There are but a select few characters in Star Trek that hold the weight of hundreds, if not thousands. A Federation starship captain holds the weight of the prime directive on their shoulders, as well as the potential for countless lives of all different species. Jean-Luc Picard is one such character with such responsibilities.
As the captain of the USS Enterprise, Picard has been through the wringer on many occasions. As a stoic and wise captain, even he has been seen to make mistakes and to cause failures that would ripple through the cosmos for the Federation and himself.
8 Rejecting Q
Q is one of Star Trek’s most interesting characters. He’s of entire omnipotence, and his powers seem nigh on infinite. Q seems to have a fixation with the Starfleet captain, Picard, and seems to adore nothing more than pestering Picard like they are jolly good friends from high school. Q’s centric episodes of The Next Generation are some of the most fun episodes Star Trek has to offer.
In one such episode, “Q Who,” Q expresses interest in joining Picard’s crew of the Enterprise-D. Q argues that his intellect is of great use to the Federation, as there will soon be far greater threats than just Klingons, Cardassians, and Romulans. Picard rejects Q’s offer. His pride gets in the way of recruiting perhaps the most valuable asset that the Federation could have ever known.
7 Killing Junior’s Mother
When the Enterprise-D encountered a singular creature orbiting Alpha Omicron 7, they were attacked by it. This creature, a mysterious and unnamed life form existing in the vacuum of space, was attacking the Enterprise, presumably because it saw the metallic ship as a threat.
Picard decided to shoot the creature with the Enterprise’s phasers, which killed it on the spot. This was due to the power of the phasers, even on the lowest setting. This creature’s death left the newly birthed space creature, dubbed “Junior,” alone and orphaned, without a birth mother.
6 Dagger To The Heart
When Picard dies in his artificial heart, Q offers him a choice to return to the event that caused it and fix whatever he saw as a regret. This regret, Picard saw as being stabbed through the heart by a Nausicaan when he was but an Ensign. What may have seemed like a failure turned out the be one of Picard’s greatest strengths, as things get worse for Picard when he manages to keep his real heart.
Upon waking, Picard finds himself in an alternate reality where he took no risks and instead lived his life as an assistant astrophysics officer. Picard’s biggest mistake was undoing what he considered a regret in the first place.
5 The Borg War
When Q left the Enterprise-D in the uncharted space over seven thousand light years from their previous location, Guinan adamantly advises Picard to return to Federation space immediately. Picard, ever the bold captain, ignores such a wish and decides to explore the nearby unexplored system.
Here, the Enterprise-D discovers the Borg. If Picard listened to Guinan, then the Borg would have been in uncharted space for who knows how long. Thus, the Federation could have avoided a ghastly war with the Borg, who changed course to seek out life to assimilate.
4 Becoming Locutus
What Picard may regard as his greatest failure is when he was captured and assimilated by the Borg. Picard had his humanity stripped from him. His complexion drained, and his body fixed with robotics to become the Borg known as Locutus.
Picard had his link to the Borg Collective severed and his implants removed. Picard’s assimilation haunted him, and even when taking a break on Earth with his family in La Barre, France, he had an emotional breakdown from what happened.
3 Picard’s Vengeance
In the Star Trek movie First Contact, it has been six years since Picard was captured and assimilated by the Borg. When the Borg returns to conquer the Federation, Starfleet believes that Picard’s experience and trauma make him too unstable for a critical situation. Picard disobeys orders with his crew and joins the fight.
As the Borg assimilate the Enterprise, the crew pleads with Picard to stop his defense and use the escape pods to escape and self-destruct the Enterprise. Picard, in fury, labels Worf a coward for wanting to run away. Picard’s rage for the Borg has him arguing with his crew, and his greatest mistake is not listening to his crew, which he later does. No one can truly understand what Picard went through and his desperation to make the Borg pay for what they’ve done.
2 Losing His Brother
As the older brother to Jean-Luc, Robert Picard lived a peaceful life on the Picard family vineyard in Labarre, France. Robert had a wife, Marie, and a young son called René. After his assimilation as Locutus, Jean-Luc mended old wounds and reforged a bond between his brother and nephew.
The two brothers clashed on many occasions due to their different lifestyles. Jean-Luc was forced to return to the Starfleet, for that was the life he knew. In 2371, Robert and his son were killed in a devastating fire. This grief would affect Picard for a long time, and perhaps he even blames himself for what happened if only he was there for his brother.
1 Trusting An Evil Clone
Part of what makes Picard, and the future so remarkable, is their innate ability to trust. Considering in the 21st century, humanity tends to have suspicion and judgment of anyone; it’s no surprise that the future Star Trek envisions is one where everyone is equal. When Picard meets his clone, Shinzon, he is shocked at first but soon invites him to dinner aboard the Enterprise.
Picard leans from Shinzon of his creation, and Picard happily tells his clone of his past and the workings of the ship. However, Picard’s trust in his clone left his crew in danger, as Shinzon formed a telepathic link with Counselor Troi to attempt to make love to her unwillingly. He soon became a villain and sought nothing but death and destruction.