Summary

Star Trekshows an optimistic version of the future that everyone can see themselves in , and it does this by including relatable characters that fans can name with . While epic tarradiddle may be enjoin of the captains ' stunning feats , Star Trekmakes a stage of also testify ordinary peopleaboard starships and space stations . These are the people who might stargaze of becoming a skipper someday , or they might be content to just go their lives and do their jobs . They ’re the hoi polloi whose imperfections make them more substantial , more interesting , and more like the people watching in the present tense .

By design , Star Trekis the uncommon enfranchisement that has a mirror for nearly everyone , which meansit ’s hard to includeeverycharacter that fans see themselves in . Thebreadth ofStar Trekthrough closely 6 decadesmeans almost every buff watchingStar Trekcan find oneself at least one character they can identify with , the same path that every character act the position or experience of a different part of humanity . These persona are just a very modest sampling of the way thatStar Trekoffers characters that devotee can get hold rendering of themselves in .

10Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio)

Star Trek: Discovery

Adira Tal was a smart as a whip vernal United Earth military officer searching for a berth to belong , and they areStar Trek ’s first nonbinary human persona . After X of representing transgender people through emblem like the symbiotic Trill , Adira bridged implied and actual trans histrionics as the human host of the Trill symbiont Tal . Adira prosper with a found crime syndicate when Commander Paul Stamets ( Anthony Rapp ) and his married man Dr. Hugh Culber ( Wilson Cruz ) claim responsibility for Adira and their romantic partner Gray Tal ( Ian Alexander ) as wise man and founder figures , not unlike New LGBTQ+ youthfulness . Aside from an authoritative add up out scenery , Adira ’s gender took a backseat to their storylines as a scientist and a emcee .

9Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

After Wesley Crusher ( Wil Wheaton ) onStar Trek : The Next Generation , Star Trek : Deep Space Nineincluded its own occupant adolescent : Jake Sisko , Logos of Captain Benjamin Sisko(Avery Brooks ) . Compared to boy brilliance Wesley , Jake was a refreshingly normal male child , with relatable relationships and goals . Jake overlook his mum openly , give way to school , cooked up hare - brained dodging with his right friend Nog ( Aron Eisenberg ) , tried to impress girls , and had a very veridical screw relationship with his dad . Jake was n’t perfect or vivid , but he care deeply about people and their stories , and because Jake became a author instead of engage Starfleet , proved there were other options for Federation citizens in outer space .

8Commander Rafaela “Raffi” Musiker (Michelle Hurd)

Star Trek: Picard

Fans might see themselves in Raffi Musiker if they ’ve ever pluck themselves up after decrease . Musiker digest by Admiral Jean - Luc Picard when Picard quit from Starfleet , but her paranoid purpose to expose corruption originate a downward spiral that led to a dishonorable dismission . Raffi ’s substance abuse , slump , and estrangement from syndicate represent a naturalistic response to atrocious circumstances . While Picard insistedit was n’t too later for Raffi to turn her lifespan around , doing so was a slow , unmanageable mount , as Musiker clawed her way through recovery , ultimately returning to Starfleet Intelligence and a First Officer posting on the USS Enterprise - G at theend ofStar Trek : Picardseason 3 .

7Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park)

Star Trek: Enterprise

An exo - linguist and university prof , Ensign Hoshi Sato did n’t project on joining the gang of the NX-01 Enterprise , but Captain Jonathan Archer ( Scott Bakula ) managed to convert her with the hope of light upon alien languages at their source . After being set down from Starfleet Training , Hoshi was even less prepared for a long - terminus missionthan her bunch mates when she conduct the designation as Archer ’s communications officer . As much as anyone would like to think they ’d be quick if call into blank space , they ’d probably be in a standardised situation to Hoshi : making it up on the fly , and probably a little bit space sick .

6Lt. Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Lt . Erica Ortegas is the sort of person who seems comfortable in her own skin , with an honest and unashamed plan of attack to her Starfleet career and personal relationships alike . Ortegas might quiz potential friendships with good - natured pranks and off - colouring remark , and once won , her allegiance is true . Erica ’s bravado and humor make her merriment to be around , and also protect her from the wartime nuisance that informs her worldview . Ortegas ' preconception against Klingonsmay seem out of plaza for a citizen of the idealistic Federation , butErica Ortegas is n’t perfect , and never claimed to be . Ortegas is down - to - terra firma and substantial , and you plausibly know someone like her .

5Lt. Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz)

Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager

An earlier model of anxiety inStar Trek , Lt . Reginald Barclay was unspoilt enough at his job to be posted to the USS Enterprise - D , but he lack the confidence to participate in real - world societal post , andpreferred the comparatively consequence - free surround of holodeck simulations . It ’s not too different from the way of life fans can misplace themselves in fiction when engaging with realness is hard , and micturate Friend is harder . When Barclay appear onVoyager , he practically endure in his USS Voyager holodeck programme , but ongoing therapy entail Reg was capable to brook up for himself and his work , even if real relationships were still hard for him .

4Lt. Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid)

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Like lot of fan , Lt . Brad Boimler is a collector ( he has those VOY plates and action figures ) , a cosplayer ( he was Captain Christopher Pike for Halloween ) , and monster out when he meets his Hero ( he ’s got a poster of Una Chin - Riley in his nonsense ) , but Boimler ’s also proof thatbeing a fan of something does n’t entail you ca n’t also be it yourself . It ’s o.k. that Bradward aspires to the sea captain ’s chair and trips over his own exuberance on the way there . Boimler ’s nerdy perfectionism is a feature , not a bug , since it means he ’s passionately all - in on everything he does , and that ’s go to be the foundation ofBoimler ’s eventual captaincy .

Any one of the Lower Deckers could be here , thanks to jazz as much aboutStar TrekasStar Trekfans do , despite beinginit .

3Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols, Zoe Saldaña, Celia Rose Gooding)

Star Trek: The Original Series, Kelvin Timeline Movies, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Lt . Nyota Uhurais so crucial as aStar Trekcharacter that fans can see themselves in . Lt . Uhura was a inglorious cleaning lady on the bridge circuit of the Starship Enterprise in an era when it was unbelievable to see either as a professional person on television . Uhura ’s front promised a futurity where race and sex were second to skill , and Black Starfleet officers collect the same esteem as anyone . J.J. Abrams’Star Treklayered Uhura ’s professionalism with a romantic living to give her more personal deepness , andStar Trek : Strange New Worldsrecontextualizes Nyota ’s Starfleet calling as an active choice , by depicting the younger Uhura as an unsealed plebe trying to reckon her own future tense through layer of grief .

2Ensign Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman)

Sylvia Tilly ’s introduction as a plebe is rife with nervous rambling , oversharing , and discomfort with change , but it ’s also marked by Tilly ’s majestic and dead certain proclamation that she will be a captain someday . In Tilly ’s desperation to tie with others , her challenge with societal office , her stream of consciousness dialog ( includingStar Trek ’s first atomic number 9 - bomb ) , and her desire to prove herself , Sylvia Tilly represents so many weird , uneasy , and autistic fansin a very tangible way . The best part is that Sylvia ’s friends and crewmates just take her as she is , and even value her alone perspective instead of trying to make up or change her .

1Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy, Zachary Quinto, Ethan Peck)

Spock has endured for decades as perhaps the most belovedStar Trekcharacter , and one reason is thatfans can identify with Spock as an outsider . Inevery version of Spock , the interior battle between his Vulcan and human halves is relatable to anyone who ’s ever been displume between two opposing aspects of their own identity . Spock is an icon for fans who care the world operated more logically , who operate to bridge over the gap between dual heritage , or who find out of spot among their equal . By representing the other , Spock gives phonation to and root on everyone who feels like the lone alien on a spaceship full of humankind .

Star Trek ’s ambition of a brighter future works when its stories are about ordinary hoi polloi , especially when average is such an all - encompassing term that everyone is let in . From the beginning , Star Trek : The Original Seriesmade a point to be diverse in its depiction of the future . Each subsequent looping ofStar Trekexpanded the definition of diversity to secure more people could see themselvesas part of an ideal and hopeful future . As society agnize wider and broader differences among humanity , no doubtStar Trekwill also keep on to include even more characters that fans can see themselves in .

Robin Curtis and Kirstie Alley as Lt. Saavik in Star Trek.

Picard and Riker in season 1

Collage of Captain Sisko, Captain Picard, Captain Kirk, and Captain Janeway from the Star Trek franchise.

Sylvia Tilly, Brad Boimler, and Reginald Barclay

Jake Sisko smiling in Star Trek DS9

Picard and Raffi standing next to each other in Star Trek: Picard

Still of Hoshi Sato from Enterprise.

Mary Wiseman as Tilly in Star Trek Discovery