Star Trek: 10 Reasons Kirk Is Better Than Picard

By John K Kirk /

7. Charisma

The last entry is a natural segue to this one. Charisma may seem a trivial characteristic, but when you consider how well it has served Kirk€™s command style and decision-making process, it€™s clearly a deadly weapon in his arsenal that Picard hasn€™t matched. Kirk€™s charisma endears him to his enemies. In €œDay of the Dove€, he manages to convince Kang that he is being manipulated and even manages to elicit good feelings in the Klingon commander to drive out the mysterious and malevolent alien entity. It€™s the closest Kirk will ever get to a beer fest with Klingons, but it€™s his charismatic appeal that acts upon Kang and forces him to see the truth. Picard, in comparison, is stiff and while he can be a charming man, his own personal charisma is restricted to those private moments of intimate appreciation, as with the empathic metamorph, Kamala from the TNG episode €œThe Perfect Mate€. He is rigidly disciplined enough to resist the empath€™s attraction but this is a measure of his own moral stature, not of his charm. That is what the empathy finds so attractive in him. Picard€™s charismatic abilities don€™t register in crises. He is a private, reserved man whose charisma is something to be appreciated by one person. However, it is Kirk€™s charisma that sometimes enables him to win the day.