Captain Janeways Top 7 Star Trek: Voyager Enemies, Ranked

Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) certainly never intended to make any enemies in Star Trek: Voyager, but being the captain of a Federation starship in the uncharted Delta Quadrant inevitably creates new foes for Captain Janeway. Brand-new Delta Quadrant aliens in Star Trek were created as antagonists and enemies for Captain Janeway and the crew of the USS Voyager, from the Kazon and Vidiians in earlier seasons of Star Trek: Voyager to Species 8472 and the Hirogen in Voyager‘s second half. Despite Janeway’s attempted alliance with them, the Borg are also an ongoing threat from Star Trek: Voyager season 4 until the series’ end.

It’s not just Star Trek‘s new Delta Quadrant alien species in general that became Captain Janeway’s enemies. Individual people in the Delta Quadrant also clashed with Janeway during the long journey back to the Alpha Quadrant, as Voyager entered their space or Captain Janeway’s crew committed unknown offenses against them. These specific enemies have a much more personal bone to pick with Captain Kathryn Janeway; they’ve got vendettas against Janeway up their sleeves, interstellar empires to rule, and forceful differences of opinion that Janeway just can’t let slide.

7 Older Kes (Jennifer Lien)

Star Trek: Voyager Season 6, Episode 23 – “Fury”

After Jennifer Lien left Star Trek: Voyager, Kes returns one more time in Star Trek: Voyager season 6, episode 23, “Fury”. This Kes is hardened and angry, returning to the USS Voyager near the end of her life to exact vengeance on Captain Kathryn Janeway with the titular telekinetic fury … and a phaser.

“Find another way home. Captain Janeway will help you if you give her a chance. Try to remember who you were. Try to remember me.
”

– Kes,
Star Trek: Voyager
season 6, episode 23, “Fury”

Kes blames her suffering on the misremembered claims that Janeway forced Kes’ departure from Voyager several years earlier. Strategic time travel allows Janeway to connect Kes with her younger self before sending the elder Ocampa on her way, erasing the whole ordeal.

6 Arturis (Ray Wise)

Star Trek: Voyager Season 4, Episode 26 – “Hope and Fear”

In Star Trek: Voyager season 4, episode 26, “Hope and Fear”, an unexpected consequence of Janeway’s alliance with the Borg in Star Trek: Voyager season 4 arises with the arrival of Arturis (Ray Wise), who claims that Janeway’s aid in defeating Species 8472 freed up Borg resources to assimilate more Delta Quadrant species. After thousands of years keeping the Borg at bay, Arturis’ people were assimilated. Arturis’ revenge plot appeals to Janeway’s desire to bring her crew home, in the form of the USS Dauntless, a fake Federation starship with a quantum slipstream drive that will deliver Janeway directly to the Borg for her own assimilation.

5 Kashyk (Mark Harelik)

Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 10 – “Counterpoint”

Kashyk (Mark Harelik), an inspector for the telepath-hating Devore, becomes Captain Janeway’s enemy through deception and betrayal, which is almost worse than actual military strikes against Voyager. In Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episode 10, “Counterpoint”, Janeway secretly harbors telepathic Brenari refugees while Voyager is in Devore space.

Inspector Kashyk convinces Janeway that he’s seen the error of his ways, and wants to change. Over repeated meetings, Janeway easily falls for the cultured and curious Kashyk, but becoming Captain Janeway’s love interest turns out to be an act to earn Kathryn’s trust and get to the Brenari hidden in Voyager’s transporter buffer.

4 The Clown (Michael McKean)

Star Trek: Voyager Season 2, Episode 23 – “The Thaw”

In Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 23, “The Thaw”, the Clown is an antagonist for more than just Captain Janeway, but it’s Janeway who ultimately emerges victorious in a battle of wits against the Clown. The Clown is the manifestation of fear that exists within a neural network, created from the minds of the 5 people hooked to the network. In order to generate a constant supply of fear and ensure his survival, the Clown makes the network hellish for his victims, and refuses to let them leave. Anyone engaging with the Clown is trapped in the network with him, so how can anyone defeat him?

Captain Janeway sets herself up as the ultimate prize for the Clown, demanding the release of the Clown’s hostages — which includes Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) — in exchange for Janeway herself. The catch is that this is a holographic version of Captain Janeway instead of the real thing, and the Clown can’t feed off of an inorganic mind. “Drat,” indeed.

3 Captain Rudolph Ransom (John Savage)

Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 26 & Season 6, Episode 1 – “Equinox”

Captain Rudolph Ransom of the USS Equinox is a victim of the same fate that originally befell Janeway and the USS Voyager, as a Federation starship that was brought to the other side of the galaxy by the Caretaker. The difference is that while Janeway held tight to Starfleet ideals, Ransom abandoned respect for sentient life and murdered innocent non-corporeal life forms to create fuel for a faster journey to the Alpha Quadrant. Ransom tries to justify his actions by saying the Federation is out of reach, so the Equinox crew did what they must to survive, but Janeway nonetheless holds Ransom accountable.

In response, Ransom points out that Captain Janeway has privileges that Captain Ransom didn’t. The USS Voyager is a more advanced starship than the Equinox, and Voyager gained crew members from Commander Chakotay’s Maquis raider to replace lives lost on the initial journey. The Equinox’s experience as an Alpha Quadrant vessel in the Delta Quadrant wasn’t so lucky. Both Janeway and Ransom are committed to the survival and safety of their crews, and Ransom challenges Janeway to consider whether she would have also abandoned Starfleet ideals if the circumstances were swapped.

2 Annorax of the Krenim Imperium (Kurtwood Smith)

Star Trek: Voyager Season 4, Episodes 8 & 9 – “Year of Hell”

While Captain Janeway hates time travel, and does her best to avoid time anomalies, Annorax of the Krenim Imperium (Kurtwood Smith) embraces the ability to use time as a weapon. With Krenim time weapons that erase people, ships, and entire planets from existence, Annorax continues to alter the timeline to increase the size and influence of the Imperium. When the USS Voyager becomes the proverbial fly in the ointment that seems to prevent Annorax from reviving his accidentally erased family, Annorax sets his sights on erasing Janeway and her crew.

Throughout Star Trek: Voyager season 4, episodes 8 & 9, “Year of Hell”, Voyager suffers heavy losses as a result of Annorax’s targeted attacks. Even with the losses, and the Krenim’s advanced technology handily outpacing Voyager’s, Janeway’s tenacity still matches Annorax’s. Only when it seems like there’s nothing left to lose does Janeway make the sacrifice play that saves the Voyager crew and the timeline.

1 The Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson, Alice Krige)

Star Trek: Voyager Seasons 5–7

Captain Janeway’s most formidable individual enemy in Star Trek: Voyager is undoubtedly the Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson, Alice Krige). From the time the USS Voyager enters Borg space in Star Trek: Voyager season 3’s cliffhanger, “Scorpion, Part 1”, the Borg Queen is unseen, but watching Janeway through the eyes of Borg drones. Captain Janeway’s liberation of Seven of Nine may have been the biggest insult against the Borg Queen, who tried to lure Seven back to the collective in Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episodes 15 & 16 “Dark Frontier”.

Despite appearing in only four episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, the Borg Queen has a lasting impact on Captain Janeway’s life. Star Trek: Voyager‘s finale, “Endgame”, shows that in Janeway’s original timeline, the USS Voyager takes 23 years to reach the Alpha Quadrant. After years of research and development on anti-Borg weaponry, Admiral Janeway goes back in time to destroy the Borg Queen. Janeway’s neurolytic pathogen successfully infects the Borg, leaving the Borg Queen little more than a shell of her former self. Of all Janeway’s enemies in Star Trek: Voyager, only the Borg Queen can inspire that kind of animosity in Janeway herself.