What if Neelix was less of a goofball?

[Melakon]

I guess my biggest problem with Neelix is he was obviously designed to be a comic character. Stylized animal makeup, leisure suits, talkative, exaggerates, sing-song voice, frequently intrudes into personal space, and forced optimism about everything.

He has an interesting background-- somewhat impulsive, can be bold when he senses an advantage, a military deserter, and enough knowledge of nearby systems that he can avoid trouble. He feels a need to belong, whether its aboard a ship full of strangers, or among a colony of his own species.

Once in a while they'd throw Ethan Phillips a script where he wasn't being a complete boob, where he'd get to bring out darker elements of Neelix's personality, and he always took full advantage of those moments.

I wish Neelix had been more visibly used as a go-between with other races, making initial contacts with perhaps a Starfleet and Maquis member along on those scrounging missions. And we could have seen more of his own ship.

And what was with Kes' misdirected hate at Janeway in "Fury"? She should have been hellbent on destroying Neelix for taking her away from the Ocampa in the first place.

 

[lisaa6@gmail.co]

i think neelixs makeup reminds me of a rodent.

the way he nearly licked the captains boots made me laugh, and also when he tried to sozialise with Tuvok.
But the character was just a looser, the expert who fails everything. With Harry we had already a wiener, so why Neelix at all?

 

[Infern0]

I think what they should have done with neelix is have him a bit more of a maverick character, it'd have been nice if he'd have disagreed with the starfleet rules sometimes, been more useful, make him able to get away with stuff because he's not starfleet but Janeway can't kick him off because she needs him.

His ship in the shuttle bay should have been used more, make it like an illegally modded ship with better tactical systems than you'd expect, make it a factor

It would have left room for a character arc which I never thought he had.

I did find neelix ok though mostly because Ethan phillips is charasmatic and likeable.

But he was one of the many missed tricks that voyager wasted, along with the maquis being a non factor after like 2 episodes

 

[SPCTRE]

What if Neelix was a likeable, rogue-ish smuggler type and his ship was a modified freighter - the fastest in the galaxy? The Voyager crew would have gotten home in less than twelve parsecs!

 

[RandyS]

Then VOYAGER would have lacked what little charm it had to begin with.

 

[HIjol]

To answer the thread question directly, "What if Neelix was less of a Goofball?":

He would have been Phlox...

 

[Melakon]

I do think Phlox is a reworking of the Neelix template, but that's for a different forum.

 

[Lance]

I always liked the Neelix/Tuvok relationship.

It's like Tuvok was the audience surrogate character.

You could almost see him thinking at times, "Dear God, am I really the only person on-board who can see how annoying this S-O-B is?", but while he might well be thinking that, he conveys it only with a raised eyebrow.

 

[borgboy]

Neelix is really annoying. I think there could have been more done with him if he'd been less goofy. There were seeds that could've been developed with him.
I thought I was the only one who could see that Phlox was a rework of Neelix. I didn't get why they did that, since I don't think Neelix was all that popular.

 

[Isolinear]

I always saw Neelix as the "village idiot". A good-natured simpleton who desperately wanted to fit in. Sometimes annoying, mostly harmless. I don't get the hate.

LEAVE NEELIX ALONE!

 

[borgboy]

Neelix had potential. We got hints of him having a shady past, he lied to Janeway at times to try and maintain his usefulness. His desperate need to be liked hints at a huge inferiority complex. His relationship with Kes never made much sense, and they were never used very well as a couple, but they could've been developed better.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Neelix is a multi faceted character who is at times creepy, possessive, annoying, humorous, sweet.. a nice addition to the tendency to uprightness Starfleet crew. Yeah we had B'Elanna yelling and smashing stuff but that was a bit ho hum, Klingons. Neelix as a fanboy of Starfleet and the Feds is pretty funny.

 

[Melakon]

I noticed something in "Jetrel" the other day that could explain things about him too.

He talks of being among the first rescue parties to reach Rinax after the metreon cascade has been targeted at the moon.

But let me tell you another [story]. A man goes back to Rinax after the cascade, back to what had been his home, to look for survivors...but the impact of the blast has set off hundreds of fires, and there's nothing there -- just smoldering ruins and the stench of seared flesh. In the distance, in the middle of all that emptiness, from out of this huge cloud of billowing dust, he can see bodies moving, whimpering, coming toward him. They're monsters -- their flesh horribly charred, the color of shale. One of them comes toward him, mangled arms outstretched, and he can't help it -- he turns away, frightened. But then the thing speaks, and he knows by the sound of her voice that she's not a monster at all, but a child, a little girl ... Her name was Palaxia. We brought her back to Talax with the other survivors. Over the next few weeks, I stayed at her bedside, and watched her wither away.

And I thought-- is this why Neelix is so fond of Kes? So attentive to Naomi? Do they remind him of that poor little Talaxian girl?

 

[borgboy]

Kes has a short life span, but she wasn't a child when she met Neelix, not by the standards of the Ocampans I don't think.
I know this has been discussed before, but I forget. When Neelix and Kes were a couple, did they have separate rooms on Voyager? I seem to recall that they did, but I'm not sure.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

He did not even know how she had babies. There is no way they were sleeping together.

 

[borgboy]

I can't really imagine Neelix sleeping with Kes either *shudders*
But I can also easily imagine Neelix sleeping with Kes without understanding anything about her reproductive system if she'd let him.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Thing is I could imagine Neelix asking about contraceptive needs and being totally brushed off by someone saying "oh Ocampans don't need to worry about that" and not delving further. BUT. Kes would not do that. She has zero embarrassment issues, is science oriented and would chirpily explain to him all about the yellow goo and the elogium and the whole deal. He couldn't not know with Kes if he asked even the smallest reproduction question. So it seems to me that she was the fragile worshipped untouched girlfriend he was waiting for, to give him the go ahead to advance the relationship to the physical.

 

[bbjeg]

Neelix is to Voyager as Michaelangelo is to the Ninja Turtles. The team is in a shifty situation and if it weren't for those characters, everyone would have killed each other a long time ago.

 

[RandyS]

I do think Phlox is a reworking of the Neelix template, but that's for a different forum.

I'm glad to finally see I'm not the only one who thinks this. I've been saying so since 2001, but everybody I know still thinks I'm crazy.

 

[Guy Gardener]

You never dated a Catholic?

There's at least three things a person can do before they have to resort to playing baby roulette.