list of star trek races

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Star Trek: The 50 Best Alien Races

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

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

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

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

50. Arcturian

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

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

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

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

49. Edosian

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

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

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

48. Excalbians

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

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

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

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

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47. Caitian

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

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

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

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

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

46. Bolians

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

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

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

45. Lurian

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

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

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

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

First appearance: Star Trek (2009)

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

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

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

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

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

43. Mugato

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

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

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

42. Acamarians

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

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

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

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

41. Denobulans

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

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

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

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

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

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40. Orions

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

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

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

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

39. Ocampans

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

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

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

38. Vidiians

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

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

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

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

37. Breen

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

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

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

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

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

36. Hunters

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

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

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

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

35. The Salt Vampire

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

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

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

34. Cheron

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

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

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

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

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

33. Nausicaans

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

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

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

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

32. Kazon

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

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

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

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

31. Metrons

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

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

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

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

30. Horta

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

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

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

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

29. Greek Gods

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

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

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

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

28. Hirogen

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

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

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

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

27. El-Aurians

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

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

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

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

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

26. Tellarites

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

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

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

25. Tamarians

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

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

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

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

24. Species 8472

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

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

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

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

23. The Gorn

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

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

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

22. Tholians

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

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

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

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

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

21. Talaxians

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

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

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

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

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

20. Organians

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

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

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

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

19. The Traveler

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

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

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

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

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

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

18. Crystalline Entity

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

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

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

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

17. Betazoid

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

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

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

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

16. Talosians

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

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

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

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

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

15. Vorta

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

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

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

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

14. Xindi

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

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

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

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

13. Trill

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

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

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

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

12. Tribbles

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

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

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

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

11. Jem’Hadar

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

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

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

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

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

10. Changeling

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

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

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

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

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

9. Andorians

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

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

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

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

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

8. Ferengi

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. Romulans

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5. Bajorans

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Cardassians

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Borg

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

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

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

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

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

2. Klingons

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

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

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

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

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

1. Vulcans

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

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

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

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

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

Marc Buxton

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

Star Trek Universe

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• Adosian Slug

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Star Trek: The Essential Alien Species

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

List of Star Trek races

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This is a list of fictional sentient species from the fictional universe of the Star Trek media franchise.

External links

Edosians (aka Edoans) are a race of sentient tripedalbeings. Edosians have an orange complexion, two yellow eyes, three arms and three dog-like legs. Navigator Lieutenant Arex was introduced in Star Trek: The Animated Series , but his planet of origin, Edos , was mentioned only in background material. [1] Passing references to Edosian flora and fauna have been made in episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Enterprise . In some tie-in novels and short stories, Arex is mentioned as actually being a Triexian , with the Edosians being a near-identical race.

El-Aurians (referred to as a Race of Listeners by Dr. Tolian Soran , the El-Aurian antagonist in Star Trek Generations ) are a humanoid race first introduced in the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation with the character of Guinan . The species was named in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Rivals ".

El-Aurians appear outwardly identical to humans, but they can live well over 700 years and have a variety of ethnic types, with both dark- and light-skinned members of the race being shown on various Star Trek movies and television episodes. They are considered a race of listeners and often appear patient and wise.

The El-Aurian homeworld was located in the Delta Quadrant and was destroyed by the Borg in the mid-23rd century. Few survived, and those who did were scattered throughout the galaxy. Some of the refugees came to the United Federation of Planets and it has been noted that this is likely an analogy for the spread of Africans around the Earth via colonialism and slavery. [2] [ dubious – discuss ]

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The Organians are incorporeal energy creatures ("pure energy, pure thought") with no precise physical location in the universe. After the climax of the episode, Spock comments that they are "as far above us on the evolutionary scale as we are above the amoeba." They assumed humanoid form to "interact" with the Federation representatives and the Klingons. They render all weapons belonging to the hostile parties inoperable through extreme heat, and then vanish.

The Organians were a race of beings who had evolved to a point of being pure conceptual beings, essence of thought with no corporeal bodies. In some ways they were similar to Q for power levels and abilities, but it is unknown if these two races ever encountered each other according to the television series. In the novel Q Strike , however, the Organians appear to observe a battle between members of the Q Continuum and other seemingly omnipotent beings from the Star Trek universe. The original Q identifies them after being asked by Captain Jean-Luc Picard who they are, and is rather dismissive, remarking that "compared to their code of noninvolvement, your Prime Directive is practically an incitement to riot."

The Organians also appeared on Star Trek: Enterprise in the episode " Observer Effect ," where they observed members of the crew infected with a silicon-based virus to decide whether or not they should make first contact with humans. They did not technically appear onscreen; they only manifested themselves by possessing the bodies of several members of the Enterprise crew.

Orions are a green-skinned, humanoid alien species in the Star Trek universe. An Orion was first portrayed as an illusion in the original Star Trek pilot, but wasn't seen in the broadcast series until this original pilot was incorporated into a two-part episode (episodes 11 and 12) in the first season. Orions have also been portrayed in Star Trek: The Animated Series , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise . Rachel Nichols played Orion Starfleet cadet Gaila in the 2009 Star Trek film.

Romulans are humanoid extraterrestrials that appear in every Star Trek television series, where members of their race often serve as antagonists. They prominently feature in the films Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , Star Trek Nemesis , and Star Trek .

Species 8472

Species 8472 appeared in four episodes of Star Trek: Voyager. [3] While passing through Borg space, Voyager encounters Species 8472, a race that surpasses the Borg in combat prowess. [4]

• List of fictional cat-like aliens
• ↑ Biography of Lt. Arex published by Lincoln Enterprises in 1974
• ↑ Hastie, A. Fabricated Space: Assimilating the Individual on Star Trek: The Next Generation in Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek . Eds. Harrison et al. (Westview Press: Boulder, 1996).
• ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

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Star Trek: The 10 Best Alien Races, Ranked

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Daniel Sunjata's Role in Grey's Anatomy, Explained

10 wildest storylines in gilmore girls, this underrated post-apocalyptic show deserved way more attention.

Star Trek has been one of American pop culture's biggest sci-fi franchises for sixty years now. Fans have thrilled to the adventures of the intrepid officers of Starfleet and the many aliens they've encountered, as the show found a way to mix action, science, and thoughtful storytelling. One of the best parts of the show is the way it used its alien races to talk about modern humanity and create characters that challenged fans' views of the Federation.

RELATED: Star Trek: 5 Reasons To Make Another Movie With The Current Cast (& 5 Not To)

Over the years, many of these alien races have been fleshed out and become huge parts of the franchise. The best of them have captured the imaginations of fans for decades.

10 The Jem'Hadar Are More Interesting Than They Seem

At first, the Jem'Hadar seemed like another stereotypical warrior race to act as the foot soldiers of the Dominion, and this was basically true. However, fans were surprised by how complex they could be every time any spotlight was put on the genetically engineered soldiers. A race of honorable warriors whose faith was used against them, the tragedy of the Jem'Hadar made them interesting.

While there weren't too many Jem'Hadar centric episodes, the few that were produced made an impact on fans. They're an underrated race in the Star Trek mythos, one that is ripe for a return.

9 The Desperation Of The Vidiians Made Them Into Relatable Villains

Star Trek: Voyager sent the titular ship into the Delta Quadrant, far away from the familiar races of Star Trek past. The series often just used the archetypes of those more well-known aliens to create new ones, like the Kazon, but the Vidiians were quite different from anything fans had seen before. The entire race was ravaged by a disease called the Phage and traveled space stealing organs in order to keep themselves alive.

When fans learned the truth behind their organ snatching ways, it made them extremely sympathetic, and later appearances by the Vidiians played into that. They represented the best of Star Trek's aliens, changing fans' perception of them as the race evolved.

8 The Trill Were A Very Different Kind Of Alien Race

The Trill first appeared in the season four The Next Generation  episode "The Host." The host race of the Trill in that episode looked very different from the ones that came after in Deep Space Nine, but it wasn't the first time a race went through massive cosmetic changes in Star Trek. What didn't change is the premise behind the aliens.

RELATED: Star Trek: All Movies, Ranked According To IMDb

A symbiotic race, the long-lived Trill symbionts were put into the body of different humanoid Trill over the centuries. Jadzia Dax was the exemplar of this, becoming one of the most balanced  Star Trek  characters ever , her years of experience making her into a multi-faceted character. Each Trill was an amalgamation of lives, and this allowed the writers of DS9 to play with queer ideas that Berman era Trek didn't often touch on.

7 The Q Were A Race Of Omnipotent Tricksters

Q is one of the most intelligent Star Trek antagonists , and his entire race followed suit. First introduced in  The Next Generation 's   pilot "Encounter At Farpoint," Q became a Star Trek icon. Nearly every resulting Q played up the impish trickster persona that actor John De Lancie created for the character. Fans loved Q and learned more and more about his race and home as the years went by.

The Q are such a uniquely Star Trek race of godlike aliens. They serve to remark on humanity's growth and play amusing tricks on them. Even the least loved Q episodes are among the most beloved in franchise history.

6 The Bajorans' Story Of Occupation And Rebellion Was Unique In The Star Trek Mythos

The Bajorans were a very different kind of Star Trek race. First introduced in The Next Generation  with Ensign Ro Laren, they'd get fleshed out by Deep Space Nine  and become one of the richest and most interesting Star Trek races. Protected by the non-corporeal Prophets, who they worship as gods, their society went through trials and tribulations before they were enslaved by the Cardassians.

The Bajorans were a deeply spiritual people and as fierce as they come, embracing terrorism to fight against their oppressors. Their story was one of the most interesting of all the big Star Trek races.

5 The Borg Are Star Trek' s Most Iconic Villains

The Next Generation  is now known as a fan favorite, but the first few seasons weren't among the best of Trek . In fact, an argument can be made that TNG didn't truly become great TV until the Borg were finally felt in full force in the season three finale "The Best Of Both Worlds." While they were introduced in "Q Who" in the first season, they wouldn't become icons until that epic season finale.

The Borg represented the most frightening enemy of them all, the loss of individuality. They were an implacable foe that couldn't be reasoned with, and even fighting them was often was futile. They forced the crews to think outside the box and made for great TV.

4 The Cardassians' Embrace Of Fascism Made Them Terrifyingly Fascinating

The Cardassians had their genesis in The Next Generation ,   but came to prominence in Deep Space Nine   with some of the show's best episodes revolving around them . While they were often the villains, especially after they sided with the Dominion, they were also shown to be more than just a race of stereotypical evildoers, especially the character Garak.

The race was openly fascist and built their entire society around that idea. They were equally repellent and interesting, showing viewers the split sides of fascism and how it would affect individuals through the actions and characters of Garak and Dukat.

3 The Ferengi Became One Of Star Trek 's Most Fun Races

The Ferengi were introduced in the first season of The Next Generation  and were meant to be a new big villain race for the show. Their portrayal evolved over time until Deep Space Nine,  when Ferengi bar owner Quark became a main character, and fans were introduced to the hyper-capitalist lifestyle of the Ferengi. Ferengi episodes became among the show's most beloved, yet another reason why DS9 has some of the best seasons of Trek .

RELATED: Star Trek: 6 Things That Still Hold Up Today

The Ferengi were often the most entertaining aspect of every episode they were a part of, and their evolution as a race was a key subplot. Their lampooning of capitalism made them an interesting part of the openly socialistic Star Trek mythos.

2 The Klingons Became One Of Star Trek' s Most Popular Races

The Klingons were the main antagonists of TOS and have evolved over time from the villainous cliches of the '60s into one of the most popular Star Trek races. Creator Gene Roddenberry pulled this off by putting Worf on the bridge of the Enterprise-D in The Next Generation  to show that the enemies of yesterday could be the friends of today.

Worf served as the perfect character to bring the new Klingons to life, as actor Michael Dorn's portrayal of the character made him a fan favorite. Multiple Klingon-centric episodes fleshed out the race, and their culture and language are well known to all fans of Star Trek.

1 The Vulcans Have Always Been A Huge Part Of Star Trek

Spock was the first Star Trek alien fans were introduced to, and the Vulcan race would be established as one of the Federation's most important . Their place in Starfleet and their role in shepherding humanity into the stars was a big part of multiple Star Trek shows. The Vulcans have become a huge part of pop culture, with even non- Star Trek fans knowing something about them.

As they became more fleshed out, they'd only get more interesting. Their cold logic was revealed to be a veneer over volcanic rage that they had to control at all costs. This juxtaposition made them intriguing, and they were always great for human characters to play off.

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• Entertainment
• Why Aliens Are So Important to <i>Star Trek</i>

Why Aliens Are So Important to Star Trek

Excerpted from TIME’s Star Trek: Inside the Most Influential Science-Fiction Series Ever . Available at retailers and at Amazon.com .

Since the time of the Greek philosopher Anaximander, humans have gazed up at the heavens and wondered: Is anyone else out there? For some, the idea that we might be the most advanced beings in all of creation offers a sense of supremacy. Others find it a lonely thought.

Reality has yet to offer a conclusive answer one way or the other, leaving our imaginations to run wild. If aliens do exist, what might they look like? How would they behave? And crucially: Would they be friend or foe? Thinkers no less great than the physicist Stephen Hawking have warned of the latter possibility. “If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans,” Hawking remarked in a 2010 documentary on the subject.

Thankfully for the curious among us, science-fiction writers have stepped up to fill our imaginations with myriad possibilities.

Their creations have extended far beyond the archetypical “little green men.” H.G. Wells’s 1898 War of the Worlds, widely hailed as an exemplar of the genre, gave us terrifying Martian invaders and their tripodal death machines. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) offered Klaatu, who visited Earth to urge humanity to end our warlike ways. And of course there was E.T., the disarmingly cute alien simply in need of a ride home.

But nothing in science fiction has contributed to the depth of the extraterrestrial encyclopedia like Star Trek. From the Bajorans (a proud people struggling to recover from another species’s hostile occupation of their world) to the Tamarians (a seemingly incomprehensible race that turns out to communicate through mythology and metaphor), Star Trek’s writers have dreamed up nearly 300 different alien species and counting, according to the fan website Memory Alpha. And that’s just the humanoids.

How can one franchise spawn so many aliens—and so many memorable ones, at that? Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. Science fiction typically uses spaceships, death rays and time travel as devices to offer ominous warnings about the ways humanity can go awry. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry flipped that script, introducing to a 1960s audience a future in which an interated cast of humans (and, just to drive the point home, one actual alien) work together to better understand their universe.

That utopian vision was essential to Trek’s DNA, but it was also a tremendous challenge for one group of people: Star Trek writers, who faced the daunting task of writing stories in which the main characters all got along just fine.

“Gene was very big on not wanting to create conflict among the characters on the show,” says Rick Berman, who led the Star Trek franchise after Roddenberry died in 1991 until 2005 and produced several series and feature films. “He felt that humans, especially Starfleet humans, had evolved to a point where he didn’t want to see conflict between them.”

Yet conflict is at the core of all great storytelling. So if the Enterprise crew couldn’t squabble with one another, Star Trek writers had to find friction elsewhere. Aliens came to the rescue. “Often we were telling stories of how humans had progressed, or not, in the far reaches of space,” says longtime Star Trek writer D.C. Fontana. “But sometimes the theme of the tale was better told by demonstrating how aliens approached or solved problems, or how they failed.”

Things got off to a rocky start. Putting aside Spock—a full-fledged member of the Enterprise crew—the first extraterrestrial to appear on Star Trek was a C-list monster that could have been pulled from any bad ’50s sci-fi flick. A shape-shifter with a serious salt craving, the nameless creature killed off Enterprise crew members by sucking the sodium out of them. The so-called “salt vampire” wasn’t a big hit. Thankfully, matters improved from there.

Humans are complex creatures, capable of being logical, tactical, aggressive, greedy and lustful all in a single one-hour episode. But Star Trek aliens are typically guided by one prime mover. Often it is some trait shared by many people. A desire for conquest, perhaps, or the pursuit of wealth or the urge to protect one’s offspring. That made them a thinly veiled stand-in for whatever driving force they represented, giving the writers a way to craft stories that were less about aliens and more about us. Simply put, Star Trek aliens are a mirror in which we see the best and worst of ourselves—and one in which we see that we’re not as different from one another as we might think.

“The concept of having aliens on a week- to-week basis, sometimes new, sometimes ones that the audience was familiar with, gave the writers the ability to represent all the different qualities of humanity,” says Berman. “Whether it’s avarice or whether it’s a hive-like mentality or whether it’s emotions or whether it’s a desire to be more human, these were all qualities that the aliens allowed us to play with. We could not have done the show without that.”

Case in point: In the third-season Next Generation episode “The Survivors,” Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and his crew find a couple who appear to be the only survivors of an attack on a Federation colony. But when they are offered safe harbor aboard the Enterprise, they refuse, insisting they be left where they were found. It’s an odd request, given their situation. A series of other strange happenings, such as a warship appearing to drive the Enterprise away from the planet, convinces Picard that something is amiss with the pair, who are named Kevin and Rishon Uxbridge. Picard is eventually able to trick Kevin into revealing the truth: he’s not a human but a member of an all-powerful species called the Douwd. Kevin admits that he created a fictional version of Rishon after she was killed in an attack by a murderous race called the Husnock. What’s more, Kevin, who considers himself a pacifist, reveals that in his rage over losing his wife, he killed the Husnock. And not just the Husnock who attacked his world but all of them, everywhere in the universe.

Kevin’s reaction is perfectly “human.” Who hasn’t wished ill will on those who do us wrong? The difference, of course, is that Kevin has the power to satisfy his rage to a horrific extent. Picard, typically motivated by justice, admits that the Federation has “no law to fit” Kevin’s crime, instead letting him live in exile on the planet. The captain concludes, “We leave behind a being of extraordinary power and conscience. I am not certain if he should be praised or condemned. Only that he should be left alone.”

With the possible exception of Spock and the rest of the Vulcans, Star Trek’s best-known aliens are the Klingons. A ruthless warrior race obsessed with battle and honor, the Klingons originally served as a two-dimensional foil for Kirk and company. Many have viewed them as a bellicose stand-in for the great space-race enemy of the original series’ era, the Soviet Union. But so popu- lar have the Klingons become over the decades that theirs is the most widely spoken fictional language in the world, according to Guinness World Records. (Take that, Lord of the Rings fans.) There’s even an ongoing copyright battle over who owns the Klingon language, which has generated some of the more entertaining legal briefs of our time.

At least some of the credit for that popularity is due to actor Michael Dorn, who played the Klingon bridge officer Worf in The Next Generation. That series took the original, more-cartoonish Klingons and gave them depth and relatability. Klingons, as it turns out, are a lot like us. The Klingons are warmongers, like some humans. The Klingons are obsessed with rituals, like some humans. The Klingons are driven by a fierce dedication to their family, like some humans. One of Star Trek’s best Klingon stories came in “Sins of the Father,” a third-season Next Generation episode in which Worf’s late father is accused of treason. As much as it pains him to do so, Worf decides to shoulder the blame in accordance with Klingon custom, despite his father’s innocence, a move that will help preserve the Klingon Empire’s political status quo and keep the empire from spiraling into chaos that could ultimately harm millions. It’s a deeply human story, a meditation on family pride as much as it is a revealing look into the intricacies of Klingon politics.

If the Klingons were Star Trek’s original villains, the Borg were the show’s best. A technologically advanced race of cyborgs, the Borg are bound together into a hive mind called “the Collective.” Just looking at the Borg, a terrifying hodgepodge of man and machine, is enough to send shivers down your spine. But the real terror lies in their motivation: intergalactic racial purity. When the Borg encounter a new species, they either add it to the Collective through forced “assimilation” or simply kill it off.

It’s unclear which is the worse fate. In part, Star Trek is a celebration of humanity’s individuality. The Borg are everything Trek’s humans are not: obedient, robotic, conformist. So great is the fear of assimilation that in the Star Trek film First Contact, an Enterprise crew member who’s going through the horrific process begs Capt. Picard to kill him out of mercy. Picard—who had once been assimilated himself but was saved in a daring rescue by his crew—obliges. “The concept of being assimilated was terrifying, because it seemed like you had no control over it and no ability to combat it,” says Jonathan Frakes, who played Star Trek’s Cdr. William T. Riker and directed First Contact as well as Star Trek: Insurrection.

The Borg, who first appeared in a 1989 episode of The Next Generation, are typically considered a commentary on fascism and racial cleansing. But in a sense, they are aliens posing questions we didn’t even realize we would soon be facing. Can we real-world humans be addicted to constant connectivity through our smartphones, as the Borg are to the Collective? (Cut a Borg off from the hive mind, and the alien’s nonplussed reaction is not unlike that of a teenager stripped of an iPhone.) Does social media give us a platform on which to connect with others to enhance our common understanding, or does it create a hive mind that rejects unpopular opinions, as does the Collective? Should we enhance our physical and mental capabilities with technological implants, as the Borg do? Watch the Borg stories with these pressing questions in mind, and they only become more fascinating.

Given the prominence of races like the Klingons and the Borg, it might seem as if Star Trek’s aliens are almost always villains. That’s far from the case. The greedy Ferengi, introduced early in The Next Generation, were intended as such at first. But fans considered them too silly to be a serious threat. Instead, the Ferengi soon turned into walking, breathing commentaries on the advantages and flaws of unbridled capitalism. If Donald Trump were a Star Trek alien, he would be a Ferengi. They’re driven entirely by making money; they always want the better part of the deal. (They also happen to be some of the most sexist creatures in Trek: they outright ban women from business, though their society undergoes reforms as their story line progresses.) These characteristics put them in stark contrast with Star Trek’s humans, who work not for money but “to better ourselves and the rest of humanity,” as Capt. Picard once put it.

Star Trek’s quintessential Ferengi was Quark, a seedy intergalactic businessman and bartender who was brought to life by actor Armin Shimerman in Deep Space Nine, the franchise’s third television series. Quark often quoted from “the Rules of Acquisition,” a sort of Ferengi guidebook that could double as Gordon Gekko’s personal manifesto. Example rules include “Never place friendship above profit,” “Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity” and “War is good for business.” But Deep Space Nine’s writers went beyond using Quark as a mere punching bag for Wall Street. In the season-three episode “The House of Quark,” for instance, we see him use his business-like cunning to escape certain death in a duel with a Klingon. The lesson? Sometimes greed is good.

Star Trek writers were skilled at constantly adding depth to the aliens who reappeared through the series. Just as the Klingons’ belligerence was leavened with stories about their love of honor, the warlike Romulans turned out to be literally related to the Vulcans—a glimpse at Trek’s most logical race with the worked only in pairs, providing a lesson about the power of cooperation. And Star Trek: Voyager’s “Year of Hell” offered the history-alerting Annorax, who aimed to use his time weapon to restore his people’s empire to its former glory but killed his own wife in the process, revealing the cost of stubborn pride.

On one level, Star Trek is a science-fiction show about a group of intellectually enlightened humans exploring the far reaches of the galaxy, all to better their understanding of their world. But the show is really about us, back here in the present day, and the common ties that bind us. What better way to show us we’re all alike than through the lens of outsiders? “Aliens are really important in science fiction because they give a little distance character-wise and story-wise so that you can actually have stories about beauty and youth and racism, and on and on and on,” says John de Lancie, who played Star Trek’s godlike character Q. “It puts it on the character of an alien to be able to say things that sometimes you can’t say straight out. I think the aliens in Star Trek and the aliens in most science fiction have a lot of value in that respect.”

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Published Jul 2, 2023

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

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

StarTrek.com

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

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

10. The Nibirans

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

9. The Kradin

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

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

7. The Tamarians

Shaka, when the walls fell!

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

6. The Horta

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

5. The Kobali

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

4. The Gormagander

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

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

3. The Flying Parasites

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

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

2. The Cheron

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

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

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

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

This article was originally published on August 12, 2019.

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

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The Aenar were a subspecies of Andorians native to the Northern Wastes of Andoria . Their population during the mid- 22nd century consisted of only a few thousand.

• 1 Physiology
• 2 Society and culture
• 5.1 Appearances
• 5.2 Background information
• 5.3 Apocrypha
• 5.4 External link

Physiology [ ]

The Aenar were physiologically very similar to the Andorians. Like Andorians, they had two antennae , although those of the Aenar had small indentations in the funnel-shaped tips. They had no skin or hair pigmentation, resulting in a pale ice-blue/white appearance similar to an albino . ( ENT : " The Aenar ")

A diagram of an Aenar brain

Many, if not all, Aenar were completely blind , yet had the ability to see via telepathy . ( ENT : " The Aenar ") Their other senses not only compensate for their blindness, but are actually notably superior compared to those of most other humanoids . ( SNW : " Children of the Comet ")

The most distinctive trait of the Aenar were their highly evolved telepathic abilities. An Aenar was capable of reading minds and of psychically projecting itself to other humanoids. They used telepathy to communicate amongst themselves. Their telepathic abilities also allow them to resist telepathy-based mind control to some degree. Aenar also possessed a limited form of precognition . ( ENT : " The Aenar "; SNW : " Children of the Comet ", " The Elysian Kingdom ")

A hologram of Talla , an Aenar/ Andorian hybrid ( 2161 )

They were genetically compatible with Andorians; Aenar Jhamel and Andorian Shran had a child, Talla . She appeared to have fully functional eyesight, but it is unknown whether she inherited the Aenar superior senses and telepathy. ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ")

Society and culture [ ]

The Aenar compound

The Aenar of the 22nd century lived in an underground compound on Andoria shielded by a dampening field . They had no leader but would appoint an authorized delegate known as a Speaker if a situation warranted it. The Aenar had a strict law against reading the minds of other people without prior consent. They had a strictly pacifist ideology and deplored violence.

The Aenar believed that death only came after one had fulfilled their life's meaning. ( SNW : " Memento Mori ")

History [ ]

The Aenar were considered a myth in Andorian society until 2104 , when the Andorians rediscovered the Aenar living in the Northern Wastes of Andoria. Afterwards, the Aenar maintained diplomatic contact with the Andorian government, though they remained extremely secretive. Shran claimed he could count on one hand the number of Andorians who had seen one face-to-face.

In 2154 , the Aenar became involved in interstellar affairs when one individual, Gareb , was kidnapped by the Romulan Star Empire . Using telepresence , the Romulans used Gareb to remotely pilot an experimental drone ship .

With the help of Gareb's sister Jhamel , Enterprise NX-01 was able to disrupt and destroy the drone ship. ( ENT : " The Aenar ")

By 2259 , at least one Aenar, Hemmer , served in Starfleet . ( SNW : " Strange New Worlds ")

• Talla ( half Andorian )
• See : Unnamed Aenar

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Aenar "
• " These Are the Voyages... "
• " Strange New Worlds "
• " Children of the Comet "
• " Ghosts of Illyria "
• " Memento Mori "
• " The Elysian Kingdom "
• " All Those Who Wander "
• " Lost in Translation " (illusory)
• " Holiday Party "
• " Holograms All the Way Down " (hologram)

Background information [ ]

Commander Thelin

Though the appearance and existence of the Aenar was not revealed on-screen until the final scene of " United ", the final draft script of immediately previous episode " Babel One " described them as "a new Andorian sub-species" whose "skin tone resembles that of an albino." The final draft script of "United" elaborated on this, establishing the Aenar as not only "albino Andorian[s]" with "dead white skin" but also referring to them as having "milky eyes". The episode which focuses on the Aenar the most is the next episode, " The Aenar ". In that episode's final draft script, the pronunciation of the group's name was phonetically notated "EE-nar".

It was not specified that the Aenar became members of the Federation as the Andorians had done, although this seems likely given that they were native to the same moon as a founding member. In TNG : " Attached ", Captain Jean-Luc Picard explained that every member of the Federation (as of 2370) had "entered as a unified world."

TAS : " Yesteryear " featured a character with similar skin coloration, Thelin . This was the result of an animation choice.

Apocrypha [ ]

In the Star Trek: Myriad Universes story " The Chimes at Midnight ", which explores the timeline from TAS : " Yesteryear ", Thelin is confirmed to have an Aenar parent.

As depicted in the Star Trek: Enterprise novel The Good That Men Do , the Aenar became extinct by the early 25th century .

According to the Star Trek: Typhon Pact novel Paths of Disharmony , the Aenar were extinct by the late 23rd century .

According to the novel The Higher Frontier , Aenar are not a naturally psychic race, as they lack a paracortex or similar structure in their brains. Instead, every Aenar is bonded with a Spectre, a non-corporeal entity that provides its host with psychic ability. These Spectres are refugees from their own dimension and are being hunted by the Spectre Lords for the crime of traveling to other dimensions and trying to contact corporeal beings. In the novel, the population of the last Aenar city is massacred by the Naazh, a faction working for the Lords. Eventually, the surviving Aenar and telepathic Humans choose to live with their Spectres in a subspace domain where they would be safe from the Lords, leaving the Aenar effectively extinct in the prime universe.

In Star Trek Online , the Aenar are available as paid-for Federation bridge officers , as well as randomly available duty officers.

External link [ ]

• Aenar at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 2 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 Rules of Acquisition

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Every major star trek villain species, ranked.

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Star Trek Officially Brands a Surprising Deep Space Nine Hero as a War Criminal

Star trek's new warp drive breaks the prime directive in a way no-one expected, star trek just explained q's entire personality in a single sentence.

Star Trek has featured a plethora of intriguing villain species over its seven-decade run, as well as a few that haven't quite worked. As humans sought out new life and new civilizations in Star Trek 's future, they were bound to run into some that weren't exactly friendly. The antagonistic species the crew of the USS Enterprise and other Starfleet vessels encountered were often reflections of humanity's own past failings, with fascist regimes and violent dictatorships in full swing across the galaxy.

Not every Star Trek story features a cut-and-dry alien villain; sometimes Starfleet officers face aliens with whom they simply have a misunderstanding in good faith, like Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and an unintelligible Tamarian captain in the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Darmok," or the misunderstood creature called the Horta encountered by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Devil In The Dark." That said, most of Star Trek 's iconic antagonists are alien species with clear hostility toward the idealism Starfleet and the Federation stand for. Here's a ranking of every major Star Trek villain species.

Related: Every First Officer In Star Trek Canon Ranked

10 The Kazon

The Kazon were supposed to be Star Trek: Voyager 's ultimate bad guys, but it didn't quite work out that way. A warrior race bent on conquest, they generally came across as cheap knockoffs of the Klingons. Even the Borg didn't want to assimilate them. The Kazon would unsuccessfully menace Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the crew of the USS Voyager for the show's first two seasons before being phased out of the show in the season 3 premiere "Basics, Part II." Star Trek: Prodigy has somewhat reimagined the Kazon as slave traders, but they remain one of Star Trek 's most underwhelming antagonists.

9 The Ferengi

The Ferengi were conceived by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry to be TNG 's primary antagonists, but their initial appearance in the season 1 episode "The Last Outpost" scuttled that plan. TNG would eventually find their true villains in Q (John de Lancie) and the Borg, with the Ferengi only appearing sparingly over the rest of the series, often as comic relief. The Ferengi were eventually salvaged when Star Trek: Deep Space Nine refocused them as ultra-capitalists, largely through the duplicitous station bartender Quark (Armin Shimerman) . Still, even if you owe them Latinum, most Star Trek species aren't particularly intimidated by the Ferengi.

8 The Breen

The Breen began as something of a running joke on TNG , often referenced but never actually seen. No one was laughing when they eventually made their debut on DS9 . A brutally violent species that wear fully enclosed atmosphere suits to acclimate to warmer climates, the Breen Confederacy became a major galactic player in the final days of the Dominion War, aligning themselves with the Changelings to take on the Federation, even managing to destroy Captain Benjamin Sisko's (Avery Brooks) ship the USS Defiant. The fearsome Breen returned in the Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3 episode "Trusted Sources," having overrun the planet Brekka. The Breen remain a mysterious, potent threat to Starfleet.

The Gorn are a lizard-like species that debuted in the TOS episode "Arena," where Captain Kirk was forced into a fight to the death with one of the monstrous creatures. One of the few purely malevolent species in Star Trek , the Gorn have been referenced often over the years but only made their return recently in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . The family of the Enterprise's security chief Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) was murdered by Gorn when she was a child, and she was forced to relive her trauma when the Enterprise crew had to face a group of homicidal Gorn hatchlings.

Related: Strange New Worlds Retcons Star Trek: TOS' Gorn Timeline

6 The Jem'Hadar

The Jem'Hadar were a genetically-engineered warrior species that served as the Dominion's primary military force during the Dominion War. Physically powerful and with little regard for their own lives, they were bred to be the ultimate killing machines. They were addicted to the drug ketracel-white, and their dependence on the drug provided by the Dominion kept them in line. While unintended by their Dominion masters, the Jem'Hadar developed a somewhat twisted sense of honor; they weren't true believers in the Dominion cause, they simply had no other choice but to obey. In many ways, the Jem'Hadar were as much victims of the Dominion War as anyone else.

5 The Romulans

One of Star Trek 's oldest enemy aliens, the Romulans debuted all the way back in the TOS season 1 classic episode "Balance Of Terror." Since that initial stunner of an episode, the insidious Romulan Star Empire remained a constant threat to the Federation. They maintained something of a cold war with the Federation during the TNG era until their home planet, Romulus, was destroyed by a supernova in the late 24th century. After the destruction of Romulus, the Romulan Empire was severely weakened, but they were still powerful enough to send a 200-ship-strong armada to attack a planet of synthetics in the Star Trek: Picard season 1 finale.

4 The Changelings

The Changelings, also known as the Founders, were the primary species behind the Dominion. The rulers of the Gamma Quadrant naturally reverted to a gelatinous goo form, and generally congregated together in a massive sea known as the Great Link. Condescending and arrogant, the Changelings believed humanoids were inferior life forms and referred to them derisively as "solids." They sought to annihilate the Federation in the Dominion War through both direct attacks and complicated subterfuge. They were eventually defeated when Starfleet infected the Great Link with a deadly virus, which was ultimately cured when the benevolent Changeling Odo (Rene Auberjonois) rejoined the Link at the conclusion of DS9 .

3 The Klingons

Since TOS season 1, the Klingons have been portrayed as a warrior race obsessed with honor and conquest. The Klingons have looked quite different over Star Trek 's history, though the most frequent appearance has been the one made famous in TNG , featuring pronounced head ridges and leather and chain battle gear. By the era of TNG , the Klingons were somewhat uneasy allies of the Federation, though that alliance was temporarily dissolved in the lead-up to the Dominion War. Whether friend or foe, the Klingons are always a volatile, unpredictable species who yearn for battle and glory, often against the wishes of the Federation.

Related: Discovery Season 5 Must Reintroduce TNG Style Klingons

2 The Cardassians

The Cardassians were introduced in TNG , but they became an iconic villain species on Deep Space Nine . Long an enemy of the Federation, the Cardassians had declared an uneasy truce with the Federation by the time of DS9 . During their years-long conflict with the Federation, the Cardassians occupied the peaceful, non-Federation planet Bajor. The Cardassians brutalized the Bajorans, perceiving them as an inferior race suitable only for slave labor. Charismatic monsters like Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) saw these atrocities as the necessary cost of building an empire, indifferent to the plight of the innocent. The ultimate treatment of the Cardassians at the hands of the Dominion was a bitter irony.

A species of faceless, voiceless cybernetic zombies, the Borg are the most threatening villains in all of Star Trek . Introduced in the TNG season 2 episode "Q Who," the Borg assimilate entire planets and species into their collective with the explicit goal of making all of the universe Borg. After assimilating Captain Picard in the TNG season 3 episode "The Best Of Both Worlds," the Borg decimated Starfleet at the battle of Wolf 359 on their way to assimilate Earth. The Borg were critically wounded in the Star Trek: Voyager series finale "Endgame," but they remain the most dire threat to humanity in all of Star Trek .

More: Every Borg Queen In Star Trek

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S1.E0 ∙ The Cage

S1.E1 ∙ The Man Trap

S1.E2 ∙ Charlie X

S1.E3 ∙ Where No Man Has Gone Before

S1.E4 ∙ The Naked Time

S1.E5 ∙ The Enemy Within

S1.E6 ∙ Mudd's Women

S1.E7 ∙ What Are Little Girls Made Of?

S1.E8 ∙ Miri

S1.E9 ∙ Dagger of the Mind

S1.E10 ∙ The Corbomite Maneuver

S1.E11 ∙ The Menagerie: Part I

S1.E12 ∙ The Menagerie: Part II

S1.E13 ∙ The Conscience of the King

S1.E14 ∙ Balance of Terror

S1.E15 ∙ Shore Leave

S1.E16 ∙ The Galileo Seven

S1.E17 ∙ The Squire of Gothos

S1.E18 ∙ Arena

S1.E19 ∙ Tomorrow Is Yesterday

S1.E20 ∙ Court Martial

S1.E21 ∙ The Return of the Archons

S1.E22 ∙ Space Seed

S1.E23 ∙ A Taste of Armageddon

S1.E24 ∙ This Side of Paradise

S1.E25 ∙ The Devil in the Dark

S1.E26 ∙ Errand of Mercy

S1.E27 ∙ The Alternative Factor

S1.E28 ∙ The City on the Edge of Forever

S1.E29 ∙ Operation -- Annihilate!

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