Star Trek: Enterprise's Main Characters, Ranked From Worst To Best

Though "Star Trek: Enterprise" is far from the top on Looper's ranking of "Star Trek" series, the 2001 prequel show's character game is largely on point. None of the show's main players rank among the most annoying "Star Trek" characters, and there are no annoyances comparable to "Star Trek: Voyager's" Neelix (Ethan Phillips) in sight. This wealth of great characters makes the best episodes of "Star Trek: Enterprise" doubly more entertaining, and the show's focus on its primary characters is a notable part of things only adults notice on "Enterprise."

In the grand scheme of "Star Trek" things, "Enterprise" doesn't always get its just desserts. Still, its major characters absolutely deserve a tip of the hat, which we will now give by ranking them. After all, while there are no true weak links among the show's main characters, the usual rules for any series apply: There are some characters who are simply better and more likable than others. Let's take a look at the seven wonderful "Star Trek: Enterprise" main characters, and determine once and for all which one of them reigns supreme.

Sometimes, it falls on the most offbeat figure of a show to end up in last place. Still, don't take this to mean that Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley) is a bad character.

The affable Denobulan is easily the most colorful character among the "Enterprise" main players. He whips out new aspects of his alien biology as the plot requires, from serious abilities that are basically superpowers (the ability to resist Borg conversion) to things that border on wacky hijinks (striped toenails, an inflatable head, and that smile). The intricacies of his culture and the fact that he's decidedly not a Starfleet member mean that he may very well be the single most eccentric doctor in the franchise. More often than not, he's liable to whip out an exotic alien creature that just happens to have the exact healing property that the situation requires.

Phlox's Denobulan sensibilities and chill attitude toward life make for a fascinating character. On the other hand, his relaxed nature and extremely open-minded queries about things like mating habits often make him stand out like a sore thumb among the more subdued main characters. Every "Star Trek" show seems contractually required to have at least one major alien weirdo. While Phlox is a far more nuanced character than many, the "quirky alien" archetype doesn't really hit on this show as it does on other "Star Trek" ones. Fortunately, Dr. Phlox had more adventures after "Enterprise," allowing the franchise to further explore his story in novels and comics.

Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) offers an interesting viewpoint on the subject of "Star Trek" space travel. As a comparatively young character who grew up on space ships, he has a wealth of knowledge about both piloting space vessels and living as a space traveler. Despite the fact that this gives him every possible tool to serve as an insufferable smart aleck trope should he so desire, he's a perfectly likable guy who can always be trusted to pull off the sort of pilot stunts few others would even dare to attempt.

Travis' sole problem isn't the character's own fault. Out of all "Star Trek: Enterprise" main characters, he's the one who gets the least development, which means that he habitually comes across as a comparatively naive, one-note guy with very little presence. While he has plenty of potential, the way the show tends to waste him unfortunately locks Travis from competing for higher spots on the list.

Armory Officer Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating) is usually a very muted, even shy person who's satisfied with his lot in life. However, give him some new weapon technology to tinker with or a rescue mission to lead, and he's suddenly the most efficient guy in existence.

This combination of awkwardness, stoic silence, and heroic moments already has the makings of a fun character, but Reed's numerous character tics serve to further deepen him. From the way he deals with his favorite food — pineapple, which he's allergic to — to his secret Section 31 past and the fear of water that prevented him from following his family's footsteps in the Navy, odd but endearing Reed moments undercut his "strong but silent" portrayal just enough to make him even more compelling. The pineapple thing, in particular, is such a neat little trait that the "Star Trek: Lower Decks" Season 1 episode "Much Ado About Boimler" used it as a cool reference.

While he's a perfectly serviceable and even interesting character in his own right, Reed's problem in a ranking like this is his stoic nature. As someone who's comfortable existing in the background and following the chain of command, he's all too liable to be sidelined by characters who are either more bombastic or otherwise actively interesting. But hey, that's the way his character was built — and Reed isn't one to complain if he doesn't get to dine at the captain's table.

A walking reminder that "Star Trek: Enterprise" is a prequel with less advanced technology than the rest of the series, Hoshi Sato (Linda Park) is in it for linguistics. She's not really into the whole adventure part of the "boldly going where no one has gone before" equation. She doesn't particularly like space and is claustrophobic. Based on her early service record alone, she's not even a very good Starfleet ensign. What she is, however, is an absolutely amazing linguist who's specifically brought in because this early Enterprise crew doesn't have access to a Universal Translator device quite yet.

Sato's unconventional Starfleet history makes her a peculiar choice for the ship's communications officer, but to say that she fills the job well is an understatement. Sato's kind and sensitive nature makes her a crucial part of the Enterprise crew's interpersonal dynamics, even if her prominence as a character does fluctuate pretty wildly. Though not to the same extent as Travis Mayweather, Sato suffers from a certain lack of character development that keeps her out of the top three here. However, even though the show tends to sideline her linguistics work in favor of more cinematic plot developments, her legacy is one of the most important out of anyone in the crew: She doesn't just handle the communications for USS Enterprise NX-01, but in the grand scheme of the franchise, she actually becomes a crucial force in developing the Universal Translator the future generations use.

There are three "Star Trek: Enterprise" characters who get a ton of focus, which creates a similar de facto dynamic with the "Star Trek: The Original Series" triangle of James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley). Their rough "Enterprise" equivalents are Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), and Charles "Trip" Tucker III (Connor Trinneer). Out of the three, Trip Tucker ends up in third place.

Trip is the Enterprise's chief engineer, and has a steel-trap mind hidden under a layer of deceptively simplistic charm and old-timey, gung-ho attitude. He's a close friend of both Archer and Reed, as well as T'Pol's eventual romantic partner. Oh, and he's also the guy who keeps the Enterprise from falling apart, sometimes with little more than the space equivalent of duct tape and some spare parts found in the basement. He's a fun combination of the swaggering hero archetype and an engineering nerd, and his head runs just hot enough to clash with T'Pol's cool logic to gift "Enterprise" with some of its most consistent romantic tension. Trip is a great character whose pointless death contributes to making the "Enterprise" Season 4 ender "These Are The Voyages..." the worst "Star Trek" series finale ever.

What's better than a Vulcan character who's mildly annoyed by the illogical behavior of humanity? A Vulcan character who outright despises it. T'Pol is the first long-term Vulcan officer on a Starfleet ship at a time when Vulcans really, really don't trust humans to handle this whole "space travel" thing at all. This means that she arrives aboard the USS Enterprise NX-01 with a massive chip on her shoulder, and it doesn't help that the ship's captain abhors Vulcans.

Since this is a prequel show and anyone even substantially familiar with the franchise knows that Starfleet's relationship with Vulcans will be far more cordial in the future, it's easy to see that a defrost is coming. Yet, the entirety of T'Pol's arc from an icy chaperone who's barely tolerated by the rest of the crew to a stalwart champion of humanity is well-executed. Admittedly, the show becomes a little bit too fond of plots that involve her losing her emotional control in some way, but apart from them, you rarely get the sense that the character is acting out of sorts. Instead, T'Pol's gradual acceptance of humanity (and humanity's gradual acceptance of her) plays out organically and without any undue rush.

Prominent captain characters are a staple of the "Star Trek" franchise, and few captains stand out on their show more than Scott Bakula's Jonathan Archer. Warp engine testing pioneer and a noted skeptic when it comes to getting along with the Vulcans, Archer is a man of the people and an incredibly complex guy. As a true pioneer of space exploration, he often has to wing it as he goes and often gets his behind kicked for his decisions, both literally and metaphorically. This makes him one of the more relatable "Star Trek" captains out there. Also, his dog, Porthos, is the coolest space beagle ever.

Archer has the hair-trigger mentality of a true sci-fi protagonist, but the show makes it painfully clear that he's no invincible action hero. He starts the show as a very human character who's dealing with an array of frustrations and insecurities while constantly having to face situations no other human being has ever had to deal with — while his Vulcan sub-commander keeps questioning his every move, no less. He ends the show as someone far more mature, and gets there the hard way. Archer becomes quite a big shot after his mission, but he sure pays his dues on the way and establishes himself as the greatest "Star Trek: Enterprise" character while he's at it.