When Gene Roddenberry first created Star Trek in the late 1960s, he would have been shocked (but hopefully not disappointed) to see how far his genre-defining franchise has come decades later. It is responsible for some amazing technology used today, as well as creating a plethora of nightly complex alien races and civilizations.
The Star Trek franchise is also reasonable for a fantastic ensemble of much loved characters. Fan-favorites range from the secretly sweet of heart Captain Picard, to the nefariously wily ways of the near omnipotent Q continuum. Some of these characters were not always such a hit with fans, but grew on them with time. Here are some of the world's characters that, like a fine wine, improved greatly with time, from their first appearances to their golden eras.
Rom
Starting off with a character many might not recognize at first sight, this Ferengi goes from zero to literal hero. Rom is Quark's brother, and the father of another character that divided fans: Nog. When he is first introduced, he follows all negative Ferengi stereotypes, making viewers uncomfortable in a way that only Ferengi can do. He is a meek and cowardly figure, constantly bearing the brunt of Quark's abuse. That theme continued for the first few seasons — until his character began to grow.
Eventually, Rom stands up for his son and his choice to become the first Ferengi to join Starfleet. He continues to finally stand up against Quark and his abuse, forming a union against him. This ends with Rom finally stepping out from under his brother's shadow and pursuing his dream of engineering, joining the station's maintenance team. It is here his character flourishes, his true potential finally coming through. The pinnacle of this is his idea and design of the self-replicating mines, which play a pivotal part in the Federation's defense against the Dominion. Rom's character development was slow, but methodical, resulting in a seamlessly organic transformation from timid insignificance to staggering acts of heroism and genius.
William Riker
From one fairly unfamiliar face, we jump to one of the most recognizable jawlines of the franchise: William T Riker. While his beard, and distinctly odd way of sitting, may have become his defining physical feature, there was a time before the facial hair when the character never truly caught the attention of fans. The Riker of season one was terrible. He was a stiff and uncharismatic officer who almost killed the show early on. The writers, realizing this, wanted to kill him off at first. Thankfully, actor Johnathan Frakes had a wicked sense of humor which both the writers and Roddenberry loved. The decided to allow Frakes to make the character his own, injecting more and more of the actors own personality into the fairly plain character.
What made the biggest difference, however, was when Frakes came back from a filming break with his iconic beard. Roddenberry loved the change so much that he let the actor keep it, stating that it gave him a nautical look. So famous is Riker’s change in the hearts of fans, that the the TV trope ‘Grow the Beard’ was created. Riker went from an insufferably boring know-it-all to honorable heartthrob seemingly in time with the growth of his beard; as such, the trope describes the notable improvement of a character during the progression of a show.
Quark
The Ferengi manage to divide fans so much this list contains not one but two. Quark takes the crown for the king of changing people’s first impressions. Up until Deep Space 9, the Ferengi were a nasty bunch of space weasels, scurrying around like animals hissing and conning anyone that came across them. They were designed to be the new villains of The Next Generation, replacing the Klingons, but this never stuck. Often, their appearances made viewers uncomfortable. While Rom was certainly a force for change, Quark was the one who truly won over the hearts of fans.
Quark is often cited as one of the best characters from the franchise, mainly because he was the first chance that the creators got to truly examine the Ferengi culture. DS9 was set in a time of heavy societal upheaval for the Ferengi, and viewers see all of this through the eyes of Quark. Not only were the Ferengi changing, but the Federation and the presence of all those Starfleet and Bajoran officers aboard the station changed him subtly, over the course of the show. His character began to care for those around him (like the nonstop talker Morn), and do the right thing even when it meant losing profit. This new philosophy went against everything the old Ferengi society taught him.
Major Kira Nerys
It’s hard to create a list like this without including all the characters from DS9. Almost all of them went from dislikable and rough around the edges to pioneers of greatness and heroism over the course of the show. This was intentional, not due to poor writing like the disastrous first season of TNG, but because the show was always meant to be a slow burner. It was a rare example of a show that invested heavily in long character story arcs that spanned multiple seasons. Major Kira Nerys is a prime example of this. She goes from an arrogant, hot-headed figure hell-bent on revenge, to a genuinely kind and caring mother figure for the station.
At the start of the show, she was not afraid to hide her dislike of the Federation. A lot of this was directed at the morally ambiguous Sisko, and Nerys often acted overly tough to the point of annoyance to simply get noticed. This all changed, however, which the episode "Duet." Here, audiences got a much better look at her character's motivations and traumas. The episode showed Nerys change from a vengeful spirit of destruction to someone who had learned to forgive herself, and even respect and mourn a man she had, until that point, despised. This episode completely changed her character, and gave her much-needed depth.
Seven of Nine
Last, but by no means least, there is the ex-borg Seven of Nine. This character, at first, really angered a lot of fans. When she was first introduced in Voyager, she was written as a replacement for the character of Kes, who would leave a few episodes later. She was a fairly obvious attempt at fan service, swapping out a leading female character with one with more sex appeal. Her skintight bodysuit clearly was designed to make her character purely eye candy.
Although the catsuit remained for the duration of Voyager, Jeri Ryan played the character masterfully. She made Seven much more than just something for fans to gawk at; rather, she portrayed a deeply complex character that focused heavily on what it meant to be human. While this is a concept Star Trek likes to revisit time and time again, Seven of Nine’s story of rediscovering humanity, and ultimately accepting her borg-human hybrid nature, was by far the most gripping.