Star Trek: 10 Minor Villains Who Were Awesome
8. Arturis (Hope and Fear - Voyager)
Oddly, a season finale that isn't a cliffhanger but packs just as much wallop as a lot of those that were. I confess here that Hope and Fear is a personal Voyager favourite of mine but Arturis is such a clever little villain. For one, he's super intelligent and for a good portion of the episode you really have no idea that he's actually the bad guy in all that's going on until he sets foot on the Dauntless and attempts to take Janeway and Seven into the heart of Borg Space for a wee bit of assimilation.
He's a fairly pleasant chap for the most part, but like all good baddies there's that hidden agenda that marks him out. While we all think he's there to help out when Voyager "finds" the Dauntless, it's all actually part of a wondrously tangled plot to get his revenge for Janeway and co not obliterating the Borg when they had the chance with assistance from Species 8472. It's a singular goal that drives the linguistic connoisseur to set up the subterfuge. Arturis lost everything and it's time for the crew of Voyager to suffer likewise. He does end up assimilated but remains calculated and in control even when it all goes wrong for him and the Borg cubes drop into play. Just for working out a plot that Holmes' nemesis Moriarty would be proud of, he gets a place here a false starship, some hidden code in a Starfleet communique and a very handy little gun too.