![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Star Trek 'Favorites' Meme (part 2/4)
Once again, this has taken me way too long. Here are all the character-centric questions. Warning for potential spoilers for basically all Star Trek shows.
13. Favorite first officer
Ooh... hard one. I think I will say Riker (TNG). In general, I guess I'm not that attached to the first officer character, but I do find all of them likable. Riker's playfulness is a fun trait, though, and he's a very competent first officer / has really good rapport with Picard (there's a really good episode centered around the two of them in season 1 -- I think it's 1x15 "11001001"). I also just get the impression that Frakes is just a really nice guy and that kind of bleeds into my appreciation of Riker.
Oh, you know, I only just remembered that Saru (DSC) is a sometimes-first officer (/sometimes captain). He's a strong contender for favorite, although maybe Riker still barely manages to edge him out. What I like about Saru is that (I guess in contrast to the typical first officer type), he is very cautious and by-the-book -- at points, this can veer into cowardice but even then, it's always a very prudent and calculated sort of cowardice, which is not necessarily a vice. The first officer on a ship is a very crew-facing role, and I think Saru is very good in that "managing the crew" role.
14. Favorite engineer
Ooh, this one is hard. I think it's got to be Geordi Laforge (TNG). Scotty is a close second, though. I like how Geordi's shy/awkward around women (Scotty too!). And the way he's, like, unable to respond to any situation -- no matter how grave it is -- without at least a little bit of sass. I like how he's genuinely a nice, decent guy. His friendship with Data is so wholesome and also says a lot about Geordi's character, I think, as does the way Geordi treats the Romulan in 3x07 "The Enemy."
As for Scotty, I just like how he is delightfully weird. I enjoy the autistic engineer thing he's got going on.
15. Favorite doctor
Definitely Phlox (ENT). In general, I don't tend to like the CMO character, but Phlox was lovely, a delightfully eccentric member of the cast and mainly just aboard the ship to have some new experiences -- he really stood out. In general, I think the token non-human characters tend to be an essential part of a Star Trek cast, and Phlox is one of two ENT characters filling that role.
McCoy is also great! I feel like if I had seen some of the episodes where he has really good moments (1x24 "This Side of Paradise" and 1x25 "The Devil in the Dark" both have GREAT Bones scenes) earlier in my Star Trek-watching, he would have become a fave, but Phlox took the spot.
Oh, wait, I also love Pulaski! I can't forget her. She's probably my favorite doctor, to be honest, but because she's only around one season, I'm not sure she counts.
16. Favorite security chief
Huh, so Odo (DS9) is the obvious choice for me here, but the other candidates are Worf and Tuvok and those are some pretty darn good characters... Nah, I'll stick with Odo. Sometimes it's hard for me to tell who my favorite character is, until they're in a game where you can pick your party and choose which characters to invest in and yep, having played Star Trek Legends, I am 100% biased toward Odo (it helps that he is the super tank in that game; I do get soft spots for knight/"protect the weak" characters). He is just such a weird little guy. He is psychologically so messed up and so unaware of his own feelings. He is such a grump. He is a noir detective. He is made of goo. He is repressedly pining. It's great.
17. Favorite ensign
Adira Tal (DSC) ♥ Nog is a close second choice, and I love ensign characters in general, but Adira is just so enthusiastic and wholesomely adorable. They're a bit like Wesley Crusher but I feel like the show gave Adira a bit more to do and more going on psychologically than they gave Wesley.
18. Favorite non-Starfleet character
I'm not sure if this is meant to refer to, like, main cast/bridge crew that happens to not be Starfleet or just any non-Starfleet character anywhere. I guess I'll go with the latter because more options sounds more fun here.
I'm tempted to say Lwaxana? I mean, I could say Quark, but to be honest, Quark doesn't really stand out as especially non-Starfleet among a cast that has a lot of non-Starfleet characters (Kira, Odo, Garak, Rom, Keiko) who are all non-Starfleet in interesting ways. But Lwaxana, I think, does contrast in interesting ways with a cast that is overwhelmingly Starfleet.
19. Favorite science officer
Dang... this one is tough. I think I might go with T'Pol (ENT) here. Spock would be my second choice. They both seem like people who enjoy solving science problems a lot, though they do it in a very unemotional sort of way. They're kind of the stereotypical scientific thinker type.
20. Favorite "outsider character"
It's probably Odo again, not going to lie. He's just simultaneously so bitter and proud of being an outsider. It's also interesting how the show intertwined his outsider status with the Cardassian/Bajoran conflict that forms one of the central themes of the show -- Odo's status as Terok Nor's security chief isn't really handled very well but in theory, I like the concept of Odo leveraging his "otherness" to find a position he liked that suited him well. Also, Odo's outsider status interacts in really interesting ways with Quark.
21. Favorite "artificial lifeform"
I mean, I am having trouble thinking of any that hold a candle to Data (TNG). Maybe there are some other interesting artificial lifeform characters in Trek, but Data definitely is the first I think of. I'm rewatching TNG now, and he's so sweet. He is Pinocchio. He has no feelings and yet somehow he has feelings. If you try to tell him a joke, he will utterly destroy you by either not getting it, explaining the joke, and/or declaring how funny it is while laughing in the most forced way possible. It is devastating. XD Also, the totally unruffled way in which he responds to any situation no matter how dire is very much part of the competency porn thing that TNG has going on.
22. Favorite Vulcan
T'Pol again. ♥ In a show afflicted with Bush era politics and rambunctious cowboys, T'Pol presents a consistent alternative to all that, and she is always right. Though seldom listened to. An experience I think many women can relate to. The actress does a really good job of conveying the classic Vulcan trait of "ostensibly calm and unemotional but actually probably just barely managing to suppress annoyance." Tuvok is also a great character and is probably my second-favorite Vulcan, but I feel like he is very complete and doesn't really need to do any character development throughout VOY, whereas T'Pol you get to see change subtly throughout the series, like she learns how to socialize with the human crew better and even learns how to troll them. Also, she gets to go through some Real Shit. There's also a lot of Vulcan culture worldbuilding in ENT, and T'Pol gets to be part of some dramatic shifts in Vulcan culture, which is interesting!
23. Favorite Ferengi
Quark! I love all Ferengi but Quark just gets so much to do. He has such a complicated psychology. He gets great plotlines. He has such a great wardrobe. He's got such a strained relationship both with his family and with Ferengi society. He's fun-loving and a good friend. He's a very sketchy guy with a conscience buried deep down, and I absolutely love that.
I'm also going to give a shoutout to DaiMon Tog (TNG) and Nilva (DS9) -- minor Ferengi characters who are probably much behated for their rapiness and for (a related fact) the terrible episodes they're in. But I love them. I think I just really appreciate the more general Ferengi trait of being businessmen who are just so thirsty that you can kind of lead them around by the nose if you're willing to use sex appeal. You don't necessarily have to go in a rapey direction with that trait, though, and in any case, it would certainly be an obnoxious trait in real life. But in fiction? So fun.
24. Favorite Klingon
Okay, if K'Ehleyr (half-Klingon) and Alexander (3/4 Klingon) (TNG) count, then themmm. K'Ehleyr is so amazing. She's badass, competent at her job, knowledgable about both Human and Klingon society and navigates both effortlessly, has great bi energy, and is such an amazing contrast/foil for Worf: totally different attitudes toward Klingons, very playful and unserious, but absolutely is his match when it comes to anything Klingon-related. She lasts so short but she makes every minute of screentime count. Alexander Rozhenko is the failson of my heart. I love his unusual and chaotic upbringing; the way he will never quite be what Worf wants him to be, and that is the main lesson Worf has to learn; the way he gravitates toward his mother's and Federation values, which flies in the face of Klingon culture and is therefore an unsettling experience for Worf.
If K'Ehleyr and Alexander don't count, then Gowron. He is so great. His eyes in every scene! I love that he has the skillset of a politician in a society that desperately needs people with that skillset in power but doesn't value those traits, so Gowron (like the politician he is) does just enough to convince people that he believes and embodies Klingon values despite it being entirely an act and despite the fact that he wouldn't be as high up as he is if he really embodied Klingon values. He's a very savvy political player (even though his foibles -- namely, his jealousy and distrust of anyone who could conceivably usurp his power -- do end up dragging the empire into trouble sometimes). He is like the glue holding the Klingon Empire together but is very underappreciated in this role.
25. Favorite captain-first officer dynamic
Ah... This is quite hard. Kirk and Spock as affectionate husbands is a classic dynamic, and Saru and Michael have a very interesting dynamic, very close and teasing and trusting, regardless of which one is captain. But I think my favorite is Janeway and Chakotay (VOY). I absolutely LOVE the mommy captain/daddy captain thing they have going on (especially with the way Voyager's cast resembles a close-knit family). The setup that they are the leaders of their respective ships and they worked out this arrangement in order to create a combined Starfleet/Maquis ship and thus secure the whole crew's loyalty/cooperation is great. I love all the ship-teasing between them and how they are obviously good friends and good love interests for each other. They feel really balanced and I like that.
Full list of questions
13. Favorite first officer
Ooh... hard one. I think I will say Riker (TNG). In general, I guess I'm not that attached to the first officer character, but I do find all of them likable. Riker's playfulness is a fun trait, though, and he's a very competent first officer / has really good rapport with Picard (there's a really good episode centered around the two of them in season 1 -- I think it's 1x15 "11001001"). I also just get the impression that Frakes is just a really nice guy and that kind of bleeds into my appreciation of Riker.
Oh, you know, I only just remembered that Saru (DSC) is a sometimes-first officer (/sometimes captain). He's a strong contender for favorite, although maybe Riker still barely manages to edge him out. What I like about Saru is that (I guess in contrast to the typical first officer type), he is very cautious and by-the-book -- at points, this can veer into cowardice but even then, it's always a very prudent and calculated sort of cowardice, which is not necessarily a vice. The first officer on a ship is a very crew-facing role, and I think Saru is very good in that "managing the crew" role.
14. Favorite engineer
Ooh, this one is hard. I think it's got to be Geordi Laforge (TNG). Scotty is a close second, though. I like how Geordi's shy/awkward around women (Scotty too!). And the way he's, like, unable to respond to any situation -- no matter how grave it is -- without at least a little bit of sass. I like how he's genuinely a nice, decent guy. His friendship with Data is so wholesome and also says a lot about Geordi's character, I think, as does the way Geordi treats the Romulan in 3x07 "The Enemy."
As for Scotty, I just like how he is delightfully weird. I enjoy the autistic engineer thing he's got going on.
15. Favorite doctor
Definitely Phlox (ENT). In general, I don't tend to like the CMO character, but Phlox was lovely, a delightfully eccentric member of the cast and mainly just aboard the ship to have some new experiences -- he really stood out. In general, I think the token non-human characters tend to be an essential part of a Star Trek cast, and Phlox is one of two ENT characters filling that role.
McCoy is also great! I feel like if I had seen some of the episodes where he has really good moments (1x24 "This Side of Paradise" and 1x25 "The Devil in the Dark" both have GREAT Bones scenes) earlier in my Star Trek-watching, he would have become a fave, but Phlox took the spot.
Oh, wait, I also love Pulaski! I can't forget her. She's probably my favorite doctor, to be honest, but because she's only around one season, I'm not sure she counts.
16. Favorite security chief
Huh, so Odo (DS9) is the obvious choice for me here, but the other candidates are Worf and Tuvok and those are some pretty darn good characters... Nah, I'll stick with Odo. Sometimes it's hard for me to tell who my favorite character is, until they're in a game where you can pick your party and choose which characters to invest in and yep, having played Star Trek Legends, I am 100% biased toward Odo (it helps that he is the super tank in that game; I do get soft spots for knight/"protect the weak" characters). He is just such a weird little guy. He is psychologically so messed up and so unaware of his own feelings. He is such a grump. He is a noir detective. He is made of goo. He is repressedly pining. It's great.
17. Favorite ensign
Adira Tal (DSC) ♥ Nog is a close second choice, and I love ensign characters in general, but Adira is just so enthusiastic and wholesomely adorable. They're a bit like Wesley Crusher but I feel like the show gave Adira a bit more to do and more going on psychologically than they gave Wesley.
18. Favorite non-Starfleet character
I'm not sure if this is meant to refer to, like, main cast/bridge crew that happens to not be Starfleet or just any non-Starfleet character anywhere. I guess I'll go with the latter because more options sounds more fun here.
I'm tempted to say Lwaxana? I mean, I could say Quark, but to be honest, Quark doesn't really stand out as especially non-Starfleet among a cast that has a lot of non-Starfleet characters (Kira, Odo, Garak, Rom, Keiko) who are all non-Starfleet in interesting ways. But Lwaxana, I think, does contrast in interesting ways with a cast that is overwhelmingly Starfleet.
19. Favorite science officer
Dang... this one is tough. I think I might go with T'Pol (ENT) here. Spock would be my second choice. They both seem like people who enjoy solving science problems a lot, though they do it in a very unemotional sort of way. They're kind of the stereotypical scientific thinker type.
20. Favorite "outsider character"
It's probably Odo again, not going to lie. He's just simultaneously so bitter and proud of being an outsider. It's also interesting how the show intertwined his outsider status with the Cardassian/Bajoran conflict that forms one of the central themes of the show -- Odo's status as Terok Nor's security chief isn't really handled very well but in theory, I like the concept of Odo leveraging his "otherness" to find a position he liked that suited him well. Also, Odo's outsider status interacts in really interesting ways with Quark.
21. Favorite "artificial lifeform"
I mean, I am having trouble thinking of any that hold a candle to Data (TNG). Maybe there are some other interesting artificial lifeform characters in Trek, but Data definitely is the first I think of. I'm rewatching TNG now, and he's so sweet. He is Pinocchio. He has no feelings and yet somehow he has feelings. If you try to tell him a joke, he will utterly destroy you by either not getting it, explaining the joke, and/or declaring how funny it is while laughing in the most forced way possible. It is devastating. XD Also, the totally unruffled way in which he responds to any situation no matter how dire is very much part of the competency porn thing that TNG has going on.
22. Favorite Vulcan
T'Pol again. ♥ In a show afflicted with Bush era politics and rambunctious cowboys, T'Pol presents a consistent alternative to all that, and she is always right. Though seldom listened to. An experience I think many women can relate to. The actress does a really good job of conveying the classic Vulcan trait of "ostensibly calm and unemotional but actually probably just barely managing to suppress annoyance." Tuvok is also a great character and is probably my second-favorite Vulcan, but I feel like he is very complete and doesn't really need to do any character development throughout VOY, whereas T'Pol you get to see change subtly throughout the series, like she learns how to socialize with the human crew better and even learns how to troll them. Also, she gets to go through some Real Shit. There's also a lot of Vulcan culture worldbuilding in ENT, and T'Pol gets to be part of some dramatic shifts in Vulcan culture, which is interesting!
23. Favorite Ferengi
Quark! I love all Ferengi but Quark just gets so much to do. He has such a complicated psychology. He gets great plotlines. He has such a great wardrobe. He's got such a strained relationship both with his family and with Ferengi society. He's fun-loving and a good friend. He's a very sketchy guy with a conscience buried deep down, and I absolutely love that.
I'm also going to give a shoutout to DaiMon Tog (TNG) and Nilva (DS9) -- minor Ferengi characters who are probably much behated for their rapiness and for (a related fact) the terrible episodes they're in. But I love them. I think I just really appreciate the more general Ferengi trait of being businessmen who are just so thirsty that you can kind of lead them around by the nose if you're willing to use sex appeal. You don't necessarily have to go in a rapey direction with that trait, though, and in any case, it would certainly be an obnoxious trait in real life. But in fiction? So fun.
24. Favorite Klingon
Okay, if K'Ehleyr (half-Klingon) and Alexander (3/4 Klingon) (TNG) count, then themmm. K'Ehleyr is so amazing. She's badass, competent at her job, knowledgable about both Human and Klingon society and navigates both effortlessly, has great bi energy, and is such an amazing contrast/foil for Worf: totally different attitudes toward Klingons, very playful and unserious, but absolutely is his match when it comes to anything Klingon-related. She lasts so short but she makes every minute of screentime count. Alexander Rozhenko is the failson of my heart. I love his unusual and chaotic upbringing; the way he will never quite be what Worf wants him to be, and that is the main lesson Worf has to learn; the way he gravitates toward his mother's and Federation values, which flies in the face of Klingon culture and is therefore an unsettling experience for Worf.
If K'Ehleyr and Alexander don't count, then Gowron. He is so great. His eyes in every scene! I love that he has the skillset of a politician in a society that desperately needs people with that skillset in power but doesn't value those traits, so Gowron (like the politician he is) does just enough to convince people that he believes and embodies Klingon values despite it being entirely an act and despite the fact that he wouldn't be as high up as he is if he really embodied Klingon values. He's a very savvy political player (even though his foibles -- namely, his jealousy and distrust of anyone who could conceivably usurp his power -- do end up dragging the empire into trouble sometimes). He is like the glue holding the Klingon Empire together but is very underappreciated in this role.
25. Favorite captain-first officer dynamic
Ah... This is quite hard. Kirk and Spock as affectionate husbands is a classic dynamic, and Saru and Michael have a very interesting dynamic, very close and teasing and trusting, regardless of which one is captain. But I think my favorite is Janeway and Chakotay (VOY). I absolutely LOVE the mommy captain/daddy captain thing they have going on (especially with the way Voyager's cast resembles a close-knit family). The setup that they are the leaders of their respective ships and they worked out this arrangement in order to create a combined Starfleet/Maquis ship and thus secure the whole crew's loyalty/cooperation is great. I love all the ship-teasing between them and how they are obviously good friends and good love interests for each other. They feel really balanced and I like that.
Full list of questions