The Star Trek franchise has brought compelling science fiction content to our TV screens for decades and has many memorable characters that have made their way into pop culture. Star Trek is beloved by many science fiction fans, and everyone has their favorite series and character. The Original Series premiered years ago, in 1966, and since then there have been a number of spin off series and films, and an entire franchise has emerged.
It is often easy for us to name the most iconic characters of the series as among the best on TV, but the recurring side characters provide equally great performances that shine beyond the main cast. These characters appeared less frequently on our screens, but every time they’d leave us wanting more of their screen presence. Here are some of the more underrated Star Trek characters that we all love.
Kathryn Janeway (Voyager)
The Voyager’s captain is shown swinging from the character of a mother figure to that of a ruthless general. She threw away the Federation rule book to be able to guide the Voyager back home. We’re all happy to have a female captain, but Janeway’s character is much debated among Trekkies for the interesting figure that she cuts in the canon.
Beverly Crusher (The Next Generation)
Dr. Crusher was depicted as a compassionate medic, capable fighter, and a leader who was handed over the command of the bridge on several occasions. She was a popular The Next Generation cast member, unlike her son.
Julian Bashir (Deep Space 9)
He appeared on the series as a cocky and inexperienced crew member who matured eventually as the Dominion War raged on. His is one of the more strongly defined character arcs in the Trek canon.
Charles “Trip” Tucker III (Enterprise)
Touted as the most interesting character on the show, Charles served as a right-hand man to Archer, a fighter, a lover to T’Pol, a scholar, and lastly, a martyr to the Federation.
Miles O’Brien (The Next Generation/Deep Space 9)
Miles O’Brien is a seen-but-rarely-heard recurring character, who transformed over time into Starfleet’s quintessential everyman on Deep Space 9. Midway through The Next Generation, the writers realized that fleshing out the Chekov in their cast held potential, and he got more screen time.
Seven of Nine (Voyager)
Seven’s introduction in Voyager is an unmissable episode. Just like Uhura, Troi, and T’Pol, she was the fanservice character of her series. She played a former Borg unit brought to Janeway’s side. She rounded out alien races that were formerly bitter Federation enemies and showed them why one would want to be assimilated.
Hikari Sulu (Trek)
Actor George Takei made the two-dimensional character famous. Known as a cultured gentleman and a bare-chested fencer, his big moment arrived in Star Trek VI where he captained the Excelsior.
Nyota Uhura, Pavel Chekov, Doctor and Tuvok are among other characters that do not often receive the attention they should among Trekkies, or Star Trek fans, leaving them to be some of the most underrated characters in the Star Trek universe.
