Space ... the Final Frontier. 100 years after Kirk, Spock, and McCoy ventured out on their famous 5-year mission, the torch has been passed to a new ship, captain and crew. This next generation will embark to explore strange new worlds, to seek new life forms and new civilizations, boldly going where no man ... where no one has gone before.
Star Trek: The Next Generation was a long-running American produced sci fi-drama TV series starring Patrick Stewart, Johnathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Michael Dorn, and LeVar Burton. It was a spin-off and sequel TV series to the 1966 cult classic series, Star Trek.
Star Trek: The Next Generation or Star Trek: TNG featured a new ensemble cast and crew of the USSEnterprise-D; a Galaxy-Class Starship and the fifth successor to Kirk's original NCC-1701.
Further, following the cancellation of the series, the central cast of Star Trek: TNG would go on to star in four separate feature films of the Star Trek Franchise.
Keeping a somber and steady hand on the tiller of the USS Enterprise-D, Captain Jean-Luc Picard is the responsible and conscientious patriarchal commander of Starfleet's flagship vessel as well as their ablest and most experienced captain. Preferring diplomacy over a fast roundhouse punch and a quick phaser draw compared to his predecessors such as the infamous Captain Kirk from a century ago; Picard is nevertheless cut in the same mold of uncompromising moral ethics and unwavering stubbornness accompanied by a fierce thirst for exploration and adventure.
He was portrayed with great panache by Patrick Stewart who would become regarded as the greatest Captain of the Star Trek Franchise; even eclipsing William Shatner's character of Captain Kirk. His immense popularity resulted in him returning to reprise his character in the 2020 TV sequel self-titled series Star Trek: Picard.
The bold and sometimes overly confident First Officer of the Enterprise and Captain Picard's "Number One" Man. Riker is the brawn of the duo, often representing Picard on dangerous missions and First Contacts in the field. A dashing and roguish womanizer, Riker also has a tangled romantic past relationship with his current shipmate, Counselor Deanna Troi. He was portrayed by Johnathan Frakes.
A sapient android created by Dr. Noonian Soong; the whimsically naive and endlessly curious Data possesses physical strength that far exceeds organics and incredible cybernetic intellect and computational capabilities that outperforms the best supercomputers ... yet fails to understand human emotions. An experience which Data yearns to try for himself. He serves as the Operations Officer aboard the Enterprise and doubled as its science officer as well. He was portrayed by Brent Spiner.
Considered the spiritual successor to the original Star Trek's series Spock with his "outsider's perspective" on humanity; like his predecessor, he was also immensely popular among fans and there were a number of important episodes dedicated to his character. Brent Spiner would also portray Data's "father", Noonian Soong as well as several earlier android prototypes, B-4 and Lore on several occasions and even Noonian's ancestor, Arik Soong in the sequel series, Star Trek: Enterprise.
Half human and half Betazoid, Deanna Troi is the Counselor of the Enterprise, lending her advanced training in psychology to assist in various away missions with her empathic powers in discerning emotions and feelings in other aliens and individuals. She also lends a sympathetic ear and counsels her crewmates on their problems and troubles. She also has a long simmering romantic tension between herself and First Officer William Riker, dating back to their tempestuous relationship when they were both younger. She also is comedically plagued by the occasional reappearances of her eccentric mother, Lwaxana Troi meddling in her life aboardship. She was portrayed by Marina Sirtis.
The Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise. She is also the wife of the late Jack Crusher, who was a close friend and confidant to Jean-Luc Picard aboard a previous command before he was killed on an away mission; leaving her to raise their son, Wesley alone. She and Picard share a strong attraction towards one another which is only overshadowed by the pains of Picard's guilt over her husband's death and their mutual fear of betraying Jack Crusher's memory. She was portrayed by Gates McFadden.
McFadden is known for being briefly written out of ST:TNG in its second season to bring in a replacement actress and character, Dr. Pulaski whom was created to create a sense of tension between herself and Data, echoing the prior frienemy relationship between Spock and McCoy. Her replacement was hugely unpopular and Patrick Stewart himself personally appealed to bring McFadden back. McFadden went on to reprise her role for the remainder of the series.
Orphaned by a surprise Romulan ambush on the Khitomer Outpost as a child, Worf was found and rescued by Starfleet searching for survivors. He was subsequently adopted and raised by humans to adulthood when he subsequently joined Starfleet; believing that his people would be best served by forging a true alliance alongside the Federation itself. He thus became the first Klingon to become a Starfleet Officer despite the frequent clashes between his Klingon heritage and human upbringing. Although frequently mocked and shunned by his people for his vocation, Worf doggedly continues to walk a line between his two cultures in the hope of bringing their races closer together as a "bridge" between them. He was portrayed by Michael Dorn.
Originally intended to be a minor supporting cast member; Worf was supposed to be a bridge support member in the background as an example of how much the Federation had evolved from the original Star Trek series where the Klingons were some of their fiercest enemies would now have a member serving on the flagship of the Federation itself. Worf instead became one of the most groundbreaking and popular Star Trek characters; playing a pivotal role in a number of successive storylines involving the Klingon Empire of the 24th Century and provided insight into the mysterious alien warrior culture. Dorn would go on to reprise his role in the later seasons of the sequel series of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and is known to have made the most appearances as a singular character in the Star Trek Franchise. Michael Dorn also made a brief appearance in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as Colonel Worf who is regarded as being the "grandfather" of the TNG character.
Born with a birth defect that left him blind from childhood, Geordi La Forge is the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise who uses a set of prosthetic implants that give him the ability to see the entire electromagnetic spectrum. He was portrayed by LeVar Burton.
The young and headstrong Chief of Security of the Enterprise; Tasha Yar was born on a planet whose government had collapsed and the survivors had descended into barbarism. Rescued by Starfleet, Tasha joined the organization and was among the first casualties aboard the Enterprise's earliest missions. However she continued to have a huge impact on the ship and its crew particularly Data whom she had a brief romantic relationship with during her tenure. She was portrayed by Denise Crosby.
Crosby would return to reprise her character on several occasions in subsequent seasons and even played her half-Romulan daughter, Sela created via a temporal paradox.
The teenage son of Dr. Crusher. Gifted with enormous intelligence and aptitude along with incredible potential for redefining warp physics, Wesley inadvertently has played a critical role in a number of missions ... along with inadvertently fouling things up aboard the Enterprise. He was portrayed by Wil Wheaton.
Whenever the officers and crew of the Enterprise need to relax, they tend to frequent the Ten-Forward Bar where they can usually find some comforting wit and wisdom from Guinan, the mysterious alien hostess who has managed to pick up a thing or two over the course of her several hundred years lifespan. She was portrayed by Whoopi Goldberg.
Omnipotent and unbearably obnoxious, Q is a member of an advanced alien civilization known as the "Q Continuum" which exists as a group of immortal noncorporeal entities with vast inherent powers over reality, time, and space. However unlike the vast majority of his race, Q finds it amusing and entertaining to interact with "lesser species" and humanity in particular ... most however refer to his so-called interactions as more akin to "tormenting them". He was portrayed by John de Lancie.
Q is one of the most popular recurring guest stars and has managed to make appearances in almost every single subsequent Star Trek series including Deep Space Nine; Voyager; Lower Decks; and Star Trek: Picard.
For more Star Trek: The Next Generation characters click on the link below:
After twenty years, a new starship Enterprise is being comissioned and launched. It is the NCC-1701-D, a Galaxy-Class starship which is the latest and greatest ship ever conceived and constructed by the Federation and helmed by one of their most experienced and ablest of Captains―Jean-Luc Picard. He and his untried and untested crew will act as humanity's stellar champions as they travel out to the unknown reaches of space itself; exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations, and boldly going where no one has ever dared to go before.
Their maiden voyage however is interrupted by a malicious omnipotent being who calls himself, "Q" and he puts Picard and his crew on trial, notifying them that they will be tested to see if humanity is even worthy of survival. Although Picard successfully navigates Q's challenge showing compassion and understanding, the omnipotent alien warns that he will be back...
