No Star Trek Villain Tops Deep Space Nine’s Most Sinister Enemy

Star Trek has produced many memorable antagonists — the Gorn, the Borg, Khan Noonien Singh and even the mischievous Q — but Deep Space Nine’s Gul Dukat stands apart. He appears in both the series premiere and finale, and turns up in 35 of the show’s 176 episodes, carrying a presence that is at once charismatic, imposing and unpredictable.

Before Deep Space Nine begins, Dukat was Legate and commander of Terok Nor during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. After the Bajoran evacuation he is demoted to Gul and loses control of the station when it is ceded to the Federation and renamed Deep Space Nine, a blow he takes personally and which feeds his obsessive need to transform Sisko’s disdain into respect.

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