It seems there will always be plenty of new shows in the Star Trek franchise, and that means even more potentially wild situations for members of Starfleet to get caught up in. Goodness knows there's been no shortage of wild incidents characters have been wrapped up in as far back as the original series, and we're here to highlight a good deal of them today.
Check out some of these bizarre things that happened to characters in the Star Trek franchise. I will say that because Lower Decks is a comedy series built on riffing on many of these scenarios, it's been left off the list. With that in mind, let's dive in!
Spock and T’Pring Swap Bodies “Spock Amok”
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds "Spock Amok" found the Vulcan and his betrothed T'Pring attempting a couples ceremony that ended up having some gnarly side effects. With their consciousness trapped in the other's body, both ultimately ended up with a greater understanding of the challenges they face and ended up emotionally stronger as a couple for a little while.
The Deep Space Nine Crew is Forced Into A Weird Board Game
"Move Along Home" is a bizarre Deep Space Nine episode where Quark inadvertently puts the lives of the crew in danger by playing an alien board game. It's like Jumanji, but if Jumanji featured a girl playing hopscotch and repeating a phrase. I wouldn't dare type it out due to fear of having it stuck in my head.
The Voyager Crew Is Held Hostage In A WW2 Simulation
Of all the parts of human history the Hirogen could've tapped into to recreate a training exercise, they had to use Nazi-occupied France? "The Killing Game" puts the Star Trek: Voyager crew in the holodeck with neural interfaces that cause them to forget they're actually in a simulation. It's a bizarre adventure, especially given the aliens who set it into motion don't fully understand just how brutal this is.
Sulu Thinks He’s A Musketeer And Goes After Kirk
"The Naked Time" is an iconic episode of Star Trek, and not because it factors into the long-standing feud between actors William Shatner and George Takei. Sulu becomes infected with a space sickness that makes him believe he's a swashbuckling musketeer, and apparently, he thinks that's best done without a shirt on as well.
Commander Remmick's Head Explodes
Casual Star Trek fans may not remember Commander Remmick, but the more dedicated know him as the character involved in one of the most WTF moments of The Next Generation. When Remmick is found to be housing a parasitic host in his body, Picard and Riker's phaser fire makes his head explode like a tomato. To date, it's one of the goriest moments in the franchise.
Pike Sees His Own Future (And What Happens If He Prevents It)
Thanks to a Klingon time crystal, Pike sees the devastating accident that ends his Starfleet career and struggles to reconcile with it. It isn't until he meets a future version of himself and sees what happens to Spock if he tries to prevent his accident that he relents, and finds acceptance in his future.
Harry Kim Almost Died Having Hooking Up With An Alien
Star Trek: Voyager has done Harry Kim dirty many times over the years, but "Favorite Son" was especially egregious. Kim finds himself popular with the women from an alien planet, who seems very eager to "reproduce" with him. Unfortunately, it's all a ruse to steal his DNA, and Kim would've died had it not been for his crewmates saving him.
The Enterprise Starts Pranking The Crew
In one of the sillier adventures of Star Trek: The Animated Series "The Practical Joker," the Enterprise begins to play practical jokes on the crew after coming in contact with a gas cloud. Spock gets black ink on his eyes, utensils turn to rubber, and someone puts "Kirk Is A Jerk" on the back of the Captain's tunic. The Enterprise even deploys a fake inflatable version of itself to confuse Romulans. It's wild.
Trip Becomes Pregnant
"Unexpected" lives up to the hype in every way imaginable, as Trip Tucker learns he's pregnant after an encounter with an alien species. He eventually is able to get the embryo transferred to another host, but according to T'Pol, becomes the first human male in history to become pregnant.
Worf Attacks A Planets Weather System To Help His Relationship
"Let He Who Is Without Sin" could be a normal episode where Worf and Jadzia have a relaxing day on the pleasure planet Risa, if it weren't for his wild jealousy. After seeing Jadzia talking to another man, he destroys the weather system and ruins the fun for everyone. For some reason, he suffers zero consequences from Starfleet for doing so.
Riker Devolves Into A Caveman
Thanks to the weird genes of Lieutenant Barclay, "Genesis" finds the crew devolving after their dormant genes are brought to the forefront thanks to an infection rapidly spreading amongst the crew. The best of these is Riker literally becoming a caveman, which as one would expect, does not make for a good crewmate.
B’Elanna And Harry Are Held Hostage By An AI Clown
"The Thaw" is a premise that's both bizarre and terrifying, as B'Elanna and Harry are both held captive by an AI Clown while attempting to rescue others trapped in his virtual circus hellscape. It's a chilling episode, made all the more chilling when Janeway effectively scares the AI into non-existence.
Chakotay Communicated With Aliens Through Boxing
An alien species dove into the mind of Chakotay, and instead of trying to communicate with him through his ancestry, or like, learn human speech, they decided to try and communicate with him through an elaborate boxing match. It ended up working, but it helped make "The Fight" one of the strangest Star Trek: Voyager episodes ever.
Archer Offends Kreetassans By Eating
"Vox Sola" shows just how delicate diplomacy can be with cultures, as Captain Archer inadvertently does immense damage to the relations with an alien species after enjoying a meal in front of them. Eventually, it's learned that Kreetassans consider eating to be an act as intimate as humans consider hooking up, and they're able to move forward.
The Crew Encounters Megas-tu
"The Magicks Of Megas-tu" is an episode so bizarre you have to watch it to understand just how bizarre it is. The Enterprise crew transport from fantasy-like planet, to the Salem witch trials. Fans have tried to explain this episode and make it make sense within the canon for decades, but I'm not sure any explanation will ever suffice for this bonkers adventure.
Tuvok And Neelix Merged Into One Person
"Tuvix" is by far one of the most controversial episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, and explores a unique problem. Neelix and Tuvok fuse into an entirely different third person, and the EMH can't figure out how to separate them for months. When a solution is finally found, "Tuvix" argues for his right to live as a human being, but it is ultimately overruled by Janeway who has the two separated again. I'll save the debate for whether that was right for the fans.
Culber Is Reborn In A Cocoon
Hugh Culber was seemingly killed off in Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 when Ash Tyler snapped his neck, but it's not so simple. Thanks to Stamets unique connection to the mycelial network, Culber's essence is pulled into it, and he's later reborn again out of a cocoon as a result of that. As someone who grew to love Culber, I tend not to think too deeply about it.
Beverly Crusher Falls In Love With A Ghost
"Sub Rosa" is one of the wildest stories of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which Beverly Crusher falls in love with her grandmother's ex. It's even weirder than that sounds, if it can be believed, because he's a "ghost" which turns out to be an anaphasic alien. It's an episode fans love, but not because they think it's great.
The Doctor’s Daydreams Terrify An Alien Species
The EMH gets the idea to program himself to have daydreams in an effort to better understand the human condition. In doing so, he ends up inadvertently terrifying an alien species who believe they are spying on Voyager but are only being fed his wild fantasies of being a spy and saving the vessel from danger. Ultimately the alien observing realizes his error, but is afraid he'll look the fool to his superiors after reporting so much. Thanks to assistance from the Doctor he gets off the hook, and it ends up being a win for all involved.
Spock's Brain Is Stolen
Did you know Vulcans can live for twenty-four hours without their brains? It's true, and it gives the Enterprise crew just enough time to save Spock after his brain is surgically removed in "Spock's Brain." Fortunately, McCoy is able to reconnect it with the help of a machine, but notes that he regrets giving him the brain back when the Vulcan starts talking.
Tom Paris And Janeway Became Salamanders
"Threshold" will live on in infamy for Star Trek fans because many know it as the episode in which Tom Paris and Janeway became salamanders and had salamander children. There's really not much more to it than that, beyond the fact it was never acknowledged by Star Trek: Voyager again after it happened.
Riker Is Accidentally Cloned
Thanks to a transporter accident years earlier, Riker comes into contact with a man who is an exact clone of himself who he never knew was created. Both men are the same person, but for ease of naming purposes, the one introduced in the episode goes by Thomas. Ultimately, realizing they can't have the same life, Thomas takes an assignment on another ship to start a new journey.
Janeway Found Amelia Earhart In Space
The mystery of what happened to Amelia Earhart is revealed, and it turns out she was abducted by aliens. The Voyager crew finds her in cryostasis, and learns she's part of a human faction that successfully rebelled against their alien captors and was drifting along in the Delta Quadrant. It's a fun story, but imagine how weird it would be to find some cryptic figure in space hundreds of years after they disappeared.
An Anomaly Forces The Entire Enterprise Crew Into A Musical
Broadcasting a song into a subspace fold results in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds crew only being capable of expressing their thoughts and feelings through song. Eventually, they find a way to fix it, but not before a group of Klingons humiliate themselves with a spirited boy band routine.
Data Is Possessed By A God
Data has had some pretty interesting days on the Enterprise, but getting possessed by the spirit of a god had to take the cake. As Masaka, the synth enacts all sorts of changes across the ship. Fortunately, Picard is able to pose as another god to trick the deity and set everything back to normal once again.
Tribbles Nearly Destroy The Crew
"The Trouble With Tribbles" is a reminder that even the cutest-looking aliens in Star Trek can be deadly, especially when you're on a ship. The Tribbles breed at an alarming rate, and while that's played for comedy, there's a very real danger of them taking down
The TNG Crew Almost Kills Each Other After Lack Of Sleep
"Night Terrors" is an ironic name for this episode, considering it's all about Star Trek: The Next Generation crew being unable to dream. The lack of R.E.M. amongst the crew causes mass hallucinations and irritability, with the crew inadvertently almost killing each other until they're able to find the cause behind this strange phenomenon.
Janeway Dies And Her Soul Is Almost Stolen By A "Ghost"
Captain Janeway dies in "Coda," and as opposed to following the spirit of her father into the light, she sticks around and tries to understand why nothing feels right. As usual, her instincts are spot on as her father is actually a non-corporeal being trying to steal her life force, and she's able to make it back to her body and survive.
The Next Generation Crew Is Turned Into Children
When a transporter accident transforms a bulk of the crew into children, "Rascals" shows Picard and crew attempting to protect the ship from pirate Ferengi. It's basically the closest Star Trek will ever get to The Goonies, and I absolutely loved it.
The Crew Lands On An Odd Fantasy Planet
You know a Star Trek episode is going to get weird when Bones comes face to face with the White Rabbit from Alice In Wonderland. "Shore Leave" shows the crew battling with their wildest fantasies in what is ultimately revealed to be an amusement park planet based on thought. It's a fun episode that gets less bizarre with explanation, but still a trip.
Kes Is Randomly Transported Through Different Times Of Her Life
Kes is a bizarre character in Star Trek: Voyager in general thanks to her species' unusually short lifespan of nine years. She got to experience her life, or at least some alternate version of it, in "Before And After" as she was thrust between times in her past and future with no ability to stop it until the crew was able to regulate her body with the normal timestream once again.
Picard Squares Off With A Sentient Sherlock Holmes Villain
Leave it for Sherlock Holmes' nemesis, Moriarty, to break through the confines of his programming and become sentient. He squared off with Picard a couple of times, and, surprise, the Starfleet Captain came out on top. Take that classical literature!
