Characters who were supposed to end up as more than they were.

[Infern0]

1. Sonya Gomez (TNG)

She was originally going to be a recurring character and love interest for Geordie. Personally I liked her on screen, she seemed to have a likeable personality and I think could have been very good as a reoccurring and brought a more "human" personality than main cast TNG often did.

2. Melora Palzar (DS9)

Was going to be a main character on DS9 but was replaced by Dax.

I think she would have been really interesting and they could have done a lot with her but her one episode was poorly done and a bit condescending.


Any others you can think of?

 

[Timo]

Janice Rand (TOS). She got the closest to the intended goal, of being essentially the female lead, but that came to an end before the goal was actually reached.

Potentially, any number of adversaries. Kor (TOS) was supposed to come back, but twice had to be replaced by a different Klingon character. Okona (TNG) was another obvious attempt at creating a potential hit character. Kor did eventually return in DS9; in contrast, Mudd was expected to return in TNG but never did.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[F. King Daniel]

Decker and Illia were originally going to be the Riker and Troi of the unmade Phase II television series.

David Marcus and Saavik in Wrath of Khan were supposed to be the beginning of a true next generation, and along with other new characters would have gradually taken over the film franchise from the ageing TOS cast - but nostalgia instead dictated the direction of the movies.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Okona (TNG) was another obvious attempt at creating a potential hit character.

Wasn't he just Han Solo with the serial numbers filed off?

 

[Admiral2]

The Ferengi.

When they were first introduced in TNG they were supposed to be scary pirate bad-asses, but as that and the spinoff series progressed they became more and more comic relief. I would have liked to have seen more of the scary pirate bad-asses.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Ro Laren was supposed to be the XO on DS9, but Michelle Forbes didn't want to commit to a series, so the writers invented Kira.

 

[Admiral2]

Ro Laren was supposed to be the XO on DS9, but Michelle Forbes didn't want to commit to a series, so the writers invented Kira.

I ended up liking Kira just as much as I liked Ro, but when I first heard that I couldn't help regretting what might have been.

 

[Mojochi]

Robin Lefler seemed like a new addition, until Ashley Judd went off & got a film career. Kind of the next iteration of the Sonia Gomez. Maybe Gomez left Starfleet after those deaths in Q Who. She seemed pretty unprepared for that kind of lethality of duty

It kind of annoyed me that K'ehleyr was killed off so quick. I get the feeling that Doctor Selar was supposed to be a more permanent addition, than just one episode too. Suzie Plakson really did mesh well with the TNG production imho

 

[bolak]

Was Dr M'Benga intended to be more of a persistent character? He had a couple of TOS episodes and then vanished. Probably left on some planet when Kirk forgot to recover the away team.

 

[Tim Thomason]

Travis Mayweather had a whole space boomer background that was developed and experimented with, but ultimately only covered in a couple S1 episodes.

Data was supposed to have a mysterious background created possibly by an alien race, before they suddenly decided it was a human inventor.

Tom Riker was supposed to join the cast as a new Ops manager (with Will getting promoted out of the show, and Data being first officer), but I imagine Jonathan Frakes didn't like the idea.

 

[Greg Cox]

Hi there, Tasha Yar.

 

[cardinal biggles]

The Ferengi.

When they were first introduced in TNG they were supposed to be scary pirate bad-asses, but as that and the spinoff series progressed they became more and more comic relief. I would have liked to have seen more of the scary pirate bad-asses.

The Ferengi sucked out loud starting with their first appearance on TNG; thankfully Michael Piller and Ira Steven Behr took them in a different direction on DS9.

 

[Admiral2]

The Ferengi sucked out loud starting with their first appearance on TNG; thankfully Michael Piller and Ira Steven Behr took them in a different direction on DS9.

Dude, TNG mostly sucked out loud with its first season. The Ferengi could have been one of the more interesting parts of it. Instead we got "Encounter at Farpoint" and lead characters getting killed by talking oil slicks.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The Ferengi were never meant to be badasses. That was just setup for the crappy punchline we got when we saw what they were really like on the planet in "The Last Outpost".

 

[Admiral2]

The Ferengi were never meant to be badasses. That was just setup for the crappy punchline we got when we saw what they were really like on the planet in "The Last Outpost".

Okay, but as you just hinted, the joke didn't work, so why waste a good set up? Just make 'em bad-asses so you have some unique bad guys.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Pike, Number One, et al. Until now.

 

[Terok Nor]

Travis Mayweather. Was supposed to be a main cast member but ended up being a glorified extra.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Wesley. There was a lot of build-up and development of teen Wesley, but just about the time we were getting into what could have been the payoff of the adult Wesley that all of that resulted in, he pretty much disappeared.

Leeta. The woman with almost the same early backstory as Kira, but who became a softer and seemingly happier person, instead - and then the wife of the Grand Nagus. I'm not saying we needed a LOT more, but a focus episode or two might have been nice - and DS9 had a few stinkers they could have replaced, to be sure.

 

[bolak]

Ensign Sito from 'Lower Decks', planned to feature her again in a DS9 episode having been captured by the Cardassians.

Reading about that episode now I learn that the young Vulcan Taurik was intended to become a recurring character in the eighth season. It's a pity they didn't start experimenting with the cast much earlier instead of letting the Big 7 get old and lazy.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Captain Sanders from “For the Uniform.” He was supposed to be a recurring character but never appeared again.