Physical Strength Levels of Trek Species

I've always been fascinated as to how humans stack up against alien species, physically, so I am starting this thread. If you have anything to add, or corrections to make, feel free

It seems to me that physical strength levels vary in the Trek universe, but I have always been curious how humans stack up against other Trek species.

First, it is hard to define the average strength level of a human. For simplicity, let's just accept the following as the "average man."

The Average Man:

height = 5'8 - 5'10
weight = 160 - 180 lbs.
bench press (max) = 135 - 185 lbs.
deadlift (max) = 185 - 235 lbs.
squat (max) = 185 - 235 lbs.
bicep curl (max double) = 60 - 100 lbs.
bicep curl (max single) = 30 - 50 lbs.

...and just accept for sake and simplicity of argument, the "average" woman is roughly somewhere between half to 2/3s that.


Relative to the average human, it's been stated:

Human augments: Khan says to Kirk in Space Seed, "I have 5 times your strength."

Vulcans: Their strength level varies, but I believe it is stated in DS9, "Take Me Out To The Holo Suite," Vulcans are 5 times as strong as humans. Other sources seem to indicate 3 times as strong.

*Correction: Vulcans are 3 times that of humans, according to DS9's "TMOTTHS"

Romulans: This is a weird one. They never demonstrated superior strength in any series, and even seemed equal to humans, DESPITE their Vulcan lineage. However, Star Trek 2009, Nero picks Kirk up like a rag doll, with one hand. It is reasonable to assume they are as strong as Vulcans, I think, so they must be 3 times as strong as a human.

Klingons: While Klingons can be agreed to be tougher than humans (redundant vital organs, train as warriors from childhood and assumed to focus on physical fitness and fighting), on average they seem to be about as strong as humans. Worf would be an exceptionally strong Klingon or human, so I am not sure he would be a good example as the average "Klingon," and there is Star Trek 3, where Kruge picks up Kirk and throws him easily, indicating superior strength. However, young Spock threw a Klingon about as far, himself. So, I think Klingon must be somewhere between a human and a Vulcan, at maybe 1-3 times the strength of a human.

*Correction: Average Klingons are probably not as strong as Vulcans, so they are likely 1-2 times as strong as humans.

Jem Hadar: They seemed on par with Klingons

Ferengi: They seemed the weakest, at probably half that of a human, except in their debut, The Last Outpost. In that, Data said they were "stronger than they appear," and seemed as strong as a human.

Andorians: When Shran and Archer dueled in United, Shran displayed no superhuman strength. However, in Cease Fire, Tarah, the female Andorian,seemed to be stronger than Archer. Also, in United, Talas took out a Maco pretty easily. This could mean Andorian women are stronger than Andorian men.

Data\Lore\B4: I think several times, Data says to various humans he has "many times" a human's strength. I don't know why, but for some reason I have stuck in my mind that Data is 10 times as strong as a human.

ODO\Founders: Not stated, but has to be at least equal to Data.

Borg: Data overpowered a Borg (assumed to be human) with one arm easily in Descent, but probably depends on the race of the Borg prior to assimilation. Maybe human Borg is as strong as an average Vulcan?

 

I think it's stated that Vulcans are 3 times stronger in 'Take Me Out'. Also, Augmented humans beat the snot out of Klingons, so I'd accept that Klingons are only slightly stronger than a human, at least on average. Some individuals of either species may be stronger or weaker.

Trill seem to be almost as strong as Klingons, but not quite, so I'd say they're about equal to humans. Ditto for Bajorans and Cardassians.

 

If Vulcans are 3 times stronger, not 5 in "Take me Out..", I will have to modify that chart a bit. This also throws off Klingons, because they can't be stronger than Vulcans.

I would agree Cardassians and Bajorans are equal to humans.

 

From what we've seen, I'd guess Klingons are from half again to twice as strong as humans, on average.

 

Kruge and Worf support this idea, at least, but hard to know if they are typical, or just very strong Klingons. Generic Klingons like the one Riker ( I can't name any other fights Riker one on the TNG TV series, actually. he got beat up a lot.) took out on the IKS Paugh, not so much, though. I get the impression most Klingons are tougher endurance wise, but not much stronger than humans.

 

The surface gravity of the Genesis planet might be coming into play there. It's possible that Genesis is smaller (thus less gravity) than your average class M.

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The Human's in Day of the Dove easily held their own against the Klingons in sword play. When fighting with short swords, all else being equal, the stronger opponent wins.

I really don't think the average Klingon is even equal to the average Human, the Klingons we've seen have mostly been harden warriors, most of the Humans have been technicians in "good" shape. Klingons might have to train hard just to get up to the Human norm. A pregnant Kira once dropped a Klingon warrior with a single kick. Did I mention that she was preggers?

Worf was big, even for a Klingon.

So place the Klingons at ninety-five percent Human strength. But with superior endurance.

Data might have ment strong considering their stature, the impression I got from Last Outpost was that the Ferengi were the strength maybe of Human teenagers. Worf ultimately did handle two of them.

So place the Ferengi at two-thirds Human strength.

Vulcans are strong partly owing to the surface gravity of their homeword, but the Romulans left that homeworld two millenniums ago. If Romulus possessed a one gee surface gravity, the multiple Romulan generations would have adapted to it over time.

So place the Romulans at equal Human strength. One for one.

 

The problem with trying to figure this out is that when you look at all of the various scenes of hand-to-hand (or melee) combat across the various series, it's all over the map. Frankly, I think the "3 times as strong" figure for Vulcans given in "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" is bollocks. They are a bit stronger, sure, but really, NONE of the "standard" Trek humaoid races seem to have enough of a strength advantage over one another to mean much in a practical combat scenario.

EDIT:

When did that happen? Doesn't sound familiar.

 

I like your Klingon reasoning, T'Girl. Good points, Saito...it's really not that clear cut.

 

+2 T'girl, I hadn't accounted for gravity. Even after a couple years on a higher G planet, say 1.2 G, a person would be stronger just walking around and doing normal stuff.

Since Nero is the only example of a stronger Romulan, it's quite possible he was an exception, and Romulans are equal to humans.

But I minor disagreement here. I can buy Klingons being equal to humans with higher endurance, but not weaker.

Saito... Didn't you know? Pregnant Bajorans have 5 times normal human strength.