Top Ten Favorite Star Trek Characters

I've decided to make a list of my ten favorite Star Trek characters.   I don't have them ranked from 10 to 1 as an indication of which I love the best because that's asking too much.  Instead I've divided it into my selection of favorite characters from each different series in order. I've left out the reoccurring characters of Q and Garak (who are a pair of my all time favorites) because they are not main or secondary characters.  I also have to confess, for perspective, that I've only seen the first season of Star Trek: Enterprise. And although I wanted to include at least one character from every series, I just couldn't pull the trigger on anyone from Voyager. And I've been watching a lot of Voyager lately in effort to give it a fair chance. The verdict is that I still don't like Voyager, however a couple of its characters are in my runner up category.

I adored Scotty, Worf, and Bashir and it was hard to cut them from the final 10, but it ultimately comes down to personal taste.  What surprises me even as I think of them are the two characters from Voyager that almost made the cut.  I've always enjoyed the character of the Doctor, but the more I watch the show, the more he feels overplayed and almost too quirky at times. I've voiced my suspicions before that 7 of 9 was the "big boob" hire with no other qualifications or purpose. However, the more I see of her, the more I like her... to the point where I think she's the only one on the show that I really like at all.  I can identify with her on a personal level akin to the way I identify with Major Kira.  Yes, she very nearly made it to the list, but my prejudice against Voyager as a whole is probably what held her back.  It is what it is and I make no apologies for my own tastes.

Beginning with TOS, I loved Spock.  And who doesn't? He brought an element of maturity to the first series that it really needed since, looking back on it 50 years later, it seemed more like a kids' show.

Spock was a creative outlet as the only main character that was an alien.  He was unique and could be intense without ever raising his voice and although he had his share of fighting scenes, his worth was proved in the knowledge that he offered to help guide the missions. He was a cold but loyal friend that was often overlooked because of the cold nature.

He also aged wonderfully as an actor and the character was finally given the opportunity to develop a little once the writing for Star Trek became more serious in TNG. Not nearly enough with so little time remaining, but just enough to prove the absolute timelessness and staying power of the character of Spock.

However, there's also Bones. Dr. Leonard H. McCoy. He's actually my favorite from TOS over Spock as far as man-crushing goes.  Why?  He wasn't handsome, Heaven knows. But he was funny.  It was stereotypical humor; everything was back then.  But Bones stood apart from the Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov because he was the point of view of the observer of all the crazy future and alien stuff going on around him. His job was something that everyone could relate to as well instead of announcing what's blinking on the various consoles.  There's something sexy about the confidence that comes off of anyone that is really good at their job and you definitely get that off of Bones in his sickbay.  Bones in love didn't happen often enough for me.

His character was almost perfunctory in the movies which is a shame, but he did get to christen the new Enterpise at the start of TNG.

Data.  The "Spock" element of the new generation, but not quite.  Spock had repressed emotions that contributed to his personality and was self conscious to a certain degree. So it makes some sense that Data would be a fan favorite even though he seems at first glance to be a copy of an original character. But he's a lot of peoples' favorites and for good reason.  His character managed to project a tangible and compelling personality without having any feelings at all to support this personality.  Of course, it's a credit to Spiner's ability to capture that in his acting.  But so many issues could be filtered through Data's innocent view point to really drive home the points being made... how could anyone not be intrigued?

He was an interesting view point to everything from the events in each episode to the concepts of love, duty, and friendship.  And he got to have his moments too of surpassing the fact that he was a machine. They were special treats before they permanently installed his emotion chip in the movies. And it added to how special Data was.

Beverly Crusher.  I've written extensively about Beverly already.  And I've stated repeatedly that she's the best woman on this show.  It's not that I didn't like Troi.  Troi was a wonderful character in her own right.

But she wasn't as versatile as Beverly.  Beverly was a confident professional too who was also available for more dangerous missions.  She had control of her emotions most of the time and it made her a more believable character in a survival situation. She was definitely an underrated character on this series because she's exactly the sort of person that you always expect to be there on a team.  Not showing off or standing out, but simply being there as the backbone and the work horse. A cool head when needed and a fighter when necessary.

 Of course that last sentence also describes Captain Picard. I have nothing but good things to say, and lots of them, about Picard in this blog.  He is my favorite captain as I've stated before and the best character on TNG.  Really, it wouldn't have worked without a strong leader. Kirk didn't espouse this kind of finesse in leadership. The leader needs to direct and utilize the talents of the team to their fullest ability while still having to shoulder the responsibility of the missions.  It's actually a hard balancing act to pull off and it was done the best in TNG with Picard.

The writer's added a lot of layers of depth to his character.  Probably more than the other characters, but that's okay. Because of that added depth he didn't have to be an over-the-top, super hero-type star of the show to prove his worth as the leader of the team.  He didn't have to know more about the engines than Geordi, be a better tactician than Worf or Riker, or have better intuition than Troi. Slowly over the course of seven seasons you got to see exactly why he made the grade as the captain of the Federation's flagship.  And you also got the most well rounded character in the franchise.

From Deep Space 9, I loved Quark.  If you've read my episode reviews of TNG, which is the majority of this blog, you know I haven't been kind to the Ferengi race.  They were the most horrible, lemon of a creation in the beginning and it took a lot of years to hone them into something acceptable.  With Quark they finally perfected what a Ferengi should be and with him as a representative of the Ferengi concept, they just kept getting better and better.

In Quark, the Ferengi were relegated to doing what they were best at - being comic relief harmlessly embodied in greed and shady business dealings.  Since they weren't big and intimidating they were small and annoying.

But Quark brought out the humanity in this stereo type.  He was a sincere and mostly honest business man who took care of his family, crazy as they all were, and could even be brave at times when forced to be. Bashir and O'Brien were also a couple of my favorites from the show, but they in this case they didn't have enough "gimmick" to set them apart. Quark was unique and made the concept of the Ferengi lovable.

 Major Kira Nerys. I've openly admitted before to being able to identify with Kira because of her anger issues and defensive personality.  But she's wonderfully complex. She is a fighter and fearless.  It's not even a woman thing for me, cuz obviously (after yesterday's post) political statements are not what inspire me.  But she's definitely a type of woman that I can identify with personally. I like Kira because she's had a rough life growing up under Cardassian occupation and spent many years as a freedom fighter.  Now she has to reintegrate into a civilized military structure and she adds a touch of darkness to to the good guys' side.

She's strong willed and even though she has a temper, she doesn't let her enemies get into her head easily.  She's spiritual and represents a special part of Bajoran culture that I've always appreciated along with that naming feature that puts the family name first. And although she's a loner for the most part she finally allows the one who loves her the most to love her.  I liked the Kira/Odo romance.  It was started in a no nonsense way that was appropriate for both characters and it didn't have a fairy tale ending.  More of the DS9 realism that I like so much. But she's a multi layered character as well that I will always love.

As was Jadzia Dax. Professional and smart. She wasn't as dark as Kira and had fewer personality flaws, but she was strong and solid.

She was the first science officer who really felt and behaved like a science officer since Spock.  She also had a flexible range of emotion... she had all the maturity of self control with the charm of unapologetic girliness as well as a warrior's spirit.  And she was excellent at everything she did without being and overwhelming presence over all the other characters. One of the best balanced characters ever created in my opinion.

I've recently gone into detail about why her character as a Trill was so unique and why it's just been utterly fascinating to watch her layers unfold, so I won't jaw on too much.  I'll only reiterate that her absorption of the various lives Dax had lived into Jadzia's personality gave her the most different perspective of any and made her the perfect match for Worf. I'm certain that this love story would've had a happier ending if Ferrell hadn't left the show, but her death was even written with deference to her strengths and special nature, making it not so bad in the big picture.

 Odo.  Serious, lonely, sad Odo.  One of a kind in the same ways Spock was even though there were other Vulcans; in the same way Data was even though he had Lore and his "mother." The same appeal applies to 7 of 9 in Voyager.  These characters are the ones that speak to my heart. He was a very unique security officer. He didn't need the menacing bulk of a Klingon like Worf.  He had a more surgical and Holmesian approach to his work and, as a shape shifter, had a few tricks up his sleeve when he needed them.  Wonderful tricks that made him an interesting combination of beautiful, funny, and kind of scary. The audience is eternally grateful that he's on the good guys' side.

But he also had weaknesses that could be exploited and prejudices that he had a hard time reconciling to his lofty ideals and principles.  But it never stopped him from doing the right thing for the right thing's sake, even up to the end when sacrificed his relationship with Kira to help his people, who had been the primary antagonists of the show, rebuild and re-assimilate into the universal culture. Lawful good. Wonderful character.

I didn't see a lot of Star Trek Enterprise, but I saw enough to know that I really liked Charles Tucker III, or "Trip".

He had the best personality of anyone on the show. I may be a little biased since he was a type of "good old boy" from the south.  But his confident and light-hearted attitude towards life and his work was contagious from the beginning.  The nickname alone made him relatable since we all often have pet names for our friends.  And a friend he was.  His relationship to Captain Archer was unique in that they were more like equals than in a command chain. The concept of the first officer being a little more brash to balance out the Captain's sagely wisdom and self control was a pattern was successful in TNG and DS9, so the fact that he and Archer are actually more like good friends was a gamble. But paid off. And I've also seen later installments of the show where he and T'Pol fall in love.  I think it's a sweet story that has the feel of a poor boy marrying a princess on a certain level.  Yes, I'm pretty confident in pronouncing him my favorite character although I've not had the chance to see much development in any of them.

So, that's my top 10 favorite characters of the franchise with a special acknowledgement of 7 of 9.  I'll do my top 10 least favorites some other week.