This forms the cornerstone for what Star Trek is all about, one of the biggest reasons the JJ Abrams films never sat well with fans as he missed this entirely. As such, almost all the characters shown throughout the franchise are complex and deeply flawed. They are real people with a mixture of good and bad within them, making for some of the best antiheroes found within the genre. Among these complex characters, two contend for the best example of this archetype in the franchise.
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Starting with perhaps the most iconic, there is the supposedly simple tailor aboard the Deep Space 9 space station in DS9. He is a Cardassian with a complex history, having been one of the most effective spies during the occupation. He is a cunning character, who holds a staggering amount of influence and connections across the increasingly toxic political hemisphere of Cardassia, but hides all this under the unassuming facade of his small shop aboard the station.
Garek’s involvement with the nefarious and illegal is suggested to be a thing of the past, and is often spoken about in innuendo with the ever-suspicious station doctor Bashir. This all changes, however, in the famous episode “In the Pale Moonlight” where captain Sisko is in desperate need of Romulan aid during the Dominion war. Without it, they will surely be defeated. To do this he enlists the aid of Garak, with his many connections to help with the situation. However, does so knowing full well whatever the sneaky Cardassian will do, it will most likely not be legal or ethical. He explains the situation rather vaguely, and Garak does what he does best. He manipulates a situation in which the Vulcan adjacent Romulans join in the fight alongside the Federation.
Without going too much into the political details, he manages to do so by killing an important Romulan senator. This is the unforgivable act of a villain, but one that is done for the greater good. Sisko is, of course, outraged when he finds out, resulting in a masterful exchange between the two characters, but at the end of the day it was exactly what Sisko wanted. It was why he had come to the one man he knew could get it done. The episode changed the franchise forever, and set a precedent for Starfleet being forced to do bad things in order to protect others. The moment is best summed up in the following quote from Garak himself:
Another character that is often balancing between the realms of good and bad is that of the many Q, specifically that of John de Lancie’s Q. He often appears as the mischievous trickster, master of illusions, and down right pain in the neck for many a Starfleet captain. His favorite person to torment is Picard, and while the majority of his actions place him in the villain category, there is a strange sense of him actually trying to help humanity.
Most of Q’s appearances come with the idea that he is testing humans to see if they are worthy of exploring the galaxy, and if they fail he’ll probably just snap his fingers and wipe them all out. While this seems like the mindset of a Thanos level baddie, he never actually does this. Picard or whatever other Captain always manages to prove that they are in fact worthy. Q’s tests hold somewhat of a deeper connotation, however. They are often accompanied by some kind of lesson, which helps either the Captain or the Federation. The best example of this comes in his very first appearance in The Next Generation, where he appears and judges Picard and Starfleet complacency, stating that they are not ready to explore the galaxy. Picard is so self-assured in not only his ability, but humanity’s ability, that he challenges this assumption. Q then teleports the entire ship lightyears away, right into the path of a Borg cube. The Federation has never encouraged the Borg before, and the resulting encounter leads not only to the death of a fair few red shirts, but also the near destruction of the iconic USS Enterprise.
This moment opens Picard’s eyes to the realization that they really have grown complacent, and that they were not at all prepared to face what awaits them in their planned exploration. Instead of putting his tail between his legs and running, however, this only makes him a better captain. The event humbles him, making him all the more vigilant. It also meant that the Federation were somewhat prepared for the Borg, and while the events of Wolf 359 were still devastating, it would have been a lot worse if Q had never intervened. He might hide behind the proviso of being a nefarious trickster, toying with humanity but never truly caring for them. However, it becomes more and more apparent that not only does he secretly want to help, but he had a soft spot for Picard.
These two characters are constantly battling it out to take the crown of best antihero from the franchise. Both highlight very different aspects of what it means to straddle the line between good and bad. Garak and his sordid past allows him to do terrible things for the right reasons, saving countless lives by sacrificing a few. That conclusion has never been justifiable in the eyes of Star Trek, but needed to be explored in order to show the ethical quagmire of war. Q shows that, while he might appear to be a villain, his actions are actually often designed to help humanity. His interference, no matter how devastating in the short term, is actually for the greater good.
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