6. He Balanced His Federation Duties With Being A Religious Icon
Episode Evidence: Rapture
So imagine being told you are commanding a space station in the frontier of space, without all the federation nice-ities at your disposal, given the mission of helping a species recover from occupation and deal with a hostile race who will do anything to dispose you and take back that station. And then imagine being told you're a religious icon, sent by the gods to lead that species to enlightenment. That's what Sisko had to face from his first day on Deep Space Nine. As expected, it was something he struggled with from day one. Deep Space Nine was a fresh start after his wife's death and he had enough on his plate without the spiritual adoration of the Bajoran people. Combined with the political machinations of characters like Vedek (and later Kai) Winn, he always felt uncomfortable with the situation. However Sisko was always the professional, respecting the beliefs of the Bajoran people even if he didn't follow them. Then everything changed with the season five episode 'Rapture'. Visions from the Prophets warned that the joining of Bajor to the Federation would result in disaster, and despite his mission mandate and Starfleet duties, he chose to follow through on those beliefs and prevent it from happening. With the eventual war with the Dominion breaking out at the end of the season, it was a decision that saved the planet and it's people from destruction. From then on Sisko continued to find balance between his role as Starfleet Captain and Emissary, convincing the Prophets to act when the Dominion fleet looked poised to invade through the wormhole in 'Sacrifice Of Angels' and final taking on the ultimate battle against the Emissary of the Pai'Wraths' in the series finale 'What You Leave Behind'. Both actions were formidable as he not only embraced his role as spiritual leader and link to the Prophets, but saved the Federation (and potentially the Quadrant) from certain destruction as a result. Not bad for one man. KIRK: He went on a mission to find God and took on a malevolent force at the centre of the galaxy that claimed to be the ultimate deity. Not bad for a few day's work. (It's a shame that the film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier just wasn't that good...) PICARD: The Mintakan race believed Picard was a god. He proved he wasn't by shedding blood. Brilliant Captain he may be, he wasn't a religious icon... JANEWAY: She took on the Borg like some self-proclaimed god of war, but that was more a defect of her personality that religious traits. Rule 1 of the Borg...run! Don't take on the Borg Queen. Unless you're Picard (and Data). ARCHER: No religious icon traits but he was a driving force in the founding of the Federation. So that's pretty cool.