A couple weeks ago on Cohost, I mentioned that the functional opposite of a Mary Sue is a Jadzia Dax. In the classical definition of the term, a Mary Sue is an overly-talented, often female, character whose insane skills ruin the story. I'd seen posts on Tumblr talking about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and how Jadzia Dax was a "textbook Mary Sue"; but can that stand up to logical scrutiny? Can we seriously step back, analyse the whole of Deep Space Nine canon, and come to the conclusion that Jadzia was unusually gifted to the point of undermining stories?
The answer is a resounding "no, of course not". Jadzia's skills are not really any greater than anyone with Starfleet science training would have, even though she's host to Dax, a 364-year-old Trill symbiont. And, it's perhaps because of Dax that Jadzia constantly got the shaft. Every story that wasn't Ira Behr, Bob Wolfe, or Ron Moore using her as a self-insert tended to pretend like she was not Jadzia. Most of the "Jadzia" stories were actually about Dax or Worf; really the only times Jadzia was really allowed to carry any sort of dramatic weight as just herself was "Past Tense" and "Meridian"; and those weren't really "Jadzia" stories, per se. All the rest of the time, it was about someone else—"Playing God" was about Curzon, "Rejoined" was about Torias, "Blood Oath" was about Curzon again, "Facets" was about everyone except Jadzia. And then, when she got paired with Worf, usually Worf got most of the attention and better lines. The low point had to be "Change of Heart", where all she had to do after such an impressive introduction was waste away in the jungle on Stage 5. When Dax passed from Jadzia to Ezri, that did more for character development than 6 years of standard storywriting. We learned more about Ezri in a single series than we did about Jadzia in 6. We didn't even know what Jadzia's deadname was. The only thing we knew for certain about Jadzia, independently of Dax, was that she was afraid of failure and re-applied to the Symbiosis Commission after washing out; apparently, this was something unique that no other Trill initiate had ever done before. Beyond that, though...
There's something particularly obscure that I wouldn't have even thought about if it hadn't been pointed out to me—Jadzia is the only principal character in the entire Rick Berman era whose family is not seen. While passing references were made to a sister and her mother, neither of them were ever actually seen. Everyone else, though, had at least one member of their family show up in some form or another; and that's really what this entry is about. Literally every other principal character; not just on DS9, but TNG, Voyager, and Enterprise; we got to meet someone in their family. Not Jadzia, though. And now, since it seems to be Insufferable Trek Geek Hours again, let's have a detailed look, shall we?
^ - Denotes recurring appearances.
The Next Generation.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard
• Yvette Picard [mother] (106-"Where No One Has Gone Before")
• Robert [brother], Marie [sister-in-law], and René Picard [nephew] (402-"Family")
Commander William Riker
• Kyle Riker [father] (214-"The Icarus Factor")
Commander Beverly Crusher
• Wesley Crusher^ [son] (101-"Encounter at Farpoint")
• Jack Crusher^ [husband] (402-"Family")
Lieutenant Commander/Commander Deanna Troi
• Lwaxana Troi^ [mother] (111-"Haven")
• Ian Troi [son] (201-"The Child")
• Ian [father], and Kestra Troi [sister] (707-"Dark Page")
Lieutenant Commander Data
• Lore^ [elder brother] (113-"Datalore")
• Lal [daughter] (316-"The Offspring")
• Noonian Soong^ [father] (403-"Brothers")
• Julianna O'Donnell [mother] (710-"Inheritance")
• B4 [other elder brother] (Star Trek Nemesis)
Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Geordi la Forge
• Edward and Silva la Forge [parents] (703-"Interface")
Lieutenant Worf
• Worf [grandfather] (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
• K'Ehleyr^ [mate] (TNG 220-"The Emissary")
• Kurn^ [Klingon brother] (TNG 317-"Sins of the Father")
• Sergei and Helena^ Rozhenko [Human parents] (TNG 402-"Family")
• Alexander Rozhenko^ [son] (TNG 407-"Reunion")
• Nikolai Rozhenko [Human brother] and Dobara [sister-in-law] (TNG 713-"Homeward")
• Martok^ [Klingon adoptive brother] (DS9 521-"Soldiers of the Empire")
Lieutenant Tasha Yar
• Ishara Yar [sister] (406-"Legacy")
• Sela^ [daughter] (426-"Redemption")
Deep Space Nine.
Commander/Captain Benjamin Sisko
• Jennifer^ [wife] and Jake Sisko^ [son] (101-"Emissary")
• Joseph Sisko^ [father] (411-"Homefront")
• Sarah Sisko^ [mother] (701-"Image in the Sand")
Major/Colonel Kira Nerys
• Kira Taban [father] (519-"Ties of Blood and Water")
• Kira Meru [mother], Kira Reon and Kira Pohl [brothers] (617-"Wrongs Darker than Death or Night")
Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax
• not a damn soul
Ensign/Lieutenant Ezri Dax (née Tigan)
• Yanas Tigan [mother], Norvo and Janel Tigan [brothers] (711-"Prodigal Daughter")
Lieutenant Julian Bashir
• Richard and Amsha Bashir [parents] (516-"Doctor Bashir, I Presume?")
Chief Specialist Miles O'Brien
• Keiko O'Brien^ [wife] (TNG 411-"Data's Day")
• Molly O'Brien^ [daughter] (TNG 505-"Disaster")
• Kirayoshi O'Brien^ [son] (DS9 512-"The Begotten")
Constable Odo
• The Great Link^ [entire family] (301-"The Search, part I")
• Mora Pol^ [adoptive father, sort of] (212-"The Alternate")
Quark
• Nog^ [nephew] and Rom^ [brother] (101-"Emissary")
• Ishka^ [mother] (323-"Family Business")
• Gaila [cousin] (518-"Business as Usual")
Voyager.
Captain Kathryn Janeway
• Admiral Janeway [father] (315-"Coda")
• Shannon O'Donnel [great4 grandmother], Henry Janeway [great4 grandfather], and at least 7 unnamed ancestors (523-"Eleven Fifty-Nine")
Commander Chakotay
• Kolopak [father] (209-"Tattoo")
• unnamed grandfather (519-"The Fight")
Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Tuvok
• T'Pel^ [wife] (208-"Persistence of Vision")
• Sek [son] (704-"Repression")
Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres
• Miral [mother] (603-"Barge of the Dead")
• John Torres [father]; Carl Torres [uncle], Dean, Elizabeth, Michael Torres [cousins] (712-"Lineage")
Lieutenant/Ensign/Lieutenant Tom Paris
• Owen Paris^ [father] (208-"Persistence of Vision")
Ensign Harry Kim
• Mary Kim [mother] (320-"Favourite Son")
• John Kim [father] (720-"Author, Author")
Seven of Nine (née Annika Hansen)
• Magnus and Erin Hansen [parents] (406-"The Raven")
• Irene Hansen [aunt] (720-"Author, Author")
Kes
• Benaren and Martis [parents], Linnis [daughter], Andrew [grandson] (321-"Before and After")
Neelix
• Alixia [sister] (412-"Mortal Coil")
The Doctor
• Lewis Zimmerman [father] (304-"The Swarm")
• Charlene [wife], Jeffrey [son], Belle [daughter] (322-"Real Life")
Enterprise.
Captain Jonathan Archer
• Henry Archer [father] (101-"Broken Bow")
Subcommander T'Pol
• T'Les [mother] (403-"Home")
Commander Charles Tucker III
• Elizabeth Tucker [sister] (301-"The Xindi")
Lieutenant Malcolm Reed
• Stuart and Mary Reed [parents], Madeline Reed [sister] (112-"Silent Enemy")
Ensign Hoshi Sato
• unnamed father (210-"Vanishing Point")
Ensign Travis Mayweather
• Rianna [mother] and Paul Mayweather [brother] (220-"Horizon")
Dr. Phlox
• Feezal [wife] (214-"Stigma")
Verdict. Jadzia Dax was a woefully underdeveloped character and I'm surprised Terry Farrell was able to endure playing it for as long as she did. I propose that the opposite of a Mary Sue is a Jadzia Dax; a female character who possesses an average skillset, but is intentionally overlooked, tokenised, and used to enable irrelevant storytelling; essentially a pre-Flanderised character whose singular trait is to enable development of other characters. Other Jadzia Daxes in media include Lieutenant Uhura and Yeoman Rand on the original Star Trek. Can you find any Jadzia Daxes in your comfort media? I'm sure you can.
--19 May 2024--