Star Trek fans know the canon’s most iconic characters, storylines, and ethos. It is fostered by great character-driven scripts, dynamic plots, and cinematic breakthroughs in film, television, and streaming services. As a result, some Star Trek characters have earned their place in our hearts as fan favorites. However, that is not to say that some of the fanfare may be, shall I say…overrated. Let’s take a look at what makes a character overrated.
When considering which characters are overrated, I first started with the franchise’s most beloved characters. Then I considered what specifically makes a character overrated. I concluded that overrated characters tend to have traits that are overemphasized or overused; they can often have repetitive characteristics or story arcs, and finally, there may be some lack of development to a fully realized character that has strengths and flaws which are the hallmarks of a human, alien or otherwise. Let's take a look at three of Star Trek's most overrated characters.
Why Data is overrated
Data is an advanced cybernetic android, who we learned was created by Dr. Noonien Soong (S3 E16 TNG). Serving on the USS Enterprise-D, Data is the Chief Operations Officer and responsible for the ship’s day-to-day operations. Because of his advanced positronic brain, which gives him enhanced human-like intelligence, he often assists in the engineering and science departments as well.
During TNG series, Data was not created with an emotion chip. However, one of the show themes consistently depicted his need and want to experience and feel human emotions. This storyline of Data and his lack of emotions was repetitive and even played out when Data created an android child (Lal) in “The Offspring” (S3 E16 of TNG). Data wanted to experience the human emotions of child rearing and a sense of family, but there were issues with Lal’s emotional matrix that caused her system to fail, and she died.