Star Trek 101, StarTrek.com's newest regular column, serves two functions: succinctly introduce Star Trek newcomers to the basic foundations and elements of the franchise and refresh the memories of longtime Trek fans. We're pulling our entries from the book Star Trek 101: A Practical Guide to Who, What, Where, And Why, written by Terry J. Erdmann & Paula M. Block and published in 2008 by Pocket Books. An invaluable resource, it encompasses The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, as well as the first 10 Trek feature films. Today, we learn about the new characters introduced in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which was released 28 years ago today.
SYBOK (Laurence Luckinbill), passionate Vulcan and (surprise!) half brother to Spock
We always thought that Spock was an only child. But now we find out that Sarek had another child, a son named Sybok, from his first marriage to a Vulcan princess. Sybok was smart like Spock, but unlike his brother, he became a revolutionary. On Vulcan, that means he chose to reject logic and embrace the animal passions of his ancestors. How revolting! After Sybok was banished from Vulcan, he went on a quest to find the mythical planet of Sha Ka Ree (think... heaven), reputed to be located at the center of the galaxy. To get there one has to go through an impassable Great Barrier. Sybok decides to steal Kirk's starship to accomplish the allegedly impossible feat.
KLAA (Todd Bryant), hotshot Klingon captain
Klaa is arrogant and ambitious -- in short, your average Klingon warrior. He has one burning aspiration: to gain a rep as "the greatest warrior in the galaxy." The quickest means to that goal is to defeat a great warrior -- so imagine how happy Klaa is when he learns that the legendary James T. Kirk is in the neighborhood.
VIXIS (Spice Williams), female first officer on Klaa's bird-of-prey
She's hot and even more ambitious than Klaa -- and she looks like she could beat him at arm wrestling. As Chekov observes, "She has wonderful muscles."
"GOD" (George Murdock), unidentifed powerful entity
Okay, he's not really God, but pretending to be the Supreme Being is a great scam when you want to get something from naive supplicants. Obviously, this fake deity is not a nice guy -- which is probably why he's been imprisoned on a planet located beyond the Great Barrier, and why he's so keen to find a way out.
Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann are coauthors of numerous books about the entertainment industry, including Star Trek 101; Star Trek Costumes: Fifty Years of Fashion from the Final Frontier; Star Trek: The Original Series 365; and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion. They currently are writing the latest in their series of Ferengi novellas, which (so far) includes Lust’s Latinum Lost (and Found); and Rules of Accusation. Their most recent non-Star Trek book is Labyrinth: The Ultimate Visual History.
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