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{{outdated}}<!-- Nothing here yet about Star Trek: Discovery or Star Trek: Picard -->
[[File:USS_Enterprise.jpg|frame|These are the voyages...]]
{{quote|''[[Opening Narration|Space -- the final frontier...]]''}}
An iconic, [[Long Runners|long-running]] science-fiction franchise with [[Star Trek: The Original Series|five]] [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|live]] [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|action]] [[Star Trek: Voyager|television]] [[Star Trek: Enterprise|series]], [[Star Trek: The Animated Series|one]] [[Animated Adaptation]], and
The setting in every series is about [[Earth Is the Center of the Universe|an Earth-based interstellar government]] called [[The Federation|the United Federation of Planets]] and their fleet of starships, which form [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Starfleet]]. Every series dealt with a particular crew, mostly of various ships named ''[[Legacy Character|Enterprise]].'' As originally envisioned by its creator, [[Gene Roddenberry]], the science fiction nature of the series was just a method to address many social issues of the time that could not have been done in a normal drama. As such, it was not above being [[Anvilicious]] or engaging in thinly-veiled social satire, but considering its origin during the
It was, for the most part, ''way'' on the happy end of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism]], at least partially because of its solid allegiance to the Enlightened side of [[Romanticism Versus Enlightenment]]. But it still found some sort of balance between a Dystopia and a [[Crystal Spires and Togas]] future. In general, it is a future you hope will come true, albeit after Humanity endured terrible troubles like a third world war and the Eugenics Wars led by the genetically enhanced conqueror, Khan Noonien Singh, and rose above them. All series have sought to show that while you may think the world is falling apart and there is no chance of global unity, all this crap will eventually work itself out.
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Television Series in the franchise include:
* ''[[Star Trek: The
* ''[[Star Trek: The
* ''[[Star Trek: The
* ''[[Star Trek:
* ''[[Star Trek:
* ''[[Star Trek:
* ''[[Star Trek: Discovery]]'' ("DIS" or "STD", 2017-present) -- Originally set ten years before the original series, and intended to depict the outbreak of the Klingon-Federation war, Discovery's premise has changed quite a bit over the years and it is now set 200 years after an apocalyptic, galaxy-wide event called "The Burn"
* ''[[Star Trek: Short Treks]]'' (2018-present) -- An anthology series including both animated and live-action episodes.
* ''[[Star Trek: Picard]]'' ("PIC", 2020-present) -- Set 20 years after the end of The Next Generation, and depicts the adventures of Jean-Luc Picard after his retirement from Starfleet.
* ''[[Star Trek: Lower Decks]]'' ("LDS", 2020-present) -- An animated comedy series aimed squarely at adults, in the style of (and created by one of the writers for) [[Rick and Morty]]. Of all the Star Trek shows to come out during Kurtzman's reign, this one was the most well-received by fans.
* ''[[Star Trek: Prodigy]]'' (2021-present) -- A CGI show aimed squarely at kids, with Kate Mulgrew providing the voice of a holographic Janeway
* ''[[Star Trek: Strange New Worlds]]'' -- Set to debut in 2022, and is intended to return the franchise to its optimistic roots after the negative fan response to the pessimism and violence in Discovery and Picard.
In addition to these, ''Star Trek: Phase II'' was a series concept designed as the cornerstone of a [[Paramount Pictures]]-based network in 1976. A continuation of the original series and featuring a second five-year mission, it would have introduced a number of new characters in conjunction with the original crew. When the network project died and the insane success of ''[[Star Wars]]'' made sci-fi films profitable again, Paramount elaborated the series pilot into [[The Movie]], which ultimately led to a whole new line of movies:
* ''[[Star Trek: The
* ''[[Star Trek II: The
* ''[[Star Trek III: The
* ''[[Star Trek IV: The
* ''[[Star Trek V: The
* ''[[Star Trek VI: The
* ''[[Star Trek Generations]]'' (1994) (2293, then 2371) -- A [[Mad Scientist]] seeks to destroy billions to reach a [[Negative Space Wedgie]] that allows [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny|Kirk to meet Picard.]] The first movie featured the TNG cast and intended as a torch-passing moment rather than a final farewell to the original cast that Star Trek VI was.
* ''[[Star Trek:
* ''[[Star Trek:
* ''[[Star Trek: Nemesis]]'' (2002) (2379) -- The forever secretive Romulans make a surprising effort for peace, but their leader has much more devious intentions. The last film of the prime Star Trek universe and one that nearly mortally wounded the entire franchise, being the only one not to make its money back at the box office.
Many of the concepts from ''Phase II'' made their way into ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' and the series itself is considered ''[[Canon|deuterocanon]]'' - not "true" canon, because it never made it to the screen, but allowed in [[Broad Strokes]] to fill a gap in Trek chronology (notice the fictional length of time between ''The Motion Picture'' and ''The Wrath of Khan'').▼
▲Many of the concepts from ''Phase II'' made their way into ''[[Star Trek: The
After the cancellation of ''Enterprise'', 2006 was the first year with no new Star Trek stories on film or TV since ''1985''. Then, when all seemed lost, Star Trek was revived with a [[The Film of the Series|Film Of The Series]] which promises to kick off a whole new series of movies:▼
▲After the cancellation of ''Enterprise'', 2006 was the first year with no new Star Trek stories on film or TV since ''1985''. Then, when all seemed lost, Star Trek was revived with a [[The Film of the Series|Film
* ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' (2009) (2233 -- 2258) -- A mixture of [[Continuity Reboot]] and [[Broad Strokes]] with new actors showing that the [[The Original Series]] characters [[In Spite of a Nail|will always end up together on the Enterprise, no matter the universe.]]
* ''[[Star Trek Into Darkness]]'' (2013) (2259) -- The new continuity's entirely unexpected take on ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]'', featuring [[Benedict Cumberbatch]] as an entirely non-Indian-appearing Khan Noonien Singh.
* ''[[Star Trek
In total, to watch every minute of
=== [[Star Trek Expanded Universe]] ===
The [[Star Trek Expanded Universe]] consists of the expected novels and videogames; these are somewhat infamous in many circles (compared to the ''[[Star Wars]]'' counterparts) for the casual disregard the producers of the shows often hold for them.
See also the [[Trek Verse]] - a discussion of internal ''Trek'' history as viewed from a real-world perspective as well as how it affected modern culture.
{{franchisetropes}}
* [[
* [[Alien Non-Interference Clause]]: [[Trope Codifier]] via General Order Number 1, the Prime Directive, that generator of so many plot devices.
* [[Almighty Janitor]]: Boothby, the groundskeeper at Starfleet Academy.
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** And what happens when 2026 rolls around and [[World War III]] (hopefully) doesn't happen?
* [[Alternative Number System]]: [[All There in the Manual|According to]] ''The Klingon Dictionary'', the Klingons used to count in a ternary (base-three) system, but have since switched over to decimal.
* [[
* [[Always on Duty]]: The main characters are always on the bridge whenever something interesting is happening. The only time across the entire franchise that we see evidence of any kind of shift system is in a few TNG episodes where Data is shown commanding the night shift, and once when Captain Sulu of the ''Excelsior'' in ''The Undiscovered Country'' gets woken up by Christian Slater.
* [[Arc Number]]: 47, from the middle of ''Next Generation'' on.
* [[Arson, Murder, and Lifesaving]]
* [[Artificial Gravity]]: Rarely mentioned, but always present whenever the action takes place aboard a starship or space station.
* [[The Assimilator]]: The Borg are the trope namer and codifier.
* [[Author Appeal]]: Rick Berman has admitted that he is the one mostly responsible for so much [[Time Travel]] in the various shows. He just loves the time paradox of "this is the reason this happened but that is the origin of that event and here is where we have to make a choice as to whether this or that occurs..."
* [[Badass Army]]: The Klingons wish they were these but they are more of a subversion. Starfleet qualifies, at least in space--they tend to be somewhat underprepared for extended ground combat.
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* [[Clothes Make the Legend]]: The black and primary color uniform scheme. Only the first six films and ''Enterprise'' didn't follow this... though the uniforms with ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|Wrath of Khan]]'''s emblematic red-vest-division-turtleneck-and-black-pants is also very popular.
* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: Starfleet uniforms, which resulted in the aforementioned [[Red Shirt]] gag.
** The colors were shuffled around a bit on ''TNG'', with {{color|red|red}} (formerly Security and Engineering) and {{color|yellow|gold}} (Command) trading places. {{color|blue|Blue}} still stands for Science and Medical.
** Also for many of the major races and nations, who are associated with particular colour schemes:
*** The Federation is a rich blue (on star charts, on their seal, in their warp plasma) supplemented by other light pastel shades and grey (for ship bulkheads).
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* [[Cool but Inefficient]]
* [[Cool Starship]]: Every series has one.
* [[Collectible Card Game]]: there was one in the mid-'90s that tried to cash in on the popularity of [[Magic: The Gathering]]
* [[Command Roster]]: [[Star Trek]] is likely the [[Trope Maker]] or at least set the standard of how this trope is used.
* [[Communications Officer]]: Every series has one except ''DS9'' (though in ''TNG'', Worf gets shuffled out of the position pretty quickly and nobody really replaces him).
* [[Contrasting Sequel Character]]: Big time to the point that this trope is responsible for the "Kirk vs. Picard" debates.
** As well as "Kirk vs Sisko, vs. Janeway, vs Archer, vs. Reboot!Kirk, vs Lorca, vs Captain Etc.
* [[Deadly Training Area]]: The holodecks were intended to be used for training, but they're one of the most hazardous areas on the ship thanks to [[Holodeck Malfunction|Holodeck Malfunctions]].
* [[Death Wail]]: The standard practice when a Klingon dies is for his/her comrades to hold their eyes open while screaming loudly to the sky to warn those in the afterlife that a great warrior is on his/her way to join them.
* [[Deflector Shields]]
* [[Destructo-Nookie]]: Klingons.
* [[Development Gag]]: Quite a few. Jeffries Tubes were named after the visual designer of the original series (and designer of the original Enterprise) Matt Jeffries. Various shuttlecraft, such as the Justman, were also named after notable production crew. A section of Stage 16 at [[Paramount Pictures]] used to portray alien planets had the nickname of "Planet Hell," which was used as a description of an appropriate planet in ''[[Star Trek:
* [[Dress Up Episode]]: most common in the [[Star Trek: The Original Series|Original Series]] ("A Piece of the Action", "Return of the Archons", "Assignment: Earth"), but happens in the Next Generation a fair amount too ("The Big Goodbye").
* [[Doctor's Orders]]: The medical personnel can remove the captain from command.
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* [[Emotion Suppression]]: The Vulcan culture has [[Emotion Suppression]] at its core.
* [[Emotions vs. Stoicism]]: Romulans vs. Vulcans.
* [[The Empire]]: The Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire
* [[Epic Tracking Shot]]: It's an interesting thing to note as the next generation of shows progressed in special effects.
* [[Everything Sensor]]: EVERY scanner is like this.
* [[Evil Is Not Well Lit]]: Of all the species, only the Borg and Cardassians have an excuse for this - the Borg's minimalism, and the latter's sensitivity to light. Incidentally, this is the excuse for Deep Space Nine being so dimly-lit, since it was designed by the Cardassians.
* [[Evil Is Sexy]]: While [[Beard of Evil]] is the most widely parodied aspect of the mirror universe, the very sexual (for the 1960s) versions of the female cast is actually far more prominent within the franchise's mirror universe.
* [[Evil Is Visceral]]: Species 8472, also known as the Undine, are introduced as the only threat to the hitherto biggest threat (the Borg). Their ships are organic and the (CGI) aliens themselves look "more organic" than the usual Rubber Forehead Alien because they don't wear clothes, have extra limbs and strange eyes with complicated irides. Also, they hail from something called fluidic space. To top it all off, the crew of the ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]'' are willing to team up with the Borg to fight against them.
* [[Exotic Eye Designs]]: [[Human Aliens|Betazoids]] have black irises.
* [[Exposition Beam]]: Vulcan Mind Melds are essentially this, along with a host of other [[Applied Phlebotinum]] uses.
* [[Expositron 9000]]: The ship/station computers.
* [[Fan of the Past]]: Too many to name, including Ben Sisko's love of the extinct sport of Baseball and the soft spot that Tom Paris has for classic cars and black-and-white sci-fi serials. Also, aliens love dressing up in Nazi uniforms and re-enacting WW2 (seriously, it happened AT LEAST three times!).
* [[Fantastic Racism]]: There will always be at least a few members of each species that has issues with humans, other species, or vice versa.
* [[Fantastic Nuke]]: Bio-memetic gel, a key component of biogenic weapons. The actual ''effects'' of this gel are left up to the imagination; the Federation bans any and all weapons applications, so it must be pretty hairy.
** Some [[Expanded Universe]] sources imply that ''biogenic'' is the equivalent of ''weapon of mass destruction'' in current parlance. That is, this is a weapon you had DAMN well better not get caught actually using.
** The Vulcans use "Red Matter" to create pocket [[Our Wormholes Are Different|black holes]]. Nero got the bright idea of using it to ''eat a planet'' (specifically [[Death by Irony|Vulcan]]).
** The Cardassians have Dreadnought missiles.
* [[Fantastic Rank System]]: Everyone except the Federation has a different one. See the trope page for more details.
* [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]]: While not fantasy, most of the major alien species have some connection to Real World counterparts.
** The Federation - The United States (Although, it's sort of a mixture of the United States & the United Nations. The Federation flag & the Federation Council are reminiscent of the UN Flag & the Security Council. However, unlike the present-day UN, the Federation is a sovereign government with elements common to a federal republic. Persons on Federation worlds are citizens of the Federation. That citizenship is guaranteed rights by way of the Federation Charter & Constitution, and the rights enumerated in the Federation Charter & Constitution have supremacy across all member worlds.)
*** Starfleet - The United States Navy (Both the Earth & Federation versions of Starfleet have individual ranks & systems of hierarchy that correspond with the USN's. The color of Starfleet personnel's uniforms are based on the specifics of their job, just as its done with the flight crews aboard USN aircraft carriers. Also, during the Dominion War, "Deep Space Nine" has Starfleet deployed in the numbered fleet configurations used by the USN, with the 3rd Fleet referenced as protecting Earth & the 7th Fleet all but destroyed in a failed offensive.)
** Vulcans- Great Britain (Not a perfect match-up, but ''[[Enterprise]]'' depicted them as a regional superpower who eventually lose much of their realm of control as Earth increases theirs.)
** Klingons - Soviet Russia
*** Klingons also had some similarity to post-Soviet Russia in ''The Next Generation'' in terms of politics. But as part of [[Gene Roddenberry]]'s plan to not make them evil and a race of "black hats", they turned into... vikings. They also had no
** Romulans - Communist China (Secretive government who you aren't quite sure what they're up to.) The Romulans also have some allusions to the Roman Empire: Their two main planets are Romulus and Remus, they are called an Empire, their ruling body is the Senate which is headed by a Praetor, and low-ranking officers are called "Centurions".
** Bajorans - Could be perceived as Jews or Palestinians, depending on the time period and one's opinion of that conflict.
** Ferengi - Explicitly compared to "Yankee traders" in their debut episode. They've also been accused of being Jewish stereotypes, due in no small part to the fact that most of the actors who play regular named Ferengi characters are Jewish.
* [[Faster-Than-Light Travel]]: Rather hard to imagine the series without it.
* [[Fiction Science]]: The series have produced a large number of [[wikipedia:List of Star Trek technical manuals|Technical Manuals]], many of them official. These fill in many details of life in the Trekkian future, especially the inner workings of the Enterprises and other starships.
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* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]: Spock, Deanna Troi, B'Elanna Torres, {{spoiler|Sisko}}.
* [[Have I Mentioned I Am a Dwarf Today?]]: Klingons tend to do this a lot; Worf is only the most prominent example.
* [[Hero of Another Story]]: It is implied through the various ''[[Star Trek]]'' shows that the sort of adventures the ''[[Cool Starship|Enterprise]]'' and her crew get in is just the far side of typical. [[Lampshaded]] by Captain Janeway when she stated in ''[[Star Trek:
* [[Humans Are Diplomats]]: Especially during TOS and early TNG. Gene Roddenberry opposed the idea of a military Starfleet.
* [[Highly-Conspicuous Uniform]]
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* [[Human Outside, Alien Inside]]: While most of the species that are encountered look fairly humanoid, many of them turn out to have truly [[Bizarre Alien Biology|bizarre biological differences]].
* [[Humorless Aliens]]: Vulcans allegedly have no sense of humor, but they all seem to be [[Deadpan Snarker|Deadpan Snarkers]] anyway.
** This is a bit of [[Fridge Brilliance]]. Humor is usually about the incongruity between logic and reality. So, basically, Vulcans have spent hundreds of years watching every other race act like clowns, and they get the joke. They may not guffaw, but their sense of humor is finely honed.
** Sulu tells a young Tuvok once, "Don't tell me Vulcans don't have a sense of humor, because I know better." True enough!
* [[If You Taunt Him You Will Be Just Like Him]]
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* [[Interdimensional Travel Device]]: Transporters can act this way under certain circumstances (which occur accidentally in the original series, and then are intentionally reproduced in ''[[Deep Space Nine]]'').
* [[Jabba Table Manners]]: The Klingons of the ''[[Star Trek]]'' universe universally gulp and slurp down food like slobs. In their case, it is to show how tough and free of pretentious "good manners" and straightforward and honest their society is, not to show how "evil" they are.
* [[Law of Chromatic Superiority]]: The gold uniform worn by Kirk (and also Archer).
* [[Life Imitates Art]]: Take the sliding doors, for one thing.
* [[Letter Motif]]
* [[Logic Bomb]]: Though there were precedents in pulp SF, Kirk did this to no fewer than three computers.
** [[The Wiki Rule|Memory Alpha]] calls the full-on 'cause the computer to shut down' version [http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Induced_self-destruction induced self destruction], and counts five cases (one inadvertent), all of them by Kirk.
* [[Long Runners]]: The second longest running sci-fi show in the world, beaten only by ''[[Doctor Who]]'' - and Star Trek has more total hours (as stated earlier).
* [[Love Is in the Air]]: Several episodes in the different series.
* [[Ludd Was Right]]: By means of [[Space Amish]].
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*** Not unintentional, as Roddenberry reportedly based the Starfleet hull-numbering system after the US civil aircraft registration system deliberately referencing the "N" or "NC" numbers used on US aircraft.)
* [[Military Maverick]]: Almost expected of Starfleet captains, it would seem. Picard, for all he's careful, deliberate, and knows the regulations backwards, forwards, and sideways, has many moments of this, and the others even more. One gets the impression that, away from central planets and main trade routes, the captain ''is'' the Federation, with all the discretion '''and''' responsibility that implies.
** Considering that the original concept for the series was Hornblower in deep space, and that ship captains during the [[Wooden Ships and Iron Men]] era usually were their respective country's highest representative in any area where they were stationed...
** Janeway in ''[[Star Trek:
* [[Monumental View]]: Every iteration puts Starfleet academy on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco (and directly across from Starfleet headquarters.) There's a bit of a problem with that as the land there is almost exclusively deep, steep, hills.
* [[More Hero Than Thou]]
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** Referring back to the handrail, it came to a head in ''Enterprise'' when a crewman actually calls something a handrail, then when its pointed out that where it's placed on a lift would actually sever fingers, is clearly confused and asks why anyone would ''put'' their hand there. Considering its Trip ''of all people'', who's asking the crewman this, its even more baffling?
* [[No Such Thing as Alien Pop Culture]]: occasionally subverted or averted, it's still the rule rather than the exception. Notably, Klingons have opera and something like heavy metal.
* [[No Such Thing as HR]]: A common point of confusion in the otherwise enlightened future of ''Star Trek'' is Mc Coy's humorously treated [[Fantastic Racism]] towards Spock , along with the number of physical altercations the crew get into without really getting into trouble. Justifiable in [[Star Trek: The Original Series|the original series]] since the ship's on the edge of known space; by the time the franchise moved closer to Earth with ''[[Star Trek: The
* [[Officer and a Gentleman]] and/or [[Cultured Warrior]]: To some degree, almost all Starfleet personnel are one or the other of these. Even the [[Closer to Earth]] types have scientific and literary interests. Many enemies are [[Wicked Cultured]] as well.
* [[The Omnipotent]]: Q is a lower version of this; while he claims omnipotence, other Q can still hurt him or take away his powers.
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* [[Shout-Out/To Shakespeare]]
* [[Sighted Guns Are Low Tech]]
* [[Signature Device]]: The transporter.
* [[Single-Purpose Planet]]: Several worlds identified as "pleasure planets" have appeared across multiple incarnations of franchise -- these appear to be worlds that specialize in being tourist destinations, providing all manner of entertainment and pleasure to visitors.
* [[Slow Electricity]]: The console displays always go on/off in sequence around the bridge. If there's a ship-wide outage, expect an outside shot of windows lighting up/going out one at a time.
* [[Smart House]]: The ships behave much like this from TNG onward.
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* [[Space Navy]]: Starfleet
* [[Standard Sci-Fi Army]]: Codified the use Security personnel. Follows the visual media model of focusing mostly on Infantry.
* [[Standard Sci
* [[Standard Sci
* [[Standard Starship Scuffle]]: A likely [[Trope Codifier]].
* [[Standard Time Units]]: Stardates.
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* [[Teleporter Accident]]
* [[Teleport Interdiction]]: Since the transporters are such an integral part of the Star Trek franchise, it has a lot of this. For example, it's not possible to transport through a ship's deflector shields. Usually this is used as a way to add drama -- with the ship having to drop its shields briefly in the middle of battle in order to beam back an away team -- but it also means transporter-enabled boarding parties aren't a major part of battle tactics.
* [[Tie-in Novel|Tie In Novels]]: A huge range of novels based on all eras of the franchise (and the spaces in between) exists, including novelizations of several episodes and ''[[Star Trek: New Frontier]]''. Other than the novelizations, these are all officially declared ''non''-canon by Paramount and [[Gene Roddenberry]]. When Jeri Taylor was the [[Word of God]] on ''[[Star Trek:
** Pre-''Nemesis'', authors had a standing order not to kill any character that had appeared on-screen. Afterwards, because ''Nemesis'' is likely the last time the original timeline will be seen on-screen, all bets are off. (Still non-canon, however.)
* [[Time Police]]: The Federation of the 29th Century and Daniels' faction from the 31st Century. They aren't very effective at this.
** Janeway is described as casually flaunting the timeline so frequently it actually managed to [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|drive Captain Braxton 'insane''.]] He comes up with something called "The Janeway Factor," meaning that you can fully expect her to blunder into any time-sensitive activities going on.
** Also, the time police hate Kirk; when Sisko gives his report about "Trials and Tribble-ations," and first mentions Kirk, the two operatives look at each other and say something along the lines of "we all hate the Kirk cases."
* [[Time to Step Up, Commander]]: Multiple occurrences across the franchise, including in the ''TNG'' two-parter "The Best of Both Worlds" where Riker is faced with this from Guinan.
* [[Translator Microbes]]: The Universal Translator.
* [[Values Dissonance]]: There is some of this between the Star Trek shows, spanning decades, and the audiences of various generations, but this trope really comes into its own in universe, with the majority of plots being about or involving inter-species and inter-cultural values dissonance.
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* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Every Captain. In every series. And not infrequently either. Either them at the crew for their crap, or the crew to themselves for their own crap.
* [[Will Not Tell a Lie]]: Vulcans, allegedly - something of an [[Informed Attribute]].
* [[Word of God]]: Per Paramount Studios (owners of the franchise) and Gene Roddenberry (creator of the franchise) from the late-'80s/early-'90s, only live-action ''Star Trek'' TV episodes and films are considered canon. This has been hotly debated by fans, and occasionally ignored by scriptwriters. This only applies to ''TAS'', though; ''Lower Decks'' appears to be considered canon.
* [[Worthy Opponent]] : The Romulan captain in ''Balance of Terror'' most notably. Used on other occasions.
* [[X Meets Y]]: [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny|Hidden]] by the influence of Trek on later productions, but the original premise was then novel at least for television, and could easily be described as "[[Horatio Hornblower]] meets [[The Outer Limits]]".
* [[You Look Familiar]]: Numerous times. But in this case [[Rubber Forehead Aliens|putting a different alien makeup]] helps a lot in distinguishing characters played by the same actor.
** Mark Lenard waves "Hello".
** The second Doctor of TNG played a girl du jour in the original series. Twice.
** Armin Shimmerman and Max Grodénchik played seven distinct Ferengi characters between the two of them, in addition to a handful of non-Ferengi roles.
** Jeffery Combs, Vaughn Armstrong and J. G. Hertzler have set records for portraying no less than five alien species over the course of the "next generation" series of shows (including Combs playing two separate characters of different races in
** From ''Voyager'', Tim Russ (Tuvok) and Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris) both played villains in episodes of ''[[The Next Generation]]''. In fact, McNeill was supposed to reprise his role originally, before it was re-written as Tom Paris. Both are notable because there's practically no makeup involved between the two roles (Russ only gained pointy ears).
** This was deliberately and ''brilliantly'' played with in the ''Deep Space Nine'' episode "Far Beyond The Stars"; once Ben Sisko began thinking he was Benny Russell, the people in his life looked like the people Sisko knew - except all human. But then the show would tap the fourth wall by making them appear in makeup for a moment. It's also the only time Marc Alaimo, Jeff Combs, JG Hertzler, Rene Auberjonois, Armin Shimerman and Michael Dorn got to appear on-camera without their makeup in the entire run of the series (for poor Michael Dorn, it was the first time in ''eleven years'' that he was on-camera with no makeup).
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