Star Trek: Voyager/Characters


Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew)

According to early promotional materials, the character of Janeway was treated very carefully to balance her authority with her femininity, and avoid presenting her as a stereotype in either situation. Thus, Janeway prefers to be called 'Captain' over 'Sir' or 'Ma'am.'

The character was originally named Nicole Janeway until French-Canadian actress Genevieve Bujold (who was the first choice for the role) backed out of the series (reports conflict on exactly why she left). Instead we got Kate Mulgrew, who did the best she could despite being quite annoyed with the constant shifts in her character. It is generally agreed that, given the scripts she had to work with, Mulgrew did a pretty awesome job.

Janeway: Well, Mister...?
Malon: Vrelk. Controller Vrelk.
Janeway: Vrelk. We have a little expertise of our own; we're a very determined crew, so my suggestion is that you leave orbit, and in the future, if you come across anything that bears the insignia of the USS Voyager, head in the other direction.

Janeway: There's coffee in that nebula.

Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran)

A member of the Maquis, a group of freedom fighters contesting Cardassian activities, Chakotay's ship was yanked into the Delta Quadrant shortly before Voyager was. Over the course of the pilot episode, he and his crew join forces with Janeway. Since he was a former Starfleet officer, Janeway re-activated his commission and made him her Number Two. Seven years later, nothing had changed.

Lieutenant Commander Tuvok (Tim Russ)

A Vulcan in the Maquis (assigned by Starfleet to infiltrate them), Janeway's best friend and (indirectly) the reason Voyager ended up stranded in the Delta Quadrant in the first place, he took up the positions of Tactical Officer and Security Officer on the consolidated crew.

Was the first Vulcan to be played by an African-American actor, after which the show's creators suddenly realized that a desert planet would likely produce skin tones rich in melanin. Russ' performance is generally regarded as the best portrayal of a Vulcan since Leonard Nimoy's Spock, and the second-best in the Trek Verse as a whole.

Sulu: And don't tell me Vulcans don't have a sense of humor, because I know better.

  • Former Teen Rebel
  • Logically Married: With children.
    • Played up when he develops a neurological disease upon being separated from his wife for seven years (Vulcan marriages are weird).
  • Hates Small Talk: Makes sense, as talking about nothing isn't logical.

"Vulcans do not make small talk."

  • The Lancer: To Janeway; often her source of advice.
  • Promoted Fanboy: Unlike most Star Trek actors, Tim Russ came into the series as a full-fledged Trekkie. He would get into arguments over how a Vulcan would behave, but still his portrayal of Tuvok was likely the best Vulcan performance since Leonard Nimoy and Mark Lenard.
  • Reverse Mole: At the beginning, when he is in the Maquis but is actually a Federation agent.
  • Smart People Play Chess
  • The Spock
  • The Stoic - As a Vulcan, you tend to expect this; although on the rare occasion when he *does* lose it, look out.
  • Stealth Pun: Does his being a black Vulcan remind you of something?
    • Often appears in the same scene/shot with a Commander of vague Native American ancestry, just to drive it home.
  • Straw Vulcan: Frequently. Also overlaps with his role as a security officer, where he generally recommends the more cautious/safe/shoot-first-ask-questions-later options (just like Worf in TNG).
  • Super Weight: Somewhere between Iron (he is well trained, and taught hand to hand combat at the academy) and Super. (Vulcans are very physically strong compared with humans, and he also has the mind meld, although he only uses the latter occasionally)
  • Twofer Token Minority

Lieutenant junior grade Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill)

A superb pilot who was drummed out of Starfleet after some sort of training accident, then joined the Maquis...but was caught and arrested on his very first Maquis mission; the opening scene of the show is Janeway securing his release from prison. His Backstory is similar to that of TNG guest character Nick Locarno, who was also played by McNeill; lawyers claim the show would've had to pay royalties to that episode's writer, while VOY's creative staff claim that they thought Locarno was irredeemable and so replaced him with someone new on purpose. Draw your own conclusions.

  • Ace Pilot
  • Big Brother Mentor
  • Born in the Wrong Century
  • Captain Ersatz
  • Ethical Slut
  • Fan of the Past: Done more realistically than most examples -- Tom is a fan of the 20th century, but mainly of the early to mid part of it, liking Captain Proton from The Thirties and cars of The Fifties. When he was thrust into the viewers' present day of 1996 through Time Travel, he adapted better than the rest of the crew but still made a faux pas by referring to the Soviet Union.
  • Grease Monkey
  • Handsome Lech: Until he falls in love with B'Elanna.
  • Hetero Life Mate: With Harry, though as with most such friendships, it fell Out of Focus some once Tom was in an actual relationship.
  • Official Couple: With B'Elanna.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In contrast with the Locarno character, whom McNeill described as just the reverse -- kind on the outside, evil on the inside.
  • The Medic: Though mostly played for comedy vis-a-vis the Doctor.
  • Military Brat
  • Renaissance Man: He's an ace pilot, expert commando, knows how to pick locks and superb theoretical physicist capable of designing an engine that goes to infinite speed. He's also the field medic.
  • Porn Stache: Lieutenant Marseilles, The Doctor's Captain Ersatz of Paris in the holonovel Photons Be Free, sports one.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Has been living in the shadow of his father, Admiral Owen Paris, for his entire life. Owen apparently wanted Tom to be the way he saw himself... the perfect Starfleet officer, pure of heart, utterly devoted to duty, and incapable of making a mistake. This seems to have just exacerbated Tom's tendency towards being a bit of a bad boy, and is likely a large part of what drove Tom out of Starfleet and into the Maquis in the first place.

Lieutenant junior grade B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Biggs-Dawson a.k.a. Roxann Dawson)

A Human/Klingon hybrid engineer from the Maquis who gets put in charge of Voyager's engines. She technically counted as a Threefer Token Minority, although Star Treks optimistic vision meant nobody gave her crap about being a woman...and Voyagers poor writing left any exploration of her Spanish-speaking heritage out in the cold.

Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang)

An ensign who somehow managed to get on the bridge crew (he's in charge of the Ops console, which essentially makes him a glorified administrator), Kim plays the role of New Meat. The show being what it is, he stays that way.

The Doctor (Robert Picardo)

Originally, Voyager had an actual doctor, but despite wearing a blue Sciences shirt, he died in the transit to the Delta Quadrant. Fortunately, Voyager was outfitted with an experimental new technology: An "Emergency Medical Hologram" who can hold down the job in a pinch. Sarcastic, snarky, pushed way beyond his comfort zones and (initially) unable to leave Sickbay, The Doctor naturally became a fan favorite.

  • Aesop Amnesia: Several episodes had some malfunction occur in his matrix as a result of his own attempted self-improvements. Among these are him turning into a total psychopath and losing his grip on reality. He never simply took the advice of getting some help in installing these improvements.
    • Fridge Brilliance: You could almost say his stubbornness and refusal to seek help in regards to his self-improvement is one of the things that makes him human.
  • Badass Automaton: Although usually also as Plucky Comic Relief.
  • Breakout Character
  • Catch Phrase: "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."
  • Character Development: Instead of A.I. Is a Crapshoot, the drama was from this computer program—designed for limited supplementary work as basically a glorified nurse—-having to transcend his own hard-coded limitations.
  • Dr. Jerk
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"
  • Hard Light Hologram: Though he can toggle this at will. His substantiation is effected through projected forcefields as with any holographic projection in Star Trek.
  • Heroic BSOD: A literal one, brought on by a Sadistic Choice of saving Harry's life or that of another crewman. This wreaks havoc with the Doctor's ethical subroutines, which aren't equipped to make such a judgement.
  • I Am the Noun: "I am the embodiment of modern medicine."
  • I Can't Dance: The Doctor in one episode
  • I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: He actually used this line more than Bones did, believe it or not (helps that the show ran for over twice what the original did).
    • Incidentally, during his audition, Picardo, a non-Trekkie, ad-libbed the line, "I'm a doctor, not a lightbulb," despite having no clue that it was McCoy's catchphrase back in TOS. He got the part.
  • Insufferable Genius
  • Last of His Kind: The EMH Mark 1's lousy bedside manner meant that the program was considered an abysmal failure in the Alpha Quadrant and they were repurposed to mine dilithium. The Doctor is the only EMH Mark 1 still in service as a Physician. Except that other Federation ship lost in the Delta Quadrant which also had one, but that EMH was evil and got deleted.
  • Morality Chip: "Ethical subroutines"...which can be deactivated if you need him to cross a Moral Event Horizon.
  • Projected Man
  • Soul Jar: The Doctor eventually got a "mobile emitter" which made him a self-sustaining hologram and allowed him to roam the halls. As a plot point, this could always be stolen from him to de-activate him.
  • Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids: Especially in the episode "Renaissance Man".
  • Tinman Typist
  • Weak-Willed
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: The Doctor is eager to show Dr Zimmerman how much he's evolved -- unfortunately his creator turns out to be a Jerkass who's embarrassed about the Mark One's very existence.

Neelix (Ethan Phillips)

A Talaxian denizen of the Delta Quadrant which Voyager runs into not long after arrival, Neelix is supposed to be Fun Personified. This didn't work out right. In the meanwhile, he runs the ship's galley, serves as "morale officer," helps in trade and barter, acts as a native guide for the crew and wears really awkward costumes that look like they were salvaged from upholstery.

Kes (Jennifer Lien)

Until the third season, Kes traveled with Voyager. Neelix's girlfriend until they broke up in the third season, she was the medical assistant in Sickbay, and a counterpoint to the Doctor's sardonic wit and non-existent bedside manner. Shortly after she joins the ship, she begins to help the Doctor in developing himself as a Hologram. Eventually she was written out, with the excuse that her latent telepathic powers were getting out of control.

Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan)

Kes' replacement on the main cast was a disconnected member of the Borg, a species dominant in the Delta Quadrant. Once a young human girl named Annika Hansen, born to parents who liked to explore the unknown, she and her family were basically the first members of Homo sapiens to be assimilated by the Borg. Eighteen years later, she was assigned to Voyager as a liaison between the Starfleet ship and the Borg Collective, and was later liberated (against her will) from the Borg and made an individual again. While there was a lot of snark over the fact that Jeri Ryan is a living incarnation of Ms. Fanservice, viewers were pleasantly surprised that the first thing thrown at Seven of Nine was a healthy dose of Character Development. (The second thing was the Spy Catsuit.) She eventually became The Spock of the main Power Trio, alongside The Doctor and Janeway.

  • Berserk Button: Oh my, did you just call Seven imperfect? You, sir, may now kiss your ass goodbye.
  • Breakout Character
  • Can't Hold Her Liquor: Just one glass of fake wine is enough to send her through a loop.
  • The Cast Showoff: In "The Killing Game," that is Jeri Ryan singing for real, not lip syncing.
    • In fairness, Jeri Ryan is pretty darn talented. Witness her flawless imitation of The Doctor in the Season 7 episode "Body & Soul".
  • The Chanteuse: Seven of Nine plays one in a holoprogram set in German-occupied France.
  • Character Development
  • Cyborg
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Deuteragonist: Later seasons can fairly be called "The Janeway and Seven Show, featuring The Doctor[2]".
  • Fascinating Eyebrow
  • Foil: To Captain Janeway.
  • Future Spandex: Where's the zipper? Oh right, there isn't one -- it was GLUED ON.
    • Dangerously so, in fact- Jeri Ryan passed out twice due to how tight her first outfit was around the neck.
  • Hot Scientist
  • Humanity Ensues / Humanity Is Infectious
  • Kuudere
  • The Lancer
  • Mama Bear: Not quite to Janeway's level, but she's definitely protective. Seven is shown to have grown a very strong bond with the Borg children she helped rescue and shows considerable concern for their well being. She even verbally attacks Icheb's birth parents on a few occasions in the episode "Child's Play".
    • She's also very protective of the crew as a whole. She's single-handedly saved all of them on a few occasions, almost killing herself in the procces. And when everyoone else wanted to make nice with (Evil Kes), she just pointed a phaser at her and said. "State your intentions!" In a way that sounded more like, you lay a hand on anybody here, and I will kick your ass!
    • She states several times that "Voyager is [her] collective." Since she still operates by Borg thought patterns much of the time, that means that any threat to the crew should either be quickly and efficiently assimilated or destroyed.
  • Ms. Fanservice
  • Raised by Orcs
  • Rogue Drone: Her basic character concept as an ex-Borg.
  • The Snark Knight
  • Some Call Me... Tim
  • Split Personality: A techno-virus in one episode gives her at least seven alternate personalities. She's cured by the end of the episode.
  • The Spock
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Her presence diverted a lot of attention away from the original cast.
  • Star-Making Role: For Jeri Ryan. While still busy, for a time in the late 90's she was everywhere.
  • Toplessness From the Back: We see Seven naked in two different episodes, but only a top-half rear view is shown.
  • You Are Number Seven
  • Wetware Body: This occurs in the Season 7 episode "Body & Soul". Hilarity Ensues when The Doctor is forced to download his program into Seven's consciousness.
  1. ↑ it's basically just dividing by 2
  2. ↑ and the rest
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