Star Trek needs to retire old villains and bring in new ones

Star Trek has been using the same villains over and over in the franchise

Star Trek has grown exponentially since it first debuted in 1966. Each series has explored different parts of the galaxy, made first contacts with new aliens, and encountered difficulties that have been a challenge to overcome. But some tried and true villains have continually been included, and it’s time for them to be retired to make room for unique villains for any upcoming series.

With talk of a Legacy series, there’s hope of villains that some fans might want to see, all of them descendants from previous enemies of Starfleet. And Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has already encountered the Gorn, the reptillian race Captain James T. Kirk encountered in Star Trek: The Original Series. Then Star Trek: Picard ended its run with a throwback to the Changelings from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the Borg from both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. We’ve also seen Q in Picard as well The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager.

Granted, Star Trek: Discovery took a different detour with Osyraa and the Emerald Chain, but it also relied on Klingons and the Mirror Universe for some of its enemies. Star Trek: Enterprise introduced the Xindi but also included the Borg, the Klingons, Augments, and the Romulans. So, needless to say, there have been quite a few crossover enemy races. So isn’t it about time Star Trek created different villains?

Star Trek has created unique storylines for its characters so it’s time for villains that stand out from the crowd

Prodigy has done a wonderful job in creating the Diviner and his vengeful need for the Protostar. Hopefully, it will maintain its distance from villains we’ve already seen. Voyager did a fairly good job with introducing new enemies, including the Hirogen, Species 8472, the Vidiians, the Kazon (although they weren’t really much of a threat), the Clown, and Annorax. So it shouldn’t be too hard for Starfleet Academy and any additional series coming down the pipeline to be forced to confront enemies we haven’t even heard of.

Let’s step away from those we know and meet some evil that can even outdo Khan Noonien Singh. It’s time to pit Starfleet and its captains against new threats that call for unique strategies, that really make the captains dig deep and find alternate solutions to problems caused by these villains.

As much as many fans love Q and the Borg, haven’t they been a thorn in the Federation’s side long enough? The latest battle with the Borg Queen in Picard should be enough to put that species to rest…at least for quite a while. And even though the potential spinoff Legacy has already brought Q back from the Continuum, it can still bring in dark forces that have never been met, some that are seemingly impossible to conquer.

It’s understandable why some Federation enemies just work for an arc in a series, but with the galaxy being so big, there are vast unexplored areas that may have already been claimed by those who don’t want interference from Starfleet. And those could prove to be some of the greatest threats.