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The Borg may seem like Star Trek: The Next Generation’s greatest threat, but the Mirror Universe version of Captain Picard is even scarier.
The Star Trek: The Next Generation television series set up the Borg to be the ultimate villains for Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew. The Borg assimilate every humanoid race they encounter, trying to bring order under their cybernetic hive mind. Their “resistance is futile” mantra illustrates how their emotionless, unending army stops at nothing to achieve their goals. At one point, they successfully captured and assimilated Jean-Luc into the Borg Collective.
As formidable as the Borg are, IDW’s Mirror Universe comics gave Jean-Luc an even more dangerous adversary — himself. The Mirror Universe was first explored in the original Star Trek show. It is an alternate inversed version of the prime universe where Star Trek exists, turning good and humane characters into ruthless and selfish ones. In this reality, there was no Federation Starfleet, only an empire that was set on conquering the galaxy. However, the human forces were pushed back by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. In a universe of hostility and force, Mirror Captain Jean-Luc Picard wants to rule it all.
Mirror-verse Jean-Luc Picard first appeared in the six-issue series Star Trek: The Next Generation: Mirror Broken by David Tipton and Scott Tipton and illustrated by J.K. Woodward. The bearded, sleeveless and evil Jean-Luc Picard captained the derelict Stargazer with a crew of angry warriors. This Picard encouraged a rule of “might is right,” and murdered higher-ranking officers for means of promotion. When he first met Commander William Riker, Picard bested him in a bar fight then convinced Riker to join his crew. Unhappy with the state of his ship and of the way the Terrians were treated by the other races, Picard hatched a plan to steal the newest and most powerful ship in the galaxy — the Enterprise. Using cunning, deceit and blackmail, Picard wrangled a competent crew and acquired the famous ship. His feat proved to the universe that he was a force to be reckoned with.
Through the Mirror, the sequel series to Mirror Broken, Picard and his crew figure out a way to cross over to the Prime Universe. In the final issue, Picard faced himself on the deck of the Enterprise where he planned to claim another of the flagships. Mirror-Picard’s devious mind helped him confront the Prime Picard, but his brute force quickly kicked in. He ordered his crew to kill, not stun or capture, their opposites. Although Mirror-Picard was ultimately defeated and retreated back into his own universe, it was a close call. It made the Prime Universe realize that their counterparts were an ominous threat that they must monitor and avoid any more contact with.
The third installment of the Mirror Universe series, Terra Incognita, showed Picard may have lost the battle but he wasn’t even close to losing the war. The mirror versions of Picard, Geordi La Forge and Reginald Barclay discovered a planet in the prime universe that they could conquer and use to build a fleet. This year, IDW will finally reveal what became of Picard’s plans in the new Mirror Wars comic event.
Prime Universe Captain Jean-Luc Picard is wise, witty and has a knack for leadership. His graceful ways and deep empathy have defused many situations and saved countless lives during his time as captain. He is arguably one of the best leaders in the history of the Federation. Thinking of all the good Picard has put into the universe, it is terrifying to think of what his inverse could be capable of. Mirror universe Picard has all of the same raw materials as the prime version; yet, he has directed all of his energy into evil pursuits. The two going head to head is literally a match of equals and could go to either Picard. Only Jean-Luc Picard is adequately prepared to fight against the worst version of himself.
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