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Starfleet Marine Corps

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The Starfleet Marine Corps (abbreviated SFMC ) was a descendant of naval infantry, based upon marines and army infantry of many Federation member planets.

As with the Starfighter Corps and Starfleet Intelligence , the SFMC was an autonomous branch of the Starfleet Operating Forces , falling under the jurisdiction of the Starfleet Commander-in-Chief , but not under the auspices of Starfleet itself. The Commanding officer of the SFMC held the rank of Force Marshall , which was equivalent to Fleet Admiral .

The primary role of the Marines within the fleet was to maintain a well armed offensive and defensive force for rapid deployment anywhere within Federation and outlying space. Marine detachments were stationed aboard starships and bases where they assisted the crew in battles, in boarding enemy ships, and conducting planetary actions, as well as assisting in the defense of Federation installations. They also served as a landing force; securing an area for transporter or shuttle landing. Unlike security , Marines do not walk a patrol, investigate crime or administer the brig and unlike tactical , Marines did not operate the ship's weaponry. As a result of their mixed land and space role, Marine forces were mainly specialized in amphibious (figuratively 'of two worlds') assaults using infantry, armour, artillery, air/spacecraft, and watercraft. They train for many combat scenarios including hostage recovery, rescue of Federation citizens caught in the midst of civil war, as well as full ground based combat.

• 1 Organization
• 3.1 Tactical Uniform
• 4 External links

Organization [ ]

The SFMC was split into ten numbered Expeditionary Forces. Within each expeditionary force were five Corps, plus a Brigade each of Artillery and Marine Rangers . Every corps had three Divisions, each made up of three Brigades and an Armored Regiment . A brigade had five Regiments and a Battalion of Marine Scouts . A Regiment was two Battalions of five Companies each, plus an extra Platoon of scouts. Every Company was a pair of Platoons of five Squads, each made of three Fire Teams of four Marines.

History [ ]

Since its founding, in 2161 , the United Federation of Planets had always centrally relied on its Starfleet to provide military defense in times of trouble, whether it be defending the Neutral Zone against threat incursions, preventing hostile takeover by an alien force, or leading negotiations during civil wars between Federation members. Granted, the power to devastate a planetary surface without even setting foot on it was a strong deterrent, but it was not at all suited to subtler methods of preventing hostility or subduing terrorists.

Early in its formation, the Federation realized it needed a security force to protect its own vessels and installations. But it was soon discovered that the need to hold territory was of paramount importance. As the Romulan War had ushered in the dawn of the Starfleet, the first Klingon War, and the engagements with Klingon shock troops , made it clear that a specialized expeditionary force was needed. The Council determined that a group of highly trained men and women would be the perfect complement to Starfleet's peace efforts, and commissioned the Federation Marine Corps.

The mission of the Corps was to follow Federation directives, acting to preserve the peace and uphold Federation law. Whether the job called for putting down a violent insurrection, eliminating interstellar terrorists, or simply providing a temporary peacekeeping force for a government in need.

Duty Uniform [ ]

Each member of the Starfleet Marines, just as Starfleet officers, wore a standard division uniform; however Marines did not use Starfleet division colors. Instead, marines held with Earth marine tradition and wore uniforms consisting of a deep Kelly Green.

Standard Starfleet Marine Uniforms ( 2370s )

Tactical Uniform [ ]

Standard Type-II Marine Tactical Armor

Centrally designed to vastly improve situational awareness and protection of marines, Starfleet Marine Tactical Armor was some of the most durable and well constructed protective gear in the Alpha Quadrant. The armor was constructed in overlapping layers of low weapons yield resistant memory fabric inside of external layers of Duranium . It was a sealed system, capable of extravehicular activity or operations in toxic atmosphere. It was hardened against EMPs and radiation, and had filters that were extremely effective at removing toxins and bacteria from various local atmospheres.

The armor's shell was composed of a multi-layer alloy of remarkable strength and had been augmented with a refractive coating capable of dispersing a limited amount of Disruptor and Phaser energy weapons. The suit contained a gel-filled layer underneath a thick black armored bodysuit. The gel layer regulated temperature and could reactively change its density. The inner skinsuit was made of a moisture-absorbing synthetic material linked to an environment control computer.

Most humanoids had a molecular fiber network called the nervous system within their brain. The electrochemical signals from the Marine's brain was translated to digital code and was routed through an interface connection in the helmet. Through this interface, input from the on-board sensors was delivered directly to the user's mind.

The suit also possessed other features that enhanced the abilities of its user. It had numerous clips, belts, and magnetic holsters for the attachment of additional weapons and ammunition; an advanced Holo based Heads-Up-Display (HUD) linked to sensors in the gloves detects the type of weapon and devices held, and to project ammunition count, a targeting reticule, waypoints, a radio uplink for communication, health monitoring and other helpful data.

External links [ ]

• Starfleet Marine Corps article at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
• Starfleet Marine Corps article at Star Trek Expanded Universe .
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• 2 Universe class (J type)
• 3 George VII of the United Kingdom

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Star trek’s maco explained: why enterprise needed space marines.

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Star Trek: Enterprise Cast & Character Guide

Doctor who just replaced captain jack harkness in the most perfect way, criminal minds: evolution season 2 accomplishes an impossible task after 19 years (& it isn't good).

• Star Trek: Enterprise's third season introduced MACOs to the ship for a darker storyline in the wake of 9/11.
• MACOs comprised specially trained high ranking officers and provided advanced combat skills and weaponry to Starfleet.
• American actor Steven Culp played Major J. Hayes in 5 episodes during Enterprise's third season.

Star Trek: Enterprise season 3 introduced the military organization MACOs (unofficially, space marines ). First airing in 2001, Star Trek: Enterprise documented Earth's initial first contacts and voyages into deep space. Echoing significant societal events of the time, Enterprise season 3 took on a noticeably darker tone. Transitioning from standalone episodes to a complex and weighty season-long serial arc, a devastating attack on Earth by the mysterious Xindi landed Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) with a heavy responsibility for establishing contact and preventing (or intercepting) further attacks. Anticipating a need for the presence of a conflict-trained unit, Archer requested a military assignment to the NX-01 Enterprise .

By the nature of its premise as a prequel to other franchise shows (and the United Federation of Planets itself), Star Trek: Enterprise wielded significant license for shaping the early period of Star Trek 's multiverse timeline . With its later core ideals of peace and cooperation and aversion to being perceived as in any way military, the introduction of Marine-style troops in Star Trek: Enterprise season 3 allowed for an intriguing development of pre-Federation Starfleet and insight into humanity's approach to the significant external threats of the era. The severity of the destruction caused by the Xindi attack on Earth led to the Enterprise crew's third season mission and allocation of Star Trek's MACOS.

Star Trek: Enterprise introduced new faces to the prequel series set a century before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series.

Star Trek’s MACO Space Marines On Enterprise Explained

The macos were a different military organization from starfleet.

An acronym for Military Assault Command Operations, the MACOs were a pre-Federation military organization associated with United Earth and tasked with combatting major threats . Separately managed, but operating in tandem with Starfleet, the MACOs provided advanced weaponry and tactical and combat skills to Starfleet’s generally exploration-focused personnel. Star Trek: Enterprise improved the franchise in numerous ways, retconning many of the events that occurred later in the timeline, and the inclusion of these high-ranking military officers in Enterprise season 3 allows a fascinating and raw insight into humanity’s early processes pre-Federation. The MACO organization was disbanded following the foundation of the United Federation of Planets.

Initially tasked with integrating with Enterprise ’s crew, the MACOs were active in combat and rescue missions.

The Star Trek: Enterprise season 2 finale, “The Expanse,” saw a devastating attack on Earth from a Xindi probe that resulted in the death of millions. An obvious allegory to 9/11, Enterprise season 3's significant modification to the show’s previous episodic format led to the assignment of the NX-01 Enterprise crew to the Delphic Expanse in the wake of the Xindi attack. Given the nature and severity of their mission, MACO troops were assigned to the Enterprise under the command of Major J. Hayes (Steven Culp) at the request of Captain Archer. Initially tasked with integrating with Enterprise ’s crew, the MACOs were active in combat and rescue missions.

Star Trek: Beyond (2016) subtly developed the MACOs' role as one of several references to Star Trek: Enterprise.

1 Star Trek MACO Almost Replaced Riker As Picard’s Number One

Steven culp played commander martin madden & major j. hayes.

A deleted Star Trek: Nemesis scene reveals a surprising alternate ending to the poorly received 2002 movie. Partially restored for the film's DVD release and initially cut due to the movie's length, the scene introduces a new character, Commander Martin Madden (Steven Culp). Madden succeeds Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), following the former USS Enterprise-E First Officer's promotion to Captain of the USS Titan, but the scene’s deleted status renders this alternate ending not Star Trek canon . Instead, Lieutenant Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) takes over as First Officer until Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) receives a promotion to Admiral.

Steven Culp later appeared as Major J. Hayes in five episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise's third season (2003-2004). Assigned to the NX-01 Enterprise, Hayes led a MACO detachment when Captain Archer was sent to the Delphic Expanse and tasked with combatting the Xindi threat against Earth. Unfortunately, Hayes was later shot and killed in action rescuing Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park) from the Xindi. Although Culp’s casting as Commander Madden in Star Trek: Nemesis didn’t come to a real fruition, his role in Star Trek: Enterprise secured him a place in pre-Federation history and earned the character a legacy as a hero of the Xindi Crisis.

Star Trek: Nemesis is available to stream on Max.

Star Trek: Enterprise

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Star trek’s maco explained: why enterprise needed space marines 491b1u.

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Star Trek: Enterprise Cast & Character Guide

Sisko’s Defiant Had A Revolutionary Feature Star Trek: DS9 Only Used Once

Severide Was Boden's Firehouse 51 Replacement But Chicago Fire Season 12 Finale Changed It (Why?)

Summary 3w94i

• Star Trek: Enterprise's third season introduced MACOs to the ship for a darker storyline in the wake of 9/11.
• MACOs comprised specially trained high ranking officers and provided advanced combat skills and weaponry to Starfleet.
• American actor Steven Culp played Major J. Hayes in 5 episodes during Enterprise's third season.

Star Trek: Enterprise season 3 introduced the military organization MACOs (unofficially, space marines). First airing in 2001, Star Trek: Enterprise documented Earth's initial first s and voyages into deep space. Echoing significant societal events of the time, Enterprise season 3 took on a noticeably darker tone. Transitioning from standalone episodes to a complex and weighty season-long serial arc, a devastating attack on Earth by the mysterious Xindi landed Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) with a heavy responsibility for establishing and preventing (or intercepting) further attacks. Anticipating a need for the presence of a conflict-trained unit, Archer requested a military assignment to the NX-01 Enterprise. 4n54x

By the nature of its premise as a prequel to other franchise shows (and the United Federation of Planets itself), Star Trek: Enterprise wielded significant license for shaping the early period of Star Trek 's multiverse timeline . With its later core ideals of peace and cooperation and aversion to being perceived as in any way military, the introduction of Marine-style troops in Star Trek: Enterprise season 3 allowed for an intriguing development of pre-Federation Starfleet and insight into humanity's approach to the significant external threats of the era. The severity of the destruction caused by the Xindi attack on Earth led to the Enterprise crew's third season mission and allocation of Star Trek's MACOS.

Star Trek: Enterprise introduced new faces to the prequel series set a century before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series.

Star Trek’s MACO Space Marines On Enterprise Explained 413w5t

The macos were a different military organization from starfleet 1j422k.

An acronym for Military Assault Command Operations, the MACOs were a pre-Federation military organization associated with United Earth and tasked with combatting major threats . Separately managed, but operating in tandem with Starfleet, the MACOs provided advanced weaponry and tactical and combat skills to Starfleet’s generally exploration-focused personnel. improved the franchise in numerous ways, retconning many of the events that occurred later in the timeline, and the inclusion of these high-ranking military officers in Enterprise season 3 allows a fascinating and raw insight into humanity’s early processes pre-Federation. The MACO organization was disbanded following the foundation of the United Federation of Planets.

Initially tasked with integrating with Enterprise ’s crew, the MACOs were active in combat and rescue missions.

The Star Trek: Enterprise season 2 finale, “The Expanse,” saw a devastating attack on Earth from a Xindi probe that resulted in the death of millions. An obvious allegory to 9/11, Enterprise season 3's significant modification to the show’s previous episodic format led to the assignment of the NX-01 Enterprise crew to the Delphic Expanse in the wake of the Xindi attack. Given the nature and severity of their mission, MACO troops were assigned to the Enterprise under the command of Major J. Hayes (Steven Culp) at the request of Captain Archer. Initially tasked with integrating with Enterprise ’s crew, the MACOs were active in combat and rescue missions.

Star Trek: Beyond (2016) subtly developed the MACOs' role as one of several references to Star Trek: Enterprise.

1 Star Trek MACO Almost Replaced Riker As Picard’s Number One 5s1u1i

A deleted Star Trek: Nemesis scene reveals a surprising alternate ending to the poorly received 2002 movie. Partially restored for the film's DVD release and initially cut due to the movie's length, the scene introduces a new character, Commander Martin Madden (Steven Culp). Madden succeeds Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), following the former USS Enterprise-E First Officer's promotion to Captain of the USS Titan, but the scene’s deleted status renders this alternate ending not Star Trek canon . Instead, Lieutenant Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) takes over as First Officer until Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) receives a promotion to iral.

Steven Culp later appeared as Major J. Hayes in five episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise's third season (2003-2004). Assigned to the NX-01 Enterprise, Hayes led a MACO detachment when Captain Archer was sent to the Delphic Expanse and tasked with combatting the Xindi threat against Earth. Unfortunately, Hayes was later shot and killed in action rescuing Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park) from the Xindi. Although Culp’s casting as Commander Madden in Star Trek: Nemesis didn’t come to a real fruition, his role in Star Trek: Enterprise secured him a place in pre-Federation history and earned the character a legacy as a hero of the Xindi Crisis.

Star Trek: Nemesis is available to stream on Max.

Star Trek: Enterprise 1a4z56

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Space Marine

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"They shall be my finest warriors, these men who give of themselves to me. Like clay I shall mould them, and in the furnace of war forge them. They will be of iron will and steely muscle. In great armour shall I clad them and with the mightiest guns will they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease, no sickness will blight them. They will have tactics, strategies and machines so that no foe can best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity. They are my Space Marines and they shall know no fear." — The Immortal God-Emperor of Mankind , Warhammer 40,000

Since Space Is an Ocean , Space Marines are the elite expeditionary troops carried by spaceships, their roles paralleling those of conventional marines: mobile deployment from the ship , boarding hostile ships , securing ports — including Space Stations — from Space Pirates and enemy forces, and landing on hostile shores to secure a beachhead, although in this case, they land on enemy planets. These rough-hewn, tough warriors with strong esprit de corps and fighting spirit are the frontline troops of choice for humans battling marauding aliens in the Standard Sci Fi Setting .

Space Marines first turn up in the short story "Captain Brink of the Space Marines " by Bob Olsen in Amazing Stories Volume 7, Number 8, of November 1932, and a later followup, 1936's "The Space Marines and the Slavers." The trope, however, fully rose to prominence with the use of the term in the wildly popular Lensman Series beginning in 1934. In 1959, Starship Troopers codified the trope, popularizing the emblematic Power Armor , The Spartan Way of training, and the array of exotic weaponry they wield. Warhammer 40,000 from Games Workshop is notable for taking these aspects to a peak, achieving the ideal "SPACE MARINE" Super-Soldier , augmented with Genetic Engineering or cybernetics (or both !).

In many settings they fight as a squad, sometimes with Awesome Personnel Carrier support, swooping down in a Drop Ship , or launched right into the thick of it via Drop Pod . A notable exception to this are the many First Person Shooters that use the Space Marine background as a useful excuse to get a highly trained soldier alone on a hostile planet. This tradition starts with the much-imitated Doom series — see A Space Marine Is You and One-Man Army .

This page shouldn't be confused with the video game Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine , though that game pretty much is about them.

It should be noted that the name "space marine" is actually a misnomer — there's no water in deep space. Works aiming for more realism or a more Ray Gun Gothic feel may prefer to call them "espatiers", and the most direct Latin equivalent for the environment parses as "astroram". But for those wanting more to invoke the Romantic Space Is an Ocean trope the name space marine works just fine. Sometimes, "space marine" is culturally translated into "space [insert badass military unit here]" - for instance in Russia space marines are often called "space landing forces" ( kosmodesantniki ) after the VDV note  Vozdushno-desantnye voyska, "air-landing forces", often called just "desantniki" (rougly "landers") an airborne unit of the Russian military that has roughly the same reputation as the USMC and Royal Marines in American and British cultures.

Note: This trope is about the elite spaceborne soldiers themselves. Overly-generic Science Fiction military protagonists belong elsewhere, such as A Space Marine Is You for video games.

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• In Legend of the Galactic Heroes , the Rosen Ritter from the Free Planets Alliance is a notable case. Its members have been consistently regarded as elite soldiers; their standard equipment includes incredibly tough armor that deflects lasers and melee weapons short of their armour piercing axes. They are practically the only group in the series to engage in boarding tactics against enemy ships. Their reputation is so fearsome that as soon as someone on the Imperial side points out that it's the Rosen Ritter, Imperial morale evaporates and in at least one case, they outright retreat in panic. Said case was when the Imperial forces were also wearing heavy power armour and had a numerical advantage of more than 10 to 1.
• Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn introduces ECOAS (acronym for "Earth Colony Asteroid", an idea similar to the real-life SEALs ), a special operations unit of the EFSF . Tasked to hunt down Neo Zeon remnants, their speciality is covert infiltration with their tank/mecha/APC hybrids.
• Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune features both the Trade Federation Space Marines under Rimel, as well as the protagonists, the Yakitori, who are Surprisingly Elite Cannon Fodder orbital drop troopers.
• Judge Dredd : Mega City-One is one of several Mega Cities that has a Space Corps. Many trainees that don't meet the harsh requirements for the Judge force or who show overly high combat simulation scores at the expense of discretion volunteer to become space marines instead.
• Wonder Woman (2006) : The Citizenry were a spacefaring culture with a marine equivalent and odd obsession with memory alteration before the genocidal Astarte took over and turned the whole culture into her soldiers for destroying the life on entire planets.
• A Crown of Stars : Avalon’s Empire Army has a Space Marines division, dedicated to perform the usual tasks of a Marine division. It is pointed out there is friendly rivalry between them and the other army corps. In the second half of the history one of them -Corporal Vasraith- has a prominent role.
• Thousand Shinji : Being a Warhammer 40,000 crossover it was a safe bet that they would figure in this story. The premise of the story is Shinji was found and trained by a Chaos-worshipper Space Marine when he was a kid. Ten years later Shinji inherits several jars containing the souls of four fully-armed Rubric Marines and he uses them every so often. Finally after Third Impact legions of Space Marines are trained in mass to spearhead an interstellar war.
• The Space Commando role is filled by Starfleet MACOs , who are established in exposition in The Wrong Reflection to be Starfleet special operations troops (i.e. Space Navy SEALs ). They're equipped with Powered Armor and better gear than ordinary Starfleet Security personnel. Captain Kanril Eleya has secondary certification as a MACO, though she's primarily a space warfare (i.e. starship combat) officer.
• Starfleet Security acts as rank-and-file space marines deployed aboard ship. In addition, " Tinker Golfer Doctor Trill " makes mention of the USS Bajor stopping by Andoria to pick up the 103rd Expeditionary Force, which Reshek Gaarra rather snidely refers to as "ten thousand jarheads". In " Last Rights " they operate tanks .
• Homaged in Rocketship Voyager , where the eponymous rocketship has space marines in place of Red Shirts . The two mentioned by name are Sergeant VanBuskirk and Corporal Juan Rico , and they're equipped with dirigible space armor and weapons like recoilless machine guns, micratomic grenades, bazookas firing A-rockets, and nuclear-powered flamethrowers .
• In Titan A.E. Korso is a former Earth Space Marine.
• In Wreck-It Ralph , the game within a movie Hero's Duty features a squad of space marines fighting a Bug War .
• Alien: Resurrection , set centuries after the other movies, replaces them with the United Systems Military .
• Even though he admits that he got the idea from Robert A. Heinlein .
• Kainan, the protagonist of Outlander , was a space marine in the Back Story . In the movie itself, he quickly loses his space-armor and gun, and essentially gets adopted as a Viking .
• A platoon of Marines equipped with laser weapons are dispatched into space to destroy Drax's satellite base at the climax of Moonraker . Apparently, NASA keeps a shuttle load of U.S. Marines on standby just in case.
• This is also a primary function of Imperial stormtroopers. The very first time we see them is in the ISD Devastator's boarding action against the Tantive IV in A New Hope .
• The Rebel soldiers dropping into the battle during the climax of Rogue One are called "Rebel Marines" in the supplemental material and resemble the Rebellion's Endor troops combined with Vietnam War era US Marines.
• In Doom , a platoon of marines called the Rapid Response Tactical Squad is dispatched to deal with the events on Mars.
• Again, Starship Troopers has the Mobile Infantry, who are this in all but name. Taking an entirely different tone from the book, the Mobile Infantry are gung-ho space soldiers who, for all their tough bug-stomping talk, are repeatedly shown to be arrogant and foolish Military Mavericks . In one of the first battles of the war, the Mobile Infantry deploy in a chaotic Zerg Rush and then rout in panic after only very light casualties. At one point the protagonist's unit throws a frat party in the middle of enemy territory . The film was meant to be a satire on the book's jingoism.
• A primary inspiration for this trope is Robert A. Heinlein 's Starship Troopers , though his Mobile Infantry are never once described as marines, and could just as well be based on army paratroopers except that Space Is an Ocean . His description of their bulky power armour and exotic weaponry is a classic which influenced many later designs. The spirit of the Mobile Infantry shows the experience Heinlein had of Real Life Marine drill instructors at the U.S. Naval Academy. It is oddly circular that Starship Troopers is now recommended reading for the Real Life USMC.
• Space Cadet (Heinlein) actually features Space Marines under that name. The protagonist, a member of the Space Patrol, considers transferring but is convinced to do otherwise by his mentor. As he explains, the branches of the Space Patrol tend to attract different men: the Marines attract those who seek glory and excitement, the Patrol attracting men of intellectualism and idealism, reflected in the Patrol's motto — Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? note  Who will guard the guardians? The protagonist elects to remain in the Patrol.
• As mentioned by the introduction, the Lensman series probably ranks among the earliest examples. Galactic Patrol of 1937 featured the first appearance of the Space Marines, whose powered armor might well have inspired Heinlein's later, more iconic version.
• The warrior class in John Steakley 's Armor , including the protagonist, obviously heavily inspired by Heinlein.
• The CoDominium series feature the CD Space Navy and Marines and later, the Imperial Marines. The CD Line Marines are formed from the The French Foreign Legion , and thus keep a lot of their traditions alive. The CD Marines armament includes semi-automatic rifles, large-bore weapons loaded with armor-piercing and (sometimes) heavy tanks, with the CD providing orbital fire support up to and including nuclear weapons. The particular Line Marine unit most often featured in the novels is commanded by an officer politically on the outs with the most powerful man in the Grand Senate, and as such they repeatedly get denied proper resources. This can give a misleading impression of the CD Marines in general.
• In C. J. Cherryh 's Alliance/Union novels, Fleet warships have a complement of marines. As relatively hard sci-fi their armour is minutely described and plausible as technology. The marines are key to securing assets: getting into space is exorbitantly expensive enough, so an armed starship entering a system can own it by closing with other ships and stations to secure them with the marines. The marines are able and willing to blast and cut their way to control centers, even if it means exposing parts of the station to vacuum. Life for a marine is very boring 99% of the time, being excluded belowdecks from the ship's crew. When deployed, there is the terrifying prospect their ship might suddenly need to move , with no friendly ship in-system in a decade.
• Though they aren't actual 'space' marines, the Seanchan Fists of Heaven in The Wheel of Time do fly around on what basically amount to living planes in a late medieval setting and execute hit and run raids from the air. Though the Bloodknives introduced in Gathering Storm probably fit this better; they are elite Fists equipped with items that repel magic and eliminate fear in the wearer who stay behind instead of being evacuated with the remainder of the Fists to kill as many enemy wizards as they possibly can before going down.
• The UNEF Infantry in Joe Haldeman's The Forever War . Their power armor comes with built-in laser cannons and medical systems that can automatically amputate severely damaged limbs and cauterize the wound. Their power armor makes them unstoppable killing machines, but inside the armour the marines are just frightened conscripts who really don't want to be there.
• The Manticoran Marines are particularly notable since they are trained to serve both as infantry and to help run the ship they are stationed (mostly as weapon crews and as damage control). This allows Manticoran ships to carry larger marine detachments than other nations since having extra marines on board doesn't decrease the number of people on board who are trained to run the ship.
• We never actually see the Space Marines in Robert Zubrin's The Holy Land , but they must kick a lot of butt. A detachment was sent to Earth to rescue one alien woman from one group of theology students holed up in the basement of a cathedral, "turning much of northern Manhattan into a light-textured finely ground dust in the process."
• Richard K. Morgan 's Takeshi Kovacs books feature the Vacuum Commandoes. Among other things, they engage in boarding actions on spacegoing craft. They are therefore literal Space Marines.
• The Hyperion Cantos features FORCE Marines. Complete with Powered Armor and Swiss Army Guns . Colonel Fedmahn Kassad is one; don't mess with him.
• As Sergey Lukyanenko 's books Line of Delirium and Emperors of Illusions are set in the first Master of Orion universe, there naturally are Space Marines.
• The entire Space Opera Genre, being essentially War and Peace in Sci-Fi settings, features space-related tropes and space marines where the average history novel featured sailors and the original navy.
• They get relatively brief mention in the games, but in the Wing Commander novels, the Terran Confederation Marine Corps serves this role. In the novel Fleet Action , they board a fleet of super-powerful carriers against which the normal weapons (torpedoes delivered by fighters) were useless due to their extreme armor and shielding, for the purpose of detonating antimatter mines inside the carriers. Naturally, this is not survivable for the Space Marines in question, but when the alternative is The End of the World as We Know It ...
• The Allied Space Marines in John Ringo and Travis Taylor's "Vorpal Blade" Series. Their modular Wyvern armor doubles as space suits. It also incorporates a chameleon coating, and a full sensor suite, including particle sensors, which they are required to be able to understand.
• The Confederation of Valor series follows Staff Sergeant (later Gunnery Sergeant) Torin Kerr, a senior NCO in the Confederate Marine Corps. These marines' primary role is ground combat, not boarding actions. Also the series puts an interesting twist on it: Confederate Marine armor, while powered , is not very bulky at all since it needs to still be usable in case the Others hit them with EMP. Most of their tech is similarly intended to work just as well in its primary function with or without electricity.
• Marines are present in the Star Risk, Ltd. series (two of the protagonists, M'chel Riss and Chas Goodnight, are a former and ex-Marine respectively), but usually ignored since the series focuses on a group of mercenaries unaffiliated with The Alliance .
• Spots the Space Marine achieved a bit of internet fame in February 2013 after it was pulled from Amazon when Games Workshop claimed Trademark violation. The space marines in question are near-future marines equipped with Powered Armor provided by alien allies that has built-in Deflector Shields , and deployed on a distant planet to fight in a Bug War .
• In the Hostile Takeover (Swann) series, all of the arms of the Confederacy seem to maintain these. We mostly see the Occisis Marines, who are devotedly Catholic and ethnically homogenous, like the planet of Occisis. A large division of the Marines are seconded to Klaus Dacham. Their commander, Captain Shane, plays a major role.
• The Theirs Not to Reason Why series has the The Terran United Planets Space Force Marines, complete with power armor support. It's implied that the other spacegoing polities have their own Space Marines too, with the V'Dan Marines specifically mentioned.
• The Terran Expeditionary Force, as depicted in "The Hero", one of George R. R. Martin 's "Thousand Worlds" science fiction stories. They are Heavyworlders outfitted in Power Armor with rocket belts and sonic weaponry, and they have strength and speed far beyond normal humans and the aliens the protagonist encounters in the story.
• The UF marines in Invasion of Kzarch , who fight in space, air, land... anywhere they can find an enemy.
• The US Marine Corps becomes this in Ian Douglas 's Galactic Marines series. In fact, the very first novel Semper Mars starts off with the corps about to be disbanded, as the higher-ups claim it's no longer relevant. As a last-ditch effort to rebrand the marines, a detachment is sent to the Martian excavation site in Cydonia. This proves to be the exact place where they will be needed when the UN starts a war with the US . Several issues are mentioned, such as the fact that their gear isn't up to specs because someone back on Earth assumed they were going to an Earth-side desert environment (e.g., their guns' electronic sights are calibrated for Earth gravity and atmosphere, and they have 40 pairs of desert boots which they can't wear with their sealed suits). The same book also features the first ever combat in microgravity with a different team of US Marines fighting a force of UN troops . The differences are showcased, such as the lack of cover in space, the need to fire your weapon at your center mass in order to avoid spinning wildly out of control, and the fact that even a tiny hit can be fatal due to the vacuum outside the suit.
• The space marines in The Nameless War are there to provide Battle Fleet with an organic infantry force for rapid deployment, the expectation being that in the event of larger operations, elements of the national militaries will be deployed. While not equipped with a fully enclosed power armour, the marines do wear a supporting exoskeleton that allows them to carry armour far heavier and more protective than could otherwise be carried. The marines are primarily intended for operations on planets but do storm an enemy space station.
• Stark's War has the titular Stark and company (Who are technically Army - the USMC having been reduced to a ceremonial formation that never operates in space), although the "space" part isn't actually their specific vocation — because soldiers all wear environmentally-contained Powered Armor , military command doesn't make distinction between "space marines" and normal ones except for their current posting. (Fighting on the moon does require different competencies than fighting on Earth, naturally, but good luck convincing the incompetent officer corps of that.)
• Marcus Winchester from Mike Kupari 's Her Brothers Keeper is a former Spec Ops espatier.
• In the Frontlines series by Marko Kloos, the two main earth factions have space marines for ship security on their naval ships, garrisoning their colonies, and taking colonies away from the other faction. The United North American Commonwealth marines trace their lineage back to the United States Marines of the modern day. The Sino-Russian Alliance marines appear to be descendants of current Russian Airborne Troops and Russian Marines as they are mentioned as wearing blue striped telnyashkas.
• In the Illuminae series , Space Marines are the bulk of the forces seen within the United Terran Authority. Though there might be an army we don't see, as the only soldiers we see directly are part of a ship's crew, being much closer to classical marines.
• The books of the Aeon 14 shared universe abound with Space Marine esprit de corps. The principle protagonist, Tanis Richards, though originally a Space Navy pilot and captain and then a military intelligence counter-insurgency officer, served with and was beloved by the Marines in both 5th millennium Sol and 9th millennium New Canaan. Exemplified by the speech Marine Sgt. Hector gives when Tanis is captured in Race Across Spacetime : Sgt. Hector: "I grew up on stories of Tanis Richards... She's our family, she's our mother, she's the old lady, she's a Marine. And what do we do when a Marine gets left behind?" Marines: "No Marine is left behind!" The squad bellowed the ancient mantra, and the words warmed his heart. Sgt. Hector: "Fuckin' right they don't. And who's the most badass Marine of all time?" Marines: "Admiral Tanis Richards!"
• The Expanse : Both the Earth-based UNMC and the Mars-based MMC are straight-up examples, complete with power armor that turns a single recon Marine into a formidably lethal walking tank. While there's no love lost between the two factions, the MMC reminds their troops that "the second most dangerous thing in the solar system next to a Martian Marine, is a UN Marine".
• Andromeda had the "Lancers," which appear to serve the same functions as Marines traditionally do.
• The episode "Gropos" featured the Earth Force Marine Corps, dirtside troops of the Earth Alliance (the episode title is short for "ground pounders"). Just about every stereotype of Space Marine behavior made it into this episode, including the obligatory bar fight. Towards the end of the episode, they depart for a battle that we briefly get to see, and the very end of the episode reveals every single named Gropo character, except for General Franklin and his senior NCO , had been killed off-screen in the battle, within feet of each other.
• The Gropos make another appearance in the third season, when they come to the station to forcefully try to take it back from Captain Sheridan.
• Battlestar Galactica has marines (Colonial Marine Corps) who are dressed and equipped similar to a Real Life Hostage Rescue Team. Originally created as throwaway Redshirts for action scenes, they end up playing an important role in events (e.g. power struggles) in the Rag Tag Fleet.
• Season 2 of For All Mankind features US Marines on the Moon, sent to secure mining claims disputed by the Soviet Union. It is later revealed the Soviets also have armed troops on the Moon .
• Sgt. Riley in Pixelface is a space marine from a video game called Sentient Force .
• Red Dwarf makes a brief mention to their existence in the extended cut of Back In The Red . Also, in one of the books Rimmer's son was a space marine.
• Power Rangers in Space : This is the first season where the Rangers could be said to count as this. The season is Darker and Edgier and depicts the clash between good and evil as an all-out intergalactic war. The Red and Silver Rangers are members of the military of their homeworld KO-35 and the Rangers frequently use battle tactics more in line with that of soldiers.
• Power Rangers Lost Galaxy : The travelling human colony of Terra Venture has its own military force which four of the Rangers are a part of.
• Power Rangers S.P.D. : The A-Squad's armor suits and their reputation as being the ace heroes of SPD give off this vibe. However, they turn out to be villains .
• Space: Above and Beyond is a TV series about The Squad of literal USMC Space Marines. Unusually, the main characters are Space Fighter pilots rather than infantry.
• Star Trek: Enterprise had a team of MACOs (for Military Assault Command Operations ) attached to the crew in the third season. Despite some initial tension with Enterprise's security team they proved to be quite useful (certainly more so than Voyager's security personnel ) though their use of Special Weapons and Tactics caused some Continuity gripes from fans. The trope also gets a reference in the first Star Trek: Elite Force game (see below,) with the EMH stating "I'm a doctor, not a space marine!"
• And if these guys aren't scary enough, you also have the Chaos Space Marines, the belligerent mutated brethren of the Space Marines, who come in all different flavors (from Ax-Crazy to plague-zombies to metalhead drug-addicts to the spirits of deceased Marines bound to their armor long after their bodies had crumbled to dust). Add this to the fact that they serve a host of Eldritch Abominations and even the other Marines are afraid of them.
• Let's go into what exactly goes into making a 'Space Marine' by 40k standards . Your aspirants are usually natives of a Death World and/or a Proud Warrior Race Guy culture ages 10 to 14, and go through extensive trials to whittle it down to the very best of those . Then comes the Super Serum - the gene-seed derived from the children of a Physical God , which alters your very appearance to be more like your Primarch. Then you have many additional organs and bionics gradually implanted, a second heart, a third lung, acid spit glands , and then you begin your combat engagements as a Scout at age 15 the youngest. If you survive those, you then get the Black Carapace, a large skin implant that interfaces with the Powered Armor you just earned the right to wear. All this time you'll receive training in every aspect of military life and activity, and indoctrinated into a fanatical faith in the Emperor , and undergo difficult and deadly initiation rituals , and constantly monitored for any sign of corruption, weakness or disloyalty. If you survive all that? Congratulations, you're now (at least as far as your role on the tabletop) a disposable shield for a heavy weapons team . And if you survive that and have centuries of battle under your belt, you are given the honor of being part of the 1st Company Terminator squads. And you you manage to survive that you are likely to be a Dreadnought, allowed to sleep in a life-sustaining sarcophagus until you are needed to fight in a 20 foot tall walking machine.
• The actual Imperial Navy tends to use poorly-trained conscripts for both its boarding actions and its defence against the same. They are basically a vast mass of cannon fodder with shotguns designed to shred soldiers while leaving corridors relatively undamaged to fit with the rules about Imperial Navy commanders not being allowed to have anyone useful in ground actions under their direct command. The Space Marines themselves take part in boarding actions generally only when their own ships are involved (the Space Marines are a separate organisation altogether, it's complicated but there is a reason ) and as befitting such elite troops, this generally consists of small squads penetrating to the enemy ship's bridge or engines.
• Battlefleet Gothic gives the Eldar the option to have Aspect Warrior boarding parties. Depending on which Aspect you consider as making up these parties, the options can turn downright scary .
• That being said, the closest they have to a usable boarding party without resorting to Kroot Mercenaries would be the Breacher Teams; they're all intended for the close confines of urban combat, but they are equipped with Pulse Blasters and Pulse Pistols , which would not be out-of-place in a boarding action.
• Dedicated 'space marines' are not really a part of the setting: Most other roles you would typically use space marines for is normally done by Battlemechs instead. All 'mechs are spaceworthy as long as they have a Jump Jet Pack and magnetic soles to attach to ships, and are all-terrain vehicles capable of being dropped onto — and operating in — wilderness areas, on airless moons, on heavy or light worlds, and even underwater. Mechs are used both as special ops forces designed to surgically strike targets prior to the main assault, and as Drop Ship -based frontline troops that secure a beachhead when a new world gets invaded.
• While space-based boarding actions exist in the lore, generally these tend to involve pirates, mutineers or hostage takers (and those seeking to battle them). Boarding a civilian vessel like a merchant craft or JumpShip involves using BattleMechs with magnetic soles to attach to the outer hull and disabling the engines, and then using shuttles of infantry equipped with shotguns, light laser weapons and hull-cutters to sweep the ship and seal the deal. Boarding actions are not considered part of actual space combat doctrine by either the Inner Sphere or the Clans: Anything that carries external weaponry, like a military DropShip , is generally capable of swatting down boarding parties well before they can touch base, and WarShip combat involves kilometre-long ships shooting at each other from distances where boarding is no longer a viable strategy.
• Powered Armor gets re-introduced to the setting shortly prior to the Clan Invasion, and begin supplanting regular space-based infantry. The smallest suits weigh in at a little over 200 kg and are hermetically sealed, making them capable of cutting into a ship through the docking bays and bypassing the need for 'mechs and boarding shuttles. They are still little more than chaff to point-defence guns, however, and only used against disabled or civilian targets. Heavy suits of power armour are also used to supplement 'mechs during planetary landings, being big and dangerous enough that they can take on BattleMechs (and things intended to fight BattleMechs ) while still almost infantry-sized.
• Race for the Galaxy , a card based game designed by Thomas Lehmann, has a card entitled Space Marines which displays the most generic view of this trope. The card gives an obvious military bonus.
• The Prime Directive/Starfleet Universe Strategy game and RPG actually give all the major space empires, like the Federation and the Klingons, Platoons of Space Marines for boarding actions or planetary drops.
• In Traveller the Third Imperium is famous for the prowess of its marines. They usually wear battlesuits and are trained to "parachute" out of space. They also have esoteric customs like their cutlasses and bagpipes.
• Starfleet Battles has (almost all) ships equipped with Boarding Parties, which can be used to board other ships or repel boarders, and the Marines optional module adds detailed ground combat (with tanks, heavy weapons squads and even air support and artillery as well) and highly detailed subdivisioning of (most) ships for more 'realistic' boarding actions. It also added many more 'commando' ships, which exist primarily to deliver marines to combat.
• The cunningly titled Space Marines , published by Fan Tac in 1977.
• In Tomorrow's War the USMC themselves have jurisdiction over all of the USA's extraterrestrial ground actions. By agreement with the Army who get Earth.
• Lancer has "Space Marine" as one of many hats the titular mech pilots can wear. Special mention goes to Union's DOJ/HR Liberation Teams, the most hardcore Union strike teams sent to liberate entire planets from tyrannical masters who refuse to respect the Utopian Pillars; as well as Albatross, an anti-pirate knightly order funded by IPS-N to protect their shipping lanes from pirate attacks. IPS-N suits are often created for shipboard action, with the Caliban in particular being closer to a suit of Powered Armor then a Mini-Mecha , designed to clear pirate ships singlehandedly.
• Video Games based on the Alien series will, inevitably, have the players assume the role of the iconic Colonial Marines from the second film. Notably in their Rail Shooter trilogy, Alien 3: The Gun , Aliens: Extermination and Aliens: Armageddon .
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine : Exactly What It Says on the Tin .
• Armorines: Project S.W.A.R.M. have you playing as one of two members of the titular Armourine Squadron, an elite space marine legion fighting a Bug War .
• "The Space Marine" is the only name given the hero of the Doom series. Among fans, he's acquired the affectionate nickname of "Doomguy". On his guest appearance in Quake III: Arena , he's known simply as "Doom". In the books, his name is Flynn Taggart. In the movie , he was named John Grimm; apparently id Software's sole insistence for the film was that his first name be "John". In the Doom³ novels by Matthew Costello, he was named John Kane (curiously, this is the same surname as the protagonist of Quake IV ). In the Doom RPG mobile games he's given the name BJ/Stan Blazkowicz . Doom (2016) follows the fan tradition for the classic games and nicknames him "The Doom Slayer", which is what Quake Champions calls that version of the character. He doesn't have much characterisation as an actual space marine, but the phrase has gone on to become a shorthand for a certain type of FPS character — see A Space Marine Is You .
• Cortex Command plays with this a lot. While most of the types of troops in-game are delivered by dropship or rocket pod, and are heavily armed and armored, they're actually extremely heavily engineered to be quite literally brainless. Justified in that the player themselves are brains in bunkers, and control their troops by either directly possessing bodies or giving very simple commands.
• John-117, better known by his rank "Master Chief", whose design been quite influential on post-2001 video games. He is one of the very few survivors of the heavily armored and augmented Spartan- II super-soldiers, who are by far humanity's greatest soldiers.
• There are also the Spartan- IIIs , who are basically low-budget, expendable Spartans. They're still more badass than almost everything else in the galaxy. In Halo: Reach , centered on a team of Spartan- IIIs , Noble Six alongside Spartan-II Jorge-052 really put the "Space" in Space Marine, as they commandeer Sabre Space Fighter s engage in space dogfights, and board a Covenant cruiser.
• It is technically inaccurate to label the Master Chief or any Spartan as a Space Marine; while they have powered armor and advanced training (plus loads of augmentations), they're all actually UNSC naval personnel, making them closer to Navy SEALs . John-117's actual title and military designation is "Master Chief Petty Officer John-117", which makes him an non-commissioned Naval officer. The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers ( ODSTs ) better fit this trope, being actual elites within the UNSC Marine Corps; they consider themselves the main rivals to the Spartans, despite being normal humans with unpowered armor . The UNSC's regular Marines themselves sort of count, being the UNSC's main rapid-deployment and expeditionary force.
• Halo 4 introduced the Spartan- IVs , which, unlike their trained-from-childhood predecessors, are made from adult volunteers, with many of them being, ironically , former ODSTs . They're even more numerous than the IIIs were, with much better equipment to boot (though they're in general less skilled than their predecessors due to a more relaxed selection criteria). Also, the Spartans now have their own separate UNSC branch, meaning they're technically still not Marines.
• An old arcade game, Isolated Warrior have you playing as one named Captain Max Maverick, who's the Sole Survivor in a battle against hostile aliens. You then spend most of the game kicking all sorts of ass while making your way to the alien overlord.
• SAR: Search and Rescue , a game that serves as a Whole-Plot Reference to the second Alien film, have you playing as a marine sent to investigate a derelict colony ship only to discover it's infected by an infestation of Xenomorph Xerox monsters.
• The basic human unit in StarCraft is the Marine. The "lots of big guns" aspect sets it apart from the basic units of the other races, giving it range. Despite all the bulky armour and training and the fact that most of them are Badass convicts that have been brainwashed to risk the life for the force they serve, they happen to be one of the weakest units in the game individually. Goes to show how powerful everything else in the game is. Badass inflation strikes again. It is, however, a testimony to the versatility of the Terran Marines that 'M&M' (Marine and Medic in SC1 , Marine and Medivac in SC2 ) is considered a solid build for most situations and has consistently been a headache to balance against. They're the only cannon fodder in both games with anti-air capability (the Zerg Queen and Protoss Sentry being closer to vehicles and much less expendable).
• The Red Faction series has armour-suited EDF Drones deployed from Earth to Mars, first landing to provide emergency aid the rebels, later as a tyrannical occupation force. Their design in Red Faction: Guerrilla bears similarities to Halo . They are unusual in being bad-guy Space Marines in a video game.
• Although played straight at times in the sequel; Isaac can acquire quite a few suits of armor which qualify (although you can still equip the original one whenever you want). He can also acquire new weapons which can only be military grade.
• Beyond Good & Evil 's hamtacular Double H is something of an Affectionate Parody of the Space Marine (and possibly the Action Hero in general). For one thing, he's the dutiful Sidekick instead of the main character, who is introduced to play James Bondage before anything else. Most of his military-inspired one-liners and battle cries are intentionally So Bad They're Good . He's rather squishy and awkward beneath his grizzled badass facade and Perma-Stubble .
• Breed sees you as one of the cloned, artificially-created marines fighting the titular alien invaders. You're damn capable at it too, killing legions of Breed mooks throughout the game.
• Space Trooper is one of the 10 original ring sets available in " zOMG! ". Its primary focus is on ranged attacks, and its skills include firing guns, altering its density, and summoning a Beehive Barrier .
• Disgaea: Hour of Darkness has them. They are the be-all-end-all masters of guns, with the highest HIT affinity in the game ( tying with the Game-Breaker Majin classes).
• One of the major complaints against the 2008 Continuity Reboot Turok game is the conversion of the main character from a colorful Native American Warrior to a generic Space Marine straight outta Aliens .
• In Gears of War and Gears of War 2 you are veteran marine Marcus Fenix. He wears the trademark bulky armor.
• Genetic Species by Amiga have you playing as a marine investigating a MegaCorp 's Space Base where illicit genetic experiments are being carried out, hence it's title. And expectedly, an outbreak happens leading to you fighting all kinds of monsters the whole game.
• Gloom (Amiga) sees you as a marine fighting enemies inside a spaceship. The sequel sees you as a marine on a zombie -infested planet and fighting the undead.
• FreeSpace had them as well, but since it was a space sim, they were relegated to cutscenes and briefing reports on the overall war. The GTA ones appeared to be the only competent ones though, since the versions for any other group seemed to be butchered in any encounter.
• Though your team in the second game is an even bigger Ragtag Bunch of Misfits than the first, you actually end up boarding more starships, making more rapid insertion operations, and generally behaving more like Space Marines than you do in the first game. Squadmates Zaeed Massani and Jacob Taylor were both ex-Alliance marines before one went mercenary and the other joined Cerberus. You even meet a few Quarian Migrant Fleet Marines including Kal’Reegar . The third game adds Lieutenant James Vega .
• All human soldiers seen in the game are Space Marines; the codex notes that the army doesn't exist anymore as a separate branch and the Marines are merely a sub-branch of the navy. Appropriately, Powered Armor , Deflector Shields , coilguns several times more powerful than equivalent modern firearms, genetic/cybernetic enhancements , and omni-tools are standard issue among the grunts. Then again, they're standard for everyone else's grunts as well.
• In Mass Effect: Andromeda , Alec Ryder and his twin son and daughter are all former Alliance marines. Alec was a legendary N7 Special Forces operative just like Shepard in the first three games, while his son and daughter briefly followed his footsteps as marines before all three of them got kicked out. Squadmate Cora Harper was also briefly an Alliance marine biotic shock trooper before being sent on an exchange program to an asari commando squad. She considers herself an asari commando now .
• Star Trek: Elite Force practically lampshades the aforementioned ineffectiveness of Voyager's security, as its premise is that a group of the best combatants aboard form a special “hazard team” of space marines.
• Star Trek: Enterprise 's M.A.C.O.s return as one of the anti-Borg organizations alongside the Klingon Honor Guard and despite the ongoing war between both sides, they've teamed up to create an Anti-Borg Task Force called the Omega Force. There's also the Nukara Strikeforce who are another multi-faction task force who deal with Tholian threats and the new Dyson Joint Command, a joint task force led by the Romulan Republic to push back the Voth from the Solaneon Dyson Sphere. Joining these organizations are the majority of End-Game reputation systems (though the M.A.C.O./Honor Guard/Omega Force existed before the reputation mechanic was put in).
• Commander K'Tek of the Klingon flagship IKS Bortasqu' is basically one of these. His job title is QaS DevwI' , or "troop leader" , and it entails leading the ship's embarked troops during boarding actions .
• Star Control 2 features the Orz, whose ships can deploy combat-exosuit-wearing space marines who will board enemy ships to kill their crews.
• Vanilla Half-Life was a touted aversion, starring an Action Survivor Badass Bookworm instead of yet another Space Marine. But on reaching the end levels , the weapons, playstyle and situations were essentially the same — Quake II with the serial numbers filed off.
• In the add-on "Operation Thor's Hammer", for the original Wing Commander , they provide the force that assassinates the Kilrathi priestess conducting the Sivar Eshrad ceremony on Firekka.
• In Wing Commander IV , Space Marines of both the Terran Confederation and the Union of Border Worlds play a part in the plot, mostly in regards to boarding ships and stations to (re)capture them for their respective governments.
• Wing Commander Prophecy : Terran Confederation marines recapture several stations taken over by the Nephilim , and shut down most of the wormhole gate in the final mission, leaving the player to finish the job due to stiff resistance from the bugs preventing further marine penetration of the facility.
• The Federation Troopers of the Metroid Prime Trilogy . Unfortunately, they most frequently serve as the franchise's requisite Redshirt Army . This is more a matter of the Worf Effect than any inherent weakness. In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption , however, they have shown proficiency beyond this role.
• Ships in Master of Orion 2 got marines on board as a Boarding Party or defenders from the same. Planets can be invaded by troops via Transports and build Barracks for defenders.
• Onslaught sees you as the captain of a space marine platoon fighting a Bug War on an uninhabited planet.
• Operation: Matriarchy , where you're a space marine sergeant fending off an alien virus outbreak which converts an entire human colony into hostile, half-mechanical alien bio-weapons.
• In Star Wars: Battlefront II , not only do you get land battles, but you get space battles. Space battles have two classes: pilots who have little in the way of personal defense and marines who have better weapons than their land analogues. On the other hand, a pilot's starship auto-repairs.
• Many ships note  mainly capitals, but also corvettes and three of four freighter classes in the X-Universe series can carry around EVA-capable marines. Player-controlled personnel transports, corvettes, and missile frigates can use them to try and capture other ships - via spacewalking the marines to the other ship or firing them in a boarding pod - The target ship will sometimes be defended by their own marines, or internal turrets Betty: A Marine is a simple creature. Feed it and tell it what to do, any many things become possible.
• Of note are the Republic Commandos featured in Star Wars: Republic Commando . While the standard white armored troopers act like standard infantry, Republic Commandos are equipped with better weapons, custom painted and detailed armor and recieve superior training, as well as distinct personalities, which was considered odd, as they're clones and should be carbon copies of each other. Fighting as a squad with mission support, they more closely fit the trope of classic space marines than the other generic clone troopers. But looking back, this became standard among clones in The Clone Wars television series, which (especially after the first season) has a lot of focus on the clones being this trope, and had The Cameo for Delta Squad.
• The Delta Squad's lasting influence is felt in the Star Wars: The Old Republic , too, despite that game being set four thousand years further up the timeline. The Republic Trooper class is essentially a space marine, whose storyline is ripe with boarding action, ground action, space action, and lots and lots of Stuff Blowing Up (courtesy of the dedicated demolitions expert companion).
• Steel Force have you playing as one of the members of the titular squadron, a team of intergalactic marines battling Space Pirates . And then an alien infestation occurs.
• Every race in Sword of the Stars has some form of power armored marines for boarding actions. Background material for SolForce states that the marines and the army are essentially the same thing, seeing as the game doesn't bother with ground combat .
• The Karavan of Ryzom , even if they aren't these, still give off this sort of vibe with their advanced technology and godlike weapons.
• The special ability of the Hoplite Carrier in Space Tyrant is to deploy a squad of these as a Boarding Party , messing with one of the enemy's ships.
• The first and second game feature Roland and Axton, respectively, who both come equipped with deployable auto turrets as their action skill. Roland was a member of the Atlas Corporation’s Crimson Lance, while Axton was a soldier for Dahl.
• The Pre-Sequel has Athena, who was a former Crimson Lance assassin. She comes with a ballistic shield called Aspis that she can throw like Captain America. The Pre-Sequel takes this trope another step, being set on Pandora’s moon, with the opening cinematic being the Vault Hunters as a Boarding Party coming to the rescue of the Hyperion Helios Station against Dahl’s Lost Legion Marines.
• Borderlands 3 has Moze, who was a member of the Vladof corporation’s Ursa Corps, which operates the Iron Bear Mini-Mecha . 3 also has the Vault Hunters land on each planet for the first time via Drop Pod .
• Star Sector allows you to hire marines for combat actions. Most combat actions are raids on starports to steal resources or shut down facilities; in actual naval combat, marines do not participate. Mods exist to include ground combat, allowing you to direct your marines in landing and defense missions on planets, while providing orbital support.
• Commander Badass in Manly Guys Doing Manly Things is a Navy TiALS (Time, Air, Land, Sea) from a "generic space future" who was genetically engineered to be a tough-as-nails buff soldier type, in order to sell action figures because that's apparently how wars are fought in the future.
• Schlock Mercenary : Spaceship-to-spaceship combat using boarding parties is still a thing in the 31st century, and the protagonists (including Schlock) have been on both the giving and receiving end of it several times. Many warships have dedicated marine squads, usually equipped with Powered Armor and anti-tank weaponry and capable of taking a ship and its defenses by storm. Due to the prevalence of advanced AI and even more advanced gravitics, however, boarding actions are mostly performed against civilian targets, as surprise attacks, or to capture surviving crew after a warship has been damaged or disabled. Trying to teraport troops into a fully functioning warship will end up with the boarders being gravy gunned into gravy long before they become a threat.
• In all of his forms, Iron Manatee is one. A veteran of the Anglo-Chinese Opium Moon Wars, he fights in an armored space-suit, later upgraded to a full suit of Powered Armor with a primitive railgun and diamantine bladed chainsaw.
• The KSS Marines in Nexus Gate serve as the game's space marines. They guard the Kovolis held space from space pirates and other criminals.
• In Titan Maximum , Titan Force Five and the military they work for is never openly stated they are in the marines, but they are all given Navel Ranks. Billy's rank is even titled Space Seaman.
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars : The clone troopers got treated as this more and more the further into the series you go; in much of the first season, especially before "Rookies" , the clones were mostly grunts who didn't even use cover much like the Mecha-Mooks they fought. Many episodes revolve around this trope as well as The Squad , and they even fight out on the hulls of ships on at least one occasion. A lot of them go on commando style missions, and they hold up well compared to the Jedi, due to teamwork, especially the "ARC troopers" (who are more independent minded clones). Delta Squad , who are this trope first, and clones second, make a cameo, as well as another Republic Commando (who true to the game, is a One-Man Army ) in the fifth season. Even more outstanding, is the fact that the lowliest grunt clones can and do get promoted to serve alongside superior types of clones, as happens with Domino Squad becoming ARC troopers. Season 7 introduces the Bad Batch, an experimental group of clone commandos with genetic mutations that set them apart from the rest of the Grand Army. They’re basically Delta Squad expies with Bio-Augmentation , and they get their own spinoff, Star Wars: The Bad Batch .
• Of course, unlike the fictional version, these Marines aren't out to fight anyone (yet), but are used because a Marine is highly likely to be in prime physical condition, which is very necessary for working in space. In comparison, there have been over 80 astronauts from the Air Force (Air Force pilots being similarly held to high standards of fitness and having plenty of training and experience in flying things at very high speeds), but only 15 from the Army (with the Air Force having taken most of the pilot jobs when it split off back in 1947).
• This also makes a lot more sense when you realize that performing the equivalent of EVA work is literally the task that makes marines "marines" instead of sailors or infantry. Even the original marines in the Phoenician fleets were the soldiers trained to jump out of the boat and do irregular things like climb onto other boats to engage enemy forces or beach the craft manually in a normally bad landing spot, rather than being trained to operate the ships.

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Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

• Memory Beta articles sourced from episodes and movies
• Starfleet Marines
• Military organizations
• Military units

Starfleet Marine Corps

• View history

The Starfleet Marine logo as used in the late- 23rd century

The Starfleet Marine Corps , or simply the Starfleet Marines , are the infantry forces of the Federation 's Starfleet . Unlike the rest of Starfleet's service personnel, who used a naval ranking structure, the Marines use a rank structure based on equivalents of Earth infantry-based militaries, such as the MACOs . One early variant of the SFMC was the Starfleet Ground Attack Marines of the 2160s , a force that was considered inactive by the 24th century . ( TNG novel : The Forgotten War ; FASA RPG modules : Cadet's Orientation Sourcebook , Federation Ship Recognition Manual , Star Trek IV Sourcebook Update , The Four Years War )

• 3 Rank grades
• 4 Personnel
• 6.1 Connections
• 6.2 References and notes
• 6.3 External link

History [ ]

During the Four Years War (c. 2250s ), Starfleet Marines landed on Laxala , and constructed plasteel huts for their bases.

Marines were regularly sent to Ing in the late 23rd century to mount to flush-out anti-Federation Orion rebels, launch counter-offensives and destroy their bases of operation, but with limited success. ( FASA RPG - The Orions module : Book of Common Knowledge )

In 2293 , the SFMC was slated to take part in Operation Retrieve . They would have landed teams on Rura Penthe and participated in a direct assault on the Klingon prison complex on that planet. ( TOS movie : Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

• Starfleet 2nd Marine Regiment
• Starfleet 3rd Marine Division
• Starfleet 4th Marine Regiment
• Starfleet 5th Marine Regiment
• Starfleet 7th Marine Division
• Starfleet 8th Marine Regiment
• Starfleet 12th Marine Regiment
• Starfleet 13th Marine Regiment

Rank grades [ ]

• recruit [1]
• private [1]
• private first class
• lance corporal
• corporal [1] [2]
• sergeant [1]
• staff sergeant
• gunnery sergeant [2]
• master sergeant [3] first sergeant
• sergeant major [1] master gunnery sergeant
• warrant officer [1]
• chief warrant officer
• sublieutenant [1]
• lieutenant second class [1]
• lieutenant first class [1] [3]
• captain [4]
• lieutenant colonel
• colonel [1]
• major general
• lieutenant general
• general [1]
• field marshal [1]

Personnel [ ]

• Colonel Patrick West
• Lieutenant Colonel Jan Kincade
• Corporal Don Abrams
• Colonel Anchar Ahab
• Sublieutenant B.M. Biggs
• Captain Joachim Hartzer
• Corporal Akiko Karuna
• Gunnery Sergeant Ashobi Karuna
• Private Iesu Koshinara
• Colonel Wilhelm Mann'dela
• Sergeant Major Mbandwe
• Lieutenant First Class Randall Robor-Wheeler
• Lieutenant John Rich
• Sergeant Roger Tang
• General Shruth

See also [ ]

• Starfleet Marine Corps Command
• Starfleet Marine Academy

Appendices [ ]

Connections [ ], references and notes [ ].

• ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 FASA RPG module : A Doomsday Like Any Other .
• ↑ 2.0 2.1 TNG novel : The Forgotten War .
• ↑ 3.0 3.1 FASA RPG module : The Four Years War .
• ↑ FASA RPG module : Orion Ruse .

External link [ ]

• Starfleet Marine Corps article at Star Trek Expanded Universe wiki , the wiki for fan-authored Star Trek .
• 1 Cheronian
• 2 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 3 Eclipse class

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Starfleet Marine Corps

The Starfleet Marine Corps , or SFMC , is a department of Starfleet founded in 2320, charged with being the dedicated peacekeeping, ground assault of the United Federation of Planets . The Corps represents the practical reality that, despite the vaunted ideals of the Federation which Starfleet embodies, they exist in a continuously hostile and aggressive galaxy and require a dedicated military arm to deter hostile actions and provide a dedicated force of soldiers to augment Starfleet's otherwise defensively-oriented military operations. They are a relatively small department, and routinely detach groups of Marines to starships on an as-needed basis, depending on the mission and the commanding officer's desires. Starfleet Marine Corps members can be distinguished by the forest green colored undershirt to the traditional Starfleet uniform and their unique rank pips.

• 1.2 Merging with Starfleet
• 1.3 2320 to the Dominion War
• 1.4 Dominion War
• 1.5 Post Dominion War
• 2 Organization
• 3 Equipment

The Starfleet Marine Corps is not a department that was present at the founding of the Federation in 2161. United Earth Starfleet, the forerunner organization to the Federation's Starfleet , borrowed personnel from Military Assault Command Operations , also known as MACOs, to fulfill the ground assault role for starships and act as an extra protective force. Once folded into the Federation, the United Earth Space Probe Agency Starfleet became the United Federation of Planets Starfleet, but Military Assault Command Operations stayed separate. For nearly a century and a half, the MACO office at West Point, New York, was an independent body, comprised of trained military personnel and Starfleet officers in brevet positions within the structure, lending tactical expertise and advanced training facilities for Starfleet Security. Officer and enlisted exchange was common between the two organizations; Starfleet Security saw that the training was valuable for keeping their personnel sharp, and the MACOs benefited from the mobility of the Starfleet organization.

Merging with Starfleet

Starfleet had been eyeing the MACO structure for quite some time, envious of the special operations structure that the MACOs had developed. In turn, the MACOs relied very heavily on Starfleet to ferry them around, and their harmonious relationship often brought up talks about their merging. Several times, there was unsuccessful efforts to have the MACO structure join Starfleet. The most worthwhile movements for this were put on hold in 2293, after the Klingon Empire and the Federation entered into the Khitomer Accords , and several MACO bases of operations were no longer needed along the Klingon border. Also, an embarrassment occurred when Colonel West, tactical advisor to the President, was discovered to be in the Cartwright conspiracy, and was killed during a botched assassination attempt of both the President and the Klingon Chancellor. Other parts of Starfleet, the people who wanted Starfleet to continue on the science and exploration and to be less viewed as a military force, kept pushing the MACO structure away. Several Starfleet captains denied their own personnel training at West Point due to this conflict; some even were very prejudiced towards the people that had received the training, a feeling that still runs through Starfleet to this day. Considerable conventional resistance was encountered at every step of the way, with Starfleet's peaceful exploration pushing the MACO structure away. From 2295 to well into the 2310s, this was the situation. MACO merged with Starfleet on 10 November 2320, after tensions with the Klingon Empire and the start of a Cardassian -Federation conflict stretched Starfleet Security too thin to guarantee the safety and security of the Federation. An Executive Order issued by the Federation President at the time and ratified by the Federation Council amended the charter of Starfleet to form the department known as the Starfleet Marine Corps.

2320 to the Dominion War

Almost immediately, there were challenges for the newly-minted department. Members of the Joint Chiefs of Starfleet were unhappy about having to devote resources to the new department, and the exploration arms, particularly Science, did not like the Marines in Starfleet, and wanted them removed. The President mandating their merger and creation created a lot of resentment overnight. Regardless, the Starfleet Marine Corps was pressed into service right away, setting up bases of operations along the Cardassian border, as well as the Gorn and Tholian border regions. The Marines were also always the first ones to react to Talarian invasions during the Talarian Wars of the early to mid 24th centuries. With a technological advantage, the Marines had the upper hand in most of the conflicts, but suffered from a shortage of manpower in the beginning as the troops were deployed at first very sparsely along all the border regions, then increased as time progressed and the new department's training numbers increased exponentially. Battle wasn't the only thing the Marines were used for. When a Federation member asked for a peacekeeping force to enter their planet, the Marine Corps was asked in to represent the Federation. Marines were first used as the first line of defense for all Federation embassies scattered around the galaxy in 2339, and, in a joint operation with Starfleet Security , still make up Federation Embassy Security to this day. Starfleet Security has always eyed the Marines with scrutiny. Several attempts during this time were made to convince the sitting Federation President to dissolve the Marine Corps into Starfleet Security's numbers, as they felt Security's usage in these situations was more optimal. This has caused a rivalry in between the Marine Corps and the rest of Starfleet, most of the time friendly but sometimes heated. However, Marine usefulness was about to be put to the ultimate test. Already a few skirmishes with the Klingons in the corridor in between the Cardassian and Klingon empires had been fought in 2372 and 2373, and when formal war broke out between the Federation and the Dominion in late 2373, the Marine Corps was ready.

Dominion War

The Dominion War started in late 2373, and the Marines were there to answer the call of battle. Being a mobile infantry corps armed with advanced weaponry, Marine bases were the only places to at least hold their lines during the first assault of Cardassian and Dominion troops on the ground along the Cardassian border. The ground operations during the First Battle of Chin'toka was fought mainly with Marines and Klingons working side by side, representing a joint operations in mind that quelled some of the distrust of the former combatants in the brief Federation-Klingon conflicts of 2372. Further operations include three failed operations to retake Betazed in 2374 and the fourth successful push in a joint operation with Reman commandos in 2375.

Post Dominion War

After the Dominion War, the state of the Federation was quite different than before. Most of the commanders in Starfleet and politicians in the Federation were more cautious, and the usefulness of the Starfleet Marine Corps once and for all was sealed after their list of ground assault victories. They were pressed again into service, but the abundance of numbers of a Marine unit in a peacetime Federation meant that many could either retire or get trained into different departments, keeping their Marine rank while going into starship operation command. Starting in 2376, Marines were allowed to wear different colored collars instead of their traditional Marine colors when permanently assigned to a different department in Starfleet, such as Command. However, no Marine has been permitted to join Starfleet Medical or Starfleet Sciences department per mandate, but medical and science personnel can join the Marine Corps, though this practice is rare.

Organization

• Marine Commanding Officer
• Marine Executive Officer
• First Sergeant

The SFMC, like its predecessor, the MACOs, operates on a unit of 3 organization. A Lance Corporal or Corporal would lead 3 Privates or Privates First Class and this is what is known as a Fireteam. Fireteams are the smallest unit of the SFMC and are used for operations that require a great degree of stealth and as few people as possible. Among them may be a sniper, a scout, a demolitions expert, or an engineering expert known as a tech head. Most fireteams do not have battlefield medics, though they can be requested. Fireteams are often named Fireteam Blue 1 or Red 2, etc, depending on their Squad. There are almost always 4 people in a Fireteam. The next unit is a Squad, led by a Sergeant of some rank, whether Sergeant or Gunnery Sergeant. These Squads are made up of 3 Fireteams, each under their own Corporal. The Sergeant hands out orders to the Corporals who then give the orders to the necessary Privates. Most Squads have at least one medic among them and are used for slightly larger problems such as away teams where Security is otherwise occupied. Squads are usually named Blue, Red, Green, etc. There are almost always 13 people in a Squad. The next unit is a Platoon which is normally led by a Lieutenant, either first or second. They are made up of 3 Squads each and are named Alpha, Bravo and Charlie or some such depending on the preference of their company commander. There is almost always 40 people in a Platoon. The highest unit on most starships is a Company which is usually commanded by a Marine Captain. These are made up of 3 Platoons, with the Company Commander in charge of the first platoon, the Company XO in charge of the second platoon, and one other officer in charge of the third platoon. There are around 120 people in a Company and they are given numbers such as 129th Company depending on when they were founded. One of the units most seen on starbases and carriers such as the Lexington -class , most Battalions are used for war or any battles that may come up though some are merely made up of the Companies of various starships. There are 3 Companies in a Battalion, though most Starbases have Regiments. They are normally commanded by a Major who commands the first one, and Marine Captains command the other two. Another possibility is that Battalions could act like Task Groups do for starships. There are around 360 Marines in a Battalion. These are given numbers such as the 129th Battalion depending on when they were founded. Regiments are the highest units that are commanded by anyone lower than a General and are usually made up of 3 Battalions, and most of the time are commanded by Lieutenant Colonels or Colonels. These units are mostly used as Task Forces are used in Starfleet and do not have a real function as a whole other than for organization. There are around 1080 Marines in a Regiment and they are given numbers according to when they were founded such as the 29th Regiment. Divisions are the highest units in the Marine Corps and are commanded by Brigadier Generals, though one can achieve Major General if one works hard enough. Unlike the other units in the Marines, Divisions are made up of six Regiments. The Division commanders answer directly to the Commandant of the SFMC and the Divisions are given names chosen by the current Commandant. There are around 6480 Marines in a Division and the headquarters for the Division is located in the sector of space closest to the center of where the Division operates. The exact number of Divisions varies from year to year.

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Den of Geek

The Star Trek Next Generation Character That Was Originally Drastically Different

Early plans for Star Trek: The Next Generation had very different conceptions of the main cast, including a security chief inspired by a space marine from Aliens.

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Yaphet Kotto as Jean-Luc Picard? Wesley Snipes as Geordi? Jenny Agutter as Dr. Crusher?

Gene Roddenberry considered all of these actors for Star Trek: The Next Generation before casting Patrick Stewart , LeVar Burton, and Gates McFadden. However, the most surprising alternate idea for a TNG character involved Tasha Yar, the ill-fated security chief aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise .

The Tale of Macha Hernandez

The TNG series bible, released before the show premiered as a guide for writers and actors, describes Yar in terms similar, if not completely one-to-one, with the character we know from the series. “Born at a ‘failed’ Earth colony of renegades and other violent undesirables, she escaped to Earth in her teens and discovered Starfleet, which she still ‘worships’ today as the complete opposite of all the ugliness she once knew,” the description explains.

Portrayed by Denise Crosby, Tasha Yar did show great loyalty to Picard and the Enterprise , even if that loyalty fell short of “worship.” And though we knew she had a terrible childhood, the full details wouldn’t be known until the season four episode “Legacy.”

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But the very first description written for Yar in preparation for auditions was very different. So different, in fact, that she wasn’t even called Tasha Yar.

“LT. Macha Hernandez – 26 year old woman of unspecified Latin descent who serves as the starship’s security chief,” read the first casting call for TNG . “She is described as having a new quality of conditioned-body-beauty, a fire in her eyes and muscularly well developed and very female body, but keeping in mind that much of her strength comes from attitude. Macha has an almost obsessive devotion to protecting the ship and its crew and treats Capt. Picard and Number One as if they were saints.”

If a space-fairing Latina warrior with muscles and an attitude sounds familiar, it should.

Macha Hernandez’s description also matches Vasquez, the standout space marine from Aliens . Portrayed by Jenette Goldstein, who also appeared in director James Cameron ‘s Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Titanic , Vasquez was the standout in a space marine corps filled with colorful characters. While the other marines struggled to shake off their cryosleep (save for Al Matthews’ Sgt. Apone, of course), Vasquez starts doing pull ups and fending off dumb jokes from Hudson ( Bill Paxton ).

Every single line that Vasquez delivers is an all-timer. When the xenomorphs descend upon the marines and overwhelm them, Vasquez shouts “Let’s rock!” and starts blowing them away. She’s got a fantastic final line, telling Gorman (William Hope) just before they both die in an explosion, “You always were an asshole.”

Unsurprisingly, the first actor the producers considered for the role of Macha was Goldstein, but how the heck would a character like that fit on the deck of the Enterprise ? Especially while Roddenberry was in charge? After all, the man was famous for restricting conflict among the crew, which accounts for many of the bumps in TNG ‘s infamously uneven first season. It’s hard to see how even a TV-softened version of Vasquez could work on TNG .

Part of the answer is in the casting announcement. Macha is loyal to the Federation and Picard. So while there would surely be moments in which Macha would have leaned toward violence, a word from Picard would have made her stand down, as often happened with Worf.

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Beside Goldstein, another early frontrunner to play the character that would become Tasha Yar was Marina Sirtis. No, the English daughter of Greek parents isn’t at all Latina. But for television producers of the 1980s, brown hair was enough to signify “unspecified Latin descent.” And Goldstein isn’t actually Latina either despite playing a Latina woman in Aliens .

Interestingly, the original description for Deanna Troi said the character was a “cool, Icelandic blonde, almost Spock-like,” according to Crosby . “Marina [Sirtis] was reading for Tasha. Somewhere, about the second or third audition, Gene Roddenberry had this idea: Let’s just switch them and see what happens.”

From Macha to Tasha

When Denise Crosby became the frontrunner for the Security Officer, not even the most incurious casting director could see her as someone named Macha Hernandez. Instead, the show rewrote the character as the Ukrainian-descended Tasha Yar. With the Hernandez connection severed, most callbacks to Vasquez disappeared as well. Yar became a tough character who was told to stop fighting much more than she actually fought, unfortunately turning her into a bit of a boring presence on the Enterprise deck. Yar died an ignoble death in the 23rd episode of season 1, “Skin of Evil,” but it’s hard to begrudge all involved for abandoning the character.

Of course, Crosby did get to return in various forms throughout the show’s run, getting a proper send off for Yar in the wonderful “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and then getting to play the fun villain Sela. And Goldstein eventually found her way to Starfleet too, as a science officer aboard the Enterprise -B in Star Trek Generations and voicing the Enterprise computer on Short Treks .

Even better, the other attempt to pull from Aliens was much more successful. Roddenberry and the other TNG creators loved Lance Henriksen’s gentle but still uncanny take on an android as Bishop. They looked to that quality for Data, which they first found in actor Mark Lindsay Chapman before going with Brent Spiner . Spiner proved to be the ideal choice, not just because he brought Bishop’s disquieting kindness to Data, but also because he could expand on the character to make him unique and not just knock-off.

With time and the right casting, would Macha Hernandez have also become a distinct and beloved character? Maybe under Yaphet Kotto’s Picard and alongside Wesley Snipes’ LaForge.

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

• USS Cerritos personnel
• Starfleet command personnel
• Starfleet operations personnel

Beckett Mariner

• View history

Beckett Mariner was a female Human Starfleet officer who lived during the late 24th century .

Both of her parents served in positions of command in Starfleet: her mother (and later captain ), Carol Freeman , attempted to keep a close eye on her activities aboard the USS Cerritos , while her father Alonzo Freeman was an admiral . Mariner has gained considerable experience and formidable skills as a Starfleet officer, but untreated survivor guilt from having to serve in the Dominion War almost right out of Starfleet Academy before she could recover from a friend being killed in action caused a serious psychological fear of the responsibilities of command that has impeded her career. As such, for all her professional accomplishments, she preferred to remain at the rank of Ensign and endeavored to keep herself there by deliberately engineering demotions and reckless behaviors with the outward veneer of an arrogantly defiant and self-destructive attitude that often brought her to the risk of court martial .

• 1 Childhood
• 2 Starfleet Academy
• 3.1 Deep Space 9
• 3.2 Atlantis
• 3.3 USS Quito
• 3.4 USS Cerritos
• 3.5 Starbase 80
• 3.6 Return to the Cerritos
• 4 Personal interests
• 5.1.1 Carol Freeman
• 5.2.1 Quimp
• 5.2.2 Bradward Boimler
• 5.2.3 D'Vana Tendi
• 5.2.4 William T. Riker
• 5.3.1 Jennifer Sh'reyan
• 6.1 Appearances
• 6.2 Background information
• 6.3 External links

Mariner was the daughter of Starfleet captain Carol Freeman and admiral Alonzo Freeman . ( LD : " Second Contact ")

As a child, Beckett dressed up as Toby Targ each Halloween , even after she became too old for the character. ( LD : " Crisis Point ")

According to Beckett, her mother became a "jerk" when she was eight years old. ( LD : " Crisis Point ")

For a time, Mariner lived on Starbase 25 , during which she went by "Becky", a name her father still used later in her life. ( LD : " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers ", " Grounded ")

Mariner was left handed . ( LD : " I, Excretus ")

Mariner had taken two and a half years of horseback riding lessons, though this did not help her in 2381 when she unsuccessfully attempted to ride a horse within Starfleet's Old West Planet holographic training drill . ( LD : " I, Excretus ")

Starfleet Academy

Marriner attended her first year at Starfleet Academy in 2368 . ( LD : " Old Friends, New Planets ") Mariner excelled in the Academy, getting the best grades in her class. She was often noted as being a bit of a role model for her class, and that she always made sure her class kept up with her. Many, such as her friend and classmate Amina Ramsey predicted that Mariner would be the first of her class to get promoted to captain.

Together, the two got to a lot of mischief, such as stealing Professor Rubichik 's old special car and driving it into the bay . ( LD : " Much Ado About Boimler ")

Cadets Mariner and Sito

Mariner was also friends with fellow cadet Sito Jaxa , who encouraged Mariner to pursue a degree in xeno-history . Her first taste of the topic came during her first year, at which time she was excited to learn about the Xindi and Preservers . ( LD : " Reflections ", " Old Friends, New Planets ")

Mariner idolized Sito for not letting her mistakes as a cadet define her and succeeding in spite of having to repeat a year, and was devastated to hear that Sito was presumed killed in action . ( LD : " The Inner Fight ")

Starfleet career

Beckett Mariner during the 2370s

Mariner prided her ability to think for herself in critical situations, as she had served aboard five different Starfleet vessels, including the USS Quito , and had "seen stuff". There was a time when she was interested in advancing in rank , though her views regarding promotion and the importance of the senior staff had become somewhat jaded by 2380 . ( LD : " Second Contact ", " Cupid's Errant Arrow ")

On one harrowing occasion, she was trapped in a sentient cave for weeks , describing it as "a dark place that knows things." She also noted that she had almost been decapitated by a singing crystal , and was once held in a Klingon prison where she had to fight a yeti for her shoes merely because the yeti wanted to be antagonistic. ( LD : " Envoys ")

She kept her battle scars from a fight with a tentacled man that stabbed her with a barnacle blade in the chest , a fight on Magus III that left a scar on her right shoulder , a scar on her left bicep from Nanibia Prime , and a scar on her hip from a fight in Scottsdale . After Commander Jack Ransom stabbed her left foot with a crystal sword on Gelrak V , she intended to allow the skin to heal into a new scar as well. ( LD : " Temporal Edict ")

At some point, she befriended and blood bonded with General K'orin . Years later, she recalled that she and K'orin had done some " off-the-books grey ops stuff back in the day, " and together had worked on Jaxxa Prime , Vulcan , and Earth . ( LD : " Envoys ")

At another point in time, Mariner became acquainted with her mother's mentor , William T. Riker . Riker was indebted to Mariner, and despite being responsible for "hooking" her up with all of her contraband , such as Romulan ale , she insisted that Riker saving the Cerritos from the Pakleds did not make them "even". ( LD : " No Small Parts ")

Mariner had once been promoted to lieutenant junior grade , but was demoted for crashing an Oberth -class starship . ( LD : " Parth Ferengi's Heart Place ")

Deep Space 9

Sometime between 2372 and 2375 Mariner served aboard Deep Space 9 . During this time, she once broke Worf 's mek'leth , and, apparently, had it mended before he noticed it was gone. ( LD : " We'll Always Have Tom Paris ") Mariner later described hating the station, and had, in fact, incurred a sizable tab at Quark's , which equated to "a stack of latinum ." The tab was cleared years later when Mariner blackmailed Quark with a data chip copy of "that hologram with your head on Kira's body " that Kira Nerys had altered to his embarrassment, and had deleted what he thought was the only copy in 2373 . ( LD : " Hear All, Trust Nothing ")

During this time, Mariner fought in the Dominion War . The widespread death and destruction that surrounded her exacerbated the trauma of learning of Sito's death so much that she began to associate promotion with sending people to their deaths, leading to severe survivor guilt that caused her to continually self-sabotage and get herself demoted. ( LD : " The Inner Fight ")

Mariner's Atlantis profile

Also sometime during the 2370s , Mariner served aboard the starship Atlantis , when nearly half of the ship's crew succumbed to a Kerplickian lice infestation . Since Starfleet was embarrassed by the situation, it was never logged in official records. Mariner took advantage of that fact when she started a rumor that she was a specially trained black ops spy who had killed those who had otherwise simply and officially had mysteriously disappeared.

In 2381 , Honus , a Cerritos bartender , shared these rumors about what happened aboard the Atlantis with Ensigns Brad Boimler and Sam Rutherford which caused them to briefly second guess their relationship with Mariner. ( LD : " Mugato, Gumato ")

Mariner during her time aboard the Quito

While aboard the Quito , she participated in establishing first contact with the Galardonian High Council in 2379 . Sometime during 2370s (after stardate 47025.4 ), she experienced the death of her good friend and crew mate, Angie , who was eaten alive by a Harvongian while their ship was docked at Deep Space 9. The experience was traumatic, causing her to be on high alert in 2380 when she thought something similar could be happening to her friend Boimler. ( LD : " Cupid's Errant Arrow ")

During her time aboard the Quito , she spent time in the brig on many occasions and was eventually demoted to ensign and transferred to the Cerritos by her father, under the command of her mother, Captain Carol Freeman. Carol agreed to the transfer under the condition that if their daughter didn't fit in with the crew, Alonzo would transfer her back to the Quito . ( LD : " Second Contact ")

USS Cerritos

Mariner aboard the Cerritos in 2380.

The Cerritos was Mariner's fifth ship posting. ( LD : " We'll Always Have Tom Paris ") Her fellow command division officer and eventual friend Brad Boimler noted that she hated to give the orientation liaison tour, but offered to provide a tour to Ensign D'Vana Tendi to get her to help moving shore leave contraband . By this time, she had been serving on the Cerritos for a year, and could only really be considered to be friends with engineer Sam Rutherford before Tendi's arrival.

In 2380, while supporting second contact efforts with the Galardonians , Captain Freeman asked Ensign Boimler to monitor Mariner's activities. He eventually believed he had caught her selling Federation weapons, but she had actually been providing needed farming equipment to local farmers in an effort to bypass Starfleet bureaucracy . ( LD : " Second Contact ")

Mariner's greatest fear was ranking up.

Aboard the Cerritos , Mariner's assigned bunk was A12001 on Deck 11, in the LD sleeping quarters shared by lower deck officers on beta shift . ( LD : " Envoys ", " Terminal Provocations ") For a brief time, she received another promotion to lieutenant , and as such, received her own quarters , before being demoted back to ensign. Her promotion was actually a scheme to get her to resign to another ship after she disrespected Captain Freeman in front of Captain Durango . ( LD : " Moist Vessel ")

Starbase 80

Mariner was transferred to Starbase 80 by Captain Carol Freeman after being accused of besmirchcing the USS Cerritos and its crew. She briefly served there before before resigning from Starfleet. ( LD : " Trusted Sources ") She then became the partner of Petra Aberdeen in the Independent Archaeologists Guild . ( LD : " The Stars At Night ")

Return to the Cerritos

Following her short-lived resignation from Starfleet, Mariner returned to the USS Cerritos , where she was welcomed with open arms. Furthermore, Mariner realized that she preferred being part of Starfleet with its ideals. To that end, Mariner explained to her mother that she had a new resolve to seriously advance in the ranks, and persuaded the Captain to have a most reluctant Commander Ransom assigned as her mentor. ( LD : " The Stars At Night ")

Shortly after her return, she was promoted to lieutenant junior grade after the Cerritos transported the USS Voyager to Earth. ( LD : " Twovix ") At this development, Mariner's reflexive self-destructive behavior flared up again and she began to resist this change. However, despite her reluctance and insubordinate behavior during an away mission on Narj's Miraculous Menagerarium , Ransom refused to allow her to self-sabotage. During the mission, two Humans accidentally displayed at the menagerie that her away team had been assigned to retrieve released a moopsy from its enclosure in order to murder proprietor Narj , forcing Narj and the away team to flee the bone -drinking creature. After taking refuge in the main control room , Ransom got her to realize and acknowledge that her behavior made no sense. After the moopsy broke in and consumed Narj, Mariner unknowingly trapped it in the control room, resulting in the moopsy causing the station's orbit to decay. Ransom stopped her from sacrificing herself to lure the moopsy out and allow him and Ensign Gary to restabilize the orbit, instead ordering her to punch his teeth out to lure it out and back to its enclosure safely. As they went to retrieve the Human exhibits, Mariner noticed that a painting of an umbrella was upside-down, leading to the away team discovering their culpability and abandoning them at the menagerie. ( LD : " I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee ")

However, the survivor guilt that caused her erratic conduct was not addressed at this time, resulting in her self-destructive behavior continuing and her emotional state becoming increasingly unstable. This did not go unnoticed when the Cerritos was on a diplomatic mission to Ferenginar ; after Mariner got into a bar fight, Quimp noted that while immature rebellion was hardly out of character, it was especially noticeable this time as she had nothing to be upset about for once, something Mariner was unable to refute. Although the two parted on good terms, Quimp asked Mariner to figure out what was causing her issues before it was too late. ( LD : " Parth Ferengi's Heart Place ")

Unfortunately, after the Ferenginar mission, the issue started to escalate into suicidal behavior, resulting in several violent away missions. On one occasion, she leapt out of a shuttlecraft to fight "a pile of junk" after mistaking it for a Borg drone ; on another occasion, during a visit to an outpost on Persioff IX , she responded to to tremble lizards breaking through a force field fence by going outside without donning an antivenom suit to lure the extremely dangerous creatures away and repair the fence. This eventually prompted Freeman to distract her from a search for Nick Locarno , apparently targeted by a mysterious ship that was stealing non-Starfleet vessels, by sending her on an away mission to a disabled weather satellite orbiting Sherbal V . Unknown to anyone, Locarno was the pilot of the ship, Nova One , and Sherbal V was the planet mutineers he was recruiting into Nova Fleet were marooning their commanding officers on. As such, the away team was attacked by the IKS Che'Ta' and forced to beam onto the planet. Mariner got into a fight with Ma'ah , but the duel was suspended when the two were forced into a cave to shelter from a glass storm . With nothing else to do and Ma'ah noticing that she seemed troubled, Mariner ended up pouring her heart out to Ma'ah about how Sito's death and the Dominion War had left her disillusioned with Starfleet and afraid of promotion because she was terrified of ordering friends to their deaths. Ma'ah responded by telling her that she was not honoring Sito's memory and that Sito would never approve of her erratic behavior, causing Mariner to reevaluate her attitude and come to terms with Sito's death; while her stance on Starfleet's flaws was unchanged, she conceded that Sito would think she was " acting like an idiot. " With newfound faith in herself, Mariner then rallied the stranded crews together, only for Locarno to abduct her and bring her to the Detrion system . On Nova One , Locarno greeted Mariner as an old friend even though she only vaguely knew him through Sito, and, much to her horror, introduced her to Nova Fleet.

Locarno attempted to use her as an anti-Starfleet symbol, but she instead condemned Locarno and his plan on a live subspace broadcast, stole a Ferengi-made Genesis Device Locarno was using as a deterrent, and fled on the USS Passaro . Unable to leave the system due to a trynar shield , she was instead forced to evade Nova Fleet within the system. All the while, she refused to fire a single shot on her pursuers, instead attempting to reason with them. Knowing the Genesis Device needed to be kept out of Locarno's hands permanently, she attempted to reach the lifeless Detrion 9 to detonate it there, only to be forced into an ion storm . Locarno, following Mariner in, called her an apologist for Starfleet, but she retorted that she would never put people in danger the way he was and refuted his claim that Sito died for no reason. She then flung Joshua Albert 's death in his face, and, when he tried to blame the Academy professors for not letting Nova Squadron practice the Kolvoord Starburst , bluntly told him that the tragedy was the result of his own narcissism. When Nova One caught up with and disabled the Passaro , Mariner activated the Genesis Device before Locarno could board, and briefly fought him before being unexpectedly beamed onto the Cerritos captain's yacht as he attempted to shoot her; during the cat and mouse between the Passaro and Nova One , the Cerritos had breached the trynar shield by flinging the Orion destroyer Retribution at it. Mariner begged for Locarno to be saved, but Locarno, unaware that the full deactivation sequence was locked behind a paywall , refused rescue by raising shields and stubbornly attempted to disarm the device, and the captain's yacht was forced to flee the imminent Genesis Wave. The detonation transformed the ion storm and all matter within into a new planet, named Locarno since Locarno's atoms were part of it. Mariner returned to the Cerritos and apologized for her recent behavior, but then received some bad news: in exchange for the Retribution , Tendi had been forced to agree to leave the Cerritos and return to her role as Mistress of the Winter Constellations. ( LD : " The Inner Fight ", " Old Friends, New Planets ")

Personal interests

Mariner was highly proficient at hand-to-hand combat and was a master of anbo-jyutsu . She was well-practiced at martial arts because it could be done alone, and she often lacked friends at her postings. ( LD : " Mugato, Gumato ")

Mariner enjoyed spreading rumors about herself because she liked "having a mystique." ( LD : " Mugato, Gumato ")

Mariner claimed her "secret" was never eating after seven o'clock. ( LD : " No Small Parts ")

Mariner was skilled in playing the electric guitar , preferring the hard rock genre and used an amplifier when performing. ( LD : " Temporal Edict ")

Personal relationships

Carol freeman.

Mariner and her mother in 2380

Mariner's relationship with her mother was often rocky, and conflicting to the point where both of them hoped to keep their relationship as mother and daughter a secret from the rest of the crew. Mariner did not want to be seen as any different from the rest of the crew, and Freeman didn't wish for it to be known that one of the most rebellious officers of the fleet was her daughter. They managed to keep this relationship secret, until Boimler stumbled upon the secret by accident, and inadvertently revealed the relationship to the crew of the Cerritos via an open communications channel. ( LD : " Crisis Point ", " No Small Parts ")

Freeman's patience with Mariner was very often tested, and in 2380, she sought numerous ways to get her transferred off the ship, though none of these methods was successful, and Mariner even caught on that Freeman was trying to have her transferred.( LD : " Second Contact ", " Moist Vessel ")

Despite this conflicting relationship, Mariner still loved her mother, and when the two cooperated together, they could accomplish impressive feats together. At one point, Freeman had Mariner briefly promoted, initially with the hopes of transferring her off the Cerritos , but with how effective the two worked together in a crisis, she wondered if Mariner would actually be a good addition to her senior staff. While Mariner ultimately got herself demoted again, the two later agreed to work together to provide a positive change in the ways Mariner was good at but Freeman was limited to do under Starfleet protocol. ( LD : " Moist Vessel ", " No Small Parts ")

While Mariner was not above taunting Freeman often, and giving her a piece of her mind, the two learned to see past their differences and their quarrels and find a new respect and love for one another. While the two didn't always understand one another, their conflicts never hurt their love for one another, and Mariner logged that as much as Freeman could be a "pain in the ass", she would do anything for her. ( LD : " Crisis Point ", " I, Excretus ")

In 2381 , Freeman accused Mariner of besmirching her and the Cerritos to FNN reporter Victoria Nuzé when she had done no such thing and transferred her to Starbase 80 as revenge, leading to an outraged Mariner resigning. Freeman was not notified of Mariner's resignation until she contacted the station in a desperate attempt to apologize upon learning that Mariner's unauthorized interview had contained nothing but praise. Despite this, Mariner came to the aid of the Cerritos without a second thought upon learning of the Texas -class crisis, and, once the crisis was over, forgave Freeman for her actions, noting that her own poor behavior likely contributed to Freeman's rash decision making. ( LD : " Trusted Sources ", " The Stars At Night ")

Friendships

Mariner and Quimp

Quimp was one of Mariner's oldest continuous friends. He helped her out on occasion and genuinely cared for her well-being. ( LD : " Envoys ", " Parth Ferengi's Heart Place ")

Bradward Boimler

Mariner and Boimler having a drink

Mariner considered Boimler her best friend, and the two often worked together on missions. She used affectionate nicknames like "Boims" for him.

Though their friendship started a bit rough, and though their personalities and approach to their missions could be drastically different, with Boimler being more by the book, while Mariner would act more on instinct, they worked well together, and developed enormous amounts of respect for one another. As a show of friendship, Mariner decided to become Boimler's mentor with the intention of getting him into a captain's chair . She also helped restore some faith in himself as a Starfleet officer by deliberately making herself look bad when he got close to quitting Starfleet. ( LD : " Second Contact ", " Envoys ", " Strange Energies ")

When Boimler accepted a promotion, and transfer to the USS Titan , Mariner was very angry and hurt that he didn't say goodbye and held a grudge against him for a brief period of time. While she missed him, she did eventually understand his decision, and was happy for him. Even three months after the transfer, Mariner, Tendi, and Rutherford kept up the habit of leaving an open booth for Boimler when using the sonic showers due to his discomfort with public nudity.

Boimler's time on the Titan was limited, however, and when he returned to the Cerritos, Mariner was very excited to see him return, and welcomed him back instantly (though she wasn't above giving him a little flack for leaving). While she welcomed him back, she did hold a small bit of anger at him, which was revealed during a visit with Boimler to Starbase 25 . While Mariner was angry with him for never apologizing, Boimler was angry that she was being selfish, and that he earned his promotion to the Titan . The two eventually reconciled, with Boimler giving her the apology she had been waiting for. ( LD : " No Small Parts ", " Strange Energies ", " Kayshon, His Eyes Open ", " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers ")

Despite the arguments Mariner and Boimler could often find themselves in, the two were practically inseparable to the point where Tendi did not dismiss the assumption that they're dating, and they were often mistaken for a couple. They affectionately teased one another, and Mariner considered Boimler her "number one." ( LD : " We'll Always Have Tom Paris ", " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers ")

D'Vana Tendi

Mariner and Tendi were friends, but did not have a very close relationship for a while. Since Tendi was closer with Rutherford more often than not, for the first year that Tendi served aboard the Cerritos , Mariner was completely unaware that Tendi even had a first name. Tendi was also unaware of a lot of Mariner's service history with Starfleet. Mariner also had a habit of associating Tendi with common stereotypes associated with Orions, much to the discomfort and frustration of Tendi, who was trying to distance herself from such stigmas. ( LD : " Crisis Point ", " We'll Always Have Tom Paris ")

Despite this, the two did grow closer as friends as time went on to the point where in a single mission, Tendi disclosed more information about herself than even Rutherford knew. Mariner saw Tendi as a very kind and good person and was willing to take the blame for her when she'd get into trouble.

William T. Riker

Mariner was friends with Riker and his former mentee . He often provided her with contraband , such as Romulan ale . ( LD : " No Small Parts ")

Mariner was pansexual and had dated " bad boys, bad girls, bad gender nonbinary babes, ruthless alien masterminds, [and] bad Bynars ." ( LD : " We'll Always Have Tom Paris ")

Mariner once dated an Anabaj to make her mother angry. ( LD : " Envoys ")

Aboard the Cerritos , Mariner went on one date with Lieutenant Steve Levy in 2379 , but ended it because he believed conspiracy theories , such as that " Wolf 359 was an inside job." ( LD : " No Small Parts ")

Jennifer Sh'reyan

Sh'reyan and Mariner kiss.

Mariner's relationship with the Andorian , Jennifer Sh'reyan , started incredibly rocky. She claimed to hate her at first, and was particularly annoyed by Andy Billups calling her by Jen's name. ( LD : " No Small Parts ", " Strange Energies ") This tension between the two continued through 2381, until the Cerritos had to engage in a rescue of the USS Archimedes . Mariner and Sh'reyan worked together to help Ransom manually navigate through a debris field by sight. When the Cerritos collided with a piece of debris, Sh'reyan saved Mariner when she became dislodged, and nearly drifted out into space. Mariner later thanked her for saving her, and they both apologized to one another for how they'd been treating each other. ( LD : " First First Contact ")

The two started dating shortly afterward, though Mariner was a bit shy about it. It was implied that Mariner was afraid of long-term commitment. Her friends teased her about it, though they were ultimately supportive of their relationship. Mariner at one point was very shy about meeting Sh'reyan's friends. When she was invited to Castro 's salon , she went out of her way to be overly polite, as she was worried that Sh'reyan would break up with her if her friends didn't like her. Sh'reyan saw through the act and assured her that she liked Mariner for her short tolerance of people, and has been looking forward to seeing Mariner go hard on her friends. Reassured, Mariner proceeded to stun them all when they were panicking in a blackout, much to Sh'reyan's amusement. Sh'reyan later told Mariner that it was her unpredictability that she loved the most about her. ( LD : " Mining The Mind's Mines ", " Hear All, Trust Nothing ")

Mariner's signature

Appearances

• " Second Contact "
• " Temporal Edict "
• " Moist Vessel "
• " Cupid's Errant Arrow "
• " Terminal Provocations "
• " Much Ado About Boimler "
• " Veritas "
• " Crisis Point "
• " No Small Parts "
• " Strange Energies "
• " Kayshon, His Eyes Open "
• " We'll Always Have Tom Paris "
• " Mugato, Gumato "
• " An Embarrassment Of Dooplers "
• " The Spy Humongous "
• " Where Pleasant Fountains Lie "
• " I, Excretus "
• " wej Duj "
• " First First Contact "
• " Grounded "
• " The Least Dangerous Game "
• " Mining The Mind's Mines "
• " Room for Growth "
• " Reflections "
• " Hear All, Trust Nothing "
• " A Mathematically Perfect Redemption "
• " Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus "
• " Trusted Sources "
• " The Stars At Night "
• " I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee "
• " In the Cradle of Vexilon "
• " Something Borrowed, Something Green "
• " Empathological Fallacies "
• " Parth Ferengi's Heart Place "
• " A Few Badgeys More "
• " The Inner Fight "
• " Old Friends, New Planets "
• SNW : " Those Old Scientists "
• " Holograms All the Way Down " (background hologram)
• " Walk, Don't Run " (background only; archive footage)

Background information

Mariner was voiced by Tawny Newsome .

In developing the characters for Lower Decks , Mike McMahan described all four leads in an 10 August 2020 TrekMovie.com interview as a combination of other Star Trek characters, parts of himself, and people in his life. Mariner had elements of Captain James T. Kirk , Kathryn Janeway , and Jean-Luc Picard , " she knows the rules, but also sometimes feels like she should bend them because she knows better. "

Beckett Mariner in a Paramount+ commercial

He further compares her to " Maverick in Top Gun ... he's great at flying a jet, but he also buzzes the tower. " [2]

McMahan named Mariner after his sister, Beckett Mariner McMahan, and based her relationship with Captain Freeman on his sister's relationship with their mother " when my sister was younger and would throw down with my mom occasionally. " [3] [4]

No explanation has been given for Mariner having a different surname than either of her parents.

Beckett Mariner appears as a duty officer in Star Trek Online .

External links

• Beckett Mariner at StarTrek.com
• Beckett Mariner at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 Calypso (episode)

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Published Jun 8, 2023

The 10 Best Marine and Aquatic Species in the Star Trek Universe

Take a deep dive into the ocean life of Star Trek.

Getty Images / StarTrek.com

In Star Trek: Lower Decks ' "Much Ado About Boimler," some of our heroes helped the residents of a bog planet — “the worst kind of planet” — to fix a water filtration pump. Though the Khwopans are only briefly featured, we can see that they are clearly inspired by a real world animal — the axolotl .

StarTrek.com

10. The Antedeans

As seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation ’s “ Manhunt ,” these sentients are basically the answer to the question, “What would happen if an otherwise normal bipedal humanoid had a fish head instead of a mammal head?”

The Star Trek universe contains some of the most imaginative science fiction out there, but also contains the notorious Alfa 177 canine. On a scale from a dog with a horn glued to its head to the crystalline entity, Antedeans are… solidly at the bottom of my list of the best marine and aquatic species in the Star Trek universe.

9. “The Fish”

There is a large Cardassian fish on the wall outside a restaurant on the promenade of Deep Space 9 . It looks awesome! I want to know more about it! Yet remarkably in 176 episodes and nearly 100 novels, we never learn the backstory of this incredible animal, which is referred to in The Making of Deep Space Nine as just “the fish.” I’m ranking it low for now with the option to move up once we learn more about it.

8. Livingston

Livingston is, of course, Captain Picard’s pet lionfish. These real-world animals are the source of major ecological disruptions , but are undeniably beautiful and kinda alien-looking. You don’t need to glue on a horn to make a real-world animal look bizarre if you use the right real-world animal!

Related to this, it’s completely realistic to imagine that a 24th Century marine biologist would have no interest in ever going offworld because there are still species to discover on the Great Barrier Reef and in the depths of Earth’s oceans. Call me, Hollywood!

7. The Squales of Planet Droplet

As seen in the Star Trek: Titan novel Over A Torrent Sea , the squales, or “squid-whales,” are a species of pre-warp but intelligent ocean creatures that resemble marine mammals with tentacles. The entire worldwide population can communicate with each other through echolocation, or what the novel calls “the deep sound channel forum,” a clear reference to the real-world “deep scattering layer” that allows marine mammals to communicate across vast distances in the ocean . Since these aliens live underwater, they can’t use fire, or, you know, hands, which somewhat limits the evolution of Earth-style technology, but the squales had impressive biotechnology (including non-warp spaceflight), and a complex society.

6. Regular whales and SPACE WHALES!

Humpback whales, of course, play a key role in Star Trek: The Voyage Home , but the Star Trek universe is also rich with references to SPACE WHALES!

The Gormagander gets Harry Mudd aboard Star Trek: Discovery in “Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad;” Captain Pike recounts a battle with warp-capable space whales in the novel Where Sea Meets Sky , and the probe from The Voyage Home attacks a Romulan world in the process of killing its native whales in its titular novel, Probe . Sure, not all of these animals technically live in water, but SPACE WHALES!

5. The Selkies of Pacifica

Though the beautiful ocean world of Pacifica is frequently mentioned in the shows (that’s where those accursed Antedeans were going), we only meet the sentient natives, known as the Selkies, in the novels (especially the Titan novels).

As children and young adults, they’re amphibious, but as they age, they lose their lungs, become fully aquatic, and can only visit the surface when wearing a special suit. There are also some interesting cultural taboos associated with this transition discussed in a lot of detail the books that we won’t get into here because this is a family-friendly website, but… let’s just say that Commander Riker had an interesting social life before he settled down with Deanna Troi. I hope that with so much new Star Trek being created, we finally get to see the Pacifican underwater city of hi’Ley’ia on-screen!

4. The Alonis

Like the Selkies, these entirely-underwater sentients have live-in environmental suits to move through the rest of the known universe. Unlike the Selkies and our #1 entry on this list, the Alonis don’t have opposable thumbs, but have the psychic ability to telekinetically manipulate water to perform complex tasks for them. We’ve never seen the Alonis in the shows, but they’re common in the novels and eventually join the Federation.

3. The Yrythny

As seen in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Mission Gamma books, the Yrythny are an aquatic species that lives in the Gamma Quadrant. They lay their eggs and spend time at sea before returning to land. The hatchlings that return to the area where they were born are considered to be smarter and more capable, and play a leadership role in society.

Meanwhile, those who get lost are called “Wanderers” and basically serve as indentured servants in service of the “Houseborn,” who correctly found their way home. This was one of the best examples I’ve ever seen of incorporating real-world life history strategies into science fiction and imagining what it might mean for an advanced culture in the novels. Science learned from the Yrythny plays a key role in resolving a series-long conflict over multiple books concerning Andorian biology. Not every species on Earth has internal fertilization nor are raised by parents, and it’s cool to see different biological strategies and their impacts on culture explored in Star Trek societies.

2. Chelarian (aka Chelon/Rigellian)

These sentients are basically upright turtles (real-world sea turtles are in the family Cheloniidae), but unlike the “just glue a fish head on a human body” Antedeans, some aspects of the turtle-ness shine through in their behavior. They have shells and are fairly slow moving on land, but are quicker in the water, for example. But as we learn in the Vanguard novels, their shell also means that they can’t sit and have to instead kneel around a conference table. They also are capable of creating a powerful biotoxin (which, while many real-world reptiles can, turtles can not), and reproduce by laying eggs.

1. The Xindi-Aquatics

The whole Xindi plotline gets a lot of criticism from some fans, but I love the idea that multiple intelligent species can evolve on the same planet from different evolutionary lineages and have distinct cultural traits. And the Aquatics were definitely the best of the Xindi! According to the novels, they were the first of the Xindi to achieve intelligence, and were more peaceful, thoughtful, and deliberate than the others, with a language that sounds an awful lot like whalesong. These aliens definitely deserve a spot at #1 on this list!

Honorable mention: M.A.C.O.

I wish Star Trek featured more sharks. We do learn about the existence of Altarian dogfish in the context of a “baked Altairian dogfish sandwich,” and Worf’s promotion ceremony on the Holodeck in Star Trek Generations , which includes a plank-walking scene that also references feeding him to the sharks. Other than that, there’s not much — despite “Tiburon” being Spanish for shark, the Tiburonians aren’t shark-like at all! But sharks clearly exist in the Star Trek universe, as seen in the Military Assault Command Operations unit patch on Star Trek: Enterprise .

Earth Day | Star Trek Cares for the Environment

This article was originally published on October 20, 2020.

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Dr. David Shiffman is a Washington, DC based marine conservation biologist and science writer. Follow him on twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @ WhySharksMatter

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel. The series will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, the Caribbean, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and South Korea.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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• Fiction Discussion
• Vs. Debates

Star Trek VS Space Marines

• Thread starter mechenical man
• Start date Aug 23, 2005

Who wins the all out war?

The marines win, the star trek armies win, draw q kills every one for fun^^.

• Total voters 22

mechenical man

Ultramarine veteran.

• Aug 23, 2005

stage 1:This is the deal. Ultramarine Chapter full force versus the entire human army. the marines will play the invading force and the batle begins in our solar system. by pure luck all human forces are in the system. no other race will come help. and do think in the star trek mind(no suicide attacks and stuff) Stage 2: a marine group if 30 marines armed with bolters and plasma guns boards a dreadnought of the humans. how long does it take: a. the marines to capture the bridge and secure the ship. b. the humans to kill them all(they wont retreat for sure) stage 3: in an all out war. who would win: All of the imperiums army(all chapters and the imperial guard) or the entire human coalition with the klingons and vulkans ect. note clearly in the begin of the post wich stage you describe.  

MJ12 Commando

Is there an RSK ? If there is, what did WH40K did to you ?  

Lord Khorak

40k, lacking the same fancy pants technological dependance of everyone else, will simply have a Librarian divine what to do, then throw a bridge at Kirk. And we know his track record there.  

Lord Khorak said: 40k, lacking the same fancy pants technological dependance of everyone else, will simply have a Librarian divine what to do, then throw a bridge at Kirk. And we know his track record there. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

MJ12 Commando said: Ah, but what if the bridge misses, cutting a gash into his shirt? Click to expand... Click to shrink...

MJ12 Commando said: What. The Fuck. Did Star Trek. Ever Do. To you? This thread is cruel and one-sided. I like it. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Memphet'ran

Looking into the light.

(1)How big is the Ultramarines Chapter? The Redshirts will take hundreds of casualties for every SM they kill, but the average Astartes chapter is not very big so I'm thinking the Redshirts just might win this round out of sheer weight of numbers. (2) However long it takes them to physically walk from their point of entry to the bridge. (3) The Imperium, in a walk.  

Dark Hellion

A chapter has 1000 battle brothers, plus command, pilots, vehicle crews and various servants and medical and technical staff. All told 1500-2000 space marines, plus up to 2000 non-caombat personal. The Ultramarines are a slightly large chapter, and could have up to 2500 though.  

It isn't likely that Scouts actually count towards the total number of Battle Brothers, there's no telling how many psychotic initiates desperate to prove themselves are hiding in the undergrowth with a heavy bolter and a grin on their faces. Considering the vast ineptitude of Star Trek a simple squad of Scouts would be a complete nightmare.  

Dark Hellion said: The Ultramarines are a slightly large chapter, and could have up to 2500 though. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Groovymonkey!

Surface detail.

Ash's Boomstick

Very british enforcer.

in regards to the Poll Q is an advanced energy being But could he KILL a Space Marine Veteran librarian in Terminator armour? Im not wanking over 40k i want to know what people think.  

Captain Hat

The real blast hardcheese.

.....yes? As to the scenarios, is #1 ground and airborne forces only? If so, the Feds might have a chance due to sheer weight of numbers, but the casualties they take will be absolutely horrendous and the Federation is unlikely to recover in any reasonable timespan. If not, and both sides get their fleets, the Federation is utterly fucked. The Ultramarines have a grand total of six Battle-Barges, a larger fleet than anyone else bar the Black Templar (and maybe the Dark Angels), including the Seditio Opprimere , the only know Battle-Barge to be designed specifically for fleet combat, armed with a devastating Lance broadside that will shatter any Federation starship. The Space Marine fleet is faster, more powerful, longer-ranged and far, far harder than anything the Feddies have to offer.  

It Only Gets Worse From Here

This sounds like TOS... which means, CONNIES! Star Trek pwns j00  

In all stages the Federation would loses and be destoryed. In stage 3.. in almost all cases the Federation will lose. There is one extreme case where they can fight back if they willing to do the unthinkable. Let say just as the Federation is about to be grinded into atoms in the losing war, they finally give into the unthinkable. They give permissions to go back in time and do whatever it takes to win. All depend on a few terms and willing to break every laws and belief they have. -time travel as much as possible without care to spacetime or any paradox -take Data apart and make enough copies to crew the fleet. He is a android cant be mind readed. -violated the treaty and completely overdeveloped phased cloak technology -make phased cloak technology portable and antimatter devices portable, you got alot of time since you can time travel. -make as many Genesis devices as possible. -let the Chaos Gods know a part of the plan and have remains of the Imperium, so when the Emperor ascended they can keep him busy. As i saided, they have to be willing to do the unthinkable. Travel back in time to give you an edge in creating a fleet crewed with Data and equiped with phased cloak. Sent them to wiped out the Imperium using the Genesis devices. Cause you have time travel, you can know the position of every VIP you need to kill and can easily kill him using portable phased cloak and antimatter device. They are dead when the antimatter device is unphased cloak inside their brain. At best it would be MAD, mutually assured destruction. The Federation will not win, but will take down the Imperium with them. Leaving the Chaos Gods to roam free.  

Valar Morghulis

PsyckoSama said: This sounds like TOS... which means, CONNIES! Star Trek pwns j00 Click to expand... Click to shrink...

primer said: not only Connies but also Ripped Shirt Kirk, the two combined together make such a Uber force only OBS can defeat Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Ash's Boomstick said: As well as fought to a standstill or MAD by the Big Man and his Customised Van. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

consequences

Worst derailer ever.

Manh said: In all stages the Federation would loses and be destoryed. In stage 3.. in almost all cases the Federation will lose. There is one extreme case where they can fight back if they willing to do the unthinkable. Let say just as the Federation is about to be grinded into atoms in the losing war, they finally give into the unthinkable. They give permissions to go back in time and do whatever it takes to win. All depend on a few terms and willing to break every laws and belief they have. -time travel as much as possible without care to spacetime or any paradox -take Data apart and make enough copies to crew the fleet. He is a android cant be mind readed. -violated the treaty and completely overdeveloped phased cloak technology -make phased cloak technology portable and antimatter devices portable, you got alot of time since you can time travel. -make as many Genesis devices as possible. -let the Chaos Gods know a part of the plan and have remains of the Imperium, so when the Emperor ascended they can keep him busy. As i saided, they have to be willing to do the unthinkable. Travel back in time to give you an edge in creating a fleet crewed with Data and equiped with phased cloak. Sent them to wiped out the Imperium using the Genesis devices. Cause you have time travel, you can know the position of every VIP you need to kill and can easily kill him using portable phased cloak and antimatter device. They are dead when the antimatter device is unphased cloak inside their brain. At best it would be MAD, mutually assured destruction. The Federation will not win, but will take down the Imperium with them. Leaving the Chaos Gods to roam free. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

consequences said: 3: The whole psyker factor. They can sense things no one else can, have limited precognition, and the Federation has no defense. Since Iron Men could be corrupted by Chaos, and Necrons have no immunity to psyker detection that I've ever heard about, your Data fleet isn't immune to detection. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Ash's Boomstick said: The iron men became Chaos because someone had changed the plans in the Machine building them using chaos symbols in place of others, they were built chaotic they weren't corrupted as such. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 - Official Trailer

Posted: June 7, 2024 | Last updated: June 7, 2024

Check out the new Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 trailer. Prepare to unleash the fury of a Space Marine. Use your deadly abilities and devastating weaponry to obliterate the relentless Tyranid swarms.Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 will be released on September 9, 2024 on PS5 (PlayStation 5), Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

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