May
2009
Who Is The Best Star Trek Captain
Ever since the week of September 28, 1987, there has been a question that has plagued this planet: Who is the best Star Trek captain?
The week of September 28,1987 was when Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered in syndication, and since that time there has been no more hotly debated topic amongst Star Trek fans who the best Captain is. The problem, as I see it, is everyone’s favorite has always come down to emotion. They base their love of a particular Captain on which one they grew up with, or that they know the best. I’ve always tried to approach it more as, “Which Captain would I actually follow into a battle?”, and that is exactly how I have put this list together.
First I will give you the Captains in chronological order by the show’s timeline, and then I’ll get down to the nitty gritty at the end. Enjoy!… and try not to kill me for my rankings!
Capt. Jonathan Archer, Enterprise
While Enterprise was the fifth, and final, Star Trek television series, it was actually the first in the timeline as it takes place towards the beginning of the United Federation of Planets (UFP).
Capt. Archer seemed very confused about what it meant to be a Captain through out the run of his series. He went from a wide-eyed explorer who loved the stars to a commanding officer who was willing to make morally questionable command decisions as the series went on.
Perhaps it could be chalked up to the fact the UFP was still in its infancy, and they hadn’t set down a lot of rules yet, such as “the prime directive”, but he just seemed to never fully understand what it meant to be a captain, and never had that “take no guff” air of command about him without swinging to the extreme ends of the pendulum.
Capt. James T. Kirk, Star Trek: The Original Series
Oh, Kirk. He was the first exposure so many people had to the world of Star Trek, and so they judge everything since by the standards he set. And oh what standards those were!
The problem with Capt. Kirk is that he was an adrenaline junkie. He never met an alien he didn’t want to shoot or sleep with. Diplomacy? What the heck is that?!? It’s hard to say how good he was as an actual officer, but there is no question that his crew was loyal to him, and would have followed him any where he went. Course, that may have lead them into an even worse problem, but who cared at that point?
Of all the Captains, Kirk was clearly the most ‘by the seat of his pants’ one in the history of the franchise. He seemed to luck into solutions to situations more than actually solving them, or he would end up leaving it to his crew which always seemed far more capable than him. He was clearly a product of the time frame this show was made in, but that carried over to the movie franchise, so I’m not sure that can even be used as a defense. He was a decent Captain, just probably not the best.
(Please note this is all based on William Shatner’s performance in the role, I have not seen the new movie yet, but from what I know, it would have to be almost considered a seperate character)
Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation
If Capt. Kirk wasn’t your introduction to Star Trek, then it was Capt. Picard, and then he’s the one you judge everyone else by. However, unlike Kirk, he actually seemed like an actual Captain.
Unlike his predecessor (in the history of Star Trek, 70-some years separated Picard and Kirk, so I mean as characters), Picard was truly a commander. He was enough of a diplomat that he would be called upon to serve as the arbitrator in peace negotiations, but he was a man of action when needed, and at that he was a brilliant tactician.
One thing the UFP (yes, really the show’s writers) did between the original series and this one was to make the rule that the Captain of a starship couldn’t go on “away missions”. This eliminated a lot of the potential for Picard to go all Kirk on an alien race (“Should I sleep with it or kill it?!?”), and that was all left to his second in command, Cmdr. Riker.
I think Picard brought a certain elegance to the rank, and it wasn’t just Patrick Stewart’s Shakespearean training, it was that the writer’s realized a Captain shouldn’t be so much of a cowboy, but someone that people would actually want to follow into battle.
Capt. Benjamin Sisko, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Capt. Sisko is a tough one to talk about because he was in such a different situation than any other commanding officer in the history of the series.
While he did start off at the rank of Commander at the beginning of the series, he was promoted to Captain later in the series. No matter what his rank was, he was still the top ranked officer on Deep Space Nine and on the U.S.S. Defiant. While this was actually my personal favorite of the five series, I have to call it as it is, and Sisko was always more of a glorified dock manager than a “Captain”. Yes, there were moments that you could say were Captain like, especially when fighting the Dominion, his primary job was to keep the station running smoothly, which was essentially a seaport.
I think if he had been out running around the galaxy like all of the other Captains he would have proven himself a very capable Captain, but going simply by what we saw on screen, he just didn’t really have the opportunities the others did.
Capt. Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager
Voyager was the series I was personally most disappointed with because they missed an oppurtuinty to have the ship come home with pipes sticking out at odd angles in the hallways, plates missing from the hull and so on. Instead the ship came home looking like it had regular servicing at a Starbase, and a glorious oppurtunity to show a less than shiny Starfleet vessel was totally missed.
That aside, Janeway was probably the Captain with the most weight put on her shoulders. 70,000 light years from home, a crew made up of Starfleet regulars and Marquis renegades, and yet she kept them together until they found an eventual way home. If this wasn’t a true example of someone acting like a Captain, being a true leader of people, I don’t know what is.
While the show may not have been the best, it was actually the best they ever did at showing a Captain under trying circumstances. It doesn’t mean she was the overall best, but it certainly shot her up my personal rankings.
Conclusion
So, what is my personal final list? Well, I’ll tell you this, I based it on command experience shown, and not on which series I liked the most, or which I watched first. Basically, I tried to remove all emotion from the list, so I know this will be a ranking that gets much disagreement, but it’s how I did it.
- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Capt. Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager
- Capt. James T. Kirk, Star Trek: The Original Series
- Capt. Benjamin Sisko, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- Capt. Jonathan Archer, Enterprise
So, there you have it, probably not the way most people would rank them, but I explained how I reached my conclusions, and I truly doubt you could find any two Star Trek fans who agree 100% on the order.
If you enjoyed this list, you may also like Who Is The Best James Bond & Who Is The Best Doctor Who.
Jolene | May 8th, 2009 at 8:55 pm #
Picard, Kirk, Sisko, and Janeway are mine. I never watched Enterprise.
Kandarr | May 8th, 2009 at 8:58 pm #
Lol this list sucks, Janeway 2nd best? U have got to be joking.
Scipio | May 9th, 2009 at 3:04 am #
I would switch Janeway and Sisko, but definitely Picard way in front.
Akco | May 10th, 2009 at 12:30 am #
Agreed.
xantres | May 13th, 2009 at 12:17 am #
Kirk as played in the new Star Trek movie is fairly faithful to the character in the original series. The only difference I would note is that he seems younger and somewhat less experienced at seducing women. He still flies by the seat of his pants through the whole movie.
You forgot captain Christopher Pike, who appeared briefly in the original series and who makes an appearance in the new movie. Where would he fit into the list? Or is his airtime too short to make the list?
seanpaune | May 14th, 2009 at 3:38 pm #
I pondered including Pike, but eventually decided to stick to Captains that had their own series. If I had included him I would have had to also include Sulu being Captain of the Excelsior in the movies and on an episode of Voyager.
StumbleUpon Is One Wacky Site - SeanPAune.com | June 10th, 2009 at 11:42 am #
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MikeClitoris | June 11th, 2009 at 1:16 pm #
k well make your own fucking list since you think it sucks… You say it sucks then state why it sucks.
shane laser | June 11th, 2009 at 5:30 pm #
You're right about Kirk being sort of a space cowboy when he meets alien races. But I did enjoy how he acted the most like a military commander. He regularly yelled at his subordinates to keep them on their toes and only really fraternized with Spock and McCoy. Gene Roddenberry, with the introduction of "Next Generation" enacted a policy of "everybody is best friends – any ensign can talk to the captain about any problem (like puberty)" and "ignore any order you think is bogus" that stayed with the show ever since. I don't know (i'm not in the armed services), I just don't think it's like that in the military. I think Gene just wished it was when he was a lowly ensign in the navy.
Ash | June 11th, 2009 at 6:00 pm #
I totally agree, the original series was made when a large chunk of people in the country had fought in either WWII or Korea, and the average TV show producer or director actually had a notion of what the military was like. Most people only remember his jokey-priceline.com persona, or his exploits with women, but if you watch the series again with a fresh view you'll see that he does act like a real navy captain…not a love-boat captain like Picard et al. Picard was a great negotiator/diplomat, but that is not the root of a great ship captain…
Riker is a perfect example of how mis-placed the public's opinion is of the James Kirk character…they tried to recreate him in Riker, but he always seemed like a lame character because they missed the essence of Kirk: a true battle captain with a military mind.
You're the first person I've seen who had the same theory on what made Kirk work…Shane Laser's a god-damn genius.
Spanky | June 12th, 2009 at 1:14 pm #
As a retired military man I can say that shane laser hit the nail square on the head. Given the rough and tumble frontier of deep space, I'd much rather serve under a kirk than a picard any day of the week. Diplomats make poor soldiers.
john | June 12th, 2009 at 4:44 pm #
just switch kirk and picard and the list would be perfect
Trekker | June 12th, 2009 at 5:25 pm #
None of them are captains but Kirk. All the rest are wannabe's.
Sylana | June 17th, 2009 at 12:48 am #
Not having actually watched Enterprise at all, I can't comment on Archer as a Captain. However, I think the list as is is fairly close to the mark. What really differentiated the series were the time periods and circumstances, and the captains fit their places in time rather well. The UFP in Kirk's era were still rather rough-and-tumble. The Klingons were enemies, the Romulans were enigmas, and the alpha quadrant was still a fairly uncivilized, and unexplored, place. Kirk fit that. He was a bit of a cowboy, yes, but he was a charismatic leader, and that's all he really had to be. He had Spock, McCoy, and Scotty to do most of the problem-solving for him- all he had to do was give orders and occasionally kill bad guys.
Picard, on the other hand, was supposed to be a diplomat. In that 70 years, the galaxy had settled down a bit, most of the quadrant was explored, and until the Borg showed up, there were really no major enemies (yes, the Romulans were still there, but we had a tentative peace with them). All he was expected to do was run around, put out the occasional brush fire, and make sure everyone was behaving properly. Again, he had good subordinates, but he didn't rely on them as heavily for every minor decision.
Sisko really was the odd man out. Taking command of a barely functioning space station and turning it into a major starport, dealing with the Cardassians, and then the Dominion. He was also the only one that had to deal with a full-out war, and I think he performed wonderfully from what I saw of the final two seasons (I missed most of them, due to a very odd work and school schedule, and have never caught up)
Janeway just plain had rotten luck. Considering the position she was in, and the weirdness that prevailed in that series, I'm surprised they made it home at all. Again, I havent watched the entire series, but I'm fairly sure that I would've never made it through a month in that situation, much less several years.
redopz | June 22nd, 2009 at 2:48 am #
lawl the only reason you couldn't find 2 star trek fans who agreed is because theirs not enough out there ;)
Gerald | June 22nd, 2009 at 6:57 am #
Props to redopz for a most noble, yet highly impotent trolling attempt….unfortunately it fell to the ground like a scud missile
STVoyager | September 6th, 2009 at 4:03 pm #
I agree, MikeClitoris! Janeway belongs on the place where you put her!
ittarter | September 7th, 2009 at 1:21 am #
The final line is amusing. “I truly doubt you could find any two Star Trek fans who agree 100% on the order.”
Well, given that there are only five non-repeating variables, there is a very finite number of possibilities with respect to the order of greatness of the five Star Trek “captains.” My count is eighty. I didn’t calculate it mathematically, but even if I’m wrong, there are WAY more than eighty Trekkies out there!
Ash | November 18th, 2009 at 5:40 am #
For me it is
1. Picard
2. Sisko (sometimes #1 depending on my mood)
3. Kirk
4. Archer
5. Janeway ( she had so many chances to just send her crew home, but NOOOO she always had to take the moral high ground, uggghhhh character was an Epic FAIL!!!!
Nyx Nyx Nyx | December 20th, 2009 at 11:03 am #
This.
boringusername | January 1st, 2010 at 6:49 am #
Yes, but their reasoning behind their choices is infinite.
sahirs | January 5th, 2010 at 11:52 am #
I think this list is on, or close to the mark…
Ali | January 16th, 2010 at 7:53 am #
I think you all underestimate Kirk. He was a clever and intuitive commander who always had something up his sleeve. There were plenty of times that the crew saw peril while someone else had to take command. Also, Kirk was not a violent person. He had a greater capacity for it, but he only ever defended himself. There were countless times that he refused to kill his enemy or even saved them/tried to. As for captain Picard, I hold him personally responsible for the destruction of the Enterprise D, the near destruction of the Enterprise E, and the death of James T. Kirk. Things often got pretty bad for Picard. He knew what to do eventually, but Kirk always had options kickin around in his head.
Dave K TNG | August 12th, 2010 at 6:50 pm #
Just reading this post and I have to make one point. Starfleet is NOT a military organization. In fact, in the future of Star Trek, humans have no organized military.
There IS a definite chain of command, and in Star Trek each and every captain has made it abundantly clear that his order is final. I would like to think that in the future that humans have become less prone to lose thier temper and more prone to working as a community.
Ike | September 24th, 2010 at 8:33 pm #
Sisko
Kirk
Archer
Janeway
Picard
Sisko, Kirk and Archer would tell the universe to go to hell rather than sacrifice their crews. Janeway and Picard were weaklings who defended the Federation Charter and Prime Directive at the expense of their people.
Which captain would YOU want to serve under?
Koen | October 25th, 2010 at 2:29 am #
Archer
Picard
Sisko
Janeway
Kirk
Now I placed Kirk last, because I never watched TOS, not because I don't have the time, but… The acting sucks, Kirk sucks, the Qaulity of the show is just… blegh and frankly, I can't watch that…
I placed Archer first because he actually has balls, he would never leave a man behind, he risks earths first Warp-Five, his father's creation, and his live to save the Earth, or even a single crewman… also I enjoy Enterprise the best.
Dan | November 7th, 2010 at 4:41 pm #
what happened to captinPike?!?!
dan | November 7th, 2010 at 4:43 pm #
Picard
Kirk
Archer
Pike
Sisko
Janeway
Mario | December 3rd, 2010 at 7:23 pm #
I think Captain Kathryn Janeway was definitely the best captain Star Trek ever had.. and yes, I also think Voyager was the best Star Trek series ever made. They were in such a cool, unique situation, being so far away from home and that enhanced what I love most about the series : It enhanced the idea that they are explorers.
I also loved how the characters developed, and how they liberated a freakin' Borg (seven of nine).. let's face it Janeway had balls to keep knowingly provoking the Borg. Plus, she was the one captain who actually seemed believably human. She had a great sense of humour and had a constant struggle with her own character flaws (I loved the fact that she had flaws). Most of the characters were very well-cast. They all had a sense of humour. I also thought Voyager was the coolest ship: Sleek, smart-looking, and most of all realistic and believable-looking controls. All the other ships equipment and controls looked SO obviously fake and like a 5 year-old's toys and it was so … 'I'm watching a TV show and these are just badly designed and coloured props". With Voyager, I actually found the controls to be believable-looking, like they actually are real controls of a real starship. I found Voyager to be a fascinating, versatile series, and the crew was the closest-knit and seemed like they really actually cared about each other. The hologram doctor was always funny. And this may seem odd, but I've always liked the fact that Janeway sometimes slumped in her Captain's chair on the bridge… somehow it was just an endearing quality and humanized her all the more. And her coffee-addiction/obssession was hilarious..I mean, come on, how many other captains would risk everyone's lives and take her crew into a dangerous nebula because it contained stuff that the replicators were running out of to make coffee? And I quote : "Mr. Paris, set a course…there's coffee in that nebula." And at the end, not only did she tell the Temporal Prime Directive to go f**k itself so she could save the lives of her crew, but the first glimpse we get of Voyager being back in the alpha quadrant is as it zooms out of the Borg explosion and it makes me think of the saying 'Voyager..the starship that crawled through a wormhole of Borg crap and came out clean as a whistle on the other side..in the alpha quadrant" lol.. and come on, they managed to cross the transwarp threshold in Voyager and get to Warp 10 and travel at infinite velocity (although that didn't exactly work out too well for them and it turned the captain and the pilot into weird-looking creatures lol…, they still did it).
So basically, for me, Voyager will always be the closest to my heart.
Although, you know… hasn't Star Trek already kinda violated the Temporal Prime Directive?? I mean..TECHNICALLY WE are still a pre-warp civilization, so not only is Starfleet not supposed to 'meddle in our affairs', but they're not supposed to let us be aware of their existence lol…. I mean, its supposed to be "Earth" in the future… but putting themselves on TV and making a series about it is kinda violating the Temporal Prime Directive, if you think about it :P LOL
Mario | December 3rd, 2010 at 7:35 pm #
I only wish there was Star Trek: Voyager movie … It could be about how the characters adapted to life back on Earth and in the Alpha Quadrant.. like Seven of Nine ..and the Doctor… that's another thing I loved about Voyager… the characters were likeable and really made you care about them and root for them, no matter what.
Plus..Kate Mulgrew is hawt lol
Tony | December 5th, 2010 at 10:59 am #
All the people saying "screw the prime directive" Obviously do not know what it takes to be a responsible, level headed leader. Picard and Janeway were 2 legendary captains. The best of the bunch.
I agree with your list ; )
Voyager movie pleaseeeee!
O.R. Melling | March 4th, 2011 at 3:15 pm #
Captain Janeway, then Picard, then Kirk, then Sisko (shaved head best) and I couldn't watch Enterprise. Too boring.
cram6 | March 6th, 2011 at 8:27 am #
deffinitly picard is thebest captain ever !!!! however my order is :
1)Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation
2)Capt. Jonathan Archer, Enterprise
3)Capt. James T. Kirk, Star Trek: The Original Series
4)Capt. Benjamin Sisko, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
5)Capt. Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager
Alex | March 10th, 2011 at 6:46 am #
1. Picard
2. Janeway
3. Kirk
4. Archer
5. Sisko
PVW | March 25th, 2011 at 1:49 pm #
<sigh>
Kirk – Solved MANY problems solo or with limited help, I don't know where this "everyone else constantly saved Kirk's but" crap comes from. If you need someone to win a gladiator match, talk down a psycho robot with logic, outwit an omnipotent enemy, outwit a non-omnipotent enemy, outwit a mad scientist, outfight a geneticly enhanced superman or any number of androids, take responsibility for your mess (and clean it up)… Kirk's always your goto guy. He let his underlings shine when their specialty was called for but he had no problem filling in for any (or all) when the situation called for it.
Picard – Well intentioned, dignified, cool, fair and capable of being rutheless when the need arises or when he's being mind-controlled into wiping out a federation fleet (good luck trying to get Kirk to do that)
Archer – He was clever when he had to be.
Janeway – Just becauses Janeway had an arguably harder job doesn't make her better – she rarely solved problems by being clever.
Sisko – Someone has to be last. He wasn't bad but he lost a lot of his spirit in the last few seasons and he was a little too pre-occupied with religion and his family/son.
Ali | April 8th, 2011 at 4:48 am #
damn straight, PVW.
Kirk was the man. He man-handled Klingons, out-witted Romulans, and talked mechanized beings into destroying themselves.
Picard was the one always saved by his crew. He was entirely a diplomat, not a captain.
When Sisko and the UFP let the Cardassians arrest and try chief O'Brien, that was the most pathetic thing I'd ever seen. That would not have happened on Kirk's watch.
Ali | April 8th, 2011 at 4:59 pm #
Starfleet is absolutely as much a peacekeeping & military armada as anything. The primary mission of the enterprise is one of exploration, but Starfleet is involved in countless military operations. They have a military structure, and military power. They have engaged in several wars, cold and hot.
Alessandro17 | May 28th, 2011 at 9:05 am #
I am watching DS9 (second season) and Enterprise (first season) now, so I don't have the complete picture yet.
Anyway, I already like Archer very much, he is more of a friend than a captain, and I'd rather serve under him.
Sisko, too soon, I really have to watch more, but they put him in an awkward position.
Kirk, I agree with most here, he is a cowboy and a womaniser, not nice for a starship captain.
Picard, probably perfect: an accomplished diplomat, a scholar, but also a friend, a strategist, somebody who listens…
Janeway: did anybody else notice that she is neurotic at times? Some days she is in a bad mood, she overreacts, "This is my ship and I decide what to do", like she say to her future self, even if she outranks her and is obviously a lot more experienced. Clearly, Janeway is not one of my favourites.
gerubach | June 12th, 2011 at 12:45 am #
1. Sisko (for bringing the Romulans into the Dominion War)
2. Picard (for his professionalism)
3. Janeaway (for being a sexy cat woman)
4. Kirk (for breaking all the rules)
5. Archer (for having a crappy series)
6. Sulu (for his calm low voice)
7. Pike (for his ventriloquist abilities)
Warpcore | June 16th, 2011 at 9:27 am #
Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager!
Best captain, best cast/actors, best stories, best writing, best opening-theme music, best-looking ship, most realistic-looking ship and effects, most relate-able, most exciting, most likeable, simply the BEST that has ever come out of Star Trek so far.
Ant | June 18th, 2011 at 6:50 pm #
Janeway was way ahead of all beside Jean-Luc Picard, not only was she the first female captain she was one hell personality for the trek family a women who stuck by her morals no matter what and for those that think she was weak or don't like her cause she had so many chances to get her crew home well we all saw what happen to the crew of the Equinox that did anything to get home, she took the book from Picard on the borg and rewritten it completely. The show was the best in many years and I for one enjoy it from start to end Janeway really did carry that show you always knew where she stood and the women was no push over(beside the Doc but hey he wasn't human and put up with it cause he was like more of a child in her eyes and children have to learn the hard way sometime).
rusty | July 29th, 2011 at 10:48 am #
Their mission is exploration though, not MILITARY.
QuilledMind | October 21st, 2011 at 8:59 am #
1) Picard
2) Kirk
3) Janeway
4) Archer
5) Sisko
Kooz | December 23rd, 2011 at 8:32 am #
Janeway, Sisko, and Archer don't even make my list–I just wasn't impressed by them. I have Picard at the top and Kirk behind him, then some other Captains filling out the rest of the top 5. http://kooztop5.blogspot.com/2011/12/top-5-starfl…