Khan or no Khan?

[Set Harth]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[JarodRussell]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Pssst, TOS was never broken, but they fixed it anyways.

 

[FarStrider]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Pssst, TOS was never broken, but they fixed it anyways.

Yep, that's true. Gene Roddenberry called it "The Next Generation". . .

~FS

 

[JarodRussell]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Pssst, TOS was never broken, but they fixed it anyways.

Yep, that's true. JJ Abrams called it "Star Trek". . .

~FS

Fixed that for you.

 

[FarStrider]

Pssst, TOS was never broken, but they fixed it anyways.

Yep, that's true. JJ Abrams called it "Star Trek". . .

~FS

Fixed that for you.

It wasn't broken, but thanks for your concern. . .

~FS

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Revenge need not be a driving force. I'm actually shocked that's the only mold Star Trek fans can see Khan fitting into one of a crazed mad man bent on revenge when he has the possibly of having many more layers and drives. Adversaries can come with varied intentions and still be threats. In fact Khan as a figure has the potential be something other than a crazed killer. Again, a point in his favor.

I believe Khan was more that willing, if not happy, to kill the crew of the Enterprise long before he became crazed with vengeance, if that’s what you mean.

He was driven by egotism so extreme that it qualifies as mental illness by our standards. (As far as we know, that might actually be normal mentality for an augment - he was "crazy" but paradoxically healthy and functional.) He saw the Enterprise crew as inferior and wouldn't have hesitated to kill them, but had nothing personal against them.

So it's not revenge - it's a different, and interesting, motivation. I wouldn't mind seeing a story built around that idea. Revenge is way overused and should be avoided for a while.

Still, Orions would be just as cool, or a multi-ethnic gang of marauders.

The Orions strike me as a bit generic. They're basically space pirates with a sense of morality that offends the Starfleet prigs, right? Eh, not sure I'm so interested in that.

Khan and the whole augments plotline ties in with a basic neurosis at the heart of the Federation, their extreme paranoia over the possibility of genetic tinkering creating a master race that would upend their notions of equality within a loosely defined "empire" that spans many planets and species. Consider how fragile a thing that could be, and how hard it must have been to create. Then Khan comes along and threatens it all. And irony of ironies, they're humans - not some bunch of pointy-eared funny forehead alien. That strikes me as more fruitful territory than Orions, Andorians, et al.

And the Klingons sorta bore me, but maybe it's time to dust them off? I guess it's inevitable.