PixlBit

A sister blog to Cary Woodham's Star Trek Blog

In honor of the release of Star Trek: Into Darkness movie Bluray/DVD release, and after reading Cary Woodham’s Top five favorite Star Trek Characters (yes really) ,here’s a list of my top five favorite Star Trek characters!

Normally I don’t do top five or top ten lists of anything. I only do top 11 lists and that’s been exclusively been done with my Halloween Gaming blogs. But this time I just had to do this one. Why you may ask? Well as much as I can appreciate a Top five list of personal character favorites of Star Trek, Cary’s choice of characters left much to be desired for me. Spot the cat? The hologram doctor? 789? Sorry Cary but you must try harder! You’re not going to win over any Trekkies with that list. I’m sure that wasn’t the case but allow me to help educate you in some of the greatest characters in Sci-Fi history.

First off some history in being a “Trekkie”, though I’m not as hardcore as to wear a Starfleet uniform at a sci-fi con, but I grew up with the series just as much as I did with Star Wars. For me I can’t place one series over the other. They have their strengths and weaknesses. Why choose which series to be loyal to when both are equally good. Like my Xbox 360 and PS3 I like them both!  I built model starships from the original NCC-1701 to the NCC-1701 D along with collecting used Star Wars toys at local garage sales.  Star Wars may had less time to delivery more action being it’s movie format but Star Trek was able to deliver action at a steady pace thanks in part to it series episodic format. A format that couldn’t be tamed for long when it had to bust out on the big screen, along with new Star Trek TV series and the eventual reboot we now see before us.

But even though I do like Star Trek, I don’t want to take too much time telling of my history with the series. So much goes on in the series with its long history and multiple character developments it would be easy to get lost in the mythos of Star Trek. To make my history brief I can sum it all up in one word: My Mom.  My mother was the big sci-fi influence with me when it came to sci-fi shows. She’s the one that introduced me to Classic Doctor Who, Blake 7, Hitchhiker’s Guide and Red Dwarf at my young age. So naturally Star Trek was an easy excuse to stay up late on Friday nights to watch.

I’ll admit that most of the TOS Star Trek went over my head at my young age but I still enjoyed the stories, the character development and the action. Sure we all mostly think of the series as campy and low budget. If any fan of classic Doctor Who understands, that aspect was on par with the Sci-Fi course and gave TOS Star Trek its style.  When TNG came along I had to see what that show was about. I have to admit that TNG series went over my head. I think I was upset in not seeing any of the original cast from TOS in TNG (besides an extremely aged Dr McCoy, a teleport status Montgomery Scott, and a retired Mr Spock). I watched it off and on over the years, getting back into it before its final years.  I REALLY enjoyed DS9. It was one of the last series approved by Gene Roddenberry before his passing and it took the series in a different direction. Sure it mostly stayed “Space Station” centric a la Babylon 5 (which they later fixed by adding the USS Defiant, due to fan request) but the stories help create a different world that was darker and not as “sterile” like how Star Trek use to be with its crisp uniforms, clean starships/starbases and easy applied Starfleet Prime Directive rules. I tried to get into Voyager when it came out, more so when I learned there was to be a Native American in the command staff of the starship. But in the end I actually liked the Starship Voyager more than most of the cast. It could actually LAND ON A PLANET! I lost track of the show when it got pulled from my over the air station to a local cable station but I caught up with it later on in life. Could never get into Enterprise, it tried to be like TOS but couldn’t pull it off though the highlight for me was when they took a different take on later seasons by making multi-episode spanning story arcs much like the Doctor Who serials of old.

I even enjoyed the Star Trek movies, even before I learned of the “odd number” Star Trek curse. But I have to admit that TNG movies were starting to lose some of their steam.  It was during this time when you could actually start to notice some of the continuity errors in the series as a whole. How can you forget how many decks are on the NCC-1701 E?!? Star Trek VI was the movie I really enjoyed even if it was the Original Cast’s “goodbye” movie to the fans. But it was also the reason why I really enjoyed the much needed reboot to the franchise.

I was never much of a fan of the parodies of the series in general. But I will admit I enjoyed watching the Futurama episode of Star Trek along with the Ben Stiller fight scene. I oddly enjoyed the animated series despite it feeling wooden.

Well I hope I was able to prove my “Star Trek cred” so let’s get on to my top five favorite Star Trek characters!  Why top five you may ask? Because Cary started the trend so why not continue it. Plus the new Star Trek movie is out! I gotta go see that!

 

1. Odo

He was one of the coolest characters I instantly liked when I first saw him. A shapeshifting security chief, he was only the second mentioned shapshifting race of aliens since Star Trek VI, though they don’t share a common ancestor. But unlike the shapeshifter in Star Trek VI, Odo was a general unknown in DS9. Found in a local asteroid belt, a bajorian scientist stumbled upon him when Odo was nothing more than a gelatinous goo on the local asteroid. Once the scientist realized that Odo was actually a sentient lifeform, he began training him like some circus animal to shapeshift into various forms. Odo would eventually take the form of a humanoid though he didn’t have the exact skill to make himself look exactly humanoid. But what I personally liked about Odo was that he saw himself as a law man to the core. Being that he was in fact the only being of his kind in the quadrant, he held a status of neutrality when it came to dealing with the affairs of Bajorans and their Cardassian overlords. Both sides trusted him to be an impartial observer and was a choice candidate to settle disputes. He worked for both the Bejorans and later with the Cardassian’s during their occupation of Bajor, proving himself to be an excellent security officer.

One of his best character traits can be seen when he’s sparing with the local ferengi casino owner named Quark on DS9. Whenever I saw those two interact with eacth other I was always reminded of the conversations’ that the robot and the doctor in the old Lost in Space episodes had. It was the perfect dance between lawman and scoundrel when it came to Odo and Quark. As the series progressed Odo developed more as a character during the main story arcs. The events dealing with Bajor (which deal with his potential love interest Kira Nerys), The Maquis (which deal with the security issues he faces), The Dominion War (that explains his origins and conflict between loyalty to his friends and loyalty to his people) and the short but important story arc of Section 31 (where they unwittingly used him as a weapon of genocide against his people).

 

2. Hoshi Sato

Ever since I saw Hikaru Sulu in the original series I’ve always wanted to see another Asian character play an important role in the Star Trek Universe. Though Keiko O’Brien did fit that bill she wasn’t exactly a recurring character and was more of a supporting cast member. But when Hoshi Sato came into the picture in Star Trek: Enterprise I knew my prayers had been answered. Being the chief communications/translation officer aboard the NX-01 Enterprise, she was the first Starfleet officer to help decipher the Klingon language as well as being the person behind the creation of the universal translator. Though much wasn’t know about her at first, she became a valuable asset to the Enterprise crew. Too bad for many fans she just became the “resident screamer” of the series.

Despite her excellent linguistic skills she had her human side as well. Though she was a member of Starfleet she had a hard time traveling on a starship. She had to ask for different quarters given how the direction she saw the stars travel made her space sick. She had to overcome her fears of the unknown as the Enterprise began its mission of exploration.  She came to respect and admire most of the male crewmembers onboard and did everything she could for them whenever their lives were in danger. She even had to go thru her own personal trials when she was kidnapped and tortured by the Xindi during the “Great Expanse” story arc. When the series ended she left her mark as one of my personal favorite characters in the Star Trek Universe. Despite others not caring for her I thought she was the most human out of all the crew of the NX-01 in trying to cope with the unknown. And I’m not just saying that because of her “mirror universe” counterpart!

 

3. Icheb

When most think of borg characters in Star Trek people usually think of Seven of Nine or Locutus of Borg. For me I usually think of the borg children in Star Trek: Voyager. And if I had to pick in which borg child was my favorite it would have to be Icheb. Though the other children had their own style and personality, Icheb’s struck me as the most conflicted when it came to either being borg or being an organic. It helped mirror the same issues that Seven of Nine had to deal with when she grew up assimilated and later disconnected from the Borg hive mind. Though Icheb was mostly used to help Seven of Nine come to terms as a guardian to him, Icheb himself had his own conflicts both inner and outer when it came to his character development. Originally Icheb was just like Seven when it came to integrating with the Voyager crew. But he would eventually become attached to them and going as far as requesting to join Starfleet. He had his own self-sacrificing moment when he willingly donated a vital borg component for Seven when her’s began to malfunction.

What helps cement him as a member of crew, as well as an important character, was when the voyager crew found his family and tried to return him to them. At first it appeared he would once again be welcome with his own people/family only to find out that his people actually used him as a bio-organic weapon against the borg. Upon learning this Seven along with the voyager crew were appalled and was eventually saved from being used in that manner again. For the rest of the series he’d become a valuable member of the crew, working alongside Seven inside astrometrics, and being only the second borg member to ever serve in Starfleet.

 

4. Luther Sloan

One of the things I regretted in not seeing Star Trek: Into Darkness in theaters was that I was unable to see what the “parallel universe” version of Starfleet’s secret police was portrayed as. The origins of this “Section 31” can be drawn to the DS9 series, bringing us to the mysterious character only known as “Sloan”. He is a character that shouldn’t even belong in the Star Trek Universe. Controversial for it’s time the creation of Sloan and Section 31 seemed to go against everything that the series had stood for. Sloan was the literal embodiment of anti-Starfleet/anti-star trek standards and Sloan just ran with that concept. Originally he appeared as a special investigator to supposedly investigate a possible security leak on DS9, we eventually learned his true intentions were to see about recruiting Dr. Julian Bashir into Section 31.

Sloan was a character that I enjoyed seeing in action for he played his part like you’d expect of someone working in the secret police. He was manipulative, he was secretive, he kept all his cards close to his vest and you never knew exactly what his intentions were until the end of the episode. He was a character that was hard to track and even harder to capture. Even when it looked like he was done for the count, he’d end up showing up later thanking Dr. Bashir in playing his part well and thus affirming his choice in recruiting him into Section 31. I was very sad when Sloan’s last appearance showed him actually dying. But given his character I would not be to surprise if he somehow pops up again like Section 31 does in the new Star Trek movie.

 

5. Q

I don’t care if this character choice is cliché; you have to have Q on this list. The galaxy’s original trickster, he’s been involved in so many events in the Star Trek universe I would not be shocked if he had a hand in some events during Star Trek: Enterprise or TOS. As an omnipotent being he’s always causing some sort of trouble for the crew of the Enterprise-D, DS9 and on Voyager. Originally he started out as the judge of humanity but eventually made his mark by appearing during odd times to either help or hinder the people he interacts with. Having no regard for humanity he does whatever he pleases if only to get a rise out of the specific character his is tormenting at the time. We eventually learn that he is actually curious about humanity since the Q use to be like them before they became the all-powerful beings they are now.

Being a Q, Q was pompous, arrogant, self-centered and a little crazy depending on the mood he was in. He was the type of character you just loved to hate and yet despite that you either couldn’t get enough of him or hated him to his core. His character was abrasive, egotistical, silly and everything (yet nothing) you’d expect out of a god like being. Despite all of this he did develop some character as the series came along. When he lost his powers he did his best to learn the ways of humans, even going as far as sacrificing himself to save the crew of the enterprise. He helped Data to laugh (though Data himself didn’t know why he did laugh), tried to turn Commander Riker to the Q and helped the crew of the Enterprise D to realize that despite the federation’s best intentions they were not quite ready to face all the dangers that space had to offer. On Voyager he helped to determine the fate of another Q that wished to die, tried to mate with Captain Janeway in a failed attempt to stop the Q Continuum’s civil war with the logic of being a father.  And because of Q’s poor parenting skills he dumping his child with the Voyager crew in hoping some of their humanity will rub off on him. He even starred in his own PC game, Star Trek: Borg, where he toys with the player character in helping to save his father’s ship during the events at Wolf 359. Love him or hate him but he is “Q”. And he adds something extra special being in the Star Trek Universe.

Now that’s how you do a top five favorite list of Star Trek characters Cary.

Ta-ta

“N”