"Voyager" Series Bible

[Smellincoffee]

User Psuedo recently linked to a website containing the writers' guides/series bibles for TOS through Voyager, but no one appears to have shared the Voyager guide here yet.

Interesting that Paris was expected to be attracted to the 'rocklike steadiness of Tuvok'. Character interpretations seem to diverged further in Voyager than TNG and DS9, judging from these writers' guides, especially the intercharacter dynamics. I've never picked up on Tuvok as a grandfatherly mentor to the crew.

The pdf includes extensive information on the actors.

 

[Shatnertage]

Interesting....I'm going to read that as soon as I have time.

 

[Picard Alpha]

Couple of interesting tid bits. Thanks for the link!

Judging from the amount of details and placement, they made it seem as though Tom Paris was going to be right behind the Captain in importance and screen time. They also seem to suggest that there was going to be a very "close" bond between Tuvok and Torres. Tuvok's wife was apparently dead according to the bible, and he was going to struggle immensely to keep his logical side intact due to longing for his grandchildren. A trait equally matched with Torres' struggle between her Klingon and Human sides. They would be able to consul each other. Interesting contrast to Trip/T'pol. Sounds like a lot of missed opportunity...

 

[Michael]

Yeah, its definitely an interesting read, just like all the other series bibles. I find it interesting that the Voyager bible seems to be the one where the characters are defined most elaborately.

One idea I liked is the friendship between Chakotay and Kim. It's sad that we never saw anything of that on the show (apart from "Timeless", maybe), as I think they would have played off well one another.

It's also interesting to note that the bible lists Kes and Neelix as lovers, whereas I've seen debates on this board whether they were actually in love or just very good friends.

Judging from the amount of details and placement, they made it seem as though Tom Paris was going to be right behind the Captain in importance and screen time.

I think at one point they actually planned to have Paris as the main character of the show! They thought it would be interesting to experience the Star Trek universe through the eyes of a lower rank officer. Into the production of the show, however, the focus of the stories quickly changed to the usual captain centric episodes.

The pdf includes extensive information on the actors.

Yeah, for whatever reason there seems to be an original press release added to the actual bible. Seems kinda strange.

 

[bullethead]

Paris's bio is pretty interesting, as it shows that the writers really wanted to get the Locarno character from TNG into the show since they had the actor already and possibly to get some kudos from the fans. I think some parts of Chakotay's background just smack of trying too hard to be PC instead of making him a highly principled person. Honestly, if they had stuck a bit more closely to what they hashed out in the bible, the characters and their interactions could've been able to overcome some of the other weaknesses in the writing.

 

[C_Miller]

One of the more glaring things is that Kim is not a Japanese name. It's Korean... It's not like Garrett Wang is Korean either, but I can't recall where his ethnicity was explicitly stated, so that's okay. But creating a character that's specifically Japanese and giving him a Korean name doesn't set well with me.

 

[bullethead]

One of the more glaring things is that Kim is not a Japanese name. It's Korean... It's not like Garrett Wang is Korean either, but I can't recall where his ethnicity was explicitly stated, so that's okay. But creating a character that's specifically Japanese and giving him a Korean name doesn't set well with me.

I think the intention was to show that national/ethnic barriers were a thing of the past, that a Japanese person with a Korean surname was as normal as a Japanese person with a Japanese surname.

 

[kimc]

It's also interesting to note that the bible lists Kes and Neelix as lovers, whereas I've seen debates on this board whether they were actually in love or just very good friends.

Yeah, this should put that debate to bed. Now if only we could find a "Tuvix" bible.

 

[C_Miller]

One of the more glaring things is that Kim is not a Japanese name. It's Korean... It's not like Garrett Wang is Korean either, but I can't recall where his ethnicity was explicitly stated, so that's okay. But creating a character that's specifically Japanese and giving him a Korean name doesn't set well with me.

I think the intention was to show that national/ethnic barriers were a thing of the past, that a Japanese person with a Korean surname was as normal as a Japanese person with a Japanese surname.

If that's the point, then so be it. But I know that in Hollywood Asians tend to be viewed as a one size fits all kind of thing, which is extremely unfortunate.

 

[GeorgeKirk]

Here's what I found interesting: if you take out the press-release material that's included (most of which is just info on the actors and a repetition of the stuff in the main part of the guide) , the bible contains about 18 pages of material about the characters. By way of contrast, the technical guide is like 40 pages long. I think that goes a long way towards explaining Voyager's focus on technobabble at the expense of the characters.

 

[Lynx]

A lot of interesting things in that "Voyager Bible"!

It looks like some of the characters turned out different in the long run, for good (in some cases) and worse (in other cases).

However, I do have a feeling that they should have stuck little more to what was planned in that "bible".

Some interesting differencies: In the "bible" Janeway's mother is said to be the one who inspired janeway the most. In the series and in the book "Mosaic" it was her father.

The Paris-Torres romance is planned in that original script while it didn't really show up in the series until season 4. Personally I've always considered P/T as something made up in the later seasons so obviously I was wrong there.

Paris's background story with that accident is a direct copy of Nick Locarno's. I guess that they just had to change that a bit.

Many of the characters have more edge in the original script and I do have a feeling that Jeri Taylor was the one who soothed out and changed some of the rough edges. I get that impression after reading "Mosaic" and "Pathways" where mosty of the conflicts and family problems in some of our heroes background stories are soothed out and swept under a carpet.

 

[Lynx]

One of the more glaring things is that Kim is not a Japanese name. It's Korean... It's not like Garrett Wang is Korean either, but I can't recall where his ethnicity was explicitly stated, so that's okay. But creating a character that's specifically Japanese and giving him a Korean name doesn't set well with me.

I think the intention was to show that national/ethnic barriers were a thing of the past, that a Japanese person with a Korean surname was as normal as a Japanese person with a Japanese surname.

Considering how those in charge of Star Trek allowed characters like Scotty, Picard, O'Brien and maybe Chakotay to seem proud of their heritage, I do think that turning the original Japanese to a Chinese with an American and Korean name had more to do with sloppy writing than a real attempt to show that ethnic and national barries were a thing of the past.

 

[Anwar]

It might have worked out better if Paris WAS the central character, a disgraced Fleeter on a ship separated from the Federation. In fact a show where the command staff weren't the spotlight crew is what Trek is long due I think.

 

[Unicron]

Yeah, this should put that debate to bed. Now if only we could find a "Tuvix" bible.

* snork * Who'd want to canonize it?

 

[PsychoPere]

It's also interesting to note that the bible lists Kes and Neelix as lovers, whereas I've seen debates on this board whether they were actually in love or just very good friends.

I've recently started a concerted watch of the series, rather than the numerous single episodes here and there I've seen in the past, and I'm surprised to read that there have been debates about that. It seems exceedingly obvious to me, from very early on, that Neelix and Kes are lovers, rather than merely close friends.

 

[Lynx]

It's also interesting to note that the bible lists Kes and Neelix as lovers, whereas I've seen debates on this board whether they were actually in love or just very good friends.

I've recently started a concerted watch of the series, rather than the numerous single episodes here and there I've seen in the past, and I'm surprised to read that there have been debates about that. It seems exceedingly obvious to me, from very early on, that Neelix and Kes are lovers, rather than merely close friends.

I agree with that. It was obvious from the start that they were lovers at the time they joined the crew. However, it looks like the writers started to drop the idea of them as lovers somewhere in season 2 when their relationship only was brought up in episodes where it was necessary for the plot, like "Parturition" and "Tuvix".

 

[Anwar]

They probably realized that it was one of the ultimate examples of the May-December romance, what with her being 2 and him being in his 40s or so.

Then again, ANYONE and an Ocampa would be May-December...