Star Trek is filled with some of the most classic villains throughout the world of science fiction and these are my three favorites from Deep Space 9
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 was not a show that I particularly cared about as a kid. My Star Trek fandom was limited to the movies and Star Trek: Voyager. I grew up a Star Wars kid, and because of how syndication worked with Star Trek: Next Generation and DS9, it wasn’t always easy to find out when they were on considering they would air at different times depending on which city you were in.
Voyager, however, was on UPN. It was easy to find because the network aired it as a network exclusive. This followed a time when HBO only had limited original programming and instead would air older movies on repeat to fill the time. In fact, there was a time when you knew what movie was on just by knowing the day and time. For example, on Tuesday’s at 3:30 for the month of June, Jaws would always be on. Then in July, they’d have a new lineup featuring Space Balls or something. This meant that new movies, which if I remember correctly were on Saturday, at 8 P.M. (or 9 PM?) would air on HBO.
That was the first time I ever saw Star Trek: First Contact was when it premiered on HBO. Since they were marketing First Contact so hard, they would air the older movies, like Star Trek: Generations, Wrath of Khan, Voyage Home, etc. That was my first taste of Star Trek. I didn’t watch Next Generation or Deep Space 9 until the advent of streaming.
I think that’s why I have such a respect for the villain work on DS9. There is no child-like wonder or rose-colored glasses distorting my views on the characters or series. My feelings for these characters only came about less than a decade ago. So when I list off my favorite villains, you can feel assured that I’m not coming from a fanboy, kid at heart, perspective. I truly understood and resonated with these villains for one reason or another.
Why did I just go through all that? To really explain my first pick.