Warning: contains spoilers for “What’s a Q to You?” appearing inStar Trek#500!
Star Trekjust explained Q’s entire personality with one sentence. The omnipotent trickster figure of the franchise, Q has always displayed a flair for the theatrical, employing grand stunts and illusions as he trolls Captain Picard. Now, in the story “What’s a Q to You?” appearing inStar Trek#500,Q Jr, while undergoing a rite of passage in the Continuum, gives context to him and his father’s colorful personalities.
“What’s a Q to You?”, one of the stories appearing inStar Trek#500, is written by Morgan Hampton and drawn by Megan Levens. Q Jr has fallen sick with a cold, his first. As a result, Q Jr’s perceptions of the universe are different, and he becomes aware of a race called “the Observers.” Q Jr cannot accept that there are species above him, and tries to attack them. His father reigns him in, however, telling him there are even bigger species in existence.Q Jr concludes “Qs loves an audience,” and decides to give the Observers a show.
Q’s FirstStar TrekAppearance Set the Stage for Every Visit to Follow
Q Is Very Powerful, And Loves “Camping” It Up
When Q made his first appearance inStar Trek: The Next Generation’spilot episode “The Encounter at Farpoint,” he made one of the boldest, splashiest entrances in the franchise’s history. Appearing to Captain Picard dressed as genocidal warlord Christopher Columbus, Q accuses humanity of being savage and childlike, and puts them on trial. During the episode, Q took on different appearances: in one scene, he appeared as a judge in a late 21st century kangaroo court and in another, as a drug-addled soldier. This tradition of grand entrances would continue throughout the franchise.
Q was played by John De Lancie, and Q Jr was played by his son Keegan.
Fans quickly learned that Q was not alone, and there were, in fact, many others just like him, existing in a place called the “Continuum.” These other Q, who would pop in from time to time, also demonstrated theatrical tendencies. In the third seasonNext Generationepisode “Deja Q,” other members of the Continuum, tired of Q’s antics, stripped him of his powers, and they were only restored when he learned his lesson. Later, duringStar Trek: Voyager, the Qs nearly went to war with each other, andonly the birth of Q Jr prevented a total collapse.
Q is a Quintessential Trickster Figure
Q Also Knows He is Being Observed, and Acts Accordingly
This passion for using elaborate scenarios and tricks to teach lessons is common for trickster figures like Q. Many cultures on Earth, ranging from the Norse to the Greeks to various Indigenous nations, have some sort of trickster figure in their pantheon. Be itthe Norse god Loki,Anansi or Coyote, tricksters often push the boundaries of what is acceptable in a society, but ultimately do not threaten its existence. They challenge norms and sometimes even impart knowledge–just like Q. Despite Q’s extreme methods, Picard and others often gain insight from the encounter.
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While a passion for dramatics unites all tricksters, it is especially pronounced in Q, and “What’s a Q to You” makes this clear, and that it has also rubbed off onto his son. Q Jr realizes his father’s colorful and flashy costumes had a purpose: Q knew all along he had an audience in the Observers, and decided, just like his son at the end of the story, to give them a show. The story equates the Observers withStar Trekfans, who have come to expect grand and showy antics from Q–and he is happy to oblige.
