Character Creation

[Bry_Sinclair]

On the back of the thread on Voyager's Casting, there are clearly a few on the show that don't seem overly liked by many fans, so here's your chance to change that.

It's 1995 again and the newest series of Star Trek is on the drawing board, right now it's deciding who are the characters. After some ideas have been batted around the others turn to you and ask you to pitch two characters for the show...

Which positions would you choose? Who would be those individuals that you envision on screen lost in the Delta Quadrant? Are they Starfleet, Maquis or a native they pick up along the way? Do you have an actor or two in mind to fill the roles?

It's up to you...

 

[Refuge]

Frankly I liked what was given.

Deal breakers would be Janeway - Kate was great. I love Tuvok and would pick him too.

 

[cosmic mouse]

I agree with Refuge... I like what was given.

If I had to pick, then my two favorite characters would be on the docket: Seven and Janeway.

Edit: and if I had to pick a novel actor who never appeared on the series, then Dick Miller gets my vote. That guy is woefully underappreciated and he'd have been great as a recurring character (alien or human) who could probably rival the Ferengi in some aspects.

 

[A Chimpanzee & 2 Trainees]

A junior member of the Obsidian Order. Mid ranking official brought on board begrudgingly as part of the original mission that sent Voyager to the badlands. He's there as another observer, because Starfleet wants to show the Cardassians how seriously they are taking the Maquis, and hope to improve relations with their government.

Just like the Maquis, he must join the crew after so many crewmembers die in Caretaker. I think it would be interesting to have a Cardassian on board who isn't a spy, and has a genuinely good, or at least moral, person.

Voyager started pre-Dominion War, so have an interesting mix of problems, like for instance -
1) How to keep everyone on board safe. It's going to be "complicated" with a Cardassian and a ship 1/2 full of Maquis.
2) How does he gain the trust of the Starfleet staff? At least the Maquis are Federation citizens. Can they trust this guy, stranded or not?
3) How will the crew react when news of the Dominion and Cardassian involvement reaches the ship? Is he allowed to communicate with the AQ and "send mail" like everyone else if Cardassia is essentially an enemy of the Federation? Maybe he actually helps B'Elanna deal with the death of the Maquis?
4) Will local aliens attempt to exploit tensions between the him and the crew? He's the prime suspect if anyone is suspected of cooperating with bad actors like the Kazon.
5) How do his attitudes toward his government change, forced into being an outside observer to all the A-Q developments?
6) Any eventual romantic entanglements with Maquis members?
7) Does Seska attempt to recruit him? Does he expose her? Did he even know about Seska beforehand or was her presence on Chakotay's ship kept secret from him?

 

[Dashiell Mirai]

To quote a certain Mr. Vulcan, "Intriguing."

 

[Gul Sengosts]

Most of the characters were alright. What the writers did with them was shit.

To be more specific, Janeway, Tuvok, B'Elanna and even Chakotay were good characters to start with. They were just rarely put to good use.

 

[Horta]

On the back of the thread on Voyager's Casting, there are clearly a few on the show that don't seem overly liked by many fans, so here's your chance to change that.

It's 1995 again and the newest series of Star Trek is on the drawing board, right now it's deciding who are the characters. After some ideas have been batted around the others turn to you and ask you to pitch two characters for the show...

Which positions would you choose? Who would be those individuals that you envision on screen lost in the Delta Quadrant? Are they Starfleet, Maquis or a native they pick up along the way? Do you have an actor or two in mind to fill the roles?

It's up to you...

Is the idea of this thread to pick existing Voyager 2 characters we love so much that we would recast them...or is to name 2 brand new actors to cast?
I'd save many of Voyagers great cast, but If I am picking the 2 best, I would pick Seven, Hallo doc, and I have to add Vorak.(Sorry, that's 3!)

If I was casting 2 brand new cast members, I might pick Shelby as first officer, and Liam Neeson as a ultra-future human who is stuck in Voyager's time.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I'm not sure I described this too well (the results of getting over a bad cold).

The idea behind this is that you need to pitch one or two ideas for characters who would've been on the show, ultimately replacing those that were actually included, for example: have the Conn played by a rotating group of extras (like in TNG) and including a Science Officer, who was once Janeway's assistant and suffers from a mild case of 'hero worship' for the woman who taught them all they know and saved their life on more than one occasion.

Or what if there was a different Captain, someone more closed off and distant from the crew after suffering a traumatic loss of a previous ship, or a rookie intern who ends up being the ship's only medical officer, or the alien that helps them find their people is a sympathetic Kazon?

It only really works if there was a character or two you didn't particularly like, whether it was due to their concept, casting, writing or development. If you could remove them, how would you set up the series?

Another example could be by removing Chakotay and including Ro (as was one of the original ideas) as well as doing away with medical holograms and jiggling thing around could result in the following line up (this would mean the Ops post is handled by extras, but most of those duties could be divvied up between Conn, Science and Tactical):-
Commanding Officer: Captain Janeway
First Officer: Lt. Commander Tuvok
Security/Tactical Officer: Lieutenant Ro
Science Officer: Lieutenant Stadi
Flight Control Officer: Lieutenant JG Paris
Engineering Officer: Lieutenant JG Torres
Medical Officer: Ensign Kim
Guide: Neelix
Medic: Kes

I hope that better explains the idea I had for the thread.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

I liked everyone, however I would have kept Seska throughout (probably Suder as well) and I would have introduced characters from the Delta Quadrant gradually. Let Janeway get her bearings in Season 1. Neelix could have joined them in Season 2, Kes in Season 3 and Seven, like she actually did, in Season 4. Kes would never have left the ship but would have teamed up with the Borg guy from DRONE and together they would have been the triumph cards for Voyager in their dealings with the Borg.

 

[cosmic mouse]

Well, in light of your more thorough explanation if I was to remove two characters they'd likely be Kim and either Neelix or Kes. I actually like all three, though Kim is pretty easily my least fav, followed by the other two.
I like Thomas Eugene's idea about incorporating One from the Drone episode... although I really love that ep the way it ended, as is.

I'd also give Kashyk a recurring role. I've stated that a number of times before, but I really thought Harelik played him fantastically and it could have given Janeway both a recurring adversary (that was more on her intelligence and strategical level than some of the others who actually appeared in the series), plus it would have given her a romantic interest of sorts and/or a "lust" interest, if nothing more... could have spiced things up on the ship.

And I was serious about Dick Miller in some sort of Ferengi-type role... like he's trying to hornswoggle the crew for some recurring reason. After I posted that I found out that he was actually in a couple of DS9 eps. I'll have to look for him when I get to that series.