Gul Dukat being Nice...

[2 of 10]

I assume that most of us would rate Dukat in or near the top of DS-9 Bad guys. However, there were a few episodes that Dukat was actually nice at times, however, they were only in the first 3-4 seasons. What is your favorite Gul Dukat being nice episode...

Resistance is Futile

 

[Red Ranger]

I don't remember the season, but in the ep Explorers, Dukat was practically gushing over Sisko's old Bajoran solar sailboat voyage to Cardassia! -- RR

 

[c0rnedfr0g]

i think it was S3, just after 'The Die is Cast'

i always suspected Dukat to be up to something, but in the end he seemed pretty genuine

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I don't remember the season, but in the ep Explorers, Dukat was practically gushing over Sisko's old Bajoran solar sailboat voyage to Cardassia! -- RR

Yeah, no kidding!

Firework torpedoes--on my mark!

 

[jamestyler]

Even when he was playing the villian, I always liked his interactions with Ziyal. Especially when he became a vigilante and commandeered the Klingon ship. He formed a great bond with Kira and trusted her enough to protect his daughter - who he could have easily turned on or resented after bringing her home to Cardassia killed his career.

 

[Navaros]

Dukat was nice up until they made a conscious decision to fubar him in Waltz of Season 6.

My favorite example of Dukat being nice is in the recorded messages of himself in Civil Defense. Telling Bajoran rebels to stop trying to take over the station or else he will have no choice but to unleash harsher punishments upon them. It shows how nuanced he was. He didn't wanna just go around massacring Bajorans, which easily could have been his first option if he was an evil guy like that.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Um...I wouldn't call that nice. I would just call that intimidation. Plus, why would he want to lose workers he needs for their labor if he can help it?

 

[JoeD80]

Plus, that was a recording, designed for each new security level.

 

[indranee]

Explorers, Return to Grace, Indiscretion (somewhat), the Maquis (somewhat), and oh yes Civil Defense!

 

[Enterprise1981]

"You know, Dukat, I thought you had changed in the last five years. I see now I was wrong." Sisko at the end of "By Inferno's Light"

The turning point was "Return to Grace" when he became disenchanted with what his people had become and decided to fight the Klingons on his own. Before then, he usually had his own self-serving motives for helping our heroes, especially in "Civil Defense" after that legate's part of the program kicked in. With that in mind, the nicest thing Dukat had ever done was not killing Ziyal even though that cost him family and his political status.

 

[Marie1]

I'd say he was only nice to Ziyal cuz she was all the family he had left after his wife took the kids.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

He was nice to Ziyal because she represented his control over Bajor as he had taken her mother as a comfort woman.

 

[indranee]

he was PARTLY nice to ziyal because he thought he could get into Kira's pants being that way.

the other part was pure, unadulterated daddy-love. which, incidentally, was mixed in with his deeply embedded control issues.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I think there was the motivation with Kira, yes...but that wouldn't explain his going to Cardassia when he KNEW his career would end and the rest of his family would walk out on him. That's too much self-sacrifice for just the sexual motive.

Dukat was a slimeball. But I think that one act gave us a glimpse of what could have been.

 

[indranee]

yes, he could have been a lot more complicated (judging from the first few seasons' eps) than Ira Behr eventually wanted him to be. he became a convenient villain for them in the end. what a shame.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Didn't one of the writers/producers (Behr?) get pissed that some people actually thought Dukat was a semi-good guy, and that's what motivated his rather sudden transformation into pure eeeeeeeeevil Dukat?

 

[indranee]

yep, in a nutshell: he was becoming very popular in DS9 fandom and they didn't want a recurring character to outshine the regulars.

 

[GabeHimself]

I thought he was always nice to Ziyal because he genuinely loved her mother. And was obligated to the family he had back on Cardassia.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

yep, in a nutshell: he was becoming very popular in DS9 fandom and they didn't want a recurring character to outshine the regulars.

Yeah, and that's really odd to me. DS9 stood out as a show that had very good (rather than typically dreadful) guest stars and recurring characters. So, they deliberately wrecked one of their best characters to spite the fans.

 

[indranee]

well, I believe it was primarily Ira Behr's idea to have Dukat somewhat mirror Hitler. they gave Star Trek Mag an interview about it IIRC. I think the going opinion of TPTB was that THEIR take on Dukat was slipping through their hands via Alaimo's acting (which was nuanced and layered) and the fans' reaction to it/him.

the character started out as the one fans loved to hate, but it quickly became one that many fans actually loved and looked forward to seeing. during DS9's reign, Sisko was never as popular as Dukat (Sisko's popularity came much later, when the DVDs were released), and the writer's idea of Dukat was something that Alaimo (I think from what I've read and also heard from the man) fundamentally disagreed with.

hence, the decision to de-layer (and perhaps even de-fang) him. a less complicated, more black and white villain is easier to get rid of without pangs of the [creative] conscience.