The Worst Star Trek Aliens (and How They Make the Best Aliens Even Better)

Since its debut in 1966, Star Trek has given pop culture some of the greatest aliens of all time. Vulcans, Klingons, and the Borg appeal to more than just sci-fi nerds and have become parts of the larger lexicon.

But not every alien in Trek deserves such praise. With hundreds of episodes to air, producers sometimes cut corners or come up with duds, lackluster aliens better left in the Enterprise’s wake. Still, even the worst Star Trek aliens deserve some attention, if only to remind fans why Vulcans and Klingons are so great.

1. Kazon

Like most Star Trek shows, Star Trek: Voyager takes a couple of seasons to find its footing. A key part of the show’s improvement came when it abandoned the Kazon, a tribal species that looked like a bunch of Oompa-Loompas with pinecones in their hair. Inspired by a complete misunderstanding of Los Angeles gangs, the Kazon were pitched as the major antagonist species for Voyager. But their terrible design and stories about in-fighting rendered them more annoying than scary.

The failure of the Kazon highlights the achievement of the Klingons as a major enemy species. They began as an arrogant reflection of the Soviet Union, but over time became as rich and compelling as a unique people. Could the Kazon become the same with enough time? Maybe, but no one wanted to wait around long enough to find out.

2. Son’a

Although some people stick up for Star Trek: First Contact, movies starring the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew failed to live up to either the television series or the original series movies. Part of the problem came from the movies’ failure to up the stakes for the movies, as demonstrated in the antagonists introduced in Star Trek: Insurrection, the Son’a. Led by Ru'afo, the Son’a want eternal youth, which they can get by conquering the Ba’ku homeworld and stealing its rejuvenating qualities.

That might make for an interesting episode, but as Star Trek aliens go, the Son’a don’t have a motivation compelling enough to drive a movie. Insurrection writer Michael Piller and director Jonathan Frakes should have looked to Star Trek: The Motion Picture from 1979, which introduced Ilya as a Deltan, a new type of alien. The mystery of Ilya and her evolved form V’ger gives the Enterprise crew good reason to jump to movies, something the Son’a never accomplished.

3. Tiburonians

Given its minuscule budget, it’s a miracle that so many great species appeared among the original Star Trek aliens. But no one can defend the Tiburonians, the race of Dr. Sevrin, leader of the space hippies in the awful season three episode “The Way to Eden.”

In fairness, not all Tiburonians are as irritating as Sevrin, and one even appeared in the excellent Strange New Worlds episode “Ad Astra per Aspera.” But those few appearances can’t save what seems to be a species created just to annoy the crew.

The failure of the Tiburonians grows more pronounced when one looks at another cheap, annoying species from Star Trek’s first seasons. The tribbles are nothing more than bits of fluff that get dumped on Kirk for comic hijinks in “The Trouble with Tribbles.” And yet, their simple design, along with William Shatner’s outstanding comic timing, made the Tribbles an instant classic.

4. Pakleds

Even after the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks made them into a greater threat, the Pakleds still drive Trekkies to hang their head in shame. Introduced in the episode “Samaritan Snare” from season two of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Pakleds were a group of dimwits who trick others into helping them. The mean-spirited episode stands as one of TNG’s embarrassments, made worse when the Pakleds return with Data’s evil brother Lore.

Given their annoying qualities and uncomfortable resemblance to people in the real world, the Pakleds recall another bad set of aliens from the first seasons of TNG, the Ferengi. But where the Pakleds remained irritating idiots in all of their appearances, the Ferengi on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine became layered and compelling characters, thanks to performers such as Armin Shimmerin and Max Grodénchik. Even better, Deep Space Nine writers retained the comedic aspects of the Ferengi even as they developed them, a kindness never extended to the Pakleds.

5. Breen

Some Trekkies may object to the Breen’s inclusion on this list, at least at such a high slot. The Breen come from the celebrated later seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as major players in the galaxy-spanning Dominion War. But with their garbled speech and inscrutable motives, the Breen violate the principles of understanding and connection that motivate the creation of other alien races. Worse, they look a lot like Princess Leia’s disguise in Return of the Jedi, borrowing from Star Trek’s rival franchise Star Wars.

For a better source for the Breen, writers should have looked back at the beginning. In the season one Star Trek episode “The Devil in the Dark,” the Enterprise encounters a dangerous and unknowable alien called the Horta. Misunderstandings cost many beings their lives until Spock makes a connection via mind meld. The Horta might not look as cool as the Breen, but it fits better within the franchise’s worldview.

6. Xindi

Set a century before the original series, Star Trek: Enterprise couldn’t use major villains such as the Borg or even Romulans, as Starfleet doesn’t encounter them until much later. Instead, it created a new set of aliens with the Xindi.

Unlike most alien races on the show, the Xindi do not fit into a single model. Rather, there are humanoid Xindi, insect Xindi, aquatic Xindi, and so on. Noble as the intentions may have been, the Xindi fail to feel like members of the same people, resulting in more confusion than dread.

The shortcomings of the Xindi bring to mind the triumph of the Dominion, the galactic conquerors from the Gamma Quadrant who terrorized Deep Space Nine. At its core, the Dominion consists of its leaders the Changelings, its race of cloned ambassadors the Vorta, and its footsoldiers, the Jem’Hadar. Even as the Dominion accepts more members into its organization, that stratification remains, allowing the Dominion to feel more coherent, and more frightening than the Xindi ever were.

7. Species 10-C

Star Trek: Discovery improved when its crew went 900 years into the future, further than any other series in the franchise. It stands to reason that Starfleet of the 32nd century would encounter heretofore unseen aliens, such as Species 10-C, the focus of Discovery’s fourth season. But while the potential threat posed by Species 10-C made for some great debates between characters, the reveal of the actual alien left many wanting.

Most people think of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home as the comedic Star Trek movie with a “save the whales” message. However, the impetus for the whale-saving, time-travel adventure is a mysterious and destructive being, not unlike Species 10-C. Star Trek IV never reveals the source of the probe, but director Leonard Nimoy makes the alien feel dangerous and strange without disappointing the audience.

8. Benzites

With few exceptions, such as their introductory episode “Coming of Age” from the first season of TNG, the Benzites stay in the background of Star Trek shows, illustrating the diversity of crew people on Starfleet vessels. So why do they belong on this list? Because when Benzites do get more attention, they always come off as snotty, sporting a Vulcan-level of condescension without Vulcan-levels of depth.

The same cannot be said of Bolians, the other blue-skinned aliens who appear on Federation vessels. The Benzites get fewer major roles, with a few getting recurring parts in their series, such as the Enterprise barber Mot. Although the Bolians have a range of personalities, they have the unearned arrogance of a Benzite. As a result, the Bolians add texture to Trek without distracting from the world-building.

9. Suliban

Before the Xindi became the big bads of Star Trek: Enterprise, the Suliban presented the main threat. Throughout several episodes in the first two seasons of Enterprise, the Suliban draw Captain Archer into the Temporal Cold War. That sounds cool, but the execution of the Suilban falls flat, starting with their design. They look like they’re covered in cheap green foam, giving them an unsettling texture that reads cheaper than even the aliens of the original series.

In the same way that the Xindi fail to live up to the standard set by the Dominion, the Suliban do not hold a candle to the Prophets, the wormhole-dwelling aliens set up as the first important figures in Deep Space Nine. As with the Suliban, the Prophets grow less important as the Dominion War heats up. However, they outdo the later aliens in that they introduce interesting religious ideas to the franchise and that they never appear on screen, saving them the embarrassment of an ugly design.

10. Greek Gods

On paper, there’s nothing wrong with suggesting that Apollo and other deities from Greek mythology are Star Trek aliens who visited Earth in the past. But the execution of the season two Star Trek episode “Who Mourns for Adonis” reduces them to pure cheese. Apollo bellows at the Enterprise crew and zaps Chekov, but his story falls short of his high-minded ideals.

Under Kirk’s command, the Enterprise encounters a lot of god-like beings. However, Apollo gets outdone by the most notable deity in Kirk’s career — the alien who calls himself God in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Without question, Star Trek V belongs toward the bottom of Trek movies, despite (or because of) William Shatner’s direction. But it does feature an imposing god-creature, a subtable big-screen take on a familiar Trek trope.

11. Species 8472

Every year, Species 8472 looks worse. The first fully CGI aliens in Star Trek history, Species 8472 gets the all-star treatment in their debut episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the two-parter “Scorpion,” which gave the world Seven of Nine. However, the bland computer-generated creations failed to make an impression even in 1997, which is why they’ve never appeared outside of Voyager.

For all the fancy technology at work in “Scorpion,” Species 8472 has nothing on the simple design for the Vulcans, starting with Mr. Spock. Although the red and then green skin that creator Gene Roddenberry never worked out, the arched eyebrows, pointed ears, and unfortunate haircut of Leonard Nimoy proved special effect enough. Even decades later, the Vulcan design remains evocative, whether watching a new series or revisiting the original episodes from the 60s.

12. Hirogen 

On the one hand, the Hirogen are cool. A hunter species, the Hirogen put great value on concepts of honor and sportsmanship. They test themselves by battling the strongest enemies they can find. On the other hand, they’re just the aliens from the movie Predator. Just not as cool.

Even before the Hirogen showed up on Star Trek: Voyager, the franchise ripped off Predator with an alien race called the Naussicans. Named after the Hayao Miyazaki anime Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (for some reason), the Naussicans have a bad attitude and a crab-like mouth that makes them a challenge for Arnold Schwarzenegger, a claim the Hirogen could never share.

13. Parasites

Even after all these decades, fans still wonder about the mind-controlling parasites who infiltrated Starfleet in the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. After Picard and Riker discover the parasites in the season one finale “Conspiracy,” they never get mentioned again. Of course, no part of TNG season one holds up today, and the icky creepy crawlies do not fit the franchise aesthetic. Still, some fans want that storyline to receive a resolution of one form or another.

The parasites have a clear forerunner in the Ceti eels from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In a scene that turns stomachs even today, Khan places the eels into the ears of Chekov and Captain Terrell, allowing him to control their minds. The eels have made a couple minor appearances since, but they aren’t essential to any plot. They did their job by showing up, grossing out viewers, and then going away, leaving no questions behind.

14. Teenaxi

Created for the Kelvin timeline movies that started with the 2009 J.J. Abrams movie Star Trek, the Teenaxi show up in the cold open to the underrated 2016 movie Star Trek Beyond. As Kirk tries to negotiate with what look like massive beasts, the leader gets fed up and lunges at the Enterprise Captain, revealing to the viewer that the Teenaxi are, as the name suggests, teeny-tiny.

In other words, the Teenaxi exist just to make a movie joke. And while the gag does get a few laughs, it feels like a waste when compared to the other notable Kelvin-verse alien, Scotty’s diminutive pal Keenser. Keenser belongs to an unknown race and does no more than react to Scotty. But he also gets more than one chuckle from the audience, more than what the Teenaxi achieve.

15. Lactrans

To take advantage of the freedom offered by cartoons, Star Trek: The Animated Series added several new alien races to the franchise, including the Lactrans. The slug-like creatures capture the Enterprise crew in the episode “The Eye of the Beholder,” presenting a problem that soon gets solved, allowing the ship to fly away and forget about the Lactrans forever.

Like the Lactrans, the Screwheaded Commander shown in the Very Short Treks episode “Skin a Cat” is just a one-off gag, responding with anger when an unnamed Captain states that he screwed up. No one makes mention of the Screwhead's species, nor is there any chance that he’ll show up again. And yet, he outdoes the Lactrans as an animated character in a single cartoon episode.

16. Remans

The ill-fated final Next Generation movie Star Trek: Nemesis makes the bizarre choice to cast Tom Hardy as Shinzon, a clone of Jean-Luc Picard created by the Romulans. Even stranger, the movie introduces an entire sub-species of the Romulans called Remans. The Nosferatu-esque Remans add a horror quality to the age-old Trek villains, but not in a good way.

Despite the excellent work of veteran character actor Ron Perlman, who plays the head the Reman Viceroy in Nemesis, the Remans never scare or intimidate. Instead, they make the viewer wish the Romulans received more screen time. With their physical similarities to the Vulcans and their culture of mistrust, the Romulans have proven time and again that they threaten the Federation like no other enemy. The Remans could never hope to match the power of the Romulan Star Empire.

17. Antedians

When Star Trek came back to TV screens with The Next Generation, rock star and Trekkie Mick Fleetwood used his influence to earn a cameo on the show. But instead of giving the Fleetwood Mack drummer a speaking part, make-up artist Allan A. Apone stuck a fish head over his face and made him an Antedians ambassador for the season two episode “Manhunt.”

If not for that bit of trivia, no one would remember the Antedians. However, the feline Caitians enjoy a long history in Star Trek, despite never counting a rock star among their number. The Caitians come from the Animated Series and have returned for other cartoon series, including Lower Decks and Prodigy. However, the Caitians also appear in live-action, even showing up in Star Trek IV and Star Trek Into Darkness.

18. Ocampa

Generous viewers might congratulate Star Trek: Voyager for trying something new with the Ocampans, the aliens whose plight gets the titular ship stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Ocampans live for no more than seven years, which makes them reluctant to venture too far into space. When the Occampan Kes bucks that trend, the show treats her like a trailblazer. However, the series also reminded viewers of her very young age, which made romantic scenes with crewmates Neelix and Tom Paris uncomfortable.

For the first few seasons of Voyager, Kes’s Talaxian boyfriend Neelex came off even worse. Controlling, short-tempered, and useless to the rest of the crew, viewers hoped that he would leave with Kes at the end of season three. But after Kes’s departure, writers gave Neelix room to grow. Not only did Neelix become an empathetic addition to the Voyager crew, but his people the Talaxians gained a rich backstory, making them among the more interesting and underused species in the franchise.

19. Banea

Because it took place in the Delta Quadrant, far from other series in the franchise, Star Trek: Voyager had to invent many all-new aliens for its series. Although some hit, such as the body-part stealing Vidiians, others felt like the make-up artists just threw prosthetics at actors to see what would stick. The worst example came in the season one episode “Ex Post Facto,” in which the crew interacted with feather-headed aliens called the Banea. At once ugly and uninteresting, nobody ever revived the Banea for another story.

The ugliness of the Banea underscores the beauty in the design of the Bajorans. Most Bajorans have just two simple distinctions from humans, ridged noses and a ceremonial earpiece. And yet, those two additions give them a unique character. Where the busy-looking Baneans got just a single episode, Bajorans have appeared in every series since The Next Generation.

20. Discovery Klingons

The Klingons rank as the best alien race in all of Star Trek history, with one notable exception: the Kilngons as portrayed in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery. Not only does the first season feature unending scenes of Klingons speaking in their native language, but it also redesigns the aliens to look more reptilian and strange. Gone are the noble uniforms of old, with their metal sashes and shoulder pads, replaced by what looks like a bunch of spikes glued together.

Those who defend the Klingons of Discovery like to point out that the Klingons underwent a radical visual change already, when the bizarre creatures with head ridges and pointed teeth replaced humans with bronze skin in the original series in The Motion Picture.

However, the Klingons of the Motion Picture simply realized the Klingons of the original series, taking advantage of a movie budget. The Klingons of Discovery were different just for the sake of difference, and have since been dispatched without honor.