Neelix’s backstory on Star Trek: Voyager makes him such a better character

Neelix had one of the best backstories on Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager is only recently getting the praise it rightfully deserves. When it came out, it was the flagship show for UPN and delivered some of the best episodes of Trek the franchise has ever had. The show was incredible and while it was far from perfect (no show is), it was extremely a fantastic watch with dynamic characters. Yet, not all characters are loved on the show. Despite it being a great entry into the franchise, one character, Neelix, is still shunned by the fandom.

Neelix is a Talaxian who, admittedly, takes some time to enjoy. Early in the series, he’s seen to be in a romance with Kes, an Ocumpan who is just two years old. While it sounds bad, her race only lives to be about nine years old, making her the equivalent of a 20-year-old. The bad times didn’t stop there, no, as not only was he dating a two-year-old, but he was also insanely jealous anytime she breathed toward another man.

It made Neelix, admittedly, look very bad. Neelix got a lot better after Kes’s actress, Jennifer Lien, left the show to make room for Jeri Ryan and Ryan’s character, Seven of Nine. So while Neelix does get better in the final four seasons of the show, you’d be missing out if you skipped the earlier seasons, as it really shows you why he is the way he is.

Neelix’s backstory in Star Trek: Voyager is sad

If you had to list all of the adjectives that Neelix embodied, you could say that he is anxious, needy, jealous, chatty, and a bit annoying. But Neelix isn’t like that just because. See, he lived on Rinax, a moon above Talax. And he lived there in peace and harmony for years, until the alien race, the Haakonians came and declared war. The Haakonians would end up using a devastating bomb of sorts on Rinax, creating a cascade that would end up killing most of the things living on the planet.

While Neelix was a conscientious objector, he did still return to Rinax after Talax surrendered. See, Neelix felt a duty to look for survivors on the moon, hoping to find anyone from his family still alive. He finds just one person, his sister Palaxia, still alive but burned and scarred from the blast. But Palaxia doesn’t last long, suffering from her injuries for weeks until she dies in Neelix’s arms.

Losing his whole family broke Neelix in a way that is often understated. He’s not some annoying side character meant for comic relief. He’s a man who lost everyone he’s ever loved, trying desperately to find just one reason, just any reason really, to keep going in life.

All of his clingy and at times toxic behavior traits are nothing more than PTSD that has gone untreated. He’s not the clown so many make him out to be, but a broken man who for the longest time, had no one else to love him. That is until he met Kes.

He isn’t the obnoxious creep so many fans boil him down to be. He’s a broken soul who could easily be any of us if our lives go too far sideways.