Alien characters on the new series

[alpha_leonis]

I've read the reports about the new Star Trek series coming out in 2017. So far I'm not clear about which timeline it's going to be set in, or which time period, for that matter.

But, every Star Trek series to date has featured at least one alien main character (the new reports do say there will be "new" aliens we've never seen before.) But my question is: what alien race do we think *should* be featured as main or recurring characters? What previously-invented races deserve their own exploration?

My opinion: Vulcans and Klingons have both been done to death already. There's not much "new" they can do with those races that hasn't been done a million times before.

I'm voting for having an Andorian main character. The drawback of that choice is that they'd also need to hire a member of the production team specifically to operate the animatronic antennae, and I'm not sure how practical that would be for a regular character (as opposed to a recurring character like Enterprise's Shran.)

Another race I'd like to see (just because I'm intrigued by their look): Efrosians. That race was obviously well enough known by the TOS movie time frame that one of them served in StarFleet, and another one became Federation President.

Others?

 

[Spock's Barber]

A Gorn or a Horta on the new Starship would be interesting.

 

[alpha_leonis]

A Gorn or a Horta on the new Starship would be interesting.

Could they realistically do a Gorn or Horta as a regular character? The Gorn cameo on Enterprise was CGI, and could probably be done by motion-capture technology as it was done on Avatar.

Not sure how they'd do a Horta. They'd probably need to do CGI also (better option than having a puppeteer hide under a carpet.)

 

[Spock's Barber]

A Gorn or a Horta on the new Starship would be interesting.

Could they realistically do a Gorn or Horta as a regular character? The Gorn cameo on Enterprise was CGI, and could probably be done by motion-capture technology as it was done on Avatar.

Not sure how they'd do a Horta. They'd probably need to do CGI also (better option than having a puppeteer hide under a carpet.)

Agreed. I just thought that the idea of Federation crewmen/women interacting with a peaceful Horta inside the corridors of the Enterprise would be interesting to see.

 

[alpha_leonis]

BTW I think I put this in the TOS forum by mistake. Mods, please move as appropriate.

 

[David.Blue]

I believe Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, Andorians, Cardassians, Ferengi, etc. have all been explored quite a bit in previous series. Some--such as the Bajorans and Trill, imho--were done badly but that is a distinct issue.

We have seen various versions of the Caitans, from M'ress in the animated series to background characters in some of the movies and even a pair of interesting twins in the JJAbrams movies. But we really don't know anything about them. They get my vote.

 

[Tim Walker]

A basic challenge for Trek is to keep the show fresh.

 

[Ryan8bit]

I don't think they should throw aliens in like it's some alien lottery or Bolian Affirmative Action. I think they should figure out what character dynamics they need first, and then pick or create an alien to match that if necessary.

One thing they don't need is to pick the zany alien trope, or the outsider alien that wants to be human. Perhaps the latter is a fixture of Trek, but I wouldn't really miss it.

 

[Mudd]

A Gorn or a Horta on the new Starship would be interesting.

If we're redefining "interesting" as "hysterically pointless fan service that might serve as a running cheap joke for anyone bothering to mention the series in any context," then yeah.

 

[Tim Thomason]

A Gorn or a Horta on the new Starship would be interesting.

If we're redefining "interesting" as "hysterically pointless fan service that might serve as a running cheap joke for anyone bothering to mention the series in any context," then yeah.

Removing the names, they're just lizard-men and lava monsters. Lizard-men and lava monsters would be, in my opinion, very interesting ideas for inclusion as recurring or even regular characters on a futuristic science-fiction show.

As much as Star Trek is about the human, or humanesque, experience in outer space, a dabble into a non-humanoid's mind could be a very exciting gamble. And both "Arena" and "The Devil in the Dark" ended with the message that these strange, 'evil' creatures were really not that different from you and I (Horta protecting her children, Gorn defending his territory).

If the new series were to make a move towards inclusionism of these specific species, it wouldn't be fan service. It would be broadening the acceptability and diversity of starships to unseen heights.

In fact, the only difference between a hypothetical Gorn character and TNG's Worf or DS9's Odo could be the amount of makeup used and/or CGI.

 

[Awesome Possum]

I'd like to see aliens that weren't just a guest star with some latex glued to their forehead.

 

[T'Girl]

An alien from a species that we've never heard of before, so the writers and actor can create the character from scratch.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

At least 50% of the characters should be alien, IMO.

As for just which ones I'd like to see, here are some options (of races we've seen before): Andorian, Benzite, Bolian, Boslic, Chandir (aka Tail-heads), Deltan, Efrosian, Elaysian, J'naii, Rigellian (there are a few different Rigellian species to choose from as well).

 

[ancient]

A Gorn or a Horta on the new Starship would be interesting.

If we're redefining "interesting" as "hysterically pointless fan service that might serve as a running cheap joke for anyone bothering to mention the series in any context," then yeah.

Sir, our market research has determined the most popular aliens to use in the new Trek:
1. Catgirls
2. Catgirls
3. Catgirls
4. Catgirls
5. Catgirls
6. Catgirls
7. Catgirls
8. Catgirls
9. Catgirls
10. Catgirls

There is a 2% margin of error.

 

[Stardate]

Why not just show more human diversity to show how humanity has evolved and are working together in much better harmony. Show more asians, indians, arabs e.c.c.
Aliens should look more alien meaning they should find it hard living in a spaceship designed for Humans.
We saw fish type aliens in TNG that could live on Enterprise without any difficulties . That is just ridiculous. So less alien and more human diversity.
Rather explore humanoid Android story line smiller to I. robot, A.I or recently movie Ex Machina.

 

[Tim Walker]

I have to agree, there should be more racial and cultural diversity with the humans. Reflecting the diversity of Earth cultures.

In fact, we might even extend this diversity a bit. Stargate SG-1 included transplanted humans on other planets, and these cultures had a bit of diversity. In fact, there could be remnants or off shoots of cultures that no longer exist on Earth.

And then there could be a sort of cultural mutation in some of the interstellar colonies.

 

[rahullak]

And then there are those way out there aliens we've had glimpses of:

1. The Sheliak
2. The Jellyfish
3. The aliens that brought the ENT-D to their home via Barclay
4. The Calamarain
5. Various energy beings etc.

It would be interesting to have recurring characters of these species interacting with Starfleet crew regularly to get things done or to exchange tech/culture. It would be nice not to have the xenophobia trope dominating interspecies exchanges.

 

[rahullak]

A Gorn or a Horta on the new Starship would be interesting.

If we're redefining "interesting" as "hysterically pointless fan service that might serve as a running cheap joke for anyone bothering to mention the series in any context," then yeah.

I don't know about pointless fan service, but if you're worried about parodies and jokes about Trek, I'd have to say that's just a fact of our 21st century lives. If something gets good and famous and it can be parodied, it's gonna happen. So I think creating something that's so good it can't be parodied would reduce the breadth of creative output.

 

[JTShanks]

I feel like new and old Alien Species are essential to making Star Trek remain fresh; I would like some exploration of neglected species such as The Betazeds, Vulcans and Andorians and a few other species whose identity and history got glossed over in past shows and movies. (Let's face it, who would not like for there to be more explorations for the Betazeds or Andorians? They have been explored, but not to the extent of the Klingons.)

As for new species, yes; there should be new aliens introduced as well, there is a ton of other things that can help create that.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Ripley,Ash and Brett