Starfleet's Finest: Kirk vs Picard

Hello, and welcome back to The Great Debates where I settle pop culture's biggest scores, and this time I've got phasers ready.

There was a lot of excitement this week with the debut of the trailer for the newest Star Trek series which would bring back the legendary Captain Jean-Luc Picard, played by the now equally legendary Patrick Stewart. His seven-season run on Star Trek: The Next Generation,coupled with four feature films, made Picard Stewart's signature role, even more than Professor Xavier. However, since the beginning of his command of the Enterprise-D, he's been compared by fans to his predecessor, the also legendary Captain James Tiberius Kirk. Kirk may have been played by Chris Pine for the last three movies, but the role still belongs to William Shatner,who gave him a face and a voice for three seasons in the original series, two seasons of the animated series, seven movies, and a famous bit on Saturday Night Live. The debate over the best Captain has raged in geek circles for over thirty years, and it's time for this Trek fan to settle it.

When it comes to Kirk, his most positive trait is his confidence. He has a "never say die" attitude that inspires his crew to look up to him. That confidence even took him through the Academy when he reprogrammed the supposedly unwinnable Kobayashi Maru test so he could win it. That test was supposed to teach cadets how to handle a no-win scenario, but Kirk never believed that ANY scenario was "no-win". While that confidence is an admirable quality, it does have its drawbacks. Despite being a master tactician (even able to beat Spock at chess), Kirk does tend to throw himself into danger a bit too eagerly. While there is a nobility in preferring to risk himself over his crew, it still looks pretty stupid.

Picard's biggest strength is his intellect (making Stewart's role in the X-Men movies even more appropriate). His ability to analyze problems thoroughly and work out solutions has saved his ship and his missions numerous times. From figuring out how to communicate with aliens that only speak in metaphor to devising a maneuver for defeating an advanced enemy ship that was so revolutionary that it would be named after him, Picard is definitely the thinking man's hero. He was even able to provide the solution for victory when he was assimilated by the Borg. While his long game approach to decision-making can make him look weaker than Kirk, he still gets the results he wants more often than not.

Well, it's time for the showdown between the two Captains. Kirk is very extroverted which makes connecting to his crew (and many ladies) very easy. Despite remarks about the family feel, Picard's introverted nature resulted in a level of detachment from the others clear up to the last episode. Kirk is a man of action who's not afraid to get into a scrap, even with a hulking lizardman. Picard tended to avoid fights as much as possible, leading SF Debris to joke a lot about the French Captain surrendering all the time.

Picard's biggest advantage over Kirk, however, was that his character grew over time. While there were a few insights into his past that came to light over the years, Kirk had stayed a largely static character. The Kirk from 1966 isn't that different from the Kirk from 1991 (aside from the gray in his hair). While Gene Roddenberry had intended Picard to be the same way in the first two seasons of The Next Generation, Michael Piller pushed for character growth when he came onboard. That paradigm shift led to Picard growing from a stiff to a father figure. Dimensions continued to be added during the films when he became obsessed with destroying the Borg in First Contact. [Funny enough, the comparison of Picard in that movie to Captain Ahab from Moby Dick became extra appropriate since Patrick Stewart played Ahab in a TV miniseries of Moby Dick just two years later.]

Well, I've weighed them both carefully, and now it's time to decide.

Star Trek's greatest captain is...

Ben Sisko!

Hey, put down your bat'leths, and let me explain! As far as I'm concerned, the question of Kirk or Picard is irrelevant now because Captain Benjamin Sisko from Deep Space Nine, played by Avery Brooks, easily topped both of them. He manifested all of the best qualities of both. He's intelligent and diplomatic like Picard, even able to make peace with extra-dimensional beings like the Prophets. He's got Kirk's strength and "never say die" attitude; HE EVEN PUNCHED OUT Q! When war broke out with the Dominion, it wasn't some Admiral back in Starfleet Headquarters calling the shots; it was Sisko leading the charge with the Defiant as his steed. While Kirk and Picard were definitely heroes, Sisko's merits truly made him Starfleet's finest.

Disagree? Pissed about the bait-and-switch? Let me know, and Qapla'!