Cosmic Coiffures: 6 Unforgettable Hairstyles in SFF

We wish we could tell you that we’re all lustrously locked here at Tor.com, but we probably don’t pay attention to our haircuts as much as we should. Nevertheless, we appreciate a great head of hair just as much as the next person.

We appreciate it even more when an SFF character is sporting a futuristic do, or is sporting a modern look but makes it seem like an effortless part of a bizarre world. Though SFF has given us some great bald heroes, we’d like to pay tribute to a few of the dos we’d love to run our hands through.

6. Christopher Reeve’s Superman Curl (Superman)

The curl at the center of Superman’s forehead has been an integral part of the character right from the start. In the 1978 Superman film even Marlon Brando’s Jor-el has the curl. What makes it so great? Being the most wholesome alien ever isn’t easy, and arguably the curl makes Superman even more of a goody-goody. But we think there was something sort of tough about the way Reeve rocked the curl, like when the curl came out it, Superman meant business.

5. Grace Lee Whitney’s Janice Rand Beehive (Star Trek)

When you think of the 60s and science fiction hairstyles, the first image is probably Rand’s beehive hair, and with good reason. Not only is her hair piled entirely on the top of her head, but the patterns also resemble something of a woven basket. In a book written with her father, Lisabeth Shatner reminisced that as a small child she imagined playing checkers on Rand’s head. In any case, we think Rand could give the B-52’s a run from their money.

4. David Bowie’s 80’s Attack (Labyrinth)

Every decade influences science fiction in aesthetic ways, but when we talk about 80s hair, you all know what we’re talking about. And though Daryl Hannah’s Priss in Blade Runner had some of the best 80s hair ever, we think David Bowie is more iconic. To call Labyrinth a beloved cult classic is like call calling the moon a big rock that controls the tides. You already know. But this movie would be nothing without Bowie’s iconic hair. So few movies can claim to be reliant upon follicles that stand on their end, but this is certainly one of them.

3. Iman and the Shape-shifting Featherhead (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

That’s right, we think Iman beats her husband in the crazy SFF hairdo department. Sure, the shape shifting Martia isn’t as widely remembered as Bowie in Labyrinth, but she is certainly more interesting. I mean, we’ve never really seen bird feather hair like this before or since. Martia was a Chameloid and could make herself appear however she wanted, but chose to look like a lithe woman with feathers for hair. Or maybe, the Chameloids actually have feathers in their natural state. Either way, the shapeshifters on Deep Space Nine certainly could have taken some hair fashion tips from Iman.

2. The Doctor’s Timeless Hair (Doctor Who)

While not all the incarnations of our favorite Time Lord have had solid hair (sorry Seven!) most of them can almost be defined by it. From Troughton’s mop-top to the curls of Pertwee and then the EPIC CURLS of Baker, early Who put hair in your face in a big way. The tradition never really wavered, with current Doctor Matt Smith having hair that we are all extremely jealous of. However, as a personal Tor.com favorite, we have to say that Tenth Doctor David Tennant wins for us hands down. On some occasions the 10th Doctor actually made his hair even crazier than normal (like in “Smith and Jones”) and occasionally it appeared to be a straight-up homage to Morrissey’s pompadour. Like Rose says in “Turn Left,” he has “Great hair…just, really great hair.”

1. The Princess and the Cinnamon Buns (Star Wars)

While Princess Leia Organa’s retroactive mom Padme had some pretty over-the-top and intricate hairstyles, we’ve got to say, without the original cinnamon buns, SFF hairstyles would be nowhere. The great thing about the Leia buns is how they exist outside of the 70s styles that pervade A New Hope. Luke and Han both have sort of a dry feathery 70s look going on, but Leia stands out as truly looking like she’s from another planet. This is pulled off pretty simply, too. Leia’s hair isn’t silver, it doesn’t light up, and she doesn’t have antennae sticking out of it. Instead, she just does her hair in a way that no one on Earth had done before.

Honorable Worst Hair Mention: Londo from Babylon 5

The main problem with getting people to watch Babylon 5 and take it seriously is this guy. And though the distinguished and tragic ambassador from Centari Prime might be a wonderful multi-dimension character, it’s tough when casual viewers only see him as “the guy with the hair.” We guess that maybe alien cultures might think this is cool, or their scalps have some kind of anti-gravity generators, but really…you can’t take anyone (even in space!) seriously with kind of thing going on.

We managed to gather quite a list of hairstyles but ended up leaving a lot of it on the cutring room floor. (One staffer argued that Captain Janeway should be included solely on the basis that he never took her character seriously until her early seasons bun disappeared…) Anything we should have kept?

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