Star Trek has brought a plethora of fantastic characters to audiences over the years, from lovable yet stoic starship captains, to some of the most terrifyingly creepy enemies in the sci-fi genre. The franchise is fantastic at crafting protagonists and antagonists, but what sets the fictional creation aside is its ability to create morally ambiguous characters. Plenty of characters straddle the line between right and wrong for various purposes, like the enigmatic Q.
For these reasons, it’s often hard to overtly hate a character, even when they are an antagonist. However, there are a few exceptions. One such character is Deep Space 9's Kai Winn, and while she is not a typical villain, she is still one of the most intentionally hated characters of the franchise.
Winn is a prominent character from the dark Deep Space 9 show, and she does not at first appear to be a major antagonist. She is a middle-aged Bajoran religious leader, played by Louise Fletcher. Winn was a prominent figure in Bajoran society, and was elected Kai in the 2370s after dedicating her life to serving the Prophets. Despite her role as a fairly pivotal antagonist, she was not all evil. Her motivations were rooted in her anguish at being rejected by the prophets, as well as the traumatic events that transpired during the Cardassian occupation. During this time of turmoil, she bribed a Cardassian official with temple gemstones to stop a bunch of Bajorans from being brutally murdered. However, she was arrested shortly after for refusing to stop teaching others about her faith, which was forbidden by the Cardassian authorities. She spent years being tortured, leading to her becoming the twisted and hard-nosed orthodox leader seen in the show.
While Kai Winn might appear to be all smiles and kindness, this was a carefully calculated facade. There was nothing about her character that was genuine, and many fans hate her for this exact reason. There is no other character in the franchise who would act so pleasant in a person's company, to then turn aside and stab them in the back. Kai Winn would agree with someone and side with them in the moment, then betray them if things got heated. She believed that the Federation had no place interfering in Bajoran affairs. Her anger only increased when non-Bajoran outsider Benjamin Sisko was named emissary to the Prophets. Suddenly, he was allowed to communicate with the being she had dedicated her entire life to. Kai Winn is noted to have never spoken to the Prophets, so to see them communicate with someone who was not only Federation but also human pushed her over the edge. This slowly turned her into the major villain that she became.
Despite her history with the Cardassians, Kai Winn's obsession with power and personal gain meant she often sided with them and their nefarious ways, albeit not publicly. As part of the main story arc, she allied herself with a group called the ‘Alliance for Global Unity,’ otherwise known as the Circle, who were secretly supported by the Cardassian empire. Their goal was to use the Circle to overthrow the existing Bajoran government, and when in power, expel the Federation from their lands. This would leave Bajor open for another Cardassian occupation. The lack of Starfleet presence would make it easy for them to swoop back in and pick up where they left off, but the coup was exposed by the intrepid DS9 crew.
Somehow, despite her strong links with the now exposed organization, Winn managed to remain in her position of power. If anything, she sunk her claws in deeper and became a political force to be reckoned with, taking the position of First Minister when the old one died. However, this did not last long, as another candidate was elected in her place.
Winn turned from a backstabbing, ambiguous antagonist to full-fledged villain when she stopped the event known as the reckoning, a union between the Prophets and the Pah-Wraiths with a radiation field. Her anger toward Sisko being chosen over her had become too much for her to bear. She and Gul Dukat (another well-written villain) turned against the Prophets to worship the Pah-Wraiths, beings of similar power (albeit evil) who actually spoke to her. It was a moment of failed faith, choosing the ‘gods’ that listened to her over the ones who ignored her despite being entities of good. The Pah-Wraith offered Winn even more power, both political and religious.
At this point fans were desperate to see Winn's demise, as she was a constant pain in the backside for the morally ambiguous Sisko and other members of the space station. They were granted their wish, but with a moment of remorse from the complicated and twisted villain. Winn had one redeeming moment before she died: she gave Sisko the book of Kosst Amojan, the key to rectifying the wrongs she helped orchestrate.
Kai Winn was a character that was intended to be hated, not just for her acts of sheer evil, but for what she symbolized. She was the epitome of closed-minded, political power addicts. She hated everybody who wasn’t of the same race as her, and repeatedly backstabbed others to get what she wanted. Every time she appeared, audiences knew she was up to something. She was put in a position where others were required to trust her, all while she abused her power to further her career. She was an instantly relatable villain: not a manic hell-bent on world destruction, but a corrupt politician, like so many in today's world. Her power hunger and xenophobia were her undoing, and while her presence within the show was infuriating, her demise was deeply satisfying.
