Who's the better starship captain?

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23 Comments

  • James - 10 years ago

    I am not the biggest Star Trek fan, but I would like to give my input with no bias. I don't have a preference in the way that I chose one series over another. With all of this in mind, I consider who is the better captain. It is obviously clear who I would choose. In any given situation from any episode, I would blindly follow Picard. To me, Kirk is a reckless showboat. A great leader, absolutely, I am not denying that. Kirk deserves praise as a captain, but best is just a little out of reach in my opinion.

  • Nelson G Peralta - 11 years ago

    Captain Picard was a wise leader. Clearly the better captain. Kirk was like a dumb teenage boy.

  • Josh B - 12 years ago

    How about this: Riker could take them both. He has the balls of Kirk, the courage of Picard and much better communication skill.

  • EdRowland - 14 years ago

    Let's just go over the scoring again here. This is a GeekDad poll. And Geeks, by definition, run against the tide. Which means that whoever gets the LEAST votes, wins. Kirk, by a landslide.

    Kirk wins because of what he stands for: a hopelessly naive optimism about the future of the human race. Not religion. Not capitalist greed. Militarism? Not for us. Not even superior alien races that herd us all into cattle space-ships, and ship us off to Alpha Centurai to make human hamburgers. Humanism. A liberal spirit and the irresistable force of human reason triumphs over all of these things.

    Picard? Oh, sure he could act. But by the time Picard shows up, all of the really heavy lifting has already been done.

  • John - 14 years ago

    Let me put this bluntly. Who would you rather want as president for russia:
    1) Weak president that bends over backwards for the UN
    2) Strong president that upholds russian/soviet ideals and is defiant versus the world community

    Obviously, you'd want a weak president that listens to the UN, to the world, so that russia doesn't go berserk with its military and turn against us. It's odd that we want strong leaders for our country, but not for other countries. We always like the weak leaders, the one's that want to change other countries. The other countries are just like us... they want strong leaders that will represent them and not bend over for the world community.

  • John - 14 years ago

    KennyP:

    "This is an easy one,

    James T. Kirk is the best man, Picard is nothing more than a politician, it has little to do with the actor, but what or whom they represent.

    Kirk represents the man in all of us, Strong, bold, courageous tough yet still needs a womans touch ocassionally (O.K. every episode).
    Picard would have been a Affirmative action Homosexual placed into position (no pun) above Kirk by an Admiral that didn't like Kirk and knew of his disdain toward feminine men.
    If you look through history, the successful ones are like Kirk, straight forward, says what they mean, a man to be feared mentally and militarily. Where-as now-a-days Picard would be like our current president, considered weak, elusive and willing to sacrifice his principles for marginal success.
    Kirk = total victory."

    I have to agree with you, but....

    Our current president IS president. The vast majority of the world voted for him because they thought he was contemplative and respectful of other cultures. The kind of qualities we see in Picard. And his promise of change.

    One thing I can say for certain is that Kirk would be more in your face with world leaders. He did not trust Star Fleet. Our Star Fleet is the UN. To be honest, I wouldn't trust a Kirk as president. Picard would get everyone around the table and considered Star Fleet very seriously. It was true negotation and thoughtfulness. If he went against their wishes, he did it with deep regret and duty. He didn't do it simply because it was Star Fleet.

  • Susan - 15 years ago

    As a woman, I find Picard much more appealing as a human being and a man; Picard is thoughtful and sensitive and drinks Earl Grey; Kirk carries out juvenile male fantasies of bravado and conquest and probably drinks beer. But if we compare First Officers, Spock wins hands and fingers down. Riker is a better director than actor.

  • KennyP - 15 years ago

    This is an easy one,

    James T. Kirk is the best man, Picard is nothing more than a politician, it has little to do with the actor, but what or whom they represent.

    Kirk represents the man in all of us, Strong, bold, courageous tough yet still needs a womans touch ocassionally (O.K. every episode).
    Picard would have been a Affirmative action Homosexual placed into position (no pun) above Kirk by an Admiral that didn't like Kirk and knew of his disdain toward feminine men.
    If you look through history, the successful ones are like Kirk, straight forward, says what they mean, a man to be feared mentally and militarily. Where-as now-a-days Picard would be like our current president, considered weak, elusive and willing to sacrifice his principles for marginal success.
    Kirk = total victory.

  • Frank Anderson - 15 years ago

    Kirk would have bent Picard over and showed him the true meaning of "live long and prosper!"

  • aydin - 15 years ago

    picard is an engineer/scientific minded person. he would have succeed if he was literally space ship capatain.
    kirk is a macho, high self-esteem person. he would be get killed or slaved in a cave, if it was for real.

  • Shannon Brown - 15 years ago

    Kirk had moments of hamminess but also moments of glory; his dynamic range was greater than Picard's, in my opinion. Same with the episodes of their respective shows: TNG may have been more consistent, but they never had anything like "City on the Edge of Forever." I'd rather serve under Picard for the consistency and sagacity of his decisions, but I think I'd rather BE Kirk.

  • Mickiet - 15 years ago

    There is a good point made - a captain is only as good as his crew. I think that Kirk commanded the tighter crew with the exception of the Ensign Johnsons (red jacket) and even they gave their lives to protect their captain and crew. Kirk's crew never backed down or refused an order, trusting that their captain would ultimately win out. Picard's crew never wimped out, but they did get conflicted and there was that whole - the captain has lost his mind - Borg period.

  • Ian - 15 years ago

    This is the absolutely worst comparison of captains ever. It's so obviously biased towards Picard, who despite his so called good, Shakespearean acting, is about as devoid of heart and soul as kirk is of standard, good acting.

    TNG was what I grew up with, but after I discovered the original series, it was like a eating a mango after a stale piece of bread. nothing beats original series. in combat, starship or otherwise, kirk would totally win. heck, kirk's crewmen are way better than picard and his crew put together. kirk. hands down.

  • Mike - 15 years ago

    Here it is in a nutshell: Kirk would win in hand to hand combat with Picard, Picard would win in ship to ship combat with Kirk (equal ships, Not 1701-D or 1701-E against 1701 or 1701-A), but think of it this way, who would have been more successful in the others' era? Picard wins.

  • JerryS - 15 years ago

    Kirk = W
    Picard = O

  • Ken - 15 years ago

    Being in my 50's, I grew up with Kirk, Spock, and "Bones." However, it was Spock that kept me watching and caused me to join the letter-writing campaign that extended the original series. I always felt that if it weren't for Spock's subtle "nudges" to Kirk - "Analysis suggests his tactical thinking is TWO DIMENSIONAL" - Kirk would have his head handed to him on a platter many times.

  • Daniel Whittemore - 15 years ago

    Both captains were truly great. Each provided Star Fleet with exactly what they needed in his respective era. But lets face it, in a fair fight Kirk would have kicked the shit out of Picard and his entire staff, with the possible exception of Data. Kirk's the best, hands down.

  • Phillip Davis - 15 years ago

    However, each of them were a product of their respective times. Since Kirk had to lead his crew into the unknown, so he had no time for much discussion on how to proceed in a situation from members of the crew. Since he and his officers were likely to have the pertinent information, the crew needed to get in line and follow orders. Picard on the other hand, is navigating the political landscape of what Kirk and others before him have discovered, so he has to think first before acting, and gain as much insight into a situation as possible before making a decision that could put lives in jeopardy, even if it means getting his barber's point of view. I would say if it was situational, I would rather have Kirk kicking ass and taking names if we were under attack, and Picard in my corner if I needed to figure out just what the damn Romulans were up to before unleashing the pain. Just my 2 cents!

  • Bob Rogers - 15 years ago

    personally, i'm not sure a strait comparison is really possible. i think it best to compare each to era they represented. in this case kirk is the obvious winner. kirk's enterprise, under his leadership, broke more ground for righteousness, independent freedoms, and minority awareness, among many other things. picard's enterprise only took all the themes set by kirk's enterprise and repackaged them with a bit more sophistication.

    live long and prosper everyone!

  • Chris Earley - 15 years ago

    Ignoring all the silly catagories that really have nothing to do with leadership or military command, Picard is clearly better suited as a Star Ship Captain. Kirk might have made a fine first officer but his continuous habit of placing himself in harms way (there is a reason commander's seldom stand on the front line), and his inability to listen to the very experts Star Fleet gave him are two shining reasons why Picard was better suited for command. True, Kirk is more entertaining but the question was "Whos the better commander?", not "Who's the better character?" Being 51 I grew up with Kirk, Spock & Bones and would never trade them for anyone else, but being a 20 year military man I would choose Picard over Kirk as my commander.

  • Mr. Fanboy - 15 years ago

    Not to mention the "Which captain has surrendered more often?" question. Picard wins that hands down...

  • Mr. Fanboy - 15 years ago

    This is a ridiculously arbitrary poll, and my suspicion is people are voting for whichever actor they grew up with.

    Also, the categories are clearly lacking.

    Where is the "Most alien women bedded?" or "most omnipotent computers short-cicuited thru human logic?" and "most able to beat a Vulcan at chess?"

    Captain Kirk is clearly the mold from which Picard & Riker were cast. They were supposed to be two halfs of Kirk's whole in the original character thumnail bios.

    Kirk rules, and Stewart is by far the better Shakespearean actor. But despite Nick Meyer's attempts, Star Trek is not Shakespeare.

    Why do you think the entire Federation adopted the Enterprise insignia (the "delta shield" to JJ,K+O fanboys) after the 5 year mission? It's because Kirk rules the Federation! He is THE archytype for all starship captains.

  • Erkum Pol - 15 years ago

    Kirk is a better "star ship" captain while Picard is a better officer and more likely to be an Admiral

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