Kirk Vs. Riker

[AdmiralScreed]

Who's your favorite?

My vote goes to Riker. He's authoritative, a good first officer, has a great smile, and on top of all that he's good with the ladies. (plus I think Frakes is a better actor than Shatner).

Make sure to vote in the poll!

 

[BDJ]

Kirk would kick the Shat outta Riker.

Kirk didn't wait years behind anyone to get a command. Kirk went "hand to hand" with way more bad guys than Riker ever did (and won!). Kirk had way more hot chicks than Riker. Kirk didn't have "daddy issues". Kirk would mess up the bad guys day without sitting around a table and jawing about it beforehand! (although from time to time he did sit around a table but he already had it all figured out before anyone talked!) Kirk got the job done time and again while he took the time to enjoy inter-species relationships as an on-the-job perk! Kirk would plug you with his phaser and not fret about it later on. Kirk never needed a 20th century joystick to pilot his ship! Picard went back for Kirk to help him...not Riker.

(Oh and How many emmy's has Frakes won?)

 

[jayrath]

Hmmm. Did Riker ever disobey orders, kidnap Dr. Crusher, steal his ship and then blow it up to save Geordi's katra?

Kirk would have driven all the Borg technology from Locutus merely by pulling some of the old Nomad/Landru/M13 drive-the-computer-crazy razzle dazzle. And it wouldn't have taken him a two-parter to do it, either.

Did Kirk moon around his imazdi for seven years? No way! We'd have seen Troi brushing her hair while Kirk put on his boots after the third commercial break.

 

[Winterwind]

Who's your favorite?

My vote goes to Riker. He's authoritative, a good first officer, has a great smile, and on top of all that he's good with the ladies. (plus I think Frakes is a better actor than Shatner).

Make sure to vote in the poll!

My vote goes to Kirk. He's authoritative, a great captain (which beats a good first officer any day), has a great smile, a twinkle in his eye and on top off all that, he's so good with the ladies that he's had more than Riker could ever dream of.

Oh, and Shatner IS a better actor than Frakes. Shakespearean theatre, Broadway, TV, films and a career spanning five decades with the awards to go along with it. Can Frakes make those claims on his resume?

 

[CaptainMatt]

James Tiberius Kirk! The way the Shat plays him is just fine by me. Now if you are talking about the Chris Pine version, that is another matter entirely...To the Shat!

 

[BillJ]

This one isn't even close.

Kirk is a better character who obviously isn't afraid of the Captain's Chair.

Shatner is a better actor and a cultural icon. A career spanning five decades from James T. Kirk to TJ Hooker to Denny Crane. Frakes has Star Trek and... well... Star Trek.

 

[sonak]

This one isn't even close.

Kirk is a better character who obviously isn't afraid of the Captain's Chair.

Shatner is a better actor and a cultural icon. A career spanning five decades from James T. Kirk to TJ Hooker to Denny Crane. Frakes has Star Trek and... well... Star Trek.

agreed

 

[BillJ]

This one isn't even close.

Kirk is a better character who obviously isn't afraid of the Captain's Chair.

Shatner is a better actor and a cultural icon. A career spanning five decades from James T. Kirk to TJ Hooker to Denny Crane. Frakes has Star Trek and... well... Star Trek.

agreed

I forgot to point out that Frakes was probably the fifth best actor on TNG behind Stewart, Spiner, Burton and Dorn.

This is a funny poll though. Shatner vs. Stewart is a tough call. This would be like putting Stewart up Walter Koenig.

 

[JustKate]

I don't like Kirk that much, but even I have to agree he's a far better character than Riker. I honestly don't even see how there can be any disagreement, though obviously there is.

 

[AdmiralScreed]

People have given me all of these reasons for why Kirk is better......Kirk did this, Kirk did that, blah blah blah......so let me ask people this; who would you rather sit down and drink coffee with, Kirk or Riker? I honestly think that Kirk is just kind of a boring guy. His monotone voice, his weird smile......plus, if you were a girl he'd undoubtedly try to get in your pants. Riker shows much more respect for women. I'm glad he didn't try to serenade every single female he met (I'm using the word "serenade" because I don't want to use a dirty word). Riker's marriage with Troi in Nemesis was a great moment because the entire TNG run I had wanted for them to get together. I didn't feel that way about Kirk and any of his romances.
Too bad most of the votes are going to Kirk. At least a few people have voted Riker, though.

 

[MacLeod]

Go to give this one to Kirk.

 

[BillJ]

People have given me all of these reasons for why Kirk is better......Kirk did this, Kirk did that, blah blah blah......so let me ask people this; who would you rather sit down and drink coffee with, Kirk or Riker? I honestly think that Kirk is just kind of a boring guy. His monotone voice, his weird smile......plus, if you were a girl he'd undoubtedly try to get in your pants. Riker shows much more respect for women. I'm glad he didn't try to serenade every single female he met (I'm using the word "serenade" because I don't want to use a dirty word). Riker's marriage with Troi in Nemesis was a great moment because the entire TNG run I had wanted for them to get together. I didn't feel that way about Kirk and any of his romances.
Too bad most of the votes are going to Kirk. At least a few people have voted Riker, though.

The question is which character is better? Kirk was leading while Riker was content to stand in Picard's shadow.

DAX: I can't believe you don't at least want to meet Captain Kirk.
SISKO: That's the last thing on my mind.
DAX: Oh, come on, Benjamin. Are you telling me you're not the tiniest bit interested in meeting one of the most famous men in Starfleet history?
SISKO: We have a job to do.
DAX: But it's, it's James Kirk!
SISKO: Look, of course I want to meet him. I'd like to shake his hand, ask him about fighting the Gorn on Cestus Three, but that's not why we're here, old man.

ICHEB: Though it was a blatant violation of the Prime Directive, Kirk saved the Pelosians from extinction, just as he had the Baezians and the Chenari many years earlier. Finally, in the year 2270, Kirk completed his historic five year mission and one of the greatest chapters in Starfleet history came to a close. A new chapter began when Kirk regained command of the Enterprise.
JANEWAY: How many more chapters are there?
ICHEB: Thirty four.
JANEWAY: This was supposed to be a twenty minute presentation.
ICHEB: I was trying to be thorough. I could shorten the report.

I'd rather have lunch with Kirk.

 

[RyuRoots]

If you're pitting Kirk vs anyone else in Star Trek in a popularity contest, the result is pretty obvious, isn't it?

Anyway, I definitely prefer Riker as a character. He was more fun to watch and felt more relatable.

 

[Winterwind]

Riker shows much more respect for women. I'm glad he didn't try to serenade every single female he met (I'm using the word "serenade" because I don't want to use a dirty word).

You're using "serenade" because "seduce" is a dirty word???

 

[AdmiralScreed]

Riker shows much more respect for women. I'm glad he didn't try to serenade every single female he met (I'm using the word "serenade" because I don't want to use a dirty word).

You're using "serenade" because "seduce" is a dirty word???

Actually, seduce would have been appropriate. I was thinking of a different word......

 

[Anji]

I'd vote Kirk. But it would be difficult to tell because Riker does not have that much experience being captain.

 

[AdmiralScreed]

The question is which character is better? Kirk was leading while Riker was content to stand in Picard's shadow.

Actually, the question was which is your favorite. It's hard to pick which character is "better", since I don't think there is a consensus on what "better" or "best" means. Just whichever character you prefer overall.

 

[shivkala]

Did Kirk moon around his imazdi for seven years? No way! We'd have seen Troi brushing her hair while Kirk put on his boots after the third commercial break.

No, he didn't moon around his imzadi for seven years, mostly, because he didn't have an imzadi. If Generations is to be believed, it would be Antonia, since he regretted going back to Starfleet and losing her. He chose her over all of the other women to (albeit briefly) consider going back in time and staying with her. This includes, Carol, the mother of his child (I'll save the major discussion for the Generations thread in Trek Movies, but it's interesting he chose Antonia over going back and spending time with Carol and an infant David, watching him grow to adulthood).

In fact, his willingness to go call a cosmic "re-do" on that indicates that he realized his life after leaving Antonia was not worth the possibility of giving that up to spend his life with her indicates that seven years of mooning or not, Riker's eventual marriage to Deanna is something Kirk would have wanted.

For that reason, I have to give it to Riker. Besides, novels aside, we really don't know what kind of Captain Riker would be, aside from his times at the helm throughout TNG and the movies. Likewise, aside from the 2009 Star Trek movie, we really don't know much about Kirk before he was Captain, again, in terms of canon, aside from bits like learning he figured a way to win the "no-win" scenario (impressive as that is). Therefore, as men, I have to give it to Riker, who as others stated, seemed to treat women with a tad bit more respect and who got what Kirk apparently regretted not having, a loving wife.

 

[Ghrakh]

...so let me ask people this; who would you rather sit down and drink coffee with, Kirk or Riker?

uh, Janeway?

Oh, and being a starship captain, she's automatically a better character than Spock.

 

[MHT1138]

I prefer Riker to Kirk. I think he is more interesting to watch and I prefer his personality.

I'm not sure I could judge Shatner and Frakes relative acting abilities, but Frakes is definitely the better director, Star Trek V anyone?