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The template for this character was Nick Locarno, a brash Starfleet cadet whose plan to cover up a flight disaster in TNG's "The First Duty" almost cost Wesley Crusher his Starfleet career. Locarno was also played by Robert Duncan McNeill.

• Voyager is stranded in the Delta Quadrant. The crew it has is the only crew it is going to have for the foreseeable future.
• Of the only 120 or so surviving Starfleet crew members, only a handful would be competent enough to fly a starship through unpredictable circumstances. (In normal circumstances, the ship can fly itself if necessary, and the computer can also implement pre-programmed evasive maneuvers in an emergency, but a competent helmsman is required for most real battle scenarios. That's one of the reasons why starships still have helmsmen.)
• Voyager's primary helmsman was Lt. Stadi. However, she was killed when Voyager was flung from the Badlands to the Delta Quadrant in the first episode.
• Without being ordered to do so, Paris grabbed the helm and steered Voyager to safety. He also distinguished himself by saving Chakotay's life towards the end of the first episode.

The template for this character was Nick Locarno, a brash Starfleet cadet whose plan to cover up a flight disaster in TNG's "The First Duty" almost cost Wesley Crusher his Starfleet career. Locarno was also played by Robert Duncan McNeill.

• Voyager is stranded in the Delta Quadrant. The crew it has is the only crew it is going to have for the foreseeable future.
• Of the only 120 or so surviving Starfleet crew members, only a handful would be competent enough to fly a starship through unpredictable circumstances. (In normal circumstances, the ship can fly itself if necessary, and the computer can also implement pre-programmed evasive maneuvers in an emergency, but a competent helmsman is required for most real battle scenarios. That's one of the reasons why starships still have helmsmen.)
• Voyager's primary helmsman was Lt. Stadi. However, she was killed when Voyager was flung from the Badlands to the Delta Quadrant in the first episode.
• Without being ordered to do so, Paris grabbed the helm and steered Voyager to safety. He also distinguished himself by saving Chakotay's life towards the end of the first episode.

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Stranding Voyager in the Delta Quadrant and forcing its crew to work alongside a group of very anti-Starfleet Maquis members was a catalyst for creating tension and disorder on Voyager. (Ultimately, the producers creative staff failed to capitalize on this tension by dissolving it too quickly, but that's another story.)

Stranding Voyager in the Delta Quadrant and forcing its crew to work alongside a group of very anti-Starfleet Maquis members was a catalyst for creating tension and disorder on Voyager. (Ultimately, the producers creative staff failed to capitalize on this tension by dissolving it too quickly, but that's another story.)