Star Trek: The Original Series had some freaky aliens.
Star Trek: The Original Series‘ first season played like a horror movie. With monsters and visual designs that would put The Twilight Zone to shame, the original series of Trek made sure to make fans as unsettled as possible. While other aliens in Star Trek may be scarier now, considering the limitations at the time, the creators and designers did a great job bringing these haunted images to life.
These aliens resonate with people for a reason and it’s because of how off-putting they really are.
Sure, Next Generation and Voyager had the Borg but while the Borg is scray in a practical sense, these aliens from the original series are scary in a more unsettling sense. Not so much “boo!” or “ew!”, but more “..uhh…”.
So here are the four aliens from the original series of Star Trek that left us feeling the heebie jeebies.
Balok’s puppet
Balok’s puppet is the one that gave me the inspiration for this list. The creepy, creepy puppet. Modeled a bit like the big-headed, Area 51 aliens we’re all too familiar with, they’re then combined with what I can only describe as a shocked maitre d at a restaurant.
Distorted in a water-like effect, it’s nearly impossible to tell if the alien is in fact looking around and talking at the crew of the Enterprise or if the distortion is just making it seem that way. The alien was one of the first things Star Trek viewers got to see when the show launched, as Balok’s puppet popped up in the very second episode of the series; The Corbomite Maneuver.
What’s even worse about this alien was that it wasn’t even its real form. No, the real Balok was nothing more than your standard Teran toddler. Played creepily by Clint Howard, brother of famed actor and director Ron Howard.
The character, nor its race, has ever been seen in Star Trek since, and considering how eery the alien was when fans first saw him, it wouldn’t have been surprised if many thought this was an outer space version of The Twilight Zone.
Salt Vampire
Creepy, thy name is the Salt Vampire. The Salt Vampire, or M-113 creature for you Star Trek hipsters out there, was introduced early in season one like most of the aliens on this list. It first appeared in the fifth episode of the first season, during the events of the episode entitled “The Man Trap”. The story follows the crew as they land on a planet to check up on and deliver supplies to a doctor and his wife who live on the outpost.
It turns out the good doctor, Robert Crater and his wife Nancy are hiding a vicious secret; Nancy is actually dead and the creature standing before everyone is actually a thing that fans have taken to calling the Salt Vampire.
The vampire is able to tap into a person’s mind and create a figment of their imagination, where the individual sees the creature as someone they expect it to be. In the case of the original series, Spock and Dr. McCoy saw the creature as Nancy, the now-departed wife of the dear doctor.
The creature sucks its victims dry of salt, hence the name, and killed Nancy when it was first discovered. Crater bonded with the creature and the two lived together in peace despite everything he had lost.
Eventually, the Enterprise arrived, Crater was killed by the creature and McCoy shot the alien dead, despite having a hard time accepting it wasn’t his friend Nancy. Talk about a mind trip. The alien was suspected to be the last of its kind and while it’s popped up here or here, we really don’t know much about these beings.
Other than the fact they have gaping holes for eyes, a horrid mouth filled with sharp teeth, and suction cup-like fingers that drain the blood from a body.
Talk about horrifying.
Talosian
Talosian’s and Balok‘s puppets have a lot of similarities. Namely, the size and shape of their head. They’re not exactly the easiest of creatures to look at. The veins that run down the side of their heads really make their appearance unsettling, to say the least. They’re far from pleasant to look at either.
The way the move is also a point of contention for me. It gives me the heeby jeebys watching them walk around. Maybe intentional or not but the garments that they wear almost make it seem like they’re floating and gliding. They’re not but it makes them feel like they move unnaturally.
They’re also usually shot differently as well. A lot of the more infamous shots of the Talosians are from an upward angle, to really highlight these are superior beings.
They first appeared in the original pilot; The Cage, but that episode is no longer considered canon. Instead, the series took that episode and split it up into two parts called The Menagerie. Like with the first two aliens on this list, they first appeared in the 15th and 16th episodes of the series, making that first season truly a nightmare-inducing romp.
They are an extremely powerful race of aliens, who can actually make people believe they’re in a reality all their own. Free from otherworldly issues. When you have that type of ability, you’re going to be pretty dang imposing.
Melkot
Star Trek got away from the unsettling imagery of the early episodes and by the end of season two, most aliens were just some form of human-looking thing. While there were still some interesting, weird and at times gross aliens the more macabre, horrifying ones were put out to pasture.
That was until the first episode of season three; Spectre of the Gun.
The episode focuses mostly on James Kirk and the crew dealing with a wild west scenario where they’re in a blood feud with a group of people called the Earps. Yes, those Earps. This isn’t a time travel episode, however, no it was due to the devious and at times maleficent Melkots.
Stuck in this wild west setting, the crew essentially has to find a way to survive from these near-omnipotent aliens. Their abilities alone make them horrifying but their actual presence is what seals the deal.
They’re crusty, green heads. That’s it. They have the texture of a tortoise’s skin, with beady yellow eyes and no mouth, and boy, do I wanna scream looking at these things.
Yet, the worst part is that these things clearly used to have a body. Their necks, if you can call them that, look like they have dangling flesh at the bottom; suggesting that these aliens quite literally lost their heads, pulling themselves off their bodies as their powers developed.
If that theory holds water, yikes.
How depraved were the alien designers on the original Star Trek?