Rate your favorite lead characters of all of Star Trek

[M'rk son of Mogh]

This is "What's your favorite Star Trek series?" by another name...

... but my answer is Kirk.

Now that's interesting. Are our favourite series generally defined by the captain or lead? Would our rankings in leads and series be pretty much identical? With the exception of DS9 and Sisko for me (I like the show more than I like him since I really don't care for him as much as the surrounding cast), it's probably mostly true.

I cast my vote for Picard. TNG is also my top spot.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

Now that's interesting. Are our favourite series generally defined by the captain or lead? Would our rankings in leads and series be pretty much identical? With the exception of DS9 and Sisko for me (I like the show more than I like him since I really don't care for him as much as the surrounding cast), it's probably mostly true.

I cast my vote for Picard. TNG is also my top spot.

I can only speak for myself but if I don’t like the captain of a show I’m much less into the show itself as well (TOS being a prime example for me). It works in the opposite direction also, the more I like a captain (or series lead character), the more I like a show. Of course this is coming from the guy who is really only here for Jean-Luc Picard, so…

 

[Lord Garth]

Someone's probably thinking, "Why didn't you pick Burnham, then?" Because I think she's still gaining experience as a Captain, so I had to go with my other favorite. That's why I picked Kirk.

Though Kirk's not actually my favorite character overall in TOS. It's Spock. So poor Spock in SNW has his work cut out for him.

 

[Sakonna]

MARINER by a mile. She is just the best. She's the avatar for my Paramount+ profile.

I also think Boimler is correctly omitted from the options. To my eyes, Mariner is clearly THE lead of that show.

I also voted for Sisko and Pike.

It's funny, Burnham would have made the cut too, if not for how much weight the show puts on her. By season 4 they've figured it out (by just making her the damn captain already!), but in the previous seasons the character was so compromised by the need to always center her in the stories. The writers probably thought this was boosting her, but it did her no favors. She doesn't make it among my favorite leads only because her supporting ensemble has not been allowed enough space to shine around her.

I suppose Kirk & TOS has a similar problem... but I don't like Kirk nearly as much.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

For those who chose Burnham, can you provide any insight as to why you like the character? Genuinely curious. Not a fan of her but I don't Outright dislike the character. Would be interested in hearing other people's perspective.

She had the hardest road to the Captain's chair. I really feel she earned it. She's tenacious, caring, empathetic and brave and she cares about her ship and crew.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Has to be The Sisko.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I'm a little surprised to see Sisko in the lead, but not confused.

 

[Oddish]

I'm a little surprised to see Sisko in the lead, but not confused.

If it was "pick only one", that might be different: I think Picard or Kirk would probably be leading. But I think a lot of people who like those characters best also like Sisko.

 

[Lucky]

Kirk is my favorite overall, but I also voted for Picard, Sisko, Archer, Pike, Burnham, and Mariner.

 

[trekfan_1]

Archer not getting much love

 

[WarpTenLizard]

1. Seven of Nine: Her spinoff series has been announced. She's one of the best characters in Trek period, so naturally she'll be my favorite as a lead.
2. Sisko: He's one of the few that actually has a character apart from just being "the captain." Single dad, the Emissary, bitterness about his wife's death, etc.
3. Janeway: She's pretty bland as a character, but one badass captain, and one of the strongest leads of a Trek series.
4. Pike: A damn good captain, and like Sisko, one of the few with a character arc outside just being the captain. And while all the captains have braved death, he's accepting a worse fate for the greater good.
5. Kirk: He's a badass. And despite his very busy love life, he's actually pretty damn committed to his duty as captain, and is capable of putting his torpedo on hold if need be.
6. Picard: Patrick Stewart rocks, but Picard on TNG always seemed to get the biggest helpings of Deus ex Machinas to get him out of tough choices. I suppose his new series is trying to make up for that.
7. Mariner: She went from being grating and unlikable to being a tolerable main character. Still one if the least interesting on the show, though.
8. Michael Burnham: She improved vastly in Season 3, when they finally dropped the Spock-alike shtick. I still don't find her interesting enough to warrant hogging so much of the spotlight. Ensemble casts, please.
9. Dal: This little twerp wants to Star Lord so hard, but he really, really just can't. He's so irritating that I stopped watching "Prodigy" for a while.
10. Archer: For almost two decades I listened to people rave about how likable Scott Bakula was on "Quantum Leap," but only when I began watching QL did I finally understand the bafflement and disappointment his fans felt to see him in such an unlikable role as Archer.

 

[WarpTenLizard]

Archer not getting much love

Even Scott Bakula fans tend to lament about how unlikable Archer is. You know you've failed your main character when even some of his actors' devoted fans can't stand him.

 

[fireproof78]

Kirk is the main one for me (because Hunter Pike isn't allowed).

Then Burnham.

Pike.

Mariner.

 

[Paul755]

1. Seven of Nine: Her spinoff series has been announced. She's one of the best characters in Trek period, so naturally she'll be my favorite as a lead

Where was this announced?

as far as my rankings…

Kirk
Sisko
Picard
Archer
Mariner
Pike
Janeway
Burnham

incomplete…
Dal

Dal just hasn’t been around enough for me to put him up against the others. Kirk and Sisko feel like the most “complete” of all the leads.

 

[Orphalesion]

From the list; Mariner and the SNW version of Pike (not the Cage one)

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

1. Kirk (TOS / TAS).

Everyone else is barely an afterthought as a dramatic focus, believable, well-defined hero or a draw in the sweeping space-opera sense.

 

[WarpTenLizard]

Where was this announced?

Here: https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/seven-of-nine-series-development-exclusive.html

 

[somebuddyX]

I quite like Sisko as the builder instead of the explorer like a lot of the other captains. I'm not fond of him being the product of divine intervention, although I can see how that can fit with why it has to be him and no one else to be the Emissary. I love that he spent his time at Utopia Planitia building the U.S.S Ben Sisko's Mutha F***in' Pimp Hand

 

[maneth]

For me it's a tie between TNG-Picard and Sisko. They're very different characters, but both great in their own ways. Sure, when faced with choosing between a family and a career, Picard chose the latter, and at least judging by TNG and the TNG movies he's never seriously regretted that choice. Sisko showed us that it's possible to have both.

(Geordi La Forge's family was exceptional, his mother was a starship captain and his father a commander (exozoologist), but their careers came at a great cost, even though they were AFAIK married until his mother's untimely death, they rarely if ever lived together as a married couple.)

 

[fireproof78]

Where was this announced?

From dubious sources.