Day 9 - Favorite Character

[rivendellrose]

30 Days of Star Trek Meme Day 9 - Favorite Character

I thought all day about how I was going to answer this question, because it was hard.

When I started watching, back during DS9's first run, the answer would have been Kira, followed by Spock and then Odo. Watching as an adult... well, of course I still love Spock. But I find I like Jadzia more than Kira a lot of the time (though I still think Nana Visitor is one of the most beautiful people ever, and she is 100% one of the people who made me realize I liked girls...), and this is all complicated by the fact that I love a bunch of characters from Disco extremely deeply. I adore Michael, Stamets, Georgiou, and, yes, also Ash. Then again, I also love Garak immensely, and also have immense fondness for Bashir.

All of that said, I'm going to go with the character who has been most on my mind lately, and that is... L'Rell. I love her. She's so wrong and so broken in some ways, and so totally a minor character who hasn't been given enough screentime and, if the finale holds without a fake-out, never will. But I'm a contrary bitch, and that makes me love her even more. I don't know, guys. I think I love a lost cause. And I definitely love a character who is contradictory and complicated and requires a lot of work to make sense out of.

This might be more "current obsession" than "favorite," but... she's mine.


Day 1 - Favorite Episode of TOS
Day 2 - Favorite Federation Race
Day 3 - Favorite Ship
Day 4 - Favorite Captain
Day 5 - Saddest Event
Day 6 - Happiest Event
Day 7 - Favorite TNG Episode
Day 8 - Favorite Federation Enemy
Day 10 - Most Shocking Moment
Day 11 - Crew Position You Would Want
Day 12 - Crew Position You Wouldn't Want
Day 13 - Favorite DS9 Episode
Day 14 - Favorite Time Travel Episode
Day 15 - Favorite First Officer
Day 16 - Favorite Voyager Episode
Day 17 - Favorite Trek Novel
Day 18 - Favorite Non-Aligned Race
Day 19 - Favorite Enterprise Episode
Day 20 - Character You're Most Like
Day 21 - Least Favorite Character
Day 22 - Favorite Trek Film
Day 23 - Best Trek Tech
Day 24 - Best Overall Space Vessel
Day 25 - Favorite Discovery Episode
Day 26 - Planet You Would Most Like To Visit
Day 27 - Character You Would Date
Day 28 - Name Your Own Starship
Day 29 - Favorite Trek Quote
Day 30 - Favorite Trek Series

Comments

[mekare]

All these ‘favourite X’ questions are so haaaaaaaard. And then they are complicated by the fact that there are different versions of Spock, Kirk, Bones and Uhura if I go with the original show. I think in my post I’m going to cheat and choose a favourite character for each series.

But I find I like Jadzia more than Kira a lot of the time

I’ve always been fascinated by Jadzia and I find myself liking her even more on my rewatch. The way she stood up to Worf when he got jealous was especially good.

But Kira is wonderful too, I love how they incorporate her spirituality, that always seemed unusual to me in a science fiction show.

[rivendellrose]

They really, really are! Favorite character over the whole franchise?! I should've done what you said about one per series, but... even then.

I think what I liked about Kira, as a kid, was that she was allowed to be angry a lot. I wasn't an unhappy kid, exactly, but middle school and early high school were hard for me; I got picked on, and I've always had a temper. As an adult that's less appealing since I've spent decades learning to control my temper. But I still love Kira anyway, and Nana will always be one of the most beautiful women in the world to me. ♥

[nenya_kanadka]

I liked Jadzia more than Kira initially, partly because I always fall for the science department and partly because I wasn't ready for Kira's anger yet. And then I was, and it was glorious. But I still love Dax and Jadzia (and Ezri), and the Trills are probably my favourite species still. (With Bajorans close behind, after 7 years of living in their star system.)

So now I have a hell of a time trying to choose between those two in particular!

One thing I love with Kira is that while she doesn't lose her fierceness, ever, she (re)gains some softness and flexibility over time, when she is no longer in a 26/7 battle for her life and has the opportunity to heal psychologically and have a multispecies crew of friends at her back. I found that so hopeful, because it honoured her rage and the reality of the injustice and trauma, but it didn't leave her brittle and in survival mode forever. As someone who needed to find my voice but didn't resonate with most depictions of angry people in fiction (they were often more scary than empowering!) and didn't want to give up the hope of psychological healing someday, it was so good to see someone who could stand up for herself and her people but could also gain love and healing.

(That scene with Kira and baby Kirayoshi and "grandpa" Tekeny Ghemor, for example, or the very last shot of the show with her hand on Jake's shoulder, would never have happened in season 1!)

And of course Jadzia was a part of all that and I loved that both of them were 100% legitimate ways of being women in space.