Star Trek's most beloved legacy characters. Set in the late 24th century, Lower Decks focuses on the crew of the USS Cerritos, a low-level Starfleet vessel that specializes in second s. The bridge crew feature in the show, but the main characters are young ensigns just finding their way in Starfleet. Created by Rick & Morty veteran and longtime Star Trek fan Mike McMahan, Lower Decks strikes a great balance between ribald, adult humor, and earnest reverence for the franchise's history.
One of the advantages of setting Star Trek: Lower Decks in the 24th century is that it's chronologically adjacent to everyone from legendary Starfleet officers to omnipotent beings from higher planes of existence. While those legacy characters tend to be somewhat heightened due to the inherent nature of an animated comedy, every one of them has felt like a genuine representation of the character.
13 William Riker
In the Star Trek: Lower Decks season 1 finale, the Cerritos finds itself under attack from a Pakled vessel. The outgunned Cerritos crew prepare for the worst until Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) announces that the USS Titan has arrived. After dispatching the Pakleds, Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) rubs elbows with a few old friends on the Cerritos. Riker is electric as Captain of the Titan, heroically saving the lowly Cerritos and clearly having the time of his life. He would make two more guest appearances at the beginning of season 2, and any further visits would be more than welcome.
12 Deanna Troi
Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) was present on the bridge of the Titan when her husband, Captain Riker, saved the Cerritos from the Pakleds. Troi's appearance in the episode was brief, mainly diagnosing Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell) as being deeply insecure. Troi wasn't present for the other two episodes set on the Titan, and she was possibly busy raising her infant son Thad Riker.
11 Tom Paris
In the aptly named episode "We'll Always Have Tom Paris," Star Trek: Voyager veteran Lieutenant Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) makes a visit to the Cerritos. Boimler is mildly obsessed with Paris, and is determined to get him to sign his Tom Paris commemorative plate. After being stuck in a Jeffries tube, a crazed and filthy Boimler rushes Paris on the bridge, who mistakes the disheveled young ensign for a Kazon, a persistent Voyager antagonist, and attacks him.
10 Hikaru Sulu
In the season 3 episode "Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus," Boimler es out due to dehydration and finds himself hallucinating that he's at James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) farm in Idaho, as seen in Star Trek Generations. Instead, Boimler finds Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), much to his delight. Sulu offers some sage words about the nature of mortality before Boimler begins peppering him with inane questions about his days on the USS Enterprise and the hallucination abruptly ends.
9 Kira Nerys
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3 saw the triumphant return of Deep Space Nine in the episode "Hear All, Trust Nothing," the first glimpse of the station and its inhabitants since DS9 ended its seven-season run in 1999. Just as when the series concluded, the Bajoran Colonel Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) was still in command of the station, overseeing a lively, diverse community on the former Cardassian outpost. Kira was pleased to see her old friend Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore) who she fought alongside during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor.
8 Quark
Quark (Armin Shimerman), DS9's notorious Ferengi bartender, was still up to his old tricks in "Hear All, Trust Nothing." While he had a chain of restaurants and bars across the Alpha Quadrant, Quark still resided on DS9, tending to his original bar and coming up with new ways to get even richer. Quark nearly started an intergalactic incident when he used stolen Karemma technology in a new form of replicator, but Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) was able to negotiate a deal with the irritated aliens on Quark's behalf.
7 Tuvok
Star Trek: Voyager's resident Vulcan Commander Tuvok (Tim Russ) made a very brief, wordless cameo in the season 3 premiere "Grounded." After Captain Freeman was framed for the destruction of Pakled Planet, Tuvok was part of an elite Starfleet team assembled to clear her name. In typical Star Trek: Lower Decks style, Tuvok and his compatriots undertook their mission offscreen, with the action focusing on the show's four primary ensigns as they tried in vain to save Freeman themselves.
6 Q
The omnipotent trickster who tormented Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) for years on TNG, Q (John de Lancie) made a memorable season 1 appearance on Star Trek: Lower Decks. In the episode "Veritas," Q was shown to have visited the Cerritos several times, with the crew eventually getting bored and jaded with his shenanigans. At the end of the episode, Q lamented that the elderly winemaker Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was no longer fun.
5 Sonya Gomez
Sonya Gomez (Lycia Naff) only showed up in a pair of TNG season 2 episodes as an engineering officer who worked closely with Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton). Her most notable act on TNG was accidentally spilling a glass of hot chocolate on Captain Picard, which horrified her. In the Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2 finale "First First ," Gomez was shown to have overcome her embarrassing moment with Picard, as she was now the Captain of the USS Archimedes. She proved herself to be a competent, inspiring leader during that episode's calamity.
4 The Borg Queen
Alice Krige reprised her role of the Borg Queen in the Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2 episode "I, Excretus." Several actresses have played the role, but Krige played the original Borg Queen in Star Trek: First . She appears in Lower Decks as a hologram in a training program. Boimler initially aces the Borg scenario, but when he's forced to stay in the simulation indefinitely, he ends up captured and confronted by the Queen, which does some surprisingly real damage to Boimler's delicate psyche.