| |
| Played by: |
Ethan Phillips |
| Place of birth: |
Rinax, a Talax moon |
| Marital status: |
Single |
Neelix is a jovial
Talaxian, a
species of this far side of the Delta Quadrant, whose wit and instincts have
enabled him to survive as a scavenger and merchant. Now he aids Voyager's cause
admirably after coming aboard with the Ocampa, Kes. Although he takes his good-natured abuse at times for it, he has been
invaluable in preparing fresh meals from the flora and fauna of this region in
order to ration food replicator power. He even
researched and came up with 20th century foods for all - with none
of his usual custom twists added. In addition, his past dealings and travels
have yielded invaluable information as well for Voyager's command decisions and
strategy. He has begun taking a more active role in senior staff affairs and
even held off the Kazon-Ogla when the Captain and Commander Chakotay were
absent.
Neelix's chores as self-appointed "chief morale
officer" have run the gamut from personal counseling, such as with Lt.
Ayala dealing with his separation from his children, to a daily intership video program
for the crew, "A Briefing with Neelix," begun ca. SD 49483. The latter
led to his single-handedly tracking down the Paris ruse to flush out Crewman
Jonas as a Kazon informant, risking his life but emerging intact after killing
Jonas in a raw plasma stream in Main Engineering after a brawl there.
Neelix has already confronted his past devils coming aboard, admitting
he avoided military service before the 2366 conquest of his home planet Talax by
the Haakonian Order, who forced surrender after it irradiated his family and the
rest of the population of the Talax moon Rinax with the Metreon Cascade weapon.
The weapon's inventor, Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel, died of his own metreon radiation
poisoning after tracking Voyager to help find a way to yet retrieve those who
perished, and the difficult process was a big step for him. The first encounter
with the Vidiians included the theft of Neelix's lungs, but they were eventually
returned when Janeway showed their prisoners mercy while the Doctor's
holographic substitutes kept Neelix alive.
Neelix was completely in love
with Kes, and was ready to
father a child when her premature elogium seemed to loom. His jealous nature of
Kes was an ugly monster until he finally settled with its main target, Tom
Paris, after the two helped birth a sentient reptiloid infant in an abrasive
atmosphere. Around stardate 50348.1, he and Kes separated, to the surprise of
many: the events during which she was possessed by an alien mind changed her
forever.
His long-running feud with the less-than-patient Doctor is not
helped by Kes' early Elogium, which finds him pondering the responsibilities of
parenthood and deciding to embrace it, only to be nixed by Kes herself and other
events. Later he assisted with the birth of Ensign Wildman's baby.
His
main activity aboard is that of the ship's cook. His culinary adventures are not
always appreciated, though. Especially his custom of delivering a history of
each meal while it is served. | |
