The Next Creepy Big Bad

[Sci]

Pirate Captain Angel and the changling Vadic are both examples of great villians or foils that gave our heroes a run for their money but were not a noticeable threat to most of the Federation. Let's have recurring villians like this.

One of the things I really like about Captain Angel is that even though they're an antagonist who has done some awful things, they're not per se a malevolent person. They honestly seemed to care about helping Spock see that he doesn't have to make a binary choice between a Vulcan identity and a Human identity, they and their crew didn't actually kill or permanently injure anybody, and their goal was merely to liberate their lover Sybok from a Vulcan system of incarceration that is of questionable moral legitimacy.

(Their crew did claim they intended to sell the Enterprise crew into slavery in the Klingon Empire, but given how much less malevolent the rest of Angel's actions were, and given that Angel had a personal transport in hiding to spirit themselves away from the Serene Squall, I personally find myself wondering if perhaps Angel always intended to deliver the slavers in her crew into Starfleet custody before escaping.)

The Emerald Chain was great. Let's see more of that. A local villian threatening a stellar neighborhood or some small corner of the sector. The Sona! Only one planet hidden inside a nebula was in trouble.

I do think smaller-scale antagonists are the way to go, yeah.

 

[Farscape One]

One of the things I really like about Captain Angel is that even though they're an antagonist who has done some awful things, they're not per se a malevolent person. They honestly seemed to care about helping Spock see that he doesn't have to make a binary choice between a Vulcan identity and a Human identity, they and their crew didn't actually kill or permanently injure anybody, and their goal was merely to liberate their lover Sybok from a Vulcan system of incarceration that is of questionable moral legitimacy.

(Their crew did claim they intended to sell the Enterprise crew into slavery in the Klingon Empire, but given how much less malevolent the rest of Angel's actions were, and given that Angel had a personal transport in hiding to spirit themselves away from the Serene Squall, I personally find myself wondering if perhaps Angel always intended to deliver the slavers in her crew into Starfleet custody before escaping.)



I do think smaller-scale antagonists are the way to go, yeah.

Didn't those pirates kill the crew of the other ship?

 

[BlueStuff]

Gorgon. As you believe, so shall you do. Hail, hail, fire and snow.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

One of the things I really like about Captain Angel is that even though they're an antagonist who has done some awful things, they're not per se a malevolent person. They honestly seemed to care about helping Spock see that he doesn't have to make a binary choice between a Vulcan identity and a Human identity, they and their crew didn't actually kill or permanently injure anybody, and their goal was merely to liberate their lover Sybok from a Vulcan system of incarceration that is of questionable moral legitimacy.

(Their crew did claim they intended to sell the Enterprise crew into slavery in the Klingon Empire, but given how much less malevolent the rest of Angel's actions were, and given that Angel had a personal transport in hiding to spirit themselves away from the Serene Squall, I personally find myself wondering if perhaps Angel always intended to deliver the slavers in her crew into Starfleet custody before escaping.)



I do think smaller-scale antagonists are the way to go, yeah.

I really loved the first pre reveal impression of Angel but didn't like the almost mirror universe level panto villain they turned into.
It was also very clear they were evil from the start cause they were dressed in what the Star Trek universe thinks is evil people clothes.

 

[Farscape One]

Gorgon. As you believe, so you shall do. Hail, hail, fire and snow.

No. Please, no. "AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD" was THE worst episode of TOS. It's even won that title in the 'Most Disliked' TOS thread.

(Though I suppose it would be supremely ironic if they do this and the resulting episode turns out to be one of the best.)

 

[Shawnster]

Dealing with threats that have a wider impact is an old Trek tradition though. How many times did Kirk save Earth or the Federation?

In the series? Not that much. Doomsday Machine or Space Amoeba were only indirect threats. They may have arrived at Earth in time or eventually destroyed the Federation, but, at the time of encounter, those threats were not known threats.

Kirk saved Deneva. In time the flying puke could have reached Earth but, again, nobody on Earth knew what was happening or felt threatened.

It was the movies that upped the stakes for Earth. VGER, Whale Probe.

 

[Sci]

Didn't those pirates kill the crew of the other ship?

As I recall, there was no other ship. Captain Angel impersonated someone else and requested assistance for a group of colonists who were supposedly taken captive by the crew of the Serene Squall, but then it turned out that they had made up those colonists entirely.

I really loved the first pre reveal impression of Angel but didn't like the almost mirror universe level panto villain they turned into.

I loved the panto, sorry. A dash of camp is absolutely delightful.

It was also very clear they were evil from the start cause they were dressed in what the Star Trek universe thinks is evil people clothes.

I mean, they dress basically not that different from Christine when she's off-duty.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Have the idea of a really imcomprehensible and far more advanced alien species coming to our galaxy for unknown reasons

This got me thinking. Here's a throwback to Star Trek history... the Kelvans. They're presumably still out there in the Andromeda galaxy, and would still need to relocate. They may not have any idea that the Federation made peace with their scouting party, and may not respect that peace, even if they did know.

By their own admission, the Kelvans are conquerors. If they were to launch a full-scale invasion of our galaxy, that would certainly qualify as a big bad. And an advanced species who can shapeshift and blend in among the various races of the Milky Way, but whose true form is a large, multi-limbed tentacle monster? Well, there's your creepy. (Imagine what they could do with that with modern effects, which would have been impossible in the TOS days.)

All you'd need is some way to get them to Federation space quickly, without a 300-year travel time. Hmm... anyone know of a mysterious portal lying around that we haven't yet learned why it exists?

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

How about a cult made up of many species members, which forms a Federation-like alliance of multiple worlds?

 

[dmac]

Vulcans!

I've been thinking Vulcan Bankers.
You know how there was no money in the Federation? Turns out the Vulcans financed everything. Now they are calling in their markers and the Federation could find themselves under the control of the Central Galactic Bank. .

 

[Shawnster]

What if -- hear me out on this -- we didn't have an alien species whose job it was to be the "big bad," but instead we featured a complex alien culture that is sometimes in conflict with the Federation for relatable reasons that resonate with why real-life societies are sometimes in conflict, and the overall arc of their story was both sides realizing that sometimes they've been wrong and reaching compromises?

This got me thinking. Here's a throwback to Star Trek history... the Kelvans. They're presumably still out there in the Andromeda galaxy, and would still need to relocate.

In the Star Fleet Battles game there are two "big bads" that fit this description

The Andromedans http://www.federationcommander.com/andromedan.shtml

The Andromedans are intergalactic invaders from the M31 (Andromeda) Galaxy, and spent 200 years on the journey to our galaxy. They have a base in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud. Their ships were first identified in 2566 (Y166); they launched a full-scale invasion in 2588 (Y188).

The Interstellar Concordium http://www.starfleetgames.com/federation/interstellarconcordium.shtml

The Inter-Stellar Concordium (ISC) is an organization, similar to the Federation, of several species. As is typical of the eastern regions of the known area of the galaxy, all of these species are native to different planets, but these star systems are within a relatively small area at the center of the ISC Trusteeship Territory. As with the Gorns and Romulans, there are no other significant sentient species in their territory.]

 

[Farscape One]

As I recall, there was no other ship. Captain Angel impersonated someone else and requested assistance for a group of colonists who were supposedly taken captive by the crew of the Serene Squall, but then it turned out that they had made up those colonists entirely.



I loved the panto, sorry. A dash of camp is absolutely delightful.



I mean, they dress basically not that different from Christine when she's off-duty.

I'll have to rewatch that again to be sure. I already planned on watching the dvd set my wife got me for Valenfine's Day before the new season starts.

 

[Commander Troi]

Trek really hasn't done much with Transhumanism (which has some similarities to both The Borg and The Federation, depending on which version of it you're talking about). Here's an interesting bit from Wikipedia:

"...there are many...[sic] ...who fear that the improvements afforded by a specific, privileged section of society will lead to a division of the human species into two different and distinct species. The idea of two human species, one being at a great physical and economic advantage in comparison with the other, is a troublesome one at best. One may be incapable of breeding with the other, and may by consequence of lower physical health and ability, be considered of a lower moral standing than the other."

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

What if someone brought "uncivilized" (ancient, by our standards - BC) humans forward in time and gave them Trek level tech, but taught them nothing about the values?

Humans vs their past - raising issues of "have we really come that far? are we better/worse/the same"?

 

[Farscape One]

Trek really hasn't done much with Transhumanism (which has some similarities to both The Borg and The Federation, depending on which version of it you're talking about). Here's an interesting bit from Wikipedia:

"...there are many...[sic] ...who fear that the improvements afforded by a specific, privileged section of society will lead to a division of the human species into two different and distinct species. The idea of two human species, one being at a great physical and economic advantage in comparison with the other, is a troublesome one at best. One may be incapable of breeding with the other, and may by consequence of lower physical health and ability, be considered of a lower moral standing than the other."

We're already there with the division, at least in terms of availability of things that are generally better for people. The cost of organic foods, for example.

 

[Commander Troi]

We're already there with the division, at least in terms of availability of things that are generally better for people. The cost of organic foods, for example.

Which is why it stood out to me. Trek has always done well talking about the present in the costumes of the future.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

The Borg erased/suppressed individuality, the Changelings seek to mimic/dilute it. What's left?

Amplifying individuality to the point of division and utter chaos, perhaps. What that looks like, I don't know.

 

[gweeps]

The next Big Bad will be rabid fan expctations.

 

[somebuddyX]

The sentient corporealised form of the future angry at the state of the universe in it's present time sends it's minions back in time to pervert the past. The minions are led by Reese Et-Burton who wants to put the universe into a perpetual timeloop so that the universe won't change. Some other stuff happens.

 

[Sketcher]

I feel Trek should take a page from Doctor Who and do a species like the Weeping Angels, or the Silence. Something that plays with our senses and memories, making them harder to fight off, or remember.

I mean Trek already stole the Borg idea from the Cybermen, so might as well keep going