Q

Not my favourite trek character, Q was first seen in the NG pilot, Encounter at Farpoint. That said, it is often hypothesised by Trekkies that the character Trelane in the Original series episode "The Squire of Gothos" was also a Q.

Q, played by John de Lancie, is a character in Star Trek who appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, as well as in related products. Peculiarities of the character are his nearly God-like powers, and his continual evasiveness regarding his motivations. His home universe is only accessible on the rare occasions permitted.

Beginning with the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Q became a recurring character, with pronounced comedic and dramatic chemistry between himself and Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Gene Roddenberry chose the letter "Q" in honor of his friend, Janet Quarton. Unusually, the name "Q" also applies to all other individuals of the Q Continuum as well.

Q is a mischievous, threatening, omnipotent being who has taken an interest in humans. Q's power is limited only in that he cannot overcome others in his home universe, the Q Continuum. He can stop death, create life, travel through time, stop time, and create entire worlds effortlessly. He can change a person's mind or make them take any action.

Q's mercurial personality switches between camp joking and deadly threats. While boastful, condescending, and threatening, he arguably has humans' best interests at heart, as seen in the series finale, "All Good Things...", in which he causes Jean-Luc Picard to shift through chronological periods, giving him a chance to save humanity. In his portrayal of Q, John de Lancie used Lady Caroline Lamb's description of Lord Byron as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" as his inspiration.

In his debut, "Encounter at Farpoint", Picard and the Enterprise crew are put on trial for venturing beyond human ability and threatening humans with annihilation. His next appearance was later in the first season in the episode "Hide and Q", where he wanted to have a human enter the Continuum, settling on Picard's first officer, Commander Riker. In later episodes, he becomes more of a trickster. Q evolved into a sympathetic and at times even pitiful character. In "Déjà Q", Q is punished by the Q Continuum by being made mortal; his committing of an uncharacteristically selfless act garners the return of his powers. In the same episode, Q says that Picard is "the closest thing in this universe that I have to a friend." Toward the end of The Next Generation, Q is less antagonistic toward Picard, even, in "Tapestry", apparently saving Picard and helping the captain better understand himself. In the series finale, "All Good Things...", Q gives Picard a "helping hand" in saving humanity.

Picard thinks of Q as an annoyance, and Q often is surprised by Picard and the other humans he encounters. In "Q Who?", when Picard argues that humans are capable of dealing with anything, Q whisks the U.S.S. Enterprise to the system J-25 for what is presumably the first human encounter with the Borg. Picard resorts to asking for Q to save the ship. Surprised, Q brings the Enterprise home and tells Picard that most men would rather have died than ask for help. It is debated whether Q's interference brought the Federation to the Borg's attention, or whether Q provided assistance by exposing Picard to the Borg, which gave the Federation some early warning; however Guinan (whose people, the El-Aurians, were attacked by the Borg) stated that he did not warn the Federation about the Borg, because without Q's interference the Borg would not have encountered the Federation until they had become peaceful (Q also seems very much an enemy of Guinan, for reasons unexplained). Events later shown in the prequel Star Trek: Enterprise suggest the Borg were already on the way when Q introduced them and Picard to each other. Borg brought back through time in "Star Trek: First Contact" and stranded at Earth's North Pole assimilated a vessel and were able to transmit a message to Borg in the Delta Quadrant at the time, though it would take several hundred years for this message to reach its destination. However, it could also be argued that had Q not introduced the Borg to the Federation, the Borg would not have launched the attack on Earth that ended in the past whence they sent the signal.

In Q's appearances on Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he is less concerned with humans and becomes more of a comic relief character. In the DS9 episode "Q-Less", Q at one point goads Commander Benjamin Sisko into a bare-knuckle boxing match, all the while belittling and insulting him. When Sisko loses his temper and knocks Q down, an astonished Q says, "You hit me! Picard never hit me!" Sisko counters frankly that "I'm not Picard." Q responds with a smile, saying "Indeed not...you're much easier to provoke."

Q enjoys goading humans, Klingons, and others to display their savage side. This seems to be just a game for Q, however, and when characters show genuine compassion or restraint, he will usually admit to being impressed.

Later, during the series run of Voyager, Q starts a war among members of the Continuum in a campaign for individual freedom. As the war goes badly for his side, Q comes to the conclusion that the production, or birth, of a new member of the continuum could revitalize the Q. Q first seeks Captain Janeway to be the mother of his child but she refuses and eventually Q reproduces with a female Q he had been involved with.

Their progeny is born conscious and with all the power of any other Q, although lacking adult maturity. Q's son (played by Keegan de Lancie, who is John de Lancie's actual son) causes trouble for the Continuum and Q turns to Captain Janeway for help. Eventually they agree that the boy will remain on Voyager, without his powers, and either learn how to be a responsible, productive inhabitant of the cosmos, or spend eternity as an amoeba.

Eventually the young Q comes around, but the Continuum is not entirely convinced, so in negotiation with Q, they come to an agreement. Q must eternally guard, observe, and accompany the boy to ensure his proper behavior.