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ELIZABETH JANEWAY
The daughter of a mathematician mother and an astrophysicist father, Janeway was on a track for a career in science. Her natural leadership abilities manifested themselves quickly, however, and she was rapidly promoted to ever-more-responsible positions. And because of her hands-on experience in various science posts, she brings to her captaincy a greater familiarity with technology and science than any captain we've yet experienced. Her relationship with her mother, a StarFleet theoretical mathematician, was particularly close, and she used to enjoy talking with her, discussing esoteric issues of math as well as down-to-earth issues of life. Her mother was her role model, and bequeathed Janeway with warmth, sensitivity, intellectual curiosity, and likability. She misses her mother's presence in her life. Janeway was in the midst of a relationship with a man when Voyager took its unscheduled leap to the edge of the galaxy. The last conversation she had with him took place on a monitor, and it was a rushed, harried chat. She never realized it was to be the last. Although she keeps up a positive front about finding a quick way home, she realizes that she may never reach Federation space in her lifetime, and that her lover, after an appropriate mourning period, will move on and undoubtedly find someone else. These thoughts, held at bay during the day, tend to surface in the middle of the night when it's hard to sleep. Janeway is respected and loved by the members of her crew, but what about the renegades? Their captain, Chakotay, has agreed to the position of First Officer, and must now report to a Starfleet officer. Chakotay himself develops a strong bond with Janeway. He had known of her, heard of her diplomatic and tactical exploits, and realizes that if they were to be dumped at the ends of the galaxy with any Captain - they're lucky it was this one. Tom Paris has been given his chance at redemption by Captain Janeway, and he's determined to prove to her that it was a good idea. But B'Elanna maintains a distance between herself and the Captain. She won't be won over so easily. NOTE BY JANET: Certain aspects of the personality and certain back-story elements did not end up included in the series, while others were added during the series and thus do not appear in the above text. NOTE BY JANET: The character's original name was Elizabeth Janeway, which was changed for legal reasons, as explained by Jeri Taylor: "There is a prominent Elizabeth Janeway, and we're not allowed to use names of prominent people because it can be sticky, although we heard sort of secondhand that Elizabeth Janeway was flattered about it. It then changed again to Nicole at Genevieve Bujold's request, because that is in fact her given name and she wanted that. For two days it was Nicole Janeway (then Bujold left during the second day of filming; when she left, the name Nicole was abandoned) and then when Kate came on board, it was Kathryn - in fact the name we'd already chosen even before Kate was cast in the role."
Picture: publicity shot. Text sources: VC, Poe. Thanks to Juliomac for the background tile (shown at reduced size) and Eos Development for the text background tile from the set 'Traceries'.
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A human, Janeway is by no means the only female captain in StarFleet. But it is generally acknowledged that she is among the best-male or female. She embodies all that is exemplary about Starfleet officers: intelligent, thoughtful, perspicacious, sensitive to the feelings of others, tough when she has to be, and not afraid to take chances. She has a gift for doing the completely unexpected which has bailed her out of more than one scrape.