What is your favorite female character from Voyager?

[BohandiAnsoid]

Voyager had four main female characters over the entire run, three at the time. And, despite not having much of a secondary cast, there were still a few recurring ones, especially early on. I would like to ask you, which one you think is the best. With whatever criteria you want.

If I get enough responses, I will make the male one later.

My favorite is Kes, followed by Seven of Nine, then B'Elanna Torres.

 

[BillJ]

Seven of Nine. She was the only one that had an interesting backstory.

 

[Oddish]

1. Kathryn Janeway. She was inconsistent at times, due to dubious quality of showrunners... but she was a boss.
2. Seska. An awesome villain, gone before her time.
3. Naomi. Since we're discussing female characters, not WOMAN characters, our winsome little captain's assistant deserves mention.
4. Kes. Liked the way she didn't have preconceived notions, especially about the Doctor. Plus, her abbreviated lifespan gave her interesting story potential.
5. Seven. Liked her "ice queen" style, though I do wish they could have kept Kes too.
6. Samantha. Nice lady, good mom, not much else to say.
7. B'Elanna. Didn't dislike her... but she did the bulk of her character growth in one episode, and spent the next 150+ on the "angsty about being Klingon" treadmill.

 

[Gaith]

Torres is my favorite female Trek character, period: smart, tough, bold, spirited, funny, loyal, supportive, and, as a bonus, beautiful. Mulgrew and Ryan may be better actors, and Seven was probably the most complex character, but my vote goes to Torres any day. And now it occurs to me it's a shame she never got a scene (or, ideally, episode) with Worf...

 

[fireproof78]

Torres, easily. Interesting character, better twist on the ridiculous Klingon tropes of the Berman era, and I think she demonstrated some good growth, even with Seven.

 

[Michael]

I would have to say that I love all four of the female main characters on Voyager:

Kes’ nine-year Ocampan lifespan was ridiculous, but I think they managed to make the character interesting despite that. I loved her wide-eyedness, her eagerness to learn and experience life and the way she was discovering her full potential. And I appreciated how she stood up for the Doctor's rights as an individual. Plus, I have to admit that I just love her voice.

I don’t think I used to enjoy B’Elanna as much as I have been doing on my current rewatch. I recognize in her traits of actual people I know in real life who sometimes struggle to keep their aggression in check. And ironically, even though she’s an alien character, she sometimes comes off as one of the most realistic people in the cast. I’m also a big fan of her relationship with Tom Paris, which feels to me like one of the more grounded and authentic relationships Trek has to offer.

Seven of Nine might be the most interesting character, thanks to her nuanced backstory and complexity. There’s a lot of tragedy and apparent contradiction to her character: Outwardly she’s this bombshell of a woman, yet her whole demeanor is so stoic and aggressive, and then on the inside she still seems to be the fragile, innocent child she was when she was abducted by her tormentors. Of all the characters she’s probably the one with the most character development in the course of the show.

But my favorite would have to be Captain Janeway: Some inconsistent writing and morally questionable decisions aside, she embodies the kind of leader I would want to work for or aspire to be if it ever came to it. I love how they made her such a hands-on captain, who’s really a scientist at heart. She won't let herself be taken for a fool easily and can kick some ass when she needs to. And yet she has a warm side, can be very emotional, romantic and motherly. Kate Mulgrew often played her larger than life and in the process created an iconic television character.

 

[Qonundrum]

Seven., though Janeway comes close at times.

Janeway has the best attributes of Kirk and Picard but something unique rolled into one person as well, but Seven gets my vote for being the most relatable as far as character tropes are, as well as being the most original take on the trope of an emotionless being (especially when they already have Tuvok, who is Vulcan, and doing another android would lead to even more Spock parallels like how some did in 1988 while complaining about Pulaski allegedly being a total McCoy clone, despite her not parroting his catchphrases, but before I digress.) The "rescued from the cult" trope was the most refreshing thing in Trek in ages, though exploring the Vulcans via Tuvok was fairly fresh and the creation of Seven also allowed a new take on exploring Borg without diluting them (for quite a while, surprisingly.)

Plus, you don't see it on screen but given the apparent dislike of each actress toward the other, the fact the Janeway/Seven scenes are always on point and on key is spectacular.

 

[Oddish]

Fun fact about Janeway... one of the actresses in the running to play her was Susan Gibney, who previously played Leah Brahms.

I can see the meme now: FLED 70,000 LIGHT YEARS TO ESCAPE GEORDI'S STALKING

 

[Detached Nacelle]

The USS Voyager herself

 

[BohandiAnsoid]

The USS Voyager herself

Voyager is a very good ship. From Star Trek ships, this isthe one I would probably have chosen for a mission if I had, especially if I didn't know what may happen.

 

[Oddish]

Voyager is a very good ship. From Star Trek ships, this isthe one I would probably have chosen for a mission if I had, especially if I didn't know what may happen.

It's interesting to see how each ship that we know of would have handled the Delta Quadrant.

The original Enterprise, with its slower speed and less firepower, would probably not have been able to handle the Borg, so it would have likely either avoided them and started a colony somewhere or been blown to bits and/or assimilated.

Enterprise D would have done maybe even better than Voyager. It had more firepower, more personnel, and was better equipped for surveys. However, I think a lot of the families would have offloaded on Planet 37's. But, with its family friendly facilities, I think the other passengers would have gone generational and replaced them. The ship would have gone slower, taken fewer risks, but been home in 25 years or so.

The Defiant, ironically would have been perfect for a crew of mindless Starfleet eunuch automatons, which is what 130 of the Voyager crew basically were. Perfect uniforms, perfect hair, recruiting poster specials. They wouldn't need recreational facilities, wouldn't want to start families, and wouldn't even consider establishing colonies.

The Voyager, with its limited recreational facilities, is better for people like the senior staff. People who actually have personalities. Too bad there weren't more of them on Voyager, or we might have had a far more interesting show.

The Cerritos, a slow but versatile ship with a less than Starfleet ideal crew, would probably have just said "screw this, we're going to find an uninhabited M-class planet and create a colony." Failing that, they probably would get pillaged by Kazon or disassembled by Vidiians.

And of course, the Discovery would just spin around and be home 3 seconds later. The Protostar might take a month or two.

 

[Lynx]

I'm sure that no one can guess who my favorite female character is.

So I publish a picture instead!




Kes!

 

[Oddish]

She and Seven looked great in Starfleet blue, and Neelix rocked gold.

 

[suarezguy]

I could go with a tie between Seven and Torres, both really good, Seven just a bit overused and occasionally too regressed/retreading but still most of the roles don't feel excessive and even retreading version stills mostly worthwhile, Torres not often but a few times too regressed/retreading but mostly working really strong with really good development, probably Torres better by a few hairs but really close. Probably Torres having a slightly better average though Seven having a few or a lot of really strong episode portrayals.

 

[Sim]

For me, it's Seven.

She has the most interesting backstory. But then, I feel VOY neglected character development of most characters, compared to the other Berman-era shows ... Janeway had a lot of potential, but imo, we never learnt enough about her to make her really interesting. So did B'Elanna ... the only truly interesting episode about her was "Barge of the Dead", imo... if there had been more of those, I might have liked her more. (Same with Tuvok and "Gravity" or Neelix and "Jetrel" -- lots of potential, hardly ever used.)

Imo, it's VOY's greatest weakness that they didn't explore most of its characters as much as they deserved, which is why it's my least favorite Berman-era show ... but Seven (and the Doctor) are notable exceptions.

Also, seeing her on PIC increased my appreciation of her, I think.

 

[tomalak301]

For a while it was Kes, and I still liked what they did with the character (Before and After mostly), but now it's B'Elanna. She had the best arc and while I like Seven, I just thought B'Elanna was slightly better.

 

[mr.peany]

I'd say B'Elanna or Kes followed by Janeway. I thought Jennifer was fantastic in the role, and I thought she was really coming into her character towards the latter half of season 3 so I was supremely disappointed when she was written out at the start of season 4 and don't even talk to me about what they did to her in Fury. Unpopular opinion, but I think the show lost something when she left and Seven joined.

 

[Oddish]

Unpopular opinion, but I think the show lost something when she left and Seven joined.

Chakotay was created on advice from a huckster and his actor wanted out. Harry was a character who was foundering, and the powers that be actively chose not to salvage. Either would have been a better candidate for elimination from the show, and Kes and Seven could have both stayed.

 

[Lynx]

For a while it was Kes, and I still liked what they did with the character (Before and After mostly), but now it's B'Elanna. She had the best arc and while I like Seven, I just thought B'Elanna was slightly better.

The character is great!
There were some flaws which could and should have been corrected but despite those, she is a great character and should have deserved better.

Chakotay was created on advice from a huckster and his actor wanted out. Harry was a character who was foundering, and the powers that be actively chose not to salvage. Either would have been a better candidate for elimination from the show, and Kes and Seven could have both stayed.

I must disagree here.

Chakotay is a great character, my second favorite in the series after Kes and i would have been almost as angry if they had ditched him.

He was good in the first three seasons.

Harry could also have been saved with better writing. He's better in the Voyager books where he's actually doing some meaningful things.

None of the Voyager characters should have been dumped.

 

[Oddish]

Harry could also have been saved with better writing. He's better in the Voyager books where he's actually doing some meaningful things.

You're essentially saying what I am. Harry's potential as a character was both vast and variable, because he was so early in his journey. He was like Bashir on DS9. When Bashir was foundering as a character, the writers went to work on making him more relevant and interesting. They established that he was genetically modified, and put him on a collision course with Section 31. When Harry was foundering, the powers that be made an active decision to do nothing other than try to play his inexperience for laughs. They were still trying to play this tired and stupid game even when Harry had seven years in Starfleet in the innocence-killing crucible of the Delta Quadrant, and the idea of him still being the green ensign who Quark almost plucked like a pigeon was just laughable. They even clung to the idea that he  had to be an ensign forever with the ferocity of a two-year-old (the human version that wears Oshkosh and drinks apple juice from a sippy cup) who's picked up someone else's teddy bear. Thirty-one years later, the joke persists... I'd say it stopped being funny years ago, but it never was.

Harry could have been the character he was in the books. He should have been that character. We as an audience deserved that character, and Garrett Wang deserved the opportunity to give it to us. In the hands of competent showrunners, he would have gotten it.

None of the Voyager characters should have been dumped.

I agree with you. DS9 ran with 20+, surely VOY could run 10. But assuming they were GOING to scrap one, Kes was not the one I'd have chosen.