I Have Important News! (Someone Should Be Having A Happy Birthday Now...)
James Tiberius Kirk is the best Captain ever. There, I've said it. You need reasons?
Kirk is certainly the best fighter amongst all the captains. And he got more women then all of them combined. But he's more than just a hard punching ladies man. He's a genius of a very different caliber, someone who, more often that not, makes his own solutions to problems (the best example of this is his completion Kobayashi Maru by reprogramming the computers). Kirk managed to solve the "trouble" with Tribbles by transporting a large number on to the Klingons ship. Kirk was also among the first Federation officers to deal with the Romulans, taking down a cloaked Bird of Prey in defense of the Federation (he would also lead a brillant gambit resulting in the retrivial of both a Romulan cloaking device and a starship commander). Kirk was the first Captain to ever face court maritial, and he managed to have the charges overturned completely. Kirk twice defeated Star Trek's greatest villain, Khan, someone who was in every way Kirk's better. Kirk was insturmental in making peace between the Klingons and the Federation, in his defeat of a specially modified Bird of Prey that could fire while cloaked (it should be mentioned that he defeated it with a torpedo that was designed to track the ship's engine emissions, something well in keeping with his modus operandi).
These are just a few of the things Kirk has done over his long and brillant career. When Picard goes back in time, it's usually something accidental. When Kirk does, it's intentional (he's had a record seventeen infractions, from the Guardian of Forever to the V'Ger crisis). Kirk inspires a certainly loyalty from his officers that no other captain does, and he in turn returns it (The Search For Spock proves this point entirely). He's always on the front lines, scrambling down the Jeffries Tubes or piloting the ship by himself (even in Generations, he basically sacrfices himself modifing the deflector shield against the Nexus). Even the Klingons had to admit that he was a worthy foe, much to their chagrin. Kirk's managed to inflitrate gangsters, Nazis, even the evil mirror universe, with little or no preperation, and does so with stunning success. Kirk was even compared to U.S. Grant by Abraham Lincoln himself!
Kirk wins, hands down. Picard may be a better actor, Sisko may be badass, Janeway may be female and Archer may be...well, Scott Bakula, but Kirk was the first. Kirk is the best. He beat down Khan, he saved the Federation, he travelled through time, had dozens of affairs with beautiful alien women, he outsmarted some of the greatest minds in the galaxy, he put together one of the best crews ever.
And he did it all in only three seasons.
Kirk is certainly the best fighter amongst all the captains. And he got more women then all of them combined. But he's more than just a hard punching ladies man. He's a genius of a very different caliber, someone who, more often that not, makes his own solutions to problems (the best example of this is his completion Kobayashi Maru by reprogramming the computers). Kirk managed to solve the "trouble" with Tribbles by transporting a large number on to the Klingons ship. Kirk was also among the first Federation officers to deal with the Romulans, taking down a cloaked Bird of Prey in defense of the Federation (he would also lead a brillant gambit resulting in the retrivial of both a Romulan cloaking device and a starship commander). Kirk was the first Captain to ever face court maritial, and he managed to have the charges overturned completely. Kirk twice defeated Star Trek's greatest villain, Khan, someone who was in every way Kirk's better. Kirk was insturmental in making peace between the Klingons and the Federation, in his defeat of a specially modified Bird of Prey that could fire while cloaked (it should be mentioned that he defeated it with a torpedo that was designed to track the ship's engine emissions, something well in keeping with his modus operandi).
These are just a few of the things Kirk has done over his long and brillant career. When Picard goes back in time, it's usually something accidental. When Kirk does, it's intentional (he's had a record seventeen infractions, from the Guardian of Forever to the V'Ger crisis). Kirk inspires a certainly loyalty from his officers that no other captain does, and he in turn returns it (The Search For Spock proves this point entirely). He's always on the front lines, scrambling down the Jeffries Tubes or piloting the ship by himself (even in Generations, he basically sacrfices himself modifing the deflector shield against the Nexus). Even the Klingons had to admit that he was a worthy foe, much to their chagrin. Kirk's managed to inflitrate gangsters, Nazis, even the evil mirror universe, with little or no preperation, and does so with stunning success. Kirk was even compared to U.S. Grant by Abraham Lincoln himself!
Kirk wins, hands down. Picard may be a better actor, Sisko may be badass, Janeway may be female and Archer may be...well, Scott Bakula, but Kirk was the first. Kirk is the best. He beat down Khan, he saved the Federation, he travelled through time, had dozens of affairs with beautiful alien women, he outsmarted some of the greatest minds in the galaxy, he put together one of the best crews ever.
And he did it all in only three seasons.