Major Kira is one of the more outstanding characters to come from “Star Trek.” She served as the Bajoran first officer on the title space station on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” and she got along with almost no one. Deep Space Nine was built by Cardassian occupiers years before, and was then bequeathed to Bajor when the Cardassian occupation finally ended. Because Bajor had been practically destroyed by the occupation, the planet needed to undergo a major political restoration period, and Deep Space Nine was temporarily put under Starfleet command. Kira was meant to act as the liaison officer between Bajor and Starfleet, ensuring that the interests of both entities were being served. 

The problem was that Kira was the opposite of a diplomat. She was angry and emotionally wounded, having spent years fighting the Cardassians as part of the Bajoran underground. She knew how to enact guerrilla warfare, but little else. And while she mellowed over the show’s seven years, she never let go of her inner rage and retained her unshakable principles. Kira never quite found her way to Starfleet levels of diplomacy, however, and always sought a fight or a battle. Those made more sense to her. 

Major Kira was capably played by Nana Visitor for all seven years of the series, playing the spiky role with aplomb. The cast of “Deep Space Nine” was more frequently at odds than they were friendly, only finding friendships kind of by accident. Nana Visitor was always there to keep that dynamic at play. 

In a recent interview with ScreenRant, Visitor was asked a fun fan question, and she had a great answer. When asked which “Star Trek” characters should have appeared in “Deep Space Nine,” she answered that it should be Captain Janeway from “Star Trek: Voyager.” 

Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), of course, was the captain of the U.S.S. Voyager in the eponymous “Star Trek” spinoff. Janeway was an interesting character, as she possessed a palpable Machiavellian streak. She believed in Starfleet principles, of course, and was determined to lead her ship on a 70-year mission back to Earth, but she also began to adopt a philosophy of the ends justifying the means. Janeway spoke a lot about how her crew was her family, but she also had a lot of authoritarian tendencies, demanding loyalty and backup, even as she made many morally questionable decisions. Desperate times call for a breakdown of ideals. 

This, however, made Janeway an alpha personality writ large. She was in charge, and no one was to question her authority. Nana Visitor felt that Kira would not at all mesh well with Janeway. DS9’s Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) definitely wouldn’t have … and that would have made for excellent drama. As Visitor said: 

“I would love to work with Kate Mulgrew. She has the whole Captain command aura and presence about her, and that would be a real upheaval to [‘Deep Space Nine’]. How would that work out? I see sparks all over the place, and with Captain Sisko. Not sure they’d get along. Those are two alphas. I think that would be really interesting.” 

Sisko had the unenviable job of overseeing the Bajoran restoration while fending off the encroaching military forces of the Cardassians and the Dominion. He had to think four steps ahead. Janeway’s solutions would have been blunter and perhaps less wise (even if they were effective). Seeing the two interact would have made sparks. And it would have been glorious. Visitor’s answer is 100% the best one.