Star Trek: Voyager‘s Neelix (Ethan Phillps) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) were very different on the surface but actually had some surprising things in common. Kira served as the Bajoran liaison officer on the Deep Space 9 space station under the command of Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). A Colonel in the Bajoran Militia and a survivor of the brutal Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, Kira’s tough exterior belied her kindness and fierce loyalty to her friends and fellow crew members.
In contrast, Neelix was the USS Voyager’s Talaxian cook and morale officer while the ship was lost in the Delta Quadrant. After volunteering to help guide Voyager through the unfamiliar region of space, Neelix became a valued member of the crew, although he left the ship a few episodes before its return to Earth in Voyager‘s series finale, “Endgame”. Unlike Kira, Neelix was a gregarious character with an over-the-top personality, which meant he was often used as the show’s comedic relief. On the surface, Neelix and Kira’s respective jobs, interests, and personalities didn’t align much with each other.
Voyager’s Neelix Has A Lot In Common With DS9’s Kira
However, Neelix and Kira actually had quite a lot in common because of their similar backstories. Both characters were members of a race who were at one time at war with another, more authoritarian alien race. In Neelix’s case, the Talaxians were at war with a species called the Haakonians, a conflict that mirrored the Bajoran struggle with the Cardassians on a smaller scale. Neelix and Kira were also both associated with resistance movements during their respective conflicts. Although Kira was heavily involved in the Bajoran Resistance and Neelix harbored guilt for largely refusing to fight the Haakonians, both of them played active roles in their wars.
Additionally, the trauma that both Neelix and Kira experienced as part of their past was very similar. Both of them lost family members to the war and both harbored complicated emotions due to their experiences, including anger, guilt, and grief. Although Kira’s experiences in the Bajoran Resistance were a much bigger part of her character, both Voyager and DS9 made Neelix and Kira’s traumatic pasts integral to their respective journeys. When Neelix’s backstory did come into play, it was mostly used to show how his grief and anger over losing his family still affected him.
Why Kira Is A More Popular Character Than Neelix
Despite their similarities, Kira was more popular than Neelix, mainly because DS9 did a better job of establishing and fleshing out her character from the start. Kira began her tenure on DS9 as a strong, compelling character with a backstory that connected heavily to the series’ wider conflict. The Cardassian Occupation of Bajor and their war was also a storyline that the franchise had already had success with. As DS9 progressed, Kira only became more nuanced and acted as an excellent way to explore the Bajoran people and culture as a whole.
In contrast, Voyager often mishandled Neelix’s storylines, including haphazardly introducing his backstory and botching his relationship with Kes (Jennifer Lien) in early seasons. While Neelix found his footing later on and was the subject of some interesting episodes, he was certainly nowhere near as popular as some of Star Trek: Voyager‘s other characters, like Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) or Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). Unlike Kira, Neelix never developed a reputation as one of the franchise’s more compelling characters, and at this point, it’s unlikely that he ever will.
