Unlike most of the Cardassians he really seems to have a strong need to be liked and held in high esteem by Bajorans and the Federation. Why exactly is that?
shareBasic megalomaniac/egomaniac; he was driven by a high regard for himself, that he believed should be recognized by everyone who met him. Anyone who didn't was in error, and he had to make them understand their error.
“Oh, it was the horse.... I'm going to be King...!"
Exactly. He's the hero of his own story.
shareI can see him wanting to be a hero to his people,but it seemed like the other members of his race didn't give a *beep* what the Bajorans or the Federation thought of them.Why did he?
shareHe didn't care about the Federation, but he had a very powerful position over the Bajoran people during the occupation; and he wanted them to see his greatness the way he sees it. He had delusions of grandeur; he wanted the Bajorans to thank him for not being a worse master.
“We're Starfleet officers; weird is part of the job."
I think part of that is we don't spend much time with many Cardassians. As a people I don't think they really cared about Bajor but over the course of the series we met many individual Cardassians that did not fit the mold.
Dukat had an image of himself in his mind and he wanted to see that image reflected in the eyes of the people around him. He had spent the last decade before the show as the ruler of Bajor so the people there were more important to him (and his image of himself) than other Cardassians.
I don't think it so much that he wanted the Federation to see him in a specific way but Sisko.
As someone already said. In his mind he was the hero of the story.
I am currently rewatching DS9. I try to rewatch all the series every few years.
No Sitcoms! No Sports! No Reality!