10 Star Trek Characters More Important Than You Realised

This servile henchman to ‘90s computer magnate Henry Starling – a kind of Elon Musk without a Twitter account – appears in the Voyager two-parter Future’s End.

As the right-hand-man to Starling, Dunbar participated in the retro-engineering of the 29th century timeship Aeon that had crashed to Earth in the 1960s and was then stolen by the decidedly detestable Chronowerx Industries CEO. He would, therefore, have been partly responsible for the illegitimate advances in technology afforded the period as a result. It is not clear what happens to the events of this timeline after Voyager manages to stop Starling, but Captain Braxton does mention having spent a lengthy period on 20th century Earth in the later episode, Relativity.

Dunbar also attempts to kill Rain Robinson, the Griffith Observatory astronomer who discovers Voyager’s presence in orbit and then tags along with Paris and Tuvok to save the day. He is summarily phasered to smithereens by the end of episode two.

Such notoriety already earns him a place on this list, but his importance to the Voyager crew is realised elsewhere. It is through both Starling and Dunbar that the Doctor receives, and is able to keep, his mobile emitter – a revolutionary piece of technology for the EMH that allowed him to exist outside of sickbay and the holodecks, and even off the ship. This changed the Doctor’s entire relationship with the crew, and undoubtedly saved a few lives along the way. In theory, we have Dunbar to thank for it.