10 Most Overrated Star Trek Villains
Threatening Starfleet crews for millennia, these galactic baddies were punching above their weight.
A good villain can make or break a series. Create the right one and they'll be coming back for more and more for seasons, years and decades to come. Many Star Trek opponents have gone on to become as iconic as Kirk, Data or Neelix, even inspiring their own fan groups and language classes. Others have presented a singular challenge in some cases just as unforgettable.
With all the best - or worst - intentions though, not every single enemy that has been encountered has proven to be as successful as fans might at first think. For every Romulan assassination plot there's a Dr Sevrin. Where there's a Hirogen killer holodeck you can find a thawing Clown. With the benefit of hindsight and a good rewatch, those Tribbles just don't appear anywhere near as evil as they were the first, second or tenth time.
Star Trek does an exceptional job in the establishment of its nemeses; the background, the key figures, the very structure and purpose that makes them unique and threatening to all and sundry.
Nor are they alone with a rundown of the galaxy's most ineffective moustache-twirlers to highlight that even the most villainous villains have their problems. Here's our look at when your plans for domination aren't so dominating.
10. Kazon
Based on LA gangs, the Kazon offered a tangible and immediate threat to the crew of Voyager from their first day in the Delta Quadrant.
Supposedly right there with the worst of the worst, the Kazon sects popped up over the course of the first two seasons to attempt to steal technology that Janeway refused to share. They started out with the fairly impressive Predator Class ship in Caretaker and the threat of more to come yet the Kazon-Ogla never followed it up, leaving the way clear for Culluh and the Kazon-Nistrim in prime place.
Their only significant victory? The capture of USS Voyager in Basics. Yes, they only ever achieved something resembling their goal once and then only for a short time. Effectively they were overcome by a hologram and a murderer later assisted by a flyboy pilot and the less than aggressive Talaxians.
That road to defeat does tell you a lot about the Kazon. Even the Borg, in perhaps one of the franchise's most cutting in-jokes, deemed the Kazon to have no redeeming features. Although set up in a similar fashion to the Ferengi in TNG's first season, the Kazon were never resculpted for another use and were forgotten once Voyager passed their territory.