[Haseo]

do people here agree that, besides your hate for the show, Anson Mount’s Pike was one of the best performances in star trek since Picard?

[Rellimie]

do people here agree that, besides your hate for the show, Anson Mount’s Pike was one of the best performances in star trek since Picard?

Pike is a solid #3 for me.

[Stormy]

I would be willing to wager $100 to a donut that most of the TNG followers will proclaim Picard as the greatest captain ever and will never budge. Of course, this is all opinion, so that does not mean they're wrong.... just that their opinion does not "make it so."

I have loyally stood by James T. Kirk as my favorite because that's the generation I grew up in. In ranking the captains based on my own preferences (prior to Discovery) I would go Kirk, Archer, Picard, Janeway and Sisko. Again, this is solely opinion as are all rankings on this.

With the addition of Isaacs and Pike on Discovery, however, my list has taken quite a hit. Here now, are my rankings, from worst to best:

7. Sisko (based solely on the fact he was on a station and not commanding a starship).
6. Janeway (She was a pretty good captain, but her hair and voice were less than pleasant).
5. Picard (Too aloof for my taste).
4. Isaacs (OK, he turned out to be a bad guy, but I liked him when he wasn't).
3. Archer (He had flaws, but I did like the character).
2. Kirk (He was the first, and set the standard by which all captains are judged).
1. Pike (Not just anyone can dethrone the mighty Kirk, but he did).

One more thing. Since these rankings are opinion based, any arguments that any of the lists are faulty shows one's lack of understanding of opinions.

[Rellimie]

I would be willing to wager $100 to a donut that most of the TNG followers will proclaim Picard as the greatest captain ever and will never budge. Of course, this is all opinion, so that does not mean they're wrong.... just that their opinion does not "make it so."

I have loyally stood by James T. Kirk as my favorite because that's the generation I grew up in. In ranking the captains based on my own preferences (prior to Discovery) I would go Kirk, Archer, Picard, Janeway and Sisko. Again, this is solely opinion as are all rankings on this.

With the addition of Isaacs and Pike on Discovery, however, my list has taken quite a hit. Here now, are my rankings, from worst to best:

7. Sisko (based solely on the fact he was on a station and not commanding a starship).
6. Janeway (She was a pretty good captain, but her hair and voice were less than pleasant).
5. Picard (Too aloof for my taste).
4. Isaacs (OK, he turned out to be a bad guy, but I liked him when he wasn't).
3. Archer (He had flaws, but I did like the character).
2. Kirk (He was the first, and set the standard by which all captains are judged).
1. Pike (Not just anyone can dethrone the mighty Kirk, but he did).

One more thing. Since these rankings are opinion based, any arguments that any of the lists are faulty shows one's lack of understanding of opinions.

I became a Star Trek fan in the 80's watching re-runs of TOS and the movies. TNG was the first series I was able to watch as a first run.

My rank is as follows:

1. Sisko
2. Picard
3. Pike
4. Sulu
5. Archer
6. Lorca
7. Janeway
8. Kirk

Yes, that's right, I put Kirk last. I find Kirk to be one of the biggest Marty Stu (or Gary Stu) in the history of television.

[Bridger]

For me it is like this:

1. Sisko
2. Picard
3. Kirk
4. Janeway
5. Pike
6. Archer

I enjoyed Pike, he was a good but weak Captain never the less I would like a show with him if he is not infantilized by the people he is commanding.

[Asteropax]

Here are my opinions on Star Trek Captains, ranked highest to lowest.

1.2.3. Kirk, Picard, Pike
4. Archer
5. Janeway
6. Sisko

I find myself juggling Kirk, Picard, and Pike around for the top 3 spots. They are great in their own way and I can't choose 1 without questioning myself later. I thought Archer was a good Captain for his time before the Federation; when Humans were first exploring the stars. Janeway was different but Voyager was my least favorite of the Prime Star Trek Series so I don't care for her as much as the other Captains. Deep Space 9 was an awesome series in my opinion but Sisko had numerous sequences where he took the moral low ground and accepted it as necessary, throwing out the Federation's morals and ideals in the process, which made him my least favorite Captain.

A side note here due to a slightly different perspective I have. Seeing I'm commanding the Ares Roleplay (aka; I'm technically writing a Captain), I found myself paying close attention to this video to see what all I can do in my own writing for my character to make him better. I was actually drafting some character development posts for my character with some inspiration from Pike sequences in Discovery before watching. Hearing these major points on what made Pike a good leader was great to hear as he is actually very similar to what my character aspires to be.

[Morris]

This is how they line up for me:

1) Picard
2) Kirk
3) Sisko
4) Janeway
5) Archer
6) Pike

I genuinely liked Pike as he's portrayed in Discovery, as a human being. He was a very moral, caring, and principled person. Pretty much all of the other captains in this list have A-Type personalities...meaning, they are take charge, decisive people...what you'd expect from a captain in any organization. Pike comes off as a bureaucrat. Burnham and Number One are the alphas. I would expect any command level officer to have an alpha type of personality. I even think that it should be a prerequisite! Archer was borderline, and Pike has his moments, but most of the time, PIke's trying to corral the stronger personalities under his command...or more often than not, succumbing to them! That's not captain material, IMHO.

Pike, as he was portrayed in TOS, and the JJ-Trek movies, was believable as a captain, and an admiral. He was clearly in charge. Disco-Pike doesn't convey that same level of competence...at least not in my opinion. He's a good person, but he's not someone who should be in a command position. At moments, Discovery portrays him with the confident swagger that's expected of a Starfleet captain, but when he's challenged, as long as it doesn't compromise his morals, he gets soft. I get it...Discovery is Burnham-centric at its core, and the writers don't want anyone else stealing the spotlight from her, but the way that they portrayed Pike didn't do him justice as a Starfleet captain.

I imagine that my opinion of Pike would improve if he got his own show. He wouldn't be competing with the star of another show for the spotlight. The writers could go Full Captain on him, presenting him as a Starfleet captain should be presented. I like Anson Mount as Captain Pike. He really looks the part! I just wish that the writing was better. With better writing, I believe that Disco-Pike could be near the top of my list.

[oliverbloke]

Here's mine:

1. Picard
2. Janeway
3. Pike (Disco and Kelvin)
4. Kirk (Prime)
5. Sulu
6. Kirk (Kelvin)
7. Georgiou (Prime)
8. Archer
9. Sisko

EDIT: Literally forgot Sisko launched torpedoes at a planet.

[Mack]

1. Sisko
2. Picard
3. Kirk & Archer
4. Pike & Janeway
5. Lorca

[LogicalLeopard]

I would be willing to wager $100 to a donut that most of the TNG followers will proclaim Picard as the greatest captain ever and will never budge. Of course, this is all opinion, so that does not mean they're wrong.... just that their opinion does not "make it so."

I have loyally stood by James T. Kirk as my favorite because that's the generation I grew up in. In ranking the captains based on my own preferences (prior to Discovery) I would go Kirk, Archer, Picard, Janeway and Sisko. Again, this is solely opinion as are all rankings on this.

With the addition of Isaacs and Pike on Discovery, however, my list has taken quite a hit. Here now, are my rankings, from worst to best:

7. Sisko (based solely on the fact he was on a station and not commanding a starship).
6. Janeway (She was a pretty good captain, but her hair and voice were less than pleasant).
5. Picard (Too aloof for my taste).
4. Isaacs (OK, he turned out to be a bad guy, but I liked him when he wasn't).
3. Archer (He had flaws, but I did like the character).
2. Kirk (He was the first, and set the standard by which all captains are judged).
1. Pike (Not just anyone can dethrone the mighty Kirk, but he did).

One more thing. Since these rankings are opinion based, any arguments that any of the lists are faulty shows one's lack of understanding of opinions.

Your list is faulty! *LOL* I think you need to consider Sisko's actual time behind the chair, because his time on the Defiant, and coordinating the Dominion War fleet actions is significant.

[guintiger]

Here's my list of fav captains just based on my level of enjoyment watching them in their respective shows:

1. Kirk
2. Picard
3. Pike
4. Archer
5. Janeway
6. Sisko

Here's an interesting question for everyone to consider here - let's get more specific! Rather than listing your favorite captains, list in order the captains you'd like to serve under! For me, that skews my list wildly. My "serve under" list is:

1. Picard (least likely to get me killed)
2. Pike (just seems like an all around awesome guy)
3. Janeway (yes, I agree that her hair and voice are super-distracting, but I always got the sense that she genuinely cared about her crew and listened to what they had to say)
4. Sisko (just really got the feeling he's a guy you'd learn a LOT serving under)
5. Kirk (seriously - don't kill me...but let's face it, his track record with red shirts is NOT good)
6. Archer (always seemed a bit scatterbrained unless you were in his core group of space buddies)

[WelshAvenger]

Your list is faulty! *LOL* I think you need to consider Sisko's actual time behind the chair, because his time on the Defiant, and coordinating the Dominion War fleet actions is significant.

Not if you factor in the amount of ships a captain loses under his command. Then Sisko, Kirk and Picard all come out bad. Then Janeway and Pike come out on top. I can't remember if Archer ever lost a ship or if it went in for refitting.

[Mack]

Not if you factor in the amount of ships a captain loses under his command. Then Sisko, Kirk and Picard all come out bad. Then Janeway and Pike come out on top. I can't remember if Archer ever lost a ship or if it went in for refitting.

Strategic is more than "behind the chair". In case of Sisko, he literally made several strategic plans during the war. Heck, he was so good at it, that the Defiant Command was also handed over to Jadzia so that he help with the strategic planning.

Personally, I don't even think loosing a ship has anything to do with being "coming out bad". It's how they moved forward from that. It's also their set backs which drove them to become great characters and Captains compared to rest.

[LogicalLeopard]

Not if you factor in the amount of ships a captain loses under his command. Then Sisko, Kirk and Picard all come out bad. Then Janeway and Pike come out on top. I can't remember if Archer ever lost a ship or if it went in for refitting.

Are you counting the Defiants or ALL the ships under Siskos command? LOL! If do, Disko looks really bad because he lost 100+ ships. But I think that can be excused considering it was total war. Picard's Enterprise was lost under world saving circumstances, so he gets a pass. Kirk, though, he committed Grand Theft Starship twice, and blew up the Enterprise while it was stolen, so.....

- - - Updated - - -

Strategic is more than "behind the chair". In case of Sisko, he literally made several strategic plans during the war. Heck, he was so good at it, that the Defiant Command was also handed over to Jadzia so that he help with the strategic planning.

Personally, I don't even think loosing a ship has anything to do with being "coming out bad". It's how they moved forward from that. It's also their set backs which drove them to become great characters and Captains compared to rest.

Agreed!

- - - Updated - - -

Here's my list of fav captains just based on my level of enjoyment watching them in their respective shows:

1. Kirk
2. Picard
3. Pike
4. Archer
5. Janeway
6. Sisko

Here's an interesting question for everyone to consider here - let's get more specific! Rather than listing your favorite captains, list in order the captains you'd like to serve under! For me, that skews my list wildly. My "serve under" list is:

1. Picard (least likely to get me killed)
2. Pike (just seems like an all around awesome guy)
3. Janeway (yes, I agree that her hair and voice are super-distracting, but I always got the sense that she genuinely cared about her crew and listened to what they had to say)
4. Sisko (just really got the feeling he's a guy you'd learn a LOT serving under)
5. Kirk (seriously - don't kill me...but let's face it, his track record with red shirts is NOT good)
6. Archer (always seemed a bit scatterbrained unless you were in his core group of space buddies)

My list goes

1. Pike - Great leader, places, trust in people, WILL come save you. If you die, he is going to take it hard and take it personal.

2. Janeway- Mama Janeway will get you home, and even if you disagree with her decisions, you know she's making moral ones. She'll also invest in you as a person.

3. Archer - Eh, might not get you killed. Seems nice.

4. Picard - Will probably not get you killed, but no interaction or interpersonal skills, unless you're a senior officer. The positive is you'll never see him.

5. Sisko - I rank him low because I don't like bosses that yell. I'd tell Sisko not to yell, and that he can talk to me like a grown man. And then he'd yell more and I'd get demoted. Probably wouldn't die, though.

6. Kirk - Yes, he might remember your name, and shoot you the finger guns in the corridor, but he's definitely going to kill you if he ever needs you for an away team mission. And he'll mark "2 Cool 2 Be 4 Gotten" by your entry in the ships log, hit his heart with his fist, point up at the sky, and then move happily to the next planet. Don't get ion pod duty, his finger might slip.