Welcome back, fellow Trekkies, and thanks for joining us for part five of our six-part series on the most dangerous aliens in Star Trek: The Original Series. Season 3 brought plenty of action and danger for Captain Kirk and his crew, especially in the form of strange and previously unknown aliens that make human xenophobes look downright friendly. From energy web weavers like the Tholians to the menacing Melkotians, these aliens possessed abilities that could drive humans mad — or even destroy them.
1. The Tholians ("The Tholian Web")
These angry red triangle-looking Tholian ships butt in during a rescue mission to locate the missing starship USS Defiant, which Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Mr. Chekov board to find the entire crew dead. McCoy believes they'd taken "battle to the death" to a whole new level. When the Defiant and Kirk vanish through a doorway created by an interphase, the Tholians demand that the Enterprise get off their lawn, or else.
Not only do the Tholians prove themselves quite dangerous, but that entire area of space is so unstable that it's like walking on thin ice viewed through a fish-eye lens. It gives Chekov such a terrible case of the heebie-jeebies that he has a breakdown on the bridge, and Spock has to neck-pinch him into unconsciousness. That has to be a handy talent--sick of your co-worker's non-stop yapping? One Vulcan nerve pinch and it's nap time for Babbling Bob or Brenda!
This area of space, combined with the Tholians trapping the Enterprise in their energy web to ensure they don't escape, makes them some of the most dangerous aliens Kirk and his crew encounter.
2. The Melkotians ("Spectre of the Gun")
These aliens, which look something like exaggerated stalks of broccoli, are much like the Tholians in that they don't want anyone trespassing into their space. Nevertheless, Starfleet still sends the Enterprise because, after all, seeking out new life and new civilizations is their main gig. The angry Melkotians insult Kirk and the crew, calling them "a disease," and then toss the landing party of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and Chekov into the year 1881.
Suddenly, the landing party finds itself in the gunsights of the Earps (Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan) as well as Doc Holliday, on the day of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.(I enjoy the way the town of Tombstone isn't complete because the Melkots couldn't find enough information about it in Kirk's memories; it adds a creepy surrealness to the episode.
The Melkotians appear to be powerful telepaths, since each of the crew hear a warning on board, but each in their own language, and because they can create scenarios to suit their own needs. What a terrifying thought, to be murdered by your own kind inside an unfinished memory!
3. The energy vampire that feeds on hatred ("Day of the Dove")
When Kirk, McCoy, and Chekov beam down to a planet to respond to a human colony's distress signal, they encounter a group of angry Klingons and their leader, Kang, opens the discourse by slapping Kirk down like an angry dowager who's had enough of her upstart grandson.
The source of Kang's anger, a glowing pinwheel-shaped entity that feeds on anger and violence, then makes Chekov lunge at Kang, resulting in him getting the business end of a Klingon agonizer (tell me Walter Koenig wasn't our '60s scream king) over the murder of a brother Chekov never had.
The entity follows the crew up to the ship via the transporter, and this is where it truly becomes dangerous. It causes everyone on board to become furious and aggressive. When Chekov deserts his post to avenge his non-existent brother, Mr. Sulu tells Kirk that Chekov is an only child (invented in Russia of course), so imagine the kind of mental chokehold this creature had on the crew and the danger it caused when key members started to succumb.
Don't worry if your favorites haven't made the cut yet because one ranking still remains. Stay tuned for the final chapter in our six-part Star Trek: TOS dangerous aliens series which is coming soon! Until then, share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.