Although a few familiar antagonists turn up on Star Trek: Voyager, most alien villains that the USS Voyager encounters are brand-new Delta Quadrant denizens unknown to the Federation and viewers alike. The days of knowing exactly what to expect in a face-off against Klingons or Romulans are long behind Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), who makes first contact with more new alien species than anyone since Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). Instead, Janeway and Voyager’s crew need to survive by figuring out the best approaches to diplomacy with Kazon, Vidiians, and Hirogen, when no Starfleet officer had even heard of those species before.

Of course, it doesn’t always go according to plan, as seeking out new life so often does on Star Trek. There’s no guidebook to navigating the Delta Quadrant’s unknown cultures, so Janeway’s attempt to make friendly first contact with Delta Quadrant aliens might backfire and create new enemies for the Star Trek canon. The gulf between cultural mores is wider when Voyager‘s villains also don’t know what to expect from Starfleet, so they eye Federation values with suspicion. Sometimes, these differences are simply too great to overcome. Sometimes, it isn’t personal at all, but a matter of survival for either Voyager or the new alien villains.

10 The Hierarchy of Overlookers

Star Trek: Voyager Season 7

Although the Hierarchy controls a wide swath of space in the Delta Quadrant, they do so through the enforcement of bureaucracy rather than actual firepower. Each piece of the Hierarchy contributes to a widely disparate whole that can’t seem to synthesize a complete picture, even with extensive evidence gleaned from highly-advanced sensors. In the interest of efficiency, each Overlooker is trained in a single discipline, so individual Overlookers rarely guess correctly, instead jumping to conclusions based off surveillance data.

With their commitment to efficiency, the Hierarchy seems to want to run on the same model as the Borg, but without the important Collective that unites all drones as one, the Hierarchy are corporate Borg on a slashed budget, and that’s being generous. The Overlookers are toothless villains, with the conflict between the Hierarchy and the USS Voyager arising from continued misunderstandings, and the Hierarchy’s own inability to think critically.

9 The Brunali

Star Trek: Voyager Season 6

An interesting case as villains, the Brunali are people trying to survive after a series of devastating Borg attacks forces them to abandon the technological advancements that made their society ripe for repeated assimilation attempts. Instead, the agrarian Brunali focus their scientific efforts on genetic engineering, ostensibly to increase crop yield in a harsh environment.

The Federation frowns upon genetic engineering, but the Brunali are Star Trek: Voyager villains because of their callousness. Two Brunali parents intentionally tampered with the genes of their son, Icheb (Manu Intiraymi), to produce an anti-Borg virus, and knowingly allowed Icheb to be assimilated by the Borg. Even after Icheb is returned to the Brunali home world in Voyager season 6, episode 19 “Child’s Play”, his parents intend to let Icheb be assimilated again, and Brunali society simply allows it to happen.

8 The Kazon

Star Trek: Voyager Seasons 1 & 2

The Kazon on Star Trek: Voyager are among the first new species Voyager encounters in the Delta Quadrant, and they’re set up as antagonists right from the start. Each independent sect of the Kazon controls different territory and resources, so infighting among their sects is one of the hallmarks of the Kazon. As a result, the technology that the Kazon co-opted from former oppressors, the Trabe, focuses on firepower and defense.

The potential exists for an interesting story about newly-liberated people figuring out self-governance, but throughout Star Trek:Voyager season 1, the Kazon exist mostly to make Voyager’s passage difficult. After ex-crewmember Seska (Martha Hackett) allies with the Kazon and brings them stolen Federation technology to make the Kazon more powerful in Voyager season 2, the Kazon are actually a little more formidable, but the truth is the Kazon are essentially just Seska’s henchmen.

7 John de Lancie as Q

Star Trek: Voyager Seasons 2, 3, and 7

The definition of “villain” is somewhat flexible when it comes to John de Lancie’s Q, whose earlier appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine range from mildly annoying house guest to omnipotent agent of chaos, but Q’s three Star Trek: Voyager outings see a change in Q that affects the whole Continuum.

Captain Janeway refuses to indulge Q’s games, but each time Q comes calling on Voyager, the circumstances shift ever-so-slightly. Q’s first appearance in Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 18, “Death Wish”, sees the first glimmers of change towards a kinder, gentler Q. In Voyager season 3, episode 11, “The Q and the Grey”, and its follow-up, season 7’s “Q2”, a more desperate Q comes to Janeway asking for favors. Make no mistake, though: a changed Q is still inconsiderate and irrepressibly antagonistic.

6 The Devore

Star Trek: Voyager Season 5

The Devore are highly xenophobic and authoritarian, making them prime Star Trek villains that contrast with the Federation’s tolerance and diversity. While suspicious of all outsiders, the Devore have a particular prejudice against telepaths, and are guilty of imprisoning countless innocent telepaths based solely on that genetic gift.

Because the Devore Imperium controls 11 star systems in the Delta Quadrant, it’s difficult for the USS Voyager to avoid the Devore entirely. In Star Trek:Voyager season 5, episode 10, “Counterpoint”, Voyager must accept strict terms to pass through Devore space, with a prescribed flight plan, routine inspections, and confirmation that Captain Janeway isn’t harboring any telepaths. Of course, Janeway’s hiding telepathic refugees in the transporter pattern buffer. The Devore aren’t above emotional manipulation to counter Janeway’s deception, all to advance their own misguided anti-telepath agenda.

5 Species 8472

Star Trek: Voyager Seasons 4 & 5

As natives of fluidic space, Star Trek: Voyager’s Species 8472 are the only species capable of standing up to the Borg, thanks to their powerful immune systems and biological technology that defies assimilation. The Borg suffer significant losses to Species 8472, since the Borg can’t understand what they can’t assimilate, so when the USS Voyager asks for guidance across Borg space, the Borg request Voyager’s assistance in their war against Species 8472.

Even though Species 8472 may have been a strong ally against the Borg in different circumstances, Voyager’s ability to subdue Species 8472 paints a target on the back of the Federation. In a mirror to Borg assimilation, Species 8472 attempt to make themselves more like Starfleet to understand their Federation enemies and mount an attack, but doing so just makes it easier to communicate, and initiate a cease-fire.

4 The Hirogen

Star Trek: Voyager Seasons 4 – 7

The Hirogen view themselves as the ultimate hunters, the apex predators of the Delta Quadrant, so the Hirogen consider every other alien species to be potential prey for their sacred hunt, a cultural practice central to Hirogen society. The Hirogen hunt is unsustainable, however, when the point is to subdue other species. Eventually, there will be no one left to pursue, and the art of the hunt will be lost when the last prey takes its final breath.

The USS Voyager’s use of an abandoned Hirogen relay station catches the attention of the Hirogen, who become fascinated with pursuing Voyager as fresh blood, because Voyager’s holographic technology enlivens the hunt. As a metaphor, stories featuring the Hirogen show how holding onto traditions can be detrimental, so cultures must adapt to changing circumstances in order to thrive.

3 The Krenim Imperium

Star Trek: Voyager Season 4

Star Trek: Voyager season 4, episodes 8 & 9, “Year of Hell”, is one of the best episodes of Voyager, thanks to the tenacious Annorax (Kurtwood Smith), whose obsession with restoring the Imperium to its former glory is motivated by the loss of his wife and family. No amount of meddling with timelines returns a version of the Imperium that includes Annorax’s loved ones, though Annorax believes erasing the USS Voyager from history will accomplish that goal.

Ironically, the Krenim are compelling villains because of how sympathetic they are. Annorax is painted in a similar light to Janeway, who harbors a similar obsession with bringing Voyager’s crew home. As two sides of the same coin, Annorax and Janeway vie for who is willing to pay the higher cost to bring “Year of Hell” to a satisfying conclusion.

2 The Vidiians

Star Trek: Voyager Seasons 1 – 7

The Vidiians, with a patchwork appearance of body parts stolen from other alien species that are inelegantly incorporated into their own, are first introduced in one of Star Trek‘s creepiest episodes. In Star Trek:Voyager season 1, episode 5, “Phage”, when Vidiians steal Neelix’s lungs, it’s revealed that the Vidiians are suffering from the Phage, a generations-old wasting disease with no known cure. The Vidiians engage in medical larceny as a means of survival, with medical technology that’s far more advanced than anything the Doctor (Robert Picardo) has seen.

Besides their brilliantly designed body-horror makeup, what makes the Vidiians so terrifying is the deeply impersonal nature of their quest for organs. In their (stolen) eyes, other sentient species are neither friends nor enemies, but simply collections of living tissue that can be harvested to prolong the Vidiians’ own lives.

1 The Borg

Star Trek: Voyager Seasons 4 – 7

No longer simply blank-slate drones, the Borg in Star Trek: Voyager are different from their earlier incarnation in Star Trek: The Next Generation, made far more fascinating with added depth. Through Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), Voyager‘s audience is exposed to the ideas of the Collective, and what life is like for a drone. Voyager‘s Borg are motivated by an unceasing quest for perfection, and the practice of assimilation is an efficient method of understanding other cultures, despite still being an act of aggression.

And yet, understanding the Borg more clearly makes them far worse than if they’d simply remained a force of nature. There is a will behind the unspeakable acts the Borg commit in the name of understanding the galaxy, an awareness of pain that’s irrelevant when it belongs to one so insignificant as an individual. The Borg take without giving back, force individuals into their image, eradicate free will, and their Queen takes pleasure in it.

The alien villains of Star Trek: Voyager are broad and varied, with each Delta Quadrant villain representing a different conflict against Federation values. The Federation champions diversity, but the Devore and Species 8472 remain intolerant. Where the Federation would hope for peace, the Kazon and Hirogen prefer to fight. However, with the Brunali’s callous sacrifice, the Krenim so easily wiping others out, the Vidiians’ impersonal organ harvesting, and the Borg ruthlessly eradicating autonomy in the Collective, the distance from the Federation’s respect for other people is a repeated theme in Star Trek: Voyager, and ultimately what makes the best and worst alien villains.