Star Trek: 10 MORE Character Reveals That Didn’t Have To Go THAT Hard

In our previous list of character reveals taking things a little far, we discovered that across the wide expanse of Star Trek, the writers did enjoy making our favourites suffer

Genocide, assault, murder, genetic manipulation, it's all fair game in the final frontier

That being the case, narrowing the shocking reveals behind characters' motivations and drives to ten was a challenge

When writing anyone's story, the temptation to include a little trauma for growth is always strong

When adding to that backstory, especially around a long-established character or their arc, one needs to be careful

The butterfly effect is in full force, and a stubbed toe at 12 could mean generational trauma for decades to follow

Not all additions are bad, nor is every twist included for the sake of the twist. Writing is an art, and like those who consider lying the highest skill

it needs to be practiced regularly. There are some reveals throughout Star Trek that, while stark or enormous, have helped to shed a new context

on how people act and why they do the things that they do. As always, please be aware that we will be discussing specific character reveals

that were sometimes intended as a cliffhanger ending or mid-season twist, So a spoiler alert is in full effect here

Do you agree that these reveals were a shocking addition, or were they exactly what was needed

I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture, and here are 10 more character reveals that didn't have to go that hard

Number 10. Will and Deanna's Tragedy The death of a child is a tragedy that is often impossible to overcome

so adding it to the backstories of beloved characters must be handled with care. While Riker and Troy were a strong couple, having already withstood much adversity in their time

the death of Thaddeus Riker felt like a cruel blow. In the Penthe, Jean-Luc and Soji arrive on the planet and are accosted by Kestra Riker

clad in her finest hunting gear. They quickly arrive at the Riker's cabin and a warm reunion of old friends follows

bunny corn pizza and all. The reason for the family's relocation to the Penthe is quickly revealed

Thaddeus Riker, born in 2381, contracted a terminal illness and there was hope that the planet's regenerative properties could cure him

it didn't work, leaving the family devastated and the audience shocked at this terrible blow

Though this was a truly heartbreaking addition to the Riker's story, it helped to set up one of the

most heart-wrenching moments in the last generation. Will Riker, believing his luck had run out

said to the heir and to anyone who was listening that he and their son would be waiting for Deanna

It was all she needed, empathic abilities in full force, and she was able to find and save him

There is a risk with including a reveal like this, much of which revolves around how it's handled

For Star Trek and for the Rikers, it was handled well. Looking for a VPN? Well, we've got a great deal from Nord

Get 73% off and three months extra free. Just click the link in the description down below

Number 9. Worf Killed a Kid Let He Who Is Without Sin is an odd episode of Deep Space Nine

It was clearly intended to be a light story, arriving after a string of heavy hitters like The Ship and Nord the Battle to the Strong

It was directed by René Auberjonois, who recounted a difficult shoot, juggling sand mites gnashing their way through the cast and crew

and Terry Farrell's photosensitivity while having to stand under the sun for long periods of time

One might be forgiven for glossing over the events of the episode. At the same time, they focus on Bashir and Leta breaking up, rather cordially

and Quark attempting to cram as much Jemaha Ron into one week as possible. Still, there is Worf to contend with, in and around his little spot of domestic terrorism

Dax, demanding to know, What the hell, Worf? discovers his sad backstory

As a child, he had accidentally killed another boy, Mikkel. In a game of soccer, they had collided and the boy's neck had been broken

Worf, from that point on, knew he needed to exercise restraint around humans for fear he could hurt them

This was an enormous piece of Worf's story that came from nowhere. While Worf wasn't the typical Klingon during his run on The Next Generation

one didn't assume it was because he was afraid of breaking people around him. It was quite the bombshell to drop in this episode, and one that was never discussed again

Number 8. Neelix's Survivor Guilt. Star Trek has used historical parallels frequently as was the intention of Gene Roddenberry from the beginning Exploring real world issues via the of science fiction is nothing new for the franchise so when Voyager turned his attention to Neelix backstory it opted to liken his

family's destruction to that experienced in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Before Neelix

encountered the USS Voyager, he was a survivor of the Talax-Hakonian Order War. Talax had

surrendered unconditionally to the Order, owing in large part to the deployment of the Metreon

cascade. Dr. Mabor Jatrell, Star Trek's answer to Robert Oppenheimer, developed a deadly weapon for

the Order. He later attempted to play down his responsibility once he became aware of the full

impact of the cascade. Like the atomic bombs that were deployed over Japan, this cascade had an

initial explosion followed by radiation fallout. This fallout, according to Jatrell at least

was unforeseen. The weapon was detonated on the moon Rhinax, the home place of Neelix and his

family. While Neelix himself was off-world at the time of the attack, the rest of his family

weren't so lucky. They, along with 300,000 other Talaxians, were killed. Despite making peace with

Jatrell himself, Neelix carried this trauma for years to come. His own brush with death and

subsequent vision quest brought him face-to-face with a version of his favourite sister, Elyxia

who promptly dissolved in front of him, re-scarring him from life. Neelix may not have been everybody's

favorite character, but nobody deserves that. Number 7. Mirror Lorca's history of grooming and

sexual assault. Members of the Terran Empire always run the risk of being one note. When it

was Kirk in Mirror Mirror, he was a simple bad guy, end of story. However, Mirror Spock had the

capacity to be more than his goatee might suggest, which always makes a more interesting character on

the screen. Gabriel Lorca appeared in almost every episode of Star Trek Discovery's first season

though his true nature was hidden for most of that time. As each episode progressed, audiences

were shown a cold, cynical person, though one who wasn't above a bit of flattery to achieve his ends

The big reveal in vaulting ambition that he was, and always had been, from the mirror universe

managed to shock and surprise. However, part of the reveal included the fact that he was a child

abuser and guilty of sexual assault. This gave room for pause. Georgiou informed Michael Burnham

that her counterpart had been groomed by Lorca, while the audience simultaneously discovered he

had abused and then discarded a lover named Ava, sister to that universe's Maddox. While no one was

under any illusions that Lorca was a nice person, this stripped any ambiguity to his ambitions away

effectively making him a moustache-twirling, cardboard cutout type of villain. The fact that

Jason Isaacs played him with depth and range served to make this more frustrating. Frankly

he was bad enough. This felt like a step too far. Number six, McCoy killed his dad. In the fifth

Star Trek film, Cybok, Spock's half-brother, boards the Enterprise A and quickly assumes control

With Kirk, Spock and McCoy being among the last holdouts to his space-age mind control

he corners them in the observation room. There, the audience is granted some of the most heart-wrenching

reveals about both Spock and McCoy. For Spock, he relives the day of his birth, remembering Sarek's

disappointment at his apparent humanity. Though the logic of remembering his own birth is questionable

the scene is stark and directly feeds another entry on this list. However, it is the depiction

of McCoy's pain that is truly devastating. We learn that his father was suffering from a terminal

illness and constantly in pain, and McCoy was powerless to help him. The scene is quiet and

the acting is perfect. DeForest Kelly played the grumbling yet good-natured Doctor since Star

earliest days, but to see him broken by this memory is painful to see. To ease his father's

suffering, McCoy deactivates the life support keeping him alive, which allows the man to die

within seconds. If that weren't bad enough, McCoy then realizes that a cure for the illness was found

a short time later burying this son with guilt for years to come Number 5 Explosive Decompression Sometimes a reveal is thrown in that is clearly intended to shock and unsettle the audience In Waltz the writers

managed to do exactly that with this little reveal of Gull, or Glynn, Ducat's early days

The episode was designed to do one thing and one thing alone, restore Ducat to his rightful place

as the main antagonist of Deep Space Nine. While stranded on a barren world with an injured Sisko

he has all of the cards. He has the phaser, he has the stories. Lots, lots of stories

In one such story, he recounts a horror story from his past. As a lonely glen, he was once tasked

with cleaning up a compartment in which three unlucky men had experienced an explosive

decompression. In his own words, he didn't sleep for a week. That he can remember it as clearly as

he does while simultaneously going on to claim that he was too lenient on the Bajorans during

the occupation gives us a little more insight into Dukat's mind. To him, the Cardassians were people

while the Bajorans weren't. Having said that, what was it about this event that left him unable to

sleep? Was it the mess that he found or was it something that awoke in him, something that would

fuel his actions as the Prefect of Bajor? Sometimes revelations can help understand the man, even if

they're a little horrific to think about. Number four, a planet that survives by using children as

fuel. Allura, from the planet Majalus, was a one episode to date character who was involved in one

of the biggest gut-punch moments of Strange New World's first season. The audience spends much of

lift us where suffering cannot reach, believing that she holds the individual best interests of

the so-called first servant at heart. The Enterprise is drawn into a struggle for the soul of Majalas

Allura is direct but warm while discussing her people with Pike. They had known each other for

ten years prior, so there is familiarity there. They rekindle their romance and Pike grows to

trust her, even as the events begin to get more complicated around them. She is single-minded

focused on making sure the First Servant, who is a young child, is safe and that he is returned to

Majalas. There are several attempts to kidnap him, and there is seemingly an assassination attempt

that Pike helps to foil. Pike's aid earns him an invitation to the Ascension Ceremony. Here

he discovers that Allura has been working to ensure the First Servant takes his place

as the power generator for Majalas. He is literally plugged into their systems

something that will cause him great suffering and something that he will do alone

To remove him now would be to kill him something that horrifies Pike. Allura is resolute

speaking honestly about the pain the boy will face and assuring Pike that none of it is in vain

He will be honoured by the people of Majalas for the rest of his life however long that may be

Though she admits she would love there to be another way she has also accepted that there isn't

Pike, unable to face this, leaves. Number 3 I know how you die

For this character reveal, it was something that the audience was already aware of. In the second season of Star Trek Discovery, Lieutenant Commander Arium was infected by control

This led to her death by airlocking, saving her comrades in the process. She was given a funeral with full honours and her crew grieved

Several years, or centuries depending on who's counting, later, Arium not only rose again, but was given full knowledge of her impending death

Captain Burnham and Commander Raynor were stuck in a time loop thanks to a Crenum chronophage

and were joined by an out-of-time stamets. While this might have been a standard Tuesday on the USS Discovery

it ended up being anything but for poor Ariam. Burnham, left without time and options

reveals to Ariam that she knows the exact date and manner of her death

One does have to wonder though, was there a better way of convincing her to help

How exactly does Burnham claiming to know Ariam's expiration date help? From Ariam's point of view

she was enjoying a nice day in the big chair and then suddenly things took a turn for the fatal. She helps Burnham, but at what cost

at what cost number two scotty bears a total resentment toward women while wolf in the fold

is a divisive episode for several reasons the biggest challenge comes right at the beginning of the story while scotty kirk and mccoy are enjoying exotic dancing and light applause the music rains down around them and the audience is told that Scotty is healing from something

Kirk tips the dancer to come join them and she leaves with Scotty. Everyone seems to be in good spirits

Kirk and McCoy then discuss Scotty's recent accident in engineering, namely an explosion that resulted in Scotty being thrown against a bulkhead

The audience is never told how bad this accident was, but they are told it was caused by a woman

This resulted in Scotty's total resentment towards all women. Though McCoy quickly describes this as severe psychological trauma, it's quite the nugget to drop in conversation

And as interesting an approach as it was in 1967, when one considers James Doohan, Simon Pegg, and now Martin Quinn's takes on the character, it makes it even more unbelievable

There is a distinct possibility that McCoy was joking when he claimed that Scotty bore such resentment toward all women as he and Kirk were grinning heartily through the entire conversation

One hopes that this was a joke and that Starfleet doesn't habitually treat their officers' traumas with trips to hedonistic pleasure worlds

Number 1. Spock attempted to cut the human half out of himself

Star Trek Strange New World's third season episode, What is Starfleet? introduced a dark chapter of Spock's backstory, one built on the abuse and rejection he had faced as a child

The audience had seen versions of Spock facing strife in his past

Star Trek included a scene where a young Spock was habitually bullied by his Vulcan classmates

and that abuse focused on his human mother. Yesteryear also depicted the struggles that young Spock faced from his fellow Vulcans

which, when combined with Sarek's apparent disappointment in him, clearly left a lasting impact on the young man

While starter discovery depicted a young Spock jealous of the attention his adopted sister Michael received

it stopped short of truly exploring the pain he felt. Vulcans feel pain more powerfully than humans, as we are frequently reminded

So what does one do with that pain? Spock began to self-harm. In an interview segment with Beto Ortegas, Spock revealed that he was once found by his father

carving into his flesh with a knife. This, according to Spock, was an attempt to cut the human half out of himself

This devastating reveal highlights the pain that he felt, as well as the loneliness he must have experienced

It was also an enormous character moment to drop into a short scene like that, certainly evoking more sympathy for Spock, but shocking audiences at the same time

Hi, I'm Duncan Relic, no relation, and I collect relics from before the burn

Thanks to a temporal wormhole, I now have an unlimited supply of Trek culture t-shirts

and I'm selling them to you. You could be wearing this stylish down and up t-shirt

Or, how about this fish watching design? Bright yellow on black, the colors I'd use in thumbnails, I'll tell you that for nothing

I plan to take these designs and transfer them via quantum duplication onto hats, mugs and posters

So look out for those! Treat this unlimited supply as a limited time deal

Get your t-shirt quick. Who's your daddy? And that's everything for our list today, folks

Thank you so much for watching along. We hope that you enjoyed, and remember, you are awesome. Please make sure that you are liking, sharing, and subscribing

And please follow us on the various socials. We're at TrekCulture or at TrekCultureYT on Instagram

I am at Sean Ferrag. Until I see you again, look after yourself. Make sure that you live long and prosper

Be kind. Share that kindness with others. And mind yourself, particularly in this day and age when things are a bit dark outside

Be kind to yourself. Be kind to others. Lead with love. Thanks very much