This is based on an idea from DarklyInclined, who was wondering how I might rate the rather protracted Dominion War featured in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine versus the one-season Xindi conflict (a subset of the much larger Temporal Cold War) as shown in Star Trek: Enterprise. I thought I’d also open the topic up to other wars in Trek, since those two weren’t quite the only wars shown in all of the series.
This will be a lengthy post. I’ve been working on it for a while now. I tend to write essays instead of simple replies; apologies in advance. Non-Trekkies who don’t really give a shit might want to head for another thread. For those Trekkies not well-versed in the subject matter, I will include links to pertinent data where applicable. Those who do choose read this, please bear with me.
You could make it more fun by taking a shot of your favorite alcoholic beverage anytime I bash Rick Berman & Brannon Braga (two of Trek’s longtime writers/producers, both of whom were blamed for Star Trek’s demise and the early cancellation of Enterprise, if not the near-total downfall of UPN itself) or anytime I mention Ronald D. Moore and Ira Steven Behr (two longtime Trek scribes who later moved on to Battlestar Galactica on SyFy) in a positive light. You’ll be happily plastered by post’s end.
Which did you think was done best: the Dominion War from DS9 or the Xindi conflict from Enterprise (or a different conflict featured in one of the other series, like the Klingon/Federation Cold War from TOS or the brief war against the Klingons in DS9 that served as a prelude to the Dominion War)?
Or, for a much more broad, open-ended question (if it suits you): do you think Star Trek handles a mature subject such as war well or poorly?
Dominion War
If you really don’t care about my lengthy diatribe on the Dominion War vs. the Xindi conflict (maybe because you didn’t live your entire life in your parents’ basement and you actually did have a social life), just skip past this and post your response already. Otherwise, feel free to keep reading.
Eh..?
I’ll open the discussion with my response…
…
I think Deep Space Nine handled the Dominion War fairly well. They didn’t just rush into it head-on. The writers gave it a great build-up, slowly tip-toeing into it, mentioning the Dominion here and there throughout Season Two (the Dominion were first mentioned in “Rules of Acquisition“, a Ferengi episode, no less!) before introducing us to their foot soldiers, the genetically-grown Jem’Hadar, in the Season 2 finale. Even after that, the Dominion didn’t quite take center stage yet, opting instead for a Cold War against the Alpha Quadrant powers, during which they covertly started two wars involving the Klingons – a war between the Klingons and the Cardassians (which the Maquis would get involved in) and renewed hostilities between the Klingons and the Federation. After destabilizing the Alpha Quadrant’s major powers, the Dominion finally invaded. Brilliant tactic! By then, the Federation was so shell-shocked from having to deal with wars on all borders (save the Romulan Neutral Zone) that they barely had the resources to fight the Dominion, a nigh-unstoppable force compared to the Federation.
Jem’Hadar
The Dominion seemed militarily superior in all respects: non-stop construction of warships while the Federation was still trying to convert aging exploration vessels into battleships; they could grow Jem’Hadar at an exponential rate (and even tailor-make them for warfare in that part of the galaxy) while Starfleet couldn’t recruit new officers fast enough; the Dominion were united while Starfleet was divided between the pacifists and the war-mongers (usually represented by a shadowy “rogue” group of Starfleet Intelligence called Section 31, a sort of Starfleet “Men in Black” that utilized very dirty tactics like assassinations, cover-ups and even genocide to preserve the Federation; this was the series’ attempt at exploring a darker side of Starfleet that I, for one, appreciated). Good mix of drama, tension and action all around, plus it was an interesting examination of the Federation through darker lenses than we’re used to.
Section 31
While Deep Space Nine’s executive producer, Rick Berman (Roddenberry’s hand-picked successor), wanted the Dominion War to last only three or four episodes tops, DS9′s lead writers – Ira Steven Behr and Ronald D. Moore (themselves chosen by Berman for their outstanding work on The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, both of whom would later helm the Battlestar Galactica reboot and create its prequel series Caprica) – conned him into allowing the Dominion War to play out until its “natural” end, which came during the final episode of the series. Say what you will about the Dominion War as a storyline and how it diverges from Roddenberry’s utopian vision of the future or about Deep Space Nine as a series, I think the Dominion War worked successfully (mostly), given its purpose as a method of deconstructing Roddenberry’s notions of the Federation as a utopian society. Ira Steven Behr re-imagined Deep Space Nine as a darker, grittier version of Roddenberry’s vision, and given how the series was written before that (set aboard a Cardassian space station by Michael Pillar – the brain behind some of the best TNG episodes ever, including “The Best of Both Worlds” – who imagined the series as a “frontier town in space” filled with broken individuals, former terrorist “freedom fighters”, orphaned aliens and unscrupulous bartender/merchants), the series worked well as such. The Dominion War, while I admit it was rather protracted (and ultimately weakened the hell out of Season 7, when the writers had to figure out a quick way to end the war in only one season after building the story arc to be a lengthy epic), worked overall as the ultimate test of Roddenberry’s dream.
When such a dream – the notion of humankind striving to better itself through peace and cooperation – is threatened by outside forces, what will humanity endure to protect it? The approach to this was very realistic, from the major portions of the story (“Operation Return“, the re-taking of DS9 after it was taken over by the Dominion) to the humdrum day-to-day stuff (Sisko’s grim ritual of posting casualty reports from the war every Friday). Ultimately, the war took a bitter toll on everyone involved, especially Captain Sisko; he would later commit acts that many Trek fans consider cardinal sins against Roddenberry’s lofty ideals – specifically helping a former Cardassian spy murder a Romulan senator in cold blood and blame the Dominion for it in the masterpiece episode “In the Pale Moonlight” – just to bring a quicker resolution to the war by bringing the Romulans into it. By the series’ end, the Federation is saved, and all the major goals of the series – bringing an end to the Cardassian threat and putting Bajor on the fast-track to membership in the Federation – have been met, along with the added bonus of creating a tentative peace between the Federation, the Klingons and the Romulans. Additionally, Ira Steven Behr was able to inject a bit of Judaism into the story through the Bajorans and their Emissary (messiah figure), Benjamin Sisko, whose story arc Behr based loosely on Moses.
Deep Space Nine What We Left Behind, we will always have here.
Deep Space Nine FAQ
1.) Introduction:This FAQ is targeted towards people who haven’t seen the show before. Therefore it only contains a minimum number of spoilers. For example the character descriptions contain the characters’ initial positions but don’t reveal their development throughout the show. Nonetheless there is also information for people who saw all episodes. Because we didn’t want to severely reduce the number of discussions in the forum, we didn’t go into too much detail and cut down the questions to ones that either come up often or that appeal to first time viewers.
Fairly Odd Trek by Frenchie 1941
2.) Characters and actors:
Q: Who are the characters and what are their positions?
Main cast: Benjamin Lafayette Sisko: Commander and later Captain of DS9 and the Defiant Kira Nerys: Executive Officer, liaison to the Bajoran provisional government Jadzia Dax: Science Officer, pilot of the Defiant Miles Edward O’Brien: Chief of Operations Julian Subatoi Bashir: Chief Medical Officer Worf: Strategic Operations Officer and First Officer of the Defiant Jake Sisko: Benjamin Sisko’s son, aspiring writer and journalist Odo:Chief of Security Quark: owner of “Quark’s Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade”, president of the Promenade Merchant Association
Important recurring characters: Morn: Quark’s most loyal customer, owner of a shipping business Rom: Quark’s brother Nog: Rom’s son Zek: Grand Nagus (leader) of the Ferengi Ishka:mother of Quark and Rom, nicknamed Moogie Brunt: liquidator for the Ferengi Commerce Authority (FCA) Leeta: dabo girl Garak:tailor with a questionable background, exiled from Cardassia Gul Dukat: former commander of the space station, Prefect over Bajor during the Occupation Damar:Dukat’s adjutant Martok: Klingon General Weyoun: Vorta field commander Gowron: Klingon Chancellor Winn Adami: a religious leader on Bajor Bareil Antos: Bajoran monk Shakaar Edon: leader of the Shakaar resistance cell during the Bajoran Occupation Vice Admiral William J. Ross: Starfleet field commander along the Cardassian border Lt.Cmd. Michael Eddington: Starfleet security officer Joseph Sisko: Benjamin Sisko’s father Keiko O’Brien: Chief O’Brien’s wife, schoolteacher, botanist Kasidy Yates: freighter captain Vic Fontaine:A holographic program of a Las Vegas lounge singer
Q: What is the order of the hosts of the Dax symbiont?
Lela, Tobin, Emony, Audrid, Torias, Joran, Curzon, JadziaQ: Which actors had multiple roles?
The two most prominent recurring actors on DS9 are Jeffrey Combs and J.G. Hertzler.
Combs is best known as Brunt and Weyoun. He also played Tiron in “Meridian” and Mulkahey in “Far Beyond the Stars”. On the other Star Trek shows he can be seen as Penk in VOY’s “Tsunkatse”, Krem in ENT’s “Acquisition” and Shran – a recurring character on ENT.
J.G. Hertzler’s most prominent role is Martok. Additionally he played the Vulcan Captain of the Saratoga in “Emissary”, Laas in “Chimera” and Roy in “Far Beyond the Stars”. Outside of DS9 he can be seen as a Hirogen in VOY’s “Tsunkatse” and as Kolos in ENT’s “Judgment”.
To see Casey Biggs (Damar) and Robert O’Reilly (Gowron) out of makeup watch “Shadows and Symbols” and “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang”. Biggs plays Dr. Wycoff in the former, and O’Reilly is the one who drinks the poisoned martini in the latter episode.
Q: Which characters were played by multiple actors?
Ziyal was played by Cyia Batten in “Indiscretion” and “Return to Grace”, by “Tracy Middendorf in “For the Cause”, and Melanie Smith in all other episodes. Batten was replaced because the writers wanted an older actress and Middendorf couldn’t handle the makeup.Senator Cretak was played by Megan Cole in “Image in the Sand” and “Shadows and Symbols”, and by Adrienne Barbeau in “Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges”. This time the change was necessary because Cole wasn’t available for the third episode.Ishka was played by Andrea Martin in “Family Business”, and by Cecily Adams in “Ferengi Love Songs”, “The Magnificent Ferengi”, “Profit and Lace”, and “The Dogs of War”.
3.) TV, DVDs and books:
Q: Which TNG episodes relate to Deep Space Nine?
Several TNG episodes set up backstory for DS9:
- Benjamin Sisko:
Best of Both Worlds, Parts I & II
- Maquis:
Journey’s End
Preemptive Strike
- Bajorans:
Ensign Ro
- Cardassians:
The Wounded (also O’Brien)
Chain of Command, Part II
- Trill:
The Host (largely contradicted by DS9)
- Klingons/Worf:
Sins of the Father
Reunion
Redemption, Parts I & II
- Crossovers:
Birthright, Part I (Bashir)
Firstborn (Quark)
However watching these episodes isn’t required to understand DS9. All necessary information is repeated.
Q: Is there a difference between the one-part and two-part versions of the pilot and the finale?
Yes. “Emissary”, “The Way of the Warrior” and “What You Leave Behind” were shot as one episode each. For the reruns in syndication they were split into two parts. This made it necessary to cut material to make room for a second credit sequence. The cuts are as follows:Emissary
A last visit by O’Brien to the Enterprise and his farewell to Picard
Cardassians scanning the station and detecting unexpected weapons The Way of the Warrior
O’Brien and Bashir play around with beans in Quark’s
A holodeck scene with Dax and Kira in swimsuits What You Leave Behind
The rebels are laughing and joking because they can’t enter Dominion HQ
The farewell between Bashir and Garak
Additionally several scenes around the middle are rearranged to end the two-part version on a cliffhanger
Q: What are the differences between the Region 1 and Region 2 DVD sets?
The R2 sets include several bonus features, which are only available as extra DVDs from BestBuy affiliated shops in R1.
Additionally two episodes are cut in R2. Season 4’s “To the Death” has 6 seconds cut from the neck breaking scene (the actual twisting can’t be seen). In Season 6’s “Sons and Daughters” 25 seconds were cut from the blood sharing scene at the end.
The R2 DVDs also come with a “Virtual Space Station” CD-ROM set; one CD per season. It’s a reference guide to events, characters, episodes and other items.
Other changes like different case designs or booklets are only cosmetic.
DVDs from different regions are incompatible for technical reasons. You need a region-free DVD player that can be switched between PAL and NTSC to watch them
Q: What features can be found on the Best Buy discs?
Season 1:
The Deep Space Nine Scrapbook – A look at the creation and launch of Deep Space Nine. Features archival cast and crew interviews and behind-the scenes-footage. Season 2:
Quark’s Story – A look at the character Quark and the origin of the Ferengi. Season 3:
The U.S.S. Defiant – An in-depth look at the “tough little ship” that debuted in Season 3 Season 4:
Bob Blackman’s Designs of the Future – Veteran Costume Designer Bob Blackman discusses the wide range of costumes he created for the series – from Bajorans, Cardassians, and Ferengi to a constant stream of aliens visiting the station. Includes behind-the-scenes footage of rarely seen sketches.
Sketchbook: Jim Martin – Illustrator Jim Martin reveals the meaning and evolution of many of his artistic designs used for DS9. Includes rarely seen drawings of Ferengi props, starships, and alien worlds.
DS9 Chronicles: Short introductions to selected episodes from seasons 1-4, narrated by Deep Space Nine actors Season 5:
DS9 Sketchbook: John Eaves – A look at original and unused designs created for Season 5 of DS9.
Ferengi Culture – Executive Producer Ira Steven Behr explains how the Ferengi evolved from their debut on The Next Generation through the end of Deep Space Nine. Season 6:
Inside “One Little Ship” – Visual Effects wizard Gary Hutzel provides an in-depth look at filming and designing the shrunken shuttlepod featured in “One Little Ship”
Ferengi Rules of Acquisition: The Beginning – Armin Shimerman and Ira Steven Behr discuss the cultural impact of the “Rules” on society.
Ferengi Rules of Acquisition: The Sequel – Armin Shimerman and Max Grodenchik explore the Ferengi rules accompanied by clips played back to back in numerical order. Season 7:
Special Crew Profile: Ezri – A special profile of Nicole deBoer, a new cast member added in the final season.
Morn Speaks! – Mark Allen Shepherd talks about his unique role on the series and reveals dialogue that was written but never made the final cut.
Sketchbook: John Eaves – Illustrator John Eaves covers several designs created for the final season of DS9, including the Breen Ship.
Q: Are there special Asian editions of the DS9 DVD Boxed Sets?
No, those DVDs you see on EBay are pirated versions of the official sets. There are no Paramount liscenced Asian versions of the DVDs.
Q: How is the quality of the Asian DVD sets?
Pretty low quality. They’re grainy, and have a bad tendency to break up, much resembling the errors you get when a disk is dirty. Also, many episodes cut off prematurely.
Q: Do the movies make references to Deep Space Nine?
Yes
First Contact:
The Defiant is featured extensively in the Borg battle
Worf is thus brought to the Enterprise
Riker mocks Worf if he can still fire phasers, referring to his absence from the ship Insurrection:
Picard wonders about discipline on DS9 when Worf oversleeps
Picard mentions that the diplomatic corps is busy with Dominion negotiations
The Son’a are known as producers of Ketracel White (also mentioned in “Penumbra”)
Ru’afo mentions the Dominion among powers that challenged the Federation Nemesis:
Remans were used by the Romulans as cannon fodder during the Dominion War
Shinzon commanded a ship during the war
Q: What is the Deep Space Nine Companion?
A book with episodes synopses, interviews with writers and actors, and behind the scenes information. The Companion is a very good source for background information on Deep Space Nine, as well as the writing and production of a weekly television series in general.
It is out of print but still available from Amazon.com either used or new.
The book is not to be confused with the CD-ROM of the same name. The CD contains episode scripts, pictures, and trailers.
In this interview Robinson discusses the experience portraying such a complex character as well as the differences he saw between Deep Space Nine and the other Star Trek series. He also discusses his Star Trek experiences off-camera, including directing episodes of DS9 and Voyager and writing the Garak-focused novel A Stitch In Time.
Let’s talk about your multi-dimensional character, from simple tailor to secret agent. What was it like from an acting point of view? Which were the challenges?
Was there something that you put in this character… your acting experience?
Robinson: It was deceptively complicated playing Garak. Obviously, one of the complications was all the makeup and the costume, which was very uncomfortable, very confining, and the makeup, which I had a bit of a claustrophobic reaction to it at the beginning. But I got over that. That was fine, and as a matter of fact, the look of the character is what was enormously helpful because he looked so unique. It was kind of wonderful for an actor to have a character that looks like that. It’s a gift! I think more challenging was that the character… whatever the character said is not what he meant. We have an expression: subtext. That much of the truth of Garak was like a glacier: you saw only the tip of the glacier, but then, underneath the tip, was the very complicated truth of his life. So, playing that subtext, living with that subtext, presenting that subtext behind a mask of affability, of friendliness, of congeniality, I think that was both the challenge and the pleasure of the character.
The relationship with the other cast members? Did you become friends with someone?
Robinson: I knew some of the cast members even before we started the show. René Auberjonois; I’ve known him for many, many years, Armin Shimerman is someone that I became good friend with, and of course Alexander Siddig, or at the beginning, when he was Siddig El Fadil. He and I became very close friends, and he’s doing wonderful work now in various films. It was a very strong acting company, with very strong personalities and I think probably the strength of the show was the ensemble of these actors. To have a really great ensemble is not necessary that people like each other as long as they respect each other, and there was an enormous amount of respect for the actors on that show.
According to you, what are the differences between Deep Space Nine and the other Star Trek series?
Robinson: I think the biggest difference between DS9 and the other Star Trek series is that Deep Space Nine was more nuanced, had more ambiguity. Rather than being black and white, there are more grays. I was surprised; even the new Star Trek movie, I guess they had to… it adheres to the old format of the evil villain who’s angry at everyone and wants to destroy a world, even though they don’t understand quite why he wants to destroy it. And I think that people who really liked Deep Space Nine are people who like ambiguity, and like when the characters are not either good or evil, where they are like most of us: they are complicated people with a little bit of each in each of those characters. Plus, obviously, it didn’t take place on a spaceship going to one planet after another; it took place on a space station, which I also found much more interesting as well. In that sense it was kind of like the last frontier, at the edge of the unknown, and with all these very interesting types of characters that would appear, and these dramas that would play out.
I also feel that Deep Space Nine had more theme, and by that I mean they dealt with very difficult issues. Like there is an episode, it’s one of my favorites; it’s called “The Wire,” where Garak is addicted to this drug. And it was basically about drug addiction. There was another episode where Avery Brooks and I, where Captain Sisko comes to Garak for help with the Romulans and basically it exposes the American innocence, that we want to do these things in the world, but we’re not really willing to take the consequences of our actions, and sometimes we have to do very dirty things, and we have to hurt people, and we pretend that that doesn’t exist, that Americans would never do that. We dealt with issues like that and I don’t think… you know… the other shows really went as far as we did.
Can you tell us something about your directorial experience on DS9, and also on some episodes of Voyager? What was it like?
Robinson: At first it was very difficult, because there is so much technical work that has to be done on these shows. Blue screen, green screen. At the beginning I was very intimidated by the technical requirements of directing. It’s not just directing actors; it’s a little more complicated than that. But then, in the end, it came down to it: it was directing actors. Sometimes, directing your friends is… maybe I’d rather direct people I don’t know, but they were great. But they were all very kind to me, especially when I first started, because that’s when I first started directing films, on Star Trek. It was a gift! I’m grateful to the producers allowing me to direct episodes.
You wrote a novel about Garak, about your character. Why? And what was it like to be a writer?
Robinson: I started writing about Garak because, coming to the Star Trek franchise and being cast as an alien, a Cardassian, I had no idea what that was. I barely know about human beings. But then suddenly to be cast as an alien… it was a challenge. So I decided to write about the character and create the world of the character and I did this in the form of a diary that Garak kept: every day he would write about his experiences and so forth. And then I started going to conventions, like this one, and I started reading from the diary and the fans, the audiences loved it. So I started writing more, and I started crafting it more and, like a lot of people, I’ve always wanted to write a novel! That’s when I started working into a novel. Then the people at Simon and Schuster, the publisher, agreed to let me do it, and it was a bit of a big deal because I was the first actor to write a novel without what they call a ghost writer, or with someone else writing it for me. Because I wanted to write it by myself, I didn’t want anybody else writing it.
A generic question about science fiction: what are the advantages and what the disadvantages of working in a science fiction show?
Robinson: If the science fiction is really good, if it comes from the imagination. If we are imagining a world that’s an extension of this world and an extension of our behavior and an extension of the choices that we’ve made, I think that’s the most interesting science fiction. It’s much more difficult if the science fiction is more fantasy, where it really doesn’t have basis in the reality of our lives and the reality of our world. I think that’s why I liked very much working on Deep Space Nine, because I think that the station was a metaphor for our world, but obviously projected into the future. I think that has a power and people are attracted to that, because if they can see something that’s honestly projected into the future, not something that’s sort of airy-fairy… it turns them around a little, it re-orients the way they think about this world.
But it’s every day, a Benjamin Sisko celebration here in this Blog, for being our Captain, us Niners, the Emissary and the coolest guy in Trek Universe. For just being Benjamin Sisko…
In light of all the “Why ______ is the best Captain” threads, and noticing there wasn’t one for Sisko, I thought I’d start one… so here goes, I mean How hard can it be?
- He squares up to Picard on his first day of Command, when Picard outranks him. – He doesn’t just command, he also designs starships that make most other races tremble.
- One of his crew is captured by the Cardassians, he walks into the courtroom and stares the judge down, and his crewman gets released, and centuries of Cardassian legal tradition changes. – Picard tried to talk Q out of his antics, Janeway had to brush off his advances, Sisko just punches him to shut him up.
- Saved Kirk from a tribble bomb, then went and asked for his autograph. – Kirk and Picard may be considered Gods, but Sisko actually BECAME one… or you could say he was always one.
– Picard’s mother was French, Sisko’s mother was really a Prophet.
- When Sisko goes back to Earth after traumatic events, he does something useful with his time and doesn’t end up fighting anyone in the mud.
- He has an old friend who is over 300 years old, and still looks fantastic AND is highly respected by the Klingons. – When fighting with Klingons, he prefers hand to hand combat and headbutting. – Never got captured and tortured by Cardassians. – When he ends up on the other side of the galaxy in his first episode, he gets back, and has a Cardassian Ship in tow.
- He likes his station and ships well armed… and even when they’re not, his First officer has the balls to bluff it when she’s outnumbered.
– Has a kid on his station that doesn’t get annoying.
- His security officer is captured by Jem Hadar and imprisoned, yet still fights them, sometimes with a handicap.
- Lets his Klingon crewman BE a Klingon, with all it entails.
- He even lets a crew member who ISN’T Klingon be a Klingon, when she wants to be. – Doesn’t need a counselor until the final season.
- Kirk has to slingshot around the sun to time-travel. Janeway and Picard are sucked into temporal rifts. Sisko has an orb that is safe, clean and quick. – Can still look fearsome while pulling off the bald look. – and then they made him look Klingon once, and he looked even more badass.
- When he was only a commander he had the most powerful ship in the fleet.
- Knows the ins and outs of baseball, and doesn’t need to get drunk to watch it. – He was prophesied.
- If you are lying he will tell you so.
- Sisko was scared once. He didn’t like it and has never been since.
- When someone betrays him he promises to hunt them to the ends of quadrant,
- and comes through on that promise. – When Admirals go crazy he holds them at phaser point. Picard just talks to them in a stern voice.
- Starfleet listens to him instead of the other way around.
- He never had to steal or illegally develop his cloaking device.
- His XO looks good in leather.
- His ship battles the Borg, was designed to do so and didn’t need to be enhanced with Borg Technology to do so.
- He is a major figure of Earth History.. twice
- Has crossed over into parallel universe. Not scared. Did it again. – Kirk had a transporter accident and just got an evil clone. Sisko had one and became an evil genius who took over 1960s Earth and turned it into a big ocean, after kidnapping all the finest minds.
- Explained linear time to being who had NO concept of cause and effect, using baseball.
- He can hold his liquor. – Tells a large group of Klingons NOT to get between him and the Bloodwine.
- Goes through a Klingon stag party without wanting to kill the groom.
- When klingons attack him he not only kicks their ass but gets them to surrender. – Drinks Klingon Coffee (raktajino) instead Earl Grey or wimpy human coffee.
- Dated a criminal, and she came back even when he was the one who put her in prison.
- Doesn’t need no stinkin Death Glare… but has one anyways.
well that’ll do for starters… all that springs to mind right now
He fought prejudice in 1950s America… sort of.
- He has a Cardassian spy on his station.
- His Doctor can play baccarat and his science officer beats the Ferengi at Tongo.
- He can out-negotiate a Ferengi, and does on many occasions, even the Nagus himself. – Q didn’t bother Sisko again after their one encounter, but kept on going back to Picard and Janeway over and over.
- Apparently changed Worf’s understanding of the command “A SPREAD of torpedoes” to mean more than one badly aimed shot.
- Chased the Maquis into the Badlands and didn’t get abducted.
- His Chief Engineer didn’t need a commission or a course at Starfleet Academy, but ended up TEACHING it.
- His bartender doesn’t need big hats. – Worf never threatened to kill Sisko where he stood. – but then Sisko was never stupid enough to say Worf was a Coward.. although if he had said it, he could have defended himself.
- Lost his first true love to the Borg, then designed something to beat them if they ever returned.
- Still managed to win over his first wife after kicking sand at her, AND kept the drinks he was carrying on the tray. – Fought the Jem’Hadar in hand to hand and not only won but gained their respect, ditto for the Klingons.
- At least two of his command crew wield a mean bat’leth.
- Managed to travel at Warp, without Warp Drive or Inertial Dampers or interference from a powerful entity.
- Kid isn’t a snot-nosed little smug git, but chose to be a writer and NOT join Starfleet.
- Is well versed in his own cultural roots, but also keen to explore those of Bajor.
- Aims to kill, but usually makes it so he doesn’t even have to shoot.
- First to ever escape the Jem Hadar. – Doesn’t chase everything and anything that moves, trying to mate with it…
- He already has his Doctor doing that.
- His Doctor was the base for the EMH Mk2.
- Got a new ship of the same class very quickly after the original Defiant was destroyed…
- AND he was given special dispensation to rename it in honour of the old ship. – Bad hair days never a problem for him.
- His Station security chief can be whatever he wants to be.
- He and Dax once trashed a Casino because they didn’t like the games. – He doesn’t have a chin under his Goatee, just another fist.
- Survived Wolf 359 without being on the Enterprise.
- had numerous Runabouts destroyed and they were replaced quickly just like his starship.
- Dates regularly, as do most of his command staff.
- His crew went on a looting run on an abandoned station of the same class for spare parts.
- Makes his Engineering Chief delay major/vital repairs so he can get a decent cup of coffee. – Willing to destroy the Wormhole just to get one over on the Dominion.
- Not afraid to get his hands dirty when there’s clearing up work after the Cardassians decided have a little fun they day they left.
- When theres a possibility of Changelings being on Earth, Sisko gets called back as an advisor.
- had to order his Engineering Chief to take leave, but didn’t have to be ordered himself.
- Allows crew to use runabouts for personal reasons, usually no questions asked.
- Never got stuck in a turbolift while giving a tour of the ship to a bunch of kids.
- Never got in a transported accident that turned him into a kid. – Would have thrown Wesley Crusher out the nearest airlock.
- His son turned an illiterate Ferengi into a model Starfleet cadet.
- Could cook like Gordon Ramsey, only… yunno, good. – His Doctor was genetically enhanced.
- Never fooled or outsmarted by a holographic character. – Used underhanded methods but they managed to bring the Romulans into the Dominion War.
- No one ever stole his first officer’s brain.
- Survived a battle where a galaxy-class starship was blown to pieces in nothing but a partially disabled runabout.
- Can lay out a guilt trip like no other.
- Has various members of his crew that have grudges against Cardassians.
- Not afraid to make threats, and follow up on them if need be. – Doctor was recruited to Section 31.
- His station security chief has credentials in the Cardassian courts. – Got an emotional response from a Vulcan that wasn’t ill in any way. – Indirectly responsible for the death of a Romulan Senator, but the Romulans held the Dominion responsible.
- When Ben Sisko watches the tape from The Ring, the little girl in the well dies 7 days later.
- Had no problem with Romulans and Changelings being aboard his starship. – Tackled a Jem’Hadar to the ground on his first encounter with them.
- Is a ‘paragon of virtue’.
- describes the station as ‘not an ideal place to raise a son’ but still does it anyways.
- Even when seriously injured he managed to knock out Gul Dukat.
- In a correction to an item above, he doesn’t make threats, only promises. – His mirror counterpart had both Intendant Kira and Dax as his lovers.
- He fooled nearly everyone in the mirror universe into thinking he was his counterpart.
- Before he met him, a Romulan thought he’d be taller.
- Started dating Jennifer, even though he knew he’d be assigned to a starship soon after they met.
- Knows how to dance in Lederhosen.
- Once considered trying to rescue someone from Tal Shiar headquarters… it took Curzon to stop him from going through with it. – A major figure in Bajoran Religion AND discovered their fabled Celestial Temple.
- Acted as defense in the extradition trial of Dax to the Klaestron government, and proved her innocent. – Really really doesn’t like to lose, but still doesn’t need to cheat.
- Almost single-handedly transformed Bajor from a planet recovering from occupation into one worthy of Federation Membership, despite losing one of their Kais soon after arriving.
- Took an untested warship into Dominion Space just to try and ‘talk’ to the Founders. – His psychological evaluation became required knowledge for Vorta.
- Caused the Klingons to withdraw from the Khitomer Accords… then gets them to surrender.
- His mirror counterpart was a pirate that was cooler than Jack Sparrow. – Captured a Jem Hadar ship and returned it for Starfleet to study.
- Knows how to celebrate, even when he loses… and he rarely loses. – Would have thrown Seven of Nine out of the nearest airlock for insubordination, constant defiance of orders, taking matters into her own hands, and all the other crap that Janeway and the crew of Voyager inexplicably put up with.
- His cowardly FERENGI bartender was the head of a Klingon house.
- Originally planned to be promoted to Admiral (temporarily) in season 6.
- had time for his son in spite of his career and the war effort.
- Recognises that true exploration doesn’t just extend outward.
- Has a Christopher Pike Medal Of Valor to his name. – The story of Moses was inspiration for his life and character arc.
- Even his son dared to confront the Dominion, in his own way through his writing.
- Discovered the previously unknown 10th Bajoran Orb, the Orb Of The Emissary and used it to restore the wormhole and it’s inhabitants, evicting the evil pah-wraiths, and all by having a few visions.
- Jake was willing to sacrifice his life in the future to return Benjamin to the time he should be in.
- Takes betrayal hard, but acts upon it instead of just stewing about it. – Champions eat the breakfast of Ben Sisko.
- Everybody was Kung Fu fighting but Sisko still took them all on. – Is referred to by the Prophets as THE Sisko. – He forages for wolves at night.
- Some say he only knows two facts about ducks, and both of them are wrong.
- His changeling was the first EVER to harm another of his kind, got turned solid, used an infant changeling that was sold to him to become a changeling again, then found he was the cause of the Changeling virus, as well as being the solution.
- He has never watched Moonraker on Boxing Day.
- Many have looked forward to killing him in battle, none ever got the pleasure, not even the Dukat-Wraith. – His middle name is Lafayette, making even his middle name officially cool. – If he wanted to, he could fire Donald Trump.
- Once took the Defiant on a mission to save someone he was talking to over subspace, from 3 years before.
- His changeling was given false info that Gowron was a changeling, but Sisko managed kill the actual Changeling, Martok.
- He took Winston Zeddemore’s advice; when someone asks him if he is a God, he says YES!
- His Strategic Operations Officer appreciates Klingon Opera.
- He would not like to be a pepper too, quit asking. – Didn’t need to put any of his female crew members in silver catsuits for them to look fantastic while on duty.
- Would have returned from The Nexus before Soran even blew up his first sun, and wouldn’t have needed Kirk’s help to deal with him.
- He ain’t afraid of no ghosts.
- His resident barfly was a big talker, but never on screen, and could hold latinum in his second stomach.
- He can sing a duet – on his own.
- No-one ever said ‘Yuk’ when he tried to kiss them with a newly grown beard.
- His Doctor managed to sneak into what should have been secure areas of the USS Enterprise completely undetected until he was halfway through what he was doing, and even then he managed to talk himself out of a trip to the Brig.
- He can wear a kilt and manage to outdo Elmo McElroy on the “Badass Mo’Fo’ in a kilt” scale.
- His engineer briefly turned the whole damn space station into a starship just so the Federation could stake a claim on the Bajoran Wormhole.
- His sailing ship wasn’t a holodeck recreation, and he really could get away from it all in it.
- He taught Micheal Jackson how to Moonwalk, but still can’t do the funky chicken, the Electric Slide or the Macarena.
- Probably would have had Neelix in the Brig more than Quark, just for being annoying.
- Has combined features from the Captain and First Officer of the Enterprise, a bald head and a beard, and made it work. – He got a one way ticket to hell AND BACK, and managed to get a refund because the buffet car wasn’t open that day.
- If he had stranded Khan Noonien Singh on a planet, he would make absolutely damn sure that there would be no way they could ever return. – If Michael Schumacher gets injured or isn’t on form while substituting for Felipe Massa at Ferrari, they’re bringing Sisko in to do the job properly. They chose Schumacher first because he was cheaper.
- Never even tried to make friends with any damn Borg because he knew even he would also fail where others have.
- He never found his Second Officer’s head underground in San Francisco.
- The item in the briefcase at the end of Pulp Fiction was a signed copy of Benny Russell’s ‘Far Beyond the Stars’ – Forget Starfleet Command, he dictates terms to the Dominion.
- There’s a very good reason the last two letters of his name are KO.
- He willingly put himself into a metal box that was out in the sun, and risked death from dehydration and malnurishment – just to prove a point. – Sisko once got into a bar fight, the bar lost.
- He wore a red shirted uniform and consistently survived. – Ever noticed how there are no revolving doors in the 24th Century? It’s because Ben Sisko slammed them all.
- The Promenade on DS9 was filled with mourners when he was believed dead. Spock didn’t get that when he actually died.
- Looks damn good in a tux. – Niagara Falls because Ben Sisko pushed it.
- His crew set a trend in darker Starfleet uniforms… twice. – He was once run over by a cab, fine right after.
- Often appears surrounded by white or faded yellow light, which only adds to his aura of awesomeness.
- He doesn’t need a sound of how awesome he is, but he has one anyway, and it can only be heard by Targs, or by detuning an old television set.
- Sisko is not capable of hitting a target on the broad side of a barn. Every time he tries, the whole damn barn falls down.
- In the words of the Prophets themselves; He exists, here.
- Was friends with 3 consecutive hosts of the same Trill symbiont.
- He left his baseball on his desk when Starfleet abandoned the station to the Dominion, as a message that he would be back. – It was him who let the Dogs out, and the Prophets.
- Even those who betray him usually have some honourable traits. – Ben Sisko can smell what the Rock is cooking… because the Rock once worked for his dad in San Francisco.
- His Trill had two different hosts who were guilty of reassociation. – Ben Sisko never has heart attacks. His heart is too afraid to attack him.
- The Ferengi he deals with regularly didn’t want to steal his old ship, or try to extort him by presenting him with a fake son.
- His Doctor is also a spy… on 1960s Earth. – You are probably alive mainly because The Sisko allows it.
- Quite happy to take his son camping on an unexplored planet on the other side of the galaxy.
- Ben Sisko has a deep and abiding respect for all life… unless it gets in his way.
- Didn’t need to make a guest appearance on another incarnation of Trek that was set at the same time period. – He was turned down for I’m a Celebrity because people had heard of him.
- His resident Ferengi bar owner managed to convince the Prophets to undo what they had done to the Grand Nagus.
- Ben Sisko CAN believe it’s not butter, but may not be able to prove it.
- When the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shiar put together a fleet with Cloaking Device to take on the Dominion, Sisko’s Security Chief and the station’s tailor were the only ones to survive, and they were in a ship without a cloak.
- Apparently able to pilot a Jem Hadar ship with seemingly little training. – When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Ben Sisko.
- His Doctor managed to cure a plague, even though the EM Fields created by his tricorder and other equipment accelerated the symptoms.
- No-one has ever really compared Ben Sisko directly to James T Kirk at any length – they don’t want to make Kirk look THAT bad.
- His family tree is surprisingly complex.
- The Ferengi of Deep Space Nine were a part of early 20th Century Earth history.
- His Doctor and Engineer apparently have Annihilation fantasies involving historical events.
- If he’d been the one living next door to Alice, he’d find out why she’s leaving and where she’s gonna go.
- Once warned that Bajor would be destroyed if it actually joined the Federation.
- He has created a recipe for his own culinary delight, which contains chicken. – He had the foresight (although possibly inspired by the Cardassian Counter-insurgency program) to set up a computer program that would sabotage the station’s computers and other major systems, in case he ever had to give the evacuation order.
- Has never had to make use of a montage while he learns how to do something, it doesn’t take him long enough to warrant one.
- Two of his crew survived a Dominion Internment Camp. – Was briefly in charge of Security for the entire planet Earth.
- His engineer managed to serve 21 years of prison time in a few hours without Q involved.
- Managed to get his Bajoran First Officer to watch baseball after she realised she’d only ever talked to him about work or her religion.
- His Ferengi knows what Hot Dogs are.
- makes bets with Klingons where the stakes include barrels of bloodwine.
- The station’s resident Ferengi managed to outwit a Vorta who had Jem Hadar backup. – He invented the internet so that people could share their porn, music and facts about Chuck Norris.
- Once confronted an armed man because he didn’t like his hat.
- Once felt bad about the death of a Romulan Senator that he wasn’t even directly involved in. Spent an hour relating the story in his log, deleted it and was fine after. Didn’t need to go see family on Earth or anything for that. – Sisko fights the battles most Starfleet captains would retreat from.
- Turned the new Dax host from a complete nervous wreck into an officer who would go on to Captain a ship, (though that was something the previous host SHOULD have done).
- His engineer doesn’t need to inflate his work time estimates to make himself appear to be a miracle worker
near-total downfall of UPN itself) or anytime I mention Ronald D. Moore and Ira Steven Behr (two longtime Trek scribes who later moved on to Battlestar Galactica on SyFy) in a positive light. You’ll be happily plastered by post’s end.
