Did Reuse Of Races Mess Up Voyager?

[Red Ranger]

I think the species/races of the characters were fine, but I wish where they CAME FROM would hold more relevance. I think the only characters they delved into background was B'Ellana and Seven; they're really a product of where they came from, not their heritage.

Unlike Tuvok the vulcan, who ofcourse came from Vulcan, or most of the humans who ofcourse came from Earth... I always wanted to see explorations of how characters develop from other worlds (i.e. How Humans from Mars are different than Humans from Earth, Klingons from Earth different than Klingons from Kronos, and so on)...

A very interesting idea. I recall in the novel The Entropy Effect by Vonda McIntyre, the author developed a very interesting backstory for Sulu, that he had been brought up on several colony worlds. And of course, Tasha Yar from TNG was from a failed colony.

That's why I liked Chakotay's character. He wasn't just another human from Earth. He had a reason for fighting the Cardassians and a different perspective on how dangerous the galaxy is.

Red Ranger

 

[Smiley]

We got a couple of Delta Quadrant alien regulars: an Ocampan and a Talaxian (not counting the Borg, which is a known "culture" from the AQ shows). How well were they used? Kes got about three episodes that made use of her Ocampan background after the pilot ("Elogium," "Cold Fire," and "Before and After"). Neelix got "Jetrel" and "Homestead."

Let's pretend that Tom and Harry were previously unused AQ aliens. Would the writers have actually used that to any great effect? I'm guessing that Tom would still have been fascinated by 20th century Earth, and Harry would still be a competent officer with no advancement and few distinguishing characteristics.

To be fair, the origins of Seven and the Doctor were much more relevant to the stories being told, so maybe it could have turned out better.