It’s November, so no man is allowed to shave. Well, actually, Movember is a men’s health awareness campaign; designed to raise awareness (and sweet latinum) for men’s health issues and causes. But it raised a conversation in the Poll of the Month Discord chat – who has the best beard in all of Star Trek?
There are plenty of options – the first, and most obvious, is that of Captain Sisko – for not only does the beard make Sisko look like an absolute bad-ass, but it also marks the point at which Deep Space Nine becomes a top-tier show, instead of a weird TNG spin-off.
Speaking of TNG, the other famous beard is that of William Riker; a beard that Frakes still sports to this day (and still looks fabulous in, might I add!). Again, TNG’s greatness can be tracked alongside the development of Riker’s beard, a bizarre metric, but a metric nonetheless.
Then we have some more oblique beards – the less obvious or less permanent ones. The beard that O’Brien grows in Hard Time (the one where he spends twenty years in prison despite only being in there a few hours) is arguably the hardest-won beard, but it is very unkempt. But perhaps that floats your boat. The scruff that Tom Paris grew in the Voyager episode Alice deserves an honourable mention (but is nothing compared to Robert Duncan McNeil’s current face fungus).
My personal favourite beard, and the image below, is the one Leonard McCoy sports after he leaves Starfleet (but before he comes back). Affectionately known as Disco Bones, a magnificent beard of thick hair ties together the whole ensemble.
Finally, because we have to have a joke answer on these things (it’s my stipulation for doing them), there is always Bashir’s beard. Ezri Dax was her name. Ay-o!
Or perhaps you have another favourite follicle (perhaps from the Mirror Universe) – let us know in the comments!
Whose your favourite? Drop us a line in the comments.
You can learn more about the Movember mo-vement over at https://movember.com/, including how you can get involved in the fundraising work, and mo your own way.
