Ranking every main character from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds first season

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds had a great cast of characters, and this is how we’d rank them.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ second season is coming in mid-June and we’re very excited for its return. It was a stellar first season and fans really embraced it, helping it break into the Top 10 most streamed shows and becoming one of the most popular new shows of 2022.

Hopes are high for the second season. The reason that hope is so much higher for this show as opposed to others, is simply because of the cast and characters. They’re all so amazing. Sure, someone had to come in last, but there isn’t a “bad” character on this show.

That said, we do have our favorites, and this is my personal list of favorite characters. This isn’t a “best” list or a “most liked” list. This is simply the list of characters I enjoyed the most from most liked to least. And just to further point out; it’s just the main crew.

1. Dr. Joseph M’Benga
2. Erica Ortegas
3. Christopher Pike
4. La’an Nooinen Singh
5. Christine Chapel
6. Una Chin-Riley
7. Hemmer
8. Spock
9. Nyota Uhura

Why would we rank the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds cast this way?

While Spock and Uhura had their moments, they weren’t, in my opinion, that great on their own. Uhura played very well off of characters like George Kirk, as Spock did off Nurse Chapel and Captain Pike, but even though they had their own arcs at times, they weren’t as riveting as others.

As for Hemmer, he had the least screen time as anyone and appeared in the fewest episodes He also served mostly as a sounding board for Uhura. Though his dry sensibility was refreshing.

Una Chin-Riley’s “secret” throughout the first season wasn’t that impressive and had a predictable end. In fact, dare I say, they ripped off Lower Decks’ second-season finale to do it. They did it better, sure, but it still wasn’t must-see TV.

Christine Chapel got a whole character upgrade from her first run in the Original Series, and boy was it needed. A bit more feisty than her earlier counterpart, Chapel showed far more personality and charisma this time around, and while her best moments came with other characters (like Spock), she was never a problem to see on screen.

La’an Noonien Singh was a great character, and her arcs with the Gorn and dealing with her lineage were fantastic. Plus her ability to come out of her shell with others, like Una, was refreshing. There were just better arcs in play, despite a great showing.

I loved Christopher Pike, but man, he was kind of a one-trick pony. While I’m sure seeing the future will muck up anyone’s brain, besides cooking, that was all Pike was in the first season. He did have some stellar speeches, however, and that saved him from a more middling placement.

With Erica Ortegas, I think I like her most of all, but admittedly without looking back at any recaps of the shows or notes I took, I remember next to nothing about her arcs on the show. She was witty, sarcastic, talented, and confident but she didn’t really get to do much else. The potential is there and she definitely showed that in season one, but hopefully season two gives her more meat to work with.

I’m a sucker for a good dad, and few pops in the Star Trek universe have my love and respect as much as Dr. M’Banga, who spent the entire first season being the best damn doctor he could be, while also doing everything he could to save his daughter from an illness he had yet to defeat.

Good dads are hard to top in my world.