Star Trek: Voyager will never be a show that this writer will speak negatively about. Sure, it’s not always great but it’s hard to say that it’s ever truly bad. There’s a lot to love about this show, and sure, there’s a lot that was left unexplored or underdeveloped but to say that it never had any good villains is just flat out wrong.
Dana Hanson, a writer for ScreenRant, wrote an opinion piece where they argued that the series didn’t create any great original main villains for the series. She claims the reason was mostly due to the fact the Voyager was always leaving the regions of space that these aliens occupied, so it was hard to develop and create cultures that you’d see in Deep Space Nine or The Next Generation.
She names the Kazon, Vidiians, and Hirogen as the aliens the show most failed with but really, only one of them, the Kazon, was really underdeveloped. The Hirogen were among the most used alien races on Voyager and served as an interesting crop of villains. Only hindered by the fact they were being used at the same time the Jem’Hadar were. As they were both warrior race aliens, they didn’t really differentiate themselves much in culture just in look.
So it’s understandable while they receive some criticism.
Yet, the Vidiians were one of the most interesting, dangerous, and compelling races that Voyager produced. They stand on par with not just the best Voyager had to offer but the rest of Star Trek as a whole.
And while yes, as the writer states, the show did eventually pivot to the Borg for some of the later seasons, they also brought in Species 8472, a truly great alien antagonist, alongside the Borg. Species 8472 in their own right were impressive aliens. Not just technologically speaking, as they were all done by CGI, but just by what they meant for the franchise; a race that could bully the Borg? Unheard of.
Voyager also had a slew of great one-off aliens that had more potential if they had just been revisited, but unfortunately, we never did.
Yet, Voyager made an impact in the villain-department and it’s unfair to say otherwise.