Star Trek's 10 best non-Starfleet crew members, ranked by input

Star Trek mostly focuses on characters who are officially part of Starfleet, but several crew members across the franchise are great without belonging to the Federation's space-faring arm. Their roles aboard Star Trek's various vessels differ, with certain non-Starfleet personnel serving in a far more official capacity than others. Regardless, there's no denying that even the less formally assigned positions aboard certain Star Trek crews have a significant amount of input. While assembling this list, I realized something that I'd never really thought about. The idea of non-Starfleet crew members isn't something that originated with Star Trek: The Original Series.

It wasn't even fully integrated into the franchise's formula in The Next Generation. Instead, it would be Deep Space Nine that got the concept off the ground for real. Furthermore, it's something that has all but vanished in the modern era – by which I mean since Star Trek: Discovery. Although Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Prodigy certainly had plenty of non-Starfleet crew members, that sort of betrayed the point of including any of them in this list. As such, I've narrowed my focus entirely to Star Trek's classic era. Across those shows, I took into account how indispensable the core, non-Starfleet personnel were. That's really the main metric here. However, I haven't included any characters who didn't feel like part of the crew proper. Elim Garak (played by Andrew J. Robinson) is a great example.

Honorable Mention

Quark – Armin Shimerman's Star Trek character is an all-time great, and just as morally gray. While the franchise doesn't shy away from figures like bartenders aboard traditional Starfleet facilities, I doubt Quark would ever make it onto a standard crew manifest. Nor do I think he would be interested in being present aboard a typical Starfleet vessel. He's a civilian through-and-through, and a questionable one at that.

Keiko O'Brien

Lived Aboard: Deep Space 9

Rosalind Chao isn't the only Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character on this list, as the show made great use of non-Starfleet personnel. That being said, the show's fresh-feeling setting of a starbase rather than a mobile Starfleet vessel meant the line was often blurred between the official crew members and Deep Space 9's civilian inhabitants. Keiko definitely belongs to the Starfleet side of affairs, though, as Chief O'Brien's (Colm Meaney) wife.

As proven by her time aboard the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation, she moves as part of the crew, rather than being a standalone figure. While certainly not central to the operation of wherever she lives, Keiko offers an interesting glimpse into what Starfleet is like to those not part of the inner circle. In other words, she's a sort of eyes-of-the-audience-type character, but also contributes in-universe by working as a teacher and botanist.

Why She's #10: Keiko appears in a combined 27 Star Trek episodes. Her input to both the Enterprise-D and Deep Space 9 was not insignificant, but it pales in comparison to other non-Starfleet personnel on this list.

Jake Sisko

Lived Aboard: Deep Space 9

There's an established trend in Star Trek that sees countless children of Starfleet officers follow in their parents' footsteps. Cirroc Lofton's Jake Sisko was never a part of that trend. While it would have been understandable if he'd been inspired by his father's Starfleet career, the son of Avery Brooks' Captain Sisko opted for a very different career path. Jake's career as a writer and wartime journalist may not have had a direct impact on Deep Space 9's day-to-day operations, but it was a brave and necessary role that only he could fill. This was Star Trek at its best in terms of introducing non-Starfleet characters who were still compelling.

Why He's #9: As mentioned, Jake's input wasn't all that connected to how Deep Space 9 operated. That being said, his contributions to the world of journalism can't be denied.

Neelix

Lived Aboard: USS Voyager

I know a lot of people find Ethan Phillips' Star Trek: Voyager character very annoying, but I have a very special place in my heart for Neelix. Sure, he can be a little...much at times, but he's also a great hybrid character. While never officially a Starfleet officer, Neelix's aspirations to be given more responsibility among Captain Janeway's (Kate Mulgrew) crew never die. He doesn't just serve as a somewhat divisive chef, but also as an unofficial ship's counselor to a crew that was never assigned one. None of that even mentions his role as the ship's appointed ambassador and self-appointed position of morale officer. His thirst for greater input into Voyager's operations is unquenchable, but Janeway sensibly (and diplomatically) keeps him at arm's length in the wake of several requests for advancement.

Why He's #8: Yes, he is annoying at times, even I'll admit that. However, the biggest reason he's tricky to rank any higher is that he's perhaps a little too enthusiastic to learn. His constant requests to shadow various Starfleet crew members can feel a little suffocating at times and actually become a borderline hindrance.

Kes

Lived Aboard: USS Voyager

Kes (Jennifer Lien) filled a very clear role aboard Voyager's crew. Following the death of the entire medical team in the show's pilot episode, bringing the ship's Emergency Medical Hologram online wasn't a perfect solution. The Doctor (Robert Picardo) was brash, unrefined, and most worryingly, operating alone. Having the eager and talented Kes aboard to train as the Doctor's nurse was a vital turn of events that saved the lives of several crew members. She also had wisdom beyond her years, and her largely untapped Ocampan abilities also came in handy...until she lost control of them.

Why She's #7: Kes' level of input is one of the easiest to gauge. That being said, she was written out when Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) was created to replace her. The transition between characters was convincing, though. Kes became too much of a risk to keep aboard due to her ever-increasing and volatile psychic abilities. That offsets a lot of the usefulness she once had.

Guinan

Lived Aboard: USS Enterprise-D

Guinan was one of the trickiest non-Starfleet characters to rank on this list, but I think I've pulled it off. While she only appeared in 28 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (I know, I also thought it was more), Whoopi Goldberg's mysterious El-Aurian had some unquestionably vital moments in terms of input into the ship's fate. Her cosmic awareness was a very useful, although unconventional, tool for Patrick Stewart's Captain Picard and his crew. She also dispensed nuggets of philosophical wisdom to anyone smart enough to listen.

Why She's #6: Her limited appearances go against Guinan here. Plus, her input into the Enterprise's day-to-day operations is fairly minimal. On the surface, she's a bartender willing to offer a sympathetic ear. Of course, there's far more to her than that, but not all of her upsides are easy to quantify.

Constable Odo

Stationed Aboard: Deep Space 9

Now we're getting into the more official non-Starfleet characters. What Star Trek's classic era became great at was incorporating crew members from other official bodies and seeing how the two ideologies interacted. René Auberjonois' Deep Space Nine character was one of the best examples of this approach. He served as Deep Space 9's Chief of Security while the station (then Terok Nor) was under Cardassian command, and it was a position he retained once the Federation arrived to help stabilize Bajor after the Cardassian occupation ended. Retaining Odo as Chief of Security rather than replacing him with a Starfleet officer allowed the series to have greater autonomy in terms of Odo's relationship with the organization. He took his duties very seriously, and carried them out in a professional and official capacity.

Why He's #5: As Deep Space Nine's Chief of Security, Odo arguably deserves a higher spot than this. Four other non-Starfleet crew members across Star Trek have a greater level of input than he, though.

Sub-Commander T'Pol

Stationed Aboard: Enterprise NX-01

Humanity's first deep-space mission came in the 22nd century, and it was decided that a crew full of only Starfleet officers wouldn't cut it. As such, Jolene Blalock's Sub-Commander T'Pol was assigned to the Enterprise NX-01. As well as serving as Captain Archer's (Scott Bakula) science officer and alien advisor, she was officially made the ship's second-in-command. Despite being officially enlisted in the Vulcan High Command rather than Starfleet, T'Pol would only have greater input into Enterprise's operations if she were the Captain. Her levelheaded, logical approach to leading the crew (and advising her Captain) got everyone out of more than a few messes and prevented countless others.

Why She's #4: T'Pol traded in her Vulcan High Command commission in Enterprise Season 4 to become an official Starfleet Commander. Although she spent most of the show without a Starfleet rank, the fact that she switched organizations near the end loses her a few points when it comes to this list's primary criteria.

Major Kira Nerys

Stationed Aboard: Deep Space 9

Nana Visitor's Star Trek character, like T'Pol, also gains a new rank toward the end of her show. The biggest difference is that Deep Space 9's First Officer only ever has a fleeting connection to Starfleet, and generally continues serving the Bajoran government as a Colonel instead. Her presence aboard the station is vital for how Deep Space 9 operates daily, but her close personal and professional relationship with Captain Sisko works to silence those who object to the presence of Starfleet and the Federation. Sisko remains in command throughout Deep Space Nine, but Kira's role is essential to stop the entire political dynamic from imploding.

Why She's #3: There aren't a lot of reasons why Kira couldn't be placed #1 on this list, but there are two non-Starfleet crewmembers who have a marginally bigger impact on their respective crews.

Seven of Nine

Lived Aboard: USS Voyager

Last time we saw Seven of Nine, she was the Captain of the USS Enterprise-G at the end of Star Trek: Picard. Her journey to an official Starfleet rank was a long and arduous one, though. It also wasn't something that was entertained during her time aboard Voyager. While she was certainly pivotal to the ship's journey to Earth and operated as though she were part of the command structure, Seven only ever held civilian status while in the Delta Quadrant. Regardless, she went on to make too many contributions to count and was given a lot of freedom to augment Voyager's systems with Borg tech. I highly doubt the crew would have made it back to Earth in just seven years without Seven of Nine – they may never have made it back at all.

Why She's #2: Seven could also be top of this list, based on input alone. I think the #1 entry is pretty inarguable, though.

Dr. Phlox

Stationed Aboard: Enterprise NX-01

For everyone else on this list, there is a replacement among the crew waiting to step in and fill the void should they be required to do so. Even if their input is overwhelming, someone would still be available to take over those tasks. They might not be performed to quite the same level, but some version of the role would survive. John Billingsley's Dr. Phlox had no such luxury. If he were ever unavailable, the crew would invariably suffer, and the impact of his absence would be pretty much immediate. Enterprise's mission was filled with risks that could quickly become lethal, and Phlox routinely prevented deaths among the crew with his unorthodox method of practicing medicine.

Why He's #1: Need I say more? Without Seven of Nine, there is always B'Elanna (Roxann Dawson). Without T'Pol, Commander Tucker (Connor Trinneer) becomes Archer's First Officer. That line of succession doesn't exist for Phlox, resulting in an unprecedented level of output for a non-Starfleet crew member aboard a Starfleet vessel.

What do you think? Is there something you feel belongs on this list? Let me know in the comments!