3 characters who could’ve been the big bad of Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager was a great show but it lacked its own unique villain.

When it comes to great Star Trek shows, I honestly don’t think anything can top Voyager. It was the first Trek series I ever watched from start to finish. As far as I was concerned as a youth, it was the best the franchise had to offer.

As an adult, I appreciate all the Star Trek series to various degrees, save for one or two, but Voyager is still among the best in my opinion. That said, even I have to acknowledge that the one thing that it lacked was a strong central villain that defined the show.

They had something in Seska but they blew that story arc rather quickly. They would eventually bring in the Borg Queen but due to her being from a different part of the franchise, her arrival felt more like fan service than a show-defining inspiration.

Yet, there were three other characters that could’ve filled that role had the writers pushed for it.

Three characters who could’ve been Star Trek: Voyager’s big villain

Kes

Famously, the daytime soap Dark Shadows was saved from cancellation when they took a minor villain known as Barnabas and turned him into the star of the show. A similar idea could’ve worked for Kes, one of the least popular Star Trek characters of all time. She was so disliked, she was among those considered replaceable for the incoming Seven of Nine. Had the writers picked up on what fans thought of her, they may have salvaged the character by turning her into some force of nature that hunted the Voyager crew after feeling abandoned by them. Instead, she just leaves the ship and one day returns looking to wreck stuff. She could’ve been used so much better as a villain.

Annorax

The great villain Annorax was played by Kurtwood Smith and was a person trying to reset time so that he and his crew could bring back deceased loved ones they accidentally erased from time. Stopping him could’ve just been the beginning. Voyager could’ve written an entire story arc of him pursuing Janeway and the crew throughout the Delta Quadrant to enact revenge.

The Clown

The Clown only appeared once in the show, thankfully, but could’ve been a great villain. Played wonderfully by Micahel McKean, The Clown could’ve ended up getting accidentally downloaded into Voyager’s computers, and could’ve ended up like a Moriarty-type villain for the show. Eventually becoming sentient, and either takes The Doctor’s mobile emitter or downloading his consciousness into a physical body as we saw in Picard.