Colonel Kira Nerys

Kira Nerys arrives on Deep Space Nine as the Bajoran liaison to the Federation, a former resistance fighter still bristling at the occupiers-turned-partners now running her station. She is sharp-tongued, devout, quick to anger, and deeply suspicious of Starfleet's presence in her people's space, though duty keeps her at her post.

DS9 trusted its audience with a protagonist who fought as a terrorist against occupation, and never asks Kira to soften that into something more palatable. Nana Visitor plays her fury as earned rather than performative, and lets her faith and stubbornness sit uneasily alongside genuine growth, making Kira one of television's most fully realized former insurgents.