Welcome back, fellow Trekkies, and thanks for joining us for part four of our six-part series on the most dangerous aliens from Star Trek: The Original Series. Today, we look into three more aliens from TOS season 2 that caused plenty of trouble for the USS Enterprise crew, and one in particular that nearly sent Captain Kirk to the big cosmic starship in the sky!
1. The Kelvans ("By Any Other Name")
This episode was penned by two of my favorite Star Trek writers (D.C. Fontana and Jerome Bixby) Bixby also wrote "Mirror, Mirror," which is one of the most iconic episodes of TOS. In "By Any Other Name," the crew meets the Kelvans, who've traveled from the Andromeda Galaxy to conquer life-sustaining planets and take over the Enterprise so they can return to space and make the 300-year journey home.
The Kelvans' technology is what makes them so dangerous because, in their human forms, they're offhandedly polite and answer the landing party's questions--until Kirk attempts an escape. Rojan, the group's leader, then uses a device on his belt to turn Yeoman Thompson into what looks like a futuristic teething cube. It's particularly painful because just before this happens, Thompson looks up at Kirk and says, "Captain," as if because he's James T. Kirk, he'll be able to stop what's about to happen.
Rojan crushes the cube, adding another redshirt to the Trek "in memoriam" reel. Between their paralysis field and the dehydrator beam, the Kelvans could have easily taken over if not for the emotions that came free with purchase after they took on human form.
2. Tribbles ("The Trouble With Tribbles")
Sometimes, aliens don't look dangerous or, in the case of tribbles, truly mean any harm. Their biology gears them to eat, look cute, and reproduce, kind of like a friendly stray cat. What makes these little furballs so dangerous is how quickly they copy/paste themselves everywhere, and the more they eat, the more the population grows. Eventually, they literally eat you out of house (or starship) and home!
Imagine if you have an enemy and decide to use Tribbles as biological warfare, like Scotty did by beaming them into the Klingons' engine room at the end of the episode. Feed them up, Trojan horse them onto an enemy vessel, and pretty soon, it's overrun. Please help control the tribble population; have your tribble spayed or neutered.
3. The Mugato ("A Private Little War")
What do you get when you cross a silverback gorilla with a poisonous rhinoceros? You get the Mugato, a predatory creature that lives on Neural. The war-torn planet in this episode is a strange one, although the Vietnam allegory is obvious, with the planet's name minus only one letter from "neutral."
I remember seeing the Mugato when I was a kid and my parents watched Star Trek in syndication, usually on weekends. The emotionless face with the open mouth was nightmare fuel! While Nona, the medicine woman (known as a Kahn-ut-tu) of the Hill People, had the cure for the Mugato's bite with the Mahko root, this creepy and dangerous creature probably diversified its diet with more than a few villagers.
What makes the Mugato so dangerous is not only its deadly venom but its skill as a predator. It leaps from hiding places or jumps on your back like a WWE wrestler. Its size and immense strength means that once it has its victim on the ground, the match is over.
Stay tuned all October for more lists of the most dangerous aliens from Star Trek: The Original Series. Which TOS season 2 aliens are your favorites? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.