Dukat for sure. I think that he really was the only bad guy that was given enough depth to truly ever sympathize with, other than maybe Kahn.
Most Sympathetic Antagonist
- Thread starter indycar
- Start date
- Status
Dukat was certainly sympathetic in Sacrifice of Angels, but by the time he gave himself over to the Pah Wraiths, he was just pure evil.
Apollo was certainly a very sympathetic antagonist, probably the most.
If you want to count Sybok as an antagonist, I suppose he is right up there, but in the end he sacrifices himself for Spock and crew, so I don't consider him an antagonist. Just misguided. Damar would fall under this catagory, too.
The Romulan commander in Balance of Terror was, too. Seemed an honorable man, bound by duty. The line about another reality maybe being able to call Kirk friend makes him sympathetic.
Mirror Spock was a pretty sympathetic antagonist. He didn't help Kirk and Crew because it was the right thing to do, so much as it was the coldly logical decision he had to make to "get his captain back."
Soval from Enterprise was often a dick, but it turned out he actually had a soft spot for humans, making him sympathetic after we learn why he made the decisions he did, and especially after Forest sacrifices himself to save Soval.
Apollo was certainly a very sympathetic antagonist, probably the most.
If you want to count Sybok as an antagonist, I suppose he is right up there, but in the end he sacrifices himself for Spock and crew, so I don't consider him an antagonist. Just misguided. Damar would fall under this catagory, too.
The Romulan commander in Balance of Terror was, too. Seemed an honorable man, bound by duty. The line about another reality maybe being able to call Kirk friend makes him sympathetic.
Mirror Spock was a pretty sympathetic antagonist. He didn't help Kirk and Crew because it was the right thing to do, so much as it was the coldly logical decision he had to make to "get his captain back."
Soval from Enterprise was often a dick, but it turned out he actually had a soft spot for humans, making him sympathetic after we learn why he made the decisions he did, and especially after Forest sacrifices himself to save Soval.
That Betazoid ? from Star Trek Voyager who murdered others, confined to quarters, attempted to be reformed by Tuvok, and then he (still can't remember his name) sacrificed his life battling those people that stole Voyager. or something.
Disturbed by the amount of Dukat and Nero votes.
I could never vote "most sympathetic" for anyone willing to kill so many, regardless of their reasons.
I could never vote "most sympathetic" for anyone willing to kill so many, regardless of their reasons.
Boom. On the head.
Lon Suder.
Yea Garek would make a great bad guy, except he's mostly not a bad guy, just kind of a jerk.
Garak desperately wants to be the bad guy. He wants to hate his old enemy the Federation. But he realizes that the best chance for Cardassia to survive a a civilization rests with the Federation. So he decides, reluctantly, to help the Federation.
Garak falls more under the "reformed bad guy, now good guy" column.
One villain that is sympathetic from DS9 is Michael Eddington. You understand his motive, and from a certain point of view, he is actually right about the Cardassians, and even the Federation. DS9 writers had to intentionally write him as a douche in some episodes to make it clear why we need to root for Sisko. But I found him sympathetic, and interesting. And Kenneth Marshall did a great job acting, as well.
One villain that is sympathetic from DS9 is Michael Eddington. You understand his motive, and from a certain point of view, he is actually right about the Cardassians, and even the Federation. DS9 writers had to intentionally write him as a douche in some episodes to make it clear why we need to root for Sisko. But I found him sympathetic, and interesting. And Kenneth Marshall did a great job acting, as well.
Same here.. That line
The Great Karidian. How can we, with surety say what the leading lights of Trek as we view them, the featured captains, would have chosen to do in the same situation. I always found his line "Oh, my child, my child. You've left me nothing!" as very moving, and of course he gave his life to save Kirk and put an end to Lenore's personal reign of terror. One might claim that he took the easy way out, didn't have to face any tribunal, or the survivors of the charnel house that he made of Tarsus IV, but would his life have been taken by a vengeful Federation or would he have just found himself in a penal colony for the rest of his life?
I'll vote Salish. Kirk was the usurper who pulled the rug right out from under him. True, Kirk had partial amnesia, but even in such a compromised state, he managed to "rob" Salish of his position, his social standing ... and, perhaps, most important of all: his woman. Yes, it's all due to circumstance. "Kirok" knows something that Salish doesn't know, which convinces the tribe to take Salish out of the loop.
Miramanee is kind of absolved of her dumping her fiancé because of "tradition." Although, we all know, she actually wanted Kirk over him. And when Salish discovers her alone soon after and asks her, point blank, "... if you could choose (between Kirok & I), would you choose me?" And she just throws him a look and legs it for Kirk's teepee. I so sympathised with Salish afterwards, that I actually began having an active dislike for "Kirok." I was disappointed that Salish broke out a knife, right away, to reclaim some of his honour, actually. It would've been quite satisfying watching Salish beat the living shit out of Kirk, but ... hey ... at least it wasn't a machete.
And Salish never embellished on, or exaggerated, his grievances with Kirk in any way. He didn't play victim for sympathy, he was a Man about it, for the most part, and that's another reason why I liked him. Again, the knife thing I had some trouble with. Chalk it up to "insurance," as Kirok supposedly was a "god."
Miramanee is kind of absolved of her dumping her fiancé because of "tradition." Although, we all know, she actually wanted Kirk over him. And when Salish discovers her alone soon after and asks her, point blank, "... if you could choose (between Kirok & I), would you choose me?" And she just throws him a look and legs it for Kirk's teepee. I so sympathised with Salish afterwards, that I actually began having an active dislike for "Kirok." I was disappointed that Salish broke out a knife, right away, to reclaim some of his honour, actually. It would've been quite satisfying watching Salish beat the living shit out of Kirk, but ... hey ... at least it wasn't a machete.
And Salish never embellished on, or exaggerated, his grievances with Kirk in any way. He didn't play victim for sympathy, he was a Man about it, for the most part, and that's another reason why I liked him. Again, the knife thing I had some trouble with. Chalk it up to "insurance," as Kirok supposedly was a "god."
Losira, although I'm not sure how, as a lifeform, one might classify her various reproductions that were out to eliminate our heros. The recording of the real Losira implied a very conscientious individual. I suppose the real Losira was not the villain(s), just the copies
Would Kevin Uxbridge from TNG's "The Survivors" be considered an antagonist? The guy committed genocide. Killed 50 billion!!! I can't think of anybody who's done worse or is even capable.
Yet I felt for the guy.
Yet I felt for the guy.
A lot of good ones mentioned here. While he may not be the MOST sympathetic, I'll give points to Soran from Star Trek Generations. He lost everything to the Borg, and really was just obsessed with getting back to a place where he could have his family all again.
Yeah I was just thinking of him. Not a villain in the classic sense, but someone who did a lot of horrible things. God I love that episode.
Dukat was certainly sympathetic up to a point. The death of Ziyal and his marriage to the Pah-Wraiths made him less interesting though.
I think Khan was somewhat sympathetic in TWOK, or at least when we first found out how rough he's had it whilst Kirk was off riding around the galaxy.
Some that come to mind:
-Khan (Prime Universe)
-Gul Dukat
-Legate Damar
-Admiral Jarok
-Lore
-Captain Ransom
I can't say I was really sympathetic toward Toral but I do remember how awful it must have been when his aunts abandoned him and left him at the mercy of Worf and Gow'ron's forces.
-Khan (Prime Universe)
-Gul Dukat
-Legate Damar
-Admiral Jarok
-Lore
-Captain Ransom
I can't say I was really sympathetic toward Toral but I do remember how awful it must have been when his aunts abandoned him and left him at the mercy of Worf and Gow'ron's forces.
The Talosians. All they wanted was for their society to be rebuilt (through slavery however) but they were never meant to be truly evil nor monstrous.
The Borg
As a collective they are, of course, horrible, committing atrocities throughout history on a level we probably can't even wrap our heads around.
On an individual level they're, by and large, people forced against their will to take actions they would never undertake, or even have the ability to undertake, of their own volition. Even when freed from the collective, which most of them never have the opportunity to experience, they will never escape the memories of their past actions.
I daresay they're even more sympathetic if you've read the novels and know the rather tragic story of their origin.
As a collective they are, of course, horrible, committing atrocities throughout history on a level we probably can't even wrap our heads around.
On an individual level they're, by and large, people forced against their will to take actions they would never undertake, or even have the ability to undertake, of their own volition. Even when freed from the collective, which most of them never have the opportunity to experience, they will never escape the memories of their past actions.
I daresay they're even more sympathetic if you've read the novels and know the rather tragic story of their origin.
- Status
Similar threads
