10 Ways Babylon 5 & Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Are Basically The Same Show
1. Messianic Figures
When it comes to religion in science fiction, Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 didn't corner the market but they took a huge bite out of it. That extended to their respective messianic figures.
Deep Space Nine had Captain Benjamin Sisko. A survivor of Wolf 359 and the battle against the Borg, Sisko was sent to Deep Space Nine to spearhead the recovery of Bajor after the end of the Cardassian occupation. Once there, Kai Opaka, Bajor's religious leader, declared that he was the Emissary of the Prophets. It was a role he chafed against at first but eventually accepted and even cherished.
Commander Jeffery Sinclair was his equivalent on Babylon 5. The person in charge of the station, he was also a man of destiny and religious significance to the Minbari people. Sinclair would take Babylon 4 back in time and become Valen, a key religious figure to the Minbari. Babylon 4 played an important role in ending the First Shadow War.
The Minbari were actually winning a war against Earth at one point and reputedly surrendered when they realized they were facing the man who would become Valen.
These two messianic figures, and the various prophecies surrounding them, are more than a little similar.