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Nyota Uhura

• View history
• 1.1 Early life
• 1.2 Starfleet Academy
• 1.3.1 First post
• 1.3.2 Aboard the Ahriman and Potemkin
• 1.3.3 Aboard the Enterprise (NCC-1701)
• 1.3.4 Return to Earth and the second five year mission
• 1.3.5 Assignment to the Excelsior
• 1.3.6.1 Mission to the Quatrin system
• 1.4 After the Enterprise
• 1.5 Starfleet Intelligence
• 1.6.1.1 Kimara Cretak
• 1.6.1.2 Scott Heisenberg
• 1.6.1.3 Curzon Dax
• 2 Starfleet service record
• 3.1 Connections
• 3.2 External link
• 3.3 Appearances

Biography [ ]

Early life [ ].

Nyota Uhura was born in the year 2239 in the United States of Africa on Earth . ( ST reference : Star Trek Chronology )

The daughter of Alhamisi and M'Umbha Uhura , she was born in Kitui Province , Kenya . Her family's name is derived from the Swahili word Uhuru , which translates to "freedom", and her given name means "star". ( TOS episodes : " Is There in Truth No Beauty? ", " The Man Trap "; TOS novels : The Starless World , Uhura's Song ; TAS novelization : The Slaver Weapon )

As a child, Uhura lived with her parents in the coastal city of Mombasa where she was enrolled in several after-school classes, such as music and dance , swimming , gymnastics and languages . Once a year just after her birthday in January , she stayed for a month in the country with her grandparents and cousins. ( TLE novel : Catalyst of Sorrows )

At some time in her childhood, Uhura attended Public School 29 in Nairobi , where her teacher was Ms. Yemada . ( TOS novel : Vulcan's Forge )

In the summer of 2249 , at the age of 10, Uhura learned sign language from her deaf cousin, Epala , while visiting her in Koyo . ( TOS novel : The Disinherited )

Also in 2249, Uhura was a student at the Institute for Advanced Mathematics , where her roommate was a girl named T'iana . There was a fire in their dorm room and T'iana was trapped under a fallen beam, and Uhura was lit ablaze. Uhura was unable to save T'iana before succumbing to the effects of the heat and fire. For years afterwards, Uhura would have dreams about T'iana's death and Uhura's subsequent rescue by adults. The fear recurred most vividly in 2269 when Uhura was part of the Enterprise crew facing a deadly heat effect that began in the Beta Castelli star system . ( TOS novel : The Three-Minute Universe )

In 2255 , just after her 16th birthday, Uhura traditionally killed an automated lion with a spear in East Africa. ( TAS novelization : The Slaver Weapon )

Shortly before Uhura entered the Academy, her father, Alhamisi, disappeared while on a deep space mission. ( TOS novel : The Starless World )

Her parents were teachers at the University of Nairobi . They and Nyota's brother were both killed in a shuttle accident. ( SNW episode : " Children of the Comet ")

Starfleet Academy [ ]

Uhura entered Starfleet Academy in 2257 ( Star Trek Chronology ), and studied at the Starfleet College of Communications . There, she learned spatial navigation, Duotronics , and cryptography skills under Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Finney . [ citation needed ]

Cadet Uhura.

Uhura's time as a cadet crossed over with the Academy career of James T. Kirk . When the Academy campus was locked down with an accusation of misconduct by Captain Matthew Decker , Uhura agreed to break curfew with Kirk and a group of other cadets to investigate the problem. They discovered that Decker's accusation was false, and had been planted in the computer as a test to see how the cadets would perform under pressure. Decker later congratulated the class for working together to prove their innocence, without fighting amongst themselves. ( TOS comic : " Starfleet Academy! ")

Cadet Uhura's roommate at the Academy was an Orion girl. The Orion girl's attitude did not impress Uhura, who later said the Orion was "full of it". Uhura remembered this quality of Orion women when she was involved in a fight with the Orion Emerald Empress in an alternate reality . ( TOS - Legion of Super-Heroes comic : " Issue 3 ")

Uhura's dear friend Trent Ojuremi failed to enter the Academy, and Uhura lost contact with him by her second year. However, she subconsciously retained her strong affections for him, which in 2266 were sensed by the M-113 creature . It thus took on a telepathic form of him and communicated in Swahili, telling her that it could feel her missing his presence. ( TOS novel : Across the Universe ; TOS episode : " The Man Trap ")

In 2259 , Uhura won the Jovian Triathlon . ( TOS novel : Assignment: Eternity )

She graduated from the academy in 2261 . ( ST website  : StarTrek.com )

Starfleet career [ ]

First post [ ].

Uhura's first command was at a location called Two Dawns . Here she met a Junior Diplomat from Eeiauo named Sunfall of Ennien . ( TOS novel : Uhura's Song )

Aboard the Ahriman and Potemkin [ ]

Uhura graduated from the Academy in 2261 and was assigned to the Saladin -class destroyer , USS Ahriman , as junior communications officer. While on a mission to Wynet V later that year, the Ahriman s commanding officer was killed. Shortly after, Uhura was promoted to lieutenant junior grade . ( TOS novel : The Tears of the Singers )

Shortly after, Lieutenant Uhura transferred to the Constitution -class USS Potemkin as junior communications officer. ( ST video game : Star Trek: Starship Creator )

Aboard the Enterprise (NCC-1701) [ ]

Uhura transferred aboard the USS Enterprise in 2262 as Chief Communications Officer, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike . Like the rest of the Enterprise crew at that time, she developed fierce loyalty for Captain Pike. So, when James T. Kirk assumed command in 2264 , she was unsure about the young captain. A skilled singer, she sometimes performed music and improv with Lieutenant j.g. Spock (a skilled lyre player) on the crew rec deck. Six years later, in 2270 , Lieutenant Arex , a harpist, joined. One of Uhura's favorite songs was "The Moon's a Window to Heaven". ( TOS novel : Enterprise: The First Adventure , TAS episode : " The Practical Joker ", TOS movie : Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , TOS episode : " Charlie X "; WizKids module : Attack Wing )

Nevertheless, Uhura's first conversation with Kirk saw him praise her father and express regret over his loss, thus earning Uhura's respect. ( TOS novel : The Starless World )

According to the elder Spock in TOS novelization : Star Trek , "In both our histories the same crew found its way onto the same ship in a time of ultimate crisis." This may imply that there is an untold story set in the prime timeline in which Kirk's crew faced an extremely serious challenge while still a new and untested unit.

Following the three-month voyage around the Federation Phalanx in 2264, Uhura was temporarily re-assigned, leaving Lt. Commander Daniel Alden to assume her former post. She returned to the Enterprise in 2265 when Alden transferred off the ship. This period just before the exchange of duties saw her relationship with Kabaka Buganda . ( TOS novel : Enterprise , TOS comic : " The D'Artagnan Three ")

In her first assignment back aboard the Enterprise , Uhura commandeered a shuttlecraft so that she could rescue Captain Kirk and a landing party from a group of Klingons that had captured them. It was around this occasion her department colors switched from gold to red. ( TOS comic : " Uhura's Story ") Uhura also helped adjust the Universal translator during the initial First contact with the Archernarians of Archernar IV just before she, Capts. Kirk, Cassady , and an away team appeared before them. ( TOS comic : " Mission's End, Issue 1 ")

Shortly after the Enterprise 's first encounter with Harcourt Fenton Mudd , Uhura went to Captain Kirk and requested to be reassigned from the command division to the engineering and services division. Kirk was not happy with this decision and grilled her about throwing away her command abilities and leadership potential, however, despite his disappointment, he approved her transfer. ( TOS novel : The Fire and the Rose )

Later that year, following the Romulan attack on the Neutral Zone outposts, she was promoted to full Lieutenant , after she deciphered the Romulan micropulse code . ( TOS novelization : Balance of Terror )

The start of 2267 marked Uhura's stint on Enterprise with being complimented as a Nubian (of ancient Egypt ) by the Q called Trelane . ( TOS episode : " The Squire of Gothos ") Weeks afterwards, she was temporarily re-assigned to the USS Lexington , under the command of Commodore Robert Wesley , to aid with communications with an alien race from the Gamma Xaridian system . ( TOS novel : The Disinherited )

Later on in 2267, Uhura was reunited with Trent Ojuremi on the planet Merope IV , when the Enterprise transported survivors from the Stephen Hawking to the planet. ( TOS novel : Across the Universe ) Towards the end of this year, Uhura's memory was erased, by the Nomad / Tan-Ru probe. A natural fast learner, she was re-educated from her mother-tongue of Bantu Swahili back to English . ( TOS episode : " The Changeling ")

In 2268 , Uhura was instrumental in finding a cure for the ADF syndrome that had struck the planet Eeiauo . Remembering songs that she and an Eeiauoan friend sang at the Academy, she directed the Enterprise to the planet Sivao , which was the long-forgotten homeworld of the Eeiauoans. ( TOS novel : Uhura's Song )

The culmination of her trust and respect for Kirk over the past half decade surfaced when she admitted to him how the sound of his voice calmed her in times of shipboard crisis. ( TOS episode : " Plato's Stepchildren ", TOS novel : Ex Machina ) Though it was never made public, the two may have shared a relationship on the border between professional and intimate. An example of this is when Kirk was quick to defend her, while she was assaulted by a thrall on Triskelion . ( TOS episode : " The Gamesters of Triskelion ") One of her lesser-known (and quite embarrassing) moments was her inadvertently seeing Kirk's "birthday suit". This happened, of course, while she made a special errand to Kirk's quarters on March 22nd. ( TOS short story : " Surprise! ")

Uhura finally got a shot at command in 2269 . After all of the male Enterprise crewmembers were lured down to Taurus II by the enchanting women on the planet, Uhura was forced to assume command. ( TAS novelization : The Lorelei Signal ) She assumed command once again during the ship's conflict with the Crusaders on Ephrata IV when Kirk, Spock and Sulu were trapped on the planet and Scotty was seriously injured in an attack, leaving Uhura the highest-ranking bridge officer. Despite her initial fears, Uhura not only won a game of 'chicken' with Crusader Sokis when he threatened to use a gravity beam to make the Enterprise crash into the planet (Correctly deducing that Sokis needed Enterprise too much to actually destroy it), but was able to devise a plan to defeat the Crusaders' brainwashing. ( TOS novel : The Weight of Worlds )

Return to Earth and the second five year mission [ ]

When the Enterprise returned to Earth in 2270 , following the completion of the five-year mission , Uhura took a post at Starfleet Academy teaching special communications. ( TOS novels : The Lost Years , Traitor Winds )

In 2271 , Uhura was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and re-assigned to the newly-refitted Enterprise as chief communications officer. She also used an updated version of linguacode , first ciphered by Hoshi Sato , in the 22nd Century. ( TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : The Motion Picture , ST website  : StarTrek.com )

Uhura was assigned to cadet training and Starfleet Command Communications in 2277 . ( ST website  : StarTrek.com )

In 2285 , Uhura was promoted to full Commander . Later that same year, she received much criticism for choosing a posting at Earth spacedock 's transporter room and communication ops. Her eager assistant, " Mr. Adventure " was one to question her choice, which had appealed to her desire for more "peace and quiet" after the recent events of the Genesis affair. This may have been her first calling to covert operations, as this was all a stage to grant Admiral Kirk's party safe passage back to the de-commissioned Enterprise . She later made rendezvous with them on Vulcan , having used the transporter system to travel to the Vulcan Embassy on Earth. At the behest of Ambassador Sarek , they were all granted clemency and asylum from Starfleet jurisdiction for rescuing his son Spock from a non-sanctioned Klingon incursion to the Genesis planet, a galactic controversy of its time. ( ST website  : StarTrek.com , TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : The Search for Spock )

Assignment to the Excelsior [ ]

Following the destruction of the Enterprise in 2285 , Captain Kirk and the command staff are reassigned to the USS Excelsior , Uhura joins them and is assigned as Chief Communications Officer. ( TOS comic : " Masquerade! ")

Shortly after, Uhura accompanies Sulu and Lt. William Bearclaw to investigate the smuggling of dilithium crystals . The party discovered that the smugglers were also slavers, and managed to engineer the smugglers capture. ( TOS comic : " The D'Artagnan Three ")

Assignment to the Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) [ ]

Following the Cetacean Probe crisis on 2286 , Commander Uhura was assigned to the newly-launched USS Enterprise -A . ( TOS novelization : Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

Later that year, Uhura joined with the renegade Vulcan Sybok , when he took over the Enterprise and used the ship to penetrate the Great Barrier , to find the legendary planet Sha Ka Ree . It was at this time she confessed her affections toward Montgomery Scott , while the two were alone. Even though her emotions were uninhibited on this occasion, he kept composed and decided to maintain a Platonic relationship. Scott, however, had told her she was one of the most understanding women (besides Enterprise ) he had known. ( TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : The Final Frontier )

Mission to the Quatrin system [ ]

In 2287 , while on shore leave in the Quatrain system , Uhura and Sulu witnessed a multiple murder. Fortunately, one of the victims survived and was beamed aboard the Enterprise for treatment. The Quatrain security agency began to investigate the murders and insisted that Uhura and Sulu appear before a board of inquiry to give evidence.

Meanwhile, the Quatrain security director learned that the survivor identified one of his men as the murderer to Captain Kirk, and ordered his second-in-command to kill Uhura and Sulu before they could beam back to the Enterprise . Sulu managed to stop the killer, but was wounded in the attempt, and Uhura managed to steal a shuttlecraft and headed to the nearby ice planet, Beta , with Sulu.

After arriving on Beta, Uhura headed off to find medical help for Sulu, and encountered a group of Betan rebels who lent assistance and treated Sulu, in exchange for Uhura's help with their communications equipment. At the Betan encampment, Uhura was captured by the security forces, but managed to get a message to the Enterprise and Commander Chekov and a security team rescued her. ( TOS comics : " Veritas ", " Sacrifices and Survivors ", " Danger...On Ice ", " Cold Comfort ")

After the Enterprise [ ]

Following the Praxis incident in 2293 , Uhura once again began teaching at Starfleet Academy. A few months later Uhura joined Captain Spock and Dr. McCoy on a diplomatic mission to Qo'noS to improve relations, and began working with Klingon musicians and singers to exchange musical ideas and theories. ( TOS novel : The Last Roundup )

Also in 2293 , Uhura left Starfleet and became the Senior Vice President in charge of Procurement and Delivery for Inter-Galactic Systems . She was happily stationed somewhere between Earth and Mars when James T. Kirk enlisted her to help save Hikaru Sulu . She had no future intention of re-joining Starfleet . She even went so far as to state that the only reason she joined the rescue party was out of loyalty to James T. Kirk . ( TOS novel : The Fearful Summons )

In 2294 , Captain Spock assumed command of the Oberth -class USS Intrepid II , and Commander Uhura came aboard as first officer , for the ship's shakedown cruise. Following the diversion to the planet Obsidian , Spock resigned his Starfleet commission, and Uhura was promoted to captain and given command of the Intrepid II . ( TOS novel : Vulcan's Forge )

At some point afterwards that year, Uhura tracked down her former crewmate, Montgomery Scott, and asked him gently to move on with life and quit blaming himself following the loss of Captain Kirk, and expressed her condolences and her regret at being unable to make it to the memorial. ( ST novel : Engines of Destiny )

In the early 24th century , Uhura commanded the USS Leondegrance . ( PIC episodes : " Remembrance ", " The Star Gazer ", DS9 novel : The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko )

By the 2300s , Captain Uhura was in command of the USS Hermes , and in 2310 , the Hermes took aboard Doctors Gillian Taylor and Carol Marcus , who planned to test an experimental Genesis Device on the planet Pacifica . However, Marcus and Taylor encountered intelligent life in Pacifica's ocean and the plan was abandoned. ( TOS short story : " The Hero of My Own Life ")

Starfleet Intelligence [ ]

Admiral Uhura.

Uhura was first approached by operatives of Starfleet Intelligence on Khitomer following the attempted assassination of Federation President Ra-ghoratreii in 2293 . They offered her a spot in S.I., which Uhura accepted.

For the rest of her Starship career, even when she commanded the Hermes , she was passing on things that she heard on to Starfleet Intelligence. She never spied on Starfleet personnel, only passing on information that she heard on the subspace frequencies. ( TLE novel : Catalyst of Sorrows )

In the years that followed Uhura gradually made her way up the chain of command at Starfleet Intelligence, eventually making her way to the top of the department. She maintained the rank of captain, in part to retain a low profile, but had security clearances higher than some admirals.

In the year 2343 , Captain Uhura traveled to Starbase 47 in the midst of the Betreka Nebula Incident to personally assign operative Elias Vaughn to assess the situation on Raknal IV . ( TLE novel : The Art of the Impossible )

In 2344 , Uhura made an unofficial request to Commander Saavik of the USS Armstrong to travel to Romulus and bring back Spock , who had answered a summons sent by a Romulan officer named Charvanek . ( TOS novel : Vulcan's Heart )

In 2360 , Admiral Uhura sent a team that included Lieutenants Benjamin Sisko , Selar and Tuvok on a covert mission behind the borders of the Romulan Star Empire to gather intelligence on the virulent disease called the gnawing that had been afflicting the Empire. ( TLE novel : Catalyst of Sorrows )

Admiral Uhura remained working in Starfleet Intelligence throughout the Dominion War and the Watraii affair of 2377 . As of 2377, she is 138 years old. ( TOS novels : Exodus , Exiles )

Personal life [ ]

In 2360 , Uhura lived alone in a house built into a hillside overlooking the Muir Woods in California on Earth . ( TLE novel : Catalyst of Sorrows )

Friendships and relationships [ ]

Kimara cretak [ ].

Uhura met Kimara Cretak at the Khitomer Conference in 2293 when the Romulan was serving as an aide to Senator Pardek . Although they never met face-to-face again, they kept in touch via specially coded subspace signals . ( TLE novel : Catalyst of Sorrows )

Scott Heisenberg [ ]

Lieutenant junior grade Scott Heisenberg was unceremoniously locked in a closet at phaser-point in the Old City Station transporter room by Uhura in 2285 . Months later in 2286 , Uhura ran into Heisenberg at Starfleet Headquarters where he admitted to her that it wasn't the phaser she'd pointed at him that scared him, but rather the look she gave him after he called her a "space veteran" and remarked that "her career was winding down". Despite this rather rocky start, the two became friends and Heisenberg ended up working for Uhura in Starfleet Intelligence . ( TLE novel : Catalyst of Sorrows )

Curzon Dax [ ]

By 2360 , Uhura and Curzon Dax were very good friends. In fact, Curzon wanted a little more than just friendship and actively flirted with Uhura, mostly to no avail. ( TLE novel : Catalyst of Sorrows )

When Nero and Ambassador Spock were sent back to the 23rd century , causing what was called the Kelvin timeline after Nero's assault of the USS Kelvin , a photo of Uhura and Spock's crewmates aboard the USS Enterprise -A was among the personal effects bequeathed to the alternate Spock after Ambassador Spock passed away in the year 2263 . ( TOS movie : Beyond )

In stories by Benny Russell , Uhura was a character created by Russell. ( DS9 short story : " The Dreamer and the Dream ")

Starfleet service record [ ]

• Personal log , Nyota Uhura

Appendices [ ]

Connections [ ], external link [ ].

• Nyota Uhura article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .

Appearances [ ]

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Admiral Nyota Uhura

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Admiral Nyota Uhura is a refined, elegant lady of Terran African ancestry, who is one of the most respected and recognized officers in all of Starfleet. She is the Director of Starfleet Intelligence, second most senior officer at Starfleet Command, which means that she is answerable only to the President and the Federation Council. Uhura has one daughter, Lieutenant Paa Uhura (Paa means "Panther" in ancient Swahili.)

Uhura was born in Johannesburg, United States of Africa, on December 28, 2240. She attended Starfleet Academy when she was just 17, and graduated with honors, fourth in her class, with the rank of lieutenant j.g. Uhura was immediately retained to teach Communications, languages, and anthropology at the Academy, and worked at Starfleet Command as a translator for the first few years of her career. Then in 2264, she served on the USS Enterprise NCC - 1701 , the Federation's Flagship, under command of Captain James Tiberius Kirk; indeed, Kirk had to pull strings to get Uhura assigned as his Communications Chief.  Uhura served at her post for the next 27 years, on the Enterprise 1701 and 1701-A, until the "A" was decommissioned years later, and put into a museum orbiting Earth in 2291.  Unwilling to retire, Commander Uhura returned to a professorship at Starfleet Academy, teaching Languages and Communications.  She was at this post barely two weeks, when we was approached by Starfleet Intelligence, to serve as an expert in decryption, communications, and traffic analysis.  When the Director retired 9 years later, in 2299, Uhura was his only choice to replace him, in a recommendation to the President; Captain and later, Admiral Uhura has remained at this esteemed post in Starfleet Command ever since.  

In 2340, the Starship Enterprise-C , and Admiral Leonard McCoy, discovered some alien medical equipment on a dead world orbiting a burned-out Red Giant. Uhura was suffering from advanced stages of Antarian encephalitis, and McCoy cloned her a new, youthful body, then transferred her consciousness (or soul) into it. Thus, Nyota Uhura is technically one of the youngest senior admirals serving at Starfleet Command. The admiral has dyed her hair gray and had a few cosmetic "crows feet" put into her face with a dermal

regenerator, so as not to arouse suspicion. If anyone is foolish enough to physically confront the admiral, however, they are in for a swinging shock: she can handle herself quite expertly, and Uhura is a blackbelt in several martial arts.

Among the many officers who currently work for Uhura (or have worked for her in the past) are: Commander Elias Vaughn, Commander Benjamin Sisko , Lt. Cmdr. Data , Captain Jean-Luc Picard , Dr. Julian Bashir , and Dr. Jaryd Harker .

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Nyota Uhura

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Lieutenant Nyota Uhura is a Human Starfleet officer assigned to the U.S.S. Enterprise .

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Star Trek Ranks, Explained

Though primarily peaceful, Starfleet follows a quasi-military protocol, which means a chain of command that ensures all runs smoothly.

Starting with the original series, Star Trek has adopted a quasi-military series of ranks and protocols for its characters. Starfleet is ostensibly a peaceful organization dedicated to exploration and diplomacy, but things can get dangerous on the final frontier. A functioning chain of command is necessary in the event of trouble to ensure that everyone operates at peak efficiency.

It's a bit of a paradox, since Starfleet officers also tend to be rugged individualists, but it makes a good deal of sense and over time has become an indispensable part of the franchise. A given character's rank speaks volumes about their comparative age, their position onboard, and their relationship with the other members of the crew. As with most things Star Trek, rank insignia has evolved over time. Here's a breakdown of Starfleet's ranking system in descending order from the lowliest cadets to the most powerful admirals.

Updated January 18, 2024 by Robert Vaux: Star Trek's ranking system is very stable at this point, and very little tends to change. The article has been updated to include a brief list of prominent members of each rank, along with the series and seasons they held it. It has also been updated to conform to current CBR guidelines.

9 Cadets Are Officers in Training at Starfleet Academy

Star trek: voyager actor weighs in on controversial tuvix debate.

Cadets are typically students at Starfleet Academy , spending time onboard a starship as part of their training. They hold no rank and must obey the orders of any crewmen. They're often issued temporary badges or communicators and usually have a supervisory officer to watch over them. Cadets in the 23rd century wear badges with a distinctive black backing. Cadets in the 24th century wear distinctive uniforms denoting their status.

In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the Enterprise is used as a training vessel, with the crew consisting almost entirely of cadets. Wesley Crusher formally joins Starfleet Academy starting in Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Episode 9, "Final Mission," and spends most of his subsequent appearances at that rank. Similarly, Nyota Uhura joins the Enterprise as a cadet in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, as does Sylvia Tilly in Star Trek: Discovery.

8 Enlisted Personnel/NCO Are Starfleet's Worker Bees

While officers attend Starfleet Academy, the rank-and-file personnel attend the 24th-century equivalent of boot camp. They become the anonymous crew working in the background, performing the countless tiny tasks required to keep a starship running. Their ranks include both enlisted crewmen and petty officers (the equivalent of sergeants) who often play supervisory roles. They typically lack any insignia on their uniforms, though chief petty officers in the Next Generation era sometimes have a black pip or similar marking.

Enlisted personnel often serve as The Original Series ' infamous red shirts : doomed to die in the name of plot exposition. The Next Generation introduces perhaps Starfleet's best-known enlisted man. Miles O'Brien runs the transporters on the Enterprise-D, and later becomes Chief of Operations on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

7 Ensigns Hold The Lowest Rank

Every star trek series, ranked.

Ensigns are the lowest-ranking officers on Starfleet vessels. Cadets typically receive the rank of ensign immediately upon graduation from Starfleet Academy. While they technically have command authority, they're usually assigned menial tasks beneath the attention of the senior officers. Like NCOs, they lack insignia on their uniforms in The Original Series era. With The Next Generation and later series, ensigns receive a single gold pip on their collar. They're often lumped into the red shirt category.

Harry Kim is probably the franchise's most famous (or infamous) ensign, failing to receive a single promotion through Star Trek: Voyager's seven seasons , despite serving with distinction on the bridge. The Original Series' Pavel Chekov also begins his Starfleet career as an ensign, though he advances at a faster rate. Of course, the four main characters in Star Trek: Lower Decks are ensigns, though they all receive a promotion to lieutenant, junior grade at the beginning of Season 4.

6 Lieutenant, Junior Grade Have More Responsibility Than Ensigns

The next step up the ladder is lieutenant, junior grade. These are officers with more authority and responsibility than ensigns, but who still require seasoning before taking higher command positions. Medical personnel typically receive the lieutenant, junior grade rank after graduating, which reflects their extended training time. The Original Series uses a single dashed bar on the uniform sleeves to denote them, though Strange New Worlds has retconned that with a connected colored bar. T he Next Generation and later series note the rank with a second black pip in addition to the ensign's colored pip.

Both Julian Bashir and Ezri Dax hold the rank of lieutenant, junior grade when they begin their duties on Deep Space 9, though Ezri receives hers as a field promotion in Season 7, Episode 3, "Afterimage." Geordi La Forge starts as a lieutenant, junior grade too, as does Mr. Worf. B'Elanna Torres receives the rank on a provisional basis when she joins the crew of the Voyager, and the Lower Decks crew are all promoted to lieutenant, junior grade in Season 4, Episode 1, "Twovix."

5 Lieutenants Lead the Away Teams and More

Did star trek (2009) incorporate a story from a canceled original series movie.

Lieutenants have advanced to the point where they can take on considerable responsibilities. They may lead away teams or control key systems, and they often appear among the bridge crew or even as department heads. The Original Series notes them with a single bar on the uniform sleeve, while Strange New Worlds adds a second thinner bar above the lieutenant, junior grade's insignia. The Next Generation uses two colored pips on the collar — a method emulated by subsequent series.

Worf spends most of The Next Generation's later seasons as a lieutenant (he's promoted to lieutenant commander during the events of Star Trek Generations ) while Ro Laren is promoted to lieutenant shortly before her defection to the Maquis in The Next Generation Season 7, Episode 24, "Preemptive Strike." Lieutenants often occupy the helm position, including Hikaru Sulu in The Original Series, Keyla Detmer in Star Trek: Discovery , and Erica Ortegas in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .

4 Lieutenant Commanders Head up Departments

Lieutenant commanders hold positions of senior responsibility onboard a starship, even serving as executive officers or de facto captains on small ships. One larger ships, they often serve as the head of specific departments such as science and engineering. In The Original Series , the rank is designated with two stripes on the sleeve — one thick, one dashed — which Strange New Worlds adjusts to two thick colored bands. The Next Generation and subsequent shows note lieutenant commanders with two colored pips and one black one.

Montgomery Scott holds the rank of lieutenant commander in The Original Series , acting as Chief Engineer and even commanding the Enterprise when Kirk and Spock are away on missions. Similarly, Geordi La Forge rises to the rank of lieutenant commander in The Next Generation , joining Data and Deanna Troi at the position, though the latter eventually advances to commander. Worf and Jadzia Dax are both lieutenant commanders when they begin their romance on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Lastly, the original Number One — Una Chin-Riley on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — is a lieutenant commander.

3 Commanders Aid and Can Take Over the Captain's Dutires

After star trek: discovery, the 32nd century should be the franchise's new frontier.

Commanders are usually the ship's executive officers, "Number Ones," who assist the captain in their duties and step up in the event the captain is incapacitated. Commanders are often viewed as captains in training, and ultimately destined for a ship of their own in the future. In some cases, commanders are the head authority on smaller ships or space stations. Chief medical officers often hold this position as well. They're delineated by two thick bands on their sleeves in The Original Series era and three colored pips on the collar in The Next Generation and later.

Mr. Spock holds the rank of commander during the events of The Original Series , serving double duty as chief science officer as well. He's been followed by the likes of William Riker on The Next Generation and Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Picard . In addition, Beverly Crusher and Leonard McCoy both hold the rank of commander, while Deanna Tori is promoted to commander in Season 7, Episode 16, "Thine Own Self." Ben Sisko also begins his tenure on Deep Space 9 as a commander before being promoted to full captain at the end of Season 3.

2 Captains Command Starfleet's Various Starships

The captain serves as the commander of a starship, with the entire crew ranked beneath them. This affords them a great deal of autonomy, but also equal amounts of responsibility. Starships must often face dangers alone in the far depths of space. It falls to the captain to make the final call when lives are at stake. Occasionally, captains can be found in other duties, such as commanding a star base or holds an administrative position on Earth. Captains are delineated by three stripes on their sleeves in the Original Series era — two thick, one dashed — which Strange New Worlds slightly alters to a single thin band sandwiched between two thicker ones. The Next Generation era uses four full pips on the collar.

Most Star Trek series use a captain as the main character, starting with James T. Kirk in The Original Series . Their ranks include Jean-Luc Picard, Kathryn Janeway, Christopher Pike, and Carol Freeman. In addition, many lower-ranking characters eventually attain the captain's chair, such as Will Riker, Tuvok, and Mr. Spock. Both Ben Sisko and Michael Burnham become captain after several seasons of climbing the ranks, a change from most Star Trek series which tend to begin with their captains in place.

1 Admirals Possess The Greatest Rank and Come to Represent Starfleet Itself

Gene roddenberry created star trek, but who is the woman behind the franchise.

Admirals are Starfleet's major movers and shakers, placed in charge of entire fleets or overseeing vital operations. As flag officers, they no longer serve onboard starships, though they can claim command of one if circumstances dictate. James T. Kirk takes control of the Enterprise as an Admiral in both Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , while both Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Prodigy and Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard are the authority on their respective vessels.

In addition to giving successful captains a cushy desk job, Star Trek often uses admirals as stand-ins for Starfleet itself: either aiding the crew in their endeavors or standing in their way when they go against protocol. They're delineated by a wide variety of methods, and hold varying ranks within the admiralty, such as Vice Admiral and Commodore, that shift from project to project.

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.

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Jonathan Frakes Teases His Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode

Colin & penelope's first kiss fixes a major problem with the bridgerton books, reba mcentire’s new sitcom sounds like a replacement for ashton kutcher’s 8-year-old western show.

One of the great strengths of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is the way that it adds further depth to characters from Star Trek: The Original Series like Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols.) Celia Rose Gooding plays a younger version of Uhura in Strange New Worlds , and her Cadet Uhura has received more character development than her predecessor in season 1. Despite the positive representation of a young Black woman aboard the Starship Enterprise, Uhura as a character often had very little to do in TOS , to Nichelle Nichols' disappointment.

Famously, Dr. Martin Luther King convinced Nichelle Nichols to stay on Star Trek because she was such a positive role model for Black people, especially girls. In the years following Star Trek , Nichelle Nichols went on to work with NASA to increase the diversity of the institution's prospective astronauts. In fact, the real-life story of Nichelle Nichols was often much more interesting and exciting than that of Nyota Uhura in Star Trek, an oversight that Strange New Worlds is finally fixing.

RELATED: Strange New Worlds Made Spock & Uhura Close Without Abrams' Mistake

5 Uhura's Family Were Killed In A Shuttle Accident

Strange New Worlds gave viewers more detail on Uhura's upbringing in Kenya prior to her joining Starfleet Academy. It's revealed in Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 2, "Children of the Comet" that the future Enterprise Communications Officer had a gift for alien languages and Uhura intended to study xenolingistics at the University of Nairobi. However, her plans were tragically changed by a tragic shuttle accident that caused the deaths of her parents and her brother. As her parents were teachers at the university, Uhura felt it would be too painful to follow her original plans.

4 Uhura's Grandmother Was A Starfleet Officer

As Uhura's grandmother was a former Starfleet Officer, it was her tales of her time in Starfleet that eventually inspired Nyota to follow in her footsteps into Starfleet. This is only mentioned in passing, so it's currently unclear on which starship Uhura's grandmother served aboard. It's possible that the Uhura family's history in Starfleet will be explored in more detail in future episodes of Strange New Worlds .

The decision to follow in her grandmother's footsteps didn't immediately solve Uhura's inner conflict. Although she had made it through Star Trek 's Starfleet Academy to the point that she was assigned to the Enterprise as a cadet, Uhura still had reservations. Mirroring Nichelle Nichols' own doubts about staying in Star Trek , Uhura's SNW arc explored whether Starfleet was the right decision for the young cadet.

RELATED: Every Way Strange New Worlds Has Already Changed TOS

3 Uhura Previously Served Aboard Another Ship

In Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 4, "Memento Mori" is set during Remembrance Day, when it's a Starfleet custom for officers to wear a pin that bears the name and insignia of a past ship on which they'd served and lost comrades. Uhura wore a badge that commemorates the USS Gallant, revealing that she served aboard the ship in some capacity. It's unclear exactly what happened to Uhura's comrades on the Gallant, but her assertion that her life has never been in danger in "Children of the Comet" suggests the tragedy happened after her assignment. However, the deaths of fellow Starfleet Officers so early in her career was a contributing factor to Uhura's doubts about her commitment to Starfleet .

2 Uhura Considered Leaving Starfleet

Uhura would be a loyal bridge officer right up until the Enterprise crew's final adventure in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . However, Strange New Worlds revealed that at the start of her time on the Enterprise, she considered abandoning her burgeoning Starfleet career. Uhura and Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) had a conversation about her doubts during "Children of the Comet" where Spock delivered some decidedly Vulcan words of encouragement.

Spock's pep talk worked at the moment, inspiring Uhura to solve the mystery of the comet's harmonic communications. As a result, Uhura saved Spock, the rest of the away team, and the population of the planet that found itself in the destructive path of the comet. However, Uhura still had her doubts about her place in Starfleet, despite Spock's assertion that they would be very lucky to have her as an officer.

1 Uhura Was Mentored By Hemmer

Although Spock and Lt. La'an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong) had words of encouragement for Cadet Uhura, it was Chief Engineer Hemmer (Bruce Horak) who made impacted the young Uhura the most. Uhura rotated various departments on the Enterprise, including Engineering. Uhura initially struggled to bond with the sarcastic Hemmer, a blind Aenar with an odd sense of humor . However, Hemmer and Uhura quickly bonded under the immense strain of the attack by Gorn ships. Uhura saw aspects of her late father in Hemmer, and she was drawn to the Aenar's alternative way of viewing the universe. Most notably his belief in finding the purpose of one's life.

RELATED: Strange New Worlds Has A Secret Kirk & Nurse Chapel Connection

Hemmer's purpose was " fixing what was once broken " but Uhura was unable to provide an answer as to her own path in life. When Hemmer tragically died in an encounter with Gorn hatchlings, Uhura finally made the decision to remain in Starfleet in his honor, thus sealing her Star Trek: The Original Series destiny. In a eulogy for Hemmer, Uhura acknowledged that, in convincing her of where her life's purpose lay, he had succeeded in fulfilling his own purpose - fixing what was once broken. It was an affecting resolution to Uhura's season 1 arc that showed how Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been able to re-imagine familiar Trek characters while still honoring the original interpretations.

NEXT: Strange New Worlds Broke Canon Better Than Discovery & Picard

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022)
• Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)

Who Plays Nyota Uhura On Star Trek: Strange New Worlds?

In the "Star Trek" timeline, few space-faring females stand quite as tall as Nyota Uhura . The Kenyan-born communications officer is one of the series' most iconic characters and one of the best examples of how "Star Trek" shattered the social norms of its time. When the original series aired in the late 1960s, TV audiences were not entirely used to seeing Black women portrayed with as much competence and skill as Uhura (originally played by Nichelle Nichols). The character is a genius, a prodigy of languages, a high-ranking Federation officer and ship commander, and one-half of one of the first interracial kisses to ever air on television (via CNN ).

That legacy remains strong even now, over half a century after Uhura and "Star Trek" initially debuted. Thanks to "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," which tells the story of the USS Enterprise crew before James T. Kirk (William Shatner) took command, a whole new generation is being introduced to Uhura. More specifically, they're being introduced to Uhura as portrayed by actor Celia Rose Gooding. While this is the first time that many "Star Trek" fans have been introduced to Gooding, "Strange New Worlds" is far from her only influential role.

Celia Rose Gooding is an award-winning thespian

If you haven't heard of Celia Rose Gooding before now, then we won't blame you. She hasn't been acting quite as long as others. However, Gooding has accomplished quite a lot, possibly because the talent is in her blood. Her mother is Tony Award-winning actor LaChanze, who identified Gooding's talent from a very young age (via Playbill ). As a child, Gooding grew up seeing her mother succeed in theater, even helping her as a reader for auditions at times. This, in no small way, prepared Gooding for her own theater career, where she has made swift progress.

Aside from "Strange New Worlds," Gooding is likely best known for her role in the Broadway play "Jagged Little Pill," where she plays Frankie Healy, the adopted Black bisexual daughter of a white family. In 2021, "Jagged Little Pill" won a Grammy for best musical theater album (via IMDb ), making it Gooding's first award as a professional actor. That's a strong start if ever there was one.

Now that this star has made a trek over to the strange new world of television, however, we look forward to seeing what Celia Rose Gooding can accomplish when she's offstage and on-screen. Who knows? She just might win an Emmy as her second award.

Strange New Worlds is finally fixing the most neglected character in Star Trek canon

Uhura was a super talented linguist in The Original Series . But now, her skills will finally be showcased.

Uhura is the MVP of the classic Enterprise. But, in the 1960s Star Trek: The Original Series, you might not have known. Although Nichelle Nichols’ character created a pioneering moment for Black representation on mainstream TV, she was often frustrated that Uhura’s role wasn’t bigger. Now, in a new clip from Strange New Worlds , Celia Rose Gooding’s new Uhura is here to set the record straight.

Uhura’s origin story revealed

In a newly released clip from Paramount+ , we learn that Strange New Worlds will tell the origin story of Nyota Uhura. While it’s true we saw Zoe Saldaña’s Uhura at the beginning of her career in the 2009 Star Trek reboot, that version of the character is technically from the alternate Kelvin Universe. Celia Rose Gooding’s Uhura is from the Prime Universe, meaning Strange New Worlds is showing us what led to Uhura’s role in TOS .

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE TIME-TRAVEL MOVIE? Click here to help us rank all the ones on Netflix .

And, in giving us her backstory, the character is finally getting the well-rounded skillset she deserves.

Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek: The Original Series.

How TOS short-changed Uhura

As revealed in the documentary Woman In Motion (as well as her memoir, Beyond Uhura ) Nichelle Nichols got pretty sick of saying “hailing frequencies open” over and over again on the classic Star Trek . Although Roddenberry had imagined her character as the lead linguist and communications officer on the Enterprise , most of that canon exists offscreen. Like George Takei, Walter Koenig, and James Doohan, Nichols was essentially a supporting cast member. And after seeing the various changes made as scripts were developed, Nichols often felt short-changed. In William Shatner’s memoir, Star Trek Memories , she said :

“I’d get the first draft, the white pages, and see what Uhura had to do this week, and maybe it was a halfway-decent scene or two, sometimes more, and then invariably the next draft would come in on blue pages and I’d find that Uhura’s presence in the show had been cut way down...it finally got to the point where I had really had it. I mean, I just decided that I don’t even need to read the f**king script! I mean I know how to say, ‘hailing frequencies open.’”

The J.J. Abrams films did a bit to try and build up Uhura’s actual presence as part of the crew, but in three movies of that continuity, there was only so much space for Saldaña’s Uhura.

Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) sets Captain Pike straight about her language skills.

Strange New Worlds is finally giving Uhura her due

In the new Strange New Worlds clip, we see Uhura’s first moments on the USS Enterprise. We also see Captain Pike erroneously thinking she speaks “12 languages.” She quickly corrects him, saying it’s actually “37.”

This is a pretty big deal. Although Uhura’s presence in The Original Series was important for representation, her character was tragically underdeveloped. Her skill and importance to the crew was implied in The Original Series more than it was depicted. The feature films did a bit to mitigate this sense of tokenism, but even in The Undiscovered Country , Uhura was depicted looking up Klingon phrases on the fly, which makes no sense for an expert linguist.

In the new clip, Spock (Ethan Peck) says to Uhura, “Starfleet would be fortunate to have an officer like you.” This doesn’t mean that Spock and Uhura will become a couple like they did in the Kelvinverse, but it does connect to a relationship that Spock and Uhura had in The Original Series . In several episodes, including “The Man Trap” and “Charlie X,” it was clear that of all the people on the Enterprise , Spock often deferred to Uhura.

And now, in Strange New Worlds , it looks like we’re finally going to see why. If this new Trek delivers on its promise, Uhura could end up being an even bigger deal than Spock, which will hopefully raise more than a few eyebrows.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds hits Paramount+ on May 5, 2022.

• Science Fiction

• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel (alternate reality)
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) personnel (alternate reality)

Nyota Uhura (alternate reality)

• View history

Lieutenant Nyota Uhura was a Starfleet communications officer serving in the 23rd century . As requested by Captain Christopher Pike , Uhura relieved Hawkins , the chief communications officer of the USS Enterprise , shortly before the destruction of Vulcan . She served under Captain Pike, acting captain Spock , and then her classmate at Starfleet Academy , Captain James T. Kirk . ( Star Trek ; Star Trek Into Darkness ; Star Trek Beyond )

• 1 Early life
• 2.1 Starfleet Academy
• 2.2.1 Stopping Nero
• 2.2.2 Nibiru
• 2.2.3 Hunting down John Harrison
• 2.3.1 Final voyage of the Enterprise
• 2.3.2 Altamid
• 3.1.1 Spock
• 3.2.1 James T. Kirk
• 4 Key dates
• 5 Memorable quotes
• 6.1 Appearances
• 6.2 Background information
• 6.3 Apocrypha
• 6.4 External links

Early life [ ]

Nyota Uhura was born in Kenya , Africa , where she grew up near Lake Simbi Nyaima . Her grandmother was a retired Starfleet officer. ( TOS : " The Savage Curtain "; SNW : " Children of the Comet ")

Starfleet career [ ]

Uhura meets Kirk

In 2255 , while at the bar near the Riverside Shipyard in Iowa , Uhura met an inebriated Jim Kirk , who began flirting with her. Although annoyed by Kirk's advances, Uhura was surprised that Kirk knew what was involved in the study of xenolinguistics. This exchange led to a bar fight as four male cadets were displeased at the attention Kirk was giving Uhura.

Starfleet Academy [ ]

Cadet Uhura in 2255

During her time at Starfleet Academy , Uhura specialized in xenolinguistics with tracking toward a communications officer. Commander Spock served as one of Cadet Uhura's instructors and judged her performance to be consistently exemplary.

In 2258, Uhura was able to detect and translate a message from within Klingon territory indicating that a fleet of 47 Klingon vessels around the Klingon prison planet had been engaged and destroyed by an unknown Romulan ship. She returned home early that night , interrupting her roommate, at the time an Orion cadet named Gaila , and Kirk, who had been under the bed when she shared the information with Gaila.

Uhura at the communications station during the Kobayashi Maru simulation

At Kirk's request, Uhura was present as communications officer during Kirk's third re-take of the Kobayashi Maru test scenario the following day. After Kirk corrected her, she called him "captain" sarcastically. At a subsequent hearing  on Kirk's actions, seated in a row that Commander Spock, the programmer of the Kobayashi Maru test, had vacated and two seats over from an upset Gaila, Uhura was in attendance in the Academy Council chambers when Kirk was accused of cheating.

Spock was in charge of the starship deployment assignments for the cadets of Uhura's graduating class, and had initially assigned Lieutenant Uhura to the USS Farragut , in spite of Uhura's stated desire to serve aboard the USS Enterprise , the new flagship , in order to avoid any appearance of favoritism . Uhura confronted him about this choice, noting that she was more than qualified to serve aboard the Enterprise and that it was unfair to deny her an opportunity she would have gained had they not been romantically involved. Spock relented and assigned her to the Enterprise .

Communications officer of the USS Enterprise [ ]

Stopping nero [ ].

Uhura at her station prior to being promoted

Aboard the Enterprise , Uhura was approached by Kirk, who had deduced the attack on Vulcan was Romulan in nature, following Pavel Chekov 's description of an anomaly described as a "lightning storm in space" that had preceded the attack on the day of Kirk's birth. She accompanied him to the bridge, where she verified his claims by mentioning that she was the person who had translated and intercepted the report of a similar Romulan vessel in Klingon space.

Captain Christopher Pike promoted Uhura to communications officer because Lieutenant Hawkins , the ship's prior communications officer, was not certain that he could distinguish transmissions in Romulan from transmissions in Vulcan . Uhura, by contrast, was fluent in all three Romulan dialects.

Nyota comforts Spock after the loss of Vulcan and his mother

After Vulcan was destroyed, Uhura privately comforted Spock in a turbolift .

In an attempt to gain control of the Enterprise so he could attempt to defeat Nero, Kirk emotionally compromised Spock, causing him to relinquish command. After he left, Nyota approached Kirk and told him that she hoped he knew what he was doing. Again, she called him "captain"; this time, she was hurt, but hopeful.

Before Kirk and Spock beamed to Nero's ship, Uhura shared a tender goodbye kiss with Spock, who referred to her using her first name, and thus revealed their relationship to Kirk and Montgomery Scott . Kirk, who had repeatedly attempted to learn Uhura's first name to no avail throughout the years, asked Spock if "Nyota" was her first name. Spock responded, " I have no comment on the matter. "

Although keeping her distance, she came to respect Kirk as captain of the Enterprise . After he gave her a command on the bridge, she turned to him, smiling, and answered, “ Aye, Captain. " This time, she called him "captain" sincerely. ( Star Trek )

Nyota helps Spock suit up

A year later , Uhura accompanied Spock to Nibiru before he was rappelled from a shuttle into a volcano , to prevent it from wiping out the Nibirans . Ash from the volcano damaged the shuttle and snapped the wire, forcing Uhura and Sulu to leave him. Uhura swam back to the Enterprise , which was hidden underwater. She was distraught to learn ash from the volcano would prevent the Enterprise from transporting Spock back aboard, and to hear Spock explain he would prefer to die activating the cold fusion device than violate the Prime Directive . Kirk rose the Enterprise from the sea to beam him up, violating the Prime Directive but saving his life.

Hunting down John Harrison [ ]

Later, when the Enterprise was tasked with hunting down terrorist John Harrison , Uhura expressed to Kirk in the turbolift that she and Spock were having relationship troubles. While on a K'normian trading ship to Qo'noS , where Harrison was hiding, Uhura and Spock got into an argument, in which she accused of him of being too ready to sacrifice himself for a mission and not caring how she would feel if he died. Spock acknowledged that, since his mother's death, he had been closing himself to such thoughts about how she would feel since he had experienced those feelings, specifically because he did care.

Uhura stabs the officer in the leg

Suddenly, the ship was attacked by Klingons . Kirk tried to lose them but the away team's K'normian vessel was surrounded and forced to land. Uhura counseled Captain Kirk that she be allowed to perform her role as communications officer, rather than try to fight their way out of a situation they could not win. She went out of the ship to negotiate in Klingonese , requesting the Klingons' aid in finding Harrison. The leader of the Klingons she spoke to grabbed her by the throat, and pulled out a knife, prompting Spock and Kirk to go on the offensive. After Harrison showed up and violently began causing a distraction, Uhura grabbed the Klingon's knife and stabbed him with it, causing him to drop her. Once Harrison dispatched the Klingons and surrendered himself into Kirk's custody, Uhura and Spock shared a reconciliatory kiss.

After Harrison revealed he was Khan Noonien Singh, Spock asked Uhura to contact his older parallel universe counterpart on New Vulcan for information. Uhura managed to make contact although the ship was outside of normal range of communication with his location.

As the old Spock warned he would do, Khan betrayed them. When the damaged Enterprise fell to Earth, Kirk reactivated the warp core to prevent it crashing, at the cost of radiation poisoning himself. Uhura came and she, Spock and Scott wept.

Uhura firing repeatedly at Khan

Uhura encouraged Spock to beam down to execute Khan, who had crashed the USS Vengeance into San Francisco . However, Doctor Leonard McCoy discovered a blood transfusion from Khan could heal Kirk, so Uhura beamed down and fired several shots to stun Khan, saving Spock from having his head crushed by Khan. Spock used the opportunity to gain the advantage in the fight and was set to kill him. Uhura was able to stop Spock by informing him they needed Khan alive to save Kirk. Spock then knocked him out instead and took him to sickbay .

When Kirk awoke to his friends Spock and McCoy in a hospital, he acknowledged Spock saving him, whereupon McCoy reminded Kirk that he and Uhura had also helped.

The five-year mission [ ]

Almost a year later, in 2260 , Uhura attended a memorial service for the victims of the conspiracy, which was presided over by Kirk, who was now healthy again. She continued serving on the repaired Enterprise as it embarked on a five-year mission . ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Final voyage of the Enterprise [ ]

In 2263 , Spock and Uhura had ended their relationship after Spock began considering leaving Starfleet to help his endangered species. Though he intended to discuss it further with Uhura on Yorktown , the news of the death of Spock Prime stopped him. During their relationship, Spock gave Uhura a necklace that once belonged to his mother as a gift and Uhura attempted to return it. Spock refused however.

When Kalara arrives on Starbase Yorktown for help, Uhura accompanies the Enterprise into the Necro Cloud to Altamid . To the crew's shock, they are attacked by Swarm ships , crippling the Enterprise . Uhura remains on the bridge for most of the battle but realizes that Kirk must be in trouble due to the amount of time he is taking to perform a saucer separation . Uhura travels to Engineering where Kirk is fighting Krall and finishes the saucer separation herself. However, Uhura is trapped in the secondary hull with Krall and is captured by him.

Altamid [ ]

"Our captain will come for us."

Uhura was taken to Krall's base where she refused to back down in the face of Krall, telling him that his actions were an act of war against the Federation and Kirk would show no mercy when he came for Krall. Krall was unafraid, stating that he looked forward to Kirk coming after him. Uhura then witnessed him drain two Enterprise crewmembers . Uhura and Sulu briefly escaped, discovering that Krall used a captured Magellan probe to hack Starbase Yorktown and gain access to its archives. Uhura attempted to send a distress call, but Krall recaptured the two and alters the coordinates of the distress call.

Uhura witnesses the death of Ensign Syl

Krall was later able to force Ensign Syl to turn over the Abronath by threatening Sulu and Uhura. She then witnessed Krall test the weapon on Syl. As Krall dragged Uhura to his ship, Kirk attacked on a motorcycle as part of a rescue plan, creating enough of a diversion for Uhura to escape his grasp. Uhura saved Spock who was able to use the necklace he gave her to track the crew down from a Swarm drone and they were beamed safely to the USS Franklin .

On the Franklin , the crew repaired the ship to go after Krall, dropping the Franklin off a cliff to achieve terminal velocity and liftoff. Arriving at Yorktown, the crew found it under attack , and Uhura warned Kirk that she's detecting distress calls from Yorktown on all frequencies. When Spock suggested that the Swarm had a cyberpathic connection that helped them coordinate their movements, Uhura helped him explain this to the rest of the crew and come up with a plan. She then aided Scotty and Jaylah in hooking up the Franklin's music player to the communications console and warned Kirk that they have to get very close to the Swarm for the disruption signal to work. Once they were close enough, Uhura broadcast the signal which destroys most of the Swarm. On Kirk's orders, Uhura sent the signal to Yorktown which also broadcasted the signal, destroying the Swarm.

Uhura at the communications station aboard the Franklin

After the destruction of the Swarm, the crew chased Krall through Yorktown, using the Franklin to intercept Krall's three remaining ships. Uhura checked out one of the hull breaches with Kirk and spotted a victim of Krall's energy transference. As the two crossed through the ruined mess hall, Uhura saw a recording of the original Franklin crew and recognized Captain Balthazar Edison as Krall. Uhura watched the footage with Kirk and Scotty as they determine the history of Edison/Krall and rushed to the bridge to warn Yorktown to turn off their atmospheric processor until the situation was over.

After Krall's defeat, Uhura attended Kirk's thirtieth birthday party where she rekindled her relationship with Spock. Like the rest of the Enterprise crew, she was reassigned to the brand-new USS Enterprise -A to continue their five year mission in a new ship. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Relationships [ ]

Romantic relationships [ ].

Uhura and Spock embrace after the death of Amanda

Nyota Uhura and Spock had a relationship that was established prior to the start of their careers on board the Enterprise . When she was assigned to the USS Farragut , Uhura openly confronted Spock about her having received that posting even though she was qualified to serve aboard the USS Enterprise . She presented him with a logical argument for her placement, to which he admitted he had been trying to avoid the appearance of favoritism. She eventually persuaded him to reconsider her assignment, though.

While Spock was preparing to depart from the Enterprise and transport to the surface of Vulcan in an attempt to rescue his parents and the Vulcan High Council , Uhura took an interest in where he was going, calling him by name and not by rank. She was also visibly upset that he was leaving.

When Spock returned after Vulcan was destroyed and his mother was killed, Uhura at one point followed him off the bridge and into a turbolift. Alone in the lift, she comforted him with a shared embrace and kisses.

Uhura and Spock share a tender moment

When Spock and Kirk about to beam onto Nero's ship, Uhura and Spock kissed on the Enterprise 's transporter platform and shared a heartfelt goodbye with promises offered to each other. Though Spock usually called her by her surname during their professional interactions, Uhura's first name, "Nyota", was used by him on that occasion.

Once Kirk and Spock returned to the Enterprise after the ship had been repaired, Uhura visibly lit up when Spock strode onto the bridge; they shared a look, as he passed behind her station to reach his own, and she smiled. ( Star Trek )

Spock and Uhura aboard the Enterprise

On a mission to Nibiru, Uhura helped Spock get into his suit. She kissed his helmet and gave him encouragement. Later, when it was time to release him into the volcano, she was visibly upset. However, she did not try to dissuade him from his duty. When his line was broken and he fell into the volcano, Sulu apologized to her, and told her they would have to try something else. Once she and Sulu made it back to the bridge of the Enterprise , Uhura was visibly upset when Spock announced he would have to remain behind to die, although her sadness didn't stop her from responding to Kirk's command.

After the mission to Nibiru, Uhura was clearly upset with Spock, although she seemed to be giving him the silent treatment. Uhura's assignment to participate in the away mission to Qo'noS prompted Spock to give Kirk a look as if he wasn't pleased with that decision. In reply to Kirk asking if they could work the mission together, Uhura said they could, then Spock watched her return to her station and responded that he was unsure.

Uhura and Spock quarrel aboard the K'normian ship

En route to Qo'noS, Uhura revealed to Spock that she believed his behavior on missions was too risky. She admitted distress at him willing to sacrifice himself without caring about how it would effect her if she lost him. Spock confided that, because he had experienced such profound grief and despair following the loss of Vulcan and the death of his mother, he closed himself off to the thought of those he cared for experiencing such emotions; this revealed that his problem was not a lack of caring, rather quite the opposite.

Later during the mission, Uhura volunteering to face the Klingons alone evidently upset Spock, although he didn't try to stop her confronting them. Uhura's interaction with the Klingons was carefully observed by Spock, and he later protected both her and Captain Kirk. After taking Harrison into custody, Uhura and Spock reconciled with a kiss.

Uhura and Spock reconcile after apprehending Harrison

When Admiral Marcus first warned the Enterprise crew he was going to kill them, Uhura was joined by Spock, at her station. When the admiral caught up to the Enterprise aboard the Vengeance and the Enterprise crew fully expected to die, Uhura walked to Spock and held his hand.

Uhura later spoke priivately with Spock at her station, when Spock wanted her to contact his older counterpart. Without him clarifying who he wanted to speak to, she intuited precisely who it was he planned to consult.

Later, while Spock chased after Khan, Uhura remained on the Enterprise . After Dr. McCoy informed the bridge crew that Khan was needed alive to possibly save Kirk, both Spock and Khan were moving too quickly for the transporter to be locked onto either of them. Learning someone could beam down, however, Uhura offered to do so and beamed onto a moving garbage barge where Spock and Khan were battling each other. Phaser in hand, she intended to help Spock bring Khan to the Enterprise without killing him. Even though Spock was furious with Khan for having killed Kirk, Uhura was able to calm Spock enough that he ceased his attack on Khan, who was then taken into custody.

At the memorial service in 2260, Uhura was seated directly beside Spock. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

By 2263 , Uhura and Spock experienced a time-out in their relationship as a consequence of Spock's increasing beliefs that he ought to be helping his people rebuild on New Vulcan , and thus leave Starflee. When Uhura got to Starbase Yorktown with the rest of the crew, she tried to give Spock back his mother's vokaya necklace that he had gifted her; however, Spock declined the offer, insisting she kept it.

Uhura tries to give back Spock's amulet

At the time, as Spock later confessed to Leonard McCoy , he had wanted to further discuss his doubts about leaving with her, but his plans were halted by the news about Ambassador Spock dying. When the Enterprise was destroyed by Krall 's attack, Uhura was captured and imprisoned at his base, along with Sulu and the rest of the Enterprise crew that couldn't escape from his soldiers.

During this time, while aboard the USS Franklin , Spock realized that if Uhura was still wearing his vokaya amulet, Chekov could track its unique Vulcan mineral through its (harmless) radiation emissions and find her and the rest of the crew at Krall's base.

When the group made a plan to free the crew, an injured Spock insisted on participating to the mission because Uhura was at the base too. In spite of his condition, both Kirk and McCoy allowed him to go with them acknowledging their friend's need to be there due to his relationship with the Lieutenant.

Once Spock got to the base as planned, he went looking for her alone after Hikaru Sulu informed him that Uhura had been taken by Krall shortly before him and McCoy got there. However, weakened by his injury he was attacked by two Swarm soldiers only to get saved by Uhura who helped him stand up and asked what he was doing there. When Spock answered that he clearly was there to rescue her (noticing the irony of the situation), Uhura smiled pleased by his care for her and his efforts.

Uhura looking pleased when Spock tells her he was 'clearly' there to rescue her.

Later on, while the USS Franklin finally left Altamid, Uhura shared a look of relief with Spock. Afterwards, as the group tried to make a plan to stop Krall from destroying Yorktown, Uhura helped Captain Kirk understand Spock's technical explaining of his plan to defeat the swarms ships . When Spock volunteered to pilot one of the Swarm ships himself, Uhura expressed worry over him being still hurt for his injury to which Spock replied he respected and appreciated her concerns.

After defeating Krall, Spock changed his mind about leaving Starfleet thus giving him and Uhura the chance to rekindle and continue their relationship. Uhura, who openly wore Spock's vokaya's necklace again, participated to a party for Jim's birthday with the rest of the crew. While there with Spock, she teased him saying that she thought he had a mission report to make to which he replied that he indeed did, but he thought that being with her would be more pleasing (implying he put work aside and went to the party to spend time with her).

Spock and Uhura looking at each other while their friends look at the new Enterprise in construction.

Later, Spock, Uhura and their friends look at the new Enterprise in construction. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Friendships [ ]

James t. kirk [ ].

Kirk and Uhura commiserate in a turbolift

Uhura's relationship with Kirk began when he hit on her in a bar in Iowa. She rejected his advances, giving him only the name "Uhura", although she did flirt with him a bit. Later, at the Academy, Kirk continued to try to discover her first name. While hiding under her roommate's bed after Uhura had interrupted them, he overheard her talking to Gaila. Kirk told Uhura he was interested in the distress call she had intercepted. She put him out of their room, his clothes in hand.

It was at Kirk's request that Uhura acted as the communications officer for his third attempt at the Kobayashi Maru test, though she only sarcastically called him "captain" as he wasn't taking the test seriously. While attending Kirk's hearing for his solution to the Kobayashi Maru , Uhura appeared to be disappointed in him. Later, while on the mission to Vulcan, Uhura confirmed that Romulans had attacked a Klingon fleet and she backed Kirk up when he tried to convince Captain Pike of the possibility of a trap.

Accompanying Kirk resulted in Uhura being promoted to the Enterprise 's communications officer and Kirk was proved to be right, causing Uhura to have helped save the ship. When Kirk provoked Spock, Uhura was upset, but didn't intervene, even though she was furious with the way Kirk became acting captain. She was the first to refer to Kirk as "captain" on the Enterprise , though with obvious reservations. Kirk finally learned her first name when Spock called her by it, but continued to call her "Uhura" afterwards. After Kirk's actions saved Earth from the Narada , Uhura officially became his communications officer on the Enterprise and happily called him "captain", having grown to respect him. ( Star Trek )

Uhura urges Spock to go after Khan

One year after the Narada attack, Uhura and Kirk seemed to have grown closer and developed a close friendship. When Kirk was upset with Spock, he confided in Uhura. She also confided to him that he wasn't alone in his anger towards Spock and talked to him about her relationship problems with Spock. When Uhura and Spock later argued, they did so in front of Kirk, with Uhura telling Spock that Kirk was on her side of the disagreement, a fact which Kirk later confirmed. Uhura was able to convince Kirk to allow her to try negotiating with the Klingons when fighting would not work, despite it putting her in mortal danger. While respecting her wishes, Kirk, when she was in danger, didn't hesitate to rush to her rescue. When they discovered they were going to die and Kirk apologized, Uhura comforted him with a squeeze to the shoulder. Uhura witnessed Kirk die after sacrificing himself to save the ship, and broke down crying over the death of her friend. Later, Uhura, still tearful, advised Spock to go get Khan, furious about Kirk's death. She also helped save Kirk's life when she prevented Spock from killing Khan. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Over the next few years, the two maintained a close friendship and Uhura was shown to have a great loyalty to Kirk. During the Battle of Altamid , Uhura rushed to Kirk's aid when she realized he was in danger, risking her life to aid him in performing a saucer separation . In the face of Krall , Uhura showed absolute confidence Kirk would come for them and wouldn't leave his crew behind. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Key dates [ ]

• 2255 - 2258 : Cadet / lieutenant at Starfleet Academy
• Originally assigned to the USS Farragut
• Re-assigned (per her request) as communications officer to the USS Enterprise
• Attends the re- christening ceremony of the Enterprise
• Heads out on the Enterprise 's five-year mission
• 2263 : Assigned to the USS Enterprise -A

Memorable quotes [ ]

" For a moment, I thought you were just a dumb hick who only had sex with farm animals. " " Well, not only."

" An alternate reality? " " Precisely. Whatever our lives might have been, if the time continuum was disrupted, our destinies have changed. "

" I sure hope you know what you're doing... captain. " " So do I. "

" We're outnumbered, outgunned. There's no way we survive if we attack first. You brought me here because I speak Klingon. Then let me speak Klingon. "

" I am here to help you. With respect, there is a criminal hiding in these ruins. He has killed many of our people. " " Why should I care about a Human killing Humans? " " Because you care about honor. And this man has none. "

" Go get him. "

" What he's saying is that if we disorient the swarm, we can kick its ass! " " Precisely. "

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• Star Trek (First appearance)
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• Star Trek Beyond

Background information [ ]

Nyota Uhura was played by Zoë Saldana .

When first introduced in the script of Star Trek , Uhura was described as having a "gorgeous, dignified face." [11]

Between the release of Star Trek Into Darkness and taking part in the filming of Star Trek Beyond , Zoë Saldana missed her character of Uhura. The actress later recalled, " I missed how different she is, and how important it is for her to do her job well. I missed how diligent she is [....] That's one thing I love about Uhura, that she doesn't argue with anyone. It's, 'What do you need next? What needs to be done? Let's get the hell out of here.' She's done just that. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , pp. 44 & 46)

Apocrypha [ ]

Her male counterpart

According to her biography on the Star Trek movie app, Uhura was born in 2233 to Alhamisi and M'Umbha Uhura. She has two siblings: a sister, Makena, and a brother, Kamau. She graduated with honors from the Institute for Advanced Mathematics in 2255 where she then enrolled in Starfleet Academy . She also spent two academic quarters serving aboard the USS Ahriman as a junior communications cadet.

The official site of the 2009 movie stated, in her character dossier page ( β ), that Uhura is proficient in 83% of official Federation languages and regional dialects. She also was the Academy aide for Advanced Phonology (one of the courses that, according to his dossier, Spock was teaching at the Academy) and Advanced Acoustical Engineering courses, as well as being the vice president of Starfleet Academy Chorale Ensemble.

In the 2013 Star Trek video game, she and Spock discuss his failed attempts at cooking dinner for her. She assures him that she loves him for trying anyway.

The IDW comic " The Voice of a Falling Star " tells the story of how, as a young girl, she saved herself and her parents from a damaged shuttle. She was encouraged by her uncle Raheem, who fell to the planet below after attempting a spacewalk to fix it. Uhura told this story to Spock in a mind meld months after their relationship began.

In " Parallel Lives, Part 1 " and 2 , she has a male counterpart who is also in love with Spock's female counterpart.

Uhura is pictured on cards #54 "Cadet N. Uhura" and #99 "Communications Officer N. Uhura" of the virtual collectible card battle game Star Trek: Rivals .

In the First issue of IDW's Star Trek: Boldly Go comic series that is set after the events of Star Trek Beyond , Uhura and Spock take a sabbatical from Starfleet and they visit Spock's father, Sarek on New Vulcan.

External links [ ]

• Nyota Uhura (Kelvin timeline) at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Uhura at Wikipedia
• 2 Marlys Burdette

Why didn’t Lt. Uhura ever take command in Star Trek: The Original Series

By lillyan ratcliffe | may 5, 2023.

Though Lt. Uhura was fourth in command of the Enterprise, she never took command of the ship on Star Trek: The Original Series

As fourth in command of the USS Enterprise and Senior Communications Officer, Lt. Uhura (played by Nichelle Nichols) should have been in command multiple times throughout The Original Series as Kirk and Spock often ended up on the surface of a Class-M planet either fighting for their lives or exploring the surface.  Yet in TOS , Uhura never took command, even when most of the crew was on a mission.  Several times, a less obvious character took command of the bridge, including various one-shot characters who never got developed.

Even though Lt. Uhura was one of the most influential characters on TOS and inspired generations of people – including future Trek actors Whoopi Goldberg and Tim Russ along with several NASA astronauts – she often got short-changed when it came to command.  In various episodes, she took over for Sulu and Spock at the helm and science station respectively plus repaired her own communications station , so she was clearly a skilled officer. Yet she never got to have command of the bridge until The Animated Series .

Was it a combination of a gender double standard and racism that kept Uhura from getting to take command?  Had TOS continued on, would Uhura have been able to take command more easily?  Was part of the reason Uhura got to take command in TAS because it was produced years later and for a different audience?

Lt. Uhura couldn’t take command, nor could Number One or Sulu

Although Uhura being a woman of color probably did impact her chances of taking command of the bridge during missions, her gender by itself may have also played a role in this.  Gene Roddenberry and others have spoken about how Majel Barratt’s role as Number One in the original pilot “The Cage” was a point of contention with the test audience and producers which led to writing Number One out of the second pilot then giving most of her character traits to Spock, the new second-in-command who is male.  It is also important to note that while Lt. Uhura is a prominent member of the crew, she is one of the few women who regularly appeared on the show, meaning that almost everyone in the chain of command was male and often Caucasian as well.

A prime example of this comes from the episode “Catspaw” where DeSalle takes command of the bridge.  DeSalle had previously had minor roles in “The Squire of Gothos” and “This Side of Paradise” as part of the away teams in different divisions.  In “Catspaw” he is identified as Assistant Chief Engineer and is placed in charge when Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to search for Sulu and Scotty.  This leaves only Chekov and Uhura of the main recurring cast on the bridge.

It is interesting to note that DeSalle and Chekov do not seem to get along as when DeSalle tells Chekov to rescan the area he also implies he might need to help Chekov recalibrate the sensors.  Chekov retorts he is capable of doing that.  Compare that to how DeSalle is much more respectful of Uhura, never once implying the same level of disdain for her as Chekov.  There could be two in-universe explanations for this – either DeSalle considers Uhura more capable or DeSalle respects Uhura more because he may need to hand over command to her next.

This situation also highlights a subtle hint towards the role of gender in command.  Throughout TOS several male characters of color are seen in powers of position.  “Court Martial” has Commander Stone, Doctor M’Benga had roles in “A Private Little War” and “That Which Survives” (before becoming a main cast member in Strange New Worlds ), Lieutenant Boma in “The Galileo Seven”, and more.  Women of color were featured throughout TOS as Yeomen, Lieutenants, scientists, and more, but none of them were given command of a starship.  The TOS finale even hinges on this as “Turnabout Intruder” is based around Dr. Janice Lester (who is white) whos is so resentful that even though she is a talented scientist she is barred from captaincy based on her gender. And that’s why she switches bodies with Kirk.

Lt. Uhura takes command in Star Trek: The Animated Series

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of The Animated Series which gave Uhura one of her best episodes and let her command the ship in the episode “The Lorelei Signal”.   In this episode, a group of female aliens abduct several members of the crew to drain their life force.  Uhura takes command then with Christine Chapel and an all-female security detail storms the planet, phasers ready.  Uhura and her team defeat the aliens, save Kirk and company, and send a message to Starfleet to help the aliens so that they no longer need to depend on the life forces of male humanoids to survive.

TAS gives Uhura many vital scenes in many episodes, giving her a more active role where she got to do more than say “hailing frequencies open.” As Nichelle Nichols discussed in interviews, she got tired of that being her main contribution to episodes of TOS .  Uhura did everything from talking down computers, to using an early version of the holodeck, to joking with her fellow crew members, giving Uhura more personality and agency than ever before in TAS .

Did the animated medium give the writers more opportunities since it was written in the 1970s compared to the live action medium in the 1960s?  Was the show less scrutinized than its predecessor based on the former’s popularity and fan response? What do you think?

Related Story. Nichelle Nicholas wasn't happy with ST decision. light

The best 'Star Trek' episode of all time, according to fans—and see if your favorite ranks in the 25 best

Posted: May 20, 2024 | Last updated: May 20, 2024

Best 'Star Trek' episodes

It's hard to think of a more everlasting and impactful science fiction property than "Star Trek." In 1966, what is now known as "Star Trek: The Original Series" premiered on NBC, the brainchild of creator, writer, and executive producer Gene Roddenberry. What made "Star Trek" unique for its time was its devotion to an optimistic vision of society, one where human civilization has moved past war and poverty, boldly going "where no man has gone before."

This utopian future was reflected by a diverse cast, with the crew of the USS Enterprise including a woman of African descent (Nyota Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols) and an Asian man (Hikaru Sulu, played by George Takei). Starting in Season Two, "Star Trek" added a Russian character (Pavel Chekov, played by Walter Koenig) during a real-life period of tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The cast was headlined by William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as First Officer Spock, and DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard McCoy.

Unlike the campier and fantastical sci-fi fare of the 1960s— like "Lost in Space" —"Star Trek" tackled issues not limited to racism, sexism, and nationalism, with episodic stories that served as allegories for present-day issues. One of the most commonly cited groundbreaking moments in "Star Trek" was a kiss between the characters of Kirk and Uhura in Season Three, one of the earliest on-screen interracial kisses .

While the original "Star Trek" was marred with low ratings on NBC, fan mail campaigns kept the show alive until its eventual cancellation in 1969. However, the series found new life in syndication in the 1970s, and the property has since grown into a multimedia franchise that includes 11 television shows and 13 theatrical movies.

To honor the original 79 episodes, Stacker gathered IMDb data for all episodes of the original "Star Trek" series and ranked the top 25 by user rating as of June 2023, with ties broken by the number of votes received. Read on to see if your favorite "Star Trek" episodes made the cut.

#25. Day of the Dove (1968)

- IMDb user rating: 7.7 - Season 3, Episode 7 - Director: Marvin J. Chomsky

The seventh episode of the third season of "Star Trek" once again pitted the Enterprise crew against the brutal Klingons. A being of pure energy creates confusion between the two factions, inserting false memories and creating conflict—in one instance, Chekov becomes aggressive towards the Klingons for killing a brother of his that never existed in the first place. The Klingon character of Kang, who originated from this episode, would return in the "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager" shows decades later.

#24. A Piece of the Action (1968)

- IMDb user rating: 7.7 - Season 2, Episode 17 - Director: James Komack

Sometimes, "Star Trek" likes to incorporate time travel to create period-piece episodes, but in the case of Season Two, Episode 17, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy land on a planet that emulates 1920s Chicago gangster culture. With Tommy guns, fedoras, and pulpy 1920s dialogue, this fun episode goes through many of the classic gangster tropes. It's a memorable episode, particularly to writer-director Quentin Tarantino, who in the late 2010s wanted to direct a rated-R "Star Trek" movie inspired by the episode .

#23. Where No Man Has Gone Before (1966)

- IMDb user rating: 7.7 - Season 1, Episode 3 - Director: James Goldstone

The second pilot of "Star Trek" is titled after the famous mantra of the franchise, though "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was aired as the third episode of the first season. This episode was meant to introduce viewers to the general concepts of "Star Trek," with a standard mission gone awry—as a result, helmsman Gary Mitchell gains psychic and telekinetic powers, proclaiming himself to be god-like. "Above all else, a god needs compassion," Kirk says in one iconic scene when describing Mitchell's violent actions. As pivotal as the episode is, it lacks mainstay characters like McCoy and Uhura .

#22. This Side of Paradise (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 7.8 - Season 1, Episode 24 - Director: Ralph Senensky

Spock is often paired with short-term romantic interests in "Star Trek," and Episode 24 of the first season features one in the character Kalomi. Spock reunites with this botanist from his past on an away mission—he, Kirk, and McCoy beam down to a colony to find that all of its inhabitants are affected by spores that invoke an overly positive and lethargic attitude. For the half-human, half-Vulcan character Spock, it was another opportune time for him to explore his emotions as he found himself under the same influence.

#21. The Naked Time (1966)

- IMDb user rating: 7.8 - Season 1, Episode 4 - Director: Marc Daniels

The fourth episode of the show as a whole let the cast members let loose and act out of character. "The Naked Time" starts with Spock and a lieutenant observing frozen corpses in an abandoned research facility—after which they inadvertently bring some sort of sickness to the Enterprise that makes everyone affected act irrationally. Spock sheds tears and has an intimate moment with Nurse Chapel, but in a sillier (and iconic) scene, a shirtless Sulu runs amok with a sword .

#20. Tomorrow Is Yesterday (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 7.9 - Season 1, Episode 19 - Director: Michael O'Herlihy

The 19th episode of "Star Trek" Season One is a time-travel story, with the Enterprise finding itself above 1960s Earth. A U.S. Air Force pilot named John Christopher flies up to identify the ship, only to be beamed up by the crew. What ensues is a race to scrub all evidence of the Enterprise's visit to the 1960s while containing Christopher, all while trying to return home. In terms of "Star Trek" lore, the Enterprise's method of returning to the future is used again in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" and referenced in "Star Trek: Picard."

#19. Arena (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 7.9 - Season 1, Episode 18 - Director: Joseph Pevney

Episode 18 of "Star Trek" showcases some of Kirk's physical combat abilities as he is forced to fight a member of the reptile species known as the Gorn. The fight scene between Kirk and the Gorn captain was shot at the Vasquez Rocks , a location used so frequently by the franchise that it is nicknamed the "Star Trek Rocks." Modern audiences have mocked and parodied the fight scene , but its iconic status has never been disputed.

#18. The Tholian Web (1968)

- IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Season 3, Episode 9 - Directors: Herb Wallerstein, Ralph Senensky

Season Three, Episode 9 of "Star Trek" begins with the Enterprise searching for its sister ship, the Defiant. Unfortunately, the Defiant's crew had perished somehow, and the Enterprise crew find themselves up against interdimensional beings known as the Tholians. As they create an energy web around the entire Enterprise, Kirk is believed lost and the crew members begin to fall to the same madness that led to the Defiant crew's demise. The plotlines of the Defiant and the Tholian Web are followed up in the prequel show "Enterprise," in the 2005 two-part episode "In a Mirror, Darkly."

#17. The Ultimate Computer (1968)

- IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Season 2, Episode 24 - Director: John Meredyth Lucas

In a premise that still rings true today due to the prevalence of artificial intelligence, Season Two, Episode 24 features a computer named M-5, designed and built to handle all ship functions. Unsurprisingly, M-5 begins to turn malevolent, effectively trying to replace Kirk as the captain and attacking other Federation starships. "Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them," Spock tells Kirk at one point.

#16. A Taste of Armageddon (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Season 1, Episode 23 - Director: Joseph Pevney

Episode 23 of Season One features a rather unique sci-fi concept—a planet that fights war through virtual means. Kirk lands on a planet that is in conflict with another planet, and the long war between the two is fought in a simulation; when someone "dies" in the simulation, they are killed in real life. Unfortunately for Kirk, the Enterprise is destroyed in the simulation, but Kirk naturally refuses to destroy his ship and crew. Despite the dire premise, the resolution of the episode has fans believing it to be an overall optimistic story .

#15. The Corbomite Maneuver (1966)

- IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Season 1, Episode 10 - Director: Joseph Sargent

The 10th overall episode of "Star Trek" was the first to be shot after the pilot episode, and it features a memorable encounter with an alien named Balok (featured in the closing credits of the show). Balok claims that he is all-powerful and will destroy the Enterprise, giving the crew 10 minutes, but Kirk calls Balok's bluff. Summing up the lesson of the episode, Kirk remarks: "You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there's no such thing as the unknown—only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood."

#14. All Our Yesterdays (1969)

- IMDb user rating: 8.1 - Season 3, Episode 23 - Director: Marvin J. Chomsky

Season Three, Episode 23 of "Star Trek" features some recurring tropes of the show, such as time travel and Spock having a brush with romance. The main trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy each end up in two distant time periods of a planet. Spock and McCoy encounter a woman named Zarabeth, whom McCoy is suspicious of and Spock falls in love with rather quickly. While most time-travel episodes center around Earth, using this narrative device to explore the past of an alien planet was thought to be unique by fans.

#13. Errand of Mercy (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.1 - Season 1, Episode 26 - Director: John Newland

Episode 26 of Season One utilizes the Klingons as the main foes, with "Errand of Mercy" depicting the beginning of a war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Kirk and Spock visit a neutral planet near the Klingon Border called Organia and attempt to convince its people to resist Klingon forces in this Cold War allegory episode . While the peaceful Organians appear to be primitive at first, they soon surprise Kirk and Spock as well as the Klingons. The main antagonist, the Klingon named Kor, returns in "Deep Space Nine."

#12. The Menagerie: Part II (1966)

- IMDb user rating: 8.1 - Season 1, Episode 12 - Directors: Robert Butler, Marc Daniels

Spock is under court martial in Season One, Episode 12, in this conclusion to the previous episode. This second part features the psychic Talosian aliens more heavily, as well as the character of Number One, who is portrayed by Roddenberry's second wife, Majel Barrett. With the previous episode establishing Captain Pike's tragic injuries, this second half provides a happier ending for the former captain of the Enterprise.

#11. The Menagerie: Part I (1966)

- IMDb user rating: 8.2 - Season 1, Episode 11 - Directors: Marc Daniels, Robert Butler

Season One, Episode 11 revisited events from the unaired pilot episode of "Star Trek," titled "The Cage." That pilot had featured Captain Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) instead of Kirk, but "The Menagerie" clarifies that Pike was the captain of the Enterprise before Kirk. At this point in time, Pike has been horrifically injured, bound to a chair, and only able to communicate through beeps. Pike and Spock once again end up on the planet Talos IV for some unfinished business, and the episode utilizes footage from "The Cage" extensively as flashbacks for budgetary reasons.

#10. The Devil in the Dark (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.3 - Season 1, Episode 25 - Director: Joseph Pevney

"Star Trek" is arguably its most memorable when it teaches viewers about compassion and pacifism, and Episode 25 of the first season very much demonstrates this. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy begin to assist a mining colony dealing with a creature responsible for killing workers. Upon encountering the creature, the main characters begin to understand its nature better, and instead spare it and cure it, facilitating a symbiotic relationship between the creature and the miners.

William Shatner considers the episode one of his favorites, but behind the scenes, Shatner's father passed away during production , necessitating the temporary use of a body double while he attended his father's funeral.

#9. The Enterprise Incident (1968)

- IMDb user rating: 8.4 - Season 3, Episode 2 - Director: John Meredyth Lucas

The writers of "Star Trek" loved to use sudden irrational behavior by the characters as plot devices, and Episode 2 of the third season features Captain Kirk going off the rails. The Enterprise is on a secret mission to steal a Romulan cloaking device, and they encounter a female Romulan commander who eventually takes an interest in Spock. Kirk acts erratically through the episode and is even declared unfit to captain, leading to a dramatic episode overall.

#8. Journey to Babel (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.5 - Season 2, Episode 10 - Director: Joseph Pevney

Some significant characters in "Star Trek" lore make their first appearance in Episode 10 of Season Two, as Spock's parents Sarek and Amanda (the latter being human) feature heavily. Sarek, an ambassador, is wrongly accused of murdering a foreign dignitary, and it's up to Spock to clear his name. While Sarek and Amanda made more appearances in future "Star Trek" media, this episode is their only appearance in the original series.

#7. Amok Time (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.6 - Season 2, Episode 1 - Director: Joseph Pevney

The season premiere of "Star Trek" Season Two introduced concepts that would permeate larger popular culture. Spock's bizarre behavior leads the characters to learn about pon farr, a physiological phenomenon related to Vulcan mating. Viewers meet Spock's betrothed, a Vulcan named T'Pring, and the iconic Vulcan salute is used for the first time in this episode. The events culminate in a fight between Kirk and Spock, with the scene and its incidental music parodied in movies like "The Cable Guy" and shows including "Futurama."

#6. The Doomsday Machine (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.7 - Season 2, Episode 6 - Director: Marc Daniels

Catastrophic destruction is the main threat of Season Two, Episode 6, aptly titled "The Doomsday Machine." The Enterprise finds that one of its sister ships, the Constellation, has been heavily damaged by a machine capable of destroying planets. Matt Decker, one of the ship's survivors, goes on a mad campaign against the machine, jeopardizing the Enterprise in the process. While Decker doesn't make it by the end of the episode, his son Willard Deckard is a main character in 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture."

#5. Space Seed (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.7 - Season 1, Episode 22 - Director: Marc Daniels

Episode 22 of the first season introduced perhaps the most recognizable villain in all "Star Trek" media: Khan Noonien Singh, portrayed by Ricardo Montalbán. A genetically engineered man from the past, Khan attempts to lead his people in overthrowing the Enterprise. While Khan was thwarted and exiled, he would later return in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," widely thought to be the greatest "Star Trek" movie in the franchise .

#4. The Trouble with Tribbles (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 8.8 - Season 2, Episode 15 - Director: Joseph Pevney

"Star Trek" isn't just political allegory and technobabble—there has to be levity sometimes as well. Enter the tribbles, cute little fuzzy creatures that create a problem for the Enterprise, as a tribble found in a space station begins multiplying rapidly. Meanwhile, conflict arises between Enterprise crew members and Klingons, culminating in a brawl in the space station. For the 30th anniversary of "Star Trek," an episode of "Deep Space Nine" titled "Trials and Tribble-ations" revisited the events of this episode, digitally inserting the "Deep Space Nine" cast into the events of the original episode.

#3. Balance of Terror (1966)

- IMDb user rating: 8.8 - Season 1, Episode 14 - Director: Vincent McEveety

Episode 14 of the first season of "Star Trek" is essential viewing, as it introduces the antagonistic Romulan race, a staple of the "Star Trek" universe. The centerpiece of this action-packed episode is a cat-and-mouse game between the Enterprise and a Romulan vessel with cloaking capabilities, leading to exciting and tense encounters. It's an episode full of high emotion that explores the effect and ramifications of war, with Kirk and the Romulan commander speculating that in another life, perhaps they could have been friends.

#2. Mirror, Mirror (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 9.0 - Season 2, Episode 4 - Director: Marc Daniels

Episode 4 of Season Two of "Star Trek" had the first look into another dimension within the lore, often referred to as the Mirror Universe. In this reality, the Federation is instead the Terran Empire, which is aggressive and militaristic in nature. The USS Enterprise is instead the ISS Enterprise, torture in the Agony Booth is the main form of discipline, and Mirror Spock famously fashions a goatee . The Mirror Universe has become a mainstay in most "Star Trek" shows, and the use of a beard to signify an evil doppelganger is an often used and parodied trope .

#1. The City on the Edge of Forever (1967)

- IMDb user rating: 9.2 - Season 1, Episode 28 - Director: Joseph Pevney

In quite possibly the most famous episode in the entire "Star Trek" franchise, Captain Kirk faces an unimaginable moral dilemma. A chase for an unwell McCoy leads to history being changed, and the Enterprise crew members find themselves in Depression-era New York City to repair the damage. Kirk falls in love with a social worker named Edith Keeler, but to his dismay, he discovers that for the timeline to be restored, Edith must be allowed to die. The tragic ending, Shatner's performance, high regard from both the cast and crew of "Star Trek," and multiple awards solidified "City" as the most celebrated "Trek" episode of all time .

Data reporting by Luke Hicks. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. Photo selection by Clarese Moller.

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