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Here one day, gone another - these characters mysteriously disappeared in a flash!
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00:00Across the 60 year history of Star Trek, there have been hundreds of characters who have arrived,
00:04disappeared, reappeared and seared their place in the universe's story. Many of them have stuck
00:10around for years at a time, like the crew of the original series or Worf. Seriously, Worf is just
00:16everywhere in this franchise. Hey, what's that behind you? I'm just kidding, it's Worf.
00:20There are, however, those characters who may be here for some time, but then,
00:25like Kaiser Soze himself, vanish into a puff of smoke. Some may have received a bit of an
00:32explanation in the years that have passed, while others were simply gone, baby, gone.
00:37This list will include those examples of people who have never been heard from again, or people whose
00:44absences were never truly explained. There will be humans, there will be Romulans, there may even be
00:50a love interest or two. Who's to say, really, when there are so many faces on the missing posters in
00:56Star Trek? I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture, and here are 10 Star Trek characters that just vanished.
01:04Number 10. Selah. Yes, yes, we know it's a Trek culture list, therefore it must have an entry on Selah.
01:12However, there's a simple reason why she keeps popping up here. Her story is incomplete, and the
01:20opportunity to explore more of the half-human, half-Romulan commander is rapidly passing us by.
01:27Unification Part 2 saw Selah's plan to invade Vulcan thwarted by Ambassador Spock, Lieutenant Commander
01:33Data and Captain Picard. Let us not forget this was done with the full knowledge of the then-praetor
01:40Nural. It seems highly unlikely that her career survived that setback. Inter Arma Enum Silent
01:48Legis established that Nural was still in charge of the Romulan Senate. This would not last, which means
01:56a scapegoat almost definitely took the blame for the invasion plot. It takes little reasoning to imagine
02:04this was Selah herself. What happened to her? Was she executed? Was she sent to a Romulan penal colony to
02:14toil alongside some Remans? Romulans don't have a reputation as the most forgiving of people, so
02:20barring execution, there was still little chance at a career bounce back for her. Star Trek Online has
02:28suggested that she was at least partly responsible for the supernova that destroyed much of the Romulan
02:35Star Empire. That being the case, is Selah still out there? Does she still hold a grudge against Spock,
02:42Data and Picard? Technically all three have died since she last saw them. Would that settle the debt?
02:49Were she to return? Can she return? We need to know. Number nine, Janice Rand. For Commander Janice Rand,
02:59we're looking at the absence that saw her leave the Enterprise for several years. This is particularly
03:05egregious as she was included in the original marketing for Star Trek once it went to series.
03:13Grace Lee Whitney was clearly being touted as one of the leads for the series, only to then appear in
03:19a
03:19handful of episodes in the show's first season. The truth behind this disappearance is a sad tale
03:25that is too common in Hollywood. Rand was written out of the show halfway through the debut year,
03:32with Lee Whitney describing an encounter with a producer years later in her autobiography.
03:37Though she refused to name the man, she alleged that he made an unwanted sexual pass at her. When she
03:44spurned this advance, she quickly found herself out of a job. While the incident may have been unrelated,
03:52it's unlikely that in the 60s they had nothing to do with each other. The result was that Rand,
03:58who was the captain's yeoman and had featured in several high profile stories, was simply gone.
04:06Years later, Grace Lee Whitney was discovered by DeForest Kelly once again, who informed her that the then
04:12recently begun Star Trek conventions featured many fans who wondered where she was. This eventually
04:20led to her casting in Star Trek The Motion Picture, which in turn led to appearances in The Search for
04:26Spock, The Voyage Home and The Undiscovered Country, along with the Voyager episode Flashback. No
04:33explanation has ever been given for her on-screen vanishing, so one can simply assume it was a case of
04:39reassignment. To be fair, after the events of Charlie X, Miri and The Enemy Within, the Enterprise wasn't
04:46exactly that much fun to be stationed on. 8. To Rule
04:51Martha Hackett did not make her debut in Star Trek as the love to hate Cardassian spy,
04:57Seska in Voyager. Though she had appeared in a deleted scene in All Good Things, her true debut came in
05:05the
05:05third season of Deep Space Nine in the series opener, The Search. Here she played sub commander
05:11to rule, a Romulan officer assigned to operate the cloaking device aboard the USS Defiant. She was gruff,
05:19she had no interest in making friends, and she was everything we would have assumed a Romulan
05:25officer to be. In short, she was great. A holographic version of her was killed by the Jem'Hadar,
05:31but her real self was captured along with much of the Defiant's crew and placed in a kind of neural
05:37stasis. Once released, she presumably took up her post on the Defiant again, only she was never seen
05:43or heard from after that point. There may simply have been a case of too many new characters, as The
05:50Search also introduced Michael Eddington to the mix, but the disappearance of To Rule was a true shame.
05:56The fact that she didn't get along with everyone suited the tone of Deep Space Nine, especially with
06:02the gradual softening of Odo, who effectively created the mould that she was poured into.
06:08For Martha Hackett fans, of course, all was not lost, as Seska would debut in Voyager shortly thereafter.
06:15Perhaps that is our answer. Seska is to rule, and the spy-ception goes further than any of us ever
06:21assumed.
06:22Number 7. Argyle. The first season of The Next Generation featured a revolving door of chief
06:29engineers, so this really could apply to most of them. Leland T. Lynch managed to stand out by the
06:36inexplicable use of his full name, first, middle and last, when hailed by the bridge. Argyle, however,
06:42is a bit of a different story. The rumour goes that far from just disappearing like the others,
06:49this particular engineer was informed he would not be returning, regardless of a series of letters
06:56received by the studio to keep him on. Argyle's actor, Biff Yeager, was part of an initiative to
07:03send those letters to the studio, encouraging them to keep the character around. Perhaps he had seen
07:09what happens to engineers on the Enterprise D and wanted to get ahead of the curve, or perhaps he wanted
07:15that one thing that eludes so many of us. Job security. Unlike B. Joe and John Trimble's
07:23successful letter-writing campaign of the 1960s, this one didn't pan out. He was not asked back,
07:30though he does hold the distinction of being the only engineer in the first season to appear twice.
07:36That may have to be the win for this grease monkey, and who could begrudge the great Geordie
07:40LaForge the Pulse as the show went into its second season? Not me, that's for sure.
07:45Number 6. Kelsing. I want to share a little bit of guilt here, as some of the comments made on
07:53the
07:53Ups and Downs episode for Wedding Bell Blues may have played a role in losing someone a job.
08:00Okay, that's very unlikely, as the third season of Strange New Worlds had been produced long before it
08:05began airing, so the rants about those pints of Guinness probably had nothing to do with her
08:13disappearance. In saying that, disappear Kelsing did. She was stationed on Starbase One, serving
08:20drinks with all three arms for the wedding reception, centenary celebration, that had been hijacked by
08:26Trelane. There she impressed Captain Pike and Number One so much that they both felt she'd be perfect for a
08:35posting on the Enterprise. The ship was equipped with several galleys and bars, which, by the way,
08:41has been one of the best inclusions in this version of the ship, so there was clearly the space for
08:47her
08:47to do her thing. We can only assume that she was always doing her thing in the other room,
08:53for wherever we were, as she was never seen again. There is, of course, the possibility that she simply
09:01didn't take Pike up on the offer, and she is still slinging drinks on Starbase One, hopefully Klingon
09:07free these days. If she did take them up on the post, perhaps she took a quick break and may
09:14return
09:14in the show's fourth season. We are talking about an alien with three arms and a dazzling smile.
09:20Anything is possible here. Number five, Savik. Savik only appeared in three Star Trek films and one
09:28incredible Otoy short, with one quick name check along the way. However, the canon of the Otoy short
09:36is open to debate, so technically Savik just vanished once that Klingon bird of prey took off into the sky,
09:44bringing Spock and the others back to Earth. Kirstie Alley originated the role in Star Trek II
09:50The Wrath of Khan, introducing a young officer who was determined to impress on her first mission.
09:55Ali's Savik was young and inexperienced, clearly established as a protege to Spock,
10:02and looked set to become one of the main cast members in any future sequels. She also portrayed
10:08with more open emotions than Robin Curtis's version, who would appear in the subsequent sequels.
10:14This was due to an initial plot line that would have revealed Savik as half Romulan. This was abandoned
10:20in the search for Spock. The voyage home sees Savik departing the crew, staying behind on Vulcan when
10:27the rest of the crew head home. In the original script, Savik would have been revealed to be
10:32pregnant as a result of her assistance during the reborn Spock's ponfire. This was never filmed,
10:39but was incorporated into her appearance in Otoy's Unification short film. Outside of this on-screen
10:46appearance, Savik was never given a proper goodbye. This was, however, a blessing. When Nicholas Meyer
10:54returned to direct the Undiscovered Country, he initially sought to bring Savik back, filling the
11:00role that would of course become Valerius. This led to a big blow up with Gene Roddenberry, who hated the
11:07idea of Savik turning traitorous. As it happened, Savik didn't return. Expanded canon establishes Savik as a
11:14starship captain of the USS Titan, which is commemorated in Star Trek Picard's third season.
11:21The shuttle that Picard and Riker take over to the SS Elias-12 is, in fact, named the Savik.
11:28Number 4. Carol Marcus, Kelvin
11:32Star Trek Into Darkness continues the story of the Kelvin universe versions of Kirk, Spock, and the crew of
11:38the Enterprise. When Into Darkness was released, J.J. Abrams decided to up the ante by introducing
11:44Khan Noonien Singh, this time played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Though the film has aged well over
11:51the years, there was a less than subtle attempt to evoke memories of Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan,
11:57and speaking of that film, Alice Eve was cast as Dr. Carol Marcus. In the prime timeline, B.B. Besh
12:05originated the
12:06role of the brilliant physicist who invented the Genesis device. She was also a one-time paramour of
12:13James T. Kirk and the mother of his son, David. In the Kelvin universe, she is introduced as an
12:19infiltrator aboard the Enterprise, though for very good reason. Her father, Admiral Marcus, had smuggled
12:25a large number of Khan's people aboard, hidden in torpedoes that were destined to be detonated, killing
12:32them all. The film concludes with Admiral Marcus's death, the defeat of Khan, and the seeming assignment
12:38of Carol to the Enterprise. Then, in Star Trek Beyond, she is simply nowhere to be found. Co-writer
12:45of that film, Simon Pegg, revealed that as they were breaking the story, they simply couldn't find a
12:51place for the character without shoehorning her in somehow. Considering the importance she played in
12:58that previous movie, it seems a shame. Add to that the importance of the character over in the prime
13:04universe, and it seems like there are some fairly direct reasons she might well be served by another
13:11outing. Alas, for now, it's not to be. Let us hope she's merely on assignment somewhere and wasn't one of
13:18the dozens of crew members who seem to be killed on the Enterprise every time it goes outside.
13:23Number 3. Pulaski. Dr. Catherine Pulaski was the chief medical officer aboard the Enterprise D
13:31for a whole year, yet when the third season of The Next Generation aired, she was nowhere to be found.
13:38The previous year saw Dr. Crusher exit, with her absence being explained away as a promotion to
13:44Starfleet Medical. Pulaski received no such explanation when she vanished in year 3, replaced by the returning
13:51Crusher again. By now, it's largely well known that Diana Muldauer was, or did not have as positive a
13:58time working on The Next Generation that she had experienced on the original series. She found the
14:03cast quite close-knit, which itself was not a negative, but she found it difficult to become
14:08a part of the team. Add to this her special guest star status throughout the season rather than a starring
14:15credit, and Pulaski never quite felt as though she was one of the crew. Had she returned after this
14:21departure, like Crusher, this could easily have been remedied. Since that time, Pulaski has only been
14:27referred to by name once, or twice, or by obscure reference. Indeed, only Professor James Moriarty ever
14:35inquired as to her whereabouts, which is a pretty raw deal once one considers it. She was the chief medical
14:42officer aboard the flagship of the Federation, and she was quietly ignored from that point on. Yes, Crusher
14:48did use her expertise in Who Watches the Watchers, but that was one time. She did not return for Picard's
14:54third season reunions, nor was she brought in for the first season diagnosis of Picard either. An urban myth
15:01abounded that she was working at the medical facility Tuvok was located in for one possible future, but that
15:08has since been debunked. As it stands, she is a doctor who worked hard for a year only to be
15:15forgotten
15:15almost immediately by the crew she had to save on more than one occasion. Tough break doc. Number 2.
15:24Kestra. Kestra Riker, named for her aunt who died as a child, lived on Nepenthe with her parents,
15:31Will and Diana. She was a confident, outspoken young woman, one with boundless imagination and energy.
15:37She is directly responsible for helping Soji, who had recently discovered her android status,
15:43understand herself better, while also helping to find Soji and Picard a destination when it came to
15:49the former's planet. Simply put, she was a damn good kid. While the Riker Troys weren't the main focus
15:56of Star Trek Picard, the third season sees both Will and Diana return to the show. They both enjoy plenty
16:03of
16:04screen time, but their young daughter is nowhere to be found. Her absence was semi-explained with her
16:10attending the academy, though she was also nowhere to be seen nor apparently thought of during the Borg
16:16plot of Frontier Day 2401. Starfleet's younger officers and cadets, all of those under 26 that is,
16:25who had passed through a transporter, had effectively been quietly assimilated, and if Kestra was indeed
16:32at the academy, that probably put her in the crosshairs there too. Showrunner Terry Metallus has
16:37jokingly suggested that she and Elnor were on Earth, leading the ground war against the Borg. This would
16:43probably suit her well, as her forestry skills would surely aid her in evading capture. However, while her
16:49parents were busy trying to save Jack Crusher, Alandra and Sydney LaForge, they never seemed to spare a
16:54thought for their own daughter. Perhaps they were simply so confident in her skills they knew that
17:00they had nothing to worry about. There are worse things to be fair. Number 1. Rollins. Rollins appeared
17:08in the pilot episode of Star Trek Voyager, Caretaker. He served as the chief tactical officer while Tuvok was
17:15on his spy mission, then moved to the con position once Tuvok returned. He would quickly lose this
17:21position to Lieutenant Paris, though he was promoted for his troubles. Apparently the producers weren't
17:27content to allow him that happy ending, as he ended up in a physical fight with Paris. From Rollins'
17:33point of view, this was over sloppy reporting. From Paris' point of view, it was part of a plot to
17:38out
17:38the mole on board the ship, and Rollins' jaw just got in the way. This fight was hardly life-threatening,
17:45so Rollins' disappearance is all the more surprising. The USS Voyager was a finite space,
17:51with no star bases or space docks on the way home to Starfleet. Was he reassigned to holodeck
17:57maintenance? Was he one of the many officers lost along the way home? Or did he simply find a temporal
18:03transporter, hop across the galaxy and don some zindi makeup? Actor Scott McDonald may be the only one who
18:10can properly answer that one, but for now, Rollins' remains one of the great mysteries of the Delta Quadrant.
18:24Hi, I'm Duncan Relic, no relation, and I collect relics from before the burn. Thanks to a temporal
18:33wormhole, I now have an unlimited supply of Trek Culture T-shirts, and I'm selling them to you!
18:42You could be wearing this stylish down-and-up T-shirt, or how about this fish-watching design? Bright yellow
18:50on black, the colours I'd use in thumbnails, I tell you that for nothing. I plan to take these designs
18:56and transfer them via quantum duplication onto packs, mugs, and posters, so look out for those!
19:05Back! Treat this unlimited supply as a limited time deal. Get your T-shirt quick! Who's your daddy?
19:27That is everything for our list today folks, thank you so much for watching along. Who else
19:31disappeared without a trace or a mention? Let us know in the comments below. Until I see you again,
19:35make sure that you live long and prosper and look after yourselves. Make sure you're following us
19:38on the various socials, we are at TrekCulture or at TrekCultureYT on Instagram, I am at SeanFerrick,
19:43and you are a big bunch of legends. If you want to grab a T-shirt like this, make sure
19:45that you
19:46follow the link to the merch store underneath this video. Until I see you again, stay awesome,
19:50stay wonderful, look after yourselves, lead with peace, lead with love, and I'll see you soon. Thanks very much!
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