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Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) is a rich and complex character in the Star Trek universe. He’s a bold, no-nonsense kind of guy with strong beliefs. When he’s first introduced on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) he holds the rank of commander, a seemingly suitable title for a man in charge of handling the daily operations of a Federation-controlled starbase. The first two seasons of Deep Space Nine have been colloquially referred to as “hotel management in space,” as they’re the first Star Trek episodes to take place in a fixed setting.

But in the third season of DS9, he’s promoted to captain. That is a point of curiosity for some viewers—don’t you need a ship to be a captain? The series does introduce the Defiant, a ship occasionally helmed by Sisko and his officers when they needed to leave the station, but the primary focus of the series remains on the starbase.

The misinterpretation can be explained by a confusion of the title of captain vs. the rank of captain. As summarized by Memory Alpha, “Captain is a military rank, the equivalent of which was used by the service organizations of many civilizations. The title of captain was often used by vessel commanders and, as a naval rank, in many Earth navies and Starfleet, was above commander. As an infantry rank, captains ranked subordinate to a major and above a first lieutenant.”

In Starfleet, someone is referred to as “captain” if they are in command of a vessel or if they are promoted to the rank as graduation from the one before it (in this case, commander). This is the situation for Sisko, who began the series as a commander and was promoted to captain, the next tier in the chain. He had “captained” The Defiant several times while still holding the rank of commander, which made him captain of the ship when on board (nobody addressed him that way, although they technically could have), but he wasn’t Captain Sisko until being decorated as such by Starfleet.

The difference has been noted in other iterations of Star Trek as well. In the Star Trek V (1989) and VI (1991) films, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) holds the rank of captain but still isn’t the captain of the Enterprise, instead serving as first officer. Kirk (William Shatner) was also promoted to the rank of admiral in the films (one step above captain) but was regularly addressed as Captain Kirk since he was in command of the Enterprise ship.