Arada is a supporting character in the 2025 sci-fi action comedy Murderbot on Apple TV. The role is played by Tattiawna Jones. The series is based on the bestselling novels The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells.
Arada is a biologist who is part of a science team from the planet Preservation Alliance, sent to a strange planet where the mission goes awry. She is also cautious, clever, funny, and firm in her sexuality and in her commitment to her primary partner, Pin-Lee (Sabrina Wu — both the actor and character are nonbinary and use they/them pronouns). It is important to note that Arada’s queerness may be the center of one of her storylines, but it is not her defining trait. It is also intriguing to note that, in the Preservation Alliance, both queerness and polyamory are normalized and accepted. It is a nice departure from the concept of polyamory itself being a source of conflict. Though more could be explored in the throuple between Arada, Pin-Lee, and Ratthi. Arada gets much more fleshed out than a bi person of color does in a series on a major streamer. If you want to know more about the show, check out our Unicorn Scale review here.