Which is your favorite on-screen Star Trek captain?

[Ranger REG]

I went with Kirk. Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather serve under Picard, but I'd rather be Kirk.

Now that is one strange fantasy: to be Kirk with Picard on top.

At least he's getting some honey.

 

[Elf Witch]

I get the feeling that a lot of this comes down to

"Who was the first Trek Captain you watched a lot of, thus becoming a major influence".

To someone who grew up with Kirk and TOS, Picard and everyone else are likely to just be pale shadows.

To someone who grew up with Picardd and TNG, Kirk's always going to be an irresponsible cowboy played by someone who overacts shamefully.

etc....

Then there's the "Capain Y" is the first captain LIKE ME! This means a lot to some people. I have a friend who treasures Storm from the X-Men because she was the first great black superhero he ever encountered and having someone like that meant alot to him, because he didn't see a lot of superheroes who "were like him".

There is some truth in this for me. Back when there was only Picard and Kirk I would have picked Kirk hands down. As a matter of fact I remember voting in a TV Guide poll on which Captain would you want defending Earth between the two and I voted for Kirk. Like most of the people who voted.

I grew up on TOS and for the longest time it was my favorite Trek. On the whole I just didn't like TNG. I picked Janeway as my favorite mainly because she was the first female who got any major screen time and I liked her and the way she command.

If I had to pick my favorite series it would have to be DS9. For its character development and story arcs.

 

[ivocaliban]

Now that is one strange fantasy: to be Kirk with Picard on top.

At least he's getting some honey.

Filthy Ranger! What did we tell you about replaying your holodeck fantasies while you're on duty?

 

[Chun-tzu]

I get the feeling that a lot of this comes down to

"Who was the first Trek Captain you watched a lot of, thus becoming a major influence".

To someone who grew up with Kirk and TOS, Picard and everyone else are likely to just be pale shadows.

To someone who grew up with Picardd and TNG, Kirk's always going to be an irresponsible cowboy played by someone who overacts shamefully.

etc....

Then there's the "Capain Y" is the first captain LIKE ME! This means a lot to some people. I have a friend who treasures Storm from the X-Men because she was the first great black superhero he ever encountered and having someone like that meant alot to him, because he didn't see a lot of superheroes who "were like him".

I'd say it's not so much "first Trek captain you watched a lot of" but more of "this was my favorite Trek series." And the two are probably highly correlated for good reasons. The captain is a critical character and intimately tied into the series. When Star Trek shows are being developed, the captain's got to be the first character they create (if not, s/he should be). I'd bet the poor showings of Janeway and Archer on this poll are related to how both Voyager and Enterprise have floundered at times, losing direction and resulting in inconsistencies.

Although TNG was my first Trek series, I preferred the darker side of Star Trek as seen in DS9. Major Kira, former terrorist, Quark, crooked thief, and Garak, spy and torturer, would have never made it on the "we're all super-competent do-gooders without any significant fallacies" TOS and TNG. I picked Sisko, for reasons touched on by others: that he had a really good mix of Kirk's action hero qualities and Picard's stateliness.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Hikaru Sulu (U.S.S. Excelsior NCC-2000)[/list]

I voted for Kirk, but I loved Sulu's captaining in Star Trek VI. What with his wanton disregard for direct orders and his overarching loyalty to his friends, it was easy to see see where he had learned his craft

As the Exclesior is racing to the aid of the Enterprise, which is under attack by a cloaked ship...

Sulu: "Come on!"

Helmsman: "If we push the engines any harder she'll fly apart sir!"

Sulu: "THEN FLY HER APART!"

 

[Ranger REG]

Filthy Ranger! What did we tell you about replaying your holodeck fantasies while you're on duty?

I believe it is YOUR holodeck fantasies. I'm tempted to either delete it or re-distribute it over the subpace communication network.

 

[Wolf72]

Sulu: "Come on!"

Helmsman: "If we push the engines any harder she'll fly apart sir!"

Sulu: "THEN FLY HER APART!"

oooh, great scene!

 

[Darth K'Trava]

James T. Kirk. He got to kick alotta ass and look cool doing it! Next, after him, would be Jean-Luc Picard. But Picard was never allowed to do much ass kicking.

 

[Ranger REG]

James T. Kirk. He got to kick alotta ass and look cool doing it!

Must be those grease on his hair. That and he uses a lot of legal pro wrestling maneuvers from the double-hammer punch to leaping off high places.

And you think WWE's Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and The Big Show don't deserve to appear in VOYAGER and in ENTERPRISE, respectively.

 

[Shag]

I'm gunna vote Captain Benjamin Maxwell, best quote sniff-sniff "Smells like a bureaucrat's office"

Ha! Gotta love a guy to diss Picard in his own ready room. That takes duranium balls

Plus he was right about the Cardassians. If the feds had stopped them back then they wouldn't have been able to help the dominion.

Nice work Picard!