Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise, most often seen as the commanding officer of the Federation starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). Played by Patrick Stewart, Picard has appeared in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and the premiere episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as well as the feature films Star Trek Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). He is also featured as the central character in the show Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023).

After the success of the contemporary Star Trek feature films, a new Star Trek television series featuring a new cast was announced on October 10, 1986. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry named Picard for (one or both of) the twin brothers Auguste Piccard and Jean Piccard, 20th-century Swiss scientists.

Patrick Stewart, who has a background in live theater at the Royal Shakespeare Company, was initially considered for the role of Data. In the early 1970s, UCSB professor Homer Swander had recruited Stewart to help teach American college students about William Shakespeare. It was because of this connection that in 1986, Stewart was visiting UCLA to assist professor David Rodes with a series of public lectures on Shakespeare. At one of those lectures, producer Robert H. Justman immediately recognized that Stewart was the ideal candidate for Picard.

Roddenberry originally did not want to cast Stewart as Picard; he had envisioned an actor who was "masculine, virile, and had a lot of hair". Roddenberry's first choice was Stephen Macht, and it took "weeks of discussion" with Justman, Rick Berman, and the casting director to convince him that "Stewart was the one they had been looking for to sit in the captain's chair"; Roddenberry agreed after auditioning every other candidate for the role. Other actors considered included Yaphet Kotto, Patrick Bauchau, Roy Thinnes and Mitchell Ryan. Kotto turned down the role due to concern about shifting his career to television after a prolific film career; he later called it a "wrong decision". Edward James Olmos was offered the role but was not interested.

Stewart was uncertain why the producers would cast "a middle-aged bald English Shakespearean actor" as captain of the Enterprise. He had his toupee delivered from London to meet with Paramount executives, but at his arrival to the offices Roddenberry ordered him to remove the "awful looking" hairpiece. Justman says those present were thrilled by Stewart's voice and elaborates: "Wonderful annunciation that he had. It made everything seem better and more exciting, more intense and entrancing." Roddenberry sent Stewart C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels, saying the Picard character was based on Hornblower, but Stewart was already familiar with the character, having read the books as a teenager.

As the series progressed, Stewart exercised more control over the character's development. By the time production began on the first Next Generation film, "it was impossible to tell where Jean-Luc started and Patrick Stewart ended", and by the fourth film, Stewart stated:

I find myself talking a lot about Picard and one of the things that I've come to understand is that as I talk a lot about Picard what I find is I'm talking about myself. There was a sort of double action that occurred. In one sense, Picard was expanding like this and at the same time he was also growing closer and closer to me as well and, in some respect, I suppose even had some influence on me. I became a better listener than I ever had been as a result of playing Jean-Luc Picard because it was one of the things that he does terrifically well.

However, Stewart stated that he is not nearly as serious or brooding as his alter ego.