For over half a century of television and cinematic history, a great variety of iconic “Star Trek” characters have graced screens both big and small. Fans of the franchise have enjoyed watching brilliant scientists and brave warriors tackle everyday workplace problems that are anything but ordinary to us 21st century Earthlings. While the stories of “Star Trek” are entertaining to watch, the typical heroes of the franchise and the problems they face are often too extraordinary to be relatable. However, the series “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” set out to create a cast of characters with widely diverse backgrounds, skill sets and ambitions. One of the most relatable characters came in the form of Jake Sisko, a young man striving to find his place in the galaxy.
Portrayed by Cirroc Lofton, Jake is first introduced as the twelve year-old son of the main protagonist, Commander Benjamin Sisko. Commander Sisko is a high-ranking Starfleet officer. He is a member of a prestigious collection of military leaders, scientists and doctors who represent the United Federation of Planets. Three years after Jake’s mother is killed in battle, Commander Sisko is assigned to command a newly-acquired Federation space station called Deep Space Nine. Jake’s character is less than enthusiastic when he has to move away from home.
Serving as the show’s primary heroes, the adult characters adjust to their new jobs aboard the space station, settling intergalactic conflicts and investigating space anomalies. However, Jake’s greatest concern is whether or not he will make friends. When he meets his best friend Nog, the nephew of a known conman and smuggler, Jake faces his noble father’s disapproval.
Jake and his father are close, but even the closest relationships run into bumps in the road. Young viewers can relate to Jake’s confusion, frustration and nervousness as he aims to please his father while maintaining his friendship. As Jake’s character grows up, viewers watch him navigate his interpersonal relationships as he learns what type of person he wants to be.
Jake and Nog remain friends throughout childhood, but wind up following separate paths. While Nog becomes the first member of his family to enroll in Starfleet Academy, Jake knows from a young age that he wants to do something different with his life. Commander Sisko and everyone else around assume that Jake will enroll in the Academy and follow in his father’s footsteps.
In the episode “Shadowplay,” Sisko encourages Jake to get a job helping out the station’s chief engineer, as the experience will look impressive on his Starfleet application. Jake follows his dad’s advice, but he knows he must tell him the truth eventually though he is afraid to disappoint him.
At the end of the episode, Jake sits down with his dad and nervously explains how he feels: “Starfleet is too much like you. I need to find something that’s me.” Sisko tells Jake that he understands, but he makes one request—that Jake finds a career he will love for the rest of his life.
As Jake grows up, he discovers his love for writing. He begins writing poetry in secret, hiding his work from his dad, who eventually finds out by accident. Commander Sisko is impressed by his son’s interest in the arts and encourages Jake to keep writing. Soon, Jake grows comfortable sharing his work with his dad, telling him his dreams of publishing novels one day. Jake’s real passion in life is writing fiction. He spends his free time working on drafts of novels and short stories. However, he decides that he wants to get a job and feel what it’s like to have his work published by writing articles.
While his father worries that Jake might abandon his aspirations of being a novelist, Jake has already come to the realization that he doesn’t need to give up his hobbies in order to keep a job. While he may not be doing the work he expected to do in the beginning of his adult life, he embraces the opportunity to find a job that he can extend his passion towards. This aspect of Jake’s story exemplifies the way young adulthood can be an adjustment period. Jake, as many young adults do, works to pursue his passions while being realistic about the opportunities available to him. He serves as a role model for young viewers as he learns to balance his aspirations and his present responsibilities.
In spite of Jake’s positive actions and the situations he handles with maturity, Jake is not perfect and runs into his fair share of conflicts. In “The Ascent,” Jake has major disagreements with Nog after the two young men become roommates. Returning from Starfleet Academy with a new love for tidiness and discipline, Nog calls out Jake for being unmotivated and disorganized. Jake is not receptive to Nog’s complaints and Nog is not receptive to Jake’s. The pair almost decide that they have become too different to be friends anymore, a relatable experience for childhood friends who have grown up and started their own separate lives. At the end of the episode, Jake and Nog settle their differences, but only with the help of their fathers who urge them to reconcile.
All his life, Jake’s father has been a source of comfort for him. Through all of the bizarre and dangerous situations that occurred on the space station, Jake felt safe with his father by his side. But, as all young adults must do, Jake learns what it’s like to face crises without a parent to come to the rescue. “…Nor the Battle to the Strong” is the crucial episode where Jake learns this lesson. He finds himself far away from home, traveling with the station’s chief medical officer, Dr. Bashir after agreeing to write an article about him. The doctor receives a distress call from a Federation settlement that is under attack. Despite Bashir’s reluctance to bring eighteen year-old Jake into a war zone, Jake insists that he is old enough to handle anything.
But the medical emergency at the settlement was far worse than Jake imagined it would be. What was even more unsettling to Jake was the way he responded to the situation. He wasn’t nearly as brave, strong or heroic as he imagined. He ran away from Bashir when he was supposed to be helping him, leaving the doctor in danger and alone to complete the rest of their mission. When he returned to the hospital, he felt guilty and ashamed and lied about why he disappeared. He lashed out at the doctors for their relaxed behavior, but refused to explain what was bothering him.
After returning home, he confessed to everything in an article he wrote about the experience. One of the first to read the article is Jake’s father, who responded, “Anyone who’s been in battle would recognize himself in this. Most of us wouldn’t care to admit it.” The episode leaves the audience to wonder if they would have reacted any differently to the crisis if they were an inexperienced eighteen year-old in Jake’s place.
In a show full of conventional heroes who virtually never have a lapse in courage in the face of danger, Jake shows in his reactions the less celebrated emotions: anger, fear and shame. He is an everyday man in predicaments that seem to call for extraordinary people. For this, he is one of the most relatable characters on screen, acknowledging feelings everyone feels but may not “care to admit” to. This makes it all the more inspiring when Jake, the relatable kid who admits to being imperfect, volunteers to stay behind as a war correspondent for the Federation News Service when Deep Space Nine is taken over by the enemy in the episode “Call to Arms.” With this small detail, “Deep Space Nine” carries on the optimistic legacy of the “Star Trek” franchise. And Jake serves as proof that everyday people can be heroes in their own way.
