The absolute worst captain in Star Trek

[Elias Vaughn]

Any captain who knowingly betrayed Starfleet and/or the Federation.

At least you could argue that any other captain was trying to do the right thing.

 

[CoveTom]

Another vote for Captain Harriman. And it really annoys me what they did there. I understand that they wanted an opportunity for Kirk to be the hero and take charge. But to indicate that Starfleet would give the captaincy of the Enterprise to such an inexperienced, as well as indecisive, officer as Harriman stretches credibility.

 

[Robert D. Robot]

To be fair, we might have to make a distinction between what we saw of a captain during their time on screen vs. what their past record was. The encounter with the Doomsday Machine "broke" Matt Decker's mind. True- he displayed some irrational behavior while taking command of the Enterprise, but in sacrificing himself and in a suicide shuttle run (while he STILL probably was a bit nutty), he gave Kirk & Spock the idea of how to save their own crew.

Same with Garth of Izar (not Garth of Izod, the clothing guy). IIRC, his previous achievements in Star Fleet made him one of Kirk's heroes. But something happened to him such that he had a breakdown (not sure if a cause was given onscreen for this). Following his craziness on screen (thanks to being back on his meds...) he actually seemed like he could be a decent man (if not a decent captain) again.

I would also have to vote for Harriman as worst captain, with a special vote for the various writers that thought that they had to create a weak, seemingly incompetent captain like Harriman to make Kirk & Co. look even better in comparison.

 

[Gary7]

Hard to really pass judgement on captains who appear in just one episode. We only see their worst side, none of their better sides.

If asking about which series captain was worst, I'd say Janeway. Archer wasn't all that great earlier on, but I didn't think he made as many command mistakes as Janeway. She was also inconsistent in her priorities. It took a while for Archer to gain his footing, but once he had it, I think he turned out alright.

 

[Paradon]

I think Janeway in many ways...

 

[Fang66]

I'll also throw Garth of Izar into the mix.

LOOOORD GARTH!

Fantastic character and pre loonyness was Kirkesk in his awesomeness as a captain so no don't throw Garth of Izar in the mix.

Janeway.

 

[Rojixus]

Harriman by a long-shot. His sheer incompetence had to be seen to be believed! As for Archer, there weren't any starship captains before him so it's not like there were any examples for what a starship captain was supposed to be like. Did Archer make mistakes along the way? You better believe it! However, I'm going to cut him some slack because he gave it his all. When it came down to the eleventh hour, Archer proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was fit to be Earth's first starship captain.

 

[Gary7]

In his defense, Harriman was just getting started. His experience is negligible next to Captain Kirk. He wasn't even mentally prepared for going on missions yet--a majority of the ship was staffed with a training crew, raw cadets. Thus, I don't think it's fair to include him in this.

 

[Rojixus]

I don't know, NuKirk didn't have any prior experience either but he could captain circles around that failure Harriman.

 

[malchya]

My biggest problem with Harriman is the way he was written. It would have been far more satisfying to see a well trained, competent and vital officer need Kirk's help and advice than some noob who couldn't operate the head in his quarters without two cadets and an instruction tape! All this managed to do was make Star Fleet look ineffective and unprofessional. (I tell myself he was the yard captain who oversaw the building of the big E - (B) and Starfleet, for some undisclosed reason, allowed him to take her out of space dock for her trials.... I know. It still doesn't make any sense, but it lets me not cringe quite so forcefully......)

 

[malchya]

Oh, and my vote for worst captain? Janeway.

 

[Gary7]

On second thought... considering the importance of the ship, the Enterprise, you'd think Harriman would be on board something like the Stargazer. I appreciate his being new to the captaincy, but in the right context. Yeah, he should have been written differently. The actor has shown he could handle it in other work. It all came down to the script and the directing... maybe trying too hard to make Kirk look good.

 

[The Wormhole]

The thing about Harriman is, the character had to appear incompetant so that Kirk could be awesome and swoop in to save the day.

Fortunately novels and comics which have featured him do a better job at depicting him as a competant officer and capable captain while providing logical reasons for his actions in Generations.

 

[Anwar]

Yeah, it's basically what Nimoy did in TSFS: He deliberately made the Excelsior Captain and the Grissom Captain either smug or indecisive just to make it clear how awesome the Enterprise crew are.

 

[plynch]

Yeah, it's basically what Nimoy did in TSFS: He deliberately made the Excelsior Captain and the Grissom Captain either smug or indecisive just to make it clear how awesome the Enterprise crew are.

That's too bad. I like my stuff just a bit less hokey. What if in GEN, a competent officer was still overtaxed and Kirk has to step in to assist? He's still needed, and maybe moreso, since he's not replacing someone clearly a putz, but someone who's competent, but even so, still needs some Kirk?

When I become a scriptwriter I'll do it right.

 

[antiquityscion]

I don't know if he was a bad captain (unless you ask Riker ), but if there is a "which captain was the biggest a-hole," it would have to go to Captain Jellico from Chain of Command.

 

[Mr Silver]

ST09 introduced us to strong, calm and competent captains. I think that's one thing TOS purists cannot deny as a good thing.

I don't know if he was a bad captain (unless you ask Riker ), but if there is a "which captain was the biggest a-hole," it would have to go to Captain Jellico from Chain of Command.

I thought Jellico was a refreshing departure. He was obviously competent and well respected, but his command style which was functionality over friendship and his desire for greater efficiency made him out to be a complete asshole to the Ent-D crew.

 

[Captrek]

I'm going to have to say that Ronald Tracey was a terrible captain. Apart from violating the prime directive and abandoning his crew in order to save his own life, he then went on to fight a war and supplied his side with phasers.

...and lost.

I don't know if he was a bad captain (unless you ask Riker ), but if there is a "which captain was the biggest a-hole," it would have to go to Captain Jellico from Chain of Command.

I think the "biggest a-hole" award goes to Riker. His first act as captain was to appoint Shelby as his first officer and announce to her and the rest of the senior staff that he was doing so "reluctantly" and because he felt "forced" by the Borg situation.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Jonathan Archer.

He had no experience, no commanding presence, fraked up almost every first contact he ever made. How ever species didn't end up building death rays and gunning for Earth is a mystery to me.

 

[Captrek]

He had no experience

Nobody had any experience. That was kinda the point.

He sucked, in the same sense that George Mikan sucked compared to today's NBA players. Have more respect for the pioneers.