Star Trek might be a franchise about humanity overcoming its divisions and working together for the common good, but Star Trek fans remain divided on almost everything. And no question breaks the bonds of peace like that of the best captain in Starfleet.
Before we add fuel to the fire in which we burn with our rankings, we need to point out that this list only covers Captains who starred in their own series. On one hand, that restriction does prevent the comments section from exploding when they see how high Carol Freeman from Lower Decks would rank on our list. On the other, it means that we need to leave off some fan favorites such as Liam Shaw in Picard, Philippa Georgiou (non-Section 31 version), and Gabriel Lorca. Likewise, we’re focusing on proper Starfleet captains here, which means that Dal from Prodigy doesn’t quite fit yet and Chris Rios from Picard‘s first two seasons doesn’t apply.
Those caveats aside, here are the seven main Captains ranked from worst to best. Engage!
7. Jonathan Archer – Enterprise
The best thing to be said about Jonathan Archer is that his dog Porthos is a very good boy. Okay, maybe that’s not fair. We can’t really hold Archer to the same standard applied to other Captains on this list. As a prequel series, Enterprise portrayed humanity’s earliest steps into space, which meant Archer didn’t have the benefit of First Contact protocols, didn’t have the Federation to guide him, and, worst of all, had Malcolm Reed for a tactical officer. But even with all of that in mind, Archer still firmly takes the bottom of the list.
Series creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga had hoped that a more wide open space would give Archer room to embrace some more Kirk-style swashbuckling, while a multi-season arc would allow him to organically develop more of a diplomatic mien. Unfortunately, genre TV vet Scott Bakula couldn’t find the mode to accentuate those qualities. Too often, Archer came off as belligerent and incurious, two qualities no Starfleet captain should have. The Xindi Onslaught and the Temporal Cold War storylines that took over in seasons three and four of Enterprise may have energized the series, but they only accentuated Archer’s worst qualities.
It’s no wonder that Archer eventually became an Admiral in Starfleet, paving the way for Cartwright and Satie.
6. Michael Burnham – Discovery
With all due respect to legends Michelle Yeoh and Jason Isaacs (hello), Michael Burnham should have been the Discovery captain right from the beginning. At the very least, putting her in the Captain’s seat would have avoided the narrative binds writers found themselves in when focusing Discovery on a single protagonist who didn’t have the rank to support her stories. It’s one thing when Kirk is the most important person in the universe, and quite another when a science officer turned mutineer is the most important person.
Strangely, Burnham sort of became much less important when she did make Captain in Discovery‘s third season. Sure, she got to lead cool adventures, but it was Admiral Vance (the only good Admiral?) who brokered a deal with the Emerald Chain, something Kirk or Picard might have done in other shows. Instead, writers saddled Burnham with going on ridiculous quests (remember when she when space surfing at the start of season five?) or swapping therapy jargon with her crew. Sonequa Martin-Green does the best she can with the material, but Discovery writers never figured out what to do with her beyond “the main character.”
5. Christopher Pike – Strange New Worlds
Christopher Pike’s shadow has always loomed large over Trek history. Although Gene Roddenberry‘s first hero was replaced by James T. Kirk after just one episode, the decision to reuse discarded pilot “The Cage” for the TOS season one two-parter “The Menagerie” turned Pike (first portrayed by Jeffery Hunter) into a legendary figure, the man who proceeded Kirk and inspired remarkable devotion in Spock. That’s the version of Pike that Bruce Greenwood plays in the J.J. Abrams movies, the man who gets young Kirk to fall in line and become a hero.
That weight and history makes Anson Mount‘s take all the more remarkable. He may take over as Captain of the Discovery in that show’s second season, but he’s more than happy to play a supporting role on the bridge. Mount carries that ethos back to the Enterprise on Strange New World, where Pike acts more like a gentle dad than a military taskmaster. He empathizes with his crew and supports them. Even better, Mount has no problem playing second fiddle in a scene, covering for Spock during a mind-swap or being a cowardly buffoon during a fantasy adventure. It’s no wonder Spock will eventually go to such lengths to ensure Pike can live his final days in happiness.
4. Katheryn Janeway – Voyager
There’s only one way: the Janeway. Like most things on Voyager, Janeway’s cavalier and sometimes reckless attitude has gotten better with age. Yes, the entire series is premised on her unilateral decision to destroy the array that could send the crew home from the Delta Quadrant, and yes, a lot of episodes have her abandoning the trip back home in adherence of a Starfleet standing directive that didn’t bother her two weeks ago. But somehow, Kate Mulgrew managed to take that inconsistent writing and turn it into a character trait, a steely commitment to doing what she thinks is best, no matter what anyone else thinks.
With the clipped cadence of another great Kate (Hepburn, of course), Mulgrew made us viewers believe that Janeway could actually guide a divided crew facing impossible odds. In any other case, we wouldn’t accept that the Maquis and the Starfleets would bury the hatchet so quickly and come together. In any other case, we wouldn’t go along with a Borg just showing up and getting a privileged role on the ship. But Mulgrew bullies her way through even stories that don’t support her character’s choices and crystalizes Janeway into an inspiring leader. And if she’s gotta kill a couple Tuvixes to make it happen, so be it.
3. Benjamin Sisko – Deep Space Nine
As everyone (especially Q) quickly came to realize, Benjamin Sisko isn’t your usual Starfleet captain. It’s not just that he didn’t start the series at the rank of Captain, or that he oversaw a recently-liberated space station instead of a starship. It’s that Sisko had greater emotional intelligence and spirituality than his predecessors Kirk and Picard, stemming in part from losing his wife in the Battle of Wolf 359 and from his ascension to the role of Emissary of the Prophets. Those qualities made Sisko one of the richest characters in sci-fi history. He could agonize over a morally-grey decision made in the midst of the Dominion War and then inspire his crew to play a game of baseball.
An incredibly complicated character requires an actor deft enough to bring him to life, and Deep Space Nine gets all that and more in Avery Brooks. An incredibly playful performer, Brooks could deliver oration like Stewart and a wink and a joke like Shatner. Brooks could make Sisko cunning and dignified when matching wits with Gul Dukat or dressing down Worf and still make him vulnerable and sweet when Benny Russell breaks down or whenever he gives Jake a fatherly kiss.
2. James T. Kirk – The Original Series
Captain Kirk is Star Trek. No, William Shatner didn’t suddenly grab my keyboard. It’s just the truth. Star Trek was a philosophical series, which engaged with hot-button issues such as racism and mutually-assured destruction through debates with aliens. But no one would sign up to watch those debates if they weren’t having fun (Need proof? look at every other Gene Roddenberry show. Or, better yet, don’t.). Shatner salted the heavy stuff by giving Kirk a charming smirk and a twinkle in his eye.
Which isn’t to say that Kirk was the Zapp Brannigan-style dummy that many assume. Kirk could listen to his crew, taking advice from Spock and McCoy when considering his next move. He could outsmart Khan, not only knowing that a gambit would work against his enemy, but also realizing that it would only work once. And he could be moved to tears by the moral courage of Edith Keeler.
Roddenberry initially pitched Star Trek as “Horatio Hornblower in Space,” and no one embodied that concept better than Shatner as Kirk.
1. Jean-Luc Picard – The Next Generation
Jean-Luc Picard wasn’t the first Star Trek Captain, nor will he be the last. But every other Captain will be measured according to him, and every performer will be measured next to Patrick Stewart. Famously, Roddenberry didn’t want Stewart in the role and even worried about Picard’s characterization. He couldn’t imagine a high-minded Frenchman, played by a bald-headed Englishman, serving as captain of the Enterprise after the virile (and toupee-wearing) American Kirk.
To a certain extent, Rodenberry was correct. Picard never engaged in the same edge of your seat adventure as Kirk (at least, not until Stewart pushed a dune buggy sequence into Nemesis). But he did have something even more imporant: a clear moral focus.
The most thrilling parts of The Next Generation feature Stewart giving rousing speeches—rousing not just because the Shakespearean actor knows how to deliver a monologue, but because of their moral content. When he tells Wesley about the first duty of every Starfleet officer, when he tells off a warmongering Admiral, and when he identifies Data as the exact type of new life that Starfleet seeks out, we believe he speaks from his deepest convictions. In those moments, we understand why the best and brightest in the universe would give up everything to follow this man into the farthest reaches of the galaxy.
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From https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/star-trek-captains-ranked/
