Top Star Trek villains

When the new Star Trek movie hit screens all over America and the world, the Trek community was introduced to a new villain, Nero.

Nero will have some big shoes to occupy. The series is filled with notable bad guys — some scary, some sorta scary, a few just plain dumb.

Here are just a few we deemed worthy of special mention from the first 10 Star Trek films:

Khan (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan): Has a film every paired a bigger pair of hams than William Shatner and the late, great Ricardo Montalban? Exiled to a remote planet by Kirk, Khan waxes poetic as he seeks revenge over his captor. Not only is Khan one of the great Trek villains, but the character is one of the best in sci-fi lore. Obits of Montalban suggested he would be remembered as the guy in the white suit on Fantasy Island. Not so.

The Borg Queen (Star Trek: First Contact): Scary dudes, the Borg, with one mission — to assimilate all that comes their way. Their Queen lures Data over to the Borg side but meets her match in Picard. Some (including Picard actor Patrick Stewart) have suggested that the Queen was kinda sexy. Whatever turns  your crank, Jean Luc.

General Chang (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country): Christopher Plummer plots the demise of the Federation and quotes Shakespeare in the heat of battle. A little culture with your kitsch, for sure, but Plummer plays it for all it’s worth — and then some.

The Klingons: Staples of both the movies and TV series. Interstellar warriors and overall bad news. Not always the sharpest tacks in the box, they nevertheless are ready to rumble 24/7. Name your quadrant, and they’ll be there.

Soran (Star Trek Generations): Not so much a great part, but few do the bad guy more convincingly than Malcolm McDowell. Soran runs around blowing up solar systems in a quest for an elusive paradise. He gets bonus points for having to take on both Kirk and Picard in the same film.

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