Who was the best commander of Voyager in Janeway's absence? I'm not counting Culluh or any random alien. Just the regular crew. Who was the best by way of tactics, diplomacy, sheer badassery? Chakotay, Tuvok, Tom, Harry, Seven, or the Doctor?
Has to be Tuvok, no question about it for me. As for the others: Chakotay - Without Janeway there to tell him what to do he'd be lost Paris - A decent pilot, not exactly leadership material Kim - Sorry, but no one takes a seven year ensign seriously Seven - I'm actually surprised she was never given command, seeing as how she did everything else onboard EMH - I don't trust holograms, anyone that can be reprogrammed or deleted with a single command isn't suitable for the starboard side seat.
Chakotay in earlier years gets my vote. I think he definitely scored massive points in Scorpion for his dealings with the Borg and putting himself on the line to save the ship at the end. The Doctor in command was a joke. I like Robert Picardo when he is acting, but not when he is hamming it up.
If I was on the ship, I'd count on Tuvok for day to day missions, and ep1 Maquis Chakotay to get us out of a scrape.
Tom Paris has always been my favorite character from Voyager and I really wish he'd had more command opportunities. He did well on Delta Flyer missions and the occasional bout in the Captain's chair. I'd think that his combo of humor and directness would help the crew, especially if he was in command because Janeway/Chakotay/Tuvok were injured/missing/all of them crashed a shuttle/they ate leola root soup again/etc. I really wish that Voyager had made better use of its whole cast, then we might've seen Tom take command more often.
Janeway: "Gerntleman I've decided to clone myself, so as to ensure the best person is always in command." As for who was the best after Janeway, I wouldn't say any really tand out, but that was a failure by the producers of VOY under utilsing those characters.
That wouldn't work... Deadlock showed us they'll just get in a pissing match with each other that results in the destruction of the ship.
Of course by the later seasons, most of the seniot staff should have been trained to be capable of assuming command you know in case something happened.
One word: ECH! Come on! Even though I voted for the Doc, I guess I would have to realistically say Chakotay, Harry, or Tuvok.
I voted for the Doc too, but that's my like of the character coloring my vision. Tuvok would be my next choice as he really seemed to own the role in Resolutions. That part of the episode was much better than Janeway and her monkey.
Honestly I think Chakotay is the only name on this list with leadership qualities. Even though he spent most of the series agreeing with Janeway, he showed emotional maturity and an ability to deal with people. Tuvok's a smart tactician but can't deal with personnel, same with Seven. Tom's too immature and distractible ("Ooh, an antique ship! Who cares there are Borg sightings in this area, let's expend a huge amount of ship resources to salvage it. Now if anyone needs me I'll be on the holodeck."), Harry can't deal with expectations being placed on him, Doc got too much to prove and, for a hologram, he's the most emotionally sensitive person on the ship ("Am I doing good? What, you think I can't command a ship cause I'm a hologram? I'm making history here! Now seriously, am I doing good?). Just, he would be a lot more cautious than Janeway.