Star Trek: 10 Hidden Details About Aliens Everyone Completely Missed

The aliens of the Star Trek franchise are some of the most memorable in the science fiction genre, despite the fact that when Star Trek: The Original Series premiered in 1964, budget constraints meant that most of them looked curiously similar to humans. When Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted in 1987, creator Gene Roddenberry was adamant none of the species featured formerly would return, but fans wanted to see Vulcans, Klingons, and Romulans.

Star Trek: The Next Generation would alter the course of the franchise's ability to showcase aliens of a more exotic nature, continuously altering the appearance of the extraterrestrials featured in the travels of the Enterprise-D. Every Star Trek series after it, from Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard to the films has attempted to include alien lifeforms that broaden the rich diversity that the Star Trek universe is known for.

10 ROMULANS AND VULCANS HAVE A DIFFERENT PHYSIOLOGY

Aside from looking similar, Vulcans and Romulans share a common ancestry. Both alien species were once violent and extremely emotional until Surak introduced a new philosophy, from which the Vulcan Time of Awakening was born. The Romulans were opposed to the Vulcan logic and left their shared planet to colonize the Romulan Star Empire.

However, their physiology is different enough that methods applied to one during a medical emergency cannot be applied to the other. Dr. Beverly Crusher tried in vain to save a young Romulan's life on Star Trek: The Next Generationwith a Vulcan method of stabilizing synaptic breakdown but found she could not due to this problem.

9 THE "CONSPIRACY" PARASITES GOT AWAY

In the notably gruesome Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Conspiracy", a dangerous parasite alien infected Starfleet, burrowing into the bodies of the highest-ranking officials. When Captain Picard and his crew got wind of the invasion, they set about destroying them, beginning with the leader aboard the Enterprise-D.

Though they succeeded in killing the creature, they weren't able to stop the parasites from sending out a beacon signal, ostensibly to their kin in the far reaches of space. The storyline is never revisited, and the parasites are never mentioned again.

8 DIFFERENT KLINGONS

Looking at the various members of the Klingon Empire that have appeared in the Star Trek franchise over the years, noticeable differences emerge between the Klingons from Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and most recently Star Trek: Discovery.

Star Trek: Enterprise explained that Klingons experimented with genetic engineering, combining human DNA with their own species, creating different mutations in their population. It should be noted that the Discovery Klingons are based on sketches of what Gene Roddenberry wanted them to look like, had the budget allowed.

7 THEY WERE SOMETIMES FAMOUS PEOPLE

A lot of celebrities and famous faces were fans of Star Trek, and many of them wanted to be part of one of the series. They would have no problem appearing in pounds of prosthetic makeup for a chance to boast that they'd appeared in their favorite sci-fi show.

Mike Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac fame once notably appeared as a fish-like Antedean, a guest role that forced him to shave off his beard. Even Tom Morello, the lead singer of Rage Against The Machine,  wanted to appear in Star Trek: Insurrection so he became a Sona alien.

6 ALIENS LOOK HUMANOID FOR A REASON

Star Trek fans long postulated why the alien species in the Star Trek franchise tended to look humanoid, rather than being comprised of multiple tentacles, eyes, and mouths. Luckily Star Trek: The Next Generation offered a likely reason for this that didn't simply have to do with budgetary restraints in the hair and makeup department.

In the episode "The Chase", it's revealed that ancient celestial beings called the Preservers participated in what scientists call panspermia, seeding many planets with the same genetic material to see what ends up growing and evolving.

5 ORIGINS OF THE BORG

The Borg are one of the deadliest alien species in the Star Trek Universe, assimilating organic life forms they come in contact with to bolster their ranks, and outfitting them with cybernetic components to achieve their vision of perfection.

Originating from Star Trek: The Next Generation, they've also made appearances in both Star Trek: Voyager andStar Trek: Picard. They were originally intended to be an insect species, but the budget didn't allow it, so the only aspects that were kept were their "hive" structure comprised of "drones" that serve a "Queen".

4 SPOCK'S HAND GESTURE IS IMPORTANT IN JUDAISM

For those viewers familiar with Judaism, particularly the Orthodox Jewish faith that Leonard Nimoy was raised in, the Vulcan hand gesture to "Live Long and Prosper" resembles "Shin". The Hebrew letter represents "Shaddai", an alternate name for God.

Nimoy revealed that as a young child attending a synagogue, he became fascinated by the ceremonies involving spiritual leaders gesticulating with the "Shin" sign. He thought the sign would be a perfect Vulcan symbol of peace for Spock to use. It has been used by the Vulcan species ever since.

3 THE UHURA AND SPOCK ROMANCE DATES BACK TO THE ORIGINAL SERIES

While Star Trek: The Original Series made television history by being the first series to show an interracial kiss live, it wasn't always between Lt. Uhura and Captain Kirk. Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura on the series, revealed it was initially going to be between Uhura and Spock.

This would have made it an interracial and inter-species kiss, though the latter part was less significant since Captain Kirk had already locked lips with many an extraterrestrial female. The kiss would have provided the foundation for the Uhura/Spock romance in the 2009 Star Trek reboot film.

2 THE KLINGON NAME SOUNDS STUPID ON PURPOSE

Any Star Trek fan wondering the etymology of the word "Klingon", first used in Star Trek: The Original Series, doesn't have to think too hard. Gene Roddenberry, series creator and founder of all things Star Trek, hated it as much as the writers.

It originated as a placeholder until a name more befitting a warrior alien species was found. This never happened before the Klingon's premiere episode, as Roddenberry was suddenly taken ill, so the writers forged ahead with a name they ridiculed for sounding like "clingy".

1 TRIBBLES WERE INSPIRED BY REAL PESTS ON THE SET

In Star Trek: The Original Series, alien viruses, bacteria, and anomalies often infested the Enterprise, the most famous of these unwanted entities being Tribbles. The "Trouble with Tribbles" episode ended up originating from a very real pest problem that plagued the crew while filming.

Pigeons nested in the rafters of the set, making a cacophony of noise and occasionally dive-bombing shots to ruin a scene. Actors couldn't be heard over the ruckus, they went after craft services, and of course, there was the problem of their droppings being found in the most inconvenient places.

Source: screenrant.com