| Benjamin Sisko | |
|---|---|
| Star Trek character | |
 | |
| First appearance | "Emissary" (1993) |
| Last appearance | "What You Leave Behind" (1999) |
| Portrayed by | Avery Brooks |
Benjamin Lafayette Sisko is a fictional character in theStar Trek franchise portrayed byAvery Brooks. He was the main character of the television seriesStar Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), which was originally broadcast between 1993 and 1999. The character has also appeared in various books, comics, and video games within theStar Trek franchise.
Born in 2332 inNew Orleans, Louisiana, Benjamin is the son ofJoseph Sisko and a human woman named Sarah, who was possessed by aBajoran Prophet, in order to conceive Benjamin. Sarah disappeared a short time later, when the prophet left her body, and died in an accident several years later. Joseph eventually met and married another woman, who raised Benjamin as her son. Benjamin remained unaware of these events until well into his adulthood. Sisko lovesbaseball, a sport that has largely disappeared by the 24th century but is kept alive by a small group of aficionados.
Sisko enteredStarfleet Academy in 2350. During hissophomore year, he was in a field-study assignment on Starbase 137. He met a woman namedJennifer inBabylon, New York, onGilgo Beach, shortly after graduating from the Academy. The two eventually wed and had a son namedJake.[1] As aStarfleet officer coming up through the ranks, Sisko was mentored byCurzon Dax, a joinedTrill serving as ambassador to theKlingon Empire.
In 2369, Sisko is assigned to theBajoran sector to command Deep Space Nine and help Bajor's recovery from the recently concludedCardassian occupation, shepherding them toward possible membership in the Federation. Upon Sisko's first visit to Bajor, the Kai (Bajor's spiritual leader),Opaka Sulan, labels him "the Emissary of the Prophets" and gives him one of theBajoran Orbs. By studying the orb and nearby stellar phenomenon,Jadzia Dax finds a stablewormhole; the other end of which connects to theGamma Quadrant. Sisko and Dax encounter the mysterious entities living within it, named "Prophets" by the Bajorans. Although most Bajorans immediately accept Sisko as their highest spiritual leader, this causes conflicts with his standard role as a captain, his personal discomfort with it, and the Bajorans that resent that the emissary is not a Bajoran.
The Gamma Quadrant is home to the Dominion, an aggressive and expansionist empire, which led to theDominion War. Klingons, Romulans, and even the Cardassians eventually joined forces with the Federation against it. Sisko fulfills the Prophets' destiny for him in the series finale, "What You Leave Behind", by confronting theKosst Amojan-possessed GulDukat. Sisko throws himself and Dukat into the fiery abyss of the Bajoran Fire Caves, and Sisko is pulled into the Prophets' plane of existence to live with and learn from them. Sisko imparts a farewell to his new—and pregnant— wife,Kasidy Yates, informing her that although he does not know when, he will eventually return to her.
In 2009,IGN ranked Sisko as the 8th best character ofStar Trek overall.[2] In 2012,Paste Magazine rated Sisko as the #9 character of allStar Treklive-action television shows up to that time.[3] In 2016,ScreenRant rated Benjamin Sisko as the fourth best character inStar Trek overall as presented in television and film up to that time.[4] In 2016, Sisko was ranked as the 2nd most important character ofStarfleet within theStar Trek science fiction universe byWired magazine.[5]
In 2017,The Washington Post ranked Sisko as the second best Captain ofStar Trek, and compared him to the American WW2 General and US PresidentEisenhower.[6][7] They note how he tried to raise his son on the wayward space station despite being widowed, while contending with crew of dubious loyalties.[6] In 2017,Space.com ranked Sisko the fifth best captain ofStar Trek.[8] In 2017,Screen Rant ranked Sisko the 3rd most attractive person in theStar Trek universe, in betweenSeven of Nine andNyota Uhura.[9]
In 2019, Cinema Blend ranked Sisko the fourth best Star TrekStarfleet character of all time.[10] Sisko was rated as one of the top seven time travelers of the Star Trek franchise byNerdist in 2019, especially for his time traveling adventures in "Trials and Tribble-ations" and "Past Tense".[11]
In 2018,CBR ranked Sisko the third bestStarfleet character ofStar Trek, in between Janeway and Picard.[12]
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