Star Trek’s Picard and Janeway had a grudging admiration for Captain Kirk, but DS9’s Sisko greatly admired the legendary Enterprise captain.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) was more like Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) than Captains Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). Picard and Janeway were both very similar in their unwavering loyalty to the Prime Directive, even in the most extreme circumstances. One of the central conflicts for Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager was how she could maintain the Prime Directive in a region of space outside Federation influence. Like all Star Trek captains in the 24th century, Sisko observed the Prime Directive, but he also found creative ways to circumvent it.

Sisko’s determination to do the right thing beyond Starfleet regulations made him just like Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series. In many of Captain Kirk’s best Star Trek episodes, he was put into impossible situations that required him to make tough decisions. Sisko and Kirk were also men of war, with Kirk having to deal with the political tensions between both the Federation and the Klingon and Romulan Empires. Sisko, meanwhile, was front and center during the Dominion War, in which the rules and regulations of Starfleet had to be adapted on the fly.

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DS9’s Sisko Is More Like Kirk Than Other 1990s Star Trek Captains

In Star Trek Generations, a disapproving Picard refers to Kirk’s days of “cowboy diplomacy“, which gets him short shrift from the legendary captain of the USS Enterprise. In the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Flashback”, Captain Janeway concedes, albeit with a tone of admiration, that Kirk, Spock, and McCoy would have been drummed out of 24th-century Starfleet. Kirk’s wasn’t afraid to defy Starfleet’s orders if he believed they were blinded to the bigger picture. When Starfleet barred Kirk from rescuing Spock from the Genesis planet, he and the rest of the Enterprise crew ignored this command and did it anyway, out of loyalty to their friend.

The same can be said for Captain Sisko in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; wherever possible, he prioritized the greater good over Star Trek‘s Prime Directive. As early as DS9 season 2, Sisko ignores the direct orders of his superior officer to protect Deep Space Nine and secure the future of Bajor, out of loyalty to the Bajorans and his number one, Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor). Sisko’s interfering in another planet’s civil war is barred by the Prime Directive, but it’s the right thing to do. What’s more, it’s exactly the sort of thing that Captain James T. Kirk would do.

Kirk Was One Of Sisko’s Star Trek Heroes

“Trials and Tribble-ations” was Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s contribution to Star Trek‘s 30th anniversary celebrations. The episode brought the cast of Star Trek: DS9 face to face with characters from Star Trek: The Original Series. Throughout the episode, Sisko is clearly keeping a professional lid on his desire to speak to the legendary James T. Kirk. Once his mission is over, however, Sisko jumps at the chance to speak to Kirk and gets his autograph. Earlier in the episode, he tells Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) he was dying to ask Kirk about his fight with the Gorn on Cestus 3.

It’s an interesting distinction as Cestus 3 was where Kirk, Spock and McCoy were pinned down by Gorn forces, rather than the barren planet where Kirk and the Gorn soldier fought one-on-one. “Trials and Tribble-ations” is a lighthearted Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode that takes place in the middle of the early stages of the Dominion War. It’s interesting, therefore, that Sisko is keen to seek tactical advice from one of his Starfleet heroes while he’s stranded in the 23rd century. It’s the sort of out-the-box thinking that built Kirk’s legend, and would define Sisko’s military career.