Spock and his Luciferan lewks hit the airwaves in the late 1960s, it was a revolution for people attracted to “different” looking people. (On what other television show did you ever see a man who was truly happy when his best friend, an ex-lover, was having great sex with another man? Only on TNG!) To this day, the warm, bearded smile of the Enterprise-D’s first officer is a champion of memes and reaction GIFs.īut when Mr. Yes, Riker was known for wooing women all across the galaxy, even while maintaining an emotionally mature post-physical relationship with his imzadi, Counselor Troi. This one is a little tougher to pin down. What’s more, there’s that handy little move known as the Vulcan nerve pinch that’ll take down just about anyone in a few seconds.Ĭharm Riker wears the traditional male garb of Angel I in “Angel One” Image: CBS There’s the green blood, the inner eyelid, the ability to thrive in high heat and low oxygen environments, and, key to this discussion, tremendous physical strength. Vulcans - even half-Vulcans - have a different physical makeup than humans. So to look at them you’d think Riker could knock him out cold. He’s thin, and even stoop-shouldered at time. Spock, while handsome in his own way, is far from a muscular hunk. He’s the sequel series’ man of action (and that action isn’t just with his phaser on an away mission.) Mr. In essence, Riker has many of the qualities of the O.G. Picard, while certainly a badass when he needs to be, was intentionally created to be a more cerebral response to Kirk.
Gene Roddenberry and his team of writers and producers pulled a reversal while dreaming up The Next Generation.
Strength Spock delivers a Vulcan neck pinch in “And the Children Shall Lead” Image: CBS Spock and Riker function as equals and, if they ever were to be on opposing sides, one must wonder: who would win? Let’s break the competition down by category.
(Much has been written about Star Trek’s groundbreaking neurodivergent representation, even if some of the creators claim to have been unaware that that was what they were doing.)Įven though Starfleet is not a military organization it does follow a chain of command. Both characters were immediate fan favorites (and remain so) and the formula was repeated again in later series, with Odo on Deep Space Nine and Seven of Nine on Voyager.
COMMANDER RIKER ANDROID
Spock, of course, is the half-Vulcan, tamping down his emotions in favor of cold logic, and Data is an android of such superior (though never quite explained) design that even the sniveling Commander Maddox agrees he is sentient. Story-wise, they serve a similar function: They are the geniuses that are clutch to the ship’s survival, but forever on the periphery. Typically, when talk left the center seat, the next point of comparison was between The Original Series’ Spock and The Next Generation’s Lieutenant Commander Data. Indeed, for those of us old enough to remember, it felt like the primary topic of conversation on the early internet, as evidenced by The Simpsons’ first ever reference to the World Wide Web. Until now.Įver since Jean-Luc Picard took the helm of the Enterprise-D and set out for Farpoint Station (it was Stardate 41153.7, but late September 1987 to us on Earth) people have agonized over whether he was a “better” captain than James T. But for some reason, rarely does anyone think to compare Mr. Enterprise - separated by time, but not by duty. They were both first officers of the U.S.S.
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