For almost 60 years, the “Star Trek” franchise has given us some of the greatest characters in all of televised fiction. From Captains Kirk (William Shatner) and Picard (Patrick Stewart) to stoic favorites like Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), “Trek” stars have become icons of pop culture. It’s even a franchise that gave prominent roles to women and minorities back when that wasn’t the norm.

Of course, with a dozen TV shows and even more movies, there are also plenty of awful characters, with the worst villains of “Star Trek” able to fill an entire library alone. Others roles aren’t just groan-worthy, they’re downright exasperating. A few of those frustrating characters even become ironic icons in their own right. While many Trekkies have their favorite characters and some fans argue over who is the best captain, there’s another debate to be waged: Who is the most aggravating character in “Star Trek”?

If you’re a big fan, we’re sure you have one or two that immediately spring to mind. They’re characters whose mere presence on the screen makes you roll your eyes or want to fast forward to the next scene. We’ve put together a ranked list of the top five most annoying “Star Trek” characters (with an emphasis on character, not actor) based on how much we dislike seeing their face on the screen. If you think we’re missing someone, fret not. We promise you that we considered putting them on this list.

When “Star Trek: Picard” was announced, there was plenty of anticipation about the return of one of the franchise’s most popular characters, and fans were eager to see who filled out the rest of the cast. Though the absence of many “Star Trek: The Next Generation” alumni was a disappointment to many, the prospect of all-new supporting characters was exciting. While fans were giddy to see “Voyager” star Jeri Ryan back as Seven of Nine, Michelle Hurd’s character, Raffi Musiker, turned out to be an obnoxious bore.

A so-called rebel, Raffi had been an exceptional Starfleet officer serving under Admiral Picard in the years between “TNG” and “Picard,” but suffered a sharp fall from grace. Now, she was a drug addict who didn’t seem capable of tying her own shoes, while her bitterness and anger at everything around her made her feel grating any time she stepped on screen. Hurd — who you may have forgotten starred on “Law and Order” — does what she can with the material she’s given. But Raffi is overwrought and underwritten, and we never get a glimpse as to why she was considered such a talented officer that Picard would hand-pick her for his latest mission.

Season 2 of “Picard” doubled down on Raffi, giving her an inexplicable romance with Seven of Nine. Her subplot goes nowhere, she has little to add to the proceedings beyond whining all the time, and by the end of the time travel arc, many were probably wishing she’d stayed in the 21st century instead of Rios (Santiago Cabrera).  

The cast of “Star Trek: Generation” was brimming with confident, stalwart officers, and a crew that included some of the best of the best that Starfleet had to offer. And then there was Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton). On board because his mother, Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden), was the ship’s chief medical officer, Wesley could have been just a recurring minor character. Because he was created by Gene Roddenberry as an idealized version of himself, he got top billing as a member of the main cast. He is also in nearly every early episode. 

The problem with Wesley Crusher isn’t just that he’s what Hollywood calls a “nepo baby,” with all the controversy that includes, it’s also that he’s a “Mary Sue,” an overpowered author insert. Wesley is incredibly skilled at almost everything, and is able to solve the toughest problems with relative ease, even though he’s only a child. He’s supposedly a genius destined for greatness (says a time-traveling alien), and it doesn’t help that actor Wil Wheaton plays him, accurately, with the brattiness of a spoiled only child. In Wesley’s defense, part of the problem is that the first two years of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” were so bad that nearly every character is troublesome — but Crusher is the worst of the bunch.

Arguably the most reviled “Trek” character in the franchise’s history, fans have since understood that Wheaton isn’t to blame for how bad his character was, and have embraced him as a “Trek” ambassador. If not for a few strong episodes where he returned for a guest spot after departing the series as a regular (including “The First Duty”), Wesley Crusher might be No. 1 on our list.

Majel Barrett, wife of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, was Nurse Chapel in the original “Star Trek” series. When “The Next Generation” arrived, Barret would eventually guest-star in a new role (in addition to voicing the ship’s computer): Lwaxana Troi, the overbearing mother of the Enterprise’s resident counselor, Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis). It seems the character was designed to be exasperating, because the characters on the show dread her arrival on the ship whenever she appears. Even her own daughter is exhausted by her.

Haughty, pretentious, and played with over-the-top flamboyance by Barrett, Lwaxana Troi is defined by her personality. She’s constantly criticizing everything and everyone around her with a smile. Her pompous style of dress makes her an eyesore, too, and most of it feels intentional. The real shame of it all is that in the one episode where she’s given a compelling story — the Season 7 episode “Dark Page” — Barrett gives a great performance as a grieving mother traumatized by the death of a daughter we never knew she had. 

“Trek” writers kept going back to Lwaxana, even after it was clear that the fandom wasn’t as in love with her. They even brought her over to “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” for three additional stories, for no apparent reason at all. The only saving grace is that she’s been embraced by some fans as an icon among the LGBTQ community. Still, most of her episodes are easy skips during “Trek” marathons.

If you were launching a “Star Trek” series to be the flagship show of a new network, surely you’d want to include a goofy-looking comic relief character that makes audiences want to turn off the TV. That’s the case for Neelix (Ethan Phillips), the happy-go-lucky Talaxian who is adopted by the crew of the USS Voyager in “Star Trek: Voyager.” When we first meet him, he’s already on our last nerve, and when he joins the crew as the ship’s cook and “morale officer,” he only gets more maddening. His off-kilter personality belies a serious lack of intelligence, with his dim-witted nature seemingly intended to be a source of comedy. It only serves to make him a frustration.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Neelix’s uncomfortable relationship with another character, Kes, played by Jennifer Lien, who would leave the show due to serious issues with her mental health. Kes is an alien who only lives nine years and, at just 1 year old, behaves like a pre-teen. Nevertheless, she is involved with the very much middle-aged Neelix, whose behavior borders on controlling. Today we may even see his actions as grooming. Like Lwaxana Troi, Neelix seems to annoy other crew members, most notably the Vulcan security chief Tuvok (Tim Russ), whose stoic demeanor is at odds with the ebullient Talaxian.

Admittedly, there are a handful of Neelix episodes worth watching, but it is notable that his best episode, “Tuvix,” is one in which he only appears briefly. More often than not, he is shoehorned into otherwise strong stories.

Midway through the run of “The Next Generation,” the series added a borderline toddler to the recurring cast when we meet Alexander Rozhenko (Jon Paul Steuer). Alex is the son of Worf (Michael Dorn), born out of wedlock to his half-Klingon paramour, K’Ehleyr. Left in the care of his father, the mischievous tyke adds little to the series other than to demonstrate what an awful father Worf is. He was also a difficult character to get right: After the character’s first appearance, Steuer was replaced by “Family Ties” veteran Brian Bonsall (who would face real-life legal issues later in his career). 

Bonsall does a serviceable job in his appearances as the young Klingon, which was not an easy role for a child actor. Unfortunately, he’s written to be a little rascal who refuses to behave, and that can make audiences recoil. He’s always complaining, always getting in trouble, and he pushes Worf to his last frayed nerve time and time again. It’s no wonder Worf isn’t a good father; he was handed a brat. In fact, the only time when Alexander gets anything interesting to do is when he appears as an adult (played by frequent guest actor James Sloyan), when he time-travels to the past to toughen up his younger self so that Worf won’t be assassinated years later.

Alexander turns up again in a couple episodes of “Deep Space Nine,” where we see he has grown into an even more obnoxious young man. Probably his single worst hour was the time “Next Generation” teamed him with Lwaxana Troi in “The Cost of Living,” creating perhaps the most annoying episode in “Trek” history.