Star Trek: Voyager was Captain Kathryn Janeway’s (Kate Mulgrew) show, but sometimes she needed to hand the reins of her ship over to someone else. As the first female Captain to lead a Star Trek series, Janeway broke ground in the franchise and is still considered one of Star Trek‘s most influential characters today. Janeway’s mission to get her crew home after they became stranded in the Delta Quadrant was a difficult one, but she carried it out spectacularly and proved herself an excellent Captain with fierce loyalty and protectiveness over her crew.
However, on occasion, Janeway was unable to captain the USS Voyager or had the ship taken from her by force. This was something that happened to nearly all the Star Trek Captains at some point, but having to appoint someone else as Acting Captain is never an easy decision, and a Captain having their ship taken is always a dramatic moment in any given episode. More often than not, the reason someone else captained Voyager was because Janeway was incapacitated, but on occasion, she did hand the job over to someone voluntarily.
6 Chakotay In Multiple Episodes
As Janeway’s First Officer, it’s no surprise that Chakotay (Robert Beltran) had to take over as Acting Captain in multiple Voyager episodes. Chakotay was the ship’s second-in-command and as such the most logical choice to act as Captain when Janeway was unable to. Overall, he took over running the ship in at least 11 episodes across all seven seasons. This was usually for only short periods of time while Janeway was injured or away on a mission. However, his command was sometimes under more memorable circumstances, such as when a brainwashed Chakotay spearheaded a Maquis rebellion in season 7, episode 4, “Repression.”
5 Tuvok In Resolutions
Given that Tuvok (Tim Russ) was next in the command chain after Chakotay, it may be surprising that he didn’t get to captain Voyager more often. However, In season 2, episode 25, “Resolutions,” both Janeway and Chakotay had to be left behind on a planet after contracting a deadly disease, putting Tuvok in what he and the crew thought would be permanent command of the ship. Luckily, a cure was found for the disease, allowing Janeway and Chakotay to return to Voyager. Tuvok was in command of the ship for at least a month before he returned to rescue Janeway and Chakotay from their isolation.
4 Maje Culluh In Basics Parts I & II
Maje Culluh (Anthony De Longis) was one of the few aliens who was able to take Voyager from Captain Janeway. He had help from a former Voyager crew member, Seska (Martha Hackett) who betrayed the ship to the Kazon and then joined them a season earlier. In the season 2 finale and season 3, episode 1, “Basics Parts I and II,” Culluh stole the ship and marooned Janeway and the crew on an alien planet. Luckily, with help from the Doctor (Robert Picardo) and Lon Suder (Brad Dourif), Voyager’s crew was able to take back the ship from the Kazon and defeat Culluh and Seska once and for all.
3 Karr In The Killing Game Parts I & II
Another alien who managed to take Voyager away from Janeway was Karr, the Hirogen Alpha who captured the ship in season 4, episodes 18 and 19, “The Killing Game Parts I and II.” The Hirogen used Voyager’s holodeck in order to hunt and kill the mind-wiped crew repeatedly in a variety of simulations. The remaining crew left with their memories, including the Doctor and Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) were forced to sabotage the ship against the Hirogen in order to get their fellows freed. Although they were eventually successful, Karr was in control of Voyager for some time before the ship was returned to its rightful Captain.
2 Seven Of Nine In One
Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) was in command of Voyager on one memorable occasion. During season 4, episode 25, “One,” the rest of the crew including Janeway had to be put into stasis for over a month while they flew through a nebula with dangerous radiation. Seven and the Doctor technically shared command during this time, but when the nebula’s radiation disrupted the Doctor’s program, Seven was forced to take over and get the crew safely through the remainder of their journey. Aside from “One,” the season 5 episode “Bliss” saw Seven forced to operate the ship briefly when the crew was again incapacitated, this time by a telepathic lifeform.
1 The Doctor In Multiple Episodes
Although an unlikely person to take on control of Voyager, the Doctor ended up being an important part of the ship’s command structure. After creating the Emergency Command Hologram program, the Doctor was able to be Acting Captain in the event of a disaster where the entire crew was gone or incapacitated. The program came in handy during Star Trek: Voyager‘s season 7, episodes 16 and 17, “Workforce Parts 1 and 2,” when the crew was abducted and brainwashed to believe they were workers on an alien planet. The Doctor took over running the ship until Chakotay was able to return and set up a rescue mission for the crew.
