Watch TrekCulture’s: Star Trek 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Q
By Chad Porto
Star Trek: Picard is bringing back Q.
Star Trek created a great character in Q, played famously by John de Lancie. The character is so popular that despite his minimal appearances in Star Trek: The Next Generation, he became iconic in the eyes of the fans. He was one of the few characters to appear in all three Star Trek shows of the era, appearing on both Voyager and Deep Space Nine.
In fact, he appeared on Voyager more than once, and in some of the better episodes to boot.
So it’s not surprising TrekCulture did a video of 10 things fans didn’t know about Q. For such a beloved character, theres’ a lot surrounding him and de Lancie that maybe most fans didn’t know about quite yet. That’s why it’s an intriguing video to check out.
John de Lancie was the perfect choice to be Q in Star Trek
Having no real outline to play the character, John de Lancie was able to truly bring to life a character that had no real blueprint. While there have always been trickster characters and villainous deities in lore, for de Lancie to capture the essence of Q had to be a monumental task.
Whether intended or not, de Lancie made Q not just a threat to the protagonists across Star Trek, from Jean-Luc Picard to Kathyrn Janeway to Benjamin Sisko, but also extremely likable. It wasn’t even the script, so much as it was the way de Lancie brought it to life.
The subtle nods, and the light-hearted smiles, all while talking about humanity’s inability to do something. It never felt like a lecture as it did some sort of deconstructionist comedy show.
Q was great because de Lancie brought the best out of him.