Q (Star Trek)
Q is a fictional being who first appeared on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The character was played by John de Lancie.
Q is one of the Q Continuum, a race of supposedly omnipotent, immortal and omniscient hyperintelligent beings. Entities from the Q Continuum are not totally omnipotent. Different Q's limit each others' power. They are not immortal either. In some episodes Q's died, killed each other, thereatened each other with death.
Thus, members of Q Continuum have powers that make them essentially God-like; however, they also have human-like emotions and conflicting goals. In this sense, they are more like Greek gods than Yahweh. However, sometimes Q is useful in philosophical discussions that touch on the question of whether God could exist and not be omnibenevolent.
De Lancie's character in particular is vain, rude, and a trickster. He derives amusement from setting out arbitrary challenges for human characters and threatening them with severe, often genocidal consequences if they should fail.
In addition to The Next Generation, Q also made appearances in a few episodes of other Star Trek series: Deep Space Nine and Voyager.
