Star Trek characters with superpowers

[Little_kingsfan]

Hi, everyone,

For my next compendium of useless (in terms of real-world application) but highly interesting (to a dedicated Star Trek fan such as myself) trivia, I'm trying to list any and all known "superpowers" used by at least the main - and possibly recurring - characters; however, since neither Memory Alpha nor Beta have a designated superpowers section (since nobody in Star Trek technically uses superpowers, but instead have physiological and sometimes mental abilities other species don't have), I can either spend the next however many hours/days/weeks scouring through the websites - or even more time consuming, actually rewatching the entire series/franchise - or I can ask the helpful members of the message board.

For example, I know Data has quite a few powers, including (but as far as I can tell not limited to):

• Atmospheric adaptation
• Computer interfacing
• Contaminant immunity (such as poisons, bacteria and diseases, as well as alcoholic and narcotic substances)
• Oxygen independence (does not require oxygen to breathe)
• Superhuman dexterity
• Superhuman durability
• Superhuman intelligence
• Superhuman strength
• Telepathic and empathic immunity (at least pre-emotion chip; possibly after)

Similarly, I believe Worf and other Klingons (especially in the TNG-era) have superhuman strength and stamina compared to humans; Vulcans such as Spock, Sarek, Tuvok, T'Pol, and Soval (just to name a few) similarly have superhuman strength, longevity/decelerated aging compared to humans, and some telepathic gifts such as the mind meld; Deanna Troi is a powerful empath, but not a full telepath like her mother due to her human half (by the way, was it ever established whether Thad & Kestra Riker on Picard or Tasha Riker in the novel-verse inherited any telepathic/empathic abilities from their mother?), and at least in The Battle of Betazed novel, she and other Betazoids learned how to use telekinesis and other mental powers (although it appears, to the best of my knowledge, that it was only for that book and has yet to be repeated in either the novel-verse or the rest of the franchise at large); Ferengi such as Quark and Nog have superhuman hearing - but humans have better vision than Ferengi - and they're also all immune/highly resistant to telepathy and empathy, if I recall correctly; Flint (from TOS and later Immortal Coil) is immortal/doesn't age; and of course the Q are immortal, superhumanly intelligent (even depowered, Q claims to have an I.Q. of 2,005), and at the very least nigh-omnipotent, and also can/have utilized superpowers such as reality warping, teleportation, matter-energy transformation (a.k.a. transfiguration), and time travel.

Anyways, any help on the subject would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Reyman]

Odo!

 

[Little_kingsfan]

Odo!

Duh! Of course, Odo has superpowers - he's a shapeshifter! Thanks, Reyman.

 

[Christopher]

Geordi La Forge has superhuman vision with his VISOR or later implants, able to see across the EM spectrum. It was even established once that he can use it to tell when humans are lying (less reliable with other species), though that was later ignored.

And this actually does qualify as a superpower, because it's beyond the baseline abilities for his species. Most of what's listed here is normal for the characters' species. Seven of Nine, as a cyborg, would also qualify as superpowered, with her enhanced physical strength, senses, and intellect.

 

[David cgc]

And this actually does qualify as a superpower, because it's beyond the baseline abilities for his species. Most of what's listed here is normal for the characters' species. Seven of Nine, as a cyborg, would also qualify as superpowered, with her enhanced physical strength, senses, and intellect.

Plenty of comic super-individuals are considered to have "superpowers," like Superman and the Martian Manhunter, even though their abilities are normal for Kryptonians and Green Martians on Earth.

 

[Christopher]

Plenty of comic super-individuals are considered to have "superpowers," like Superman and the Martian Manhunter, even though their abilities are normal for Kryptonians and Green Martians on Earth.

Yes, of course I know that, but as you say, it's "considered to have," meaning it's something of a fiction. It's conditional on living among a species with weaker abilities than your own. Tuvok is superpowered compared to humans but normal for a Vulcan. Troi is superpowered by human standards, but handicapped by Betazoid standards. Similarly, other Changelings would find Odo's skill at shapeshifting extremely poor. So it's a relative thing. Geordi fits the definition unambiguously, as he has abilities beyond/above those of his species.

 

[Nyotarules]

Miranda, a telepathic human

 

[Therin of Andor]

Many characters in Peter David's "New Frontiers" novels, such as Mark McHenry, Xyon, Morgan Primus, Xy.

Kirk and Teilani's child in the Shatnerverse novels.

 

[Little_kingsfan]

Thanks for the help so far - and especially to @Christopher for the information on Geordi who I hadn't considered but definitely does have superpowers via his VISOR and @Reyman for reminding me about Odo - but is there any way somebody (although I can certainly do it with the requisite information) can list which characters have what powers? Also, if you happen to know, feel free to say that, for example, Spock, although he's half-Human, is better at mind melds than full-blooded Vulcan Tuvok, because Spock has had a lot more experience, or that Deanna is fully conversant in telepathic communication, particularly with other Betazoids, but cannot actually initiate a conversation (or can she?). In addition, am I recalling correctly that Sarek displayed some new-ish power at some point during Discovery, one that was an extension of his usual Vulcan ability but hadn't been expanded upon until then, and if so what was it?

 

[JD]

I believe the Novelverse Andorian's antenna give them some enhances senses. It's been a while, but I believe Shar is able to sense a shrouded Jem'Hadar through his antenna in one of the Avatar books.

 

[Reyman]

Dr Julian Bashir. The genetic engineering meant he was smarter, stronger and had better reflexes than your everyday human being.

 

[Valin]

^^^Yes, and for the same reasons, Khan and his buddies.

 

[Csalem]

Rebecca Sisko in the books has abilities related to the Prophets.

 

[Little_kingsfan]

Okay, so far I've got:

• Data: Atmospheric adaptation, Computer interfacing, Contaminant immunity, Oxygen independence, Superhuman dexterity, Superhuman durability, Superhuman intelligence, Superhuman strength, Telepathic and empathic immunity, and I suppose one could argue that as an android, he has a form of Knowledge absorption in that he could store the information from books and computers in his positronic brain.
• Geordi La Forge: EM-Spectrum vision (via VISOR and ocular implants), telescopic vision (implants only)
• Julian Bashir: Superhuman intelligence, Superhuman dexterity, Superhuman stamina, Superhuman vision, Superhuman reflexes (once I knew what to look for, these are what augmented abilities Memory Alpha said Bashir has)
• Odo: Shapeshifting
• Quark, Rom, Nog, and other Ferengi: Superhuman hearing, Telepathic and empathic immunity, "sub- (less than) human" vision
• Q: Immortality, Nigh-omnipotence, Reality warping, Superhuman intelligence, Teleportation, Transfiguration, Chronokinesis (including time travel), Interstellar & Interdimensional travel

One more quick question: was it ever established that Vulcans on the whole have superhuman intelligence (i.e. the average Vulcan is smarter than the average human), or is it more of just "Spock's clearly superhumanly intelligent, T'Pol's 30-40 years older than the rest of her shipmates (except Phlox), so all Vulcans must be smarter than humans (when it comes to I.Q. points - which, as fans of Eureka and Stargate SG-1 can and will tell you, sometimes the solution to some runaway genius problem comes from someone with a less sophisticated approach...otherwise known as someone dumber [than they are])"?

Thanks again for all the answers; if you guys can think of even more, that'd be great.

 

[Stephen!]

Chakotay has 'superpowers' in the second "Spirit Walk" novel.

 

[Little_kingsfan]

Chakotay has 'superpowers' in the second "Spirit Walk" novel.

I've been meaning to get those first four Voyager Relaunch novels - but I'm waiting for them to go on sale (they probably will eventually, right?). I've read the book a while back from my local library, but I can't place any superpowers Chakotay had; which power(s) did he have?

 

[Little_kingsfan]

Hey, @Christopher, do you recall if any of your cosmozoans had any special abilities, other than natural interstellar travel and the ability to live in the vacuum of space? I know you've written a lot about them, most prominently in "Orion's Hounds", but they've also showed up in other novels as well.

 

[David Mack]

Can't believe no one has yet mentioned Wesley Crusher, who evolved into a Traveler. He can halt time, move through space-time pretty much at will, perceive time differently from other sentient beings. Heaven knows what else he'll be able to do as he gains experience and expands his abilities.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I know they aren't exactly main or recurring characters, but the first two who came to mind were Gary Mitchell and Elizabeth Dehner, who had superpowers for a little while, at least. They followed the more traditional superpower trope, in that their powers weren't a normal trait of their species, and they got them through an incident that could have been just as likely to cause their deaths.

 

[Christopher]

Hey, @Christopher, do you recall if any of your cosmozoans had any special abilities, other than natural interstellar travel and the ability to live in the vacuum of space? I know you've written a lot about them, most prominently in "Orion's Hounds", but they've also showed up in other novels as well.

I'm not sure how to answer that question; what constitutes "special" in this case? Or rather, what doesn't? They're nonhumanoid entities existing in a completely alien environment; it's questionable if they'd have any abilities in common with humanoids to start with. Any ability to survive, sense, maneuver, or interact in that environment would be completely alien to any human ability; even something basic like vision would no doubt operate in a very different spectral range, be far more light-sensitive due to the extreme darkness of interstellar space, and so on.

But I suppose some cosmozoans have shown abilities that would be unusual even by baseline cosmozoan standards, such as FTL travel, matter transmutation, shapeshifting, etc. Entities like the vampire cloud, the star-jellies, and the Crystalline Entity seemed to have pretty exceptional abilities.