Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) had a mysterious sister that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine mostly forgot about. Sisko commanded Deep Space Nine for seven seasons, rising from a Starfleet Commander of a space station on the edge of the United Federation of Planets' frontier to a decorated Captain and war hero. But Sisko was more than his dedication to his Starfleet duty and his destiny as the Emissary of the Prophets of Bajor. Benjamin Sisko was also a family man, although the Sisko clan was bigger than DS9 ever showed.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine broke the mold by introducing Benjamin Sisko as a widower and father to his young son, Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton). Ben tragically lost his wife, Jennifer (Felicia M. Bell), during Star Trek: The Next Generation's Battle of Wolf 359, and he raised Jake as a single parent on Deep Space Nine. But Ben and Jake had more family on Earth, and they occasionally visited their homeworld to see Joseph Sisko (Brock Peters), Ben's father and Jake's granddad. Still, more Siskos living on Earth were mentioned but never seen on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; chief among them, Ben's half-sister Judith.
Star Trek: DS9 Forgot Captain Sisko’s Sister
Who was Judith Sisko?
Judith Sisko is the daughter of Joseph Sisko and the half-sister of Benjamin Sisko, which also makes her Jake's aunt. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 4's episode, "Homefront," Ben chastises his dad for not letting Judith help him out at their family's New Orleans restaurant, Sisko's Creole Kitchen. Joseph retorted, "Your sister's got her own life to worry about." Apparently, Judith inherited her lack of culinary skills from her unnamed mother, Joseph's second wife, since mother and daughter never put enough cayenne pepper in the jambalaya, a crime that proved to Joseph they "have no business being in a kitchen."
Commander Ben Sisko planned to visit Judith at her home in Portland in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3's "Past Tense" before he time-traveled to 2024 San Francisco's Bell Riots. Judith also has at least two brothers from their mother, Joseph Sisko's second wife, which makes them Ben's half-brothers, who were also never seen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Meanwhile, Benjamin is the only son of Sarah Sisko (Deborah Lacey), who was possessed by one of the Prophets of Bajor to give birth to Ben as their Emissary. Sarah was Joseph Sisko's first wife who vanished when Ben was a child, breaking Joseph's heart.
Why Star Trek: DS9 Never Showed Captain Sisko’s Whole Family
DS9 was a long away from Earth
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine never showed the entire Sisko family since Benjamin's siblings were irrelevant to his story as a Starfleet Captain fighting the Dominion or as the Emissary of the Prophets. Still, Ben Sisko's family, as seen on-screen, was more expansive than that of other Star Trek Captains. Along with Jake and Joseph, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine introduced Captain Kasidy Yates (Penny Johnson), Ben Sisko's second wife. By the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Ben had a new baby with Kasidy.
"The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko" by Derek Tyler Attico filled in the blanks and told Captain Sisko's life story, but it's unfortunately not considered official Star Trek canon.
One of the most refreshing things about Captain Sisko was how Star Trek: Deep Space Nine eschewed the paradigm of the lonely Captain devoted to his starship. Captain Sisko was responsible for an entire space station and its population, plus a starship, and he was one of Bajor's religious icons. Yet Benjamin never failed to be an incredible father to Jake, a dutiful son to Joseph, or a devoted partner to Kasidy. Seeing Judith Sisko and the rest of Ben's siblings would have completed the Sisko clan on-screen, but Captain Sisko was already an exceptionally well-rounded family man on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
