# BEST single-episode Star Trek aliens **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675 "2005-10-17T23:41:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/1 "2005-10-17T23:41:54Z")
In response to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=339892), I’ll ask the SDMB what the coolest, hippest single-episode-Star-Trek-alien-race-that-we’d-like-to-see-again was. My pick: [Species 8472](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_8472), whom the Borg were unable to assimilate and was finally a worthy opponent. I’d say more, but the Wikipedia article offers the best explanation. And I didn’t even like _Voyager_! Adam ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/2 "2005-10-17T23:44:56Z")
Oh, and Wikipedia offers a very good list of Star Trek aliens [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_races). Adam ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/3 "2005-10-18T00:08:53Z")
The [Gorn.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorn) You have to love a species that looks like Godzilla raided Tarzan’s closet. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/4 "2005-10-18T00:16:39Z")
> [@Agent Foxtrot](#): > > Oh, and Wikipedia offers a very good list of Star Trek aliens [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_races). > > Adam What kind of Star Trek alien list leaves off [Tribbles?!?!?!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribbles) Anyways, Tribbles were going to be my pick, but it seems that the Star Trek writers brought them back in ST:E and DS9 (Neither of which I watched). - Peter Wiggen ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/5 "2005-10-18T00:30:42Z")
None of the aliens so far named are single-episode. Species 8472 had multiple appearances on _Voyager_, the Gorn were shown again on _Enterprise_, and the tribbles were seen again in the awesome _Trials and Tribble-ations_ as part of Star Trek’s 30th Anniversary on _Deep Space Nine_. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/6 "2005-10-18T00:35:30Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > and the tribbles were seen again in the awesome _Trials and Tribble-ations_ as part of Star Trek’s 30th Anniversary on _Deep Space Nine_. Umm… hence this part of my post: > [@PeterWiggen=](#): > > Anyways, Tribbles were going to be my pick, but it seems that the Star Trek writers brought them back in ST:E and DS9 (Neither of which I watched). Did you have a suggestion for a single-serving alien or were you just going all knee-jerk Trek Nerd crazy? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/7 "2005-10-18T00:37:13Z")
> [@PeterWiggen](#): > > Did you have a suggestion for a single-serving alien or were you just going all knee-jerk Trek Nerd crazy? 😉 In case it’s not obvious, this is funny since I was the one going all knee-jerk Trek Nerd crazy about a ST alien list with no tribbles. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/8 "2005-10-18T00:39:47Z")
Elaan of Troyius was pretty cool, played by the incomparable France Nguyen. The blue chick played by Batgirl was pretty cool too. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/9 "2005-10-18T00:39:54Z")
I included the tribbles because you had the details of their reappearance wrong and that episode of \*DS9 \*is a personal favorite. As for my own inclusion, no, not really. The Swarm from \*Voyager \*is the only one that comes to mind and that’s more because of what could have been then how they were actually written. Most of the one-episode (and a good portion of the recurring) Trek aliens are best forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/10 "2005-10-18T00:49:19Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > I included the tribbles because you had the details of their reappearance wrong and that episode of \*DS9 \*is a personal favorite. Sigh. Well lets see what I wrote: > [@PeterWiggen](#): > > Anyways, Tribbles were going to be my pick, but it seems that the Star Trek writers brought them back in **ST:E** and **DS9** (Neither of which I watched). (emphasis added) As I mentioned, ST writers brought the tribbles back in an episode of Enterprise. According to wikipedia: > [@wikipedia](#): > > The date of first contact with Tribbles has never been established in canon. Chronologically speaking, the earliest known appearance of Tribbles was in the 2003 Enterprise episode “The Breach” (which takes place in 2152) in which Doctor Phlox uses them as food for his medicinal pets in Sick Bay. They were presumably known by his race before this date, but most likely were unknown to humans. Next, I mentioned that ST writers brought the tribbles back in an episode of Deep Space 9 (your personal fav). Again, wikipedia: > [@wikipedia](#): > > In Deep Space Nine episode “Trials and Tribble-ations” the crew of the USS Defiant encounter the Tribbles once more. Worf reveals that the creatures were actually hunted down and exterminated by his people - specially trained warriors were sent to kill every tribble in existence, and an armada of Klingon vessels obliterated the tribble homeworld. (Deep Space Nine Security Officer Odo drily remarks “Another glorious chapter in Klingon history. Tell me, do they still sing songs of the Great Tribble Hunt?”) Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately depending on one’s perspective, a number of tribbles were brought back to Deep Space Nine from the past and the species is reestablished. It is not known if this was deliberate or not, and it remains to be seen if repopulation was successful. In addition, wikipedia notes that they appeared on the animated series and in Star Trek III. Might I humbly suggest that I did not get their reappearance details _wrong_ so much as not specify exactly which episode of DS9 they reappeared on. In other words when you state . . . > [@Aesiron](#): > > I included the tribbles because you had the details of their reappearance wrong and that episode of DS9 is a personal favorite. . . . only half of that statement is true (and it’s the part about that episode being your personal favorite). Thank you, and end hijack. - Peter Wiggen ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/11 "2005-10-18T00:58:24Z")
The puppet Balok. I know he’s not real, but he’s still the best alien ever. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/12 "2005-10-18T01:13:33Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > None of the aliens so far named are single-episode. > > Species 8472 had multiple appearances on _Voyager_, the Gorn were shown again on _Enterprise_, and the tribbles were seen again in the awesome _Trials and Tribble-ations_ as part of Star Trek’s 30th Anniversary on _Deep Space Nine_. [geek-mode]The Gorn on _Enterprise_ were Mirror-Universe, so they still only appeared once in the canon Trek universe![/geek-mode] ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/13 "2005-10-18T01:38:51Z")
The people of Rubicon III were attractive and they sentenced Wesley to death. No contest. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/14 "2005-10-18T07:31:34Z")
I kind of liked the Horta myself. An alien not represented by a person in latex, and a mommy to boot. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/15 "2005-10-18T13:05:36Z")
But the Horta _was_ someone in latex. Just…in a rather unconventional position. Janos Prohaska, a quick Google search has informed me…he was also the Mugatu, in whatever episode that was. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/16 "2005-10-18T13:08:03Z")
> [@RobuSensei](#): > > But the Horta _was_ someone in latex. Just…in a rather unconventional position. Janos Prohaska, a quick Google search has informed me…he was also the Mugatu, in whatever episode that was. [geek]_A Private Little War_[/geek] ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/17 "2005-10-18T13:40:12Z")
> [@](#): > > The Gorn. > > You have to love a species that looks like Godzilla raided Tarzan’s closet. Hmmm. I’d classify him as one o’them “intelligent dinosaur” types, although, like an awful lot of Star Trek aliens, he wasn’t at all convincing as a believable alien. Besides, he bugged me as being such a radical departure from the alien actually described in Brown’s story. I understand the reason for it – they couldn’t have done the Outsider convincingly before CGI, and it wouldn’t have looked appropriately menacing, in any case. But when they adapted the story for the Marvel comics **Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction** , dammit, they made it look ike a cross between Brown’s Outsider and Star Trek’s Gorn. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/18 "2005-10-18T13:56:51Z")
Any alien that did not look like a human with bumps on their foreheads or noses. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/19 "2005-10-18T14:12:34Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > The people of Rubicon III were attractive and they sentenced Wesley to death. No contest. You make a very persuasive argument. 😛 Nevertheless, I’m gonna go with the Horta. Having the “devil in the dark” be a mom who was just avenging her murdered children, was sheer genius - and a long-overdue break from the 1950s-era science fiction cliche of “Here’s an alien we don’t understand; better kill it.” (I’ll grant you, ST fell into that trap itself more than once, but the Horta was still a remarkable critter, in a remarkable episode, and ST was the first to take this approach). ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675/20 "2005-10-18T18:57:50Z")
I can remember absolutely nothing about them, but I always liked the **Ventaxians** who appeared in TNG Season 4, ep 13. The reason? They are named after the UK’s leading [ventilation company](http://www.vent-axia.com/about/). Great product placement, lads! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-episode-star-trek-aliens/326675.md?page=2)