# Which race is the most powerful in the Star Trek Universe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2001, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035 "2001-06-08T08:17:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/21 "2013-05-13T16:49:08Z")
> [@Epimetheus](#): > > There was one episode I saw, in which some engineering ensign (I think) that was not very intelligent got hit by a ray of some sort and suddenly started getting super-intellectual, and eventually took the Enterprise on some wierd warp-trip across to a different galaxy(?) where there were met by some Odin looking giant floating head in space. It’s pretty vague I know, but whatever race that made that beam has to be a good contender to Q. (pre-voyager wuss continum) Q was the obvious answer but I thought of this one also! Except my memory was so fuzzed up that I misremembered the floating Odin head to be a giant cat-head. In retrospect, I wish I was left to my own devices and kept the cat image. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/22 "2013-05-13T17:16:35Z")
Nitpick, the Dominion is not a race but a faction, like the Federation, headed by the Founders, who are changelings and are a race ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/23 "2013-05-13T17:24:33Z")
> [@kasuo](#): > > - Species 8472: first off, I wonder if they even call themselves anything other than ‘8472’. 12 years later _Star Trek Online_ calls them ‘Undine’, if you consider that canonical. My vote is for the dark horses, the Breen. Never turn your back on a Breen. In the category of those stupid floating alien head things there were [Cytherians](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Cytherian), from the Nth Degree and the more sinister [Nagilum](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Nagilum) which wanted to kill most of the Enterprise crew to find out more about death. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/24 "2013-05-13T18:07:04Z")
> [@](#): > > My vote is for the dark horses, the Breen. Never turn your back on a Breen. Wait, I thought those were just Swedish meatballs. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/25 "2013-05-13T18:34:52Z")
Tribbles. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/26 "2013-05-13T21:42:22Z")
Humans. It is, after all, a fictional Universe written by Humans for Humans. But, given the parameters of this fictional Universe, I would say the Q-Continuum. A single unit might not be omnipotent, but the entire race? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/27 "2013-05-13T22:04:43Z")
The Q, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/28 "2013-05-13T22:11:05Z")
Organians (“Thou shalt not fight!”) and Metrons (“It is you who are interfering. We are merely putting a stop to it.”) ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/29 "2013-05-13T23:23:19Z")
Apollo and his lot. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/30 "2013-05-13T23:55:54Z")
Probably some never before seen or mentioned race called the Rd n’Brry, who probably caused the universe to come to be in the first place. Later supplanted by the J[sup]2[/sup]a’Brms after the timeline fractured. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/31 "2013-05-13T23:58:31Z")
The Q, although they are not actually omnipotent; the suicidal Q says they are only omnipotent from a human perspective, just as the Federation could convince some stone age tribe that _they_ are omnipotent. > [@Shortie](#): > > In actuality, like **BooBoo316** said, it’s humans, mostly because of the fact that the UFP has horrendous character shields. (Yes I know it’s a zombie.) One of my favorite fan explanations for this is that the Federation is _save scumming_. They’ve had limited time travel since Kirk’s era - the idea is that whenever true disaster strikes the Federation, Section 31 or some other Federation organization we’ve never seen travels back in time just far enough and subtly manipulates events so that the Federation survives. Just by “chance”. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/32 "2013-05-13T23:59:11Z")
How about The Traveler in TNG? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035/33 "2013-05-14T00:01:53Z")
Whatever Scotty had in his bottle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-race-is-the-most-powerful-in-the-star-trek-universe/68035.md?page=1)