which Captain is most like Kirk?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by Shat Happens, Jan 27, 2023.

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which Captain is most like Kirk?

  1. Picard

    1 vote(s)
    3.6%
  2. Sisko

    7 vote(s)
    25.0%
  3. Janeway

    13 vote(s)
    46.4%
  4. Archer

    5 vote(s)
    17.9%
  5. Pike (SNW version)

    12 vote(s)
    42.9%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. Shat Happens

    Shat Happens Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Let's be Frank: Star Trek is Kirk and Kirk is Shatner. Every ST after 197X is a comparison. That beig said, today I was reading Memory Alpha the wiki and there is a picture of Janeway smiling confidently that reminded me of those delicious "Kirk vs Picard" debates of the late 1980s. One argument was "When Kirk smiles, you want to smile too" (I dont remember what Picard smiling look like in that list). So
     
  2. drt

    drt Commodore Commodore

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    It’s funny, I remember Janeway saying in an episode essentially how “cowboy” things were in Kirk’s day, but she’s the one that most embodied that fly by the seat of the pants attitude.
     
  3. C.E. Evans

    C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

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    Given that early TOS Kirk was almost indistinguishable from Pike from "The Cage," it's almost ironic that SNW Pike is now the captain most like TOS Kirk, IMO. That doesn't mean that both are the same, but they have similar charismas and personal interactions. Everything else is what Anson Mount and William Shatner brought to the table.
     
  4. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Nah. Each Captain has their own strengths. I personally have always liked Pike, so I'll vote Pike, even though I don't think any are very "Kirk Like."
     
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  5. XCV330

    XCV330 Premium Member

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    NOTA. Picard had a more diplomatic approach. The Sisko was a family man. Kirk never really got the chance. If Kirk had raised David he might have been more like Sisko. Hard to say. Archer had no sense of humor and made ethical blunders Kirk would have found some way to avoid. Janeway: they're personalities are different. Again if Kirk has been in Janeway's shoes he might have acted similarly. The default answer is Pike for the reasons @C.E. Evans stated. Even the Abrams movies showed a Pike that could have been what Kelvin-Kirk could be like years later. SNW is doing a good job of differentiated them, however.

    others:

    Prime Georgio: We don't know enough about her to be sure. Lorca: no. Freeman: Freeman is a glorious trainwreck of a captain, but no. Saru: Saru's personality and methods could not be less-Kirk. Burnham: in some ways she is Kirk-like, oddly, but not the best match.

    Riker: pretty close, really, and that's on purpose. I would say Riker would be the most Kirkish.
     
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  6. Dee1891

    Dee1891 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Is Kirk supposed to be the gold-standard of Starfleet captains or something?
     
  7. FederationHistorian

    FederationHistorian Commodore Commodore

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    Picard’s too diplomatic to be Kirk. He became more of an action hero on the Ent-E during the movies. Whereas Kirk in the movies seemed to be the same Kirk on the tv show, always outsmarting the adversary at the time and getting into fisticuffs if necessary.

    Sisko was a family man that was also recovering from a significant loss, neither of which Kirk experienced until the movies. While Kirk always tried to avoid a larger conflict, Kirk never had to deal with the Dominion and form a military alliance with two of the Federation’ s largest rivals to face them down. Plus, there’s the whole Emissary thing which is not the same thing as the throne Kirk sat on while on the bridge. Their similarities begin and end at being men of action.

    Archer was monkish (barely hooked up with any women), got beat up more than he beat up others, and personality wise was a worse version of Bones at times due to how he treated the Vulcans.

    Pike as Kirk’s contemporary is a good candidate. But Pike’s also more casual with his crew, while Kirk is more formal.

    Riker is Kirk, but with a wife.

    Harriman…lol. Maybe on Tuesdays.;)

    Garrett. She at least died on the bridge and went down with the ship like many envisioned Kirk would do. Not much else is known about her though.

    Freeman/Sulu/Saru/Georgiou/Lorca…nope.

    Trip (“Twilight” timeline)…huge no. He too angry in that timeline. Its ironic he not though, since he was the most Kirk-like individual on the NX-01 prior to those events.

    Burnham…maybe in spirit. There’s room for growth.

    Janeway was dedicated to the mission, even at the expense to her personal life. And was very much a fly by their seat captain, while exploring the unknown. Which is a throwback to Kirk. She could hold her own when it came to fisticuffs too.

    It has to be Janeway.
     
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  8. Shat Happens

    Shat Happens Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    This is the surest thing I ever read on this BBS today
     
  9. Shat Happens

    Shat Happens Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I want to answer something, but it would probably cause a concurrency with that thread of "what's your controversial opinion" so I won't

    But yes
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2023
  10. Lord Garth

    Lord Garth Admiral Admiral

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    I'd have to say Pike.

    SNW Pike is a reinterpretation of TOS Pike who was a rough draft of Kirk. But even if I didn't know that, I'd still say Pike comes across the most Kirk-like. They're trying to channel TOS as much as they can get away with.

    Janeway is the runner-up.

    Picard's not on the list because, by design, he's meant to be different from Kirk. It was true in "Encounter at Farpoint" and it's still true today in Picard. Picard wanted to be like Kirk when he told Admiral Clancy about his plan to rescue Soji, and asked for a ship, crew, and demotion, expecting to her to say "yes", then instead of saying "yes", she said, "The sheer fucking hubris!" (exact quote) and might as well have told him, "You think you can just barge in here thinking you're like Kirk, but you ain't no Kirk!"
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2023
  11. Orphalesion

    Orphalesion Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    No. Your Star Trek might be "Kirk". Mine isn't.
     
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  12. Qonundrum

    Qonundrum Vice Admiral Admiral

    Sisko did the hard decisions Kirk also had done in very tight situations, and then some. He also has to actually deal with instead of just spout the high-nose issues Picard would only blab on about. This readily makes Sisko the most grounded leader of the lot*. "Sons of Mogh" and "For the Uniform" are two of many great examples of this.

    * it's also why Q went back to Picard time and time again. Not that I'm complaining...

    Janeway had the best attributes of Kirk and wanting to be loyal to the crew as much as they were to hair.

    Pike I'd rather see as his own captain; he reminds me more of "warm'n'fuzzy Kirk" from season 3 a little too often. I don't say that in a bad way, but the Trek motif of captains that stick up for the crew, defend loyalty, and disobey orders if the situation is grave enough... but I digress. Pike in SNW comes close, but "The Cage"'s Pike is definitely a different captain.

    Honorable mention: Cap'n Crunch may have been a bowl full of corn syrup, but it was delicious!

    Another honorable mention: This goes to that stick of butter all soft and gooey on the dining room table just before Mittens the cat starts licking it with our your knowledge, and you can guess what he had licked just a few minutes earlier.

    Finally, last but not not-least: Picard - He couldn't be Kirk or else the comparisons made in 1987 would be a lot easier to write off. Critics would say "Picard's just a copycat" and they'd be 100% right. What I was tempting to write would be a thread in of itself...
     
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  13. Lord Garth

    Lord Garth Admiral Admiral

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    SNW Pike is basically the idea of TOS Pike mixed with Kelvin Pike and then combined with an Anti-Lorca, "I'm not him, I'm not Lorca," and what Anson Mount brought to the table was grafted onto all of that.

    There's enough there that Pike developed into a character similar to Kirk but distinct.
     
  14. Lord Garth

    Lord Garth Admiral Admiral

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    I've got to wonder what @Shat Happens thinks about Paul Wesley's Kirk on SNW.

    "He's not William Shatner!" Yeah, of course not, but besides that.
     
  15. Shat Happens

    Shat Happens Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I am sorry.
     
  16. Shat Happens

    Shat Happens Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I don't know.

    The first time in my life I felt embarassment for being a Trekkie was in 1994 when I(fan), my gf(fan), my friend(big fan) and his new gf (not a fan) went to watch Generations ("the stupidest movie ever made" --Plinkett, Youtube). But my love for ST endured.

    Until 2019 when I saw Spock and Number One singing the Major General song in a turbolift.

    (The same song that was in a previous episode literally titled Disaster)

    Then I gave up. I dont watch any of the new productions. I actually didnt know Kirk appeared in SNW until this post.
     
  17. Lord Garth

    Lord Garth Admiral Admiral

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    Don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to convert you or make you a fan. I'm very "in the middle" about SNW myself, but I've got to know your take. There's probably some clip on YouTube or something.

    You took your girlfriend to see Generations?! You should've just stayed at home and watched TWOK, TSFS, and TVH instead. Generations was the first Star Trek movie I didn't like.
     
  18. Macintosh

    Macintosh Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Mine either. I'm a Star Trek fan in spite of Kirk and Shatner, not because of them.
     
  19. at Quark's

    at Quark's Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Kirk simply was the first, so in that sense he naturally is the standard captains of all later series are compared against. But to me he's not the gold standard every other captain should (try to) live up to, even though of course he was one of Starfleet greatest. For example, in my view Kirk was stronger in some areas than Picard, weaker in others. But they also lived in very different times.
     
  20. Shat Happens

    Shat Happens Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    You all need Jesus.
    [​IMG]
     
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