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Star Trek: The 50 Best Alien Races

From Tribble to Andorians, we're ranking the 50 best alien life forms explored in the Star Trek universe...

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The crews of the various iterations of Star Trek boldly went where no one has gone before — and then boldly met a crap ton of alien species.

Star Trek may be the human adventure, but there have been countless non-human beings, critters, menaces, gods, and blobs that have been introduced in the Star Trek  universe. From The Original Series to The Animated Series , to The Next Generation , to Deep Space Nine , the Delta Quadrant and Voyager , to the early adventures of Enterprise , to the modern day films, Star Trek has gifted fans with unforgettable species after species as the five-year mission has turned into five decades of first contact.

There have been vile races bred for combat, omnipotent races that use humankind as puppets, and even a bunch of cute little furry things.  Star Trek just keeps on delivering the cool aliens show after show, film after film. Just imagine the species that will soon be coming to Star Trek: Discovery ! But now is the time to celebrate the past as we present the fifty coolest Star Trek aliens ever to appear in films or TV.

50. Arcturian

First appearance: star trek: the motion picture (1979).

The Arcturian didn’t have a great deal of Star Trek screen time, but this alien race that resembled melted wax (eww) makes our list because it stands as a prime example of the story richness of the Star Trek  galaxy. An Arcturian can briefly be seen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the Mego toy company even made two versions of this blink and you’ll miss him creature (one 3 ¾ inch one 12 inch). But what intrigues us the most is this melty guy’s backstory…

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Star Trek costume crafters extraordinaire Fred Phillips and Robert Fletcher came up with a rich history for the Arcturian. According to Philips and Fletcher, the Arcturians were actually a race of clones that made up the bulk of the Federation’s infantry. While never seen on screen, there are legions of these guys running around, just waiting to be sent to some hostile planet to go to war. The Federation has always been portrayed as peaceful and benevolent, but it has the potential to unleash billions of melty looking monsters at a moment’s notice. Yikes.

Arcturians also appeared in the Star Trek daily comic strip and their back story continues to stand as a great example of the vast richness of the Star Trek galaxy, a place where billions of stories exist at all times. Including one about a race of wax soldiers that can be replicated and sent to do the Federation’s will. Eeep.

49. Edosian

First appearance: star trek: the animated series “beyond the farthest star” (1973).

Edosians are a tripedal species and are skilled at using their three arms and three legs in navigation and piloting. Lieutenant Arex, the loyal Enterprise navigator that first appeared in Star Trek: The Animated Series , is a proud member of the Edosian species and was a recurring character during this era of animated Trek. Arex was voiced by Scotty himself James Doohan and was a standout character in the era between The Original Series and The Next Generation .

Arex popped up in comics and novels and took his place of honor among the original crew. Arex also was a character that fully utilized animation as the six limbs and distinct alien features of this character would have been impossible to pull off in live-action back in the day. But thanks to The Animated Series , the distinctive Edosians live on and prosper in Trek lore.

48. Excalbians

First appearance: star trek: the original series “the savage curtain” (1969).

Listen, any species responsible for bringing Abraham Lincoln into the Star Trek  universe has to make this list. The Excalbians are a silicon based life form that possessed the ability to shape shift. These rock beings, who honestly looked like something Steve Ditko would have designed for Doctor Strange, were fascinated by the human notion of good and evil.

So they did what anyone would do in the same situation: they made a recreation of Abraham Lincoln and teamed it with Kirk, Spock, and famous Vulcan goodie-good Surak and sent them up against four representatives of evil — Kahless the Unforgettable of Qo’noS, Genghis Khan, Colonel Green of Earth and Dr. Zora of Tiburon. How’s that for a traditional Survivor Series match?

For this wonderful bit of schlock and for making us believe that Ben Grimm could work in live action in 1969, we salute the ever curious Excalbians.

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47. Caitian

First appearance: star trek: the animated series “the survivor” (1973).

The cat-like Caitians were represented in Enterprise history by M’Ress, a feline female that served both as engineer and a communications officer during The Animated Series . M’Ress spoke in a purring voice and was a skilled operative that stood side by side with the more iconic members of the Enterprise.

Now, I would like to talk about how cool the Caitians were. I would like to talk about how M’Ress was the main character in the Power Records’ Star Trek book and record set Star Trek: Passage to Moauv (1975). I would also like to talk about how a Caitian also appeared in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home …

But I just can’t help but wonder if Captain Kirk did what he does and somehow at some point bed down with this cat woman. This would make Kirk’s TV sci-fi’s first furry and I’m sort of fascinated by this idea. I don’t want to focus on this idea because it kind of reduces M’ress as a character and the Caitian as a race… But then I read that the alien twins that Kirk hooked up with in the first Abramsverse film were confirmed to be Caitian and everything just stirs up again and I fell absolved of all responsibility.

Anyway, M‘Ress and the Caitians might be considered obscure now, but she was a pretty big deal to Trek lore during The Animated Series era. So this race is a purr-fect addition to our list. Did the Enterprise come equipped with a giant litter box? Okay, I need to stop now; this is going to some bad places.

46. Bolians

First appearance: star trek: the next generation (1988).

The Bolians have been a perennial background species since their first Trek appearance in 1988. The first Bolian fans witnesses aboard the Enterprise was an ambassador, but many other Bolians have appeared around the Trek verse since. They have been seen as barbers, manicurists, Federation troops, and high ranking officials.

Bolians are distinctive due to their blue skin and their ridge that bisects their anatomy. They are highly friendly individuals and compassionate. In fact, an episode of Voyager puts forth that Bolians were  supportive of assisted suicide. These deep seated beliefs make the Bolians an intriguing species ripe for future Trek exploration.

45. Lurian

First appearance: star trek: deep space nine “the emissary” (1993).

Lurians were a very rarely encountered species that possessed multiple hearts, lungs, and stomachs. Fans got to know this ellusive species through DS9 regular/bar fly Morn. Yes, Morn is an anagram for Norm, because, like the famed Cheers fat man, in Quark’s Bar, everyone knew Morn’s name.

Morn was a bombastic and talkative fellow who fans never got to actually hear speak. He was a former thief that barely moved away from his bar stool. Morn was also fiercely loyal to Quark and got his little Ferengi pal out of many a jam. But mostly, Morn just sat there and drank stoically.

Although we only ever met one Lurian, we will always remember his name because Morn was such a constant (and inebriated) presence on Deep Space Nine . He also once had a torrid love affair with Jadzia Dax but that is a tale for another time. Raise a glass to the Lurians!

First appearance: Star Trek (2009)

So far, the rebooted Trek films have not really given funs much by way of alien species. The only classic races to get good screen time in the reboots have been Romulans and Vulcans. But the films did give us Keenser the Roylan, Scotty’s diminutive engineering pal.

Keenser first appeared in the first Trek reboot film as Scotty’s ever present companion when Scotty was exiled on the Federation outpost on Delta Vega. When Scotty beamed to the Enterprise, he left Keenser behind which was kinda sad. JJ Abrams and company must have thought so too as Keenser was all of a sudden part of the Enterprise’s crew in Star Trek: Into Darkness .

Keensar is ever loyal to his pal Scotty as the two share one of the best bromances in the galaxy. The fourteenth issue of IDW Publishing’s Star Trek comic gifted fans with Keensar’s origin. It also revealed the name of his species — Roylan — for the first time.

In this issue, fans learned that Keensar was constantly mocked by his peers because he was so tall (heh). It also revealed that Keensar served with distinction aboard the USS Kelvin and was shipmates with none other than George Kirk.

Keensar the Roylan is a constant presence in the new Trek Universe and I’m sure this member of the Roylan species will have many adventures to come.

43. Mugato

First appearance: star trek: the original series “a private little war” (1968).

Because sometimes in space, there are giant, poisonous horned gorillas. What’s not to love about Mugato? He’s kind of cute, very fuzzy, and is as poisonous as the nastiest snake. Poisonous gorillas in space, this is why we love Trek. Sadly, Mugato only appeared briefly, attacking and poisoning Kirk before being disintegrated by Doctor McCoy.

But, remember: as you watch the hard sci-fi and techno jargon of Trek, as you witness the human adventure of Roddenberry’s galaxy, as you watch carbon-based life forms achieve full potential and enlightenment, remember , in this same world there are fuzzy, horned, albino gorillas that will poison the crap out of you.

42. Acamarians

First appearance: star trek: the next generation “the vengeance factor” (1989).

The Acamarians are an advanced race of humanoids that have found a peaceful existence very late in its history. For centuries, the tattooed Acamarians lived in rival clans and their planet was split apart by warfare. One of the clan wars lasted three centuries and wiped one of the combating sides out of existence. When Picard’s Enterprise encountered the Acamarians, the people finally almost found peace.

However, a splinter group known as the Gatherers could not overcome centuries of clan warfare and refused to negotiate, so Picard had to navigate the complex web of Acamarians politics and bitterness as well as the assassination of the Gatherer ambassador to finally forge a peace with the Acamarians.

Despite all these issues, the Acamarians have a rich culture and mirror many contemporary Earth societies that have been splintered by war. Sci-fi works best when it reflects reality, and through the Acamarians, Trek fans got to see some really effective social commentary about tribalism and societal bitterness.

41. Denobulans

First appearance: enterprise “broken bow” (2001).

A Denobulan served aboard the very first Enterprise as the ship’s doctor, thus making the species vital to the origins of the Federation. Our medic in question, Phlox by name, was one of the main protagonists in Enterprise and was a staunch example of the exemplary qualities of the Denobulan race.

Denobulans are loyal but quite hedonistic by human standards. Denobulan males can take up to three wives while the entire race embraces polyamory. As humanity headed off into space aboard the first Enterprise, Phlox served as a constant reminder of the varied belief systems and practices the people of Earth would encounter as space exploration began.

Phlox and the Denobulan held ethics in high regard as Phlox would never allow a sentient being to suffer. Even though the ridge faced Denobulans had fierce tempers, they also were gentle and kind, and valued knowledge and pleasure over confrontation and violence.

Denobulans also have the propensity to puff out their faces when they were threatened — so, yeah, there’s that. Plus, Denobulans have really long tongues. What was it that I said about hedonism and Denobulans? Anyway, these cunning linguists were great doctors as seen through Enterprise ’s first mayor of the sickbay: Doctor Phlox.

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40. Orions

First appearance: star trek: the original series “the cage” (1966).

The green Orion slave dancer that shimmied into the dreams of Trek fans has been an iconic bit of Star Trek lore since her Shakiraesque debut, but the history of the Orions did not stop there…

Although a cosplay staple, the slave girl was just one Orion. Others have appeared in The Animated Series , Enterprise , novels, comics, toys, and one even prominently appeared in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek timeline as Uhura’s roommate and an early romantic partner of one James T. Kirk.

Orions are a species with close ties to the Federation — ties that are explored in some of the better episodes of Enterprise . Although the Orions will long be remembered because of the grinding of the hips of a slave dancer, there is so much more to this green-skinned humanoid species that has been part of Star Trek lore since almost day one.

39. Ocampans

First appearance star trek: voyager “caretaker part ii” (1995).

The Ocampans carry an importance to the Star Trek  universe because Kes, a noted member of the Ocampan species, was a member of the lost Voyager crew for three years. Ocampans are a race with powerful telekinetic powers but, sadly, this race of elf-like humanoids only have a life span of nine years. (So… combine Jean Grey with a mayfly and you get the idea.) 

Ocampans are very accepting of their short life span and a rather enlightened species. Through Kes, the crew of Voyager learned a lust for life as the wide eyed Ocampan enjoyed every minute of her existance even though she was trapped with the Voyager crew. When Kes’ power grew out of control, she left Voyager and her friends, including her constant companion Neelix, and used her abilities to push the lost Voyager out of Borg space and a year closer to home. This sacrifice taught the crew of the Voyager and fans of the show the innate nobility of the Ocampan race.

38. Vidiians

First appearance star trek voyager “the phage” (1995).

While the Ocampans were a nice, little, Tinkerbell-like species that fluttered about Voyager , there were also these Wes Craven nightmares… The Vidiians suffered a disease known as the Phage. The Phage is kind of like a hardcore space Ebola that utterly destroys the infected’s body and organs. So, yeah, Bones McCoy was sort of right about space being a petri dish of death and pain.

The ravaged Phage would wander the galaxy and rob sentients of their organs and body parts. So there you are, doing warp three with caution around the Delta Quadrant, and, all of a sudden, a few Vidiians beam unto your ship and rip out your liver and intestines. Then, they use said liver and intestines to replace their own — whether you filled out your Federation organ donor cards or not.

The Vidiians were eventually cured by the crew of the Voyager, but you have to assume that in a galaxy so big there are still some Vidiians cruising around out there taking hearts and lungs from innocent travelers. Yeesh.

37. Breen

First appearance: star trek deep space nine “indiscretion” (1995).

First off, cool points for the Breen because the helmet that this species wears looks kind of like the helmet Princess Leia used to disguise herself as a bounty hunter in Return of the Jedi . But the space awesomeness of the Breen doesn’t end there…

The Breen’s fighting prowess and technology are so advanced that even the Romulons and Klingon talk about this mysterious species in hushed whispers. And, indeed, when the Breen made themselves known to the Federation during the Dominion War, things got intense. These mighty warriors allied themselves with the Cardassians and the Dominion to take on the combined might of the Federation, the Klingons, and the Romulons.

During this conflict, the Breen destroyed the USS Defiant, the flagship of the Deep Space Nine space station, and managed to attack the Earth city of San Francisco. The Federation managed to develop counter weaponry to defeat the Breen, but many will remember these armored badassess as race of military specialists to be reckoned with.

The alliance with the Dominion cost the Breen, though, and — after the War — it wasn’t easy being Breen.

36. Hunters

First appearance star trek deep space nine : “captive pursuit” (1993).

Imagine a Trek alien that is pretty much Boba Fett mixed with Kraven the Hunter and you have these big game-tracking motherfuckers. The Hunters popped out of the Bajoran Wormhole and had their first contact with the Federation in the DS9 episode “Captive Pursuit.” In this stirring installment of this reporter’s favorite Trek show, fans were introduced to the Hunters and their chosen prey: the genetically enhanced Tosk.

The Hunters (whether this was the species name is unknown) would alter their Tosk prey in order to make the hunt more difficult. The pursuing of the Tosk was an obsession with the Hunters that rubbed members of the freedom loving Federation the wrong way.

The Hunters even gave the Federation a run for its money as the race of killers had advanced tech to assist them in their eternal hunt for Tosk. Sadly, the Hunters only appeared in one episode of Deep Space Nine , but their fighting skills and bloodthirsty rituals will be burned into the minds of Trek fans for a long time.

35. The Salt Vampire

First appearance: star trek: the original series “the man trap” (1966).

Old Salty here, or creature M-113, is a reminder that space can be a really, really dangerous place because there are things out there called Salt Vampires. And, no, this thing doesn’t just hang around a Pringles factory, it freakin’ shape shifts and then kills innocent people and drains them of their salt. Kirk and his crew first encountered this thing as it took the form of a number of the Enterprise’s crew. It almost killed Sulu, Yeoman Rand, Spock, and Kirk before being shot and killed by Dr. McCoy who had no time for such foolishness.

I suppose Kirk could have kept the Salt Vampire alive and just fed it Wetzel’s Pretzels (those things are like licking the ocean), but I guess Kirk felt that a shape shifting thing that looks like it was spat out of the ninth plane of hell that brutally kills people and drains them of sodium probably needed to be deleted from the universe. One has to wonder what special M-114 might be: Cinnamon Vampire?

34. Cheron

First appearance star trek: the original series “let that be your last battlefield” (1969).

When we first met the Cheron, there was only two members of this species left: Bele (played by the Riddler himself, the great Frank Gorshin) and Lokai. Bele was hunting Lokai whom Bele deemed a traitor after the planet Cheron was wiped out due to centuries of racial wars.

Apparently, some Cheron were black on the left and white on the right while other members of this advanced species possessed the opposite skin alignment. Due to this difference, the entire population — save Lokai and Bele — were eradicated. Bele hijacked the Enterprise and used his vast array of mental capabilities to hunt for Lokai.

The whole opposite was a thinly veiled, but powerful allusion to the destructive potential and sheer idiocy of racism — a message as powerful today as it was in the ’60s. Of course, you know I’m going to say that Mego made a Cheron doll, a toy I treasured in my childhood and called Oreo Man.

We should all have an Oreo Man during our most innocent years. But who knew my beloved Oreo Man was actually a genocidal racist madman that used his vast power to almost destroy the Enterprise? Oh, Oreo Man…

33. Nausicaans

First appearance: star trek: the next generation “tapestry” (1993).

One of the surlier races in the galaxy, Nausicaans are big hairy warriors that hire themselves out as mercenaries throughout the galaxy. A Nausicaan had quite the impact on the life of Jean-Luc Picard. When the future captain of the Enterprise was an ensign, he played a stirring game of domjot with some Nausicaan thugs (as one does). Picard and his pals accused the Nausicaans of cheating and the bad-tempered badasses stabbed Picard through the heart. This required Picard to get an artificial heart. (The more you know!)

The Nausicaans gave the crew of Deep Space Nine a hard time as well. This hairy race of pirates even encountered Captain Archer and the original crew of the Enterprise back in the day, proving that big hairy thugs that cheat at domjot remain big hairy thugs that cheat at domjot.

All that aside, Nausicaan fighting prowess is equal to the fighting prowess of Klingons and the only thing that keeps the Nausicaans from being more of a threat is their mistrust and their inability to come together as a species. Instead of being intergalactic conquerors, the Nausicaans have remained bullies, raider, and cheaters. But they do have killer 80s rocker hair, don’t they?

32. Kazon

First appearance: star trek: voyager “caretaker” (1995).

The Kazon were the first race that the crew of the Voyager encountered when they arrived in the Delta Quadrant, and — as far as d-bag, aggressive alien species go — the Kazon take the space cake (because when you put the word space in front of something, it sounds like you are in the future).

The Kazon race was separated into rival sects, which made negotiating with them as a whole almost impossible. They were once a slave race that served the Trabe, but the Kazon were a fractured species before and during its enslavement. Despite their disloyalty to each other, the Kazon were fierce combatants who were unwilling to negotiate a peace treaty with the Trabe or Voyager.

The Kazon had advanced technology and a back-stabbing blood thirst that introduced the crew of the Voyager to the Delta Quadrant and caused Voyager to be trapped in what was going to be a very hostile place, if the battle-hardened Kazon were any indication.

31. Metrons

First appearance: star trek: the original series “arena” (1967).

We do so love the Gorn. And what alien species was responsible for Kirk’s immortal battle with the Gorn? Why that would be the shiny and nigh omnipotent Metrons.

The Metrons possess tremendous mental powers and can control matter and energy. These human like aliens fiercely guard their sector of space and regard even the most minor intrusion as a great trespass punishable by death. When the Enterprise and a Gorn vessel find themselves in Metron space, the Metrons mentally teleport both Captains to a remote planet and force them to fight.

The Metrons are intensely xenophobic and regard other races as barbaric, so when Kirk spares the Gorn, the aloof Metrons are impressed and free both vessels. You see, a simple act of kindness was all it took to free the Enterprise from the Metrons’ wrath and impress a race of people that do not impress easily. Also, the Metrons wear sparkly evening gowns so they have that going for them…

30. Horta

First appearance: star trek: the original series “devil in the dark” (1967).

The Horta may look like a pile of bile soaked dog puke, but, hey, it was featured in William Shatner’s favorite Star Trek episode, so we have to give this blob of silicon its props.

The Horta was first encountered by a group of miners. After a miner was killed, Kirk and company were called to see what was up. They encounter the Horta, an extremely alien-looking beastie. After the creature is injured, Spock attempts a mind meld but the creature is in too much pain for Spock to connect with it. Soon, the crew of the Enterprise learns that the creature is the lone survivor of its race charged with protecting the eggs of the next generation of Horta. So Kirk and his pals dedicate themselves to protecting the thing’s little vomit eggs from the angry miners.

All jokes aside, the Horta was classic Trek alien: a semi-cheesy-looking beastie that stars in an episode with a powerful theme. The Horta was a prime example that all life has merit and even something that looks like a half-digested taco only wants to survive and thrive. By saving the Horta, the crew of the Enterprise shows that their most important mission is to contact and understand all life, no matter what it looks like. Thank you for that valuable lesson, Mr. Horta.

29. Greek Gods

First appearance: star trek: the original series “who mourns for adonis” (1967).

Wait, what? Oh, by the bristling beard of Zeus, the Greek Gods exists in the Star Trek  universe. 

The legendary deities of ancient Greece were actually super-powered aliens that lived on Pollox IV. They would visit Earth back in ancient times and bask in the worship of primitive humans. Well, the humans of the Enterprise were no primitives, and — when the Pollox IV alien that called itself Apollo trapped Kirk and his crew on the planet and refused to allow them to leave — Kirk and Spock fought back, kicking a god’s ass in the process.

Sadly, we never saw the other Greek gods. (Because could you just imagine Kirk versus Zeus?) But, it was established the other gods existed — and that they wore togas and laurel leaves like they were going to a frat party. The fact that this all exists in the same galaxy as Klingons and Borg just makes me very happy.

28. Hirogen

First appearance: star trek: voyager “message in a bottle” (1998).

The Hirogen are a nasty Delta Quadrant species of reptilian hunters that view any other sentient beings as prey. When the Hirogen chose a victim, the religious ritual of the Hunt began and all aspect of Hirogen culture centered on this blood sport. After the Hirogen tracked and captured its prey, they would remove the victim’s skeletal system, muscles, internal organs, ligaments, and tendons and keep these parts as trophies.

The Hirogen ran afoul of the Starship Voyager a number of times and Captain Janeway and her elite crew always found ways to defeat these hunters. In one of the Hirogen’s more bone headed moves, they created advanced holograms that could feel fear and pain. These thinking holograms quickly became more advanced than the Hirogen and turned the hunters into the hunted.

Despite this addlepated move, the Hirogen were always a feared species for those that traveled through the Delta Quadrant because they were essentially Predators dropped into the middle of the Star Trek universe.

27. El-Aurians

First appearance: star trek: the next generation “the child” (1988).

El-Aurian were a race of wise and peaceful people that transverse the galaxy to listen to the stories of others. When the Borg wiped out the El-Aurian’s home world, the galaxy lost a race of wise listeners… Or it almost did, because the surviving members of this race spread out across the galaxy.

Fans met the El-Aurians when The Next Generation introduced Guinan, the proprietor of Ten Forward, the bar of choice for the crew of the Enterprise. When Guinan came aboard, the members of the Enterprise had a kind and quick-witted being to bounce their problems off of, and Guinan listened. It was a shame that so many people like Guinan were lost to the Borg as the El-Aurians long lived goodness was a boon to the galaxy.

But not all El-Aurians were benevolent. Tollan Soran was an El-Aurian survivor that was aboard a ship of refugees with Guinan when the ships ferrying the El-Aurians refugees was lost to the fiery Nexus ribbon. It seemed that the legendary Captain Kirk was killed in this rescue attempt, but it turns out Kirk was trapped within the Nexus.

Soran became obsessed with returning to the Nexus and his Ahab like need for knowledge led to the first and only meeting between James T. Kirk and Jean Luc Picard. Soran was an anomaly to the El-Aurians species as most of the race used their centuries of wisdom to spread enlightenment wherever they went.

26. Tellarites

First appearance: star trek: the original series “journey to babel” (1967).

Along with Andorians and Vulcans, Tellarites were one of the first species to join the United Federation of Planets. A Tellarite first appeared in The Original Series episode “Journey to Babel,” where Sarek, Spock’s father, was framed for the murder of a Tellarite ambassador.

Sarek was able to solve the crime, freeing his name and forging a long-lasting peace with the Tellarities. Early contact with the Tellarites was recounted in Enterprise , but members of the specials also popped up in The Next Generation and even in a couple of films. Tellarites, with their distinctive beards, hooves, and stubbornness, have long been one of the backbone species of the Federation.

25. Tamarians

First appearance star trek: the next generation “darmok” (1991).

“Temba, his arms wide. Shaka, when the walks fell.” Who can forget these poetic, yet somewhat ominous phrases spoken by Dathon the Tamarian to Captain Picard when the two were trapped on a hostile world together?

Trek lore has it that the Federation and the Tamarians only had seven encounters over the years because the Tamarian language was so hard to comprehend. Well, if he was to survive, Picard would have to understand it (and fast) because Dathon beamed Picard down to the planet in order to teach the human captain a language that was as complex as it was beautiful.

It turns out Tamarians only communicate in metaphors (I’ve had grad school professors like that), and in order for the Federation and the Tamarians to build an accord, Picard would need to understand those metaphors. “Shaka when the walls fell,” has become quite a famous little moment of Trek myth as the Tamarians stand as a metaphor themselves — for cultural understanding and empathy.

24. Species 8472

First appearance: “star trek: voyager” part 1 (1997).

Species 8472 are so deadly that they even make the Borg poop their cybernetic underroos. (Hey, do you think when the Borg poops they all go at once? Or does one go make while the rest of the Collective just snickers? This is now the most ever written about Borg poop on the internet. Or is it? I’m not googling that.)

Anyway, Species 8472 existed in an extra-dimensional bit of hell known as fluidic space. When the Borg discovered the fluidic dimension, the ever deadly race of cybernetic killers busted through the dimensions and attempted to assimilate Species 8472. 8472 was having none of that and fought back, creating weapons that could slay the Borg with ease. In fact, 8472 was able to destroy the Borg Cubes in seconds. (Man, that’s like taking down the Death Star with a single bullet.) Sadly, Species 8472 also took out many innocent Delta Quadrant planets, which forced the crew of Voyager to get involved.

The Borg and Voyager had to form an unlikely alliance to drive Species 8472 back to fluidic space. 8472 was one of the closet things Trek fans ever got to Lovecraft-like cosmic horrors, as even the Borg could not stand up to these waling nightmares. This species appeared a few more times on Voyager until Captain Janeway was able to broker a peace with these terrors that exist behind the fabric of time and space.

23. The Gorn

Oh, the Gorn. Who doesn’t love Gorn? Of course, this rubbery looking and cold blooded reptilian monstrosity first appeared in the classic TOS episode “Arena,” where Kirk had to go mano-e-lizardo with the captain of a captured Gorn vessel. What followed was one of the most classic fights in Trek history as Kirk had to fashion a makeshift cannon to defeat this alien monster.

Despite its primitive appearance, future novels established the Gorn as a technologically-advanced race and, you just have to admit, Trek lore has not even scratched the surface of the Gorn. Imagine the spin offs. The Gorn Identity. Gorn to be Wild. Gorn on the Fourth of July. Fans were able to witness the Gorn home world for the first time in DC Comics’ Star Trek the Next Generation: The Gorn Crisis .

The Gorn were also one of the aliens made by Mego in its second set of Trek dolls. Fun fact: Mego’s Gorn looks nothing like the TV Gorn, as Mego just reused Marvel’s Lizard mold, painted it brown and decked old Gorny in the outfit used for the Klingon doll. Despite this lack of toy respect, and despite one of the cheapest prosthetic heads ever seen on TV, the Gorn’s battle with Kirk is still forever burned into Trek lore.

22. Tholians

First appearance: star trek: the original series “the tholian web” (1968).

Get a load of these psychedelic xenophobes. Yeah, the Tholians might look like a funky black light album cover come to life, but, really, they are brutal, territorial, hateful, and will do anything to keep other species out of Tholian territory. But, hey, they are known for the punctuality, so take heart in the fact that, when they kill you, it’ll be done in a timely fashion.

The Tholians cruise around their sector of space in geometric rainbow ships, making the aesthetic of the race more Yes album cover and less cool space despots. The Tholians first encountered the crew of the Enterprise when the USS Defiant flew too close to Tholian space.

Always protective of their borders, the Tholians phased the Defiant out of real space and into an interspace dimension. Kirk himself was phased out of time and space (for Shatner, it wouldn’t be the first or last time this happened), but Spock and the Enterprise were able to get their captain back and pimp-slap the Tholians.

The Enterprise under Jonathan Archer also ran afoul of these crystalline killers. The Tholians are a great example that in space, threats can come in any shape and even rainbows can kill you.

21. Talaxians

First appearance: star trek: voyager “caretaker” (1995).

One of the friendlier species of the Delta Quadrant, the Talaxians — or more accurately, an individual member of the Talaxian species — was pivotal to Voyager’s survival during the years it spent trapped in the Delta Quadrant.

Talaxians became dispersed throughout the Delta Quadrant after a devastating war with the Haakonian Order. Talaxians had no real home world, but that did not break their spirits. Talaxians are a very spiritual, upbeat, and whimsical race that — when confronted with two unpleasant paths to take in life — will find a third, happier path to traverse. This spiritual ability to find light and hope in any circumstance made the Talaxian Neelix indispensable to the crew of the Voyager.

Neelix was the cook and morale officer aboard Voyager and helped his friends out of many spiritual and literal crises. Throughout its wanderings in the Delta Quadrant, Voyager encountered many Talaxians that were always willing to lend a hand. Sadly, many aggressive species like the Borg also targeted the peaceful Talaxians — but, like Neelix, the Talaxians always found that third path.

Keep going, because we’ve got more aliens for you!

20. Organians

First appearance: star trek: the original series “errand of mercy” (1967).

When Kirk, Spock, and the crew of the Enterprise first encounter the Organians, a non-distinct humanoid species, this new race appeared to be akin to an 18th century agrarian Earth society. Spock commented that his tricoder has more technology than the entirety of the Organians planet.

Sadly, the Organians home world became caught up in a war between the Federation and the Klingons. Kirk warned the Organians leaders that war was coming but the Organians were completely unconcerned… When the Klingons arrived and began to take Organians hostages, the Organians remained unconcerned — because, apparently, the Organians are millions of years more advanced than either Klingons or humans. The Organians mentally disabled the Klingon and Federation ships in orbit around their planet and calmly disarmed Kirk, Spock, and the Klingons.

The Organians have an advanced form of ESP and can predict future events. They also can possess the bodies of others. An Organian told Kirk that, one day, Klingons and humans would be friends — something ‘ol James T. couldn’t wrap his head around, but something Next Gen fans would know to be true. So here’s to the Organians, the Amish space gods of the galaxy.

19. The Traveler

First appearance: star trek: the next generation “where no one has gone before” (1987).

Now, let’s all be honest. Yeah, we love Wil Wheaton as he is truly nerd royalty and has done a great deal over the last few years as a sort of geek ambassador. But, real talk: no one really liked Wesley Crusher. We love Wesley’s mom, Dr. Beverly Crusher, but Wes was kind of the Jar Jar Binks of Star Trek . The Traveler freed us of all of that.

The Traveler is a member of a mysterious race of immensely powerful beings. The Traveler could transverse time, space, and heavenly bodies at will and could use his thoughts to manipulate nature and reality. The Traveler seemed to be second only to Q in terms of power and omnipotence.

When the Traveler first met ‘lil Wesley Crusher, he compared the lad to Mozart. This caused Captain Picard to promote Crusher to ensign. Later in his Starfleet career, Crusher began to have doubts about his lot in Starfleet. The Traveler convinced Crusher to leave Starfleet after Crusher began to develop powers similar to the Traveler.

As Crusher’s powers grew, the Traveler took him on as protégé, teaching the former ensign how to best use his vast powers to help the galaxy. Wesley left the Enterprise with the Traveler as his very own Yoda and, for this, Trek fans hold a great debt to the Traveler as he freed us from the oft times insipid Crusher.

You know, looking back, I wouldn’t mind a novel or two explaining what happened to Crusher later in life. So, I guess we can give the Traveler credit for not only freeing us from Wesley, but also for making Bev’s boy into an interesting part of the Star Trek universe.

18. Crystalline Entity

First appearance: star trek: the next generation: “datalore” (1988).

The Crystalline Entity is basically the Galactus of the Star Trek  universe. The Entity is a giant, electromagnetic engine of cosmic death that lives to consume organic matter. It goes from planet to planet, absorbing all organic matter and leaving dry husks of death behind. A Crystalline Entity destroyed the outpost where Commander Data was created, essentially making Data an intergalactic android orphan.

Despite its destructive power, the Crystalline Entity is a beautiful sight: huge and multi-faceted, colorful and shimmering — frankly, an artist’s dream. But, behind the beauty, lies a bite that can lay waste to entire species.

This giant snowflake of death was pivotal in the origins of Data and is one of the most feared species in the entire galaxy. There are other Crystalline Entities out there in the void of space, but, thankfully, encounters with them are very rare. As of yet, no Crystalline Entity has been seen hanging out with a silver guy on a surfboard… but we remain hopeful.

17. Betazoid

First appearance: star trek: the next generation “encounter at farpoint” (1987).

For seven seasons and a handful of films, Star Trek fans got to know a very special Betazoid: Counselor Deanna Troi. Troi was an exemplary member of the Betazoid race — a mostly peaceful people that possess empathic and telepathic powers.

Most Betazoids, including Troi, use their powers for the benefit of others. The Enterprise was saved many times thanks to Troi and her fantastic abilities as she served with honor and distinction about the Federation flagship. Betazoids are indistinguishable for humans except for their all black irises. It’s a very cool thought that there is a race of Charles Xaviers in the Star Trek  universe and, with more Star Trek coming our way soon, let us hope we have the honor to meet more Betazoids.

Fun fact: Gene Roddenberry wanted the Betazoid women to have four breasts. Can you imagine trying to take Troi seriously with four breasts? Thankfully, Roddenberry was talked out of this silliness and the Enterprise’s resident Betazoid counselor became the stuff of Trek legend.

16. Talosians

First appearance: star trek pilot “the cage” (1965).

You know we had to include the first aggressive alien species ever encountered in a Trek episode. And, yes, we’ll get this out of the way quickly: the Talosians’ heads look like asses. We know. ‘Ol fanny foreheads. Butt heads. Get it all out of your system. Okay, done? Good.

The Talosians were the sole survivors of a nuclear holocaust. The remaining Talosians manifested the power to create illusions. These beings grew addicted to the illusions and abandoned technology. Like the Lotus Eaters of old, their existence was now tied to their narcotic-like illusions. Soon, the Talosians grew bored. The buttheads lured alien races to their planet and fed off the psyche of their victims.

Captain Pike of the Enterprise and his science officer Spock were drawn to the Talosian home world. The Talosians tempted the Federation officers with everything they could desire, but — through the minds of both men — the Talosians learned that humans hated captivity. The Talosians showed compassion and let Pike and Spock go. Later, Spock would return to the Talosian planet after Pike was left paralyzed. The Talosians once again showed compassion as they allowed the broken Pike to live his life on the planet.

The Talosian story ends sweetly, but just remember that, somewhere in the galaxy, there are siren-like, androgynous aliens (the male Talosians were actually played by female actors), ready to lore victims into a life of captivity. The Talosians were Trek’s first encountered, named alien species and they are also some of the most memorable as these illusion-casting humanoids set the standard for all Trek species going forward. Not bad for a bunch of ass-heads.

15. Vorta

First appearance: star trek: deep space nine “the jem’hadar” (1994).

The Vorta were genetically bred by the Founders to be the perfect military commanders and strategists of the Dominion. Vorta are sly, cunning, and corrupt. Try to imagine an entire species of Littlefingers and you get the idea.

In addition to the strategic acumen baked into Vorta DNA by the Founders, Vorta are also programmed to believe that the Founders are gods — and the Vorta serve their gods in all things. The Vorta created the Jem’Hadar and could clone themselves so the Dominion would never be without its master strategists for long. Even after death.

But, like the Jem’Hadar, the Vorta were programmed to serve. Upon capture or defeat, a Vorta was programmed to commit suicide, and during the Dominion War, many Vorta pulled the trigger on their own demise. The Vorta was one of the most cunning and immoral races Starfleet ever faced, even if the immorality was inserted into their genetic makeup by another species.

14. Xindi

First appearance: star trek: enterprise “the expanse” (2003).

The Xindi are a collective of six subspecies — avian, arboreal, primate, reptilian, insect, and aquatic — that form a single race. As a whole, the Xindi posed a great threat to the early Federation.

The Xindi worship a race known as the Sphere Builders and, when this mysterious race warns the Xindi that they will be involved in a war with Earth, the Xindi preemptively strike, killing millions of humans. Jonathan Archer and his crew take the fight to the Xindi who provide the first crew of the Enterprise its greatest challenge.

The Xindi was one of the first warnings to humanity that not every race is benevolent as the six races of this advanced culture reined death upon an Earth that was still getting used to the idea of contact with alien life.

13. Trill

First appearance: star trek: the next generation “the host” (1991).

Trills are an advanced species of humanoid that are passionate and kind in most of their dealings. Some Trills are joined with wise Symbiotes that chose different member of the Trill species with which to share a mutual bond. The Symbiotes retain the personalities and memories of each host and pass these aspects on to the new hosts.

The first Trill Trek fans encountered was named Odan. Odan quickly struck up a romance with Dr. Beverly Crusher and, when Odan was tragically killed, the Symbiote was moved into the body of William Riker. Riker had long been friend-zoned by Crusher, so this began one of the most awkward romances in Trek history.

It also gave fans the legacy of the Trill, a legacy that continued into Deep Space Nine with the beloved Jadzia Dax. Through Dax, fans learned about almost every aspect of Trill life. It was a fascinating meditation of duality, sexuality, and identity and the character of Jadzia Dax was almost a dozen disparate characters in one. When Jadzia was lost, the Symbiote moved into Ezri Dax, a wonderful new character that continued the exploration into what it is like being many beings at once.

12. Tribbles

First appearance: star trek: the original series “the trouble with tribbles” (1967).

They’re fuzzy, they squeak, they can be deadly — who doesn’t love Tribbles? Ask any casual fan to name a Trek alien, and there’s a good chance Mr. Joe on the street guy will say Tribbles because these bundles of fur are just that darn famous.

“Trouble with Tribbles” — The Original Series  installment that first introduced these puff balls — allowed Shatner, Nimoy, and company to really flex their comedy chops. But, when you break down the threat the Tribbles represented, they actually are pretty terrifying… Imagine a species that reproduces so fast, a ship can be suffocating on the things in a matter of days. That’s a bit more Giger than Pokemon.

Despite the threat, the Tribbles also brought the laughs to generations of fans. Of course, the Tribbles were revisited in the classic DS9 episode “Trials and Tribble-ations” and also played a major role in the recent film Star Trek: Into Darkness . To quote a great man from a rival space franchise: “Not bad for a little fuzzball.”

11. Jem’Hadar

One of the greatest and most efficiently deadly militaries the galaxy have ever seen, the foot soldiers of the Dominion — the Jem’Hadar — are also one of the more tragic species that can be found in the Trekverse.

Jem’Hadar reach maturity in the span of about three days. They are genetically programmed to be the perfect galactic foot soldier by their masters, the Vorta. To insure control, the Vorta have withheld an essential enzyme from the Jem’Hadar genetic makeup. This enzyme is supplied to the Jem’Hadar in the form of The White, a liquid that the Jem’Hadar has filtered into their systems through a tube in their necks. Essentially, Jem’Hadar are drug-addicted soldiers unleashed upon the galaxy.

The Jem’Hadar were the main Dominion force that laid siege to Deep Space Nine during the Dominion War and were nearly unstoppable. The need for The White was a religion to the Jem’Hadar, who became one of the most feared species in any quadrant.

Jem’Hadar are incredibly resilient and possess keen minds that help them plan for battles. Despite all this, most Jem’Hadar die very young due to the fact that they are essentially cannon fodder for the Dominion. Yet, the Jem’Hadar value duty and loyalty above all else as they embrace their lot as pawns of the Dominion. All for The White.

The Top 10 Star Trek aliens await on the next page!

10. Changeling

First appearance: star trek: deep space nine “the emissary” (1993).

As we all know, life in the Trek universe can take many and varied forms. One of the most profoundly different races of the Trek galaxy are the Changelings, a race of intelligent liquid-based shape shifters that reshaped the political climate of the galaxy with the same ease that they reshape their bodies.

The Changelings were also known as The Founders and were the puppet masters behind the Dominion War. From their wormhole homeworld, the Changelings manipulated the universe. The Founders used entire races like chess pieces showing the Federation and its enemies that there are beings that exist within and behind the galaxy that are willing to go any lengths for power.

But not all Changelings were adversarial. Through Odo, Trek fans saw another side to this fascinating species. Odo was the constable aboard DS9 , a by-the-books cop who went to any lengths (literally) to solve crimes. He was a defender of his Federation friends, particularly Kira Nerys the woman he learned to love. When the Founders merged their liquid forms with Odo, they learned about humanity, and his love and bravery spread even to the hidden spaces of the galaxy.

Plus, The Changelings are an alien species that can easily disguise themselves as furniture. You can’t teach that!

9. Andorians

First appearance: star trek: the original series “journey to babel” (1968).

The Andorians are an aggressive yet advanced race that was one of the first alien races that formed the original Federation of Planets with humanity.

The Andorians have distinctive blue skin, white hair, and two protruding antennae. The blue skinned humanoids have an advanced armada and a long history of conflict with the Vulcans. This conflict was put aside as Andorians entered into the Federation and, with it, decades of peace. But peace wasn’t easy, as seen in Star Trek: Enterprise,  in which Federation Captain Archer and Andorian Captain Thy’lek Shran developed an adversarial relationship that, thankfully, culminated in a friendship based on mutual respect.

The Andorians are more than a bit xenophobic as they refer to humans and Vulcans as “pink skins” and have a long standing mistrust of everything not Andorian. In fact, the Andorians don’t even trust their offshoot race, the very rarely encountered, white-skinned, psychic Aenar.

Enterprise is a bit unfairly-maligned by some Trekkers, but it will always be the show that took the Andorians from background characters to a narratively-explored race with deep contradictions. Of course, I need to mention that the Andorian was also one of the final Trek dolls Mego produced. It is very sparkly.

8. Ferengi

First appearance: star trek: the next generation “the last outpost” (1987).

I would  tell you some facts about the Ferengi, but I’d have to charge you about ten bars of (snarl, drool) gold-pressed latinum first. Because that’s what drives the Ferengi race: cold, hard, glimmering, wonderful cash-money.

By the time fans met the crew of the Kirk’s Enterprise, most races in the galaxy had abandoned cash-based economies to focus on the improvement of science and technology for all beings. But not the Ferengi. These big-eared, fanged critters utilize science and technology to procure cash and heaven help any sentients that stand in their way.

Fans first me the Ferengi in Next Gen as the greedy race of miscreants became the first real adversaries Picard’s crew had to face. The Ferengi in Next Gen were vile and greedy, sort of like spacefaring Daffy Ducks. But, in Deep Space Nine , fans were introduced to Quark, Rom, Nog, and other Ferengi that had a streak of nobility. Oh, they were still as greedy as they come, but this Ferengi family, saved the DS9 space station more than once. Heck, Nog even became the first Ferengi to serve in Starfleet.

In DS9 , fans learned many of the finer points of Ferengi culture. For example, Ferengi women aren’t allowed to wear clothes. In addition to their odd dress codes, the Ferengi live by the Rules of Acquisition, an almost religious text that teaches the Ferengi the best ways to make money. Quark constantly had to choose between loyalty to his friends and his Ferengi impulses for cash and this often humorous double nature led to some fun dramas.

But, if you have a piece of latinum in your pocket, be warned that there are many Ferengi out there who would kill for it because that is the Ferengi way.

7. Romulans

First appearance: star trek: the original series “balance of terror” (1966).

All sentient races in the galaxy have a good, healthy fear of the Romulans — and with good reason. In many ways, the Romulans are like the anti-Vulcans. In fact, Romulans are an offshoot of the Vulcan race. Centuries ago, the Romulans rejected the Vulcan idea of repression of emotions and struck out on their own, finally settling on the twin planets Romulus and Remus and forging an empire.

Where Vulcans are cold, collected, and benevolent, Romulans are fiery, aggressive, and often power hungry. This passionate need to conquer led to the Earth/Romulan war, the first time humanity experienced total war on an intergalactic scale. Earth was eventually victorious and, during the conflict, no human ever actually saw a Romulan. Years later, it was the crew of the Enterprise that actually saw what Romulans looked like and it was Mr. Spock that postulated a common ancestry between Vulcans and Romulans.

The Romulans were based on the aggressiveness and culture of the Roman Empire, which is seen through the race’s military aggression and clothing. Despite years of ill will, the Romulans sided with the Federation in the Dominion War. A Romulan also changed reality, as fans of the new Trek films know…

A Romulan named Nero used a Red Matter device to destroy Romulus and punch a hole in time and space. Nero then went back in time and destroyed the USS Kelvin, causing a new reality to splinter off from the original Trek timeline — a reality Trek fans are currently enjoying in films.

Romulans have touched every part of Trek history and have even created a huge amount of it. They continue to serve as a counterpoint to the Vulcans and their name brings fear and respect throughout the Trek galaxy.

If you can imagine God in the Star Trek   universe, you understand Q. Q isn’t a kind god or an emotionally-distant god, hungry for worship. Q is a curious god that wants to test the intelligent races of the galaxy — particularly Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the Enterprise.

Q is a member of The Q, a race of omnipotent beings that observe the universe from afar and interfere in the lives of mortals when it suits their whims. The Q are a force of nature, appearing when and where they want to bring gifts or utter destruction to lesser beings. It all depends on a Q’s whims. Q became a sometimes-ally, sometimes-antagonist to the crew of the Enterprise and even popped up on DS9 and Voyager . (And, really, how awesome would it be to see Q pop into J.J. Abrams’ Kelvin Universe?)

Q is everywhere and everything. Wherever Q went, great storytelling followed — mostly because of the deeply complex and often comedic relationship between Q and Picard. Whether it was TV, comics, or novels (most notably the eminently readable Q Continuum trilogy by Greg Cox), The Q’s force of nature omnipotence have made them one of the most feared and gloriously divine species in the Trek universe. Yes, in Trek, Q definitely stood for quality.

5. Bajorans

First appearance: star trek: the next generation “ensign ro” (1991).

It is apropos that the Bajorans and Cardassians are so close on this list because the two races are forever linked in the mind of Trek fans. Trekkers first met the Bajoran through Enterprise Ensign Ro Laren, a fiery and ultra-capable young Starfleet cadet.

Ro had everything it took to get ahead in Starfleet. She was loyal, dedicated, brilliant, and strong willed. Yet, the past of her people, the Bajorans, was filled with so much tragedy. The loyalty to her race led Ro away from Starfleet and into the waiting arms of the Marquis, a group that abandoned Starfleet to form a renegade fleet of rebels dissatisfied with Federation doctrine.

Ro’s discontent was expanded upon by the inclusion of the Bajorans in Deep Space Nine . In DS9 , fans learnt of the suffering that the Bajorans were forced to endure at the hands of the Cardassians. Bajorans were a race of freedom fighters, a highly scientific and artistic race that had to embrace militarism and xenophobia in order to survive.

In DS9 , fans learned almost every aspect of the Bajoran race. What began with Ro continued the Kira Nerys, the second in command of the Deep Space Nine space station and a woman who would do anything to keep her people free and punish her former oppressors.

DS9 introduced many Bajoran notables in its many seasons, and not all of them were benevolent. Of all the races introduced in Star Trek , the Bajorans might be the most tragically human as they had to see their own darkness in order to survive the unthinkable in order to survive the Cardassians.

4. Cardassians

First appearance: star trek: the next generation “the wounded” (1991).

Nowhere in the Trek universe have there been a race more troubling, more complex, and more narratively-interesting race than the Cardassians. Fans first met the lizard like, leathery Cardassians in the Next Gen episode entitled “The Wounded,” in which the martial struggle between the Cardassians and the Bajoran was introduced.

The Cardassians were first seen as Nazi-like war criminals that committed a horrible genocide against the Bajoran people. The anger against the Cardassians, amongst other points of discontent, caused a large segment of Bjorn sympathizers to break off from the Federation and form the Marquis.

Cardassians warred with both the Federation and the Klingon Empire and took both fleets to the absolute limits. When the Cardassian/Bjorn conflict ended with the Bajoran victorious, it was up to the Federation to help the galaxy heal. The Federation set up the Deep Space Nine space station to oversee this transition of power as Cardassians began to be tried for war crimes that were simply unthinkable in such an enlightened galaxy. 

At this time, fans met Gul Dukat and Garak. Garak in particular demonstrated that there was more to the Cardassians than violence. He became a DS9 wildcard who, for the most part, was loyal to peace and harmony.

However, both Garak and former Cardassian military leader Gul Dukat had spilled their fair share of blood and the Cardassians began to stand-in for any race that committed genocide. Parallels were drawn not only to the Nazis but to Imperialistic Europe and to America’s treatment of indigenous peoples as well.

The Cardassians were a difficult mirror to look into because they exposed many societal flaws of the contemporary world. Through rich, powerfully crafted characters like Garak, Trek reminds viewers that in all species, there is the capacity for tremendous good and unthinkable evil.

3. Borg

First appearance: star trek: the next generation “q who” (1989).

Throughout Trek history, the wonderful men and women who have crafted stories for Star Trek have often reminded fans that space can be a cruel and terrible place — but no race has represented the horrors of the Final Frontier more than the Borg.

The Borg is a race of cyborg drones that share a hive mind. Their only aim is to assimilate the universe and make all Borg. Borg are mindless automatons that answer to the Borg Queen and the Collective. They are unstoppable and fiercely efficient. The Borg roam the galaxy in their distinctive Borg Cubes and, when they encounter any organic race, that race is forcibly assimilated into the Borg. All hopes, history, art, passion, and individuality become part of the Collective while the individual becomes a living weapon, a husk dedicated only to the Borg. Famously, Jean-Luc Picard fell to the Borg and was transformed into Locutus. As Locutus, Picard came an eyelash away from assimilating the Enterprise.

Later, through characters like Hugh Borg and Seven of Nine, some humanity was given to the Borg. Hugh was an injured Borg healed by Picard’s crew, while Seven of Nine broke her programming and served on Voyager. Through both characters, more and more history was revealed about the Borg. Fans even got to meet the Borg Queen in the film Star Trek: First Contact  — and what an H.R. Giger nightmare that was.

Throughout the decades, Star Trek has been the most hopeful of sci-fi franchises. Trek is infused with humankind’s potential for greatness and a hope for an enlightened future. The Borg serve as a reminder that technology can lead to paradise, yes, but it can also lead to a cold future of pure horror where individuality is worthless and resistance is futile.

2. Klingons

When we first met the Klingons, they were classically humanoid aliens that mirrored the worst of humanity. In the earliest Klingon appearances, Klingon society was portrayed as brutal and despotic. They were slave masters that would do anything to crush any opposition.

The Klingons were constant threats. At times, the Klingons seemed to be analogous to the Nazi Third Reich. In other instances, they resembled Communist Russia. But whatever real world nightmare the Klingons represented at any given moment, whenever a Klingon Bird of Prey warped into a confrontation with the Enterprise, fans know that intense action would follow.

When the Klingons returned in Star Trek: The Motion Picture , this brutal race’s appearance was altered. Suddenly, Klingons were shown to have deep forehead ridges and a more bestial appearance. The real reason this was done was because Trek now had a budget, but there has never been an in story reason for the Klingon alteration. This just adds to the mystique of the Klingon race.

Klingons take the next step of their story evolution in Star Trek: The Next Generation . Now, a Klingon served on the bridge of the Enterprise, and it could be argued that this Klingon — Mr. Worf — was the very model of what a Starfleet officer should be. Through Worf, Next Gen explored every aspect of Klingon culture and made it more like a race of honorable technologically-advanced Vikings or Mongols than an analogy to fascism. That exploration continued into Deep Space Nine and, through the half Klingon-half human engineer B’Elanna Torres, onto Voyager .

There is an actual a Klingon language that exists in the real world. A whole freakin’ language has been created inspired by these honorable and violent warriors of the cosmos. So, raise a glass of Klingon Warnog, grab your Bat’leth, and salute the Klingons — a race that started out as typical villains, but evolved into one of the most engaging and inspiring races in the galaxy.

1. Vulcans

Is there any race in genre fiction more beloved than the Vulcans? This race of logic-driven, emotionless, pointy-eared people have defined the Star Trek experience since day one.

In the Star Trek pilot, “The Cage,” the world was introduced to science officer Spock, a cold, calculating yet brave and benevolent alien who loyally assisted his captain. Fifty years later, Spock is still the strong right hand of the Enterprise. The Vulcan’s lack of emotion serves as a perfect narrative contrast to human nature, with the interactions and differences between Spock, McCoy, and Kirk as the beating heart of Trek since Roddenberry first put pen to paper.

But the wonder of the Vulcans don’t end with Spock. Over the decades — through countless books, films, TV episodes, and comics — many Vulcans have taken center stage and have, in the words of the most famous Vulcan of them all, fascinated fans for generations…

There has been Sarek, Spock’s father who dared to follow his emotions and take a human wife. There has been Tuvok, the brave and able Vulcan officer who served on Voyager. There has been T’Pol, the sometimes cold but always loyal commander that served as the first officer of the first Enterprise. By being so alien, all these characters and so many more have shown the world what it means to be human.

Trek lore has delved deeply into Vulcan history, creating one of most fully-functioning and detailed fictional worlds in all of sci-fi. Sadly, in the latest set of Trek films, Vulcan has fallen and this magnificent race is endangered. But take heart that Spock, Vulcan and Earth’s favorite son, is endeavoring to rebuild the race that has long made Star Trek so awesome.

Marc Buxton

Marc Buxton is an English teacher/private tutor by day,and a super-hyper-uber geek by night. Marc spent six years on the frontlines as a comic retailer before…

Star Trek: The Essential Alien Species

In Star Trek ‘s opening narration, producers clearly established the show’s premise early on.

“… to seek out new life, and new civilizations …”

Star Trek is about exploration, and one of the most important parts of that mandate is the meeting of new and interesting alien species. Over the years, Star Trek and its spin-off shows have introduced us to dozens of unique alien races, each with their own look, history, and enduring characters.

Some of these species, like the Vulcans and the Klingons, have entered the greater realm of pop culture. Even people who are not fans of the series know about many of these alien species. The Vulcan nerve pinch and salute are ubiquitous within the science-fiction fan community and people endlessly parody it as well. Klingons are so well known that they have an official language, and fans have even translated some Shakespearean works into Klingon .

Here we take a look at some of the most enduring alien species of the Star Trek universe.

Alongside Humans, Vulcans, and Tellarites, the militaristic Andorians are one of the founding members of the United Federation of Planets . A belligerent species, the Andorians shared a fraught history with the Vulcans. This history includes a protracted cold war that erupted into armed conflict on several occasions. The Andorian’s relations with the Humans were cemented by the respectful but antagonistic relationship between Captain Jonathan Archer and Commander Thy’lek Shran of the Imperial Guard .

The original series first introduced the Andorians, but it was not until Enterprise that they made their presence felt. Andorians hail from the frozen moon of Andoria. They have blue skin, white hair, and their most prominent trait is their twin antennae. The Andorians share their planet with a blind, telepathic subspecies known as the Aenar . With the Humans, Vulcans, and Tellarites, the Andorians were part of a multi-species effort to prevent a Romulan stealth raider from triggering wars between the alliance’s species. The alliance paved the way for the coalition that would become the United Federation of Planets.

Essential Episodes:  “ The Andorian Incident “, “ Shadows of P’Jem “, “ Kir’Shara “, “ Babel One “, “ United “, and “ The Aenar “.

Embodied by the half-Human Spock ,  Vulcans are possibly the franchise’s best known alien species. Stoic, logical, and seemingly emotionless, Vulcans embrace rational and carefully considered thought. Despite their reverence of logic, many Vulcan rituals involve spiritual elements. They have the ability to initiate telepathic mind melds , and their living spirit – or katra – can be transferred between Vulcans and even Humans.

Although many consider Vulcans emotionless, they insist that they feel emotions, they just do not let feelings control or influence their actions. Applying logic to a situation is always a Vulcan’s preferred method of approaching a situation. As a result, emotional responses from other species, especially Humans, often baffle them. Vulcans are one of the best represented alien species on Star Trek.  Three of the five series aired to date including Vulcan crew members including Spock in  Star Trek , Tuvok  in  Star Trek: Voyager , and T’Pol  in  Star Trek: Enterprise .

Essential Episodes:  “ Broken Bow “, “The Andorian Incident”, “ The Forge “, “ Awakening “, “Kir’Shara”, “ Amok Time “, and “ Sarek “.

Impatient, stubborn, pig-headed, and ugly, the Tellarites love a good argument. They consider it bad form to be polite to those they have recently met. Their preferred method of opening a conversation is through complaints and insults. In short, many consider the Tellarites to be excellent politicians. Tellarites were founding members of the United Federation of Planets, alongside the Humans, Vulcans, and Andorians.

Before the Federation’s formation, Tellarite relations with other races were less than cordial. A Romulan stealth raider threatened to incite war between the four species until a multi-species alliance was formed to track down and destroy the raider. Although introduced in the original series, Tellarites were not seen on screen again until Enterprise .

Essential Episodes:  “ Bounty “, “Babel One”, “United”, and “Journey to Babel”.

Klingons live for battle. The warrior spirit flows through them, and satisfaction of personal honor drives a Klingon’s life. They are formidable warriors, and there is nothing more honorable than victory. Klingons prefer close, personal combat using their edged weapons – the two-bladed bat’leth , the single bladed mek’leth , or the d’k tahg  dagger – to inflict damage on their enemies. Klingons build their starships for combat and arm them with torpedo launchers, disruptor banks and cloaking devices for sudden, swift attacks.

However, Klingons are not above compromising honor to preserve the Empire. The Klingon High Council willingly slandered the name of Worf’s father. High Council did this to avoid placing the public blame on the true culprit, the father of the politically powerful Duras . The Council believed that Worf’s status as a Starfleet officer would stop him from contesting the charges. So Worf accepted the  discommendation from the Klingon Empire to avoid a civil war. But the corruption ran deep, with Chancellors such as Gowron putting personal honor above the interests of the Empire. Some Klingons lamented the loss of other aspects of Klingon culture such as the legal profession for the way of the warrior.

Essential Episodes:  “Broken Bow”, “ Judgment “, “ Affliction “, “ Errand of Mercy “, “ The Trouble with Tribbles “, “ Day of the Dove “, “ Sins of the Father “, “ Redemption “, “ Blood Oath “, “ Way of the Warrior “, and “ Taking into the Wind “.

Romulans are an offshoot of the Vulcan species, and share many of their physical traits. They occupy the twin worlds of Romulus and Remus , subjugating the native Remans . Their society is structured and ordered with a strong military, effective intelligence arm, and ruled by a representative Senate. Subterfuge and infiltration are key weapons in the Romulan arsenal. They possess powerful cloaking devices that allow their ships to move undetected through the galaxy and power their starships with artificial singularities.

Romulans are secretive and often work behind the scenes to destabilize their enemies. Romulan deceit and treachery is legendary. Despite fighting a war with Humans, the Federation did not know what a Romulan looked liked until the mid-22nd century. For much of the 23rd century, the Romulans cut themselves off from the galaxy. They broke their self-imposed isolation upon the destruction of their outposts along the Neutral Zone, possibly by the Borg.

Essential Episodes:  “ Minefield “, “Babel One”, “United”, “The Aenar”, “ Balance of Terror “, “ The Enterprise Incident “, “Unification”, “ In the Pale Moonlight “, and “ Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges “.

Initially introduced in The Next Generation , writers intended the Ferengi to be a new major recurring threat for the crew. Unfortunately, they did not resonate with fans and the production shelved plans to continue their development. Subsequently, they retooled them into a more comical role. Acquiring wealth drives the Ferengi. The

Acquiring wealth drives the Ferengi. The Rules of Acquisition rule their lives and business dealings, and there are guidelines for nearly every conceivable situation. Ferengi have no qualms about swindling customers to achieve the best deals.

Ferengi society is heavily biased against females. For a long time, society forbade Ferengi females to wear clothes or earn their own profit. Reformations to Ferengi society began to redress these issues after many females proved they had a head for business.

Ferengi dabble in a wide range of business ventures and do not worry about the legality of said business. They are often arms dealers and smugglers, and even Ferengi like Quark who runs a bar on the Federation-controlled space station Deep Space Nine was known to engage in illegal activity, much to the chagrin of local authorities.

Essential Episodes:  “ The Last Outpost “, “ The Nagus “, “ Rules of Acquisition “, “ Family Business “, “ Body Parts “, “ Ferengi Love Songs “, and “ The Magnificent Ferengi “.

Deeply spiritual and religious, the Bajorans worship the Prophets . Despite the revelation of their true nature as non-corporeal, non-linear alien beings who learned to love baseball, Bajorans still revere the Prophets. The Cardassians annexed the Bajoran homeworld of Bajor, and they occupied the world for 50 years before withdrawing. The Bajorans fought a bloody insurgency to free their homeworld. Many Bajorans felt betrayed by the Provisional Government when they invited the Federation to take control of an orbiting space station abandoned by the Cardassians and renamed Deep Space Nine.

Bajoran society began the painful rebuilding process, and by recommendation of Captain Benjamin Sisko , remained neutral during most of the Dominion War . Post-occupation Bajor was fraught with internal conflict as opposing factions sought to control the newly-freed planet. The discovery of the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant established the Bajorans as a power in the Alpha Quadrant. However, they relied on the presence of the Federation to legitimize their claim.

Essential Episodes:  “ Ensign Ro “, “ The Emissary “, “ Duet “, “ The Homecoming “, “ The Circle “, “ The Siege “, “ Shakaar “, “ Accession “, and “ Tears of the Prophets “.

The militaristic Cardassian Union is effectively a police state ruled by the military Central Command and the intelligence arm known as the Obsidian Order . A civilian government known as the Detapa Council  is the “official” governing body of the Union but, in reality, has little power. All criminal trials within the Cardassian Union are for show only – officials decide the trial verdict in advance.

The Cardassians annexed and ruled Bajor for 50 years. During the occupation, they committed countless atrocities, and Bajoran society struggled to rebuild in the wake of their departure. The post-annexation years saw Cardassian fortunes flounder; rumors of a Founder takeover of the Cardassian government led the Klingons to declare war and ravage Cardassian space. Left with little choice, they allied with the Dominion and fought the combined Federation, Klingon, and Romulan forces. In the last stages of the war, the Cardassians rebelled against their Dominion allies as the Dominion would often use Cardassian forces as expendable assets.

Essential Episodes:  “ The Wounded “, “ Chain of Command “, “Duet”, “ Defiant “, “The Way of the Warrior”, “ Return to Grace “, and “ The Dogs of War “.

The Enterprise -D crew first encountered the Borg in the episode “ Q Who “. They quickly established themselves as a true threat to the Federation. Borg are a collection of species assimilated into a shared hive consciousness. They are relentless, terrifying and virtually unstoppable (until serious villain decay took hold in

Borg are a collection of species assimilated into a shared hive consciousness. They are relentless, terrifying and virtually unstoppable (until serious villain decay took hold in Voyager ). They exist solely to assimilate technology and biological lifeforms into their collective in an effort to raise all species to “perfection”. A queen rules the Borg, and their imposing vessels are simple geometric shapes. Even one ship could be considered an invasion.

Responsible for multiple incursions in Federation space, the Borg fought Starfleet at the Battle of Wolf 359 and the Battle of Sector 001 . They even attempted to stop First Contact between the Humans and the Vulcans through the use of time travel which resulted in an awesome movie . The Borg invasion of the Federation is probably the result of the pre-destination paradox. The Borg became aware of Earth because Borg drones in the past who survived the attempt to stop First Contact sent a communication to the Delta Quadrant. This alerted the collective to the presence of the planet. So the Borg investigate, leading to the events that cause the drones to travel to the past in the first place.

Essential Episodes:  “ Regeneration “, “Q Who”, “ The Best of Both Worlds “, “ First Contact “, “ Scorpion “, “ Dark Frontier “, “ Unimatrix Zero “, and “ Endgame “.

Introduced in the final episode of Enterprise ‘s season 2 , the Xindi  became the primary antagonists for season 3 . Time-travelling  Guardians  warn the Xindi that Humans would destroy them in the future. So, the Xindi build a weapon that destroys a section of Earth from Florida to Venezuela, killing seven million. Now forewarned of the Xindi intent to destroy Earth, the  Enterprise  head to the Delphic Expanse to stop them. Humanity would eventually stop the Guardians’ plans in the future, so they lied to the Xindi to eradicate all Humans. Eventually, everyone becomes friends, and the Xindi join the Federation.

Unlike most of the major alien races, the Xindi are not a single species, but six distinct species. These are the Avians , the Arboreals , the Primates , the Aquatics , the Insectoids , and the Reptilians . Despite their vastly differing outward appearance, the Xindi species share over 99.5% of their DNA. By the time the Enterprise encounters the Xindi, the Avians are extinct, and a Council that includes representatives from all five Xindi species governs the remaining five.

Essential Episodes:  “ The Expanse “, “ The Shipment “, “ Proving Ground “, “ Azati Prime “, “ The Council “, “ Countdown “, and “ Zero Hour “.

From Vulcans to Tribbles: Best 'Star Trek' Species

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Gates McFadden Beams Up 'Star Trek's Best & Brightest for 'InvestiGates' Season 3 [Exclusive]

'little house on the prairie' set the stage for this short-lived nbc western, 'walker' didn't deserve cancellation.

Star Trek is bigger than ever right now. Thanks to the launch of the new streaming service Paramount+, Trekkies have been simply overwhelmed by the amount of new content at their disposal. The shows Discovery , Picard , Lower Decks, and Prodigy are all returning, and the prequel series Strange New Worlds is in active development. The franchise’s producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin have promised that there are many other new projects coming soon, and after years of delays, a new Star Trek movie is set to hit theaters on December 2023. The currently untitled fourth entry in the “Kelvin Timeline” series will be directed by WandaVision creator Matt Shakman .

It goes without saying that Star Trek is one of the most influential, iconic, and beloved media franchises in history. Between the various shows, films, books, comics, games, and tie-in material, Gene Rodenberry ’s landmark universe has one of the largest and most loyal fanbases ever. Rodenberry created an optimistic version of the future, where humanity had learned to co-exist with many alien species. In the franchise’s extensive history, these unique species have taken on in-depth cultures, languages, and backgrounds. Obsessive Star Trek fans have developed an Encyclopedic knowledge of their distinct characteristics. Star Trek is a massive property, and as a result there are subsections within the fandom that prefer different alien species of another based on what stories appeal to them. Some stories and films have featured different alien species more prominently than others. Narrowing down the greatest aliens is no easy task, but you can’t go wrong with these great species.

RELATED: 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Teaser Reveals New Look at Celia Rose Gooding's Uhura

You wouldn’t have Star Trek without the success of The Original Series , and you wouldn’t have The Original Series without Spock. Although the competition is fierce, there may not be another Star Trek character that is as beloved as Leonard Nimoy ’s Mr. Spock. Half-Vulcan and half-human, the logical character has been appearing in great Star Trek stories since 1966. The Vulcan race has been developed around his iconic performance, but there are many other great Vulcan characters in the universe’s history. The savior Surak, Spock’s father Sarek, the Enterprise hero Tuvok, and the ambassador Soval are just a few of the best.

The Vulcans’ sister species the Romulans are almost the complete opposite of their philosophical counterparts. The Romulan culture is based on conflict, and throughout the franchise’s history, the two alien species have frequently come into conflict. Romulans first appeared in The Original Series episode “Balance of Terror,” and their empire inspired many of the greatest Star Trek villains ever, including Spock’s tormentor Nero, the powerful Paraetor Neral, and the Federation’s rival Commander Tomalak.

There aren’t many Star Trek villains as truly frightening as The Borg. First appearing in The Next Generation , the hivelike species assimilates all of its opponents into servants of “The Collective.” Patrick Stewart ’s Captain Picard meets his greatest challenge in the beloved two-part storyline “The Best of Both Worlds,” where he is captured and assimilated to the villainous creatures. Picard deals with the post-traumatic stress disorder of his experiences well into the future; he’s forced to face his old enemies again in the excellent 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact . With the phrase “Resistance Is Futile,” The Borg is synonymous with immediate danger.

The Klingon Empire is one of the most powerful bodies in the Star Trek universe. The warrior species has a culture entirely based on combat and trial, with a caste-like system that divides them by their different rank. Kirk, Spock, and the U.S.S. Enterprise crew face off against the Klingons many times throughout the run of The Original Series . However, The Next Generation proved that not all Klingons were villains. The Next Generation fleshed out the Klingon culture in a more empathetic way, and introduced the USS Enterprise-D ’s Klingon security officer Worf. Worf’s bravery and loyalty made him one of the most valuable assets to Captain Picard’s crew, and he returned as a major part of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ’s later seasons.

Cardassians

One of the most important new species introduced in The Next Generation was the Cardassians, who first appeared in the season four episode "The Wounded". Although the militaristic aliens were renowned for their brutality, unlike The Borg, each Cardassian character acted as an individual. The Cardassian species had developed their ruthless qualities as a result of many hardships, as their home planet had been ravaged by war and famine. The Cardassians kept their culture under strict authority, with a powerful surveillance system, dangerous police force, and strong nationalism within their military dictatorship. The Cardassians waged war against the Federation during Deep Space Nine when they joined the Dominion in an epic conflict.

While many of the most memorable Star Trek aliens are antagonists, the Ferengei are thankfully a great source of comedic relief. The quirky schemers tended to have greedy attitudes, but they haven’t historically been that malicious in nature. The Ferengei were more of a constant annoyance to Captain Picard’s Enterprise crew throughout The Next Generation than a threat like The Borg, and they even proved to be allies a few times. The Ferengi bartender Quark and his brother Rom added a great humorous addition to Deep Space Nine , which otherwise is one of the franchise’s more serious shows.

We’re always going to have a little trouble with Tribbles. The cute, furry species made their debut in the fifteenth episode of The Original Series season two, and fans are still a little divided on whether the adorable creatures are some of Star Trek ’s weakest features or one of its greatest assets. These plushy little guys tend to multiple, and they do it fast , causing problems for multiple generations of Star Trek heroes. Tribbled popped up again in The Animated Series episode “More Trouble, More Tribbles,” the Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations,” and the Short Treks episode "The Trouble with Edward.” Amusingly, the Klingons considered the Tribbles to be their mortal enemies. Tribbles occasionally served a good purpose; in Star Trek Into Darkness , Bones is able to replicate Khan’s super blood in the Tribbles, thus saving Kirk’s life.

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Published Jul 2, 2023

Star Trek's One-Hit Wonder Alien Species, Ranked

We may have only seen them once, but they made the most of their limited time.

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When it comes to Star Trek aliens, the Klingons are as ubiquitous as the Beatles, while the Ferengi are more of “Top 40” choice, the Andorians are like an indie band, and the Romulans are whatever type of music you hate the most.

But what about the one-hit wonder alien races — the species that only appeared in one episode (or movie), but who we still think about all the time? Some looked unique, others communicated or reproduced differently, and many taught us important lessons about our own humanity. Here are some of our favorite one-hit wonder species.

10. The Nibirans

What happens when you disobey the Prime Directive? The Nibirans — aka, the species seen chasing down Kirk and McCoy in the opening of Star Trek Into Darkness — give us a possible answer. After getting a good look at the Enterprise , the primitive race sets aside their sacred scroll to draw pictures of the starship instead. Kirk gets demoted for “playing god” and you have to wonder how things changed on the planet Nibiru after that. Was an Enterprise shrine built inside the volcano Spock kept from blowing up?

9. The Kradin

When Chakotay’s shuttlecraft crash-lands on an unknown planet in Star Trek: Voyager 's " Nemesis ," he’s taken in by a group of earnest, plucky rebels fighting an unjust war against a murderous race called the Kradin. Chakotay sees the monstrous-looking Kradin abducting elderly villagers, harassing children, and killing his comrades — but it turns out it’s all a holosimulation designed to recruit fighters from the crews of passing ships. The Kradin are actually the good guys! But even after finding out the truth, Chakotay discovers that he still doesn’t want to be in the same room as one. “I wish it was as easy to stop hating as it is to start,” he tells Janeway.

When dealing with a shy, nervous race, send in the Irish guy. That seems to be Sisko’s thinking when he asks Chief O’Brien to befriend an alien whose ship he’s fixing in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's " Captive Pursuit ." O’Brien suspects he’s on the run, but he and the rest of the crew can’t get him to tell them what he’s running from. The riddle is solved when a hunter shows up, looking for his “prey.” Turns out, his species breeds Tosk to hunt them down, yet consider them sacred. The Tosk in their custody refuses asylum to avoid dishonor, so O’Brien helps him escape to live another day trying to evade the hunters.

7. The Tamarians

Shaka, when the walls fell!

If these words mean anything to you, you’re a fan of the memorable Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “ Darmok ,” which finds Picard stranded on a planet with a starship captain from a race known as the Children of Tama . Although his fellow maroon-ee seems relatively friendly, they can’t communicate, despite Picard’s universal translator. But literally no one is worried that Picard might not live up to the challenge. He figures out that the Tamarians speak in allegory, and learns what all the important ones mean in less time than you can say “Darmok and Jalad on the ocean.”

6. The Horta

The first silicon-based lifeform to be introduced in the Star Trek universe, the Horta might prompt you to utter, “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer!" That is, of course, if you’re Dr. McCoy and have been sent to nurse the rocky-looking creature in The Original Series episode, " The Devil in the Dark ." Spock, on the other hand, performs a mind-meld and finds he quite likes the alien, who admires his ears. IRL, the unique-looking creature was the brainchild of Janos Prohaska, who originally created it for The Outer Limits , where it appears as a giant germ. According to Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , he added some fringe and veins to transform it into a miner’s worst nightmare on Star Trek .

5. The Kobali

How would a humanoid species reproduce, if not sexually? An interesting answer to this question is given in the Voyager episode “ Ashes to Ashes ,” which features the Kobali, a species that salvages dead bodies and implants them with a genetic pathogen. The pathogen causes their DNA to change and their bodies to reanimate. In the process, their memories are wiped — except for the few who still remember who they were the first time they were alive. One such Kobali is Jhet'leya, aka Ensign Lyndsay Ballard , who died on an away mission. When she shows up at Voyager in her now-altered form, more goes wrong than she expects — and that doesn’t even include hooking up with Harry Kim.

4. The Gormagander

If you love marine life, you can’t help but squee a little when the Gormagander makes his appearance in Star Trek: Discovery 's " Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad ." Also known as a space whale, these endangered creatures just float around space, chilling. When the Discovery crew encounters one, it seems injured; they beam it aboard to take it to a wildlife sanctuary.

A good idea until they find out that the Gormagander is actually experiencing its own personal Jonah-and-the-whale situation. Hiding inside is the infamous Harvey Mudd, who’s later brought up on charges for “penetrating a space whale” (among many other things) in The Original Series.

3. The Flying Parasites

They were never really given a name, but don’t let that fool you — you do not want to run into the flying parasites that the Enterprise encounters on Deneva in " Operation: Annihilate! "

They sting, they know how to fly, they’re resistant to phasers — oh, and they made Kirk’s brother Sam go insane, then murdered him. These nightmare-inducing aliens, which look sort of like rubber placentas, are still no match for Spock, however. Although one latches onto his back, he overcomes the pain and the brainwashing, kidnaps one of the parasites to study, then has McCoy test out Kirk’s theory as to how to kill it. The procedure successfully releases him from the creature’s grasp, and even blindness can’t keep Spock down — thanks to his inner eyelids, the side effect is only temporary.

2. The Cheron

When the Enterprise encounters a comatose member of a new alien species from a planet that’s recently been destroyed, the fact that he has some organs Dr. McCoy has never seen is hardly the most notable thing about him. His skin is dark black on one side, and bright white on the other, leading McCoy and crew to decide he’s probably a mutant. But when they pick up a second survivor named Bele , he too has the unique pigmentation. There’s one problem — the two men hate each other.

In an unexpected twist, Bele (played by Frank Goshin, two years after portraying The Riddler in Batman ), explains to Kirk that the reason is obvious — he’s black on his right side, while the other Cheron is white on his right side. The episode " Let That Be Your Last Battlefield " is such a powerful allegory for racism that it stuck with a generation of fans who had only seen it on television one time.

What does pure evil look like? If you said “a sentient pool of tar,” from " Skin of Evil ," then you know why The Next Generation ’s Armus is number one on this list.

Literally a discarded second skin of everything “evil and negative within” from another race who abandoned it on a desolate planet, Armus displays his sinister intentions immediately by senselessly murdering Tasha Yar. Picard is ultimately able to distract him with his dazzling intellect (and some poetry) long enough to get the rest of his crew off the surface, but the act of killing Yar has repercussions that reverberate throughout the rest of the series.

This article was originally published on August 12, 2019.

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Jennifer Boudinot (she/her) is a freelance writer whose work has appeared on Collider, The Belladonna Comedy, and Points in Case. She's also the co-author of the books Dangerous Cocktails and Viva Mezcal. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is a Kira with a hint of Dax. Find her on Twitter @jenboudinot.

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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15 of the Most Bizarre Alien Species Featured in 'Star Trek'

"star trek" aliens.

"Star Trek" is filled with unusual aliens, ranging from the humanoid to the crystalloid to the god-like. Here are some of the more unique species from the live-action "Star Trek" series. Please note: We deliberately exclude the more well-known alien races, and limit each of the series to three entries to try to include samples from across the canon. If we missed anything bizarre, tell us in the comments!

1. Salt vampire ("Star Trek: The Original Series," 1966-1969)

The very first episode of "Star Trek" showed promise when it came to weird aliens. An old flame of one of the crew members, Nancy Crater, turns out to be a projection of a sort of salt vampire that soon runs amok on the USS Enterprise. This alien species cannot live long without salt, so it attacks crew members and sucks them dry of essential salts. The creature is eventually stopped in part by a sort of mouse trap that — of course — uses salt. [ What I Learned by Watching Every 'Star Trek' Show and Movie ]

2. Horta ("Star Trek: The Original Series," 1966-1969)

This is a species of silicon-based life (humans, by comparison, are carbon-based) that prefers to feed on rocks. In a moving episode, "The Devil In The Dark," the crew discovers that the aliens are actually intelligent and very loyal to their offspring — but only after the Vulcan alien Spock does a mind-meld with one of the creatures, which is being persecuted by miners angry at the destruction it has caused.

3. Gorn ("Star Trek: The Original Series," 1966-1969)

A member of this extremely strong (but intelligent) reptilian species engages in famous hand-to-hand combat with Capt. James T. Kirk in the episode "Arena." The only way Kirk manages to overpower him is by finding the ingredients for gunpowder on the alien planet on which he is trapped, using his own uniform to help with the ignition. As an honorary mention, we should also include The Metrons, a species that can manipulate energy and matter at will — these are the aliens that set up the fight in the first place, because they are mad at their space being invaded.

4. Q ("Star Trek: The Next Generation," 1987-1994)

Simultaneously terrifying and witty, Q is a seemingly supernatural being who pops up on the USS Enterprise periodically to play tricks on the crew. Some of his memorable actions include giving Q-like powers to a member of the Enterprise (arguing that humans always love learning), and putting humanity on trial for its past crimes while wearing period uniforms from over the centuries. Q, however, isn't all trickster. Alongside his antics, he does warn humanity about the approach of the Borg, which is trying to assimilate all species into a collective. [ The Evolution of 'Star Trek' (Infographic) ]

5. Tamarian ("Star Trek: The Next Generation," 1987-1994)

This species is a tongue-twister for the usual translators that Starfleet officers carry. While the translators can literally tell us what the Tamarians are saying, it's hard to understand what is going on because the species is speaking in metaphors. (Some examples from Memory Alpha: "Temba, his arms wide/open," which means a gift, or "the river Temarc in winter," which refers to the need for silence.) In the episode "Darmok," Capt. Jean-Luc Picard must learn to communicate with a Tamarian quickly before they are both killed by a hostile beast.

6. Crystalline Entity ("Star Trek: The Next Generation," 1987-1994)

This alien goes in the "beautiful but deadly" category, as the crystalline entity was breathtaking to watch in space — it looked a bit like a snowflake, or small and shiny diamonds. However, the entity had a nasty side to it: It could quickly devour all life in its wake. The USS Enterprise finally defeated the entity by sending graviton pulses that eventually broke it into pieces. But sadly, the crew couldn't stop the pulses in time when they realized the creature might be trying to communicate with them.

7. Changeling ("Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," 1993-1999)

Fans of the series will instantly remember changelings, as their numbers included one of the series' main characters — Odo, the sarcastic security officer aboard the space station Deep Space 9. Changelings were made up of an orange liquid that in the "Star Trek" universe is technically referred to as a "morphogenic matrix." Changelings were able to morph into pretty much anything they wanted to, including inanimate objects or even to resemble humans. [ Love of 'Star Trek' Inspires Highly Illogical Careers ]

8. Jem'Hadar ("Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," 1993-1999)

Jem'Hadar were one of a few "Star Trek" aliens with very different life cycles than humans. In their case, they were created in "birthing chambers" and were able to reach maturity in just three days. They also fed on a drug called Ketracel-white, which contained an enzyme they needed to survive. That enzyme was deliberately withheld during birthing by the Vorta, who created the Jem'Hadar; this gave the Vorta power over the Jem'Hadar and a captive economy for distributing the drug.

9. Trill ("Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," 1993-1999)

A main character on "Deep Space Nine" was from the Trill species — Jadzia Dax. Most of the Trill were fairly unremarkable, but there were a small number (including Dax) who lived with a symbiont inside their bodies. This symbiont was intelligent, but required a host organism to survive; it was common to transfer symbionts to young bodies when the older host organism was close to death. This meant that in the case of Dax, the symbiont transferred from an older man to a younger woman, prompting surprise from an old friend, Capt. Benjamin Sisko, the first time he met the younger Dax on Deep Space 9.

10. Hirogen ("Star Trek: Voyager," 1995-2001)

This alien was a brutal enemy of anything in the "Star Trek" universe, simply because the Hirogen consider themselves the dominant species and anything they run across as prey. Their entire culture was focused on hunting down other species, and they had the ability (if required) to break down bones and muscle tissue to eat the prey. Not someone you'd want to invite to dinner.

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Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, " Why Am I Taller ?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace

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• May 29, 2024 | ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4 Filming Set For 2025; Anson Mount Thanks Fans For Patience
• May 29, 2024 | Watch: Saru Has A Daring Plan To Save The Federation In Clip From ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 5 Finale

Saru And His ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Alien Race Explained

| July 19, 2017 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 114 comments so far

One of the new things about Star Trek: Discovery is the character of science officer Saru played by Doug Jones. We saw him in the trailer, including his memorable line about being able to sense the coming of death, but little is known about the character and his alien species. Today Entertainment Weekly provides a bit more detail.

On Saru’s planet, there’s a dominant predator species that constantly imperils another weaker species called Kelpiens. As part of the latter group, Saru has evolved with heightened survival instincts. Such prey species tend to have a cowardly reputation in the Federation, but Saru should not be underestimated.

Showrunner Aaron Harberts also notes that Saru is the first of his species to join Starfleet. Jones is also quoted in the article, saying:

“[Producers] said Saru is the Spock of the series, he’s the Data of the series — and those are beloved characters that I always connect with whenever I would watch the past incarnations of Star Trek,” said Jones, giving some details about his role for the first time. “On Falling Skies, I played an alien species who came to Earth to help the humans fight back the bad aliens who’d taken over, and I was intelligent, well-spoken, had a lot of answers and science-y smart. Saru is all of those things and then some.”

Doug Jones as Saru in Star Trek: Discovery (CBS)

Star Trek: Discovery premieres on September 24th on CBS with all subsequent episodes on CBS All Access in the US. See our Discovery info page for more details.

Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie .

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Interview: Doug Jones On ‘Space Command,’ And Saru’s Legacy After ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Series Finale

Sounds interesting.

Though, if two races live on the same planet and are technologically advanced to the point of being involved with Star Fleet, wouldnt the aggressor have been able to completely subjugate the weaker or the weaker able to stand on their own?

I don’t think the species being referenced were/are both technological/space faring. Given the references to evolution, I would assume they are referring to the distant past, and that Saru’s sense of impending death is a genetic legacy of his evolution. Saru’s people (the Kelpiens) probably developed tech and then either shot all the predators or left the dang planet.

Hmmm the descriptions reads “there IS a predator species”. But you’re right it, it refers to evolving but mentions Saru specifically. Might be more accurate to say his species evolved.

I guess well find out. It would be weird if he lives on a planet where his people are hunted constantly but are technologically advanced enough to join Star Fleet.

Exactly. Just like our ‘fight or flight’ response. Sabertoothed tigers are no longer hunting us, but we still have the instinctual wiring to respond to the threat.

Could have some fun with that concept – maybe the Klingons (or other advanced predator race) keep them subjugated on a planet to hunt for sport and he is the first to escape? Lots of story options to explain, can’t wait to see what they picked.

I am Tosk. And so is he… kind of.

That was my first thought! They could have done a lot worse. It’s the first brilliant episode of DS9 I remember.

I agree. Really good standalone episode for O’Brien.

He has very big shoes to fill. Spock and Data are such big characters, played brilliantly by Nimoy and Spiner. I though Jeri did a very good job with Seven though.

It sounds as if the actor is excited by the idea of trying to fill those shoes, which means the actor has guts, even if his character doesn’t. :-) I hope he’s successful; I’d LOVE to love another Trek character the way I love Spock.

At the risk of drawing the ire of some here, for continuity’s sake, I hope he is the last of his kind, maybe the last of the ‘weaker species,’ which would make sense. That would explain why we never see his race again in any incarnation of the prime-timeline future.

Anyway, seems like an interesting character.

To be honest, I agree to an extent. I got raked over the coals when I said I’d rather she previously seen aliens then “new” ones because I actually dont like the idea of a Star Wars-like galaxy of millions of species.

In TOS, what made Spock unique was, in fact, he was unique. Why would Spock being the first Vulcan in Star Fleet matter, especially the bigotry, when Star Fleet has been teeming with Aliens for years.

But saying that, Ill always give a pass to something that is good. So hopefully its good.

“I got raked over the coals when I said I’d rather she previously seen aliens then “new” ones because I actually dont like the idea of a Star Wars-like galaxy of millions of species.”

B. But that’s what Star Trek is! Has been since TOS, a galaxy with millions of species. McCoy made that clear in Balance of Terror: “In this galaxy, there’s a mathematical probability of three million Earth-type planets.”

And my guess is the show was originally based on the Drake Equation. I’m sure everyone here has heard of it but just in case it was an equation the astrophysicist Frank Drake who postulated in the 1960s the galaxy could currently have millions of planets where life has evolved high enough to have radio technology like we do. I can’t remember how high he estimated but it was 10s of millions. Of course it could all be wrong but the point is thats what Star Trek based its show around.

And frankly you have a show based on seeking out strange new worlds, it wouldn’t be much of a show if there was just sparse life, especially a TV show that literally finds a new species of life every week. Considering how big the galaxy is, to find so many species even with warp technology would have to imply that are millions of life forms out there.

3 million earth type planets would not create millions of intelligent species.

Okay, let’s not split hairs. The point he was making was that life could be on all those planets which is obviously true. And as I said, how much sense it would make to find SO MUCH life as they find on Star Trek, nearly on a weekly basis IF there wasn’t millions of planets with life forms on it?

If that wasn’t the case I doubt we would even HAVE a Federation because thats made up of 1-200 planets with WARP technology in our sector of space alone. And thats just the ones who decided to be part of it. How many more are out there with warp technology? Think of all the other planets within the Federation that is just at our level of technology or lower which until Voyager and DS9 was where they found most of the life they did. But think of all the species Voyager bumped into the Delta quadrant. They weren’t even looking for other species most of the time, others found them and again we are just talking about warp faring aliens.

Clearly it would have to be millions of species out there. How could it not be?

And you never answered my first question? Why? Its not an attack, I’m just curious why this would bother you? My entire life of watching Star Trek I always just assumed it would be millions of life forms out there for the reasons stated above.

Agreed. As the TV shows and movies showed us the galaxy is clearly teeming with life in the Star Trek universe.

It’s also reasonable to think that some of the alien civilizations with warp technology may not want to get tangled up in the affairs of other civilizations for various reasons.

Until TUP mentioned it it never occurred to me there WOULDN’T be millions of life in the galaxy. How can you have a show with so many civilizations with warp technology if that was the case?

I mean look at planet Earth? How many different species of life is on it? Now how many of them can build and drive cars lol.

I just imagine that’s how the universe is in general, at least in the world of Star Trek. For every one species that is intelligent enough to even get to space and explore it there must be thousands if not millions that are way less developed than that. And to have so many that has warp capable abilities in our area of the galaxy (to be fair the universe is really old ;)) must mean there are a lot of species out there still like us in the present day who is not close to that level yet, in my unscientific opinion of course.

But as I said, Roddenberry based Star Trek on the Drake Equation even if not the actual one, but the basic spirit of it that the universe is teeming with life in abundance.

But not all major players in Trek follow the Prime Directive. Klingons for example might take over a planet whose people could make their way into space via many avenues without ever inventing warp drive.

Wasnt that the general basis for the Kaazon? A stupid species that stole technology?

More importantly, it’s because this is a television series that started out using aliens as allegory for humans. This is why only the most out-there ones actually look alien.

There isnt life on all the planets in our solar system so there cant be life on every single planet. I get what you’re saying but the likelihood of millions of intelligent life is probably smaller than a lot of us hope for. At least *advanced* intelligent life.

No one said every single planet but the problem is we don’t even know how many planets are even out there. Just until 1995 we never even recorded a planet outside our solar system. Now they have recorded thousands but it tells you just how behind we are learning so much of our galaxy.

But of course we have no idea obviously how much life is out there but in the world of Trek there has to be millions of civilizations. And as stated, that’s how Roddenberry saw the show basing it around the Drake Equation which I have since learned he estimated 100 million worlds could support life in our level of technology in this galaxy alone. Again its all conjecture but its amazing that that level of civilizations could really could be out there.

And it also tells you just how big the galaxy truly is. 100 million worlds similar to our own. Imagine the possibility. I guess with Trek we don’t have to.

Watch TNG episode The Chase.

The show’s estimates on the probability of alien life in the galaxy were based on an “equation,” all right, but not the one popularized by Frank Drake (and later Carl Sagan). In Trek’s case, it was a fake one made-up on the fly by Gene Roddenberry to sell the series. It’s a pretty funny story told in The Making of Star Trek .

Well OK but according to Memory Alpha he did base it around the equation, he simply didn’t know the exact components of it (and who would lol) so yes made up his own (sadly no internet or database back then ;)). BUT the point being the idea came from Drake Equation and clearly had in mind the galaxy would have millions of life forms in his stories. Here is the page:

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Drake_equation

Agreed, I thought TOS UFP concept with five or six well developed and different races (Andorians, Vulcans, Tellerites, Caitians, Deltans) is more exciting than there are 100s of races in the Federation… especially when you think that the Klingon Empire is a threat (how can 1 race with equal tech possibly be a threat to 100s of races?). That being said I think the door is open for 2 or 3 more uh, “major Security Council” races or small “general assembly” planets or factions.

But I don’t think that’s true either. AFAIK the Federation was always made up of a lot of planets, it was just founded with a few of them. By Kirk’s time it was at least dozens of planets not just five or six. Why make such a big deal about it if its only a half dozen planets out of hundreds that had warp capability. It sounds more like NATO than it does the UN or EU.

I think the UFP in TOS was more NATO than UN… with Earth being the USA contributing most of the personnel (remember Spock was only the first Vulcan in Starfleet despite being one of the founding members, Vulcans eventually got their own Connie as opposed to being fully integrated). Looking at Journey to Babel you really only see the big four (humans, Vulcans, Andorians, Tellerites). The UFP looked like that it could indeed be overpowered just by the Klingons + conquests working with the Romulans. Ironically I see this as being more story friendly (like Lord of the Rings – humans, Elves, Dwarfts, limited races but well fleshed out) than aliens, aliens everywhere that all act like humans in costumes, Starfleet a couple of races *trying?*/working together each almost with almost their own separate navies (starships seemed to be dominated by a single race).

OK I get your point but to be honest I really like the Federation being more the UN/EU model. NATO is obviously important but it feels more militaristic than striving for a more progressive unified society like those and how I see the Federation in general but everyone sees this stuff differently.

And remember the Federation might have been stronger later but they were still nearly decimated by both the Borg and the Dominion so its not like they are all powerful. Thats what I love about DS9 actually it proved the Federation can’t work out everything diplomatically or militarily in fell swoop.

But I did like how divided the humans, Vulcans and Andorians were but yet still managed to come together to form the Federation in the first place. That is the spirit of trying to work together and succeeding, even if they all didn’t trust us pink skins. ;)

But in TNG the UFP consists of at least 100 planets and therefore dozends of species. There seem to be standard procedures how a species can apply to join the Federation.

The UFP won’t have developed that big just durinh TNG times. In 100 years only 4 species and in the last 10 years 80…there must have been at least 20 during TOS times already.

And looking at Worf and Nog you even can join Starfleet when you’re planet is not part of the UFP. ;)

I agree. It’s pretty obvious that in the original concept at least, the Enterprise crew (and later Starfleet) was mostly comprised of humans with Spock being the lone exception. Things got a lot more cosmopolitan after The Motion Picture , and reached the point of absurdity in the JJ films with seemingly every fourth extra sporting scales, fur, tentacles, or whatnot. Where did all these folks come from?

My understanding was the idea behind the original series (mainly needed because of the expensive cost of makeup/prosthetics in the 60s) was that Starfleet was composed of MANY different alien species, HOWEVER, the ships were segregated by species because of vast cultural differences between different members of the UFP. Spock was the lone exception because he was half-human and could understand human culture due to his human mother. It also explains why they mention a federation ship with an “all Vulcan crew” being destroyed during TOS. Starfleet later integrated their ships during the late 23rd, early 24th century.

Of course, Enterprise and Discovery seem to ignore that premise.

You’re talking about the realities of a limited 60s TV show vs the fictional canon that was built around it. As someone else said it was mostly just humans during that time because the show had more budget and make up limits compared to when TMP came around and they could just be more creative from the 80s on through later films and spin offs.

Look at The Animated Series as an example. Suddenly there were multiple aliens and recurring characters of the Enterprise like M’Ress and Arex. Why? Because it was animated so they could just have more than humans and more exotic aliens at that. My guess is if the show had more resources it would’ve been a lot more aliens on it from day one. Even Spock himself was suppose to be more alien than just a guy with pointy ears and eyebrows. But they had to simplify it as much as possible just to have ONE ‘alien’ as part of the crew.

Look at the majority of ‘aliens’ on TOS? Most of them were either just human looking or some with minor prosthetic at best. Even now, majority of aliens still look more human but at least there are some really exotic ones from the TOS films on you could never have on TOS.

Why have a show that is not only about exploring alien life but working directly with alien life but everyone either is or looks freaking human?

Its not just the limits of the 60’s show to create a more populous alien world. Their seeming creative intent was that Spock was unique and they showed us bigotry towards that.

The fact there were more aliens by TMP made sense with Spock being a trailblazer.

I do think it loses something when you retcon Star Trek to be teeming with aliens on a level of Star Wars.

Star Trek is about the human condition so the more rare aliens that dont understand us or struggle with their own humanity is what provides insight. if you have a million aliens, it becomes less about the human condition.

As TUC showed us, interestingly, when the human characters are matched by aliens, it starts to diminish the story as a “human” story since that is inherently bigoted.

But I get it. Im ok with it. I just dont want a cantina scene with a million aliens. Because you get too far removed from the present, which Star Trek is an analogy for.

But again we are talking about a show where almost every week they found a new civilization. I don’t get this argument, even in TOS the galaxy was teeming with life. Sure maybe in terms of Starfleet itself there weren’t many aliens in it but its not like life was perceived as ‘rare’ in the galaxy. Just the opposite. There is so much life that humans were going out and corrupting/influencing countless alien worlds and why there was even a need to have a prime directive in the first place.

That’s the difference between Star Trek and shows like Battlestar Galatica where you didn’t see many aliens outside a few here and there. We basically just saw humans vs the Cylons and little else. They didn’t stop off at countless alien worlds or lived in a galaxy that was so full of them they now have trade deals lol.

For *me* thats what made Star Trek so exciting, the fact that there was life everywhere and that we finally found something fast enough to take us there.

But all that said, I never looked at ST as SW in that sense. In SW, yeah its a lot of aliens but thats a galaxy where life really sucks lol. In ST, at least in the Federation life is pretty good, right? Sure obviously humans struggle to understand aliens here and there but by TOS period we learned to live peacefully among most of them. Why we never saw any big wars with anyone. Conflicts yes, but actually very few wars. We know between Enterprise and TOS there was a lot more conflict and then the Dominion in the 24th century but overall Star Trek ISN’T Star Wars because for the most part, the galaxy actually seems pretty peaceful given so many life forms living in it. Of course when you don’t count the Borg lol.

And by the time the events of the Motion Picture unfolded, many of those alien worlds had been digitized and swallowed up whole by V’Ger.

I’d say that Spock was the 1st half-bred Vulcan to do… ANYTHING.

It says that he is the first of his species to join Starfleet. So it doesn’t make much sense that he would also be the last of his kind. But you could imagine that not many of his kind follow in his footsteps especially if there is prejudice against his species in the Federation. Of course, one would hope that such prejudice doesn’t exist in the 23rd century anymore. It’s also possible that his species, having a history of being hunted, just doesn’t care much about getting out into space (where hostile aliens prey on the weak).

…and we’ve seem aliens like Benzites get into Starfleet without being a Fed member.

How did I forget about Nog?????

Sorry I just don’t buy this. Why do we have to have ‘seen’ him later? The galaxy is freaking big, I imagine there will be tons of aliens we never seen before in Starfleet. I have given this example before but look at the Deltans from TMP? AFAIK, Ilia was the only one we were ever introduced to via that film. We know more are part of Starfleet and yet after that movie we never saw them again. I don’t think they were ever mentioned even in passing on TNG, DS9 or Voyager which goes directly to the point. We have a series that set up an entire species but yet never mentioned or seen again in the 24th century. And yet they were created before those shows. So why is it so hard to grasp that just because we don’t hear about earlier species later on doesn’t mean they weren’t involved in Starfleet before?

And I hate prequels. But stuff like this is not a real argument. Starfleet is part of the Federation, we still don’t even know all the members that are part of it after all this time so why is it shocking that we wouldn’t know all the species that serve in Starfleet?

I love it when we get a new alien crew member. I remember falling in love with Dr. Phlox for Enterprise. Neelix from Voyager, not so much LOL

Why did you laugh out loud? And did you really?

Uh oh, someone doesn’t like text speak!

One of the people in my office does that, “lol” after every email or IM. “Really busy up here but will get back to you as soon as I can lol.” Drives me up a wall. LOL

Sorry… Could not resist.

So, he has evolved to sense death. How can that happen – scientifically speaking. What is the sensory input? Dogs can sense cancer in their owner through smell. Touch can reveal much as can sound and sight. How would such a sense work in the vacuum of space. Is Star Trek hard science fiction or just space adventure?

Hopefully Saru is speaking metaphorically in the trailer. He’s not really sensing death in their situation, but is inferring it from the evidence to hand.

Clutches desperately at straws…

I don’t think that’s a desperate straw-clutch at all, but something that actually makes a lot of sense. Why shouldn’t a mindset that’s acutely sensitized to death be especially capable of recognizing circumstances that might lead to lots of it?

“How would such a sense work in the vacuum of space.”

Obviously by detecting the Grim Reaper within 24 light-hours radius!

How does Troi sense people’s emotions? How does Spock meld minds? How do full betazoid read people’s thoughts? How does Q do what he does?

It’s science FICTION.

@Torchwood,

Most of that is based on extrasensory perception ESP, a well-known phenomenon in the human history. Sensing “the coming of death’ in entirely different matter & come off as science-fantasy.

Having a character that senses death is like having B-9 on the USS Discovery warning: Danger! Danger! Captain Lorca.

@Ahmed – you’re completely wrong. Firstly in the sense this is science fiction. Secondly in the sense of what other people have already stated about animals being able to sense death.

Not to mention the numerous examples of humans with unexplainable fore-knowledge.

I can buy this. Let’s see how the execution is.

I sure hope the character will bring something more to the show beside his cat-like death sense.

I imagine he will. Would be silly to pre judge the entirety of the character based on one line from the teaser. Data was kind of stupid in the first season of TNG and eventually became awesome. Im sure there will be bugs to work out.

You know that ESP is not a real thing, and at best, is theoretical? You know that a mind meld is entirely fictional/fantasy?

If you think telepathy, mind melds, and the Founder’s shape shifting abilities can somehow ne explained by modern-day scientific knowledge, you’re… well, I’m just going to say it… you’re a f%^&ing moron.

At least ESP and shapeshifting are common elements in Star Trek, not this nonsense about sensing the coming of death.

And I’m indeed a moron for feeding a troll like you, not going to happen again. Keep on trolling.

Ahmed… ummm, I think you are the troll in this case.

LOL have to agree with this. Its Star Trek, aliens do all kinds of nutty things…thats what makes them aliens. I mean how can Odo morph into any object he wants, even when the object in question has smaller mass than he does? Where does it all go?

Saru sensing death may sound stupid but no more stupid than what we seen throughout multiple alien characters. Not everything has to be explained, he just can.

Repeating my question from above: Why shouldn’t a mindset that’s acutely sensitized to death be especially capable of recognizing circumstances that might lead to lots of it? Doesn’t seem that farfetched to me.

@Michael Hall

But what if it’s more than that. What if it’s simply an extra sensory perception he gets when someone is close to death. Think of it the way Guinan “just knows” things. That totally works for me.

It’s Star Trek, not Boston Legal.

Okay, but Star Trek avoids ‘magic’ and employs scientific advisors.

Did these ‘scientific advisors’ explain Q, the wormhole aliens, Odo and the countless aliens who do bizarre stuff that no one can explain outside of fiction?

You guys have been watching Star Trek how long? And you are suggesting a guy that can sense death in the same universe as a guy who can literally kill an entire alien species millions of light years away with just his thoughts (TNG: THe Survivors) as ‘too weird’?

What show are you people watching?

Emotions and thoughts are actual things that exists through brain activities, hormones and such. So at least there is something to detect here even if Star Trek doesn’t explain how. There is nothing that let you could detect “death”.

Explain how Guinan has a perception that goes beyond linear time. Explain Q. I’m sure there’s fictional science to explain them (there is no such thing as magic in Trek) but there is NOTHING within our current science that can even theoretically explain much of what we’ve seen in Trek for decades.

People are just trying to find any excuse to hate everything about DSC.

Thank you! Star Trek has plenty of these examples, as if every alien and their abilities can be explained. They do a good job of trying to explain technology but for actual alien abilities it usually comes down to ‘because they can’. I would love to see the day someone explains Q beyond ‘well he’s like omnipotent.’

What about whataboutisms. The thing is it sounds implausible and stupid. The fact that there were other implausible and stupid things in Star Trek before doesn’t change that.

Agreed, perplex, to an extent. If you think all of those things like mind melds, telepathy, q and Guinean are stupid, fair enough.

But others are acting as if Trek doesn’t have a long history of far fetched concepts.

Here’s a plausible theoretic scientific explanation for Saru’s ability, using existing Trek knowledge and existing science fiction theory:

We know that there is an energy signature exhibited by all living things at the quantum level (see: TNG episode “Paralells”) and we as an audience of science fiction acknowledge that there are beings whose perceptions can be non linear and be perfectly scientifically plausible (see: Guinan, see: last years film, “The Arrival”). We have also established that living beings in Trek emit a detectable bio electric field of some sort (see: TNG episode “Heart of Glory.”)

We also know that the future can be predicted to some degree through statistical analysis and balance of probabilities (DS9’s “Statistical Probabilities).

I therefore theorize that this quantum energy signature and bio electrical field in some combination fluctuate through time, particularly at the quantum level, and that Saru’s people can detect fluctuations and ripples in these fields that occur close to the end of a living being’s life on some kind of sub conscious level. In combination perhaps with an innate sense of probability projections that can predict what a person will do with reasonably good odds, Saru can “sense” when a person is going to die.

He may not always be right of course, as even in the real world our senses can deceive us.

So, while some may not like this ability, or find it too fantastical for their tastes, let it not be said that some form of theoretical Trek science couldn’t explain it if you wanted it to.

You just don’t want it to because you don’t like it.

Saru just has a higher count of midichlorians than most people.

Yes Perplex but

A. You’re moaning about something you don’t even know fully about yet.

B. You seem to have gotten over 50 years of aliens doing crazy things without explanations, is a guy sensing death really breaking the camel’s back at this point?

I get it, this is the internet, moaning about stuff is what we all do best here, but if you been watching Star Trek for at least a few decades now, Saru really should be at the far end of the complaint list. But seeing all the complaints about Discovery so far he probably is lol.

Despite perfectly reasonable rationalizations and comparisons, there are just fans who will hate for the sake of hating, and use flimsy excuses to back up there arguments.

Now, Saru’s “ability” may turn out to be lame. But it’s hard to judge without seeing how they execute it. And that seems to be a common thread from these critics: hate and criticize on principle with no logical reason or case behind it.

You just answered your own question, because it’s not in the vacuum of space. Also some species on Trek have abilities that are theoretical at best, entirely fictional at worst.

So what’s the logical problem with this?

Actually dogs is a good example. Some dogs and cats in hospital can somehow sense when a patient is about to die and proceed to lay in bed with them, comforting them. If it can happen in animals there is no reason it can’t happen in aliens.

Wow I never knew any of this about cats and dogs. Man next time my dog lays with me, I’m going to get nervous lol.

Yes. They can literally smell death. Saru can’t smell through the vacuum of space.

How do you know???

This is Star Trek. Last time I check, people can’t just teleport themselves without a machine (or at all in the real world ;)) and yet we have Q who can teleport himself anytime and anywhere with the snap of a finger.

Look, I know as Trek fans we get nit picky, but yes it is always true how we seem to ignore the CONSTANT things out there that kind of disprove our point. If you already have aliens doing crazy things NO ONE can explain, what exactly is one more at this point?

Show me a scene where he’s in the vacuum of space. ALMOST EVERY EPISODE OF EVERY STAR TREK SHOW IS SET IN AN OXYGEN ENVIRONMENT.

Why do I bother responding to such stupid people? It’s like talking to a wall. About as intelligent as one. Dear lord.

From his character explanation it sounds more like he can sense danger but saying he can sense “death” just sounds more dramatic. It would be more along the lines of any number of animals being able to sense danger or a threatening predator that’s near by

You mean the coming of death…it doesn’t get anymore dramatic than that lol.

But yes I’m guessing end of the day thats what it will be, like Peter Parker’s Spider sense. And it would put the writers in a corner if he could sense it at any time so I have a feeling there will be LOTS of limitations to it.

We need a character that can sense bad writing.

We had them, CD. They were called “red shirts” and they died anytime there was bad writing in TOS. All the time!

Kelpiens… Did they evolve from seaweeds?

Well, he’s somewhat pink like Patrick Star from SpongeBob SquarePants…

Reminds me of Kryten from Red Dwarf

So this species defining trait is actually what? Being cautious? “Captain, I sense the coming of death!” – “I was about to boil some water for a cup of tea, Mr Saru!” – “It is extremely dangerous to do so unsupervised!”

Well, Saru does have pointy ears…..

I don’t really get why a new species is a bad thing for storytelling, as long as they’re interesting (I get the “so why didn’t we see them later, then?” argument but think, and no offense intended, that it’s a little pedantic). Heck, the smartest thing TNG did early on was not go back to the Andorians, Vulcans etc. because it opened up new storytelling possibilities.

And, TNG and after did show myriad different species – they just mostly looked like humans with latex foreheads.

That said, Phlox bugged me, at least at first, on Enterprise. But that was less about a previously-unseen species in a prequel and more annoyance about the actual character/tiredness of the overall Westmore/Blackman/Zimmerman look. Although, he grew on me.

And I really liked all the aliens in the Abrams movies – more non-humanoid aliens in a fictional universe teeming with civilizations makes sense. Plus, they’re just cool. My favourite thing about the Vonda McIntyre movie novelizations was the aliens she put in.

I don’t get why not seeing a species before ‘bugs’ people???? To me that makes the world of Star Trek too small. As if every species has to be seen in Starfleet….although we seem to ignore all the NEW alien species that are introduced to us on every show we learn is part of Starfleet. I guess the logic just confuses me but unless there is some list somewhere that says what species has served in Starfleet before or present why do people assume we have to have seen them before??? Just odd to me.

I agree, Jack, People just want to bitch and moan about every single thing about Discovery. It has annoyed the shit out of me for such a long time since the first announcement. We all knew the storm that was coming. Bring in as many species as you want. TOS certainly didn’t have as many species as the following series’. What’s the big deal?

I wish the internet didn’t exist at this time for this very reason. Sure, reasonable questions and discussions aside. The nitpicking shitfest and endless banging on about OMG they are killing this has not removed my enthusiasm for this show :) I know that many who are hating on it endlessly will watch it, enjoy it, but will then never show their hand in support after.

After all, if you decided after the very first glimpse that it sucks and is not for you, why would you continually come back and bleat on and on and on about it? There is no other reason to come to this site unless you want a bit of news about comics or interviews with past stars etc. Why even post in threads that contain information about a show that you quite vocally ‘don’t care about’?

“but will then never show their hand in support after.”

Meant to read as; will never show their hand after as one of the dissers.

If he’s a prey species, why does he have binocular vision? Shouldn’t his eyes be on each side like a rabbit or a deer?

Because the evolutionary process on his world have him the ability to sense death instead.

Because he wasn’t born on Earth maybe?

Geez, you guys really like to overthink things. Sensing death… did you ever think he maybe gets flashes of the near future. He can be sensitive to impending death that way. Animals can sense death. Vultures will circle around a dying animal. Other animals can sense death in their owners… no, not through smell. Animals can also sense if a person is good or bad. Why is this so far fetched for you people… it is a tv show. It is science FICTION, not science fact. Wow. The biggest threat to Star Trek is it’s “fans.”

“you guys really like to overthink things”. Star Trek fans overthinking things? Really? Overthinking things is half the point. >;>}

evidence please mr trekfan 67

Give me evidence against what he’s saying, James. That’s sort of the point: we haven’t seen the show yet. So over analyzing this sort of thing with such a critical eye is pointless.

Overthinking things is 1/4 of the fun.

So will we get an explanation of why they vanish from all things Star Trek by the time of Kirk?

Well, they wouldn’t know what to do around Kirk, since he’s never experienced death, at least not like this…

Who says they vanish? Why do people act like every alien race has been mentioned on every show? They don’t.

Huh? Have other Trek shows shown EVERY inch of the universe? We’ve only ever been given glimpses of very small corners in a very large universe.

When you saw Ferengi and every other TNG-era alien did you wonder where they had been all those years you never saw them?

Wow I see TM now has a graphic image of Discovery flying over the planet instead of Enterprise. Wow, its really beginning! :)

And I have to say I still abhor the ship but that image makes it look pretty cool!

..the ability to sense immediate mortal peril.

Hrm. That’s…not a thing. “Mortal peril” does not emit unique energy signatures that can be detected with a specialized sense. Having heightened senses beyond the human (or other alien) norm, the ability to detect some other portion of the electromagnetic spectrum or some other fundamental force such as gravity, even an instinctive ability to interpolate fragmentary data from the environment to gain an impression of danger – okay, sure, fine. But “sensing mortal peril” is not something a species in an ostensibly science fiction show should be able to do

He senses what, his own death? Or other people’s?

Other people are dying…like…all the time. So yeah, I can sense death too. Some’s dying right…now. And now. Big whoop. Great superpower. You’re Bono.

If he’s sensing his own death then presumably he’s going to be wrong in every episode except one. Again, that’s a stupid power.

Are you sure? Wouldnt an immediate peril create heightened panic, hormone release etc? And thats something a species could detect. Troi could detect just about anything. Whats the difference.

Unless you think Saru can detect random and surprising deaths. Such as a happy guy singing to himself, strolling down a side walk and Saru can sense he’s about to have a piano dropped on his head.

I dont think thats the intent.

But we’ll have to wait and see.

TUP – the hormone release, panic etc… is all good stuff that could maybe be detected. This presumes that the victim knows of his death though. Like you say, we’ll have to wait and see – Hopefully Saru is speaking metaphorically in the trailer. He’s not really sensing death in their situation, but is inferring it from the evidence to hand.

I’m not trying to put a downer on STD – I cant wait to see it, but like most Trekkies, I cant help but critically analyse what we’ve seen so far. It’s funny what bugs some people doesn’t bother me at all – like the look of the Klingons for example.

Perhaps a being’s quantum signature fluctuates or changes close to the end of its life because at the quantum level it is not bound by the linear constructs of time (before and after). This quantum field can be sensed on a subconscious level by Saru, and he can detect ripples in it, which tells him when a creature is soon to die.

I thought he was introduced as “Lieutenant” Saru, but in that first pic, his delta badge appears to show “lieutenant commander” rank.

I wonder if the Kelpien makeup design was modeled on a background alien we’ve seen before, from TMP onward (or in the Kelvin films). Would be cool if that were true … unless it turns out that Saru is the first and last of his species to join Starfleet. :(

Clearly Doug Jones did such a wonderful job during filming they promoted his character.

Has the makeup design evolved a bit since the first look?

I was beginning to think some laid-off Subaru designers had gotten to close to this. (Yes, you need to be a car geek to get the reference.)

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Ending Explained & Spoilers: What Happened in the Finale?

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Here is the ending of Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 10 explained with spoilers. The show follows the Federation officers serving on board the titular starship Discovery. The series was initially meant to continue beyond Season 5. However, Paramount Plus ultimately decided against that and let the cast and crew film additional scenes to serve as the epilogue for the series. Star Trek: Discovery ended after Season 5 Episode 10 aired on May 30.

Delve into all the details of what happened in the Star Trek: Discovery series finale, including spoilers.

What happened at the end of the Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 series finale?

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 ends with an older Michael Burnham, now an admiral, taking the USS Discovery on one final mission with the help of the ship’s computer, Zora. As Michael explains, she and the crew will take the ship into deep space and leave it there until Zora encounters Craft.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 10 begins right where the penultimate episode ended. Michael wakes up on an endless platform after walking into a portal in the previous episode. There, she encounters Moll (Eve Harlow), who entered the portal before her. The two agree on a temporary truce to find the legendary technology of the Progenitors.

Ultimately, Michael arrives in the Progenitor’s realm and meets one of them. When Michael voices her confusion about how this is happening, the Progenitor explains that while their species died out billions of years ago, the Progenitor’s and Michael’s minds are together in that place. Moreover, the Progenitor reveals that a species that came even before them created the realm they are in.

The Progenitor gives Michael the technology she has been looking for. However, after reuniting with her crew, she decides that no person or species should have access to this technology and sends it beyond a black hole’s event horizon.

Several weeks later, Saru (Doug Jones) and T’Rina (Tara Rosling) marry on a picturesque alien beach. On the other hand, Michael and Cleveland “Book” Booker (David Ajala) agree to spend the rest of their lives together.

The epilogue of the show takes place about four decades later. We learn that Michael and Book now have a son named Leto, who has just become the captain of his own ship. As Michael guides Discovery to its temporary resting place, she recalls all the precious moments she has experienced on the ship.

Although Michael doesn’t offer details on who or what this “Craft” is, those who have watched the anthology series Star Trek: Short Treks might know the answer. In Episode 2 of that show, titled Calypso, Zora meets a man named Craft (Aldis Hodge), roughly a thousand years after she was left in the deep space, and forms a complex relationship.

Will Captain Leto Burnham return in a Star Trek: Discovery sequel?

Captain Leto Burnham will not return in the Star Trek: Discovery sequel, as there is no such production as of May 2024.

In the series finale, Leto asks for his mother’s advice as he is about to begin his tenure as a captain. Michael tells him to treat his crew as his family, just as she had. There is no show or film currently in development with Leto as the lead. However, he does seem to have inherited many of his mother’s qualities and could serve as an excellent protagonist in the future.

Is There a Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 11 Release Date or Has It Ended?

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The post Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Ending Explained & Spoilers: What Happened in the Finale? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More .

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Star Trek Characters Who Look Completely Different In Real Life

When the crew of the starship Enterprise first embarked on their twenty-year mission, the goal was to "seek out new life and new civilizations." As it turns out, most of the planets in most of the galaxies across the universe are inhabited by beings that look remarkably similar to Earth's humans. Apparently evolution ends up happening in almost the exact same way on any planet that can support life. 

But in all seriousness, the fact that the different alien races in the "Star Trek" universe either look indistinguishable from humans — or like a human but with an unusual skin color or some slightly exaggerated facial feature — likely originally stemmed from it being a network TV show from the 1960s and not having the makeup or VFX budget for much else, which for a time was one of the  worst things about the franchise .

Luckily, as time has gone on, new alien races have been introduced, with some actually getting much further from humans visually. Some even require the use of extensive prosthetics or special effects, making the characters look very different than the actors portraying them. Here are some of the more extreme examples of that, mostly sticking to either fairly significant characters or more well-known actors. 

Marc Alaimo as Dukat

Often making lists of not only the best "Star Trek" villains but also of fan-favorite "Star Trek" characters in general, Gul Dukat is the franchise's most prominent member of the Cardassian race. Though the Cardassians made their debut on an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Dukat was a recurring character on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" where he took turns being both friend and foe to Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks).

Dukat was portrayed by actor Marc Alaimo, who not only looks different in real life but helped to originate the Caradassians as a whole. This is because Alaimo had also played another Caradassian, Macet, in the species' first appearance on "The Next Generation." Additionally, he played four other non-Cardassian characters across the run of "The Next Generation." Among his more noteworthy roles in which he doesn't appear under intricate prosthetics that completely transform his face are Mars Security Force Captain Everett in the original "Total Recall," and eight episodes as Gene Scapizzi on the 1980s police procedural "Hill Street Blues."

Alaimo told a crowd at a 2015 convention that, while he wasn't officially retired from acting, he was no longer actively seeking roles (though the official "Star Trek" X account tweeted that he was retired back in 2013). His most recent screen credit is a 2010 episode of "Family Guy."

Doug Jones as Saru

When prequel series "Star Trek: Discovery" debuted on streaming service CBS All Access — which would eventually evolve into Paramount+ — in 2017, it served as the launching point for one of the most active periods in "Star Trek" history. Since then, there have been two more live-action series as well as two animated ones, plus a slew of new characters that have been added to the "Star Trek" universe debuting in those shows.

Among those debuts is Saru, who also introduced the entire Kelpien race to the "Star Trek" franchise. A first officer of the titular starship who also serves as captain for a time, Saru is played by Doug Jones — an actor who has built his entire career out of completely disappearing behind makeup and prosthetics. Even if you wouldn't recognize Jones if he passed you on the street out of costume, you're most certainly familiar with his work.

His breakout role was as wisecracking zombie Billy Butcherson in the Halloween classic "Hocus Pocus," a character he revisited for "Hocus Pocus 2." He later became a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, playing Abe Sabien in "Hellboy" and "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," the Faun and terrifying Pale Man in "Pan's Labyrinth," and the unnamed amphibian man in "The Shape of Water." As for roles where he actually shows his face, Jones was Baron Afanas in 10 episodes of "What We Do in the Shadows" and played the Arrowverse's Jake Simmons aka Deathbolt.

Paul Winfield as Dathon

The Children of Tama — also known as the Tamarians — have thus far had the strongest screen presence on the animated series "Star Trek: Lower Decks." Beyond showing up in a couple of novels connected to "Star Trek: Voyager," Tamarians have almost no prior history in the "Trek" universe — with the notable exception of their original debut. Once again, that happened on an episode of "The Next Generation," in Season 5's "Darmok." That episode not only introduces the Tamarian race but also its most prominent live-action ambassador thus far — Captain Dathon.

"Darmok" is often considered one of the best "The Next Generations" episodes of all time, as well as one of Patrick Stewart's greatest performances as Jean-Luc Picard in the series. But respect must also be paid to actor Paul Winfield, whose portrayal of Dathon went a long way in making the episode — and the character — so memorable. Winfield, who was an Emmy winner and Academy Award nominee, had previously played Captain Terrell in the film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." 

Other career highlights include "The Terminator" and recurring roles on the series "227" and "Touched by an Angel," plus the "Picket Fences" guest appearance that earned him his Emmy. Winfield remained active in both film and television right up until his death in 2004.

Eric Bana as Nero

After the disappointing critical and commercial performance of "Star Trek: Nemesis," the "Star Trek" film series needed a break. With none of the subsequent TV series having enough cultural cache to justify building big-budget theatrical movies around them, the only choice was to go the big-budget soft reboot route — which is how we got to J.J. Abrams' 2009 release, simply titled "Star Trek." Providing a new origin story for the crew of the Enterprise, while conveniently having it set in an alternate timeline so the original canon could still be returned to if need be, "Star Trek '09," as its often called, successfully breathed new life into the flailing franchise.

Much of the plot of the "Star Trek" reboot revolves around a new character named Nero, a Romulan captain who travels back in time to destroy Vulcan in an act of revenge — inadvertently creating the two branching timelines in the process. Both actor Eric Bana and the movie's makeup team did such a convincing job of transforming Bana into Nero that even Bana's own agent failed to recognize the actor when he was on set in his full Nero makeup and costume. 

Prior to becoming a Romulan, Bana had portrayed Bruce Banner in Ang Lee's "Hulk," Trojan prince Hector in the action epic "Troy," and lead character Avner Kaufman in Steven Spielberg's historical drama "Munich."

Armin Shimerman as Quark

When the Ferengis were conceptualized by "Star Trek" creator Gene Rodenberry and "The Next Generation" writer Herbert J. Wright, they were originally meant to be a dark and menacing villain presence. But that didn't pan out, and they very quickly became comic relief instead. Quark was the standout member of the Ferengi race, to the point that he became one of the main cast members on "Deep Space Nine" as the station's bartender for all seven seasons of the show.

In both his original "The Next Generation" appearances as well as on "Deep Space Nine," Quark was portrayed by actor Armin Shimerman. The geek-minded might better recognize Shimerman — sans the extensive prosthetics used to transform him into a Ferengi — as Principal Snyder on the "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" TV series. Shimerman is also a prolific voice actor, playing General Skarr in "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy" and Dr. Nefarious across the entire "Ratchet & Clank" video game franchise. When he's not acting, Shimerman occasionally moonlights as a writer, even penning a Quark-focused "Deep Space Nine" novel called "The 34th Rule" with David R. George III. He's also open to returning as Quark, but on one condition : that it not be anything more than a recurring role, noting the difficulty of wearing the prosthetics that the role requires.

Pancho Demmings as Kradin soldier

Resembling the Predator alien species from the franchise of the same name, the Kradin are one of the scarier-looking species to ever make an appearance in any "Star Trek" media. Apart from a few quick glimpses elsewhere, they only played a significant role in the franchise in just a single episode of "Voyager" — the Season 4 episode titled "Nemesis." Even so, the Kradin left a lasting impression among "Trek" fans, not only for their gruesome appearance but for the episode itself being a favorite among fans of the series.

The performers that brought Kradin to life in that episode include Peter Vogt, Chuck Borden, and Louis Ortiz, though the most well-known actor among all the Kradin soldiers is likely Pancho Demmings. Demmings also played Gerald Jackson, assistant to Ducky Mallard (David McCallum), on 15 episodes of "NCIS." He's appeared on shows like "Bones," "CSI: NY," "24," and "Alias," and he most frequently plays police officers or members of the medical profession. Demmings also played a character named Alpha 7 in the "Babylon 5" TV movie "In the Beginning."

Hannah Cheesman as Airiam

While cyborgs are no strangers to the crews of various Federation starships — most notably, Voyager's former Borg drone, Seven of Nine — Airiam was still special in that regard. She rose all the way to the rank of lieutenant commander on the Discovery, though she was ultimately killed when she had to be ejected from the ship for fear that the entity that corrupted her would jeopardize the entire crew. Her sacrifice was at the center of one of the saddest "Star Trek" episodes ever , though some fans complained that it was too little too late for a character that never got the development she deserved.

In the first season of "Star Trek: Discovery," Airiam was played by Sara Mitich. In Season 2, Mitich switched to playing operations officer Nilsson, while actor Hannah Cheesman was brought in to take over as Airiam for the remainder of the series. It has never been officially revealed why the swap happened, with a popular (but as of yet unsubstantiated) rumor suggesting it had something to do with Mitich having an allergic reaction to the prosthetics. Either way, Cheesman held the role the longest and saw it through to not only Airiam's demise but one last appearance in the show's final season. Cheesman's biggest part outside of the "Star Trek" universe so far was a recurring role on the Nickelodeon series "Max & Shred."

Jeffrey Combs as Shran

Shran is an Andorian who was a recurring character on "Enterprise." He spent the first few seasons as one of the show's more prominent villains, eventually flipping sides and allying with the crew towards the end of the show's run. Though Shran himself hasn't appeared on screen since "Enterprise," he was referenced years later when a ship called the USS Shran was used during the Battle of the Binary Stars that occurred during Season 2 of "Discovery." A high honor, indeed.

It was actor Jeffrey Combs underneath Shran's blue skin, white hair, and heavily textured forehead. Before playing Shran, Combs had also portrayed the characters of Weyoun, Brunt, Officer Mulkahey, and Tiron across 32 episodes of "Deep Space Nine." Prior to "Enterprise," Combs also played Penk in an episode of "Voyager." And he wasn't done with "Trek" even after playing Shran, having most recently voiced AGIMUS in "Lower Decks."

With all that being said, Combs isn't even best known for his "Star Trek" work — that distinction likely belongs to his portrayal of scientist Herbert West in all three installments of the "Re-Animator" film series, as well as his work in many other cult classic horror films. 

Ethan Philips as Neelix

Though he was introduced in the series premiere of "Voyager" and was a main cast member for all seven seasons of the show, Neelix has never been one of the better-liked "Star Trek" characters, particularly among those who have been series regulars. Of course, he has also occasionally found himself brought up in discussions about the most underrated "Star Trek" characters — so perhaps the most accurate way to refer to him is divisive. As for the character himself, his main job on the ship was its cook and also its morale officer, serving a similar role to previous "Trek" characters like Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) and Quark as food service workers and also de facto therapists for the crew of their respective ships.

Whether you love or hate Neelix, you can't fault the actor who portrayed him. Ethan Philips definitely made the best of a character that was perhaps intentionally designed to be unlikable — which he honed after having been a working actor for 15 years at that point. He was no stranger to television, playing recurring character Pete Downey on the classic sitcom "Benson." He also played Ferengi Dr. Farek in an episode of "The Next Generation" and another one-off Ferengi in "Enterprise." More recently, Philips has made multi-episode appearances on "Girls," "Better Call Saul," and "Veep." 

Michael Dorn as Worf

OG "Star Trek" fans remember the Klingons as one of the deadliest antagonists groups in the franchise, with several of the "The Original Series" movies in particular featuring them as the primary antagonists. But at this point, Klingons as a whole have been allies to the Federation far longer than they've been adversaries — and Worf played a pivotal role in that initial changeover. Not only was he the first Klingon to be a main character in a "Star Trek" show, but he was such an integral part of the universe that he appeared in all seven seasons of "The Next Generation" and was a series regular for Seasons 4 through 7 of "Deep Space Nine," the highest number of total seasons (11) as a main character of any character in "Star Trek" history." And that's to say nothing of his recurring role in Season 3 of "Picard."

Actor Michael Dorn played Worf in varying degrees for 36 years. He clearly doesn't have issues with Worf being his legacy. But it's not the only character the seasoned actor has played. Dorn played Dr. Carver Burke across six episodes of "Castle," as well as portraying the magical being Sandman in two of the three "Santa Clause" movies plus the Disney+ series "The Santa Clauses." However, the bulk of Dorn's non-Worf roles over the past few decades have been voice performances, lending his distinctive baritone to a number of animated series and video games. 

Heather Langenkamp as Moto

The second installment of the rebooted "Star Trek" movie series was "Star Trek Into Darkness," which loosely retells the story of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" with Benedict Cumberbatch as the iconic villain originally immortalized by Ricardo Montalbán. Also in that movie in a minor role is a being known as Moto, which has a much more exaggerated extraterrestrial look than a typical "Star Trek" character and really put the movie's makeup artists to the test. In fact, it was a member of the makeup team that is underneath Mojo's very elaborate prosthetics — but not just any member.

The makeup work of "Into Darkness" was done by AFX Studio, which is owned by David Leroy Anderson and his wife, Heather Langenkamp. Of course, before Langenkamp was working behind the camera, she was in front of it — most notably as Nancy Thompson in three of the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" films. Langenkamp said she had fond memories of watching Robert Englund sit in the makeup chair as he was transformed into Freddy Krueger, and always wanted the chance to experience that sort of transformation herself. So when a few alien extras were needed to fill out a scene in "Into Darkness," Langenkamp jumped at the chance, and she was put into an alien prosthetic that was created for a different project but never used.

Alice Krige as Borg Queen

Several actors have portrayed Borg queens over the years, include Alison Pill, Susanna Thompson, Jane Edwina Seymour, and the late Annie Wersching. And each brought their own unique spin to the character, undoubtedly one of the biggest bads in the entire "Star Trek" franchise. But if any one actor gets to claim herself as the "definitive" Borg queen, it's definitely Alice Krige. Not only was she the originator of the role in the character's first appearance in the film "Star Trek: First Contact," but she also portrayed her in episodes of "Voyager," "Lower Decks," and took over to voice her in her final "Picard" appearance after Wersching passed away — making her the actor who has played the Borg Queen the longest and in the most different projects. But what does the Borg Queen look like today , and what else has Krige been up to? 

Krige is a veteran actor whose screen credits go back to the 1970s. Her first big role was portraying real-life singer and actor Sybil Gordon in the Oscar-winning 1981 film "Chariots of Fire." Today, she's more recognizable for her recent roles as Eir in "Thor: The Dark World," Holda the witch in "Gretel & Hansel," and Nancy in Netflix's "The OA." She also played Queen Helena in all three installments of the holiday-based rom-com series "A Christmas Prince."

Star Trek Confirms the Most Feared Species in the Galaxy & It'll Blow Your Mind

• Star Trek #19 delves into the fear and mystery surrounding god-like beings in the universe, exploring the impact they have on mortals.
• The story emphasizes the importance of gods remaining hidden to avoid inciting fear and aggression from lower life forms.
• The Organians take on a disguise to conceal their true power, showcasing the rationality behind gods avoiding direct contact with mortals.

Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek #19!

The Star Trek universe is full of species that strike fear into the hearts of Federation citizens, but the most feared of all will blow fans’ minds. Species like the Borg or the Jem’Hadar are scary and feared throughout the galaxy. Yet in Star Trek #19, as T’Lir, the last of the Organians, reflects on their life, they reveal another species is an even bigger potential threat.

Star Trek #19 is written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Megan Levens. Prior to incorporating as a Vulcan, T’Lir lived on Organia. They recall a conversation with their father, who shed light on the status of the universe’s god-like beings. Their father tells them that if they want a bright future, they must remain hidden. He goes on to explain that the galaxy is full of life, many of which have gods.

They conclude their exile is necessary, as these lower life forms fear the gods.

Star Trek's Day of Blood Explored What The Gods Mean to the Galaxy

Not all of the gods were friendly.

In 2022, IDW gave their line of Star Trek comics a shot in the arm with the landmark Star Trek #400, which seeded the god war storyline. This story, which culminated in the Day of Blood crossover event, saw Kahless, the Klingon Emperor, launch a genocidal campaign against the gods. In quick succession, Kahless killed all but one of the Organians, Gary Mitchell and the Crystalline Entities. The book has used this war as a way to explore what it means to be a god–and what it means to be an adherent.

God-like beings have been a part of the Star Trek fabric since its inception. The aforementioned Gary Mitchell first appeared in the show’s second pilot, establishing a precedent that would stretch across multiple shows and movies. In Star Trek’s 58-year history, fans have met the likes of the Metrons, the Q, Trelane, Charlie X and many others. Each one of these possessed fantastic powers beyond mortals, and not all of them were friendly either. For instance, Trelane toyed with the crew of the Enterprise, and was only defeated when more of his species showed up to take him back home.

The Gods Have Good Reasons for Avoiding Mortals

The gods of star trek inspire fear in the hearts of the galaxy.

Entities like Trelane ensured demagogues like Kahless would take up arms against them, seemingly confirming T’Lir’s father’s observation. Lesser beings fear that which they do not understand, and the gods, being so far beyond them, are the ultimate unknown–and thus targets of fear. The Organians understood this, and took steps to hide their existence. They initially appeared to Kirk and company as pre-industrial peasants, which undermined their great power. Other god-like beings in the Star Trek universe take similar approaches when dealing with mortals, and given the fear and mistrust, it may be a rational course of action.

Star Trek #19 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!

How A Real Case Of Bell's Palsy Affected Star Trek: Voyager's Admiral Bullock

In the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "In the Flesh" (November 4, 1998) the U.S.S. Voyager encounters a mysterious space station that contains a perfect simulation of Starfleet Academy back on Earth. The simulation contains familiar faces from Starfleet Academy, including the friendly groundskeeper Boothby (Ray Walston). Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) is suspicious of the simulation, and some investigation finds that the "humans" she encounters inside are actually genetically altered members of Species 8472, vicious aliens from an alternate dimension full of fluid. Species 8472 is convinced that humans intend to invade their dimension and take over, and they are using simulations to better know a potential enemy.

Armed with this knowledge, Janeway enters into negotiations with Species 8472, hoping to end the hostilities between them and the Voyager. The negotiations are held with Boothby, a woman named Commander Valerie Archer (Kate Vernon), and the grumpy Admiral Bullock (Tucker Smallwood). 

Tucker Smallwood will be familiar to most viewers, as he has been a prolific supporting player in films and TV since 1984. He has appeared in soaps, military dramas, and multiple sci-fi shows; he was on "Babylon 5," and played a semi-regular on "Space: Above and Beyond." He was also in nine episodes of "Star Trek: Enterprise." 

Appearing on "Voyager," however, was a fraught experience for Smallwood. According to an interview with StarTrek.com in 2015 , Smallwood had been diagnosed with Bell's palsy in 1998, an affliction that affected the muscles on the left side of his face. Smallwood's first instinct was to withdraw from acting but calls from Paramount had him auditioning again. He figured since he was an alien, a semi-paralyzed face might aid his performance. He found that it did and that he was able to be confident again.

Playing aliens

Smallwood wasn't in a great place in 1998. He had auditioned for a different sci-fi series and said that the director didn't like him for the role. Personally, he was struggling as well, having recently lost his father. Then, unexpectedly, he woke up one morning to find half of his face had become paralyzed. He wouldn't know why until later. It was during this time that he got a call from Paramount. Smallwood said: 

"I woke up one morning, looked at myself in the mirror and thought I'd had a stroke. I was stricken with Bell's palsy. I didn't know what it was at the time and I very quickly learned a lot more about it. Only half of my face worked. I told my agents, 'You can't send me out now. If they see me like this, I'll never work again.' So, for months I didn't go out. Then I got a call from my agents saying, '" Voyager"  called and would like to see you for this character.' I said, 'Well, he's an alien. I can do that. I sound okay. I only look like hell.'"

Enough time passed that Smallwood began regaining control of some of the muscles in his face, and he started to figure that playing a nonhuman character wouldn't be severely impacted by Bell's palsy. He only became a little concerned when he learned that his alien character was disguised as a human. He wasn't going to be getting a classic "Star Trek" alien forehead or facial ridges. He had to put his own face out in the open.

A boost of confidence

Watching "In the Flesh" reveals Smallwood's talents openly. One wouldn't be able to tell he was stricken with Bell's palsy. He recalls getting a very positive response to his performance, saying:

"The muscles in my face were very, very slowly starting to respond, but I did not have full control over the muscles. Then I discovered that, yes, he is an alien, but he's an alien who looks like a human being. He's disguised in a shape-shifting way as a human being. However, I got the role and when people saw the work they said, 'You were so implacable. You were so stern.' I said, 'It was the only expression I had.'"

Those compliments boosted Smallwood's confidence and left him thinking very positively about "Star Trek." He always wanted to play an alien, and his first experience was nothing but positive. He said:

"[I]t was very affirming. People all over were kind to me throughout this experience. You tend to want to withdraw, especially if you make your life visually, so to speak. I didn't know if I'd ever work again, and that was the start of my working again." 

Indeed, he was now part of the "Star Trek" family. And, because he still wanted to play an alien with proper makeup, he was hired to play a Xindi Primate Counselor , a character with good old-fashioned forehead ridges. He played the part in nine episodes. Smallwood, now 80, still works from time to time. His last film was 2021's "Together Together."

Is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds a Prequel to TOS?

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• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is both a Star Trek: The Original Series prequel and a spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery .
• Star Trek: The Original Series was originally supposed to follow Captain Christopher Pike and his respective crew on the Enterprise.
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds came out at the right time to capitalize on the original concepts that were deemed too controversial in the 1960s.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has complex origins. It technically began as a spinoff for Star Trek: Discovery , with Captain Pike, Mr. Spock, and Una Chin-Riley lending the crew of the Discovery a hand during the second season. Shortly thereafter, that series moved forward into the 32nd century, leaving Strange New Worlds to continue telling Star Trek stories in the era it left behind. That also places the series in an odd place in the franchise's timeline.

Strange New Worlds is a sequel to Discovery , which makes it a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, which begins a few years later. It's also a sequel to Star Trek 's very first pilot, "The Cage," which makes it slightly more complicated. That act also informs Strange New Worlds ' characters and storylines in significant ways. With a busy canon history — particularly in the 23rd century when the show takes place — it all takes a little unpacking.

Updated by Robert Vaux on December 30, 2023: The article has been updated with new formatting and links, as well as a table clarifying Strange New Worlds ' characters and their appearances in both old and new Star Trek projects.

Strange New Worlds Is a Star Trek: TOS Prequel and Discovery Spinoff

Strange new worlds cut a really important scene from the klingon war episode.

The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Blu-ray features an important deleted scene between Joseph M'Benga and Christine Chapel in the Klingon War.

When Discovery first premiered in 2017, Star Trek hadn't aired a new TV series in over a decade. The choice in the timeline stemmed from early concepts that envisioned an anthology approach akin to the hit American Horror Story , starting with a prequel to The Original Series and moving forward through the different Star Trek eras once a season. Hence, Discovery begins some ten years before the events of The Original Series on the eve of the Klingon-Federation War. The timetable also sets up one of Discovery 's most important dramatic arcs: Michael Burnham's status as Spock's adoptive sister.

The first two seasons explore Michael's relationship with Sarek, her troubled childhood experiences on Vulcan, and most importantly, her relationship with Spock, with whom she reconciles in Season 2 during the battle with the malevolent AI Control. That, in turn, informs the arrival of Pike and Number One on Discovery , who spend Season 2 aiding the crew and Pike acting as the Discovery's temporary captain. The season ends with Discovery traveling into the far future as part of the finishing move against Control. Pike, Spock, and Una's return to the Enterprise effectively begins the events of Strange New Worlds . The series picks up the action about six months later.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Can Clear Up Confusion About One Alien Species

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is the one series that can best solve the riddle of who, or what, the Rigellians are, and where they come from.

It's quite a busy period in the franchise timeline. Strange New Worlds Season 1, Episode 1, "Strange New Worlds" begins on Stardate 1739.12, or the year 2259 in the franchise's timeline. That's seven years before the beginning of The Original Series , two years after the end of the Federation-Klingon war — which continues to affect the series' protagonists — and five years after the events of "The Cage." Its placement and the characters' arrival on Discovery work to fill the timeline gap between "The Cage" and The Original Series .

Captain Pike Was Originally Supposed To Lead Star Trek: TOS

How strange new worlds perfected a star trek: the next generation premise.

Strange New Worlds has distinguished itself by taking the ensemble storytelling premise of Star Trek: The Next Generation to its pinnacle.

"The Cage" sets up a very different crew of the Enterprise than the one led by James T. Kirk. In fact, only Mr. Spock goes on to become a recurring character in The Original Series . Had Star Trek been green-lit after the first pilot, The Original Series would have featured Jeffrey Hunter's Pike in the lead, presumably with Majel Barrett as Una and Leonard Nimoy in his now legendary role as Spock . This didn't happen, more or less for all the wrong reasons.

According to Allan Asherman's The Star Trek Compendium , network executives felt that Hunter was too cerebral for a leading man and were particularly put off by the idea of a woman as the ship's second-in-command. Lucille Ball — who believed in the project and who owned Desilu Studios, where The Original Series was filmed — persuaded them to give it another look. A second pilot was filmed, with William Shatner in the lead as Kirk, who was perceived as a more dynamic, action-oriented character, and Mr. Spock now as first officer instead of Una. This time, the show got picked up, and it became The Original Series .

The second pilot was presented as Season 1, Episode 4, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," which explains the small differences in wardrobe and characterization. "The Cage" was eventually repackaged as Season 1, Episodes 12 and 13, "The Menagerie." It covers the events of "The Cage" in the course of a court-martial, as Spock delivers a now-disabled Pike to the aliens on Talos IV, where he can live a life of fantasy and imagination with his true love, Vina. In both cases, the episodes differ in key ways from the rest of The Original Series , mostly for expediency's sake. With the pilots filmed, it only made sense to just set them in the schedule and fill an hour of air time. The results, however, left a lot of potential on the table.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Came Out at the Right Time

Why star trek: strange new worlds' spock is different from tos.

Ethan Peck's Spock in Strange New Worlds is younger than Leonard Nimoy's in the original Star Trek. It makes for small yet telling differences.

Pike's crew are engaging and distinctive, and their adventure on Talos IV in "The Cage" is very much in keeping with the tone of The Original Series . Had Pike been the show's hero instead of Kirk , only the specific details of the crew would have differed. He likely would have visited the same worlds that Kirk did and ultimately solved their various problems in a similar manner. Strange New Worlds is first and foremost an attempt to give him and his crew their chance in the spotlight after taking a back seat to Kirk's gang for almost the entirety of the franchise's history.

Among other things, it addresses the sexism that helped doomed "The Cage" by showing Rebecca Romijn's Una engaging in all the adventures and character development withheld from Barrett's version. That extends to characters from The Original Series like Nyota Uhura and Christine Chapel — whose parts were strictly limited back then and now have a proper chance to come into their own — as well as new female characters like La'an Noonien-Singh and Erica Ortegas. In retrospect, it simply wouldn't have been possible to tell their stories in a meaningful way in the social environment of the 1960s. Strange New Worlds ' status as a prequel lets it make up for lost ground.

In addition, Strange New Worlds benefits hugely from the larger budget of streaming services, as well as vast improvements in special effects over the past 60 years. That gives it a cinematic quality that The Original Series could never hope to match with its simpler sets and effects. It also has the advantage of more modern writing, which benefits all the characters immeasurably, particularly Pike himself. The Original Series would have doubtless made him a lothario akin to Kirk, bedding a new woman on every planet in the name of plot expediency. Strange New Worlds gives Pike a far more nuanced arc as he contemplates his ultimate fate and haltingly engages in a relationship with another Starfleet captain, even as memories of Vina still haunt him. It's a far cry from what would have happened had "The Cage" been picked up, making Strange New Worlds a case of the right project at the right time.

The first two seasons of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are currently streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

A prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, the show follows the crew of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike.

Extra-galactic species

• View history

Extragalactic species were those species located or originating from outside of the Milky Way or from a parallel universe .

• 8472, Species
• Alliance of synthetic life
• Nagilum's species
• Ornithoid life forms
• Space amoeba
• Sphere-Builders
• Unknown Species 10-C

• The Inventory

Star Trek: Discovery 's Final End Is a Work in Progress

"life, itself" brings discovery to a close in an earnest, if messy manner, to remind us that nobody's perfect, least of all star trek: discovery ..

What a long road it’s been for Star Trek: Discovery , getting from there to here. Along that road it’s certainly had its ups and downs , but for all its faults, it’s been hard to deny in this last season that the series is assured in what its ultimate message was always going to be. So even knowing that, it’s perhaps fitting that its farewell is delivered in a manner as much as the whole show has been these past seven years: a little muddled, a lot of emotional earnesty, and an unsubtle, steadfast faith in one single idea.

Related Content

“Life, Itself” has a lot on its shoulders, not just as a finale to Star Trek: Discovery and the duty it needs to do to these characters, but as a finale to the series that relaunched Star Trek at large in a time no one was certain we’d be getting any more of it after Enterprise had come to an end. We have had endings since Discovery kicked off this era, of course—and more will come . But there is still something about the weight of the show that started it all entering its final hour (well, hour and a half, but who’s counting?). What does Star Trek: Discovery have left to say? What is it about? What is the point that this all led up to?

The answer is, perhaps, perfectly Discovery , in that it takes an occasionally awkward and tortured roundabout way to get to an idea it has long held clear in its heart: “Life, Itself” is a bizarrely paced episode of television, one that struggles to balance three plot threads set up by last week’s excellent Breen heist. The first, of course, is Michael and Moll, who have jumped into the portal to the Progenitor technology’s location in an attempt to claim its power before the other can. Then, there’s Discovery and her crew, who find themselves in unassailable odds against the Breen destroyer and its fighters, buying time for Book (and Dr. Culber, who demands to be taken along because this is the finale dammit, and he needs to have something to do) to take a shuttle to the portal and drag it into Federation possession. And then there’s Saru, who once again, feels like he has to be here because the show realized it’s the last episode of the series and one of the show’s best-explored characters should at least play a part in it—but is ostensibly here to diplomatically intervene and stop even more rival Breen forces from showing up and turning an already messy situation into all-out war.

It’s both a lot and also not a lot. Cutting between the action inside the portal, out of it, and then back in warp with Saru all just feels like Discovery milling about with time it is increasingly running out of, dragging things out because it knows this is a finale episode and there needs to be a bit of action and crisis—but its heart isn’t in it at all, it wants to get to the moment it can make its ultimate thesis. So you have to sit through Michael telling Moll they should work together to navigate the topsy-turvy geometry of the Progenitor lab, only for Michael to start a brawl between them bouncing up and down walls and through portals for what feels like 10 minutes while yelling “we don’t have to do this, we can work together!” as if she had not started the fight . You have to sit through the awkwardness of Culber trying to justify his place on the shuttle with Book, clumsily navigating his arc this season about touching on faith as a man of science, only for it to fall apart when he’s really on the shuttle to be a plot device and conveniently remember a latent Trill memory that lets Book stabilize a tractor beam. The Saru stuff, at least, is enjoyable, because Doug Jones has barely been in the season and it’s fun to see him stand up to the Breen, as a nice coda to the Federation’s strong defiance of their strongarm tactics in “Erigah” .

But it still feels like Discovery twiddling its thumbs away from the dramatic meat of this story we’ve been building up to all season: our heroes finally have found this almighty technology, capable of creating and seeding new life, a power unlike anything in Star Trek . An idea so potent, and world-changing, the franchise left it alone for decades before it dared to pick it up again here in Discovery . What does it mean to offer that power to someone? We stand on the precipice of finding out when Michael—after a brief, failed attempt by Moll to decipher one last clue—cracks the code, and finds herself face to face with a Progenitor (Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama), who reveals that the technology and the path to find it has been orchestrated by beings even beyond them, and that this test was all to find a singular person who can go even further than the Progenitors did in establishing diverse life across the known galaxy.

Can Michael Burnham be the person to do that? No, she balks, in awe of her surroundings at the heart of this beautiful, almighty cradle of creation, but also, because at last, Discovery is ready to make its final point: the point it has been making all season long. The galaxy as it stands right now doesn’t need more new life—only new, not remade, as we learn, essentially dumping Moll’s dramatic arc to the wayside—because, as the Progenitors set out to do, it is filled with diversity in infinite combinations. And it still needs work , thousands and thousands of years on, thousands and thousands of years into the process of Star Trek ’s idealistic view of the future. There cannot be more life added and seeded, because it implies what is there in the here and now has achieved the apex of harmony and peace—and it hasn’t. The problem with Star Trek ’s utopia is that, by its nature as a TV franchise written in the last nearly 60 years of human history, it is a utopia shaped by and for our contemporary lens: it’s aspirational, it’s a post-scarcity society where humanity and thousands upon thousands of species are traveling the stars together and interacting. But it’s also one made for a drama , and that drama is driven by social and personal conflict. War still exists. These ideals are still challenged and debated and fought over. The diversity and kernel of harmony in it the Progenitors hoped for, having been alone in the cosmos in their time, is here, but it has to be protected, and valued, and advanced, constantly, in order to keep it flourishing. It doesn’t just exist and the job’s done. Nothing is that perfect.

And no one person is that perfect, either, as Michael argues to the Progenitor. She followed the clue trail, sure, and yes, she believes in these ideals the Progenitors also valued: but she is one person, a flawed person at that (I mean, we did just see her start a fight with the only person who could help her get out of this giant floating portal-lab eventually, for no real reason other than she had the time to kill!). Offering the power of this life-creating arena to one person is a flawed concept, Michael argues, because people are always having to learn to be better, to strive to connect with each other, herself included. There is no reward for having achieved perfection, especially because she and the universe at large aren’t there yet. They might never be. But they have to keep working at it, and that work is worthy in and of itself without throwing almighty power at people along the way.

It’s messily set up, but it is the aspect of “Life, Itself” that really, really works. Discovery could’ve just hammered home that it has this ideal that people are better in unity, when they cross boundaries of species and circumstance to strive forward together, and left it at that. But Michael’s ultimate decision to destroy the technology—in the hope that whatever power beyond even the Progenitors could still be out there to rebuild it whenever the time comes—speaks to the idea that what Star Trek has now, in this moment, is an unyielding and unwavering progress that has to be worked on , not handwaved by deus ex machina. They can’t accept being patted on the back by the Progenitors for solving their clues all season long; they have to keep working for these ideals they cherish, that Star Trek itself cherishes: ideals that must constantly be challenged, and proved, and grown.

However, this thematic climax is achieved at the hour mark of an hour-and-a-half long episode. So somewhat ironically, Star Trek: Discovery still has to keep going, and this is where “Life, Itself” gets a bit messy. Having achieved this emotional thematic catharsis, the whole saga of the Progenitor tech is cleared up with a wild speed: Michael decides to destroy it, Stamets grumbles slightly, it’s chucked into a black hole, zip-zap-zop the entire season-long arc is over in a few minutes. The Breen fleet? Also zip-zap-zopped, almost literally, when Discovery pulls out a handwave from nowhere that it can split its saucer and body sections and use them as poles to create a spore-drive teleport for whatever’s between them , punting the Breen cruiser to the edge of the galaxy for a very, very long trip home. Moll is remanded into Federation custody, and is kind of just okay with the whole thing, even with the fact she couldn’t bring L’ak back because the dramatic thrust of the season is now over in an instant.

It gives way to something sweet, at least, and a lighter note to end the show on: Saru and T’Rina’s wedding at a lavish beachside little outpost. It ties in nicely to what Michael was saying about cherishing the good in the diverse connections we have; an inter-species wedding for a Vulcan society that traditionally looks down upon that sort of thing getting to be what Discovery goes out on is a nice symbol, as is the way it ties into Book and Michael themselves reconnecting after a season of navigating their lingering feelings for each other. The goodbye to the wider Discovery cast here is not quite so well done—just little nods at the after party, awkwardly stepping around the fact that the show replaced half of its barely explored bridge crew this season out of nowhere with similarly barely explored stand-ins—but at least there’s a nice coda for Tilly and Rayner, two standouts of the season, to get a rewarding farewell (and perhaps, even, set the stage for a Starfleet Academy appearance).

But even this is not the end, arguably as much as it should be. In a move that is perhaps perfectly indicative of Discovery ’s messy nature, this epilogue has its own epilogue, and it’s simultaneously a beautiful note to end the show on while also being delivered in as unhinged a manner as possible. We fade back in on a flash-forward: an older Michael, now an Admiral, living a semi-retired life with Book on an alien homestead, a home beyond her life in Starfleet. She’s given one last mission, with the help of her son, the newly promoted Captain Leto Burnham (Sawandi Wilson), to go take Discovery , un-retrofitted back to its original 23rd century form save for Zora the advanced intelligent computer, out to be dumped in space on a mysterious mission from Agent Kovich—who I guess we should note, in an equally wild and out-of-nowhere moment, is revealed to actually be Temporal Agent Daniels from Star Trek: Enterprise , just for explanation’s sake of what his weird deal is—with only a single word to go on: craft.

It turns out what Discovery is ending on, its final moments (well, more like final 20 minutes, somehow—again, a very weirdly paced episode!), is in fact a canonical justification for “Calypso” , the Star Trek: Short Treks minisode from 2018 that saw, thousands of years in the future, a lost soldier named Craft (played by Aldis Hodge) come across the abandoned Discovery and develop a connection to Zora. On the one hand, thematically it’s a lovely note. “Calypso,” if you don’t remember—and frankly, few people watching this finale may have even watched it at all , given that it was released six years ago , initially only in the U.S., and made difficult to find on international and home releases—was all about Zora and Craft’s connection pushing the soldier to have the hope to go back and find his family, having been saved from the doom to wander in perpetuity by coming across the abandoned Discovery . Craft was a soldier, his time, thousands of years after the events of this episode, was still one where conflict and struggle among peoples existed—the work that Michael argued was so worth it to the Progenitor, to keep defending and safeguarding Star Trek ’s utopia, was still continuing. Making her final mission, Discovery ’s final mission, be to set up the process for that to happen—even explaining away that “Calypso” found the original Discovery and not its 32nd century refit, because that minisode was shot between seasons one and two—and to keep championing this need to connect with other people, is quite touching.

But it’s also insane ! The episode, which already suffered from wild pacing even with an extended runtime, dedicates its final act to explaining the plot contrivances from a short released over half a decade prior. More time than it spent wrapping up the central plot of its entire last season! More time than it spent effectively giving most of its characters time to even say farewell! And yet, perhaps, that too is the point: there’s not really a lot of closed books here in “Life, Itself.” This 32nd century setting, these characters, these ideas—there is so much in Discovery ’s ending that is left open for other people to pick up down the line. Discovery ultimately pushed Star Trek ’s universe forward into something new: going from a prequel set before the first Star Trek to giving it a whole new era and time period that is rife with potential to explore, even if it itself didn’t always capitalize on that potential. As oddly specific its final goodbye is for one particular plot thread, it leaves so much more for the franchise to pick up on down the line.

Nobody’s perfect though, and as “Life, Itself” argues, it’s up to all of us to keep trying, to keep pushing—and for Star Trek to keep going forward, with all this potential at its hands, and maintain its lofty dream of future utopias. This one path on that journey may have come to an end, but the journey itself can keep going on forever, if only we keep trying.

Star Trek: Discovery   is available to stream now on Paramount+. 

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

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All 5 star trek aliens played by voyager’s martha hackett.

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Every Star Trek Species Played By Voyager's Tim Russ

Ds9’s defiant broke big star trek rules by having a cloaking device, i don’t think michael piller recreated his tng success with star trek: voyager season 2’s finale.

• Martha Hackett played multiple alien roles across Star Trek, including Seska, T'Rul, and Androna in different series.
• Her range includes playing a Bajoran, Cardassian spy, and Romulan, showcasing her versatility as an actress.
• Apart from her TV roles, Martha Hackett also lent her voice to Star Trek video games, expanding her contribution to the franchise.

Best known as Star Trek: Voyager 's duplicitous Seska, Martha Hackett has played members of five different alien species in the wider Star Trek franchise. Martha Hackett played a recurring role in the first two seasons of Voyager as Seska, a former lover of Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) and a thorn in the side to Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). Eventually, Martha Hackett's Seska was killed off in Voyager 's season 3 premiere, but returned as an evil hologram in "Worst Case Scenario" toward the end of that year.

Seska wasn't Martha Hackett's first role in the Star Trek universe, and nor was it her last . After leaving Star Trek: Voyager , Martha Hackett voiced characters in multiple video games, including Star Trek: Elite Force II . Also, like many of her fellow Voyager cast members , Hackett had previously appeared in another show. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine cast Martha Hackett as Sub Commander T'Rul in the two-part season 3 opener, "The Search". As well as being the role that officially introduced Martha Hackett to the Star Trek universe, it was also one of many different alien species that she played.

Best known as Voyager's Tuvok, actor Tim Russ has played members of some of Star Trek's most notable alien species in movies and TV shows.

5 Martha Hackett Played A Terellian in Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star trek: tng, season 7, episode 25, "all good things".

Technically speaking, Martha Hackett's first Star Trek role was as Androna in the Star Trek: The Next Generation finale . In a deleted scene from the TNG finale's past timeline, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the USS Enterprise-D encounter the Terellians, who believed the anti-time eruption had the power to cure the sick and the dying. Androna had a short conversation with Captain Picard, where she thanked him for protecting them from threats made by the Romulan Star Empire.

Martha Hackett was offered the role of Androna after she unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Lt. Jadzia Dax in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

Martha Hackett's scene in the Star Trek: The Next Generation finale was cut for time as it was felt that it distracted from the main cast of TNG . Martha Hackett was incredibly understanding about her scene being cut, telling The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine #7 that " the focus deserved to be on the main characters in their final story. " The six hours that Martha Hackett endured in the make-up chair to become Androna communicated to Star Trek 's producers that she could handle another role which would require a great deal of alien prosthetics.

Martha Hackett's deleted scene can be found on the Bluray release of the Star Trek: The Next Generation finale, "All Good Things".

4 Martha Hackett Played A Romulan In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Sub commander t'rul in ds9 season 3, episodes 1 and 2, "the search".

Sub Commander T'Rul (Martha Hackett) was intended to be a recurring Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character, placed in charge of the cloaking device aboard the USS Defiant. This role would have made Sub Commander T'Rul the first Romulan crew member in Star Trek . However, as production began in earnest on DS9 season 3, it was decided that there wasn't much story potential in an officer that turned the Defiant's cloaking device on and off, and so T'Rul was written out.

Martha Hackett was offered the role of Seska in Star Trek: Voyager by Kim Friedman, who directed Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3, episode 1.

T'Rul also holds the distinction of being the first Romulan to be captured by the Dominion , as she is placed in their virtual reality prison alongside Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and the crew. Collecting intelligence on the Dominion was the primary driver for the Romulan Star Empire, making an exception to the Treaty of Algeron regarding the Defiant's cloak. It's unclear what happened to T'Rul after the events of "The Search", but she presumably returned to Romulus to report on her experiences in the Gamma Quadrant.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's USS Defiant came equipped with a Romulan cloaking device, which broke a few in-universe and real-life Star Trek rules.

3 Martha Hackett Played A Bajoran In Star Trek: Voyager

Star trek: voyager, season 1, episodes 1 to 11..

Seska (Martha Hackett) was one of Star Trek: Voyager 's Maquis crew members , and made her first appearance in season 1, episode 3, "Parallax". Seska was a Bajoran who served on the Val Jean with Chakotay, B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) and Tuvok (Tim Russ). Like many of the Maquis, Seska struggled to fit in alongside Voyager's Starfleet crew , causing serious tension aboard the stranded ship. Seska even made it clear that she was willing to support any Maquis mutiny aboard Voyager, although this action was never instigated.

When she was cast, Martha Hackett was given an outline of Seska that said she was " vigilant about the beliefs of the Maquis ", something which was later turned on its head.

In Star Trek: Voyager season 1, episode 10, "Prime Factors", Seska joined a covert mission to steal spatial trajector technology behind the back of Captain Janeway. This was a watershed moment for the Maquis crew members, as Torres refused to go along with Seska's cover-up , preferring instead to come clean and try and heal the division among the crew. This didn't go down well with Seska, who would reveal her true colors in the following episode, "State of Flux", which revealed Tuvok wasn't the only spy aboard Chakotay's ship.

2 Martha Hackett Played A Cardassian in Star Trek: Voyager

Star trek: voyager season 1, episode 11, "state of flux" and beyond..

Star Trek: Voyager season 1, episode 11, "State of Flux" revealed that Seska was actually a Cardassian spy who had been genetically altered to appear Bajoran . With her secret revealed, Seska made the decision to leave the ship and ally herself with Voyager 's Kazon villains . Seska returned several times between Voyager seasons 1 and 2, as she doggedly pursued revenge against both Janeway and Chakotay. While Janeway briefly lost her ship, it was Chakotay who came off worse from his former lover's scheming and manipulation. Chakotay was physically and psychologically tortured by the Cardassian, even being led to believe that he had fathered a child.

In a reverse of what happened to Seska, Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) was a Bajoran who was genetically altered to look Cardassian in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , season 3, episode

As a Cardassian female, Seska was also able to manipulate the patriarchal Kazons, particularly First Maje Cullah (Anthony De Longis ) . In Star Trek: Voyager 's season 2 finale, "Basics", Seska and Cullah lead a hostile takeover of the USS Voyager, stranding Janeway and the crew on the barren planet of Hanon IV. Their hijacking is foiled by the Doctor (Robert Picardo) and Lon Suder (Brad Douriff), and Seska was killed in the process. Her son, a half-Cardassian, half-Kazon child, was taken by Cullah, and neither father nor son were ever seen again.

Star Trek: Voyager showrunner Michael Piller wanted to recreate a TNG success story but missed the mark in Voyager's season 2 finale episode.

1 Martha Hackett Played A Klingon In Star Trek: Klingon

Martha hackett played k'tar in the 1996 computer game..

The 1996 computer game Star Trek: Klingon had an impressive array of talent attached to it, including Star Trek: Voyager 's Martha Hackett. Subtitled " The Ultimate Interactive Adventure " it placed the player in the role of Pok, a Klingon Warrior who had to team up with Chancellor Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) to solve the murder of their father. Martha Hackett played K'Tar in the game's video sequences, which were directed by Jonathan Frakes .

The game introduces the "Klingon warrior's anthem" which was later used in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, "Soldiers of the Empire".

Martha Hackett is clearly having a ball hamming it up as a Klingon matriarch, and she's surrounded by other notable Klingon actors. J.G. Hertzler, who would go on to play Chancellor Martok in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine played Ler'at, while Michael Dorn voiced the Klingon language speaker. While it's not an official television entry in the Star Trek universe, the video sequences total an hour, and effectively play out as a new episode. It's therefore only right to honor Star Trek: Voyager 's Martha Hackett's Klingon performance in her impressive list of alien credits.

All episodes of Star Trek: Voyager are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Voyager

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The fifth entry in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Voyager, is a sci-fi series that sees the crew of the USS Voyager on a long journey back to their home after finding themselves stranded at the far ends of the Milky Way Galaxy. Led by Captain Kathryn Janeway, the series follows the crew as they embark through truly uncharted areas of space, with new species, friends, foes, and mysteries to solve as they wrestle with the politics of a crew in a situation they've never faced before. 

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.