Riker and Troi. Kira and Odo. Worf and Jadzia. Who do you think had the best, most loving and endearing relationship in the Trek franchise? Which relationships made the individual characters better, and which made them worse? See our thoughts below…
12. Kes and Neelix
Kes and Neelix probably have the least chemistry of any relationship. They just didn’t seem like they should go together. Probably the most defining element in their relationship was Neelix’s jealousy, which always came off as incredibly petty. If this was a significant theme in any of the Star Trek relationships, it would’ve made them unwatchable.
It seems even the writers didn’t really care about this couple since their break up scene ended up not even being in an episode. We’re just told that they broke up so Kes can pursue someone else in the same episode, at which point Neelix’s jealously also miraculously disappears. Really it’s too bad the relationship lasted as long as it did because it became one of the main things associated with Kes, who could have otherwise been a better character.
11. T’Pol and Trip
It’s never very clear why Trip and T’Pol like each other, except for physical attraction. However, the main reason for the low ranking is how sad their storyline became. They tried to have a child and it didn’t work out, and then in the very last episode we find out that they broke up. I wasn’t really rooting for them to stay together, but the way it ended was just needlessly depressing.
10. Odo and Kira
To some people this will be the most controversial placement, because this couple had some sweet moments. One thing we put a lot of weight on in making this ranking was what the relationship did to the characters, and for Kira and Odo, we feel it made them much worse.
For more detail, you can check
out our upcoming character analysis of Odo, but in general Odo went from being a justice-obsessed loner with no loyalty to “sides”, to not caring much about doing what was right, because of (1) his desire to return to the Great Link, and (2) his love for Kira. I didn’t think it was sweet at all that he only stayed on DS9 because of Kira. It seemed to mean nothing to him that the crew of DS9 was in peril. Furthermore, it doesn’t make any sense that Kira would like the person Odo became, as she has an acute sense of justice as well.
9. Bashir and Ezri
These two seemed to be a fine enough match for each other, but like every other circumstance surrounding Ezri, it felt strange and pretty dispiriting to see an echo of a character we liked, and one who was in a relationship with another member of DS9, embark on something else so soon after her introduction.
8. Miles and Keiko
On the plus side, Miles and Keiko have a foundational link that makes their relationship believable. Unfortunately most of their screen time is spent bickering. Over and over. Always fighting. It gets pretty tiresome. It’s impressive that Rosalind Chao was able to make Kieko likable even though her character was so annoyingly combative most of the time.
7. Jadzia and Worf
The main thing Worf and Jadzia have going for them is that they’re two of our favorite characters. They also managed to sell their compatibility. The main reason for not being rated higher is that the relationship seemed to frequently bring out the worst in each character. Worf seemed like more of a giant baby and Jadzia became a jerk. There were still some fruitful stories produced from their relationship, but mostly they just argued.
6. Tom and B’Elanna
The placement of this couple really says more about our view on the relationships in Star Trek as a whole than this one in particular. There wasn’t anything we especially liked about these two, but we didn’t find anything too offensive either. It was a relatively interesting ripple to add to the later seasons of the show, and it seemed to be the final acceptance on the writer’s part that Tom Paris was a goofy dad-type and not a rebellious cool guy.
5. Rom and Leeta
This might not technically be a major relationship, but they were fun together, it made sense in a strange way, and the characters’ affection for each other actually felt tangible. There aren’t very many successful relationships in Trek, in our opinion, but this one always proved entertaining. As you’ll see from our other top five choices, we favor quality over quantity.
4. Crusher and Picard
You’re probably confused about how Crusher and Picard could be so high despite them never actually being in a real romantic relationship. The reason is that what they had going was still more interesting than most of the other relationships, not to mention we just like the characters. The handful of scenes that address their relationship (or lack thereof) really worked.
3. Riker and Troi
There wasn’t a whole lot of time spent on the Troi and Riker romantic relationship either, and that might be something in their favor, ’cause by the time they tied the knot in Nemesis we had lost interest. The best thing Troi and Riker had going for them was their history. From the beginning of the show, their past romance added an interesting subtext to the various plots involving the two of them. They also just seem like they should go together. It makes way more sense than Worf and Troi, that’s for sure.
2. Yates and Sisko
For starters, this is one of the few Trek relationships that seemed to have some real chemistry. And unlike most of the romances, Sisko and Yates actually added to the larger story in a pretty direct way. A major part of DS9 was the complicated interplay between political groups, and having Yates secretly helping the Maquis was not just an interesting twist for her relationship with Sisko, but deepened the audience’s understanding of the political strife occurring at the moment. Unlike Odo and Kira, they stayed true to themselves and found a way to make it work, because they loved each other so much.
1. Tuvok and T’Pel
Yeah that’s right, we’re picking Tuvok and T’Pel as number one! It’s not just a statement about how we generally don’t like the relationships in Star Trek, these two really do seem like the only couple that I would aspire to emulate. Despite rarely being featured, their loyalty and mutual respect wasn’t just tangible but actually heartfelt. It didn’t hurt that there was some tragedy mixed in. Of all the characters on Voyager, Tuvok seemed like the one who had the most reason to cross the galaxy and get back home. Whenever Tuvok spoke of T’Pel, or when he admitted that he missed her, even though it was a feeling and uncharacteristic of Vulcans, this seemed to have more emotional resonance than is typical in Star Trek.