29 Days of Star Trek Meme: Day 3 - Who is your least favorite character?

[intrigueing]

Again with the cop-out "I don't have one."

A few years ago I would have said Pulaski from TNG. Not because she was abrasive or anything like that, that aspect of her was actually quite refreshing, but because of her attitude towards Data (they were probably going for a McCoy vs Spock thing, which was never going to work because Data is the diametric opposite of Spock). Now, I didn't mind her attitude toward Data per se either, because it probably helped him grow and examine himself and learn to stand up for himself better (correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he's noticeably less down on himself in season 3 than in season 1 -- I'm pretty sure season 3!Data wouldn't have said it was all his fault the Enterprise got hijacked because he was *gasp* painting on his shore leave rather than manning his post 24/7, as he did in 11001001) but back then I was under the impression that Pulaski herself didn't develop in her views, since I hadn't seen enough of season 2 due to it being super-boring. Later I realized she did develop towards the end, and that retroactively made her likeable even earlier in the season. So nowadays I like Pulaski a lot.

So...yeah, I don't have any regular characters I dislike. I quite like the much-maligned characters like Wesley, Troi, Neelix, Ezri Dax, because when other fans start talking about how awful a character is, all it does is throw their good points and likeable traits into sharp relief for me and make me like them more, even if I didn't care much for them before. However, selenak  listed some of the minor one-shot characters that were particularly crummy, so just to not be wishy-washy again, I'll pick Nero from Star Trek XI. So boring I can't remember a single line he said. I remember he was bald and had tattoos, which should make him automatically interesting because he wasn't wearing an '80s powersuit with Over 9000-level shoulder pads, but I still can't remember a single line he said.


Day 1 - Which Star Trek series is your favorite?
Day 2 - Who is your favorite character?
Day 4 - What was the first episode/movie you watched?
Day 5 - What was the first Star Trek series you watched?
Day 6 - Your favorite canon pairing? (Canon being the series and the movies, including the reboot.)
Day 7 - Your favorite non-canon pairing?
Day 8 - Your favorite actor/actress? (Not the same as character.)
Day 9 - What's your favorite episode?
Day 10 - What's your favorite species? (Humans are a species as well.)
Day 11 - What's your least favorite species? (See question 9 about species.)
Day 12 - What's your favorite funny moment?
Day 13 - What's your favorite dramatic moment?
Day 14 - What's your favorite Star Trek quote?
Day 15 - How did you get into Star Trek?
Day 16 - Are you involved with Star Trek fandom?
Day 17 - Have you read any of the books? If so, which ones?
Day 18 - If you could be any species in the Star Trek universe, what would you be?
Day 19 - How did the Star Trek reboot affect you?
Day 20 - Of the minor characters (one shots, not the recurring ones) who’s your favorite?
Day 21 - Which Star Trek food would you want to try at least once?
Day 22 - Which Star Trek world would you want to visit at least once?
Day 23 - Is there anything you'd want to change about Star Trek? Why?
Day 24 - Is there anything about Star Trek that has disappointed you?
Day 25 - How has Star Trek changed you?
Day 26 - Lots of Star Trek Parodies out there. Which do you dig?
Day 27 - What would you cross over with Star Trek?
Day 28 - Your favorite friendship in Star Trek?
Day 29 - If you could tell Gene Roddenberry one thing, Star Trek related or not, what would it be?

Comments

[lunabee34]

I love Pulaski, hard.

I start to get suspicious when everyone in this future utopia is totally without prejudice and etc. She was a moment of reality in that show--a fucking kickass doctor who has to be convinced that the robot is alive. I loved it.

[intrigueing]

Well, I'd hardly say everyone else was without prejudice, or even without prejudice towards Data, even if it was the nicer "lol isn't he precious?" type than the "refer to him as 'it' while acting like he can't hear you" type, but yeah, pretty much this.

Also, really, I wouldn't be surprised if lots of people on the Enterprise who didn't know Data personally felt that way about Data but were polite and respectful to his face and didn't do anything about it because they didn't want to get in trouble, but Pulaski actually had the chutzpa (and/or the rank privilege) to say so and try to actively figure out what the deal with him was.

[lunabee34]

*nods nods*

I totally agree with you that the other characters have their own prejudices, I just feel like the show wants us to believe that the 21st century just doesn't have those problems except for isolated incidents. That's why I found her so refreshing. I would love fanfic about the junior officers who feel the same way about Data; that would be great.

[intrigueing]

Yeah, this was particularly an issue in the first two seasons. Like "The Neutral Zone." The premise of that episode was great and so were a lot of the discussions between the crew and the unfrozen 20th century people, but geez, could you get any more patronizing?

[lunabee34]

LOL

Indeed.

[st_aurafina]

I cannot remember a single line of Nero's either. I can barely remember his face. So bad.

I'd find this hard too - there was so much variation in the way characters were written that there was always at least a couple of episodes where I loved them. All of them, pretty much. Except Nero - the Next Gen movies weren't awesome.

[intrigueing]

there was so much variation in the way characters were written that there was always at least a couple of episodes where I loved them.

Yes, this exactly! There are characters who are boring or annoying a lot of the time, but even they have times where they're so great that it's impossible for me to dismiss their character wholesale.

[lightbird]

I never disliked Pulaski, but I've actually come to appreciate and like her much more on rewatches of that season (and also after reading some excellent fanfics that really portrayed her well). You make excellent points about her character, especially in how she related to Data. I also really liked the way she was with both Data and Wesley in the episode 'Pen Pals' (one of the best of its season).

ETA: Also, Troi. I happen to like Troi a lot and I loved her chemistry with Riker even if their relationship couldn't work out because of their careers. And let's be real: this was another case where the writers at first wrote a female character in to not be much more than eye candy and then everyone hates and blames her for it. When the writers actually gave her a chance to really shine she was amazing.

Ezri Dax had the misfortune of having to follow in the footsteps of Jadzia, who was admittedly amazing and I hate what they did to her. But I didn't think Ezri was a bad character.

[intrigueing]

Yeah, Pen Pals was a great one for Pulaski, as well as Peak Performance.

I always found Troi to be very sweet and endearing, even if I did facepalm at a lot of the lame material and state-the-obvious lines she was given. She's the sort of person I would like to have as a friend.

(also, your icon is so adorable <3 Have I mentioned that?)

[lightbird]

Thank you. :)