The more popular any TV show or movie series is, the more likely its fans are to engage with it in their free time. Other than re-watching it, this can also mean they discuss the series online and also come up with theories about it. As one of the most celebrated sci-fi franchises of all time,Star Trekhas many fan-created theories.
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While some of them remain in the realm of speculation, and it’s unlikely to change anytime soon, other fan theories aboutStar Trekturned out to be true much to the excitement of those who first thought of them. Unsurprisingly, these theories often concern belovedStar Trekcharacters as well as key events in the fictional universe.
5Garak Is Bisexual
Despite its progressive nature as a whole, the olderStar Trekseries didn’t have that many openly non-heterosexual characters. That didn’t stop the fans from shipping certain heroes. One of the most popular ships is Garak and Doctor Julian Bashir fromStar Trek: Deep Space Nine. While Bashir was in love with his colleague Jadzia Dax, Garak was more mysterious in his romantic inclinations, and many fans speculated that he might be bisexual or even pansexual.
The first case later turned out to be true, and it was none other than Garak’s actor, Andrew J. Robinson, who confirmed it. Robinson is not only an actor but also a novelist, andhe wrote theStar TrekbooktitledA Stitch in Timethat strongly suggests Garak is indeed bisexual.
4Kirk And Spock Love Each Other (In A Way)
In the world ofStar Trek, there are many types of love. And the strong bond between Captain James T. Kirk and hisfirst officer, science officer, and close friend Spockdidn’t escape the fans ofStar Trek: The Original Series. They started to wonder whether Spock and Kirk were in love, which led to the creation of thousands of fan stories about this couple as well as many other forms of media.
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While Kirk and Spock never became romantic partners, as usually portrayed, the novelStar Trek: The Motion Picturewhich serves as a novelization of the 1979 movie has Spock call Kirk ’t’hy’la.' T’hy’la is a Vulcan word, and it means ‘friend, brother, and lover.’ Written by theStar Trekcreator, Gene Roddenberry, the book serves as the ultimate proof that Spock and Kirk had a deeper bond than those of mere friends. And considering Roddenberry was responsible for creating the relationship between them in the first place, this makes the t’hy’la bond officially canon.
3Khan Hid His True Identity
Khan Noonien Singh is one ofthe most dangerous and iconicStar Trekvillains. He was originally played by Ricardo Montalban, so when the fans discovered that Benedict Cumberbatch was cast to play the character who’s of Sikh descent, it didn’t sit well with Khan’s background.
Some fans came up with the idea that Khan underwent plastic surgery in order to escape those who pursued him as he was infamous, and his visage was well-known. TheStar Trek: Khancomic book series confirmed that this is exactly what Khan did because he knew that if he kept his original appearance, he would risk getting spotted and captured. That would also explain why Khan originally used the name John Harrison in the movie.
2Nero Has Helped Advance The Federation Ships
While a lot of fans of the olderStar Trekseries accepted the rebooted movie series with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk and Spock, some noticed possible logical plot holes. One of them was that the Federation ships looked much more advanced than they should have been in comparison toStar Trek: The Original Series.
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A popular fan theory was that Nero’s journey back in time not only changed the characters' lives but also the speed with which the Federation technology developed.J. J. Abrams, who directed the first two movies in the newStar Trektrilogy, stated in an interview that’s what happened. More specifically, the Federation ship Kelvin scanned Nero’s ship and the Federation later used the information to design more futuristic-looking and advanced ships.
1Tyler Is Voq
One of the more prominentStar Trek: Discoverycharacters is Ash Tyler. He first showed up when Captain Lorca was captured by the Klingons and met Tyler as well as Harry Mudd in his cell. As Tyler went on to become a more important character in the series and in Michael Burnham’s life, the fans started to speculate that he was, in fact, Voq, the Klingon who served the so-called Klingon Messiah, T’Kuvma…until he mysteriously vanished from the show.
This was confirmed a few episodes later and led to the death of the ship’s doctor Culbert, whom the newly awakened Voq killed when Culbert realized the truth about him. It turned out thatthe Klingons made Voq into a humanin order for him to be able to infiltrate the Federation and gain valuable information.
