Was Dukat really evil?

"I should have killed them all..."

--Sran

 

Dukat was Mr. Evil Pants. And great at parties.

 

Cardassia is not an entirely military society. We see very few not involved, in some way, with the military, but the struggle between the military and the "civilian government" seems to pop of frequently as a backstory to many episodes. Perhaps critics of the occupation and the treatment of the Bajorans were in the minority, but they were simply not adequately represented, and Dukat must have known about their critiques. (He even arranges a retributive act against one such politician,Pa'dar.)

 

It is rather telling that the civilian leadership of Cardassia ordered the withdrawal from Bajor, and the military went along with it. I would like to see an explanation for that.

 

Dukat was evil like Hitler was evil- he thought he was right.
He valued every other form of life less than his own and was mostly concerned with his own well being. There never seemed to be much conscience involved. He really believed in what he was doing and how he did it. No regrets. And kudos the various writers as well as Alaimo who kept this viewpoint fairly consistent over the years.

 

I guess you people are right after all.. I mean, some time our moral code have to step between the idea of non-interference, even if Dukat was "molded" into what he became we can't forgive him for that, he was wrong anyway. He choose to accept that and use it for personal glory. That's evil enough.

 

I think it was said by someone important (too lazy to look for it at the moment), but most people don't believe they're evil, even if they're committing evil acts, because they've justified it in their own mind. I think Hitler was the same way: he believed with every fiber of his being that this was the solution, that doing these acts was a kindness.

 

I'm sorry, how was Garak a decent guy? I mean, sure, he had great repartee and is a lot of fun to watch on the screen. And during the Dominion War cooperating with the Federation served both of their interests. But a decent guy? As far as I can tell, Garak would have been perfectly happy to have the occupation continue and the Obsidian Order and the military to continue to dominate Cardassian society and politics indefinitely, as long as he was still in favor. He wanted the Federation to win the war because he didn't like Cardassia to be dominated by the Dominion and in order to end his exile, not because he love Truth, Justice, Democracy, and the Federation Way.

 

Yeah, that's the kind of thing i was talking about... There are a lot of examples where cardassians put their personal well being before the general one. It seems a normal cultural characteristic (to them).

 

If I remember correctly, the Detapa Council was the civilian oversight for both the Central Command and the Obsidian Order; although both parties ran their own affairs, they answered to the civilian branch of their government.

--Sran

 

I was thinking the same thing.

To that point, did Damar turning on the Dominion in the end and dying to save his planet make up for the years of service under Dukat, murdering Ziyal and the time he spent serving the Dominion thereafter?

 

If the Cardassians were space Nazis, then Dukat was Space Hitler.

 

I think nominally Central Command answered to the council but in practice it was Central Command that really ran the show at least in the first few seasons. Until "Way of the Warrior" when the Civillian Detapa Council managed to overthrow the military Central Command.

 

I think Dukat meant well. He just didn't take criticism very well...

 

It would be interesting to hear the full story. However, Dukat is not a totally reliable narrator when he said that. It's entirely possible that the military made the decision and the Detapa Council merely ratified it.

 

Garak seemed to have agreed. At the very least, Garak does not correct this fact, and the context of what he says thereafter suggests that it was true.

I don't think it is too mysterious that every now and then, the elected part of an otherwise autocratic/militaristic government will get the upper hand. Cardassian society isn't Spartan. Mostly it is like Imperial and Weimar Germany or Imperial Italy. In both cases, elected officials aren't as popular as the army. Parliamentarians would likely be imperialist nationalists. If not, they might have to deal with vocal minorities who demand slavish support of the military. Indeed, there are people who believe that the Pentagon has too much control over the American Congress in budgetary matters.

 

Dukat was evil as hell. But he was someone who had enough intelligence and could speak eloquently enough to make it seem like what he was doing was either necessary and something he really didn't want to do, or that it wasn't really evil at all.
Did he have his moments where he seemed decent....yes, but even Hitler had a soft spot for his mother and his dog. Still doesn't mean the guy was pure evil.

 

If Dukat was human, he'd be Frank Underwood.

 

If Dukat was a Mushroom he'd be the kind that kills you slowly but only if it is necessary...

 

No, if Dukat was a shroom, he'd be one of these guys:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnsfRWaDL-E[/yt]