Anyone else feel Gul Dukat's character was the least developed out of all the major ones? I felt he hardly developed and became more and more the cliched villain as the show progressed. This is sad because Marc Alamo acted brilliantly. He reminds me a lot of Lee van Cleef and I would have liked to see Dukat's character bring some of that van Cleef style badassness to the show.
Gul Dukat
- Thread starter jonds91
- Start date
Well, I think that Dukat did develop as a character. But you're not wrong that he fell deeper into a cliche villain archetype as the show progressed. This was a shame, since it did always feel like his arc was leading towards cooperation with Sisko or at least a more nuanced development. I don't hate the direction that they took Dukat's character but I think it's a shame. It could have been more interesting than it was.
Also, I will never be able to get the creepiness of Bajoran!Dukat out of my mind.
Also, I will never be able to get the creepiness of Bajoran!Dukat out of my mind.
I think he had ups and downs. As a bad guy he was certianly bad and did things that made you hate him. Then there were times that "humanized" him and you almost felt bad for him. And then there were times when he was just crazy. I thought he was great. I loved when we saw his own feelings on the Occupation...how he truly believed that the Bajorans owed him thanks for what he did. And in some way maybe he's right. Under his rule, according to him, conditions for the Bajorans improved and less were killed so he honestly expected them to be grateful for that.
And of course Marc Alaimo (sp?) is brilliant. I get chills every time I watch certain episodes. I'm bad with names but the episode where Dukat and Sisko are trapped in the cave and Dukat is halucinating. AMAZING performance.
And of course Marc Alaimo (sp?) is brilliant. I get chills every time I watch certain episodes. I'm bad with names but the episode where Dukat and Sisko are trapped in the cave and Dukat is halucinating. AMAZING performance.
There was definitely an arc to the character as has been said before. I personally liked when he was less of the mustache twirling villain they turned him into at the end. I found the early Dukat more interesting, not a good guy but he had some good aspects to him. Like how he eventually came to care for his daughter. It made the whole Sisko-Dukat adversarial relationship more meaningful to me. Once that was all out the window, I stopped caring about Dukat the character. Meh.
The actor who played him throughout was great, so no fault there.
The actor who played him throughout was great, so no fault there.
Mustache twirling villain! Very nice!
I kinda felt sorry for Marc Alaimo more than anything else. He's such a brilliant actor and his character, I felt, deserved better. I agree the episode where he is hallucinating was amazing. I wish they'd had more of that type of Dukat vs the Bajoran Dukat angle they worked in late season 7.
I kinda felt sorry for Marc Alaimo more than anything else. He's such a brilliant actor and his character, I felt, deserved better. I agree the episode where he is hallucinating was amazing. I wish they'd had more of that type of Dukat vs the Bajoran Dukat angle they worked in late season 7.
I honestly felt it would have better for both Sisko and Dukat had Sisko pampered or at least acted sympathetically to Dukat in Waltz. Say "You did the best possible under the occupation." "You've been treated unfairly." When I watched Waltz I was like dammit man give him the affirmation he so desperately craves.
Sisko also should have known he obviously wasn't sane and so shouldn't have provoked him.
Dukat obviously has an ego and also a problem of confidence else he wouldn't demand people soothe his psyche. Sisko should have been been able to understand this.
Sisko also should have known he obviously wasn't sane and so shouldn't have provoked him.
Dukat obviously has an ego and also a problem of confidence else he wouldn't demand people soothe his psyche. Sisko should have been been able to understand this.
The actual actor, I thought was pretty darned ugly.
Too bad there isn't real Cardassians because he could just have his face altered to look like one. He made a good looking Cardassian. Human not so much!
Too bad there isn't real Cardassians because he could just have his face altered to look like one. He made a good looking Cardassian. Human not so much!
Dukat was a very rich character until they made him go bonkers. The writers should've kept the evil but ambiguity to the evil that sustained that character. But they wanted him to be resolutely evil so he wouldn't have fans who thought he was justified or something.
But I did like the scenes were he returns to Cardassia and bids farewell to Damar for the final time. That was well done.
But I did like the scenes were he returns to Cardassia and bids farewell to Damar for the final time. That was well done.
And given Waltz it wasn't right for Sisko to say he was "pure evil" and that's not because I don't believe in evil. Dukat wasn't evil, crazy and megalomaniacal with a clear itinerary of psychological issues but he wasn't evil.
Please define "evil".
That is a very deep philosophical and theological question, I'm not sure I'm up to it.
I know it when I see it though and Dukat wasn't it.
Dukat killed, directly and indirectly, millions on innocent being, he started the largest and most destructive war in the history of Alpha Quadrant purely for his ambitions, he turned his native Cardassia to Dominion basically only for his personal power... If it isn't "evil", what is?
Well I think the thing here is that Sisko believes he is pure evil. So, whether or not you agree with Sisko's label, through his moral lense that's what Dukat is. I agree if I were in that situation, I might show a little sympathy towards Dukat, since he is obviously bonkers. Or I like to think I would. But remember, Sisko has been dealing with him for years, and obviously has developed a strong distaste for the man. He's injured, thinks Dukat is scheming to kill him or keep him there as a prisoner indefinitely. He clearly has never trusted him, and for good reason, Dukat is extremely slippery. As the emissary, he also will take Dukat's role in the occupation more personally than your run of the mill Starfleet Captain. I guess my point of all this is I can see why Sisko didn't act like a saint and try to help him with the obvious episode he was having. He just despises Dukat, and think he isn't worthy of redemption.
He was clearly crazy and Sisko should have been more empathetic.
But when his daughter was shot, he was truly upset. If he was pure evil he wouldn't have given one iota about her.
Also there was one episode where he was upset that he missed taking his son to the amusement park. (Possibly)-- I had almost a feeling that he played it up to Sisko for some nefarious reason, but I'm not sure on that one.
Also he had an affair with Kira's mom, and he acted like he really loved her, do punt that he already had a wife at the time?
Anyway, I'm going with that he wasn't "pure" evil. More piggy, conniving, power hungry, bad mannered oh yea, ugly.
He falls into the evil category. He crosses that border into the Republic of Evil, there's no two bits about it, but I liked early on were he had a pact with Sisko to root out the gun running. There's a serious and healthy concern not to tip things back into war there and that was a good turn the character took. And yet he is responsible for all these lives on Bajor and he is an egomaniac to a staggering even comical degree. All that stuff challenges the viewer and I enjoyed that with Dukat.
Oh, please! This "gradations of evil" are going nowhere. Dukat killed millions without any remorse, and only when HE was personally affected, he showed any kind of "upset". This is the best description of "pure evil" possible - person so egoistical, that measured everything only in therms "how is this related to ME?"
But the "me" thing, that's just being egotistical, not evil. It seems I left egotistical off of my list.......
