Re: Monster? Q the teacher in "Tepestry", Q the judge in "All Good Thi
I see Q from the perspective that he felt he had the responsibility of a god. Perhaps not an overly just or kind god, but a god nonetheless.
Q wasn't just doing his act for kicks; he was tasked by the continuum with evaluating humanity for their potential for growth and enlightenment.
In his first encounter, he tested their rationality in the face of a situation that could easily have triggered an instinct for violence in many other races. The Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians probably would've shot at the alien jellyfish and died spectacularly when it fought back.
In the second, Q tested their integrity in the face of self interest and the opportunity to take the easy path to "godhood". Perhaps Q himself wanted Riker to fully accept the gift to prove to the continuum that humans were just as weak-willed and opportunistic as any other race, but the other Q may have secretly hoped for Riker to prove he was better than that.
The introduction to the borg I think was Q's little chance for revenge against the Enterprise crew for making a fool of him the first two times. He did say he was told to gtfo of the continuum for a while and to me, he decided to givePicard a challenge that even he wasn't yet ready to handle. Q's subsequent punishment of being naked and mortal on the Enterprise bridge is good evidence that he was acting on his own agenda.
But I saw this too as a kind of test of humanity. What would you do with a spoiled overpowered god with a long list of enemies who suddenly became vulnerable and begged for your help? I think this was as much a punishment of Q as a test of his playthings to gauge their nobility once again.
With Tapestry, I think it was about Q trying to understand the linear nature of human life. Being omnipotent, he obviously had little or no concept of being unable to undo what he had already done or being unable to go backwards to a previous point in his own history. When you're a Q, the consequences of your actions truly don't matter because you're above and beyond mortal affairs and you can undo your own actions if compelled to by other Q. I think Q wanted to understand what made the ever noble and enlightened Picard into the man he was. I think Q learned to understand the moments that shape human beings and he was perhaps allowing his moments with them to shape his own character (if his future benevolence is anything to go by - I personally hated it in Voyager).
I think Q started out testing humanity and expecting them to fail like "lesser" beings naturally should. The fact of their success I think made Q humanity's secret advocate.
fault for not being as careful with how Voyager was written, directed, and overall portrayed. But this is really off topic for this thread, I did watch the episodes with Q in DS9 and Voyager and he wasn't as dangerous or portrayed in a serious way, in other words those portrayals of Q had no weight.
