# Was Q (on Star Trek: TNG) good or evil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109 "2009-04-23T16:29:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/41 "2009-04-24T03:30:44Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > From the episode “Deja Q” > > Q: “Simple: Change the gravitational constant of the universe.” > LaForge: “What?” > Q: “Change the gravitational constant of the universe, thereby altering the mass of the asteroid.” > LaForge: “Redefine gravity. And how the hell am I supposed to do that?” > Q: “You just DO it. GAHH! Where’s that doctor, anyway?” > Data: “Geordi is trying to say that changing the gravitational constant of the universe is beyond our capabilities.” > Q: “Well, then… never mind.” Well, to be fair its just “make it so” brought to another level 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spudo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Spudo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spudo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/42 "2009-04-24T03:43:38Z")
I always felt that despite the mischief making guise he put on, Q was genuinely interested in the development of humanity. At the trial he says as much: humanity is being tested because of its potential to one day become like the Q. When he throws the Enterprise across the galaxy and into a Borg cube he says he did it because he wants them to understand that the galaxy isn’t kind to the complacent. It’s an amazing place, full of all kinds of wonder, but it’s also deadly. I felt that a kind of complacency ran throughout most of TNG, so it was nice to see Q giving them a kick in the ass. Even in the final episode, when Q puts the history of humanity in jeopardy, he’s doing it to show Picard the possibilities of the human mind, not just to be a jerk. So I think Q is good, but is a tough love kind of guy. He’s a “throw you in the pool to see if you can swim” kind of mentor. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/43 "2009-04-24T05:42:37Z")
Loki, Coyote, Anansi, Kitsune… I don’t know which trickster God he was specifically modeled after, but I always got the impression that that’s what he was supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/44 "2009-04-24T12:33:48Z")
To start another hijack…remember the Doud? The elderly couple who were the only survivors of a decimated planet, and it turned out the man, grief-stricken at the loss of this wife, had killed all the Husnak everywhere, _the entire race_, with a single thought. I don’t think even Q could do that. We certainly saw no evidence he was capable of that, did we? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/45 "2009-04-24T12:42:41Z")
I vote for evil because of the way he treated the Calamarain in Deja Q. Once given his powers back, he was ready to start tormenting them again and no doubt would have if Corbin Bernsen hadn’t let him know that the continuum was still watching. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/46 "2009-04-24T12:47:26Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > To start another hijack…remember the Doud? The elderly couple who were the only survivors of a decimated planet, and it turned out the man, grief-stricken at the loss of this wife, had killed all the Husnak everywhere, _the entire race_, with a single thought. > > I don’t think even Q could do that. We certainly saw no evidence he was capable of that, did we? I seem to remember that they at least implied the Q could do ANYTHING, if not outright saying it. So, if nothing else, I guess it makes them fairly restrained. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/47 "2009-04-24T13:38:43Z")
> [@Spudo](#): > > Even in the final episode, when Q puts the history of humanity in jeopardy… I don’t think he does. My understanding is that Picard created the anomaly. Q actually tells Picard what is going on, and moves him around in time so that he can close the anomaly. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/48 "2009-04-24T14:38:04Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I don’t think he does. My understanding is that Picard created the anomaly. Q actually tells Picard what is going on, and moves him around in time so that he can close the anomaly. Picard wouldn’t have created the anomaly if Q hadn’t been moving him around in time in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/49 "2009-04-24T14:44:51Z")
Q did have two of the greatest lines in the history of TNG. To Riker: “You weren’t like this before the beard.” An exchange with Worf, when Q has become human: Q: What must I do to convince you people? Worf: Die! Q: Oh, very clever, Worf. Eat any good books lately? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/50 "2009-04-24T15:01:22Z")
Picard created the anomaly by investigating the anomaly in the past, present and future. It happened without Q causing it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/51 "2009-04-24T15:04:46Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Cool, there are at least three of us who crossover the _TNG_ and _DOOL_ fandoms. 🙂 Four of us. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/52 "2009-04-24T15:07:22Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Four of us. Um…what is DOOL? Days of Our Lives? ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/53 "2009-04-24T15:08:54Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > Q did have two of the greatest lines in the history of TNG. > > To Riker: “You weren’t like this before the beard.” > > An exchange with Worf, when Q has become human: > > Q: What must I do to convince you people? > Worf: Die! > Q: Oh, very clever, Worf. Eat any good books lately? Don’t forget the infamous “Sieze my vessel” exchange with Picard. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/54 "2009-04-24T15:11:17Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > To start another hijack…remember the Doud? The elderly couple who were the only survivors of a decimated planet, and it turned out the man, grief-stricken at the loss of this wife, had killed all the Husnak everywhere, _the entire race_, with a single thought. > > I don’t think even Q could do that. We certainly saw no evidence he was capable of that, did we? Quinn transported Voyager to before the Big Bang in _Death Wish_, and that’s a bit more impressive in my view. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/55 "2009-04-24T15:13:37Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Um…what is DOOL? Days of Our Lives? Right. DeLancie made his mark as Eugene Bradford before being Q. DOOL’s resident bad girl Sami Brady’s full name is Samatha Gene, a tribute to Eugene. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/56 "2009-04-24T15:15:02Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Quinn transported Voyager to before the Big Bang in _Death Wish_, and that’s a bit more impressive in my view. By “impressive,” do you mean “stupid”? _Before the big bang_ is as meaningless as _north of the north pole_.\* But given the endless quest for deuterium that Voyager’s writers sent Janeway on, that level of scientific illiteracy wasn’t surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/57 "2009-04-24T15:20:29Z")
I didn’t say the science was smart, but it happened within the context of their universe and making their Universe not exist is on an entirely different level than commiting genocide. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/58 "2009-04-24T15:24:52Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > I didn’t say the science was smart, but it happened within the context of their universe and making their Universe not exist is on an entirely different level than commiting genocide. Yeah. You just activated my snark reflex. I hate Voyager far more than I hate an ordinary sucky tv show, as it not only squandered its enormous potential but also had good episodes randomly scattered throughout (each of which gave you false hope until the next week’s stinker crushed it). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/59 "2009-04-24T15:25:15Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Can anyone who loves mariachi music truly be considered Evil? Well said. My favorite Q moment followed quickly on the heels of that, when he materialized already-lit cigars in the mouths of Picard and Riker. Picard’s expression as he takes it out of his mouth is priceless. 😃 Another vote for a Loki-type demigod mixed with tough-love gym coach… although DeLancie was fond, in the early days of the series, of likening Q to Lord Byron, who was famously described as being “mad, bad and dangerous to know.” ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109/60 "2009-04-24T15:28:32Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Well said. My favorite Q moment followed quickly on the heels of that, when he materialized already-lit cigars in the mouths of Picard and Riker. Picard’s expression as he takes it out of his mouth is priceless. 😃 Another great scene from that episode is his making Data laugh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-q-on-star-trek-tng-good-or-evil/494109.md?page=4)