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Star Trek has delivered some unforgettable character introductions and these ten went above and beyond! We’re counting down the reveals that hit harder than anyone expected.
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00:00In our previous list of character reveals taking things a little far, we discovered that across
00:04the wide expanse of Star Trek, the writers did enjoy making our favorites suffer. Genocide,
00:09assault, murder, genetic manipulation, it's all fair game in the final frontier. That being the
00:13case, narrowing the shocking reveals behind characters' motivations and drives to 10 was
00:17a challenge. When writing anyone's story, the temptation to include a little trauma for growth
00:21is always strong. When adding to that backstory, especially around a long-established character or
00:26their arc, one needs to be careful. The butterfly effect is in full force, and a stubbed toe at 12
00:32could mean generational trauma for decades to follow. Not all additions are bad, nor is every
00:36twist included for the sake of the twist. Writing is an art and, like those who consider lying the
00:40highest skill, it needs to be practiced regularly. There are some reveals throughout Star Trek that,
00:45while stark or enormous, have helped to shed a new context on how people act and why they do the
00:50things that they do. As always, please be aware that we will be discussing specific character reveals
00:54that were sometimes intended as a cliffhanger ending or mid-season twist. So a spoiler alert
00:59is in full effect here. Do you agree that these reveals were a shocking addition, or were they
01:03exactly what was needed? I'm Sean Ferrick for TrekCulture and here are 10 more character reveals that
01:09didn't have to go that hard. 10. Will and Deanna's Tragedy
01:14The death of a child is a tragedy that is often impossible to overcome, so adding it to the backstories
01:19of beloved characters must be handled with care. While Riker and Troy were a strong couple,
01:23having already withstood much adversity in their time, the death of Thaddeus Riker felt like a
01:28cruel blow. In Nepenthe, Jean-Luc and Soji arrive on the planet and are accosted by Kestra Riker,
01:33clad in her finest hunting gear. They quickly arrive at the Riker's cabin and a warm reunion of
01:38old friends follows, bunny corn pizza and all. The reason for the family's relocation to Nepenthe is
01:43quickly revealed. Thaddeus Riker, born in 2381, contracted a terminal illness and there was hope that
01:49the planet's regenerative properties could cure him, it didn't work, leaving the family devastated and
01:54the audience shocked at this terrible blow. Though this was a truly heartbreaking addition to the
01:59Riker's story, it helped to set up one of the most heart-wrenching moments in the last generation.
02:04Will Riker, believing his luck had run out, said to the heir and to anyone who was listening that he
02:09and their son would be waiting for Deanna. It was all she needed, empathic abilities in full force,
02:14and she was able to find and save him. There is a risk with including a reveal like this,
02:18much of which revolves around how it's handled. For Star Trek, and for the Rikers, it was handled well.
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02:349. Worf Killed a Kid
02:36Let He Who Is Without Sin is an odd episode of Deep Space Nine. It was clearly intended to be
02:42a light
02:42story, arriving after a string of heavy hitters like The Ship and Nor the Battle to the Strong.
02:47It was directed by René Auberjonois, who recounted a difficult shoot, juggling sand mites gnashing
02:52their way through the cast and crew, and Terry Farrell's photosensitivity while having to stand
02:56under the sun for long periods of time. One might be forgiven for glossing over the events of the
03:00episode. At the same time, they focus on Bashir and Leta breaking up rather cordially, and Quark
03:06attempted to cram as much Jamaha Ron into one week as possible. Still, there is Worf to contend with,
03:10in and around his little spot of domestic terrorism. Dax, demanding to know,
03:14what the hell Worf, discovers his sad backstory. As a child, he had accidentally killed another boy,
03:20Mikkel. In a game of soccer, they had collided and the boy's neck had been broken. Worf,
03:25from that point on, knew he needed to exercise restraint around humans for fear he could hurt them.
03:30This was an enormous piece of Worf's story that came from nowhere. While Worf wasn't the typical
03:35Klingon during his run on The Next Generation, one didn't assume it was because he was afraid of
03:38breaking people around him, it was quite the bombshell to drop in this episode, and one that
03:42was never discussed again. Number 8. Neelix's survivor guilt
03:47Star Trek has used historical parallels frequently, as was the intention of Gene Roddenberry from the
03:52beginning. Exploring real world issues via the lens of science fiction is nothing new for the franchise,
03:57so when Voyager turned his attention to Neelix's backstory, it opted to liken his family's
04:01destruction to that experienced in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Before Neelix encountered the USS Voyager,
04:08he was a survivor of the Talax-Hakonian Order War. Talax had surrendered unconditionally to the Order,
04:15owing in large part to the deployment of the Metreon Cascade. Dr. Mabor Jatrell, Star Trek's
04:20answer to Robert Oppenheimer, developed a deadly weapon for the Order. He later attempted to play
04:25down his responsibility once he became aware of the full impact of the Cascade. Like the atomic bombs that
04:30were deployed over Japan, this Cascade had an initial explosion followed by radiation fallout. This fallout,
04:37according to Jatrell at least, was unforeseen. The weapon was detonated on the moon Rhinax,
04:42the home place of Neelix and his family. While Neelix himself was off-world at the time of the attack,
04:46the rest of his family weren't so lucky. They, along with 300,000 other Talaxians, were killed.
04:52Despite making peace with Jatrell himself, Neelix carried this trauma for years to come. His own brush
04:58with death and subsequent vision quest brought him face to face with a version of his favourite sister,
05:02Elixia, who promptly dissolved in front of him, re-scarring him from life. Neelix may not have
05:07been everybody's favourite character, but nobody deserved that.
05:117. Mirror Lorca's History of Grooming and Sexual Assault
05:15Members of the Terran Empire always run the risk of being one note. When it was Kirk in Mirror Mirror,
05:21he was a simple bad guy, end of story. However, Mirror Spock had the capacity to be more than his
05:26goatee might suggest, which always makes a more interesting character on the screen.
05:30Gabriel Lorca appeared in almost every episode of Star Trek Discovery's first season, though his true
05:36nature was hidden for most of that time. As each episode progressed, audiences were shown a cold,
05:42cynical person, though one who wasn't above a bit of flattery to achieve his ends. The big reveal in
05:48vaulting ambition that he was and always had been from the Mirror Universe managed to shock and surprise.
05:54However, part of the reveal included the fact that he was a child abuser and guilty of sexual assault.
06:00This gave room for pause. Giorgio informed Michael Burnham that her counterpart had been groomed by
06:05Lorca, while the audience simultaneously discovered he had abused and then discarded a lover named Ava,
06:11sister to that universe's Maddox. While no one was under any illusions that Lorca was a nice person,
06:16this stripped any ambiguity to his ambitions away, effectively making him a moustache-twirling,
06:21cardboard cutout type of villain. The fact that Jason Isaacs played him with depth and range
06:26served to make this more frustrating. Frankly, he was bad enough. This felt like a step too far.
06:326. McCoy killed his dad
06:35In the fifth Star Trek film, Cybok, Spock's half-brother, boards the Enterprise A and quickly
06:40assumes control. With Kirk, Spock and McCoy being among the last holdouts to his space-age mind control,
06:46he corners them in the observation room. There, the audience has granted some of the most heart-wrenching
06:52reveals about both Spock and McCoy. For Spock, he relives the day of his birth, remembering Sarek's
06:58disappointment at his apparent humanity. Though the logic of remembering his own birth is questionable,
07:03the scene is stark and directly feeds another entry on this list. However, it is the depiction of McCoy's
07:09pain that is truly devastating. We learn that his father was suffering from a terminal illness and
07:15constantly in pain, and McCoy was powerless to help him. The scene is quiet and the acting is
07:20perfect. DeForest Kelly played the grumbling yet good-natured doctor since Star Trek's earliest
07:25days, but to see him broken by this memory is painful to see. To ease his father's suffering,
07:30McCoy deactivates the life support keeping him alive, which allows the man to die within seconds.
07:35If that weren't bad enough, McCoy then realises that a cure for the illness was found a short time
07:40later, burying this son with guilt for years to come. Number 5. Explosive Decompression
07:46Sometimes a reveal is thrown in that is clearly intended to shock and unsettle the audience.
07:51In Waltz, the writers managed to do exactly that with this little reveal of Gull or Glynn, Ducat's
07:56early days. The episode was designed to do one thing and one thing alone, restore Ducat to his rightful
08:02place as the main antagonist of Deep Space Nine. While stranded on a barren world with an injured Cisco,
08:07he has all of the cards. He has the phaser. He has the stories. Lots and lots of stories.
08:13In one such story, he recounts a horror story from his past. As a lowly Glynn, he was once tasked
08:18with
08:18cleaning up a compartment in which three unlucky men had experienced an explosive decompression.
08:23In his own words, he didn't sleep for a week. That he can remember it as clearly as he does
08:28while
08:28simultaneously going on to claim that he was too lenient on the Bajorans during the occupation,
08:32gives us a little more insight into Ducat's mind. To him, the Cardassians were people while the
08:37Bajorans weren't. Having said that, what was it about this event that left him unable to sleep?
08:42Was it the mess that he found? Or was it something that awoke in him? Something that would fuel his
08:46actions as the Prefect of Bajor? Sometimes, revelations can help understand the man,
08:51even if they are a little horrific to think about.
08:54Number 4. A planet that survives by using children as fuel.
08:58Allura, from the planet Majalus, was a one episode, to date, character who was involved in one of the
09:03biggest gut-punch moments of Strange New World's first season. The audience spends much of Lift
09:10Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach, believing that she holds the individual best interests of the
09:14so-called first servant at heart. The Enterprise is drawn into a struggle for the soul of Majalus.
09:20Allura is direct, but warm, while discussing her people with Pike. They had known each other for 10
09:25years prior, so there is familiarity there. They rekindle their romance and Pike grows to trust her,
09:31even as the events begin to get more complicated around them. She is single-minded, focused on
09:36making sure the first servant, who is a young child, is safe and that he is returned to Majalus.
09:41There are several attempts to kidnap him, and there is seemingly an assassination attempt that Pike
09:45helps to foil. Pike's aid earns him an invitation to the Ascension Ceremony. Here he discovers that Allura
09:52has been working to ensure the first servant takes his place as the power generator for Majalus. He is
09:57literally plugged into their systems, something that will cause him great suffering, and something
10:03that he will do alone. To remove him now would be to kill him, something that horrifies Pike.
10:08Allura is resolute, speaking honestly about the pain the boy will face, and assuring Pike that none
10:13of it is in vain. He will be honoured by the people of Majalus for the rest of his life,
10:17however long
10:17that may be. Though she admits she would love there to be another way, she has also accepted that there
10:22isn't. Pike, unable to face this, leaves. Number 3. I Know How You Die
10:28For this character reveal, it was something that the audience was already aware of.
10:32In the second season of Star Trek Discovery, Lieutenant Commander Arium was infected by control.
10:37This led to her death by airlocking, saving her comrades in the process. She was given a funeral
10:42with full honours, and her crew grieved. Several years later, Arium not only rose again,
10:49but was given full knowledge of her impending death. Captain Burnham and Commander Rayner were stuck in
10:54a time loop thanks to a Crenum chronophage, and were joined by an out of time stamets. While this
10:59might have been a standard Tuesday on the USS Discovery, it ended up being anything but for poor
11:03Arium. Burnham, left without time and options, reveals to Arium that she knows the exact date and
11:09manner of her death. One does have to wonder though, was there a better way of convincing her to help?
11:14How exactly does Burnham claiming to know Arium's expiration date help? From Arium's point of view,
11:20she was enjoying a nice day in the big chair, and then suddenly things took a turn for the fatal.
11:23She helps Burnham, but at what cost? At what cost?
11:27Number 2. Scotty bears a total resentment toward women
11:31While Wolf and the Fold is a divisive episode for several reasons, the biggest challenge comes
11:35right at the beginning of the story. While Scotty, Kirk and McCoy are enjoying exotic dancing and
11:40light bassed applause, the music rains down around them and the audience is told that Scotty is
11:45healing from something. Kirk tips the dancer to come join them and she leaves with Scotty.
11:49Everyone seems to be in good spirits. Kirk and McCoy then discuss Scotty's recent accident in
11:53engineering, namely an explosion that resulted in Scotty being thrown against a bulkhead.
11:57The audience is never told how bad this accident was, but they are told it was caused by a woman.
12:02This resulted in Scotty's total resentment towards all women. Though McCoy quickly describes this as
12:07severe psychological trauma, it's quite the nugget to drop in conversation. And as interesting an
12:13approach as it was in 1967, when one considers James Doohan, Simon Pegg and now Martin Quinn's
12:18takes on the character, it makes it even more unbelievable. There is a distinct possibility
12:21that McCoy was joking when he claimed that Scotty bore such resentment toward all women, as he and
12:26Kirk were grinning heartily through the entire conversation. One hopes that this was a joke and that
12:31Starfleet doesn't habitually treat their officers' traumas with trips to hedonistic pleasure worlds.
12:351. Spock attempted to cut the human half out of himself
12:40Star Trek Strange New World's third season episode What is Starfleet? introduced a dark
12:45chapter of Spock's backstory, one built on the abuse and rejection he had faced as a child.
12:50The audience had seen versions of Spock facing strife in his past. Star Trek included a scene where a
12:55young Spock was habitually bullied by his Vulcan classmates, and that abuse focused on his human
13:01mother. Yesteryear also depicted the struggles that young Spock faced from his fellow Vulcans,
13:06which, when combined with Sarek's apparent disappointment in him, clearly left a lasting
13:11impact on the young man. While Star Trek Discovery depicted a young Spock jealous of the attention his
13:16adopted sister Michael received, it stopped short of truly exploring the pain he felt. Vulcans feel pain
13:22more powerfully than humans, as we are frequently reminded. So what does one do with that pain?
13:27Spock began to self-harm. In an interview segment with Beto Ortegas, Spock revealed that he was once
13:33found by his father, carving into his flesh with a knife. This, according to Spock, was an attempt
13:38to cut the human half out of himself. This devastating reveal highlights the pain that he felt as well as
13:45the loneliness he must have experienced. It was also an enormous character moment to drop into a short
13:49scene like that, certainly evoking more sympathy for Spock, but shocking audiences at the same time.
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15:03And that's everything for our list today folks, thank you so much for watching along, we hope that you
15:07enjoyed, and remember you are awesome. Please make sure that you are liking, sharing, and subscribing,
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15:17Sean Ferry. Until I see you again, look after yourself, make sure that you live long and prosper,
15:21be kind, share that kindness with others, and mind yourself, particularly in this day and age when
15:26things are a bit dark outside. Be kind to yourself, be kind to others, lead with love. Thanks very much.
15:32I'll see you again next week.
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