Who is the "Spock-like" character in Voyager?

[mendelin]

As far as I know, in Star Trek there was always a character, who explores the humanity.

Spock's goal was to learn how to reconcile human advantages and disadvantages.
Android Data looks like "Pinocchio", his dream was to understand human and act like them.
Odo's goal was to find his place among people.
All of them were true aliens and nearly enigmatic characters.

But what is with the Voyager's crew?

Neelix is very simple, open and friendly character. He is not enigmatic at all.
Tuvok is a true Vulcan without any problems with other people. He has no need to explore the humanity.
The Doctor can be a candidate for "Spock-like" character. He is close to Data, but it seems to be he is not interesting in exploring humanity. And he is not enigmatic: no pointed ears, no white skin and yellow eyes, no mystic background history.

So, who is that "special" character in Voyager?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Keep watching. Season 4 is coming.

 

[bbjeg]

Seven of Nine, of course.

 

[Melakon]

Teacake drops a hint, and three hours later you spoil the surprise? Shame on you! Shame!

 

[ALF]

The Doctor can be a candidate for "Spock-like" character.

You're getting warmer.
I found The Doctor ending up being more Spock-like in character than Seven, who was once human.
The Doctor was never human.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

They both super wanted to be though.

More entertaining than Worf wanting to be more Klingon. And Spock of course was very busy pushing his humanness away and wanting to be more Vulcan, until he got old and peaceful.

 

[Lynx]

Kes!

 

[mendelin]

Kes!

Kes is not so unique as Spock (only one half-Vulcan, half-Human), Data (only one android in StarFleet) or Odo (only one shapeshifter in Alpha-quadrant).

 

[Pondwater]

Seven.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Kes isn't trying to find what it means to be Ocampan, or trying to become human so no, not Kes. She doesn't have the inner Spock struggle overlayed with defensive logic.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Seven, and arguably Janeway herself. She is dealing with being a selfish (by her lights) captain who has to save her crew from her decision to strand them in the Delta. Also, like Ulysses, her curiosity is often another factor that gets the ship into trouble. She is the most truly multifaceted captain of the lot, even more so than Kirk in many ways, and is always in a state of self conflict within her stories much like Spock. It leads to the view of crazy Janeway by many (though I think a certain degree of sexism is also involved in that as well) since she is not just the command figure that other captains are. All in all, it makes her a much more fascinating character than any of the other TNG era captains.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

^ That is like the best post I have ever read.

 

[Lance]

Definitely Seven. Also the Doctor. Voyager blazed a trail in having two Spocks. Three, if you count the Vulcan.

 

[picardo]

Keep watching. Season 4 is coming.

Excellent answer!

 

[picardo]

Seven, and arguably Janeway herself. She is dealing with being a selfish (by her lights) captain who has to save her crew from her decision to strand them in the Delta. Also, like Ulysses, her curiosity is often another factor that gets the ship into trouble. She is the most truly multifaceted captain of the lot, even more so than Kirk in many ways, and is always in a state of self conflict within her stories much like Spock. It leads to the view of crazy Janeway by many (though I think a certain degree of sexism is also involved in that as well) since she is not just the command figure that other captains are. All in all, it makes her a much more fascinating character than any of the other TNG era captains.

I disagree, well partially.

I agree that Janeway is a fascinating and complex character, actually she's my favourite of the Trek captains because she never doubts nor hesitates, she makes a decision while others linger on for days without making decisive moves.

But to compare her to Spock is wrong. Janeway is too emotional (which Vulcans aren't) and is too often driven by impulse and the occasional "hunch". In other words, she's too illogical (which isn't a bad thing).

 

[Gov Kodos]

Seven, and arguably Janeway herself. She is dealing with being a selfish (by her lights) captain who has to save her crew from her decision to strand them in the Delta. Also, like Ulysses, her curiosity is often another factor that gets the ship into trouble. She is the most truly multifaceted captain of the lot, even more so than Kirk in many ways, and is always in a state of self conflict within her stories much like Spock. It leads to the view of crazy Janeway by many (though I think a certain degree of sexism is also involved in that as well) since she is not just the command figure that other captains are. All in all, it makes her a much more fascinating character than any of the other TNG era captains.

But to compare her to Spock is wrong. Janeway is too emotional (which Vulcans aren't) and is too often driven by impulse and the occasional "hunch". In other words, she's too illogical (which isn't a bad thing).

The argument isn't about being emotional or not. She, like Spock is a character who deals with self conflict and with conflicting desires. And Vulcans have always been emotional, they just suppress and deny they have emotions. However, not speaking to your son for 18 years because he joined Star Fleet instead of following in your foot steps is not the reaction of an unemotional being. And T'Pring? That was pure lust couched in massive rationalization and a far cry from unemotional. McCoy knew that, and its why he rips into Spock so much.

 

[picardo]

The argument isn't about being emotional or not. She, like Spock is a character who deals with self conflict and with conflicting desires. And Vulcans have always been emotional, they just suppress and deny they have emotions. However, not speaking to your son for 18 years because he joined Star Fleet instead of following in your foot steps is not the reaction of an unemotional being. And T'Pring? That was pure lust couched in massive rationalization and a far cry from unemotional. McCoy knew that, and its why he rips into Spock so much.

I agree with your analysis and you do make a point when saying that Vulcans have emotions, they just suppress them (Tuvok being a fine example: there's at least a couple of episodes where he behaves like a psychopath, which Spock never did as far as I can remember).

But I think mendelin's intention when starting this thread (correct me if I'm wrong) was to determine who's the best candidate for a Spock-like character, and while 7/9 and the EMH are obvious choices, Janeway isn't.

I think in the other series it was easier to identify Spock's equivalent (Data in TNG, Tpol in Enterprise) but in Voyager is not as easy given the many characters that appeared in the different seasons, some of which weren't recurring, like Icheb, for example.

 

[Tiberius]

As far as I know, in Star Trek there was always a character, who explores the humanity.

Spock's goal was to learn how to reconcile human advantages and disadvantages.
Android Data looks like "Pinocchio", his dream was to understand human and act like them.
Odo's goal was to find his place among people.
All of them were true aliens and nearly enigmatic characters.

Actually, I don't think the purpose of Spock was to explore Humanity. The idea of a character who explores Humanity doesn't work for quite a few of the characters you mentioned. Spock had little interest in becoming human. Odo wasn't interested in being Human (or even Bajoran) at all.

Instead, I think the idea is more a character who is human-like, but still not. Rather than exploring Humanity, it gives them a chance to comment on Humanity (because they reflect some aspect of it), but still remain outside it, giving them a unique perspective. it allows the writer to explore aspects of humanity from a very different point of view, increasing the story telling opportunities.

• Spock is half Human (giving him the ability to reflect aspects of it), but wants to be completely Vulcan, so Humanity is still alien to him.
• Data wanted to be Human (giving him the ability to reflect aspects of it), but can't escape the emotionless nature of himself, so Humanity is still alien to him. He's the anti-Spock in a way.
• Odo has lived all his life amongst bumpy nosed religious Human-representatives (giving him the ability to reflect aspects of them), but he has never been able to fit in, so Humanity is still alien to him.
• T'Pol was completely Vulcan, but has worked closely with Humans (giving her the ability to reflect aspects of them), but she can't escape the Vulcan upbringing she's had, so Humanity is still alien to her.

And in Voyager, we have two characters who fit this purpose.

• The Doctor is a hologram designed for one purpose, but he has to have a bedside manner to allow him to interact well with his patients. This means he has to reflect aspects of Humanity. This idea is massively expanded on with the Doctor's efforts to improve himself with singing, golf, sex, etc. So he's able to reflect all these aspects of Humanity. But he's never going to be able to excape the technological nature of what he is, so Humanity will always be alien to him.
• And Seven of nine is fully Human, but has lived most of her life in the Borg. So even though she's able to reflect aspects of Humanity, she's never going to be able to escape the life she's been forced to lead, and thus Humanity will always be alien to her.

It's a technique you've seen more often than you realise. A character who reflects aspects of something the writer wishes to comment on, but is kept from being a part of that issue. Optimus Prime fits this category, because even though he's an alien robot that turns into a truck, he still has to live among and work with Humans, so he must try to understand them. It works with more than just Humanity. Marty McFly in Back to the Future is thrown back to the 1950s, and he has to live in that time and fit in. But he can't escape his 1980s upringing. In Groundhog Day, Phil has to live for potentially thousands of years in a small town, living the same day, so he's naturally going to reflect that (and we see it as he becomes better and better at understanding the people), but he can never escape his own nature (which is why he has to change his nature to escape). In The Rock, Stanley is able to reflect aspects of the military team he's sent in with because he's been trained a great deal and knows exactly what he's doing in a certain field, but since he's not a military person he'll never fit in.

So it works with lots of things.

 

[Captain Kathryn]

Yeah my answer is pretty much the same as everyone elses.

Seven of Nine
The Doctor

And even Tuvok in some episodes although he's sort of like...I don't know, he's Vulcan but he's been around humans for so long he's kind of just like whatever we're different I'm not changing for you guys. Tuvok is awesome, but I wouldn't exactly call him Spock-like. Although he'll catch a few lines very reminiscent of Spock because of the Vulcan way of speaking / pointing things out.

 

[mendelin]

^^^ Tiberius, thank you for this comprehensive answer!

As for The Doctor, I can't take him seriously. He doesn't exists, he is just an program. For example, Data is also a set of algorithms, but he has very complex physical body, that can be destroyed, Data can die. The Doctor has no value from this point of view.