shi[‘s XO. Although like any real married couples, they had their problems, but resolving them together only made their relationship stronger.

4. Rory Williams and Amy Pond (Dr. Who) Two of the Doctor’s more popular Companions, Rory was a male nurse and his fiancee (and later wife Amy was a “kissogram” costumed messenger. Their courtship lasted centuries and extended over multiple worlds. Rory was played by Arthur Darvill and Amy by Karen Gillan.

5. River Song and the Doctor (Doctor Who) River Song is an archaeologist and an adventuress. The Doctor is a meddling busybody. You wouldn’t think they have enough in common to spend twenty minutes together, yet their relationship has lasted centuries. River Song was played by Alex Kingston. The Doctor was played by Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi.

6. Starlord and Gamora (Guardians of the Galaxy) Peter Quill, aka Starlord, a bandit and a Terran refugee, fell in love with the wild war rioress. At first it was a one-sided crush, like Nurse Chapel and Spock, but eventually she came to appreciate his better qualities. Starlord is played by Chris Pratt and Gamora by Zoe Saldana.

7. John Sheridan and Delenn (Babylon 5) Captain John Sheridan was a battle-weary veteran of the Earth-Monbari War and the commander of space station Babylon 5. Delenn was a member of the Gray Council and the Minbari ambassador to Babylon 5.y married and had a son, David. Bruce Boxleitner played Sheridan. Mira Furlan played Delenn.

8. Madame Vastra and Jenny (Dr. Who) Madame Vastra was a Silurian who lived in Victorian London. She worked in conjunction with Scotland Yard as a consulting detective, Jenny Flint was originally her maid, but eventually her wife. Madame Vastra wore a veil and was not widely known to be nonhuman. It’s hard to say which would have been more shocking to Victorian society, that a lizard-woman took a human spouse, that Madame Vastra wed her servant, or that two females considered themselves wives to each other. Despite their differences, Jenny and Madame Vastra were devoted to each other. Steve McIntosh played Vastra. Catrin Stewart played Jenny Flint.

9. Dan and Kate Westin (The Invisible Man) husband-and-wife scientists, Dan and Kate Westin were partners in the laboratory, paerners in matrimony, and partners in espionage. As the Klae Resource, Dan Westin used his invisibility to investigate crimes and threats to national security. Dan Westin was played bt the inimitable David McCallum, (VR5, Sapphire and Steel, The Man From UNCLE, NCIS). hIS WIFE, dr. kate Westin was played by Melinda O. Fee.

10. Serena and Apollo, (Battlestar Galactica) Captain Apollo was the firstborn son of Commander Adama, commander of the Galactica. He was a Viper pilot. Serina was a reporter, Their marriage was short-lived, misfortunes of war, but although their time together was brief, their love was pure and strong. He adopted her son Boxey, later known as Troy in Galactica 1980. Apollo was played by Richard Hatch, Serina by Jane Seymour.

Literary Couples

It’s hard to put the ultimate list of romantic couples in science fiction literature in any particular order, since one’s perspective depends greatly on which books you happen to have read, but here’s my list.

• For me, ultimate loving couple of literary Science Fiction is Count Aral Vorkosigan of the Planet Barrayar and his wife Captain Cordelia Naismith of the Betan Astronomical Survey Service, Both are human, but from planets with very different cultures. As with Sarek and Amanda, Cordelia gave up her career and her homeworld and learned to live on her husband’s world and thrive in his culture. Aral and Cordelia’s relationship is chronicled in the Hugo-winning Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold.
• John Carter and Dejah Thoris whose adventures are chronicled in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Princess of Mars and other Barsoom books.
  • He was an army veteran from Earth; she was a Martian princess.
• Sam and Lucky, in Robert A. Heinlein’s The Puppet Masters.
  • They were both secret agents who risked their lives to fight alien invaders.
• John Thomas Stuart XI and Betty Sorenson, Robert A. Heinlein’s The Star Beast.
  • John Thomas XI thinks Lummox, the star beast, his ancestor brought home as a souvenir from another planet. As far as Lummox is concerned, she’s an alien princess who’s been breeding John Thomases on this primitive world. To continue her breeding program, she will need the assistance of John Thomas’ girlfriend Betty Sorenson.
• Oscar and Star, Heinlein’s Glory Road
  • Oscar is an army veteran from contemporary or near-future Earth. Star is the Empress of Twenty Galaxies. Over the course of the novel, he becomes a hero and they become lovers.
• Rhis Vanur and Trilby Elliott, in Finders Keepers by Linnea Sinclair.
  • Rhis is a genetically engineered Zafharin military officer. Trilby is pilot-owner of a beat-up spacefreighter. When she rescues him, their lives beome entangled in ways neither of them can foresee.
• One of the ultimate romantic couples in science fiction is inarguably Kimball Kinnison and Clarissa McDougal, both epic-level Lensmen in E.E. “Doc” Smith’s Lensmen series.
  • Both top-level Lensmen in the Corps, they were ultimately married in Second Stage Lensmen. the third book of the Lensman series in the order they were written, and the fifth book by internal chronological order.

There are so many more we could add to this list. Who are your favorites? Who did I miss? Talk about it in the discussion below, and we’ll update this article as we go based on the comments!

-30-