How many of you didn't even need to think about this one?
I actually did. Would I choose Khan? Would I think of the Borg Queen as the greatest villain that Star Trek ever produced? Well no. I went for another option and chose...Gul Dukat.
UH?
Yes, the evil, swaggering, slimy despot Cardassian overlord from Deep Space Nine is my selection for Greatest Villain. While Khan and the Borg Queen were pretty hardcore, Dukat managed to stick it out for seven whole seasons and then took Sisko with him when it all came to an end. This guy changed allegiance as fast as the wind changed direction as we saw in The Way of the Warrior when he switched loyalty to the Detepa Council. Not to mention his chopping and changing between Cardassia, the Dominion and the Pah-Wraiths either to save his own hide or further his own self-indulgent goals.
Marc Alaimo was superb from Emissary although I never expected him to be there at the end. While I did think about Weyoun as a great villain, he doesn't have a patch on the resourcefulness of Dukat who uses everyone and everything he comes into contact with through the series for his own aims. Even the arrival of an unwanted daughter is twisted to his advantage to try and win round Major Kira.
Dealing him with such a multi-layered and faceted backstory certainly helps and in comparison to those aforementioned super-villains of Star Trek he certainly has a bit edge. He may not be immortal, a genetic superman nor always be in command of the biggest and strongest army but Dukat is so much more than that. Perhaps the greatest brilliance is that at times you actually cared what happened to him and some of the "tragedies" that befell him during the fourth through sixth seasons from losing his place in the Cardassian Empire, losing Terok Nor again to the death of Tora Ziyal, he certainly didn't have it cut and dried easily.
To be fair Gul Dukat should probably get his own post at some point and we can cover all his issues in more details but for now, he's my choice. So, who's the first one to suggest Khan today?!
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