Star Trek: 10 Hated Characters You Grew To Love

2. Liam Shaw

star trek picard captain liam shaw
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The debate rages on over Captain Liam Shaw. His first appearance in Star Trek: Picard's third season opener The Next Generation led to memes galore. However, from the jump, it was clear that he had every right to be annoyed - his ship was being hijacked.

His animosity toward anything Borg-related made him harder to sympathise with. As an audience, we are predisposed to feel a kinship with Picard and Seven of Nine, neither of whom Shaw seems to offer much respect towards. He is openly hostile to Picard while refusing to call Seven anything but Annika Hansen.

As the season progresses, Shaw's disgruntled behaviour is played for laughs, pushing him into a more lovable camp. There's more than a hint of Han Solo about him, even if he's a bit more orderly than his counterpart from a galaxy far, far away.

It is the reveal that Shaw was using Seven's human name simply to push her buttons that hurts his case. He is a highly engaging character, one who is presented with a stick up his butt the size of a warp core, but one who comes around. He is undeniably loved by much of the audience now, thanks in no small part to Todd Stashwick's performance. 

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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"