29 Years Later, The 1990s Most Important Star Trek Character Is Aging Like Fine-Wine

Published Jul 30, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT Since graduating from The Los Angeles Film School, Jason has worked as an editor for the local news, as well as a producer of several short films and podcasts. His extensive knowledge of film production and narrative storytelling has enabled him to travel the world, writing about the projects he is passionate about in the realms of film, anime, and gaming. "Every Day Is A Level Up" Sign in to your ScreenRant account The entire Star Trek franchise is filled with memorable characters, but Star Trek: Voyager's most impactful cast member helped form a winning formula that future series have had a hard time replicating. While some of the shows have been able to mix around popular characters with clever results, there has been enough narrative exploration with the more than dozen Star Trek series to determine what works and what falls into a black hole to never be spoken about again. Arguably, the early 90s was the franchise's peak in many ways. The stories of Captain Picard's tenure on the Starship Enterprise, the morally questionable activities explored on Deep Space Nine, and the desperate journey home on Captain Janeway's Voyager all helped captivate the imaginations and inspire hope in generations of fans. But only one of those series provided the perfect character that allowed the franchise to reach it's potienal for both excitement and allowed the audience to place themselves in the series more effectively than Seven of Nine. Seven Of Nine Was The Perfect Audience Surrogate Custom image by Yeider Chacon Like many great stories that aim to introduce a foreign world or organization, several Star Trek series include a new recruit or an ignorant character open to learning to act as an audience surrogate. This is often a narrative tool that gives the story a clever excuse to introduce the story's setting, the rules of its universe, and the characters they and the audience will be spending their time with. While most shows start off introducing such a character, sometimes they don’t last or stay as prominent to the overarching plot as they should. Characters like Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Ensign Wesley Crusher and the fan-favorite android Data explored several interesting plotlines with their unique perspectives. Wesley Crusher felt like a character who was pushed into the background for most of the iconic series, and while Data did receive some great episodes, he was often stuck on the ship’s bridge. It was Voyager's inclusion of the recovering Borg victim Seven of Nine that allowed the franchise to operate at maximum warp. Star Trek: Voyager quickly introduced the naive Kes, a member of the Ocampa race who ages rapidly. For a while, she worked as an excellent audience surrogate but then left the series during the fourth season. During that time, the stranded crew encountered a Borg ship that they were able to narrowly defeat, and in that aftermath, Voyager gained a new crewmate named Annika Hansen. While the crew was able to rescue her, it wasn’t before she'd been captured and assimilated into a Borg, making her extremely intelligent and capable in many aspects, but not all. After regaining a sense of self and free will, Annika became an active member of Star Trek: Voyager's cast but chose to go by her Borg name, Seven of Nine. The character consistently acted as a foil to the capable and often compassionate Captain Janeway, often forcing the story to confront and explain why the compassionate approach often yields greater results than the most logical. That dynamic has been at the forefront of many of the best Star Trek stories, but Seven of Nine's character allowed the story to explore those types of conflict and more with extreme effectiveness. Why Seven Of Nine Is One Of Trek's Best Characters Custom image by Yeider Chacon The Borg are normally a hyper-intelligent, parasitic species that coldly expand throughout the galaxy by finding new lifeforms and assimilating them into their collective consciousness. After being converted, individuals deemed worthy become autonomous drones that do the hivemind's bidding. After being cut off from the Borg collective, Seven of Nine had to relearn everything it meant to be human while also being able to retain the hyperintelligence and many of the physical benefits of temporarily being one of the toughest species in the known Star Trek universe. Watching Seven of Nine consistently butting heads with characters like Captain Janeway and the ship's Holographic Doctor provided everything viewers needed to explore the episode's grander themes. But unlike characters like Wesley or Data, her ability to infiltrate, fight, and overcome nearly any technological challenge also gave the character the opportunities to take part in the series most exciting battles. Most characters in the franchise have a special skill that they utilize to carry out their assigned positions on a starship, but few are as capable as the former Borg. While other series also have great audience surrogates and cast chemistry, Star Trek: Voyager's Seven of Nine was a character who was able to provide that as well as participate in the series most thrilling conflicts, becoming a character who can embody nearly everything that can be great about Star Trek. TV Show(s) Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Video Game(s) Star Trek Online, Star Trek: Resurgence, Star Trek: Bridge Crew First Film Star Trek: The Motion Picture First TV Show Star Trek: The Original Series Cast William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Wil Wheaton, Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig, Cirroc Lofton, Armin Shimerman, Colm Meaney, Terry Farrell, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jeri Ryan, Robert Duncan McNeill, Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips, Garrett Wang, Jolene Blalock, Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Scott Bakula, Linda Park, John Billingsley, Anthony Montgomery, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sonequa Martin-Green, Mary Wiseman, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, Oyin Oladejo, Emily Coutts, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Michelle Yeoh Created by Gene Roddenberry Star Trek: Voyager 8/10 Release Date January 16, 1995 Network UPN Showrunner Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, Brannon Braga, Kenneth Biller Directors David Livingston, Winrich Kolbe, Allan Kroeker, Michael Vejar