What story elements would you remove or just forget exist from canon?

[Citiprime]

Star Trek is really dumb. And I mean that lovingly. There's sound in space, the ship is a silly shape that makes zero sense (otherwise other aliens would make something other than bird shapes, no?), they seem to think space has an up and a down and all aliens are human with silly bumps on their heads and often nonsensical and deeply impractical whacky alien values.

Start with that and dinosaur aliens, transwarp beaming and the rest all fits in pretty well. Spock had his brain stolen to lead a society of women, ffs.

Warp Five speed limit.

Oh wait, they did that themselves with barely a technobabble explanation on screen.

Lol.

If I remember right, a popular fanwank on the warp speed limit was that Voyager's variable geometry nacelle pylons were supposed to be a solution to the problem. However, since Voyager is the only ship we ever see with those moving pylons ....

Why is Data any kind of accomplishment when TOS featured self-aware ALs ("What Are Little Girls Made Of?") that would be revealed to Starfleet / the Federation?

If the depiction of different forms of AIs in Lower Decks is anything to go by ....

Spoiler

and Starfleet having a huge prison for them

Maybe Data and The Doctor are special in that they're some of the few iterations of AI that didn't go evil and decide to start killing things.

Spoiler

You could also fanwank the idea to also in a way add some deeper context to the Federation's AI ban in season 1 of Picard. That the AI ban after the attack on Mars wasn't just a reactionary decision after a horrific event, but built on a long history of AI going bad.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I would get rid of any mention or usage of cloaking technology anywhere in the timeline prior to Balance of Terror. I don't begrudge Discovery's use of cloaks because Enterprise already opened up that kind of worms 20 years earlier, but I would still rather that BoT be the first appearance of cloaks.

 

[Oddish]

Just shovel a ton of Berman-era ST into the back of a garbage truck and off it goes to the incinerator.

Maybe a few hundred pounds. Junk like Code of Honor, Last Outpost, Justice, Hide and Q, ... [really long fast forward] ... Bound, and These are the Voyages.

If I remember right, a popular fanwank on the warp speed limit was that Voyager's variable geometry nacelle pylons were supposed to be a solution to the problem. However, since Voyager is the only ship we ever see with those moving pylons ....

Easily fixed. Because Voyager's warp core was already built with a fixed geometry field generator when the limit was established, they had to put in moving nacelles to create a proper variable geometry warp field. Newer ships, built from the ground up with subspace-friendly warp technology or fitted with new variable geometry warp systems during scheduled refits, could have fixed nacelles and still "go green".

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I would get rid of any mention or usage of cloaking technology anywhere in the timeline prior to Balance of Terror.

This.

 

[FederationHistorian]

Transwarp Beaming - This was one of JJ Abrams's famous plot shortcuts for the Kelvin Universe, which arguably makes warp drive meaningless. If Khan can beam from Earth to Quo'Nos, why exactly does Starfleet need starships?

I actually don’t mind this. In the short term, they need starships to chart space. But the implication of this development makes for an interesting future where starships are obsolete. As is the fact that Scotty still came up with the idea, which affects the prime timeline too. Shame its not being thoroughly explored anywhere.

As for what I would remove, I have two.

1) Lorca being from the mirror universe.

2) Khan reveal in ID. Just let him be Augment and Section 31 superspy John Harrison, who has his own interest with Khan and his crew separate from Admiral Marcus.

 

[Takeru]

The "genetic manipulation is illegal" thing DS9 came up with, it contradicts earlier episodes and doesn't even make sense, you don't ban something just because it can be abused and earth had bad experiences with it in the past. If that's the threshold for banning certain technologies there wouldn't be a lot of technology left.

 

[Oddish]

Genetic manipulation like correcting Miral's spine deviation or any number of other issues should be permitted. Genetic manipulation for the express purpose of creating superior humans (as was done to an extent with Bashir and to an extreme with Khan and those other augments) should remain a crime.

 

[RuleofAcuisition17]

Genetic manipulation like correcting Miral's spine deviation or any number of other issues should be permitted. Genetic manipulation for the express purpose of creating superior humans (as was done to an extent with Bashir and to an extreme with Khan and those other augments) should remain a crime.

Isn't that brought up in the Bashir episode? Where fixing genetic or life limiting/threatening defects is fully permitted but alterting anything cognitive or strength etc is illegal?

 

[Farscape One]

It was.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Member of an UFP race built Data, and the big deal seem to be about the positronic brain. The examples in TOS, I believe were by non-UFP aliens or Leonardo Di Vinci, whose androids probably were classified and not known to most folks including Picard and Data.

In the case of Roger Korby--a member of a UFP race, and was investigated by a Starfleet vessel--should be in the Starfleet records, since no one on screen said the matter was to be classified.

Data was definitely more 'mentally' robust and stable than the androids encountered in TOS.

Korby and Ruk (despite the latter's physical appearance) seemed to be as "mentally robust" as Data, perhaps more so, considering the advanced process used to save / "restore" Korby. Both were--in personality / capability closer to human behavior (Korby had everyone--including Chapel--fooled) than Data, who had to use an additional implant just to "feel" (or feign) emotions.

 

[Oddish]

Remember Data's mom, too. She was perfectly capable of feeling emotions.

 

[Citiprime]

Remember Data's mom, too. She was perfectly capable of feeling emotions.

Memory Alpha points out that not only did she presumably feel emotions, but did so in the same way that Lal became capable of towards the end which could be outwardly sensed by Betazoids, since Counselor Troi didn't notice that there was a person that she wasn't able to sense anything from.

 

[Farscape One]

In the case of Roger Korby--a member of a UFP race, and was investigated by a Starfleet vessel--should be in the Starfleet records, since no one on screen said the matter was to be classified.



Korby and Ruk (despite the latter's physical appearance) seemed to be as "mentally robust" as Data, perhaps more so, considering the advanced process used to save / "restore" Korby. Both were--in personality / capability closer to human behavior (Korby had everyone--including Chapel--fooled) than Data, who had to use an additional implant just to "feel" (or feign) emotions.

In the end of "WHAT ARE LITTLE GIRLS MADE OF?", didn't Kirk tell Spock 'Korby was never here? Maybe he means for the records to show the incident never happened.

 

[at Quark's]

The Federation not using money.

I could never, ever, believe that happening, under any circumstance. I don't believe any sufficiently advanced economy (such as the Federation would possess) could possibly be maintained without it, post-scarcity or not.

I admire the sentiment behind it though. What they should have said in my view is that money still exists, but that humanity attaches no more importance to it anymore than just as a medium to facilitate fair exchanges.

 

[fireproof78]

The Federation not using money.

I could never, ever, believe that happening, under any circumstance. I don't believe any sufficiently advanced economy (such as the Federation would possess) could possibly be maintained without it, post-scarcity or not.

I admire the sentiment behind it though. What they should have said in my view is that money still exists, but that humanity attaches no more importance to it anymore than just as a medium to facilitate fair exchanges.

As much as I loathe Picard and company's attitude towards the 21st century humans Picard's speech would work even if you take at the money part of the his statement. "We've eliminated hunger, thirst, want. The need for material possessions." It still works, but money and opportunities for those who find that of interest may still present themselves.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

In the end of "WHAT ARE LITTLE GIRLS MADE OF?", didn't Kirk tell Spock 'Korby was never here? Maybe he means for the records to show the incident never happened.

That was Kirk--in the wake of killing, a "suicide" and what it ultimately meant for Korby--being crestfallen, as opposed to purposely concealing anything. Moreover, Korby made his own existence known by contacting the Enterprise (and one would assume Uhura transmitted regular reports along the way). I doubt Kirk would have any reason to conceal the entire Exo 3 / Old Ones / Korby story from the Federation, so long before Data, advanced, realistic ALs should have been known to--at the very least--the administrative level of the Federation, even if no member worlds ever attempted to retrieve Korby / the Old Ones' information or replicate their experiments.

 

[Vger23]

Honestly….the Borg Queen.

 

[fireproof78]

Honestly….the Borg Queen.

110%!

 

[Farscape One]

I find myself in agreement. Because while I understand the story and character need to have that face to face adversary in FIRST CONTACT, I think it started the Borg's descent from being a relentless force of nature to another regular villain with their own agenda.

(I do love Alice Krige's performance and take on the Borg Queen. But she truly should only have existed in the movie. All other appearances were extraneous and made her and the Borg far worse)

 

[Citiprime]

I never liked the shift of the Borg in First Contact towards being space zombies. The sickly green lighting and horror movie aesthetics of their ships after First Contact made them seem less ... "alien" to me somehow.

I think part of what makes them so disturbing in Best of Both Worlds is that they seem so strange and different without the individuality. And once you give them the Queen and make the drones into looking like rotting corpses that assimilate anyone they "bite," it just robs them of that strangeness by fitting them into familiar boxes.