Im so glad that the dominion agents that we see often as villains on ds9 are the vorta and the jem hadar rather than the founders, and not just bcos the founders not appearing as much gives them an air if mystery but also bcos the sort of predestination of the vorta and jem Hadar as violent antagonists make them so interesting to empathise with. You can never fully despise the jem hadar, even when they do something awful bcos you are constantly aware of the fact that they are genetically engineered yo serve the founders and have no free will. You remember that their addiction to white leaves them with no choice but to serve and that those who make it past 16 years of age are considered “honoured elders” and you empathise with them despite their villainy. I found myself despising the vorta, for their underhanded and callous nature, until i realise thst was how the founders designed them. And then there was that bit in favour the bold where weyoun said the vorta cannot appreciate art of music and have poor eyesight and it just makes u put aside your anger at the dominion soldiers to consider the depressing futility of their nature, that they were designed to be indebted to an oppressive force and carry out its will and they have nothing, no true free will not even a sense of beauty, to help them overcome it. Thats just another thing i love about deep space nine it focuses so much on the small details and complexities of every issue that it finds a way to make u empathise with its villains, when in any other show they would have been reduced to a faceless horde that was easy to hate.
