Deadliest Enemy.

[The Lonely Man]

Now this could really go into any of the forums but during my current rewatch of Voyager it got me thinking of the deadliest enemy the Federation ever came across.
There are a number of contenders, The Dominion, The Romulans, Cardassians and of course, The Borg amongst others.
Was there ever any other instance of an enemy being so utterly dominant and unstoppable as The Voth were ?
Voyager could do literally nothing against them and in the end were happy to walk away with their tails between their legs and a good warning still ringing in their ears.

In the past, and indeed the future following on from The Voth encounter, even the most seemingly ruthless enemy had some sort of weakness which was soon found and exploited. Not so with The Voth.

I am disappointed we never saw them again but if we did then I'm assuming Voyager would have found some way to counter them, leaving them as they are, as a one and done deal. They nail, for me at least, the tagline of deadliest enemy ever encountered.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

I'm just guessing but Species 8472 also seemed very powerful. I'm not sure the Voth could win against them ...
But then maybe they could. Who knows? No one does unless some author comes up with an idea of those two testing each other's strengths in a VOY book.

 

[at Quark's]

The deadliest enemy the Federation ever faced were mediocre writers.

Seriously though, I'm not sure the Voth count as enemy (though they are very powerful). It's more that Voyager simply got trapped as a chesspiece in an internal ideological struggle within Voth society.

But I'm wondering... suppose the "theory of a distant origin" steadily gained momentum as an underground movement in Voth society, would the Voth be so ruthless to consider simply eradicating humanity / destroying earth in order to destroy the evidence?

 

[Catarina]

The deadliest enemy the Federation ever faced were mediocre writers.

 

[Paradise City]

The Dominion is the deadliest. They almost took over the Alpha Quadrant and were still a force to be reckoned with against several combined powers in the AQ even cut off from their Gamma Quadrant home. The space hornets in Voyager where quickly stitched up with the Federation Flu. To modify the immortal words of Shania Twain "they don't impress me much".

 

[The Lonely Man]

I'm just guessing but Species 8472 also seemed very powerful. I'm not sure the Voth could win against them ...k.

They exploded onto the scene and had the Borg on the run in no time.

A few modifications to Voyagers weapons later and they were off back to their own domain with a bloody nose.

The weapons were beyond useless against The Voth as was Voyager itself.

 

[Lynx]

The deadliest enemy the Federation ever faced were mediocre writers.

Seriously though, I'm not sure the Voth count as enemy (though they are very powerful). It's more that Voyager simply got trapped as a chesspiece in an internal ideological struggle within Voth society.

But I'm wondering... suppose the "theory of a distant origin" steadily gained momentum as an underground movement in Voth society, would the Voth be so ruthless to consider simply eradicating humanity / destroying earth in order to destroy the evidence?

Ah, you did beat me there!

I was just going to write that the worst enemy were "The Writers and Producers Of The Dark Force".

Anyway, I do think that the Voth were more powerful than Species 8472 (ah finally I got it right without having to look up the exact number). I guess that the possible enemy who were stronger than the Borg which was mentioned in "Unity" were the Voth.

Since Voyager managed to defeat both the Borg and Species 8472 but had no chance to defeat the Voth, I consider the Voth most powerful.

As for your last question, it could be something for a future Star Trek series!

 

[Thomas Eugene]

They exploded onto the scene and had the Borg on the run in no time.

A few modifications to Voyagers weapons later and they were off back to their own domain with a bloody nose.

The weapons were beyond useless against The Voth as was Voyager itself.

True but later they came back. And if Janeway hadn't made peace with them, who knows what harm they could have done to the Federation/Alpha Quadrant/Milky Way. The fact that Janeway started the peace negotiations with them prevented us from findig out how strong they really were.

Also, the Voth never seemed bent on wiping out our galaxy. Species 8472 did.

 

[The Lonely Man]

True but later they came back. And if Janeway hadn't made peace with them, who knows what harm they could have done to the Federation/Alpha Quadrant/Milky Way. The fact that Janeway started the peace negotiations with them prevented us from findig out how strong they really were.

Also, the Voth never seemed bent on wiping out our galaxy. Species 8472 did.

Fair point.

The thing with the Voth is the ease with which they bested Voyager, there was a defence and a viable one against 8472, with the Voth, there was nothing, absolutely nothing Janeway could have done.
Were they every brought back then clearly that would had to have changed but as they were presented, one and done. Then I've long thought them the most dangerous species The Federation ever encountered.

Distant origin is certainly in my top 5 Voyager episodes.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

Distant origin is certainly in my top 5 Voyager episodes.

It's a lovely episode although it isn't among the top 5 for me. Still, a nice speech by Chakotay.
I guess the Voth don't appear as deadly to me as some other species because they don't make the impression they want to conquer the galaxy (or anything at all). I have the impression they are happy to live wherever they live and if you do not attack their way of life ("the doctrine", I guess that's what it was called), then they won't hurt you.
Actually, once you admit they have a right to deny their origin on Earth, they even let you go away unharmed.

Also, someone mentioned the Q. They certainly wield a lot more power than the Voth but again, our favourite Q always makes the impression he would just like to have a little fun with humankind, nothing more. He likes to teach us lessons but attacking the galaxy is far from the thoughts of the Q. In fact, if they did anything like that, they would lose one of their favourite playgrounds.

Just my impressions, of course.

 

[The Lonely Man]

It's a lovely episode although it isn't among the top 5 for me. Still, a nice speech by Chakotay.
I guess the Voth don't appear as deadly to me as some other species because they don't make the impression they want to conquer the galaxy (or anything at all). I have the impression they are happy to live wherever they live and if you do not attack their way of life ("the doctrine", I guess that's what it was called), then they won't hurt you.
Actually, once you admit they have a right to deny their origin on Earth, they even let you go away unharmed.

Also, someone mentioned the Q. They certainly wield a lot more power than the Voth but again, our favourite Q always makes the impression he would just like to have a little fun with humankind, nothing more. He likes to teach us lessons but attacking the galaxy is far from the thoughts of the Q. In fact, if they did anything like that, they would lose one of their favourite playgrounds.

Just my impressions, of course.

Again, all good points. Certainly The Q had no equal anywhere when it came to power. Like you though I never really considered them an enemy. Most of the time they were a comic distraction.

Still, it's all about opinions and I thank you for yourself.

 

[The Lonely Man]

Should be yours. ^^^^^

Can't seem to edit a post yet.

 

[at Quark's]

I think to consider how 'deadly' a species is, both power and intent should be taken into account.

For example, the Borg are very hostile (though they themselves would see it differently), and are significantly more powerful than all traditional enemies of the Federation (at least, when they were introduced).

The Voth seem more powerful than the Borg (though we don't really know for sure), but not as hostile (they weren't bent on enslaving or eradicating humanity, they just wanted Voyager out of the way as it was an inconvenient piece of "evidence").

The Douwd that Picard met was more powerful still and quite capable of hostility, as he destroyed a race of billions, all their populations on all planets, all their starships, with a single thought. Happily he wasn't hostile to the Federation at all.

So which one of these is the most "deadly" ?

And then I'm even still not considering beings like Q, Trelane, the Greek Gods from TOS, the Andromedans, the Doomsday device, V'ger and a whole other host of ultra-powerful "antagonists" ....

 

[Sophie74656]

I think 8472 were the deadliest. If the Borg were scared of them, that's bad

 

[The_Baroness]

Pakleds.

I mean just look at them.

 

[KelisThePoet]

I think to consider how 'deadly' a species is, both power and intent should be taken into account.

I agree, and I think one more thing has to be taken into account: focus. Or maybe that's just simply part of intent/hostility, but my point is that if we're going to identify the Federation's #1 enemy, the question is how hostile are they to the Federation, in particular. The Dominion seems generally hostile to every other power and takes the approach of, "We'll get to you in turn." The wormhole opens up, and it's the Federation's turn, but ultimately the Federation beat the Dominion because they had other interests in the Alpha Quadrant, and the Federation took advantage of the various ways they became entangled with other powers and pursuits. The Borg on the other hand . . . For a species that claims to value efficiency above all, they sure turn Earth into an inefficient obsession.

But there is one powerful group whose hostility is focused with even more laser intensity at everything the Federation stands for. And that's Section 31.

 

[Voth commando1]

Yeah O love the Voth-voyager always managed to pull off somethings against other aliens-the Borg, 8472, the hierarchy, the hirogen, among others but the Voth... Voyager was utterly at their mercy.

The only thing that saved them was the scientist Gegen giving up his love of truth for their lives-I remember when I watched the episode I was genuinely worried our heros would perish in a labor camp.

The dominion couldn't transport a whole ship, the dominion couldn't wage some cyberop and render Voyager toothless I was impressed they were awesome!

 

[at Quark's]

The Voth technology is impressive, but less so when you consider they have at least a 20 million (and probably more) year headstart on humans. I'd like to believe humans/the Federation would have equal or superior technology in a thousandth of that time span. Unless of course, there are nigh-impenetrable 'tech barriers' the Federation has yet to encounter.

 

[Voth commando1]

The Voth technology is impressive, but less so when you consider they have at least a 20 million (and probably more) year headstart on humans. I'd like to believe humans/the Federation would have equal or superior technology in a thousandth of that time span. Unless of course, there are nigh-impenetrable 'tech barriers' the Federation has yet to encounter.

That would be interesting-that the Feds reach a point where it is difficult if not impossible for the tech to progress any further-you have debates whether or not to keep on pushing or to let things plateau.

 

[Farscape One]

I wonder if the Borg ever assimilated a Voth. It might explain how they got transwarp to be so widely used on their ships between "I, Borg" and STAR TREK: VOYAGER.