Poll Best Star Trek captain

[Darth Thanos]

The online discussions about the best Star Trek captain are legendary... and that was when there were just two options. Surely this poll has been made at some point, but I couldn't find it, so it must be quite old anyway. So decide who's the better captain, cast your vote, and... engage!

By the way, I selected the candidates with 2 rules. First, only the captain of the ship where things actually happen in one of the series (captains of other ships do not count, unless they have a series of their own). And second, only the regular ones, not people who served as captain for a brief time when the regular captain was absent.

And as there are so many options, you can cast 2 votes.

 

[fireproof78]

Since Robau isn't an option I guess I'll pick Pike...irritating.

 

[Oddish]

1. Picard. Diplomatic, articulate, cerebral, can handle pretty much anything aside from... children. And "The Inner Light" resolves that weakness.
2. Sisko. More of a warrior and blunt instrument, but has a wide variety of skills. But he can get touchy when betrayed and outwitted.
3. Pike. Charming, persuasive, very diplomatic. But not the right man for every job

Spoiler

I believe that Kirk was captain in his absence in the "Quality of Mercy" incident, he blew the Romulan pricks to kingdome come, and they decided not to poke the sleeping lion again.

4. Janeway. While one of my favorites, she made a few highly questionable calls: stranding her crew, Tuvix, allying with the Borg, breaking time at the end. Some of her personnel decisions weren't that great, either.
5. Kirk. His heart is in the right place, but he left a few worlds in dire straits (i.e. imminent armageddon). Hopefully, someone like...
6. Carol Freeman was moving along behind him to clean up the mess. While not tasked with the hardest jobs, she seemed to know what she was doing.
7. Rios. Seemed capable enough, though his crew was primarily holograms of himself.
8. Dal R'El. Stepped in it a lot. Gets the #8 spot due to sheer inexperience; it indicates potential for improvement, and we saw some.
9. Jonathan Archer. Stepped in it a lot. And doesn't get the same credit for inexperience.

X. Michael Burnham. All three of my attempts to grind through DIS were before she became captain. Ergo, in fairness to the character, I must abstain.

 

[herofhyrule]

9. Jonathan Archer. Stepped in it a lot. And doesn't get the same credit for inexperience.

I think that's a bit unfair. Of all the captains, Archer is the one who truly goes where no one has gone before the most (from humanity's perspective, at least). No other human being had ever gone out as far away from Earth as the NX-01 before. They didn't even have the Prime Directive to guide them. Archer couldn't look to the great heroes of Starfleet's past for inspiration; he was the first one out there. Sure, he made a lot of mistakes, but he was really just making it up as he went along. People criticise Archer a lot, sometimes rightly, but I feel like he doesn't get enough credit for doing his best to deal with situations that were totally alien to him and his crew (except T'Pol).

 

[Oddish]

I think that's a bit unfair. Of all the captains, Archer is the one who truly goes where no one has gone before the most (from humanity's perspective, at least).

Fair point. Where would you rank him, then?

 

[josiephine]

Personally, Archer is my favorite Captain. His is the strongest moral compass in the franchise, and it needs to be, because he has no rule book except for the one he's writing. He's not a perfect man, or even a perfect Captain, but his clear mind and open heart make him the best of what Starfleet, and the eventual Federation, have to offer.

Archer
Pike
Sisko
Saru
Janeway
Picard
Burnham
Shaw
Rios
Freeman
Kirk
Dal

That said, I like them all, with Kirk being the only one who actively frustrates me (Dal ranks below him because Dal is a kid without any training. Though I have little doubt Janeway will train him into a much better CO than Kirk.)