6 replies on “Greatest Science Fiction Hero Tournament: Week 34, Round 3”

  1. Oh my. This started out with me feeling bad for the contestants, but by the end I as just feeling bad for myself!

    Can’t we all agree that all these guys* are awesome?

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    *Except O’Brien.

    • What’s wrong with O’Brien? Scotty, LaForge, Torres, and Trip were all formally trained engineers in charge of the Federation flagship, and they all had a tough time keeping up with technical manuals and holding the ship together. O’Brien was an enlisted man who figured out how to repair a transporter in the field under fire. When the Enterprise D needed to beam through another ship’s defensive shields and Geordi said it wasn’t possible, O’Brien did it anyway. What was he chief engineer of? Alien technology, far more run down than anything the others had to deal with and laden with booby traps that would actively try to kill the entire crew with a single misstep. How did he handle it? It took a few weeks to get a handle on it. He inspired Rom to join the Bajoran militia as an engineer and Nog to join Starfleet. He also did it with a wife and family, and still had time to spend with Bashir. If I had to put my life in the hands of a single Starfleet engineer, it would be O’Brien. Sure, Scotty seemed to have more success in impossible situations, but he outright admits he exaggerates the odds against them to gain that miracle worker reputation he so enjoyed. O’Brien didn’t complain or play the odds when given impossible orders, he just went to work.

      • I just don’t like the character. Personally think he was very, very badly written. To wit, he was boring as hell to the point where they basically has to rely on stereotypes.

        What cemented it for me was when he claimed to be “a direct descendant of king Brian Boru.”

        Because of course he is. I’m surprised they never had him fix the warp core with a potato or see leprechauns in a jeffries tube.

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