10 Star Trek Characters Who Don't Deserve The Hate
4. Neelix
Depending on who you ask, Neelix is either the likable, if underused, morale officer of Star Trek: Voyager, or the AntiChrist in the flesh, bent on destroying all joy, hailing from the Hell that is the Delta Quadrant. This is a character that some folks have feelings about.
It's honestly a little surprising. Neelix's early episodes were among his worst - the entire plot with Kes, his bickering with Tom Paris, and his struggle to integrate with the Voyager crew all suffered from a general lack of overall planning. Once the show settled into its fourth season, Neelix took a big back seat.
That leaves the character with the issue of a dodgy early introduction and a fairly poor follow-up. There are many stand-out episodes for him, including Mortal Coil, Homestead, and Once Upon A Time, and even if those particular episodes aren't the strongest overall, they are good examples of the character being used well.
Ethan Phillips plays him as a thoroughly likable person, and bar some awkward scenes into which he's shoehorned, he generally manages to stick to this. It may be too late to redeem the character on-screen, but Neelix is a man who certainly should be afforded a second consideration when it comes to his legacy.