10 Sci-Fi TV Shows That Wasted Incredible Characters

While Q spent many years as a recurring character over several Star Trek shows, he in fact only appeared in a total of 13 episodes.

A powerful entity of godlike power, Q was a truly fascinating concept first introduced in Encounter at Farpoint, The Next Generation's pilot episode, and was played by John de Lancie.

Despite his immeasurable power, Q is quite an impish figure, proving to be something of a comic foil when alongside the stuffed shirts of Starfleet.

Although Q contributed directly to a handful of very interesting stories, the character was reportedly underused due to a fear that fans would grow tired of him, which is a little strange, given the excellent chemistry between Q and Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard.

The vague nature of Q's powers meant that the character could have been used in practically any capacity, with him even popping up in disguise and played by another actor every so often. It seems as though the writers simply shied away from using the character any more due to the challenges involved with writing his omnipotence into any given story, which is understandable at least, although its a small consolation to fans that wanted a little more Q in their lives.