10 Star Trek Characters Who Appeared On Multiple Series
Well, Q IS basically omnipresent...
Since Star Trek first hit the airwaves on CBS in 1966, there have been seven TV series. Well, nine if you also count the 1970s animated series and the more recent Short Treks set in the world of Discovery. Over the course of those seven series, that gave fans approximately 742 episodes of Star Trek TV spread across more than 50 years to enjoy.
With those kind of numbers, it's not hard to imagine that more than a few characters have appeared on multiple series.
As they built the Star Trek universe, stories inevitably intersected. This was especially prevalent in the era of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. These three series happened during the same era and overlapped when they were on the air. Despite the fact that Voyager was happening thousands of light years away, characters from other series still made appearances.
While this happened more frequently than some viewers might think, there are a few characters that really stood out. This was due to a combination of how often they appeared in other series as well as how important they are to the Star Trek lexicon.
10. Reginald Barclay
Many of Star Trek's most interesting characters are not members of the main cast. Often, some of the best characters are the recurring ones that pop up once in awhile and add in something special. Q was such a character, bringing chaos to whatever story he was in. Though he wasn't as chaotic, Reginald Barclay was a similarly beloved character.
Barclay was first introduced on The Next Generation. An engineer working under Geordi LaForge, he was quiet, nervous and anxious, using the holodeck to avoid life. But once he came out of his shell, Barclay proved to be a brilliant engineer who just needed self confidence. He became an important member of the Enterprise-D team.
But while he played the part of comic relief on TNG, he became a critical part of Voyager by the end of the series.
Working on the Pathfinder Project for Starfleet after the destruction of the Enterprise, Barclay figured out how to contact the Voyager in the Gamma Quadrant with the help of Deanna Troi. He established a permanent means of communication with the stranded ship and became an integral part of bringing Voyager home.