Star Trek: Picard: Who's Who Among the Returning Star Trek Players

Set 20 years after he last boldly went where no one had gone before, Star Trek: Picard not only brings Patrick Stewart back to the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, he's joined some equally beloved characters from the Star Trek universe, specifically The Next Generation and Voyager. While producers have revealed precious little about the series ahead of its premiere this Thursday, we can't understate how excited we are to see the band getting back together, even if it’s not the whole group. Let’s do a roll call of familiar faces…

Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart)

One of the most iconic Star Trek captains of all-time, Picard was the face of Star Trek throughout the '90s. In many ways the opposite of William Shatner's Captain Kirk, Picard was a serious man who enjoyed the arts as well as a good holodeck noir mystery. He was like a Shakespeare character as space captain. He loved a good rousing speech, was known to fence with Guinan, take time for serious talks with Counselor Troi, and had an incredibly complicated relationship with omnipotent superbeing Q. Picard was a man of honor and very little bullshit. But he also had close ties to the Borg ever since they turned him into Locutus in Season 3 of Star Trek: TNG. The Borg caused him unimaginable trauma that he held onto ever since, so it will be interesting to see him interacting with Seven of Nine…

Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan)

A former Borg drone who begrudgingly joined Starfleet and the cast of Star Trek: Voyager in Season 4, Seven of Nine was the Spock to Captain Janeway’s Kirk. She was introduced late in the series, but quickly became one of the most iconic Star Trek characters of the modern era. As far as we know, she is Picard's only confirmed non-Star Trek: TNG cast member. Her Borg collective formed an alliance with Janeway and crew during a war with Species 8472 and sent her to work with the Voyager crew. Her comrades were all killed in the process and she remained on board, trying to find a way back to the Borg. She had no desire to be human again or stay with the Voyager crew, but she did after Janeway severed Seven of Nine’s connection to the Borg collective. She slowly learned to be human again after The Doctor (Voyager’s holographic doctor) was able to disconnect most of her mechanical Borg parts, making her appear far more human. She was one of the few Borg who was able to retain her memories from her former human life. She also wore a stellar catsuit, and her performance bordered on the best kind of high camp. Hopefully we get to see her eat like a Klingon again!

William Riker (Jonathan Frakes)

Picard's former first officer on the Enterprise, he was last seen married to Deanna Troi, and they appear to still be happily together in one of the Picard trailers. Riker started out as arrogant and hot-headed, but he eventually became a confident yet reserved second in command. He served on numerous different ships and is not the only character on this list to have an evil twin. In his final appearance, he accepted a promotion to Captain of the USS Titan and said farewell to Picard and the Enterprise crew. Also, the man has a killer beard game and is quite the smooth talker.

Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis)

Icon to Trek-loving gays, Counselor Lt. Commander Deanna Troi is back! She was formerly Picard’s counselor, and was last seen married to Will Riker. She’s also half Betazoid, an alien race with telepathic abilities. She’s like an X-Men character in a Starfleet uniform with a plunging neckline. She was a character who developed over time, eventually getting her own Starfleet uniform to show her promotion in rank on the Enterprise. She was also a close confidant to Captain Picard while serving on the Enterprise.

Data (Brent Spiner)

Picard’s faithful android second officer from the Enterprise. He was last seen…well…dead, in Star Trek: Nemesis. He was the great success of his creator, Dr. Noonian Soong. He also has an evil twin brother named Lore. Data always strived to be more human, adopting his cat Spot, partaking in romantic relationships, and even singing at Riker and Troi’s wedding. He eventually had an emotion chip installed to make him more human. In the final TNG film, Data sacrificed himself to save the crew. But his memories were conveniently installed into his not-as-great android brother, B-4 (what a name). A Data/B-4 hybrid will presumably be appearing in the series.

Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco)

Don’t remember him? That’s because he was only in two (yes two) Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes. A former Borg drone who learned from the crew of the Enterprise that resistance wasn’t futile, in his first appearance, Riker, Worf and Dr. Crusher find Hugh semi-lifeless while on an away mission. All of the Borg with him were dead, and much to the chagrin of everyone else, Dr. Crusher decided they needed to help Hugh for humanitarian reasons. He, of course, was not named Hugh, but was eventually given the name by Geordi La Forge. Hugh caused a huge moral dilemma onboard the Enterprise as Captain Picard wanted to unknowingly send him back to the Borg with a virus that would destroy them. But then many crew members got to know him. The entire crew slowly helped change him as he helped changed them. Hugh learned about humanity through the crew, and the crew learned there was nuance to even the Borg. Hugh chose to go back with his Borg collective because he did not want the Borg coming to attack his newfound friends on the Enterprise. A full season later, Hugh was reunited with the TNG gang and helped save them from Lore, who had taken control of the Borg from his ship and captured La Forge, Troi, and Picard. It will be interesting to see him with Seven of Nine together in the same series, as they’re the only two members of the Borg, aside from the Borg Queen, who we've seen as fleshed out characters.

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Ian Carlos Crawford is a freelance writer, host of the podcast Slayerfest 98, and someone with way too many feelings. Follow him on Twitter at @ianxcarlos.