The Next Creepy Big Bad

[Sci]

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?

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

It doesn't have to be a sentient species; I suppose it could be a criminal/terrorist organization (made up of many species), or a force of nature.

 

[Commander Troi]

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?

That seems far too reasonable and interesting!

 

[Commander Troi]

It doesn't have to be a sentient species; I suppose it could be a criminal/terrorist organization (made up of many species), or a force of nature.

Hmm... if we're in the 25th century, Orion syndicates could be cool.

 

[Lord Exor]

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?

That's not as fun as a cackling megalomaniac.

 

[Shawnster]

Does there need to be a big bad? How big is big? I'm tired of the Federation/quadrant/galaxy threats. You can have compelling villians that don't have an impact beyond our heroes.

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. Of course, if bad guys like this keep getting away then that will get old quickly. These aren't superior beings like Q that can just come and go on a whim. They need to be used sparingly or written in such a way that their continual escapes or releases or departures seem reasonable

I want(Ed) the same thing for PIC or DISCO. Instead of a Federation threatening or altering villian, why not smaller scale and more personal? Someone has imprisoned Beverly. The story conflict involves saving only Nephente.

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.

 

[at Quark's]

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

 

[Annorax849]

The Borg could probably be still scary if:

a) They divorce the Borg Queen from the Borg Collective and stick to solely representatives like Locutus

b) The Borg, if they insist on having a Queen, replace the Krige Queen with a new Queen. Why hasn’t a species that is always finding new ways to adapt and improve itself not figured out to get rid of their queen, considering how many times they have been defeated by the Federation? Matalas in an interview said he wanted to cast Emily Hampshire as the Borg Queen in S2, so maybe use that to re-imagine the Borg Queen

c) The Borg should have adapted cloaking tech by now and should use it more often. Maybe the Federation would develop anti-cloaking sensors (straight out of the Armada games), but at least it would be a logical progression.



There’s lots of possibilities. Vidiians. Species 8472. From the novels, the Kinshaya (who terrorize Klingons!). Even the Lihn Zhee (that unique skull in Picard’s trophy room in the Confederation timeline) could be developed into a serious threat.

If they want to expand obscure (or non-canon in the Kinshaya's case) races, they could also do the Fen Domar from Endgame. We don't know how far from "local" space they are.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

If you want to go for something really scary just make a show where the ship or crew have no connections to past Trek shows.
That really freaks out a lot of Star Trek fans.

 

[C.E. Evans]

^^^
The Orville?

 

[Farscape One]

^^^
The Orville?

A superb show.


Another idea just hit me. The demon planet with the silver blood that copied the Voyage crew. What if a LOT of other demon class planets had a similar lifeform? It takes the paranoia idea of the Changelings and the threat they pose with a different twist because they don't even realize they are copies.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

What if it copied and resurrected a dead foe?

 

[Farscape One]

What if it copied and resurrected a dead foe?

EVEN BETTER!!!

 

[Unimatrix Q]

I think the bluegills from "Conspiracy" are a pretty good creepy "big bad", since they have that whole "invasion of the body snatchers" thing going. Granted, they do have a lot of similarities with the Borg (loss of self) and the changelings (can no longer trust people you thought you knew). If done right, you could really play up the creepy vibe and the paranoia aspect of it all.

Plus they sent out that signal that was never followed up on. The set-up is just sitting there waiting!

(And speaking of creepy, that one scene with Remmick is probably the farthest Star Trek has ever gone into body-horror. <shudder>)

In retrospect it's funny that a mistranslation in the german dub for this episode about their sended message, telling the others to stop the invasion, seems to be more canon than what was originally said in the episode

 

[Unimatrix Q]

Have the idea of a really imcomprehensible and far more advanced alien species coming to our galaxy for unknown reasons that can convert the minds of all known species to their way of thinking.

When this happens the people, while still being individuals and still being the same persons with all of their memories intact, can't grasp our way of being and communicating anymore.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

So doing this to people without their consent? https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ascension

 

[Unimatrix Q]

So doing this to people without their consent? https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ascension

Yep. I think that consent as well as most of our concepts can't be grasped by them.

 

[Bea Jonas]

...I suppose it could be a criminal/terrorist organization...

Like Putin and his oligarchs!

 

[Tallguy]

Vulcans!

 

[at Quark's]

The Executives? (A race about which very little is known, only that they have terrible, if somewhat vague, powers).