It would almost appear at this point that Jean-Luc Picard has become more of a fixture in Star Trek than any other captain in the history of the show, and it’s easy to see why such a statement might be kind of true. Given his history in Star Trek it’s more than apparent that he’s been through just about anything a character can go through and has survived every bit of it. Of course one could easily argue that Captain Kirk didn’t have to deal with the same situations that Picard had as the series and the movies continued to push forward throughout the years as the special effects continued to get better and better. Plus, while it’s definitely possible to get Captain Kirk’s entire back story at one point or another through the show, the movies, and the literature, Picard’s has been readily available for a good deal of time and has been celebrated more often as his crew has gone to great lengths for him when it comes to his safety and preservation. It could be said that Kirk’s crew had just as much love for him as well, since they were seen to be pretty tight throughout the years. But with Picard, it was almost as though his crew was more like his family than his actual family, who in part disapproved of his entry into Starfleet.
There are likely a few things about Picard that people might not have known about before this video, such as being stabbed through the heart. Star Trek fans are likely up on the information about the captain when it comes to knowing just who he is, what he’s done, and what’s happened to him throughout the course of the history that he’s laid down throughout the course of the show. To say that he’s more iconic than pretty much any other captain is pretty fair since he’s been there long enough and been involved with the show for so many years that trying to think of him not being there is a bit difficult. In fact it almost feels possible to say that unless there’s a plan to retire the character entirely he might very well play Picard until he’s no longer able to do so, as the fact that Patrick Stewart happens to love acting is a big reason why he’s still around. Those that don’t enjoy certain roles won’t often come back to them unless there’s a good reason, such as a big paycheck and more popularity. With this character though it’s very easy to assume that he’ll keep coming back so long as people want to see him, and really, Picard is probably one of the most popular Star Trek characters, ever.
To those of us that aren’t Trekkies Picard is still a well-known character since he’s been plastered just about everywhere he can be when it comes to pop culture considering that Star Trek is a huge franchise. Of course it does help that Stewart hasn’t confined himself solely to the role as he’s been known as many other characters throughout his career as well. But Picard is without any doubt a character that has managed to inspire a great number of people and for some reason has still been seen at times as the kind of person that’s extremely important, but has also been thrust into the background when it’s needed for the story. That’s one thing that never appeared to happen to Kirk, though it’s likely that a Trekkie would claim that this is wrong since at one point or another Kirk had to take a back seat simply because he wasn’t the captain any longer and wasn’t a main character. Even in Star Trek: Generations, Kirk was kind of a clinger no matter that people were highly interested in seeing Picard and Kirk acting together on the same screen. It was a big passing of the torch in a way, or so it felt since Picard had already been well-established, but Kirk was a legend that many people idolized for many years before Picard made his entrance onto the show. The fact that he took over after Generations wasn’t exactly Kirk passing on the responsibility to him, it was a legend finally stepping out and leaving the man that had been firmly placed in the role to do his job.
There have been many captains thus far in the history of Star Trek, but Picard is probably one of the most well-known simply because of Patrick Stewart and his love for the role and for acting in general. Jonathan H. Kantor of CBR made a list to show just where various captains from the show’s long run ended up in terms of being the best. To think that one of these days there might need to be another to take that place and continue such a legend is obvious, but even Trekkies need to admit that no one has really stepped up to the plate just yet.
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