Their ship was grabbed by a powerful entity known as the Caretaker, and dragged more than 70,000 light years away from Federation space. After Capt. Janeway felt it was necessary to destroy the array which had the power to send them home, they began a new mission, to explore the unknown Delta Quadrant and to find a way back to Earth. This television series in the Star Trek franchise aired from 1995 to 2001 and featured an entirely new crew, a combination of Starfleet officers and a rebel group called the Maquis. This article looks at the key characters of the series and their experiences in this distant region of space.
Who Were They?
- Capt. Kathryn Janeway, the tough commander determined to get her crew home (Kate Mulgrew)
- Cmdr. Chakotay, the tattooed first officer and a former Maquis rebel (Robert Beltran)
- Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok, the Vulcan tactical officer and chief of security (Tim Russ)
- Lt. B'Elanna Torres, a human-Klingon hybrid and the chief engineer (Roxann Dawson)
- Lt. Tom Paris, a former convict and Voyager's pilot (Robert Duncan McNeill)
- Ensign Harry Kim, the young, eager to please operations officer (Garrett Wang)
- The Mark I Emergency Medical Hologram, Voyager's chief medical officer, capable of treating virtually any illness. His program was left running after the human medical staff were killed (Robert Picardo)
- Neelix, a gregarious, warm-hearted Talaxian who serves the Voyager crew as a cook and diplomat (Ethan Phillips)
- Kes, a member of the Ocampan race, who only live for nine years (Jennifer Lien)
- Seven of Nine, a former Borg drone who joins the Voyager crew in Season 4. She slowly regains her humanity though she is haunted by her experiences in the Borg collective (Jeri Ryan)
Their Adventures in the Delta Quadrant
It isn't long before the Voyager crew find out that this part of the galaxy is quite unfriendly. In the first and second seasons they are under constant attack by the Kazon, a species divided into several warring factions. They also meet the Vidiians, who harvest live organs from other species to rid their race of a lethal disease called the Phage. Later in the series they meet the Krenim, a race capable of manipulating time, and the Hirogen, a hunting species interesting in only one thing, killing their prey.
Who can forget the Borg and Species 8472? These two species were unrelenting in their attempts to destroy Voyager. The extremely powerful and unpredictable Q, known for his appearances in Star Trek: The Next Generation showed up every once in a while to cause a little bit of mischief.
Reviews and Comments from Fans
Overall Star Trek: Voyager was a popular series with an interesting cast of characters. It had some great episodes, but was sometimes held back by too much action and too little character development. Most of the criticism stemmed from all of the attention given to Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine. Once she became a regular member of the cast, the writers focused solely on her and pretty much ignored most of the other characters.
However, makeup and special effects were as good as ever. And, Voyager did make it home.
