Star Trek has such a long history with so many different characters,
that fans tend to be torn of who their favorites are. And who they think
is the most annoying. Usually I agree with the characters found to be
annoying. For instance, I never hated Neelix as much as others seem to,
but he didn’t thrill me either. Though he does have his fans. I have
never heard anyone try to defend Dr.Pulaski, just a god awful character.
And I’ve already discussed Wesley Crusher.
However, as I look over lists of hated characters I have noticed that
there some characters that most if not everyone hates, and I can’t
understand why. It’s not that these characters are without flaws, but I
think that people tend to be a tad hard on them. So, here now are five
Star Trek characters that everyone seems hate, but I love them.
Ok, before I even start I am not saying I am the only one who nay like
these characters. I am sure they have their fans. It just seems like
like the majority do not like them. And that’s OK by the way, just
offering my two cents.
#5.Jadzia
Honestly, I needed a DS9 example and this was the best I could come up
with. Jake never did anything for me, and I hated Vic Fontaine as much
as anyone else. But I do see a lot of people seem to be annoyed by
Jadzia. Yeah she could be smug and arrogant, but that was the character.
The trill which was a part of her was hundreds of years old, and with
that kind of experience you’re bound to have that arrogance. Jadzia was
smart and kicked ass, I loved her. Though she did get a bit snarky at
times. What about Ezri? Ehhh….. A lot of people also like to say Keiko
O’Brien but she wasn’t on enough to really count her.
#4.Riker
This may come as a surprise, I know it did to me. I really can’t believe
how many lists this guy appeared on. Riker was awesome! He was a total
badass, you just didn’t want to mess with him. He single handedly
figured out how to defeat the Borg in Best of Both World’s for pete’s
sake! I think the complaints come from the times when he seems to be
just there to shout “RED ALERT” over and over (by the way how much does
it suck to live on the Enterprise with that damn thing going off all the
time?). Riker is charming, cool, and awesome. He knows how to have fun
but when he is serious, he is dead serious! Ok to be fair, first season
Riker sucked. He could be a bit annoying with his grinning like an idiot
all the time, but we don’t count first season TNG. After he grew his
beard and stopped acting like an idiot, he really rocked! The movies
mostly ignored him, but that’s another discussion.
#3.Guinan
I am very surprised to her on so many hated character lists. Why is
that? I supposed you could argue that she has no purpose other than to
sit there smiling while other characters ramble on. But Guinan serves
the same role as the bartender in the old west. When someone needs to
let off some steam or get some advice, Guinan is perfect. She doesn’t
judge, doesn’t lecture..she let’s the person get what they need to say
out of their system, and if she needs to offers a suggestion to help
them get some clarity. I love Guinan and think she fit in very well.
Some complain that she serves the same role as Troi. Well, no. Troi
herself once pointed out that people got to Guinan when they want to
reveal something. Troi has to get people to reveal things they don’t
want to reveal. Trust me, that’s a big difference. Speaking of Troi…..
#2.Laxwana & Deanna Troi
Yeah I decided to combine these two. For some reason these two get so much hate and I think that a lot of it is unfair.
A lot of people have problems with Deanna. I guess I can see why. TNG
chose to dress her in stupid outfits and not let her contribute very
much in the early years. There are many episodes early one where she is
just kind of, there. She did get better as the series went on, but by
the time she was really kicking ass in Season 6 & 7 no one cared. I
like Troi, even though I really can’t counter most of the arguments
against her. I guess it’s because I blame the stupid writers for making
her the chick. When she was rocked, she really rocked. And her
relationship with Riker was fantastic.
Laxwana is a little more complicated. While there are people who liked
Deanna, I am very hard pressed to find anyone who can defend Laxwana.
And it’s true, she can be annoying. She is loud and has no regard for
privacy with her telepathy. The first couple episodes where she was
mooning over Picard were hard to take. To be fair “Manhunter” and
“Menage a Troi” are two bad episodes. However, she did have her other
side which people seem to ignore. She truly does love her daughter and
while overprotective, she means well. And what about those other
episodes? in “Half a Life” she is devastated to find out her new love is
going to have to die (long story). It’s a very well acted episode. In
“Cost of Living” she becomes a mother figure to Alexander, and there is
one very good scene when she confesses to Alexander how lonely she
really is. And then there is “Dark Page” where we find out a big secret
she has kept for years. She had another daughter who met with a tragedy.
This episode explains so much about her, why she was so upset in “Cost
of Living”, why she is so determined to have someone even if it’s Picard
or the loser Capio, and why she is so overprotective of Deanna. And
Majel Barett was just great in these episodes. True Laxwana had her
moments, but if you get past those you see a very vulnerable woman who
is just trying not to give in to her loneliness. Sounds like a good
character to me!
Oh and what about her three appearances on DS9? I only saw one and
don’t really remember it. I was going to re-watch them but couldn’t get
around to it. Bottom line, I think Laxwana was a much better character
than people are wiling to give her credit for.
#1.Captain Janeway
Yeah, you saw this one coming. Admit it. So let’s discuss her. While I
have seen some say they also loved Janeway, it seems the majority hated
her. Especially reviewer SF Debris who infuriates me with his version of
Janeway. Seriously, which series did he watch?? He makes her out as a
sadistic cold heated witch. Janeway was not perfect and made mistakes,
but why does that makes her a bad captain exactly? Are you telling me
Kirk, Picard, and Sisko didn’t make mistakes? It seems like many of the
reasons people hate Janeway come from the fact that she is a woman. It’s
Ok for the men to be tough and not take any nonsense, but as soon as
Janeway does it she’s a bitch. No, she is in command. She knows that her
crew could lose faith in her, easily!, so she has to make sure they
know she is in control. One of her best episodes is “The Void”, where
she is depressed because she realizes what her mistakes have cost the
crew. And her absence affects everyone. Janeway is the glue that kept
everyone from giving up. She never gave up, and that gave the crew the
confidence to believe they would somehow make it home. Also it’s
important to remember Voyager was lost, so she had to be a little
tougher since there was no Starfleet to call on for backup when things
went bad. Now, did she have bad episodes? Well sure, every character
has good and bad episodes. I loved Janeway and thought she rocked!!
By the way speaking of Voyager I saw Seven of Nine pop up a lot,
people insisting that she had no reason to be on the series besides sex
appeal. These people clearly never watched, or they would have realized
she was the most interesting character on that show. Chakotay appeared a
lot also, but I rally wasn’t a fan of him either. And what about Harry?
Ummm……
So, no classic Star Trek? I couldn’t come up with an example from
that series. Maybe Chekov, maybe. I loved Rand and Chapel. And that’s
about it.
And what about Enterprise? Yech.
By the way I have no idea why there is only male character on here, just sort of worked out that way.
What about you guys? Any characters that most seem to hate that you actually like? Comment and let me know.
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