How Commander Riker Influenced Sci-Fi’s Most Flawed Character
One of the things that made the Battlestar Galactica reboot so refreshing is that it felt different from mainstream science fiction franchises like Star Trek. That was by design, of course, as showrunner Ronald D. Moore had learned what to do and what not to do through years of writing for The Next Generation and its spinoffs. A great example of this is that he used his experience writing for Commander Riker to turn Battlestar’s Colonel Tigh into a more flawed and relatable character.
Tigh Was A Little Different
This surprising info about Riker inspiring Tigh’s character design comes to us straight from Moore himself. Back when the Battlestar Galactica series premiered on SyFy, the showrunner ran an official blog where he revealed various secrets concerning the show’s production and its writing.
He also answered questions from fans, and one fan was particularly interested in why Tigh was so different from the kind of career military character fans were expecting.
A Flawed Military Man
In the fan’s blunt words, Moore “took a military man and turned him into a drunk,” transforming what could have been “A strong, dedicated man” into a self-absorbed and “incorrigible” character.
In retrospect, it was a pretty aggro fan question, but the showrunner didn’t respond with anger or sarcasm. Instead, he gave an insightful answer, one that explicitly compared more traditional military characters like Riker to Colonel Tigh.
The Anti-Riker
Moore claims that “I wanted a new dynamic between the CO and the XO.” In his eyes, being “the second in command” in these shows is typically presented as “a kinda thankless task (just ask Commander Riker) and tends to fall into the ‘I agree with everything you just said, sir’ category,” something he didn’t want for Tigh.
And the more he explained his reasoning, the more it was clear that Moore was using the beloved Riker as an example of what not to do in his new show.
Interesting Beyond Command Decisions
He pointed out that “‘command decision ability’ isn’t really the core of the character, since that primary role is assigned to the commander.” In other words, such characters aren’t really interesting in their official positions because audiences and characters alike look to the commanding officer (Picard for Riker and Adama for Tigh) as the ones making the big decisions.
When a ship already has an authoritative commander, Moore feels that writers need to “make the character of the XO and his interaction with both the crew and the commander interesting on its own.”
Good News For Us
We never really thought about writing in these terms, but Moore has a point: nothing about Riker as a commander is all that interesting because he’s always on the same page as Picard. What made this Star Trek character stand out are his hobbies and personality, both of which shine more when he’s off-duty (playing the trombone, acting in plays, and flirting with seemingly every woman on the ship).
With Battlestar Galactica, Moore gave Tigh a character flaw–his alcoholism–that affected both his military duties and his interaction with the crew, making him both compelling and very distinct from Commander Adama.
Around here, we love Riker as much as he loves jazz, but we’re still glad that Ronald D. Moore made Tigh into a completely different character. This narrative experiment was a success, and the flawed Tigh (played perfectly by Michael Hogan) remains one of the most engaging characters on the entire show.
We hate to say it, but sorry, Riker: when it comes to interesting sci-fi characters, Tigh has you beat in almost every frakkin’ way.
