Watch: Star Trek Rank and Duties by Certifiably Ingame

If the rankings of Star Trek have confused you, this is the video for you.

We’re back with another video from YouTube creator Certifiably Ingame, as he looks at the ranks of Star Trek. It may seem pretty cut and dry to most fans who and what each rank is and how they’re obtained but you have to remember that not everyone is a die-hard fan, or have been watching for 20 years. Some fans are new to the game, which is why these types of videos are so useful.

The video, as always, is well done with a nice graphic that shows each rank in descending order, and the markings used to differentiate who was what rank. The explanation is of course done in tandem with footage from the Star Trek Online video game, to help round out the video.

The interesting thing of note is that the video also kind of shows how silly things can be, like how the Enterprise of the 70s had three captains (James Kirk, Spock, and Montgomery Scott). It didn’t make sense then, it doesn’t make sense now.

A great piece of education for Star Trek fans.

Beyond just the ranks, the video does a great job explaining the difference between officers and crewmen. In theory, an Ensign has a higher rank than say than a Chief petty officer. So that means that Harry Kim held rank over Miles O’Brien.

Oh, how O’Brien has suffered.

This is something that many fans may not be aware of, how enlisted personnel wasn’t viewed in the same ranking as officers. Again, this may not seem like a major detail but for a show and universe so vast and dense as Star Trek, it’s interesting to see that despite dozens of showrunners, the series still follows the established rules.