Best Star Trek Captain

[Elmo]

Sisko is the best captain in my opinion.

Ive sometimes seem people who say “well if the Dominion War never happened...” or “he’s just an angry dude who gets visions from
Gods”

Well it did happen and that’s such a limited view of his character. The first captain to challenge the wisdom of star fleet but also try desperately to hold true to what it’s supposed to represent. A captain with enormous responsibility and facing constant dilemmas and struggles at every turn. Somehow persevering. Also, a family man, lost his wife and all he has is his son.

If we’re talking “best” in terms of his performance as a military officer, that can be debated for sure. As a character he is the best.

Just my opinion

[Joker]

Ive sometimes seem people who say “well if the Dominion War never happened...”

Well if Picard never Captained the Enterprise... and so on and so on.

I think Sisko is the best because he got the most development. Which is just a fact of being on DS9. Kira's better than Riker, because she was developed more. That show really did work on making those characters nuanced people, who went though a lot, and changed over the course of the show. The other shows just didn't put in that level of work, and when they did it was rarely represented consistently from episode to episode.

They also had lasting personal relationships, which the other shows didn't do very much of. Sisko wasn't just a commanding officer of DS9, he was also a father, and that was a big part of his character and screen time.

I don't think I voted, and now it's closed, but I would have voted Sisko.

[kingaliencracker]

And what about the two people who had to be condemned to die without any say in the matter for this to go on?

I've heard this argument before. Again, if you feel the ends justify the means, then that's more of a personal belief that can be debated over and over again.

It doesn't change the fact that Janeway executed a sentient being against his will and for committing no crime other than existing.

[kingaliencracker]

Yeah, they didn't give Janeway the easy out.

The more predictable outcome would be Tuvix willing to sacrifice himself to bring back Neelix and Tuvac, thus keeping Janeways hands clean. But she had no easy out and was forced to make the tough call.

It was a bold move on the shows part, though not entirely shocking that it may have generated some critics for the character. But it also shows that Janeway is in a dire enough predicament (in contrast to some of her peers) to where she doesn't have the same luxuries of doing the right thing. THat may be a bit of a cop out... but I suppose that's part of what made Voyager stand out a bit. In hindsight maybe the show would have been BETTER if we saw more of that.

The original script was supposed to be much more comical and have Tuvix decide to separate himself willingly. So I applaud the decision to make the episode more poignant and the outcome more topical.

My overall problem with Janeway has less to do with the actress and more to do with the inconsistent writing. Janeway would go from being a scientific, rational, principled Star Fleet captain to a complete basket case who made extremely emotional decisions. Whoever was responsible for writing the character or for her direction really didn't know how to write strong female characters.

[Kieran_Frost]

The original script was supposed to be much more comical and have Tuvix decide to separate himself willingly. So I applaud the decision to make the episode more poignant and the outcome more topical.

My overall problem with Janeway has less to do with the actress and more to do with the inconsistent writing. Janeway would go from being a scientific, rational, principled Star Fleet captain to a complete basket case who made extremely emotional decisions. Whoever was responsible for writing the character or for her direction really didn't know how to write strong female characters.

I do agree she was inconsistent, not the actress' fault. But is any character CONSISTENT? Really? Across 120 episodes? The whole cast flip-flopped. And that is where the series went wrong. It couldn't decide if it was pure like TNG, or dark and morally suspect like DS9. So sat in the middle ground. At her best, Janeway was a ruthless b*tch, who could still be merciful, but the ends DO justify the means when it came to protecting her crew. Year of Hell is STUNNING! Admiral Janeway is my spirit animal. Janeway was a bad-ass when written right, and such a strong actress. In many ways my favourite traits of Seven of Nine are the same as Janeway's, and I wish Janeway had gotten more and more ruthless as the show went on.

[Sutekh]

Am I the only one who wouldn't have cared is Janeway straight up murdered Nelix? Period. Poor Tuvok being trapped with Nelix for all time, that's a greater crime than murder.

I hear ya. Neelix was the number one thing I did not like about Voyager. So annoying! (Although the holo-doctor also bugged me. It's like if The Next Generation had decided to make 'funny annoying' characters like Barclay and Q regular cast members and let them flounce about on my last nerve every episode...) "Yes, he's so funny. Shoot him."

Still, every Trek has *someone* I want to abandon on the next M-class planet and never see again. In DS9 it was Ezri Dax. On Enterprise, it was Sato, and her random-neurosis-of-the-episode (I felt bad for the actress, 'Gee, how is my character going to be a whiny basketcase *this* week?')

[Kieran_Frost]

I hear ya. Neelix was the number one thing I did not like about Voyager. So annoying! (Although the holo-doctor also bugged me. It's like if The Next Generation had decided to make 'funny annoying' characters like Barclay and Q regular cast members and let them flounce about on my last nerve every episode...) "Yes, he's so funny. Shoot him."

I liked the Doctor, for the most part. It was a great concept, but I do see your point about comparing him to Barclay (who actually, I was never a fan of). I loved Janeway and Seven, two of my favourite Star Trek characters ever. But Voyager had too many awful characters. Neelix, Ensign Kim, Chakotey... and Bel'Anna was sometimes VERY tedious. Too many bad characters sunk that show. I mean ENSIGN Kim. I cringed everytime we heard "senior staff to the ready room" and ENSIGN Kim gets up to go there. Why not invite the whole crew while you're at it, if the lowest ranking officer counts as senior staff? Then again the cook was in the meeting... so... AHAHAHA!

[XPac]

Just to say this ... believing that Picard, Sisko or Kirk are "better" than Janeway or Archer isn't necessarily a knock against Janeway or Archer.

Those 3 are probably some of the most iconic characters in all of science fiction. It's high measuring stick. It's like comparing Batman to say Green Arrow. Batman is Batman ... of course he's likely going to be at the top of the list, but that doesn't mean Green Arrow sucks.

[JamesonAnders]

Picard most closely resembled Roddenberry's vision, until Roddenberry unfortunately passed away. Then he largely descended into the same action hero tripe of all the other captains. So...Picard hands down, for awhile.

[Powerboy]

Well if Picard never Captained the Enterprise... and so on and so on.

I think Sisko is the best because he got the most development. Which is just a fact of being on DS9. Kira's better than Riker, because she was developed more. That show really did work on making those characters nuanced people, who went though a lot, and changed over the course of the show. The other shows just didn't put in that level of work, and when they did it was rarely represented consistently from episode to episode.

They also had lasting personal relationships, which the other shows didn't do very much of. Sisko wasn't just a commanding officer of DS9, he was also a father, and that was a big part of his character and screen time.

I don't think I voted, and now it's closed, but I would have voted Sisko.

True Kirk existed in a time of episodic television and TNG mostly the same. Picard changed a little bit but only because the early Picard had such a superior attitude about people from the past and they softened that.

Kirk, Picard, Janeway and Archer didn't change much if at all.

As a character, Sisko was the best in that he had a real character arc from beginning to end which none of the others had. He had a purpose outside of being a Star Fleet Captain. At that, he was a decent commanding officer and probably second only to Picard in that category. Granted, they all to some degree had that television show thing where the captain and/ or the entire command crew go into dangerous situations. That way, if anything goes wrong, you've lost your entire command crew with all the years of training put into them. But that's neutral because it's standard Star Trek. They're the main actors. Kirk was the worst captain by any realistic standards and the least interesting to me. Picard was the most realistic and Sisko the most interesting.

[Powerboy]

I liked the Doctor, for the most part. It was a great concept, but I do see your point about comparing him to Barclay (who actually, I was never a fan of). I loved Janeway and Seven, two of my favourite Star Trek characters ever. But Voyager had too many awful characters. Neelix, Ensign Kim, Chakotey... and Bel'Anna was sometimes VERY tedious. Too many bad characters sunk that show. I mean ENSIGN Kim. I cringed everytime we heard "senior staff to the ready room" and ENSIGN Kim gets up to go there. Why not invite the whole crew while you're at it, if the lowest ranking officer counts as senior staff? Then again the cook was in the meeting... so... AHAHAHA!

Some of the characters that were good I attribute to the actors and some that were bad also to the actors since the writers were mostly the same people.

I didn't hate any character but Neelix was sort of the most forced character.

With Harry Kim, it was the actor. He just didn't have the talent to hold his own with the others. And it's not that they didn't write material for him but he couldn't do much with it even though he tried. Being in a Senior staff meeting was fine. Remember the premise. Most of the command crew was killed in the first episode. Among what was left, he was a senior crewman. Neelix being in a meeting came down to him being the only one who knew the territory though that got weak as they moved on.

I thought Kes was good and hated it when they wrote her out of the show. But Seven, once you get past her appearance, is a fascinating character with great character depth and story potential.

The Doctor also had a lot of character development. Really, he's Spock, torn between two natures. He's Data which is to say that both the Doctor and Data are Pinnochio. They want to be real boys. They want to be more than they seem to be and be perceived and accepted as more while ironically not quite seeing that the desire to be more than they are means they are more than they think they are. I also attribute Robert Picardo's whimsical approach to the role as a major part of the appeal. In fact, he said in an interview that was what got him the role.

With Chakoyay, I think some of it is the limits of the actor. Of course, he was a Native American stereotype. But I think it was more the acting.

Tuvok was very interesting, almost too interesting to do a huge rundown of why. He played a full Vulcan with a touch of showing what he really felt.

I'm skipping some people who were okay.

I see Janeway as a character who was stoic, like Picard in a lot of ways, feeling she shouldn't show her full feelings to her crew, that she should maintain a distance, but in a situation where that isn't practical. She can also show a touch of whimsy. The problem is you had a good actress trapped in a rigid role and I don't recall many episodes where she could break character and sow some raw emotions as was done with Picard. Her choices were sometimes inconsistent without any real explanation for it.

[Elmo]

Star Trek’s best move for development is to give characters beards

[XPac]

True Kirk existed in a time of episodic television and TNG mostly the same. Picard changed a little bit but only because the early Picard had such a superior attitude about people from the past and they softened that.

Kirk, Picard, Janeway and Archer didn't change much if at all.

As a character, Sisko was the best in that he had a real character arc from beginning to end which none of the others had. He had a purpose outside of being a Star Fleet Captain. At that, he was a decent commanding officer and probably second only to Picard in that category. Granted, they all to some degree had that television show thing where the captain and/ or the entire command crew go into dangerous situations. That way, if anything goes wrong, you've lost your entire command crew with all the years of training put into them. But that's neutral because it's standard Star Trek. They're the main actors. Kirk was the worst captain by any realistic standards and the least interesting to me. Picard was the most realistic and Sisko the most interesting.

Though I do think Kirk in a lot of ways was the worse Captain in terms of being a by the book Star Fleet officer, in a lot of ways I do think Kirk might be the best Captain if you're in a fight. Some of the best Star trek ship fights were under him.

[Celgress]

Sisko is my favorite captain, by far. He's a legit badass in many, many scenes who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty when need be.

[stargazer01]

more character development doesn't mean a character is better, imo. Sometimes that development sucks.

And Kirk wasn't always by the book Captain. He disobeyed Starfleet to find his friend. That was part of his character development, he loved Spock as a brother. I also don't watch Star Trek for pure realism. I watch it as great escapism and moral lessons.