Star Trek's 13 lead starships ranked from worst to best

Star Trek's ships are iconic. Still, some of them are decidedly nicer to look at than others. Let's rank every hero ship from the franchise by aesthetics alone.
The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), as it appeared after its refit in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), as it appeared after its refit in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. | Sunset Boulevard/GettyImages
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9. USS Voyager (NCC-74656), Star Trek: Voyager

Part of me feels bad putting Voyager this low on the list, because I love the show so much, and we can’t deny that this little Intrepid-class starship went through a lot during its unplanned journey through the Delta Quadrant. Even so, looks are everything for this list, and Voyager is not the prettiest ship.

The best way I can describe Voyager’s appearance is a mix between a seal and a spatula. It is certainly iconic, but with so many beautiful ships to choose from, I have to admit that Voyager just lacks some of the elegance or coolness in its design that other ships possess. Voyager is such a good little ship, but there are so many beautiful ships in Star Trek, that Janeway’s vessel is ranked at No. 9.

8. USS Protostar (NX-76884), Star Trek: Prodigy

The Protostar takes a lot of design cues from Voyager and the Enterprise-E. It has a sleekness to it that improves on Voyager’s bulbous, 1990s minivan look, but its appeal evaporates when seen from any angle other than looking down at the top.

This is an issue faced by many starships in Star Trek. While they may look gorgeous from one angle, another angle makes them look awkward and badly proportioned. For the Protostar, this means looking like a sleek dagger from the top but an oddly proportioned whale from the sides, front, or back. On TV, they can choose the angles carefully, but even then, why not design it to look good at multiple angles?

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