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10 Most Overrated Star Trek Villains
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00:00A good villain can make or break a series, create the right one and they'll be coming back for more
00:04and more for seasons, years and decades to come. With all the best or worst intentions though,
00:08not every single enemy that has been encountered has proven to be as successful as fans might first
00:13think. With the benefit of hindsight and a good rewatch, those troubles just don't appear anywhere
00:17as evil as they were the first, second or tenth time. Here's our look at when your plans for
00:22domination aren't so dominating. I'm Sean Ferry for Trek Culture and here are the 10 most overrated
00:27Star Trek villains. Number 10, the Kazon. Based on LA gangs, the Kazon offered a tangible and
00:34immediate threat to the crew of Voyager from their first day in the Delta Quadrant. Supposedly right
00:38there with the worst of the worst, the Kazon sects popped up over the course of the first two seasons
00:42to attempt to steal the technology that Janeway refused to share. They started out with the fairly
00:46impressive Predator class ship in Caretaker and the threat of more to come, yet the Kazon Ogla never
00:52followed it up, leaving the way clear for Culla and the Kazon Nistrum in prime place. Their only
00:57significant victory? The capture of USS Voyager in Basics, yes, they only ever achieved something
01:01resembling their goal once and then only for a short time. Effectively they were overcome by a
01:06hologram and a murderer later assisted by a flyby pilot and the less than aggressive Talaxians.
01:11That road to defeat does tell you a lot about the Kazon. Even the Borg and perhaps one of the
01:15franchise's most cutting in jokes deemed the Kazon to have no redeeming features. Although set up in a
01:21similar fashion to the Ferengi in The Next Generation's first season, the Kazon were never re-sculpted for
01:26another use and were forgotten once Voyager passed their territory. Number 9, Swarm. A dangerous new
01:32foe shows up on the scene in Voyager's third season, probably hoping to take the recurring villain
01:36spot vacated by the fleeing Kazon only a few episodes before. Mysterious and deadly they were only ever
01:41identified as the Swarm but featured in early season 3 promotional materials for Voyager and were
01:46presented as the next thing for the crew to worry about. Undefeated at the climax of their eponymous episode,
01:51the lack of finality indicated that they would be back and in greater numbers. Nothing is really
01:56learned of them and it's more of a standoff than a succession of intent. Much of the weight of the
02:01Swarm comes from the ominous description of this new foe and the indication of the danger Voyager
02:05faces by traversing their space. While the Vadwar would later benefit from similar single episodic
02:11build up, the Swarm were almost blink and miss leaving them defanged in minutes. It's not as if
02:15Voyager had another big bad on the horizon that was mysterious, deadly and acted as though there was some
02:20form of hive mind. A collective if you will. If only they dressed all in black as well.
02:25Number 8. The Baul. In the 32nd century the Baul coexist with the Kelpians and everything seems
02:32in balance, if not harmonious, but that's not how it once was with the Kelpians subservient to the
02:37shadowy creatures. In the short trek The Brightest Star viewers are transported to Kaminar where we
02:42experience Saru's life before he joined Starfleet and the oppressive regime that his people were forced
02:46to live under. It would be later in the second season that the audience would finally meet
02:50one of these beings that seemed like the spawn of a Dementor and a Ringwraith and terrified the
02:54local populace. Maybe even a bit of Armas in there to spice up the mix? All of the build up
02:58and
02:58establishing of Kaminar's past came to very little and a one shot resolution in the Sound of Thunder.
03:04It would take the defeat of only one of these beings by Saru to change the equilibrium of Kaminar
03:09and usher in a new era. The speed at which their total rule comes to an end is alarmingly quick
03:14and
03:14before you know it the Kaminar borders are open and the Kelpians are chatting away to anyone and everyone in
03:19the
03:19universe. Number 7 Jat Vash A product of Star Trek Picard the super secret Jat Vash are sworn to
03:26destroy all artificial life. Why? Because thanks to the discovery of the admonition on the planet Aya
03:31the Jat Vash were instilled with a life-changing and monstrous vision of the future which could turn
03:36them mad. Experiencing something that horrific that it could lead you to suicide is extreme at the least
03:42but their operations do offer up a lot of questions about their abilities. The visions immediately cut their
03:47numbers and then during Picard we only see two of their number active Commodore O and Nerissa. Both
03:52are fairly ineffective in their roles given the secrecy and sense of impending doom that their
03:56name should cause. Nerissa allows Elnor to escape and is kicked into touch by Seven of Nine while O
04:01flees with not even her pride intact after facing the Federation fleet. Why would they not have sent
04:06more on such an important mission to eliminate Soji and why were the Jat Vash not present a lot earlier
04:11in
04:12Star Trek timeline to eliminate Data, Lore and B4. Number 6. The Duros Sisters
04:17Appearing several times throughout the Next Generation and Deep Space Nine the sisters of the
04:22House of Duros were well really only that kind of annoying side character that turns up from time to
04:28time. Their first appearance in Redemption served to start the Klingon Civil War which wrapped up in
04:34about a hot afternoon. They were abandoned by their Romulan friends and spent the rest of the Next
04:39Generation and their sole appearance in Deep Space Nine limping through the quadrant trying to take
04:45back what had been stolen from them promising those young rascals that oh we'll have that Klingon
04:51council we will. Their big claim to fame is that they did manage to effectively destroy the Enterprise D
04:58which is no mean feat we will say. That said they did it by using a spy camera. I mean
05:04where's the honor
05:05in that. They are fun in their appearances to be sure however at the end of the day they were
05:10never
05:11that much of a villain to contend with. Number 5. The Emerald Chain
05:15If the 1000 year leap into the future wasn't enough for the crew of Discovery there was a new menace
05:19on
05:19the horizon. Headed by the Orions the Emerald Chain were the dominant galactic power of the 32nd century.
05:24Taking advantage of the weakened shrunken Federation their control of dwindling dilithium supplies placed
05:30them at the top of the pecking order. Led by the acidic Orion Osirah there were few capable of
05:34standing against their tactics. Viewers watched their ruthless actions across the third season
05:38of Discovery however their swift defeat in the finale certainly took away a lot of their power
05:43and presence. Coming down to a hand-to-hand fight between the chain's leader and Michael Burnham and
05:46that inexplicable turbo lift battle the criminal powerhouse were crippled instantly. Season 4's opening
05:52episodes barely make a mention of the chain suggesting that they have truly fallen and disappeared into the
05:57background of the Milky Way. Number 4. The Borg post First Contact The Borg and the next generation of
06:03First Contact are unquestionably terrifying. Unstoppable, Adaptive, Relentless, Emotionless.
06:08From their first appearance in Q Who through to their sole movie appearance in the eighth big screen
06:13outing there was always that dark possibility that they could win and they nearly did once. But Voyager
06:18changed all of that with the introduction of Seven of Nine. Fans were chomping at the bit for the
06:22appearance of the Borg all the way through the first three seasons of the show. The Delta Quadrant
06:27was their stomping ground and the final reveal of a Borg skeleton in Blood Fever ramped up the
06:31anticipation to unbearable. But then they became a villain of the week whom fans knew would be
06:35stopped in their tracks by Janeway, Seven and the crew. Hard to swallow when a good proportion of the
06:40main Starfleet including Picard in the Enterprise D and E struggled to contain their malevolence on
06:45multiple occasions. An appearance from the Borg became more of a ratings poll than a genuine threat and
06:49the Delta Quadrant's lions had their claws abruptly removed even more so with the reveal of a mental safe haven
06:54in
06:55Unimatrix Zero. Number three, Lore. If Star Trek is guilty of one thing here it's that Lore could
07:01well be the janitor in Scooby Doo. He gets away with it on two occasions with the Enterprise failing to
07:05put in a lot of effort to track him down. The evil twin scenario had been played out solidly in
07:10the
07:10original series The Enemy Within and to a degree with Mirror Mirror so it was only a matter of time
07:15before
07:15the very Roddenberry influenced stories of the first season headed in that same direction. Lore is a great
07:21character and opportunity for Brent Spiner to set Chew when he can't normally do as the emotionally
07:26limited data yet his villainy actually all comes from those already mentioned failings of the
07:31Enterprise crew. They are the ones that reactivate him without a second thought as to why he was in
07:35bits in the first place. They allow him to virtually access all of the ship and it is through their
07:40ineptitude that Lore is able to gain any kind of level of superiority. Indeed his encounter with the Borg
07:44and the subsequent elevation to The One is down to the inaction of the Enterprise crew when handed Hugh as
07:49their
07:49means to an end. Number two the Klingons. Established as one of the key antagonists in the original series
07:55the Klingons appeared in a handful of episodes and proved to be a sharp thick thorn in the side of
08:00Captain James T Kirk. The structure of the Klingon Empire makes very little sense. The destruction of
08:04Praxis in Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country has a sizable effect on their energy production and it's
08:10noted that a large portion of that goes into their military. The overall focus on aggression might seem cool
08:15from the outside but from a financial perspective they're utterly screwed. That and their armor is
08:19tragically ineffective in every episode they ever appeared in. In the original series there was a
08:23good deal of bravado and posturing from Kor, Koloth and Kang but each walked away from their dealings
08:28with Kirk no better off and in one case loaded with Tribbles. A few redesigns later and it looked
08:33as though the warrior race were going to be a huge force to be reckoned with even taking control of
08:38swathes
08:39of the Alpha Quadrant in Discovery. Yet their fall required barely any real effort from external forces and
08:45left them with a new chancellor and a serious strategic rethink. Number one Q. Tacked onto the
08:51pilot of the next generation purely to flesh out the second half of the feature length episode,
08:55Q became far more of an afterthought. Appearing across the next generation, DS9, Voyager, Lower Decks
09:00and Picard the omnipotent one has been the thorn in many a captain's side over the years. Or has he?
09:06If we look back at his exploits Q began as a genuine threat to the Federation in Encounter at Farpoint.
09:11He placed the crew in real danger during a courtroom trial and proved to have something of a dark side
09:16by introducing viewers to the Borg and even trying to turn Riker by granting him similar powers. But
09:21for a good proportion of his time Q was not much more than a diversion and that annoying child who
09:26continuously stabs his finger into your thigh demanding chocolate at the supermarket till. He
09:30promises a lot, delivers some and produces significantly underwhelming results. Actor John Delancey is far better
09:36used when Q is dealing with more serious affairs such as the anti-time paradox or the mortality of death
09:41wish when there is a higher goal at stake. As a villain Q doesn't amount to very much however
09:46as a contemplative partner on the journey that's where his strength truly lies. Thank you very much
09:52everyone for watching along. Which of the Star Trek villains do you think are overrated? Let us know
09:57in the comments below. Thank you so much to Clive Burrell who wrote this article. You can find this
10:01article over on whatculture.com. Please follow us on the various socials. I'm at Sean Ferrick make sure
10:05you're following Trek culture as well. Thank you so much everyone who has subscribed to the channel.
10:09Please do so if you haven't already. I'll be your friend. Live long and prosper my friends. See you soon.
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