The most interesting aliens of TOS

Klingons and Vulcans are, imo, Trek's best alien races.

 

The Horta immediately came to mind.

 

What? No tellarite mentions? A bunch of argumentive pigs!

 

I couldn't really take the Tellarites seriously. I was much more intrigued with the Andorians. Sadly after Shras TOS didn't explore them further. However, I was intrigued with Thelin in TAS' "Yesteryear."

 

Besides, with the tellarites around you couldn't eat pulled pork, or bacon or....

Joking aside, I sort of Ike's them since they were so cantankerous. Not to mention greedy and conniving. A nice break for aliens.

 

According to the Starfleet Medical Reference Manual, Tholians are "anaerobic, with an average body temperature of 275° C." Well, that explains the psychedelic heat waves!

 

But she was created soooooooooooooooooooooooooo well!

 

Pigs are supposed to be physiologically close to humans, so the Tellarites doesn't seem to have a strange biology. However, it's interresting to see a government, member of the Federation, covering illegal mining.

 

I liked the Kelvans. Races outside of our galaxy are interesting to the Star Trek universe. If a new television show wanted a blank slate without a reboot, that is a possible option. Having a ship jump over to the Andromeda galaxy to explore would be neat.

I also enjoyed the Andorians and Tellerites. I wonder why they were never really revisited in TNG/DS9/VOY.

 

Agreed.

The aliens we didn't see interest me more though. The barely seen slavers, Preservers, the ones who built the Doomsday machines--and the Vegan tyranny

 

Christine was better off without Korby. If Andrea was an example his idea of the perfect woman, I don't think Chapel would ever be able to tame his roving eye.

 

The most interesting, truly "alien" alien race were the Neural parasites from "Operation--Annihilate!"

Mankind's longstanding fear of parasites/infection/loss of control is played to the bursting point with this episode's creatures. While they do look like a kind of jellyfish, they also take on the gruesome look of a large, open lesion: raw, torn-edged, yellowing, and sort of bloody in appearance.

Adding the fact the creatures were thinking--not just some random beast operating from instinct, so their "alien" threat was magnified--so there's no saving grace to be found.

One can argue the creatures were more at home in 30's pulps or 50's horror films, but in the allegedly "better" world of 23rd century TOS, the Neural parasites were the inexplicable shock with no intent on peaceful co-existence, no easy answers.

Other favorites: The Tholian Assembly & the TOS Klingons, with the Tholians just as removed from a peaceful relationship / cultural exchange with the Federation. That is what you find out on the "final frontier."