Eleanor Arroway

Main character from "Contact" (1997) movie.

Overview... director of “Project Argus,” a telescope that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence. Ellie doesn’t see the point of a universe as vast as ours if only humans live in it. Anyone would call that a waste of space. Her obsession is making actual contact with the aliens. Now that it’s no longer simply a fantasy of science fiction, she wants the government and the scientific community to get behind space exploration as a matter of upmost importance.

Personality... intelligent and passionate, but sometimes overwhelmed. She’s sick of feeling defensive about the things she cares about and being dubbed a lunatic simply because of her beliefs. She’s frustrated that even scientists can’t put their preconceptions aside and consider the possibility of extraterrestrial life. But hey, people thought Copernicus was crazy, too.