What were the coolest ST villains

[kythe]

Surprised so many people love the Romulans. They were good in TOS, but I could just never take them seriously in TNG. A bunch of Moe's in garish Zoot suits.

I agree with you there, the TOS Romulans were by far the best. I still voted for them, but Vulcans/Romulans are my favorite race. I have become quite attached to some of their portrayals in novels, particularly Diane Duane's Rihannsu series.

When sticking with on-screen villains, I would go with the Dominion, for the same reasons many others here have mentioned.

 

[JiNX-01]

I voted Breen. Just because we know nothing about them. Never even got to see one!

No to:
Klingons: I'm sick of them.
Cardassians: A close second in overstaying their welcome.
Romulans: Just Klingons with different forehead bumps.
Borg: Ruined by whoever thought they needed a Queen and wussification issue on Voyager.
Dominion was OK, but ... meh.
Tholians were different enough, which is cool, but we never seemed to have any fun with them.

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

Any poll of Trek baddies that doesn't include Khan doesn't get my vote.

 

[Myasishchev]

Voted Dominion. How can one not?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Voted Dominion. How can one not?

That's what I like to hear!

But I voted for the Cardies anyway. And looks like the Rommies have picked up some steam due to the movie, which is great. Always thought they got short shrift.

The Borg could also be rehabilitated sometime - they just need to be not overused, not allowed to lose except on exceedingly rare occasions, and when somebody is assimilated, a rule must be established that it is NEVER rescinded or undone. For assimilation to be invariably permanent is what is needed to give the Borg credibility as a truly horrifying existential threat.

 

[Myasishchev]

^Cardassians are Dominion.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

^Cardassians are Dominion.

Well of course they are.

Yknow what made the Dominion so frakkin great? That scene where Dukat and Damar are cackling about how the Dominion treaty with Bajor is just a stupid piece of paper that they can't wait to violate, and Weyoun smacks them down and puts them right in their place.

That shows that the Dominion really thinks - they want to use the treaty with Bajor as an example to the Alpha Quad that they really can be trusted, and from what we know, the Dominion treats subject words in the Gamma Quad pretty well, giving them protection and allowing them to trade and prosper, and all they ask in return is that nobody kicks up a fuss.

Because you can trust the Dominion not to plunder your planet, right? I mean what the frak does the Dominion want? Besides peace and quiet, apparently nothing. The Founders slosh around in their pond, and the Vorta and Jems have no interests outside of serving the Founders. They don't even have very wide-ranging tastes in food and therefore wouldn't even swipe your food supplies, much less anything else. They don't drink, no sex, no appreciation for art, no appetites for anything at all. Talk about your ideal alien overlords!

And that is what makes them so incredibly dangerous to the Federation - what they offer is a pretty attractive alternative to the Federation. You give up some freedom but get more ruthless protectors. Who would be better against a Borg attack, those Starfleet chickens or the Dominion, who are incapable of cowardice because death means nothing to the Vorta (hey there's always the next clone) or the Jems (death is the point of their existence)? My money would be on the Doms.

I might have to change my vote! Cardies are such losers.

 

[miraclefan]

Surprised ''Praetor'' hasn't voted yet! anywho, I voted Romie's as the COOLEST. Now for the most powerfull I'd say the Dominion. With the pre-VOYAGER Borg as most scary!

 

[Myasishchev]

And that is what makes them so incredibly dangerous to the Federation - what they offer is a pretty attractive alternative to the Federation. You give up some freedom but get more ruthless protectors. Who would be better against a Borg attack, those Starfleet chickens or the Dominion, who are incapable of cowardice because death means nothing to the Vorta (hey there's always the next clone) or the Jems (death is the point of their existence)? My money would be on the Doms.

I might have to change my vote! Cardies are such losers.

I want to join the Dominion now.

 

[Witterquick]

^Me two. Great propaganda, Temis.

 

[spaceballone]

The Borg, before Voyager ruined them.

Agreed. They were bad (in a good way) before Voyager.

You are gotta be kidding me! You think Borg were really good and scary in Descent?

Voyager never did anything so ridiculous with The Borg like that. Never. Voyager did overuse them, I give you that.

That wasn't "THE BORG" in Decent. That was a few Borg who left the collective and joined forces with Lore. In TNG the only time we actually fight the Borg were once with Q, The best of Both Worlds and in First Contact.

 

[Zeppster]

TNG's writers stayed away from the Borg because they couldn't think of a way to beat them. Which is stupid, I mean look what happened to the Klingon's from TOS to the TNG era. They came from being unlikeable to being honorable and someone we can relate to.

 

[indranee]

definitely the cardies. but nothing really can equal the TNG Borg.

 

[spaceballone]

TNG's writers stayed away from the Borg because they couldn't think of a way to beat them. Which is stupid, I mean look what happened to the Klingon's from TOS to the TNG era. They came from being unlikeable to being honorable and someone we can relate to.

It wasn't because they couldn't think of a way to beat them. It was more to keep the scare factor to them. If you keep beating the unbeatable enemy they lose that element. The klingons were great villains in TOS and the movies but they were never the unbeatable enemy like the borg were. The klingons always had a culture and some sort of humanity and honor to them even in TOS. With the Borg we De-humanized the enemy and took away the culture and emotions. There is no talking or negotiating with them which was why they were such good unstoppible villains.

 

[apenpaap]

TNG's writers stayed away from the Borg because they couldn't think of a way to beat them. Which is stupid, I mean look what happened to the Klingon's from TOS to the TNG era. They came from being unlikeable to being honorable and someone we can relate to.

It wasn't because they couldn't think of a way to beat them. It was more to keep the scare factor to them. If you keep beating the unbeatable enemy they lose that element. The klingons were great villains in TOS and the movies but they were never the unbeatable enemy like the borg were. The klingons always had a culture and some sort of humanity and honor to them even in TOS. With the Borg we De-humanized the enemy and took away the culture and emotions. There is no talking or negotiating with them which was why they were such good unstoppible villains.

Yeah, the Borg suffered from villain-decay badly. Not as badly as the Ferengi, though.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

And that is what makes them so incredibly dangerous to the Federation - what they offer is a pretty attractive alternative to the Federation. You give up some freedom but get more ruthless protectors. Who would be better against a Borg attack, those Starfleet chickens or the Dominion, who are incapable of cowardice because death means nothing to the Vorta (hey there's always the next clone) or the Jems (death is the point of their existence)? My money would be on the Doms.

I might have to change my vote! Cardies are such losers.

I want to join the Dominion now.

^Me two. Great propaganda, Temis.

Looks like I earned my paycheck for the day.

 

[borgfan8of5]

I have to admit that the borg are overused in the novels. I'm reading destiny right now, and just got past the part in book 1 were they talk about all of the borg attacks and missions in the novels.

 

[DarKush]

Temis gave a great reasoning for why the Dominion are so dangerous. Plus, I don't think any Trek villain except the Borg got me as excited as the Jem'Hadar in "The Jem'Hadar" when they destroyed the Odyssey and walked through that forcefield.

I would've picked the Borg, but they didn't really have much staying power. They were so powerful you couldn't use them too much without diminishing their power, which is exactly what I feel VOY did.

Species 8472 was also a cool looking villain, with a lot of potential wasted by VOY.

I guess my third pick would be the Romulans. Followed by the Klingons, but I think the overexposure of the Klingons dropped them in my eyes.

1. Dominion
2. Borg
3. Romulans
4. Klingons
5. Species 8472
6. Cardassians
7. Xindi
8. Hirogen
9. Breen
10. Tholians

 

[Islander]

The borgs are just too automatons, nothing really devious about it.

The Romulans are mostly isolationists and represents the cold war, now a relic of the past.

The Klingons became friendly in 24th century, some of them even wuss, or greedy, or just too much "human" in the end.

The cardassians have potential but they felt too much like under-resourced, like not technologically as advanced. They can be good villains only on a local scale like in North Vietman back in the days or Iraq.

The Tholians could be nice but their extreme physiological difference makes it that it's unlikely they would fight over the same territory. We haven't heard much of them in the 24th century likely because treaty were made giving them the planets the required that were of no use to the Federation.

We don't know anything about the Breen. That could be a good thing, but I just don't know!

I voted Dominion. There not just a race of villains but the perfect Federation's nemesis. They are multiple race "allied" (obviously dominated by the founders by fear of the Gem'Hadar but nonetheless) just like the Federation, with clear intentions, will and resources for domination.

 

[Edinburgh]

Hirogen