History YMMV / StarTrekDeepspaceNine

** It doesn't help that the Prophets/Pah-Wraiths plot is resolved almost as quickly as it starts. Almost as if they were planning for a season 8 with which to resolve it, and found themselves forced to do it within the latter half of the 7th season instead.

** Admiral Nechayev has never been well-liked since her main job is to be an ObstructiveBureaucrat, but in [=DS=]9 she goes beyond the pale because she was ''willing to sell the Federation to the Dominion''...! except that was not actually her, it was a hologram/mental simulation that the Founders used to test just how far they could push the Federation. It was a rather large plot point, but apparently forgettable in favor of complaining about her. (It probably doesn't help her case that this was only six episodes after she'd turned up for real and invoked HeadInTheSandManagement regarding the Maquis insurgency.)

* FranchiseOriginalSin: ''Deep Space Nine'' introduced Section 31 to ''Star Trek'' canon, but unlike later portrayals (and despite protestations of Ira Steven Behr) it was overall portrayed relatively negatively as a recurring antagonist to Dr. Bashir: he and O'Brien notably faced zero consequences for [[spoiler:Sloan's death, and ultimately acheived peace with the Dominion by ''thwarting'' their attempted genocide of the Founders]]. Its reappearance in ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' after 9/11 was where the notion of Section 31 being a "good" thing really took hold.

*** More broadly, every instance of the Prophets being ignorant about, or misunderstanding, affairs of corporeal life can be interpreted as them using something akin to the ObfuscatingStupidity technique to achieve results like Sisko's epiphany in the pilot episode.

** The Ferengi. While Ferengi episodes still tend to be comedic {{Breather Episode}}s, the show develops the Ferengi from a PlanetOfHats into a believable culture and features three regular Ferengi characters who are portrayed sympathetically to varying degrees. Nog and Rom show that the Ferengi are good at more than just business and Rom and Quark show that being good at business has its benevolent side. They show that capitalism, when used right, is about helping people meet each other's needs.

*** Some fans liked the character well enough, but objected to the amount of episodes and screen time devoted to fleshing her out and then, even worse, endless Worf/Ezri scenes of Worf whinging over Dax. Which was made irrelevant as this plot ends in a giant case of StrangledByRedString as she ends up with Bashir. All this during the season that was wrapping up the series long arcs.

** The [[AliensAreBastards Cardassian]] [[{{Villains}} villain]] Dukat was intended to come across as a [[{{Narcissist}} narcissistic]] [[TheSociopath sociopath]], complete with [[AGodAmI delusional]] [[JustFollowingOrders rationalizations]] of his [[NecessaryEvil evil]] actions both during the [[LaResistance Bajoran]] [[TheEmpire Occupation]] and after. However, partly due to Marc Alaimo's strong, [[FauxAffablyEvil charismatic]] performance, many fans ''defended'' his actions as [[IDidWhatIHadToDo justified under the circumstances]]. Doesn't help that Dukat embracing his genocidal ambitions is a direct result of the hero prodding him into it when Dukat is mentally unstable and emotionally destroyed. Moments like Dukat giving up everything to spare a half-breed daughter don't hurt either. And it definitely didn't help that the show ran on GreyAndGrayMorality, [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructing]] Starfleet and the Federation's ideals. The writers themselves were split over how sympathetically they should show Dukat, with some proposing a HeelFaceTurn and having him shipped with Major Kira (the latter idea was rejected after Nana Visitor firmly objected against that).

** Dukat may have gone completely AxCrazy evil insane in "Waltz", screaming about his hatred of Bajor and wanting to kill all Bajorans [[InsaneTrollLogic right after rationalizing why he was trying to help them despite killing them]]... However, even through all the insane JerkAss craziness of his, he does make one good point (although this also doubles as JerkassHasAPoint). Benjamin ''doesn't'' have the right to judge anyone except in a CourtroomEpisode where it becomes part of his job. It's a simple human flaw, but it shows up every now and again.
--->'''Dukat''': [[SarcasmMode Behold Benjamin Sisko, supreme arbiter of right and wrong in the universe. A man of such high moral calibre that he can sit in judgement on all the rest of us.]]
** That's the entire thrust of "Waltz". Sisko begins the story with an ambivalent attitude about putting Dukat in a Federation Court, and ends it regretting he didn't kill Dukat during any point in the last six years and let him elude their grasp. It's about an individual coming to the conclusion that they ''are'' the arbiter of right and wrong in the universe, and rejecting moral relativism. Or maybe it's Ron Moore telling the fanboys to shut up and watch and [[DearNegativeReader stop sending him letters]]. That's more or less the message of every Dukat story post-"Indiscretion". ("You're not supposed to '''LIKE''' him, nerds!")

*** Notably, Season 3 of ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' deals with the consequences of Section 31's actions during the Dominion War, with that season's villains being [[RenegadeSplinterFaction Founders that refused to recognize peace with the Federation]] due to the revelation that they seemingly thought nothing of Section 31 inflicting the mutagenic virus against the Founders, as well as [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing those they'd managed to imprison]].

* MoralEventHorizon:
** "The Quickening" reveals to us that Dominion as a whole ''soared'' over the line centuries before the story proper even began - in that episode, we learn that, as [[MakeAnExampleOfThem as punishnment for standing up to the Founders]], the Dominion deliberately infected the people of the world that Bashir visits with an incurable virus that causes the victim to die [[CruelAndUnusualDeath writhing in agony from grotesque lesions on the skin]] that can suddenly grow in size [[ParanoiaFuel completely at random at any point in the victim's life.]] They did this to ''the entire population of the planet'', including all children to be born in the future. And to make matters worse, the plague is specifically designed so that [[spoiler:use of advanced medical equipment on the victims ''worsens'' the pain.]] As some fans have observed, before watching this episode you want to see the Dominion stopped, and after you [[HateSink want to see them]] ''[[HateSink obliterated]]''.
** The unnamed Female Changeling proved multiple times to be pretty repugnant. She goes beyond the pale, however, in the last episode, where she [[spoiler:orders the entire Cardassian race exterminated, starting with Cardassia Prime.]] And that's not even the least of it. [[spoiler:She goes on to tell the protagonists that not only will she not surrender regardless of the circumstances, she's sure the Dominion will [[SuicideAttack do as much damage as possible before going down.]] If her species is doomed to die, she's [[TakingYouWithMe taking the entire quadrant down with her.]] Fortunately, Odo does change her mind.]]
** Dukat's a jerk, and we know he presided over the slaughter of millions of Bajorans, but then in "Waltz," he picks up a metal bar and attacks an injured and helpless man. And nothing he does can any longer surprise us.
** Admiral Leyton, the BigBad of "Homefront/Paradise Lost" seems like a WellIntentionedExtremist for most of the story, even looking conflicted and regretful when he frames Sisko and tosses him into a holding cell. [[spoiler:But he crosses it big time when he tells his right-hand-woman to destroy the ''Defiant'' under the pretense that it's full of Changelings--just to kill the ''other'' underling they'd caught before they reach Earth and expose the conspiracy]].
** Liquidator Brunt manipulates Quark into signing a contract that requires him to die to fulfill, or else live in disgrace and destitution. He even torments Quark about defiling his remains after he's dead. Quark even resorts to taking out a hit on himself in an effort to live up to his principles [[spoiler:before, thankfully, he has an epiphany and stands up to Brunt]].

*** Some fans liked the character well enough, but objected to the amount of episodes and screen time devoted to fleshing her out and then, even worse, endless Worf/Ezri scenes of Worf whinging over Dax. All this during the season that was wrapping up the series long arcs.

** Most notably, at the time that the shows were broadcast, there was incredible fandom rivalry with ''Series/BabylonFive'', partly because the creator of ''Babylon 5'' accused Paramount of plagiarizing the show's concept from him. (Although ''Deep Space Nine'' premiered before ''Babylon 5'', Straczynski had pitched B5 to Paramount and been turned down before [=DS9=] was created. Just swap out "Centauri and Narn" for "Cardassians and Bajorans", and you're set for Season One.) Nowadays, things are more friendly, with fans of both shows admitting that they both had good and bad points, and that ''Deep Space Nine'' responding to ''Babylon 5'' by starting its own long-term arcs was a positive development. Even during the worst rivalry, a lot of people quietly watched and enjoyed both.

** "Rules of Engagement" is lousy with this, due to a pair of {{Plot Hole}}s regarding the [[spoiler:purported]] civilian ship Worf blows up. Miles and Sisko both argue that Worf should have verified his target before firing (though Miles qualifies this with the point that your decisions in the moment can be different from what [[ArmchairMilitary somebody armchair-quarterbacking the battle later sees]]). In fact, Worf had no rational reason to believe that there were any cloak-capable ships within a light-year of his position other than the ones attacking him: [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale in space, there's no sensible reason for a civilian ship to come anywhere near an active firefight]], and that's before you get to the unasked question of why a ''civilian'' ship would even have ''access'' to a cloaking device. Never mind the fact that [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry Kirk and Sulu once fired on a cloaked attacker]] ''without'' waiting for him to decloak.
** "Change of Heart": Worf gets raked over the coals because he chose to save Jadzia rather than extract a Cardassian defector who had information that potentially could save millions of lives. He's told he probably won't face charges, but only because a court-martial would risk exposing sensitive information, the incident will be entered into his service record, and he'll probably never be offered a command. But you can't expect ''anyone'' to be so coldly rational as to sacrifice his fucking ''wife'' even for the sake of millions, which is ''exactly'' why real-life militaries don't send married couples out on missions together. Even most businesses are leery of employing married couples. Starfleet absolutely should have been aware of this issue and never sent them in the first place. Sisko issues an order that they not go on missions with just the two of them from now on. You're just now realizing this, Sherlock? (Notably, the episode side-stepped the whole issue of conflict of interest from the start by way of having KIRA, who is not a member of Starfleet, pass on the order to go after this informant, rather than Sisko, their chain-of-command superior, who probably would have brought this up long before Dax and Worf found themselves suffering from mission creep.) Of course, it's worth noting that Sisko admits he would've made the same choice, and the novel ''Literature/StarTrekPicardTheLastBestHope'' has the newly-promoted Admiral Picard muse that nine out of ten officers would've followed suit.

** Kira herself was apparently hated at the start, with fans deciding they now preferred Deanna Troi and Beverly Crusher, and saying she acted like a man. As time went on, she became a beloved character for complexity and passion.

*** The worst part: Iska's first episode has her as ''much'' more sympathetic, complex and likable--and even ends with the implication that she and Quark are on their way to repairing their past animosity. Her very next episode, however, arguably began the {{Flanderization}} process. It doesn't help that [[TheOtherDarrin she's played by a different actress from that point on.]]

* SoBadItsGood: Armin Shimerman (Quark's actor) has a fondness in his heart for "Move Along Home", and whatever else may be said about it, it's pretty easy to get a chuckle out of a [=DS=]9 fan by using one of the show's abortive attempts at a CatchPhrase ("Allamaraine! Third shap!" or the title as spoken by Falow in the simulation, for example.

** [[spoiler:[[CrackPairing Winn/Dukat]]]]. She even has an in-universe squick reaction once he realizes who he is.

*** WellIntentionedExtremist spies who do what it takes to protect paradise from people who don't share its idealistic view of the universe, or mass murderers who grasp at any straw they can to justify despicable and evil actions, be it kidnapping, conspiracy or genocide? [[WordOfGod Ira Steven Behr]] argued it was a NecessaryEvil, based on the former reasoning, but others argue that this was ''already'' the job of Starfleet Intelligence (which Creator/RonMoore had introduced in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' over Creator/GeneRoddenberry's objections), and criticize the addition of a new, [[EliteAgentsAboveTheLaw unaccountable]] agency and the borderline-ultranationalist ideas its operatives often spout, as well as pointing out that what it actually ''does'' in this series is usually counterproductive.

* ExcapistCharacter: O'Brien's shift to noncom made him one for fans who felt they might not make through the nortoriously difficult Starfleet Academy, but would nevertheless enlist in Starfleet in a heartbeat and still be able to become a skilled and respected crewman through hard work and determination.

** In "Trials and Tribble-ations", there's a great moment where a delighted [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee Dax]], watching the original series crew, tells Sisko, "he's so much more handsome in person", then clarifies to Sisko that she was actually talking about ''Spock'', not Kirk. Creator/TerryFarrell would later announce her engagement to Adam Nimoy, son of [[Creator/LeonardNimoy Leonard]], and the two of them married on March 26th, 2018, on what would have been [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming his father's 86th birthday.]]

*** Notably, Season 3 of ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' deals with the consequences of Section 31's actions during the Dominion War, with that season's villains being [[RenegadeSplinterAction Founders that refused to recognize peace with the Federation]] due to the revelation that they seemingly thought nothing of Section 31 inflicting the mutagenic virus against the Founders, as well as [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing those they'd managed to imprison]].

* EvilIsCool: So, so many. [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Dukat]], [[NobleDemon Damar]], [[AffablyEvil Weyoun]], [[RetiredMonster Garak]] (for a given value of [[TheUnfettered "Evil"]]), [[NoSuchAgency Section]] [[StateSec 31]], [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Gowron]], [[TheBrute the]] [[ProudWarriorRace Jem'Hadar]], the entire [[TheDreaded Breen]] ''species''....

* GayPanic: This was the initial reasoning behind the character of [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Ziyal]] - Garak was just a little ''too'' into Bashir for the executives' comfort (this was absolutely deliberate, by the way - Andrew Robinson, who played him, said he played Garak as omnisexual and very into Julian). He never got together with her, and seemed frankly baffled by her romantic feelings toward him, so the jury's out on how effective she was.

** The popularity of the Bashir/Garak pairing and the two actors' support of it has earned a lot of this too. Like with Terry Farrell above, Creator/AndrewRobinson has long maintained that he played Garak as "omnisexual" and in his novel ''A Stitch in Time'', wrote the character as having loved both men and women. And in a Zoom meeting with his fan club in 2020, Creator/AlexanderSiddig also confirmed that he saw Bashir as being interested in partners regardless of gender. More generally, Bashir often struggled to appeal to straight male viewers of the show but has drawn a lot of queer as well as female fans.

** "Our Man Bashir" had a HolodeckMalfunction replace one of Julian's in-game LoveInterests with Kira Nerys. [[RomanceOnTheSet Alexander Siddig got Nana Visitor pregnant a year or so later]] (leading to the Kira-carrying-the-O'Briens'-baby story arc).

* DesignatedLoveInterest: Bashir and Ezri in the eyes of many fans. They get pushed together rather hastily at the end of the series after most of the season has involved Ezri trying to process Jadzia's lingering feelings about Worf, and their actors don't have much chemistry. Ezri's "reasoning" for being interested in Bashir seem to be based mostly on finding him pretty and having dreamed about him, but she mocks his hobbies with Worf. And yet they don't just sleep together, but confess that they're passionately in love with each other out of nowhere. Even many who don't hate the relationship think it would've made more sense to have them just hook up ([[GladToBeAliveSex as is common at the end of a long, brutal war]]) without over-the-top feelings declarations. The fact that Bashir had feelings for Ezri's symbiote's previous host, Jadzia - the thing that doomed her relationship with Worf, Jadzia's husband - also adds the ugly subtext of Ezri being a ReplacementGoldfish for Jadzia, which pissed off fans of both characters.

* DesignatedLoveInterest: Bashir and Ezri in the eyes of many fans. They get pushed together rather hastily at the end of the series after most of the season has involved Ezri trying to process Jadzia's lingering feelings about Worf, and their actors don't have much chemistry. Ezri's "reasoning" for being interested in Bashir seem to be based mostly on finding him pretty and having dreamed about him, but she mocks his hobbies with Worf. And yet they don't just sleep together, but confess that they're passionately in love with each other out of nowhere. Even many who don't hate the relationship think it would've made more sense to have them just hook up ([[GladToBeAliveSex as is common at the end of a long, brutal war]]) without over-the-top feelings declarations.

* DesignatedLoveInterest: Bashir and Ezri in the eyes of many fans. They get pushed together rather hastily at the end of the series after most of the season has involved Ezri trying to process Jadzia's lingering feelings about Worf, and their actors don't have much chemistry. Ezri's "reasoning" for being interested in Bashir seem to be based mostly on finding him pretty and having dreamed about him, but she agrees with Worf that his interests are childish. And yet they don't just sleep together, but confess that they're passionately in love with each other. It's no wonder that both the official post-canon novels and fanfiction writers have been quick to split them up.