I agree. And for a significant period of time, when Scorpius was living inside Crichton’s head, his humanity was less than absolute.
An Alien Series Lead
- Thread starter Bry_Sinclair
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I agree. And for a significant period of time, when Scorpius was living inside Crichton’s head, his humanity was less than absolute.
Yeah: let's get a show with a Horta captain!
Armus spinoff please.
A reformed Armus who's risen through the ranks of Starfleet and come the 26th Century is the Captain of the Enterprise-H.
This show would be amazing.
A reformed Armus who's risen through the ranks of Starfleet and come the 26th Century is the Captain of the Enterprise-H.
This show would be amazing.
I see no reason not to. At some point they were worried aliens wouldn’t be relatable, but aliens in Star Trek are basically flavors of human anyway.
Star Trek: Armus in Charge, slowly oozing onto Paramount+ in 2025!
Please Armus
Don't harm us
(I can see this being lyrics to that show.)
Don't harm us
(I can see this being lyrics to that show.)
We've only rarely seen truly alien species in Trek. With that I mean, species whose actions and motivations are utterly incomprehensible to us, and stay incomprehensible, because they're wired so differently. Probably doesn't fit in too well with Trek's basic trope that aliens are used to reflect a property of humanity (and I can also imagine it's difficult to tell more than one-off stories about incomprehensible races).
I don't know if anyone mentioned Mackenzie Calhoun already but I was onboard with him as the captain of the New Frontier books in the 90s.
I think you can but it could be hard to do. I think some of the reasons why they stick with humans a lot is that it's easy to use our frame of references rather than have to invent stuff whole cloth. Sisko can make jambalaya and Archer can love water polo. That being said, as an Aussie and growing up without that frame of reference all that stuff might as well have been from another planet anyway. I thought water polo was just polo in the water. How did that not spook the horse? Oh wait.
So I guess just do it.
I think you can but it could be hard to do. I think some of the reasons why they stick with humans a lot is that it's easy to use our frame of references rather than have to invent stuff whole cloth. Sisko can make jambalaya and Archer can love water polo. That being said, as an Aussie and growing up without that frame of reference all that stuff might as well have been from another planet anyway. I thought water polo was just polo in the water. How did that not spook the horse? Oh wait.
So I guess just do it.
They kinda did that with Devil In The Dark and later in Discovery, although I guess they still gave them human relatable emotions.
The one example I could think of is Voyager's Twisted.
At the very end they can only speculate that this was another species' way of saying 'hello'. Though I think it would have been interesting to hear what they would have learned analysing those 20 million gigaquads of information dumped in their database. Unfortunately, we never get to hear that.
At the very end they can only speculate that this was another species' way of saying 'hello'. Though I think it would have been interesting to hear what they would have learned analysing those 20 million gigaquads of information dumped in their database. Unfortunately, we never get to hear that.
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There was Spock in TUC.
T’Pol briefly in “Twilight”.
Saru in S3 of DIS.
Nog in an alternate future.
Even Sisko could technically count since he was created by the Prophets.
There was also Worf, Dax & Kira commanding the Defiant on occasion. As well as Worf commanding the Ent-D in S2 of TNG, and Tuvok briefly commanding Voyager.
I don’t see the issue. The aliens chosen to be in command always have a human trait to them to make them relatable to the audience.
T’Pol briefly in “Twilight”.
Saru in S3 of DIS.
Nog in an alternate future.
Even Sisko could technically count since he was created by the Prophets.
There was also Worf, Dax & Kira commanding the Defiant on occasion. As well as Worf commanding the Ent-D in S2 of TNG, and Tuvok briefly commanding Voyager.
I don’t see the issue. The aliens chosen to be in command always have a human trait to them to make them relatable to the audience.
I recall sharing an all Extraterrestrial, space station idea on the future thread; you were the only one who had an open mind about the idea while the rest of the bunch took a dump on it. It was nice to see someone like yourself who took the time to read it carefully and giving a broad critique which was refreshing. As for your thought, I'm all in on this but since there would be less humans, in contrast these humans has to have same elements which made Spock, Odo, and Data so memorable they're more human in our best form.
You're very welcome.
Unfortunately, in the TV landscape of today that means they'd have to be extra dark and extra edgy, with some convoluted tragic backstory.
The "shroomies" in Silent Enemy (ENT) were not only convincingly alien in appearance*, but were an enigma as well. Through the entire episode they remained an enigma. (And a single episode may be the limit for a good story with enigmatic aliens).
* The shroomies were CGI.
* The shroomies were CGI.
I don't know about anyone else, but I liked the fact we only saw them once on ENTERPRISE. Keeps the mystery up.
SNW would be a great way for them to appear again. I really liked them.
SNW would be a great way for them to appear again. I really liked them.
I think this is more the case. Anything decidedly alien becomes less so as you explore it further. And exploration is part of Trek's ethos so ignoring those aliens is the only way for them to be enigmatic.
It was stored with the Eyemorgs advanced medical data and the Cytherians information from that cultural exchange. It's all being looked at by top men. Top. Men.
Also Una whenever Pike is off-ship (and she becomes a commodore in the comics/novels).
Also plenty of guest stars (a Bolian here, a Tellerite there, etc.).
Also already mentioned EU stuff like New Frontier and Star Trek Online.
You may not care for Star Trek Online...
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Deltan male captain.
His sexuality is his superpower. Meaning it’s a danger he has to keep in check. Except of course when he doesn’t. With humans and aliens of all varieties. In surprising novel subtle and splendid ways.
We learn as much about the Deltans as we have the Vulcans and reconsider our own sexualities and interpersonal connections through them as we have stoicism and logic through Vulcans.
His sexuality is his superpower. Meaning it’s a danger he has to keep in check. Except of course when he doesn’t. With humans and aliens of all varieties. In surprising novel subtle and splendid ways.
We learn as much about the Deltans as we have the Vulcans and reconsider our own sexualities and interpersonal connections through them as we have stoicism and logic through Vulcans.
Sounds like a train wreck, the poster child for why aliens as captains isn't a good idea.
Why do you say that? I think it’s fantastic.
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