Odo is pretty useless as a security officer

[Robert DeSoto]

Just watched the Maquis where Sisko goes to rescue Dukat

Sisko is up against four terrorists armed with phaser rifles and holding one hostage (Dukat). He draws his phaser and orders the Maquis to stand down. Bashir draws his phaser and stands at Sisko's side. Odo on the other hand, hides behind his commanding officer and yells "ya you guys better listen to him!"

A firefight ensues. Sisko and Bashir shoot down 3 terrorists. The last one runs away. Finally Odo steps out and stretches his arm out to grab the escaping terrorist.

Worf was always ready to draw his weapon and protect Riker or Picard. Tuvok did the same for Janeway. Reed for Archer. And countless redshirts died protecting Kirk and his landing parties.

It's pretty sad when Sisko's Chief of Security hides while the Chief Medical Officer is out laying down phaser fire. Reminds me of the Klingon attack on Deep Space 9. Odo tells Bashir to watch his back cuz Klingons won't hesitate to shoot a doctor. And in the end Bashir has to save Odo's ass by shooting a Klingon with a phaser.

In fact in every fire fight involving the DS9 crew, Odo just hides until the fight is over. Then he might use his shapeshifting ability to knock out one or two guys.

I don't know where Odo got the idea that he doesn't need a weapon. He can't stretch out his arms faster than a phaser beam. And even after the Founders made him human, he still didn't carry a weapon.

I don't doubt Odo's ability as an investigator. But he's useless in a tactical situation.

 

[Withers]

I think his primary function was as an investigator. The show had so many tactically able people on the senior staff that having him be another "ass kicking" good guy would have been over kill. You've got Kira, Worf, O'brien, and Dax who are all pretty much battle hardened and then Sisko who can obviously hold his own in a physical fight by virtue of being a Starfleet Captain. I think to keep the focus on Odo being more "Batman" and less "Superman" they didn't show him beating people down later on. That wasn't his style.

-Withers-​

 

[SchwEnt]

Probably true, Odo is more investigator/detective than security.

But ST has never really gotten security right...
The investigator/detective is not the same as security/enforcer, not the same as close-quarters combat guy, not the same as the small arms expert, not the same as ordnance officer, not the same guy in charge of ship-mounted weaponry guy, not the same as tactical officer, not the same as armory officer, and so on.

These are all different skills, different technologies, different jobs.
But ST frequently lumps it all together as the "Security Chief".

 

[Robert DeSoto]

Odo is still the first person the crew calls during an intruder alert. Or crime in progress.

Like when 18 year old Molly O'Brien goes around stabbing ppl in Quark's. Odo shows up with two deputies and he orders his deputy to open fire. What would Odo do if his backup didnt arrive yet? Tackle her? Not quite as effective, I'd imagine.

Even if he spends most of his time as an investigator, he investigates ppl that don't want to be investigated. And we've seen criminals successfully smuggle phasers past those docking port security sensors somehow.

Police forces have SWAT teams to deal with tactical situations. But even the Detectives carry a gun just to be safe when they investigate their cases. Even those traffic cops carry a gun when writing tickets.

And we know shapeshifters aren't immune to phaser fire

 

[CommanderRaytas]

True, but he's definitely not half as annoying as Worf.

 

[Admiral Shran]

I think his primary function was as an investigator. The show had so many tactically able people on the senior staff that having him be another "ass kicking" good guy would have been over kill. You've got Kira, Worf, O'brien, and Dax who are all pretty much battle hardened and then Sisko who can obviously hold his own in a physical fight by virtue of being a Starfleet Captain. I think to keep the focus on Odo being more "Batman" and less "Superman" they didn't show him beating people down later on. That wasn't his style.

-Withers-​

I can agree with all of that. Odo was more "Batman." He preferred to use his wits and intelligence to defeat the villians, only resorting to physical force when it was necessary.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

In a phaser fight, the guy who doesn't have a phaser is better off behind a support beam or something, Changeling abilities or not. We know that enough hits from Klingon disruptors will kill a Changeling, and we know that they're effectively on par with phasers. Odo's good in a one-on-one instance, like say a fleeing suspect or a would-be shooter, but in a firefight against multiple opponents, he knows enough to stand back and let the officers and his deputies who are armed do the fighting.

I like the comparison to Batman. It seems apt.

 

[Baconnaise]

If they explored the possibilities with odo more often then it would have been overpowering imo. The fact that you can assume any humanoid almost perfectly or animal or object or even mashup of something make them really powerful. You could devote an entire series to odo or changelings as it's almost endless what they could potentially use for harm or the weekly get out of sticky situation prop.

 

[tomalak301]

I think his primary function was as an investigator. The show had so many tactically able people on the senior staff that having him be another "ass kicking" good guy would have been over kill. You've got Kira, Worf, O'brien, and Dax who are all pretty much battle hardened and then Sisko who can obviously hold his own in a physical fight by virtue of being a Starfleet Captain. I think to keep the focus on Odo being more "Batman" and less "Superman" they didn't show him beating people down later on. That wasn't his style.

-Withers-​

I can agree with all of that. Odo was more "Batman." He preferred to use his wits and intelligence to defeat the villians, only resorting to physical force when it was necessary.

Wasn't this shown pretty much in the episode Hippocratic Oath?

Odo was an awesome security officer, but you have to understand how big the station is. He can't be everywhere at once.

 

[Teiwaz]

Odo has said on many occassions that he refuses to carry a phaser, he clearly refused a weapon when offered one by the Federation Security Officer (whose name escapes me for the moment - he's not a main character) in "The Adversary". And I only know that 'cause I've just finished watching DS9 up to that episode.

And good for him too.

 

[exodus]

Just watched the Maquis where Sisko goes to rescue Dukat

Sisko is up against four terrorists armed with phaser rifles and holding one hostage (Dukat). He draws his phaser and orders the Maquis to stand down. Bashir draws his phaser and stands at Sisko's side. Odo on the other hand, hides behind his commanding officer and yells "ya you guys better listen to him!"

A firefight ensues. Sisko and Bashir shoot down 3 terrorists. The last one runs away. Finally Odo steps out and stretches his arm out to grab the escaping terrorist.

Worf was always ready to draw his weapon and protect Riker or Picard. Tuvok did the same for Janeway. Reed for Archer. And countless redshirts died protecting Kirk and his landing parties.

It's pretty sad when Sisko's Chief of Security hides while the Chief Medical Officer is out laying down phaser fire. Reminds me of the Klingon attack on Deep Space 9. Odo tells Bashir to watch his back cuz Klingons won't hesitate to shoot a doctor. And in the end Bashir has to save Odo's ass by shooting a Klingon with a phaser.

In fact in every fire fight involving the DS9 crew, Odo just hides until the fight is over. Then he might use his shapeshifting ability to knock out one or two guys.

I don't know where Odo got the idea that he doesn't need a weapon. He can't stretch out his arms faster than a phaser beam. And even after the Founders made him human, he still didn't carry a weapon.

I don't doubt Odo's ability as an investigator. But he's useless in a tactical situation.

Why would someone who is a weapon need a weapon?
It's kinda like giving Wolverine a gun.

 

[C_Miller]

Odo has said on many occassions that he refuses to carry a phaser, he clearly refused a weapon when offered one by the Federation Security Officer (whose name escapes me for the moment - he's not a main character) in "The Adversary". And I only know that 'cause I've just finished watching DS9 up to that episode.

And good for him too.

Eddington.

I always liked that element of the character and it was never shown as unrealistic. To me he still was a rather effective security officer despite not using weapons because he acted in the shadows so to speak. And that worked for Deep Space Nine because that it what was required. On a starship, the threats were cut and dry and you knew the enemies. This isn't the case on a space station where most of the people actually don't wear a uniform, so you need an investigator like Odo. And if he was actually good at everything, he wouldn't really be a compelling character, now would he?

He wasn't Worf who got beat up to show the severity of the situation nor was he the emotionless Tuvok who often became somewhat unhinged. He was just a man with a distinct code of honor and justice. In many ways it didn't' seem like he was actually a member of Sisko's crew because he was ultimately let by his code of justice, not the actual captain. Due to all of this, Odo is easily my favorite character on the show with O'Brien and Bashir following up.

 

[Withers]

I had forgotten that Odo actually refused to carry a phaser a few times. That actually reinforces the Batman comparison. Batman is the only primary DC hero (and for any DC fans I'm talking about the Justice League Seven or even more specifically the Holy Trinity) who regularly comes up against villains that carry standard weapons like machine guns and pistols yet he refuses to carry or use one himself (for reasons probably everybody knows who knows anything about Batman.) His whole rationale behind this is that he's smarter than the villains who have to resort to using such weapons out of stupidity and lack of other, better training.

While Odo isn't quite so emphatic in his reasoning it is nonetheless implied; Odo doesn't need a phaser to win in a fight against one because he's smart enough not to be caught in such a situation (or at least not very often- I know there's a scene where Bashir saves him by shooting a Klingon behind him in Way of the Warrior.)

-Withers-​

 

[Navaros]

I agree with the OP entirely.

Another very pathetic example is when Odo hides behind Kira as invaders are taking over the Promenade in Captive Pursuit.

And when O'Brien barely taps Odo, yet knocks him out cold (solid or not, it's not a suitable excuse).

Getting knocked out by a falling rock is another example.

It was sloppy writing how on the one hand the writers say "Odo is supposed to be like Clint Eastwood," yet on the other hand they write and put on-screen a multitude of scenes in which Odo is a total wuss.

Odo's toughness is definitely an area of DS9 that could have used major improvement.

I think to keep the focus on Odo being more "Batman" and less "Superman" they didn't show him beating people down later on. That wasn't his style.

Batman beats down people all the time, just like Superman. The only difference is that Batman sometimes uses more tools & weapons than Superman does.

Having Odo's style be to beat people down and/or use tools & weapons would have been much better than to have his style be a wuss whenever trouble arises.

No one would respect Batman if he displayed wuss tendencies like Odo does.

 

[indolover]

Odo isn't called "Constable" for nothing. it's essentially what he is, a police officer/invesitgative figure.

Odo probably hasn't got the weapons/tactical nous of Worf or Tuvok. maybe this is why Starfleet brought in Eddington.

 

[DevilEyes]

Batman beats down people all the time, just like Superman. The only difference is that Batman sometimes uses more tools & weapons than Superman does.

Having Odo's style be to beat people down and/or use tools & weapons would have been much better than to have his style be a wuss whenever trouble arises.

No one would respect Batman if he displayed wuss tendencies like Odo does.

Well he's not a masked vigilante, he's not Batman or a Superman, he's the Chief of Security of DS9. I would hope that cops aren't actually required to beat people up.

 

[Withers]

We're endanger of over extending the metaphor...

The Odo/Batman comparison extends as far as the two of them preferring to outsmart criminals rather than resorting to physical means and that the two of them refuse to use guns.

That aside Deep Space Nine didn't need any more ass kicking good guys than it already had. Turning Odo isn't a Jujitsu master (or whatever) would have been... unnecessary and overkill if you ask me. Julian is the only one who wasn't a seasoned combat veteran except for Ezri (on a technicality) and Nog (by virtue of being an ensign.)

Odo was fine just the way he was.

-Withers-​

 

[VirtualDestiny]

Starfleet handled the firefights...Odo did the legwork

 

[Lonemagpie]

Odo's a civilian police officer, basically, not military. His duty in a military situation would be to stay the hell out of the way and let the specialists do *their* job.