List of Star Trek animals

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This is a list of fictional extraterrestrial animal species from the science fiction universe of Star Trek . Like other aspects of stories in the franchise, they were recurring plot elements from one episode to another and sometimes from one series to another. Some have gained significance beyond the dedicated fans of the series; the furry, fast-breeding tribble has gained a place in popular culture and language.

Science fiction Genre of speculative fiction

Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that has been called the "literature of ideas". It typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, time travel, parallel universes, fictional worlds, space exploration, and extraterrestrial life. Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific innovations.

Fictional universe self-consistent fictional setting with elements that may differ from the real world

A fictional universe is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm. Fictional universes may appear in novels, comics, films, television shows, video games, and other creative works.

Star Trek is an American space opera media franchise based on the science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. The first television series, simply called Star Trek and now referred to as "The Original Series", debuted in 1966 and aired for three seasons on NBC. It followed the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew aboard the starship USS Enterprise, a space exploration vessel built by the United Federation of Planets in the 23rd century. The Star Trek canon includes The Original Series, an animated series, five spin-off television series, the film franchise, and further adaptations in several media.

Contents

This list describes the more notable fictional animals featured in Star Trek films or multiple episodes.

Cardassian vole

The Cardassian vole is a fictional rodent species in the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . It was a pest aboard the space station, infesting Quark's Bar as well as Ops where it chewed through wiring. It is quite unlike the voles of Earth, most notably in that it has six legs. It is also much bigger than a terrestrial vole.

The Cardassians are an extraterrestrial species in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. Introduced in the 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Wounded", the species originated on the fictional Alpha Quadrant planet Cardassia Prime. Cardassians were the dominant species in an interstellar empire known as the Cardassian Union during the 24th century, although they are not confirmed to have ruled any other species aside from, for fifty years, the Bajorans. The Cardassians later played a key role in the story line of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series as allies of the Dominion in the Dominion War. Several Cardassian characters, including Elim Garak and Gul Dukat, are prominently featured.

Rodent Diverse order of mammals

Rodents are mammals of the order Rodentia, which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents ; they are found in vast numbers on all continents except Antarctica. They are the most diversified mammalian order and live in a variety of terrestrial habitats, including human-made environments.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. It originally aired from January 3, 1993, to June 2, 1999, in syndication, spanning 176 episodes over seven seasons. The fourth series in the Star Trek franchise, it served as the third sequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the 24th century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, it is based on the eponymous space station Deep Space Nine, located adjacent to a wormhole connecting Federation territory to the Gamma Quadrant on the far side of the Milky Way galaxy.

Although he has denied it, Quark hosts vole fights. Morn has been known to assist him in setting up the events by painting numbers on the voles' backs.

Ceti eel

The Ceti eel appears in the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . It is the only indigenous lifeform of Ceti Alpha V known to have survived after Ceti Alpha VI exploded and sent Ceti Alpha V into a different orbit. Ceti eels incubate their larvae between protective plates that line their backs. The slime-covered larva will seek out a larger animal, enter its skull through the ear and wrap itself around the cerebral cortex. This causes the subject intense pain and makes them susceptible to suggestion. As the larva grows, the host suffers from insanity and eventual death. Ceti eels bear a remarkable resemblance to antlion larvae.

<i>Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan</i> 1982 American science fiction film directed by Nicholas Meyer

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Nicholas Meyer and based on the 1960s television series Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry. It is the second film in the Star Trek film series and is a sequel to Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). The plot features Admiral James T. Kirk and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise facing off against the genetically engineered tyrant Khan Noonien Singh, a character who first appeared in the 1967 Star Trek episode "Space Seed". When Khan escapes from a 15-year exile to exact revenge on Kirk, the crew of the Enterprise must stop him from acquiring a powerful terraforming device named Genesis. The film is the beginning of a story arc that continues with the film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and concludes with the film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).

Cerebral cortex Part of a mammals brain

The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain, in humans and other mammals. It is separated into two cortices, by the longitudinal fissure that divides the cerebrum into the left and right cerebral hemispheres. The two hemispheres are joined beneath the cortex by the corpus callosum. The cerebral cortex is the largest site of neural integration in the central nervous system. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perception, awareness, thought, language, and consciousness.

Antlion family of insects

The antlions are a group of about 2,000 species of insect in the family Myrmeleontidae, known for the fiercely predatory habits of their larvae, which in many species dig pits to trap passing ants or other prey. The adult insects are less well known, as they mostly fly at dusk or after dark, and may be mistakenly identified as dragonflies or damselflies; they are sometimes known as antlion lacewings, and in North America, the larvae are sometimes referred to as doodlebugs because of the strange marks they leave in the sand.

Khan Noonien Singh and his followers were marooned on this planet by James T. Kirk. Khan's wife, Marla McGivers, was killed after becoming a host for one of these creatures. Twenty more of Khan's people were killed in the same fashion, forming the basis for Khan's vendetta against Kirk. In the film, Captain Clark Terrell and Commander Pavel Chekov were captured by Khan while conducting a close-range sensor scan on the planet. Khan put the larvae into their helmets, where the creatures crawled into the men’s ears and subsequently burrowed into their brains. Terrell later killed himself, but Chekov's larva exited his ear and was disintegrated by a phaser-blast from Admiral Kirk's phaser.

Khan Noonien Singh fictional character from Star Trek

Khan Noonien Singh, commonly shortened to Khan, is a fictional character in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. The character first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Space Seed" (1967), and was portrayed by Ricardo Montalbán, who reprised his role in the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In the 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness, he is played by Benedict Cumberbatch.

James T. Kirk character in the Star Trek media franchise

James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. Kirk first appears in Star Trek: The Original Series and has been portrayed in numerous films, books, comics, webisodes, and video games. As the captain of the starship USS Enterprise, Kirk leads his crew as they explore new worlds, new civilizations, and "boldly go where no man has gone before". Often, the characters of Spock and Leonard McCoy act as his logical and emotional sounding boards, respectively.

Pavel Chekov fictional Character

Pavel Andreievich Chekov is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. Walter Koenig portrayed Chekov in the second and third seasons of the original Star Trek series and the first seven Star Trek films.

In popular culture, the Ceti eel is widely considered a terrifying creature. [1]

The 2009 reboot Star Trek film introduces "Centaurian slugs" with a similar appearance and function, as an homage.

A 2011 episode of Supernatural ("...And Then There Were None") showed a creature that took over the minds of people by burrowing into their heads in the same way as Ceti eels. The character Dean Winchester dubbed the creature the "Khan Worm".

Gagh

Gagh, written in the Klingon language as qagh (not capitalized), is a serpent worm that is eaten by Klingons while still alive. [2]

Regulan bloodworm

The Regulan bloodworm is a worm-like lifeform, native to the planet Regulus II. It is described as a soft, spineless creature that is medically useful for cleaning the lymphatic system; however, Regulan bloodworms can also infect sentient races, causing sickness and death. [3]

The first reference to Regulan bloodworms was as an insult in the Star Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles," written by David Gerrold. Gerrold also wrote an episode for Star Trek: The Next Generation , tentatively titled "Blood and Fire", in which the Enterprise's crew comes across a derelict ship with a dead crew, all killed by a Regulan bloodworm infestation. The episode, which was meant to introduce a science-fiction analogue for the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s, was never produced, but a modified version was produced in the web series Star Trek: Phase II . [4]

This two-part episode (4x04 and 4x05, released in 2008) was also entitled "Blood and Fire". In it, the Enterprise crew attempts to rescue members of a federation vessel who unknown to them has violated a 100-year quarantine on visits to the Regulus system, and subsequently were contaminated by a deadly plague of "doomsday" Regulan bloodworms. In this episode, the creatures are seen as a universal threat to not only the Federation but also to the Klingon Empire as well. They are exposed as having been created by the Regulan civilization as a doomsday weapon, which resulted in the extinction of all life in the system. As it turns out, the covert operation of the Federation research vessel, led by an over-zealous Federation scientist, was actually designed to unleash the creatures on the Klingon Empire, causing mass genocide, while the Federation would be protected by a newly discovered cure for the infection. The analogy to the HIV virus and AIDS remains as two of the primary characters are males who were in love and had plans to marry. One, the nephew of Captain Kirk, Peter Kirk, narrowly escapes, but his husband-to-be, Alex Freeman, dies as the bloodworms attack.

The medical use of Regulan bloodworms was suggested or carried out by Doctor Phlox in the episodes "Two Days and Two Nights", "Stratagem" and "Doctor's Orders" of Star Trek: Enterprise. Illustrations of the creatures were also featured in the schoolroom and infirmary of Deep Space Nine.

Sehlat

The sehlat is a large carnivore native to Vulcan. Sehlats have six-inch fangs and do not like to climb, preferring to remain on low ground. In 2154, Captain Jonathan Archer and Commander T'Pol were stalked by a wild sehlat in "The Forge". [5]

Domesticated sehlats are a popular pet with Vulcan children. These sehlats are smaller, though not much so, and still quite aggressive: T'Pol, having owned one, notes that Vulcan children learn early never to be late with their sehlat's dinner. [6]

Spock had a pet sehlat named I-Chaya during his youth which originally belonged to his father, Sarek. I-Chaya died in 2237, as a result of injuries inflicted from an attack by a large creature called a le-matya. Spock chose to have his pet euthanized to end its suffering. [7] In the novelization of "Yesteryear" by Alan Dean Foster, it is revealed that sehlats originated in the "rainforests of Vulcan's southern hemisphere." [8]

Targ

The targ (in Klingon language: targh) is a boar-like beast with sharp tusks. It is native to the Klingon homeworld Qo'noS. Klingons both hunt the animal for food and keep it as a pet. [9]

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Where No One Has Gone Before" Lt. Worf saw his pet targ in a vision.

Computer-generated images of targs were created for the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Affliction". [10]

Tribble

The Tribble is a small, soft, furry creature which reproduces rapidly.

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The Trouble with Tribbles 15th episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Original Series

"The Trouble with Tribbles" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by David Gerrold and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on December 29, 1967.

Saavik fictional character

Lieutenant JG Saavik is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. She first appeared in the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) played by Kirstie Alley. Robin Curtis took on the role for the sequel, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), and in the next film, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).

Below is an abridged timeline of events established in the group of television shows and feature films set in the Star Trek universe. Many dates are estimates as the various shows and films are not consistent in their use of dates. More exhaustive timelines are available in both Star Trek reference works and on various fan websites.

"Yesteryear" is the second episode of the first season of the animated American science fiction television series Star Trek. It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on September 15, 1973, and was written by veteran Star Trek writer D. C. Fontana. "Yesteryear" marked the return of actor Mark Lenard to the role of Spock's father, Sarek.

"More Tribbles, More Troubles" is the fifth episode of the first season of the animated American science fiction television series Star Trek. It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on October 6, 1973, and was written by David Gerrold as a sequel to his Original Series episode "The Trouble with Tribbles". It featured the return of actor Stanley Adams reprising his role of trader Cyrano Jones.

"The Enterprise Incident" is the second episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by John Meredyth Lucas, it was first broadcast September 27, 1968.

To Reign In Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh, is the final book in a trilogy of novels written by Greg Cox chronicling the life of the fictional Star Trek character Khan Noonien Singh. This final book deals with the life of Khan after he was marooned on Ceti Alpha V by Captain James T. Kirk.

"Blood and Fire" is an episode written by David Gerrold for possible use on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The script was commissioned and written, but never actually filmed. According to Gerrold, some of the production staff, including Rick Berman, had a negative reaction to its positive depiction of an openly gay couple. Herbert Wright rewrote the script under the name "Blood and Ice", which also was left unproduced.

Trials and Tribble-ations 6th episode of the fifth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

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<i>Vulcan!</i> Star Trek novel

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"The Time Trap" is the twelfth episode of the first season of the American animated science fiction television series Star Trek. It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on November 24, 1973, and was written by American actress and screenwriter Joyce Perry.

Tribble fictional animal species

Tribbles are a fictional alien species in the Star Trek universe. They were conceived by screenwriter David Gerrold, and first appeared in a 1967 episode titled "The Trouble with Tribbles". They are depicted as a small, furry, gentle, attractive, and slow-moving but rapidly reproducing invasive species. Though they appear infrequently on-screen, they have become a popular feature of the Star Trek universe, featuring in their own eponymous official card game, and even lending their name to a family of proteins which are associated with the biology of the fruit fly.

References

  1. Antlions in popular culture, AntlionPit. This page also describes the adult Ceti eel as resembling an oversized antlion larva.
  2. Gagh at official website StarTrek.com
  3. Regulan bloodworm at official website StarTrek.com
  4. "Blood and Fire", Star Trek - Phase II
  5. Sehlat at official website StarTrek.com
  6. "The Forge" (ENT)
  7. "Journey to Babel" (TOS), "Yesteryear" (TAS).
  8. Foster, Allen Dean, Star Trek, Log One. Ballantine, 1974
  9. Heart of targ at official website StarTrek.com
  10. "Production Report: 'Affliction'". StarTrek.com Archived July 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine .