Every "Star Trek" fan has a favorite Captain, to varying degrees of actual rank. It might be James T. Kirk, it might be Benjamin Sisko. For a lot of us, it's hard to overcome the legacy of Jean-Luc Picard, formerly of the Enterprise-d. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" star Sir Patrick Stewart introduced himself with chilly efficiency at first, a man seemingly so rigid that having an empath around made sense. But Picard, like the rest of his crew, was flawed and human. Behind the noble French-English veneer was a man with a lifetime of troubled relationships, and a soul scarred deep by the Borg.

Picard brought with him quirks that became fandom legend, like the Picard Maneuver, which seems him snappily tugging at his tunic whenever he gets out of his chair, or the barked words "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot," at irregular intervals. He also brought us one of...