Star Trek Polls 2: The Best Captain

[Deckmaster]

This is the second in a series of polls about Star Trek. This is about who is the best captain. (For real this time)

[pestilenceawaits]

Picard is the man. besides Stewart played Xavier also what did Shatner play...TJ Hooker?? :)

[Lord Herman]

My top 5:
1. Benjamin Sisko
2. Jean-Luc Picard
3. Jonathan Archer
4. Katheryn Janeway
5. James T. Kirk

[indianajoe]

Benjamin Sisko all the way.

[Lord Iames Osari]

I'll go with Picard. He has a cool song (http://picard.ytmnd.com/). Several cool songs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tP4LIj9QHM), actually.

And besides that, he's clearly a better captain, who actually takes the time to think about the decisions he makes, but who isn't afraid to make snap judgements in the heat of battle.

[Saithis Bladewing]

My choices:

1. Benjamin Lafayette Sisko
2. James Tiberius Kirk
3. Jean-Luc Picard
4. Christopher Pike
5. Jonathan Archer
6. Kathryn Janeway

[ZombieRockStar]

I voted Janeway for the pure sake of being the only one.

C'mon. She deserves more credit than you give her. Her crew sucked, yes, but that shouldn't really reflect on her.

Okay, in reality, Sisko is my man. But Janeway was pretty good. She deserves to be above Archer, at the very least.

[adanedhel9]

While I personally liked Sisko more as a character, I prefered Picard as a captain.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Yeah. I prefer DS9 and the characters, but I think that Picard was a better captain in general.

[Chunklets]

Like a few others before me, I had some trouble deciding between Picard and Sisko, but in the end I went with Picard.

[EmeraldRose]

Picard is, by far, the best captain!!

[Logic]

What, no Robert April?

My Faves:
1. Benjamin Sisko
2. Jean-Luc Picard
3. Johnathan Archer
4. James T. Kirk
5. Christopher Pike
6. Robert April
7. William T Riker (He is a starship captain by Nemesis)
8. Left open for any candidate I am forgetting

[Big_Red_Bird]

I voted Picard, but I'm surprised no one has voted Kirk.

[Beleriphon]

Nobody voted for Kirk? Odd, I suppose the old folks haven't spotted this one yet. :smallwink:

My vote is for Picard. He's the man.

[Neo]

I went for Sisko, as he is the only one with real balls for being a front line captain.

Why yell when you can growl?

[Don Beegles]

I feel special about being the only one to vote for Archer, mostly because he's the only one whose series I've seen.

[Diggorian]

Benjamin Sisko: Loving single-Dad, Fair commanding officer, "The Sisko", expert Boxer, wicked Jambalaya chef, black man (he's the only character to be proud of his ethnic heritage -- save O'Brien and Scotty), battle tactician, Bajoran Jesus, Starfleet Captain of the MOST @$$-kick'in ship in the Federation. :biggrin:

[Sir Chuck]

You land on a planet -- it's ruled by the archetypical computer that dictates how the society is run, stunting its natural development. It's also got your ship locked in a powerful tractor beam and it's gradually destroying your vessel. You've found the computer and are trying to determine how to destroy it.

A young, enthusiastic engineering officer who's in the landing party with you -- landing party, not away team -- gets excited and says, "Captain, I think if we can somehow get to send a phased tachyon pulse from the main deflector array, it just might disrupt the planet's computer long enough for us to disable it!"

You look at him and, rather than adjusting your uniform and telling him to "Make it so," you say, "Wouldn't it be easier to just give the computer a paradoxical logic problem so that it shuts itself down?"

So you do. And it does.

Kirk all the way, baby.

It doesn't get better than Kirk. Here's a guy who will land on the planet, get captured by the aliens and forced to fight in an arena situation and win his fight against the hulking brute of an alien with merely a deft double-fisted kidney punch, teach the hot alien chick in the tin foil bikini and go-go boots what this thing called "kiss" is, then talk the computer that runs the planet into destroying itself by giving it an unsolvable logic problem, only to beam back to his ship just in time to goad his Vulcan science officer and uptight platitude-spewing doctor into an insult contest for his amusement.

No other captain has violated the Prime Directive so many times, and have it be the right decision every single time. For that matter, no other captain has used the Prime Directive as an excuse to take action, rather than not take action.

And despite his reputation for being a ladies' man, evidence shows that more often than not, the women were throwing themselves at him, not the other way around.

I can think of no greater role model in my life than James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise.

Except maybe George Harrison.

[Saithis Bladewing]

Benjamin Sisko: Loving single-Dad, Fair commanding officer, "The Sisko", expert Boxer, wicked Jambalaya chef, black man (he's the only character to be proud of his ethnic heritage -- save O'Brien and Scotty), battle tactician, Bajoran Jesus, Starfleet Captain of the MOST @$$-kick'in ship in the Federation. :biggrin:

About sums it up, but you also forgot to add how he is simultaneously capable of being a close friend and leading father figure as well as the stern rigid commander.

The reason I like Sisko is because I felt he had the perfect blend between Kirk's pragmatic 'ignore the book if it doesn't help' approach and Picard's professionalism.

Other reasons I like Sisko include the fact that you get to see him work his way to captaincy, the U.S.S. Defiant is badass, Deep Space Nine is a pretty nifty looking model and he's plain handsome bald with a beard.

[Diggorian]

About sums it up, but you also forgot to add how he is simultaneously capable of being a close friend and leading father figure as well as the stern rigid commander.

All those things are the Sisko, therefore the Sisko is all those things.

I forgot that he has a golden voice too. I saw Avery Brooks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avery_Brooks), one-man show a tribute to Paul Robeson. Was great.

[SpoonlessJedi]

I'll have to cast my vote for Janeway, simply because she's a women's rights icon.

(I did laugh quite heartily at the "Bajoran Jesus" description of Sisko. Well put, sir)

[Neo]

You'd think a woman's rights candidate would have had a better script :D

[urodivoi]

Interesting how Picard outstrips in the pole but Sisko is getting the posts. I think the Sisko crowd feels the need to explain their decision.
Kirk and Picard just are at another level then the rest I think. Sisko still is pretty cool.

I'm afraid Janeway just bugged me. In every episode I saw I would think "What would the right thing to do in this situation - and unfailingly Janeway would do the opposite. I am told that her character improved in the later season but I never had the desire to find out.

[Ali]

Picard.

Cool voice, cool song, cool captain.

[Sir Chuck]

Picard runs away from danger and hides behind rules so that he doesn't have to take action. Bah, I say! Bah!

[Saithis Bladewing]

All those things are the Sisko, therefore the Sisko is all those things.

I forgot that he has a golden voice too. I saw Avery Brooks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avery_Brooks), one-man show a tribute to Paul Robeson. Was great.

Oh yes, great voice, great charisma. To be honest, I prefer his voice and charisma to Picard's. I think its because he feels a lot more...open and honest. At least to me. Picard always seems a bit closed and rigid, whereas Sisko says what's on his mind. That and, regardless of whether you like him or not, he always manages to steal the spotlight when he steps onscreen. Avery Brooks did so in American History X as well. He and good ol' Ed Norton stole the show in that, and it really reinforced my respect for Brooks as an actor.

I just don't see why more people like Sisko. Yeah, Picard was decent, but I think he was overrated. Kirk was just amusing, albeit completely unrealistic.

[Balesirion]

Although I prefer DS9 for it's characters, I have to say that Sisko was the weakest character and the worst acted in the cast. Avery Brooks is just too stiff for me. Sisko's all right, but not nearly as awesome as Picard, who was the driving force throughout all of Next Generation. So I go with Picard.

[Diggorian]

Although I prefer DS9 for it's characters, I have to say that Sisko was the weakest character and the worst acted in the cast.

A DS9er whom ... dislikes The Sisko?

*grapples with paradox (the concept, not the board member)*

I can kinda see the stiffness but I chalk it up to the character. All captains since Kirk have had that formal air of command, save Janeway (5th on my list) who was an infallible-by-the-script mother hen to her crew.:smalltongue: I like Picard but he wrote the book on athoritarian rigidity. Ever play the drinking game where you take a shot whenever Jean Luc straightens his uniform, you wont finish the episode conscious :smallbiggrin: .

As they wrote the DS9 cast as an ensemble, I can understand Ben getting lost in the shuffle for ya. I suggest for your judgement episodes 613 "Far Beyond the Stars" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Beyond_the_Stars_%28DS9_episode%29), "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Me_Out_to_the_Holosuite_%28DS9_episode%29), and 403 "The Visitor" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Beyond_the_Stars_%28DS9_episode%29).

Heck, in the series premiere Sisko calls out Picard for killing his wife at Wolf 359. That takes a set of brass ones.

[Logic]

Interesting how Picard outstrips in the pole but Sisko is getting the posts. I think the Sisko crowd feels the need to explain their decision.
Kirk and Picard just are at another level then the rest I think. Sisko still is pretty cool.

No one is denying the awesomeness of Picard (except the Kirk junkies), that is why no one chooses to defend him.
Picard vs. Kirk has been done to death, and usually, the argument ends with the person defending Picard winning the arguement. (In my experience anyay)
Sisko vs Picard/Kirk/Etc is still a relatively new topic, since most people skipped DS9 when it didn't quite feel like the same Trek we were all used to.

[penguinreich]

Well to defend Picard (because he's the underdog ) He has the flagship of the federation. What he does affects how new species think of the federation. If I met Kirk i might think the federation is a hot tempered,chauvinistic, and barbaric union.(i do like kirk, he get his hands dirty,he would be a much better first officer.) On the other hand Picard would make me think of the federation as a peaceful,intelligent,diplomatic group. Picard may be a little stiff but at least he doesn't actively pursue numerous relation ships with every alien women he meets.

[Diggorian]

Picard is three to one against his closest rival (Sisko), hardly an underdog.

I give him full respect. It's just that Sisko is often unsung among trekkies.

[Cpt.Myers]

Personally my favorites are:
1. (beside Cpt.Myers) Picard
2. Janeway
3. Kirk
4. Sisko
5. Archer

[Saithis Bladewing]

Picard may be a little stiff but at least he doesn't actively pursue numerous relation ships with every alien women he meets.

To be fair, most women threw themselves at Kirk, not the other way around. And Kirk never tried to develop any kind of relationship. He knew what he was in it for and so did they. ~.^

[Logic]

He knew what he was in it for and so did they. ~.^
Well, that could be a matter of perception.

[Weebl]

My fave is easily Picard.

[Zephra]

janeway is the best by a very long shot. how dare you say picard is better!

[Tharj TreeSmiter]

No one is denying the awesomeness of Picard (except the Kirk junkies), that is why no one chooses to defend him.
Picard vs. Kirk has been done to death, and usually, the argument ends with the person defending Picard winning the arguement. (In my experience anyay)
Sisko vs Picard/Kirk/Etc is still a relatively new topic, since most people skipped DS9 when it didn't quite feel like the same Trek we were all used to.

I agree, I just watched all the DS9 episodes in syndication and I liked them but didn't get into them when first aired. Sisko is a good captian but not great. He made numerous emotional desicions that were obviously wrong. (particularly when going after a certain trecherous officer)

To be hones I've only watched a few of the voyager episodes but she really bugged me. In the few episodes I saw she would try to be a tough captian but then wouldn't follow through.

[Cpt.Myers]

Personally I thought that Janeway was a very good leader. My favorite is still Picard but JAneway did well. She rescued seven of nine even though seven was torn between human emotions and being attracted to the borg. I believe Logic was right, DS9 kinda sucked. No offense to anyone, It was just that it wasn't the characters we loved, the story was different. the only good thing to me was Worf in the series. Kirk was very gun-ho about fighting and killing the aliens. Picard was diplomatic and he made some good and bad descisions which were influenced by emotion. He also disobeyed direct orders from Starfleet but those descisions were good. Sisko was Boring and that was because he commanded a space station. A mostly stationary space station. Archer I really Didn't see much of so I can't make a judgment but most people disregard him and think he is not as good. i like Scoat Bakula the acor who plays Archer though because he was in that show. The show where he was a different person every episode. I cannot recall the name though. Those are my opinions.

[Diggorian]

Wow.

I could make an entire thread about why I choose Sisko but in the end I dont know my audience, whom may -- for whatever reason-- never see my point of view. So maybe my thoughts on the others can illuminatewhere I'm coming from.

#2. Picard was great. A step in the direction of Trek for mature audiences. The established Federation would give refined people like him command. He was such a contrast to Kirk in nearly every way, I can understand the frequency of the him vs Kirk argument. To me though, he was just too uptight, too unrealistic thougfh definately admirable.

#3 Kirk was just a cunningly, smooth bastard. He's what the up and coming Federation needed: a charismatic conquistador.

#4 Jonathan Archer is hard to judge without a full series, but I like where he was coming from. He was maybe the most tenacious captain of all. Always outgunned and out classed he made mistakes, but they highlighted that he learned from them.

#5 Katherine Janeway was always right because the writers didnt want to come off as being sexists imho. Her crew didnt even matter, save 7 of 9 whom always had a Borg inspired Deus Ex Machina up her sleeve. If Janeway made a mistake she'd nearly kill herself correcting it until the script showed a hidden detail that proved her correct. I hated Voyager.

[Dragonrider]

There's no one like Picard!!! He's stiff and formal sometimes, yes, but it makes for great scenes when he loses control of the situation and you see his cool slip a little. Those flashes of humanity...

[Logic]

I believe Logic was right, DS9 kinda sucked.
Um.... Where on Earth did you draw the conclusion that I said that DS9 sucked?
It was my favorite series, favorite ship, favorite captain and favorite crew.
DS9 is the "dark & gritty" Star Trek. Even if it were not for the Dominion War of DS9, I would still probably pick it as my favorite.
Now, if you have watched some of the special features from the DVD versions of the series, the writers started out trying for a Western feel for the show. (Sisko would be the Mayor, Odo the Sheriff, Quark the Bartender, Bashir the frontier doctor, and Kira is basically the token Native American)
After hearing that, I viewed the show on a different level.

[Cpt.Myers]

since most people skipped DS9 when it didn't quite feel like the same Trek we were all used to.
I took that the wrong way, Sorry Logic No offense.
I still hold all of the views I had in the last post though.

[penguinreich]

Picard is three to one against his closest rival (Sisko), hardly an underdog.

.


It was a joke, sorry I didn't make that clear.

[Baltek Grimm]

Picard is the best Captain... And Janeway is the worst Captain ever!!!!!!!!!!!

(and no... i don't hate women in high positions... our "Bundeskanzler" is a woman... i voted for her)

[Knight]

Picard is the best captain, though Sisko is a better (developped) character.

[Jester42]

I think that it is difficult to determine. Mostly because while I believe Picard the more charismatic of the captians TNG did not have the benifit of having as sequencial of story line that DS9 did. This makes it more difficult to develop the character in my opinion.

[Artanis]

I have to go with Picard, due to his tactical capability if nothing else. For the past several centuries, literally every single space combat tactic that any species has devised is some variation of either "ram them" or "wallow about like a beached whale while shooting wildly in their general direction"...except the Picard Maneuver. That move involves neither ramming nor wallowing about, making Picard quite literally the single most inventive space tactician in the last several hundred years of galactic history.

[Matthew]

Where is the love for Kirk? Mind boggling; I always thought there was a more even split than this...

[ravenkith]

The problem is, each of the captains had different missions. Different, meter sticks, if you will, to measure them by.

Sisko's mission was the defense and monitoring of Wormhole, in addition to keeping the Bajoran's happy. He managed to start a war, irritate various alien empires, bungle several first contact situations, and eventually had to rush around putting out his own fires. He had a lot of hate when he started out, but by series end, he was a more serene, easy going figure: His was the character with the most change in his arc.

Picard had to keep the flagship of the federation in one piece, and all of it's crew and dependents alive. He was the first (and only captain, aside from sisko) to have to worry about civilian lives. He was an Explorer, and a diplomat, and NOT a warrior, but he could do that, too, in a pinch. He had good people surrounding him, and was a great manager, but he was a reliable figure, someone whom everybody could trust not to rock the boat if he didn't have to (at least until he got borged up...then he got a little crazy).

Kirk was a warrior and an explorer. He was out there to plant the flag, and tended to do it in more ways than one (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). He was a thrill seeker and most like the test pilots looking to break the sound barrier: he had a lot to prove, and lived to do and see things no-one else ever had. He was passion incarnate, a deliberate foil to the cool logic of Spock.

Janeway was trying to get her people home. She was also trying to use the prime directive as her guidelines at first, but those rules were useless in her situation, and caused her a lot of trouble. She did the best she could, but she was deprived of the support structure she had always expected to have, and, as a result, bungled things more often than not. Underneath, she was always afraid of failing, and this is her primary motivating factor.

Archer was meant to be simply an explorer, but ended up a warrior... he and his ship weren't designed for war, and the stresses of it showed. He did an adequate job, considering what he ended up having to deal with was not something anyone was remotely prepared for. His defining emotion is desperation: he doesn't know what he has to do, doesn't have the tools to do it when he finds out, and always has the odds stacked against him, but knows that if he fails, there is literally no-one else.

I voted Picard. He always got the job done, and rarely made things worse.

[Piedmon_Sama]

Much love as I have for the Shat, no one can bring an air of class to any outfit like Patrick Stewart. Picard was intellectual, diplomatic, and by-the-book, a surprisingly rare/unorthodox quality in fictional captains. And, uh.....

THERE! ARE! FOUR! LIGHTS!

[Logic]

The problem is, each of the captains had different missions. Different, meter sticks, if you will, to measure them by.

Sisko's mission was the defense and monitoring of Wormhole, in addition to keeping the Bajoran's happy. He managed to start a war, irritate various alien empires, bungle several first contact situations, and eventually had to rush around putting out his own fires. He had a lot of hate when he started out, but by series end, he was a more serene, easy going figure: His was the character with the most change in his arc.

Picard had to keep the flagship of the federation in one piece, and all of it's crew and dependents alive. He was the first (and only captain, aside from sisko) to have to worry about civilian lives. He was an Explorer, and a diplomat, and NOT a warrior, but he could do that, too, in a pinch. He had good people surrounding him, and was a great manager, but he was a reliable figure, someone whom everybody could trust not to rock the boat if he didn't have to (at least until he got borged up...then he got a little crazy).

Kirk was a warrior and an explorer. He was out there to plant the flag, and tended to do it in more ways than one (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). He was a thrill seeker and most like the test pilots looking to break the sound barrier: he had a lot to prove, and lived to do and see things no-one else ever had. He was passion incarnate, a deliberate foil to the cool logic of Spock.

Janeway was trying to get her people home. She was also trying to use the prime directive as her guidelines at first, but those rules were useless in her situation, and caused her a lot of trouble. She did the best she could, but she was deprived of the support structure she had always expected to have, and, as a result, bungled things more often than not. Underneath, she was always afraid of failing, and this is her primary motivating factor.

Archer was meant to be simply an explorer, but ended up a warrior... he and his ship weren't designed for war, and the stresses of it showed. He did an adequate job, considering what he ended up having to deal with was not something anyone was remotely prepared for. His defining emotion is desperation: he doesn't know what he has to do, doesn't have the tools to do it when he finds out, and always has the odds stacked against him, but knows that if he fails, there is literally no-one else.

I voted Picard. He always got the job done, and rarely made things worse.
*Claps*
Thus far, this seems to be the single most intellegent descriptions and comparisons of all the Captains.

[Tharj TreeSmiter]

*Claps*
Thus far, this seems to be the single most intellegent descriptions and comparisons of all the Captains.


I will second your praise of his synopsis.

[EndgamerAzari]

I joined these forums just for this discussion. Picard's on top for me, hands down.

And I'd rather break a lightbulb in my mouth than serve under Janeway. The acting for her was stiffer than Sisko's.

[Sailacela]

Although I prefer DS9 for it's characters, I have to say that Sisko was the weakest character and the worst acted in the cast. Avery Brooks is just too stiff for me.

Exactly what I was thinking. His lines felt forced and his cadence was all wrong. He never felt natural to me. Sisko is not only my least favorite captain, but comes close to my least favorite character.

Janeway, ah, Janeway. I couldn't choose her because every time she opened her mouth to speak I felt the uncontrollable urge to clear my throat. Her scratchy voice drove me bonkers. Gargling gravel can't be good for the voicebox.

Kirk would have gotten my vote if the question had been, "Which captain would make the best action hero?" Being a good captain is more than punching the alien of the week in the face. Now let's see...how many security men did he lose on his watch? Hmmm.

I only watched a handful of episodes of Enterprise so...

I voted Picard.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

Picard is a very good captain, and I like TNG better than I do DS9, but I think in the end Sisko wins. My reasoning behind this is that Sisko will do what it takes to get the job done no matter what the consequences, whether it be killing off entire worlds of Maqui settlements, or forging data/lying to a Romulan senator to get them to enter the war against the Dominion. Picard seems to have more of a conscience that Sisko does. Now, don't get me wrong, I do think that is an important quality for a person in command to have. But I just think Sisko has an edge to him that Picard lacks.

[Delcan]

ravenkith gets kudos for tellin' it like it is.

My vote goes to Picard, but it was a close one, split between Sisko and Janeway. Picard's supporters have said plenty about him that needs no repeating.

Sisko was the captain with the most depth, I think. Throughout the series, when he made a command or a decision, you knew why - you could see what drove him and what made him tick. Beyond that, he was the most spiritual of the captains, and not just because of the whole Prophet arc - he had the most... I dunno, call it 'soul', of all the captains. In a way that I can't quite describe.

Janeway was most assuredly not always right - it was a lot more often that whatever issues she came up to dissolved into merciless shades of grey, and she had to commit herself and her crew to the lesser of two evils regardless of the cost. (Heck, the entire Voyager series started because of a choice like this. From what I recall, it ended with a choice like that too.) She had a rock-solid resolve and integrity, and hers was challenged more than any other captain.
And when it came down to it, she could get mean, like nobody else could. Kirk armed weapons to show force, Picard armed weapons to be defensive. Janeway armed weapons when she intended to use them. She was the sort of character who held back at all costs - and when she pulled out the guns, there was no doubt that someone deserving was gonna get shot.

[Parlik]

No other captain has violated the Prime Directive so many times, and have it be the right decision every single time. For that matter, no other captain has used the Prime Directive as an excuse to take action, rather than not take action.
Except maybe George Harrison.

Heh well sometimes I think Kirk is half the reason they needed a Prime Directive in the first place....

[Hephaestus]

Picard, but only because I havn't seen more than 1 episode of all the other Star Treks...

[Setra]

Going to skip the thread, and just say Picard, and not back it up with any reason.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Heyas, thought I might share something I found, almost every episode of DS9, watchable online!

Posted a link to them all on that TV Linkwebsite. Will be adding more as I find them.

Heres a link to the link page. (http://yourtvlinks.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5835#5835)

[Joran]

Let's go Sulu! He captained the Excelsior in Star Trek VI.