Best DS9 characters
- Thread starter Kooz
- Start date
Is it okay if I say all of them?
I've seen very little of DS9 beyond Season 2 but even within just those first two seasons I have trouble picking favorite characters because there are so many good ones. Right now I'm thinking:
1. Odo
2. Kira
3. Sisko
4. Quark
5. Jadzia Dax
Have not yet seen any Ezri, very little of Worf outside of TNG. From what I understand, I have a lot of great ground to cover.
1. Odo
2. Kira
3. Sisko
4. Quark
5. Jadzia Dax
Have not yet seen any Ezri, very little of Worf outside of TNG. From what I understand, I have a lot of great ground to cover.
1. Ben Sisko
Sisko set the character of the entire show. He wasn't scientific, diplomatic like Picard. He was a wartime commander, the 'Renegade' choice in Mass Effect. He could stare down a Klingon, he knew what he thought was right and did anything he had to do to achieve it, and nothing was sacred in the path of achieving that goal. And screw politicians. Seriously, screw them. Without him we don't have nearly as great a show.
2. Quark
The other character who couldn't be replaced and still have the same kind of show. Quark was the critic of the Federation that Gene Roddenberry would have cringed at. He called it on its conceits, and managed to be an opportunistic profiteer while still having a strong moral center when it's important. Quark was the character who made you think, maybe Federation progressiveness isn't all it's cracked up to be.
3. Kira Narys
A terrorist in a Starfleet crew, a paragon of loyalty without being apologetic for killing civilians and other Bajorans because it was the only way to defeat the common enemy. At times feels like she's more made for Battlestar Galactica than Star Trek. Without her the Bajoran wouldn't have felt quite the same.
4. Kai Winn
The perfect villain. The perfectly self interested 'True neutral' political figure who, in the face of Kira's pure spirituality, used spirituality for her own personal gain. But what made her great was her commitment to her character. She didn't think the school was blasphemy, but she was so fully committed to that self-serving angle it was hard not to believe she was.
5. Gul Dukat
Similar to Kai Winn except more violent, he's so perfectly able to sell his current story you almost forget it's all a political smokescreen for his true motives.
Morn definitely deserves a mention for 'Best non speaking character of all time'.
This topic has made me think about just how great the DS9 cast is. It's hard for me to leave Jadzia Dax, Worf, Garak or Odo out of any 'best character' list. Compared to TNG which had five amazing characters in Picard, Riker, Data, Worf and Q and then who else? If I had to name a 'Least favorite main character' in DS9, I'd have to say Bashir or Rom. But they were both characters I like, and so are Martok, Gowron, Eddington, O'Brien, Bareil, Shakaar, Zek. DS9 has by far the deepest cast out of any Trek.
Sisko set the character of the entire show. He wasn't scientific, diplomatic like Picard. He was a wartime commander, the 'Renegade' choice in Mass Effect. He could stare down a Klingon, he knew what he thought was right and did anything he had to do to achieve it, and nothing was sacred in the path of achieving that goal. And screw politicians. Seriously, screw them. Without him we don't have nearly as great a show.
2. Quark
The other character who couldn't be replaced and still have the same kind of show. Quark was the critic of the Federation that Gene Roddenberry would have cringed at. He called it on its conceits, and managed to be an opportunistic profiteer while still having a strong moral center when it's important. Quark was the character who made you think, maybe Federation progressiveness isn't all it's cracked up to be.
3. Kira Narys
A terrorist in a Starfleet crew, a paragon of loyalty without being apologetic for killing civilians and other Bajorans because it was the only way to defeat the common enemy. At times feels like she's more made for Battlestar Galactica than Star Trek. Without her the Bajoran wouldn't have felt quite the same.
4. Kai Winn
The perfect villain. The perfectly self interested 'True neutral' political figure who, in the face of Kira's pure spirituality, used spirituality for her own personal gain. But what made her great was her commitment to her character. She didn't think the school was blasphemy, but she was so fully committed to that self-serving angle it was hard not to believe she was.
5. Gul Dukat
Similar to Kai Winn except more violent, he's so perfectly able to sell his current story you almost forget it's all a political smokescreen for his true motives.
Morn definitely deserves a mention for 'Best non speaking character of all time'.
This topic has made me think about just how great the DS9 cast is. It's hard for me to leave Jadzia Dax, Worf, Garak or Odo out of any 'best character' list. Compared to TNG which had five amazing characters in Picard, Riker, Data, Worf and Q and then who else? If I had to name a 'Least favorite main character' in DS9, I'd have to say Bashir or Rom. But they were both characters I like, and so are Martok, Gowron, Eddington, O'Brien, Bareil, Shakaar, Zek. DS9 has by far the deepest cast out of any Trek.
Any other Trek show and I could easily choose. Yet it's impossible for me to do for DS9 because the characters are so enmeshed with one another. Each one is great because of their connections to the others. It's like a domino effect of awesomeness.
It always amazed me how well DS9 could develop both a full complement of main characters (well, maybe except for Jadzia) in addition to a whole host of secondary characters while other shows didn't even seem to flesh out their senior staff.
It always amazed me how well DS9 could develop both a full complement of main characters (well, maybe except for Jadzia) in addition to a whole host of secondary characters while other shows didn't even seem to flesh out their senior staff.
6.) And finally ... Jake. Yeah, I know, but honestly, he gets major bonus points for essentially being the anti-Wesley. He sort of fades into the background in later season, but early on he has some episodes in which he really shines. "The Visitor" still breaks my heart a little bit. The relationship between father and son is truly touching, and from what I understand, Avery Brooks and Cirroc Lofton didn't have to do much acting there, because they actually became that close in real life.
So there's my list y'all.
Yeah, there were a lot of nice father/son moments. I wasn't into Jake as a character, but the moments do stick out in my mind.
I always thought the thing that made Jake interesting- the fact that he didn't choose a life in Starfleet- was also his character's undoing. Afterall, this is a show about Starfleet, so him choosing to not to join made him purposeless to most of the storylines once he was no longer a kid. Likewise, Nog choosing to do what Jake didn't made his character shine.
The one bad character develop decision I think they made in DS9 was Bashir's genetic engineering. For two major reasons. First, no matter how much they try to explain it by 'Pretending', no, it didn't make sense with his previous behavior. Second, I get that DS9 is the anti-Trek Trek, but it still doesn't make sense in the Starfleet universe to treat people as second class citizens and prisoners based on being genetically engineered.
Now, here's the genetically engineered kid story they should have told in DS9. Starfleet has rules against genetically engineered kids being part of Starfleet. Ok. Romulans/some other bad guy race say "Hey, we like genetically engineered people! Join us and live in luxury in exchange for your services."
Now, here's the genetically engineered kid story they should have told in DS9. Starfleet has rules against genetically engineered kids being part of Starfleet. Ok. Romulans/some other bad guy race say "Hey, we like genetically engineered people! Join us and live in luxury in exchange for your services."
I don't know. I thought Jake not deciding to join Starfleet was a nice touch. Every child of a Starfleet officer can't want to join, and it was nice to see that. I think they did a fine job of taking Jake's interest in journalism and making it relevant in certain episodes like Nor the Battle to the Strong.
I liked the genetically engineered reveal with Bashir. Shrugs.
I liked the genetically engineered reveal with Bashir. Shrugs.
Early on Jake did seem destined to be Wesley Crusher 2.0, but I'm glad they took him away from that route too. It made him seem so much more real and genuine. Nor the Battle to the Strong was an excellent example of an average guy thrown into a Star Trek scenario and one I enjoyed(also one of the few examples of a military in Trek using -gasp- artillery).
Bashir's genetic reveal was kind of artificial and forced and if they were going to do something like that, I wished it had been from the beginning. I will say one of the things that made DS9 good, was that they took the "annoying character" and did try and improve upon him.
1. Garek
2. Bashir (even though I don't like the genetic engineering thing, I think he's developed very well over the years)
3. Quark
4. Jadzia Dax
5. Gul Dukat
I had thought this thread was favorites and least favorites, but I was wrong, but I really need to say that my least favorites (just to get it off my chest
)
The O'Brien family...yes...all of them. I groan whenever I see its an O-Brien centric episode...they are almost as annoying as a Bajorian centric episodes to me.
But that's all just my opinion, I'm sure others like them more than some of my faves.
2. Bashir (even though I don't like the genetic engineering thing, I think he's developed very well over the years)
3. Quark
4. Jadzia Dax
5. Gul Dukat
I had thought this thread was favorites and least favorites, but I was wrong, but I really need to say that my least favorites (just to get it off my chest
)The O'Brien family...yes...all of them. I groan whenever I see its an O-Brien centric episode...they are almost as annoying as a Bajorian centric episodes to me.
But that's all just my opinion, I'm sure others like them more than some of my faves.
Jake is one of the characters who was developed the best.
In first season of TNG, it's established that six year old humans learn calculus. Jake, he's more a real human child. He's smart, but not a genius. He loves his father but wants to escape from his shadow. You know from the start he's not a TNG uber-child.
But, he's still a progressive human. Just a progressive human we can imagine a little better, with the same human instincts as everyone else.
In first season of TNG, it's established that six year old humans learn calculus. Jake, he's more a real human child. He's smart, but not a genius. He loves his father but wants to escape from his shadow. You know from the start he's not a TNG uber-child.
But, he's still a progressive human. Just a progressive human we can imagine a little better, with the same human instincts as everyone else.
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