by Rachel Gargan

Created on: July 26, 2009   Last Updated: July 27, 2009

The Star Trek Universe is simply littered with memorable alien species from the Andorians to the Borg. Star Trek is one of very few franchises to enjoy generations of fans. Different generations will have grown up different versions of Star Trek from the 'Original Series' (OS) to 'Voyager' (STV) and 'Deep Space Nine' (DS9).

For my generation, I was an eighties child by the way, the OS did not really exist. It may be considered blasphemy by hard core fans, but it wasn't on the telly very often. Instead we grew up with Picard and Janeway boldly going where no man or woman had gone before.

For us eighties' trekkies the most memorable aliens would have been those of Star Trek the Next Generation (STNG), and quite rightly so as many of them have been featured in almost all of the Star Trek series. The Klingons and Vulcans, two of the most memorable Star Trek aliens have been in all the series and all the films. Worf, a STNG Klingon has been in almost everything since Next Gen finished! The Vulcans pop up in Enterprise, STNG, OS, Voyager and even an episode of DS9 (the one where Sisko's rivalry with a Vulcan star fleet captain leads to a game of baseball and some extremely irritated Vulcans!).

However when I think of the STNG, Q is one of two aliens who always springs to mind, and yes he does turn up at least once in all the later spin off series. Q is an omnipotent being with limitless powers. He is the loveable rogue character with a sinister edge. Q was probably responsible for most of Picard's headaches. He had a knack for putting the Enterprise into dangerous situations at the most inconvenient times. I feel Q can often overlooked by Star Trek fans, probably because he wasn't in a large amount of episodes. However, he is a multifaceted character. I believe he was cleverly used by the show's writers to spark debates about humanity, its worth and condition. The famous first episode of STNG involves Q putting the Enterprise crew on trial for the crimes of humanity. Humans are described as a 'savage child race'. Q describes the darker periods of human history and our behaviour as a race. It is a pretty damning description. The rest of the episode tries to illustrate our potential as a race if we were to draw on our better qualities.

There is one other STNG alien that cannot be ignored: the Borg, introduced to us and the Enterprise crew by Q no less. The Borg were perhaps the best Star Trek 'bad guy' for us eighties trekkies. The Borg were a cyborg race controlled by a hive mind that strived for perfection. They would take aliens captive and literally change them into cyborgs with no individuality.

Most of us eighties' trekkies would have be around 10 years old when the Borg first appeared. Back then they really were quite scary. The concept of losing your personality and becoming one of them was terrifying. The most iconic scene from STNG occurs when Picard was captured and assimilated by the Borg. It was a very chilling scene where he spoke for the Borg and delivered one of the most famous lines in TV history, resistance is futile. They where also featured in Voyager, when 7 of 9 became the first Borg to serve on a Star Fleet vessel. The Borg's most memorable appearance had to be in the film 'First Contact'. They travelled back in time to destroy humanity's first encounter with an alien species (the Vulcans) and therefore Star Fleet's future.

The Borg by far have to be the most memorable Star Trek alien and one of the best Star Trek 'bad guys' for all of us eighties' trekkies.

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