While most of Star Trek’s main characters serve in Starfleet in some capacity, a few of the most memorable characters never did. Beginning in 1966, Star Trek: The Original Series painted an image of an idyllic future, where Earth has eliminated war, hunger, and poverty. Following the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the USS Enterprise, TOS introduced the world to Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets. These organizations brought together people from all over the galaxy to explore the rest of what is out there in the universe.
While Starfleet officers are often the ones responsible for saving the galaxy, they couldn’t do it without the help of people from outside the organization. Throughout Star Trek’s long history in movies and TV, many important characters have worked alongside Starfleet and its officers without actually wearing a uniform and earning a rank. Whether human or Vulcan, android or Ferengi, allies to Starfleet have been found all over the galaxy, proving that not all Star Trek heroes wear Starfleet uniforms.
12 Soji – Star Trek: Picard
Dr. Soji Asha (Isa Briones) was a sentient android created by Dr. Altan Inigo Soong (Brent Spiner) and Dr. Bruce Maddox (John Ales), but Soji and her deceased twin sister, Dahj, believed themselves to be completely human. Soji worked at the Romulan Reclamation Site on a derelict Borg cube known as the Artifact, helping to rehabilitate former Borg drones. After discovering the truth about herself, Soji joined Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) on a quest to save her synthetic race on her home world, Coppelius. After Soji helped stop the Romulans from destroying Coppelius, she became an ambassador following the United Federation of Planets lifting its ban on synthetics.
11 T’Pring – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
First introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series, T’Pring (Arlene Martel) was bonded to Spock (Leonard Nimoy) as a child as future husband and wife. As revealed in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, T’Pring (Gia Sandhu) and Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) began a romantic relationship as adults, although they had broken things off before the time of TOS. T’Pring is one of the rehabilitation specialists at Ankeshtan K’til, a center for criminal Vulcans to be rehabilitated. T’Pring will eventually fall in love with another Vulcan, forcing Spock to spar against Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in the Kal-if-fee combat ritual.
10 Rom and Leeta – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Rom (Max Grodénchik) worked at his brother Quark’s bar before eventually joining the Bajoran engineering team on the station. Rom would go on to help Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) with maintenance around the station and aid Starfleet during the Dominion War. Rom fell in love with Leeta (Chase Masterson) and the two were later married in a ceremony performed by Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). At the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Rom became the Grand Nagus of Ferenginar, and he and Leeta helped lead the Ferengi into a new era. Rom’s son Nog (Aron Eisenberg) would also become the first Ferengi to join Starfleet.
9 President T’Rina – Star Trek: Discovery
Despite being one of the founding members of the United Federation of Planets, Vulcan is no longer a member of the Federation by the 32nd century of Star Trek: Discovery. Now called Ni’Var, the planet is home to both the Vulcans and the Romulans after the two species had reunified. T’Rina (Tara Rosling), a Vulcan, serves as the President of Ni’Var, and she helps lead the planet to rejoin the Federation. After helping the USS Discovery during the events of Discovery season 4, T’Rina begins an incredibly sweet romantic relationship with Captain Saru (Doug Jones).
8 President Laira Rillak – Star Trek: Discovery
As President of the United Federation of Planets in the 32nd century, Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal) has helped usher in a new era, welcoming Ni’Var back to the Federation. Part human, part Bajoran, and part Cardassian, President Rillak was one of the Federation’s best ambassadors before she accepted the position of President. Rillak oversaw Captain Michael Burnham’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) response and investigation of the Dark Matter Anomaly’s attacks on the Federation, and the two grudgingly earned each other’s respect. Rillak is an effective politician who seems to genuinely want what’s best for the Federation.
7 Gwyndala – Star Trek: Prodigy
As the artificially created Vau N’Akat daughter of The Diviner (John Noble), Gwyndala (Ella Purnell) spent her childhood in the Tars Lamora prison colony learning languages and helping her father interrogate prisoners. After initially being taken hostage by Dal R’El (Brett Gray) on the USS Protostar, Gwyn eventually becomes a member of the misfit crew. Gwyn’s extensive knowledge of languages proves useful as she helps translate the Protostar’s logs and facilitates communication with other species. Gwyn ultimately helps unveil and stop the Vau N’Akats’ plan to destroy the Federation. After being recently saved by Netflix, Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 will continue the story of Gwyn and her quest to prevent a civil war.
6 Jake Sisko – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
As the son of Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps and join Starfleet, and Jake chose a different path. While living on Deep Space 9, Jake developed a love of writing, and, at one point, he considered leaving the space station to attend a writing fellowship on Earth. After war broke out between the Federation and the Dominion, Jake served as a war correspondent. Jake remained on the station even when it was under Dominion control, placing himself on the front lines of the war to report what was happening.
5 Dr. Agnes Jurati/The Borg Queen – Star Trek: Picard
In Star Trek: Picard, Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) worked as a cyberneticist at Daystrom Institute, where Admiral Jean-Luc Picard recruited her to help in his search for Soji. In Picard season 2, Agnes allowed herself to be assimilated by the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) in order to steal information from the Queen’s mind. However, the Borg Queen became impressed by Agnes’s craftiness and took over Jurati’s mind. As the two fought for dominance of Dr. Jurati’s mind and body, they eventually merged into one new benevolent Borg Queen of a different kind of Borg Collective.
4 Guinan – Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Picard
On Star Trek: The Next Generation, Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) served as the bartender in Ten Forward on the USS Enterprise-D. As many bartenders do, she often took on the role of listener and advice-giver for members of the Enterprise crew. As an El-Aurian, Guinan has lived for a very long time and is an old friend of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). When Admiral Picard and his friends were sent back in time in Star Trek: Picard season 2, a younger Guinan (Ito Aghayere) helped them even then, pointing them in the right direction and helping them contact Q (John de Lancie).
3 Garak – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Garak (Andrew J. Robinson) presented himself as a simple tailor who ran a shop on Deep Space Nine’s promenade, but he had previously been a member of the Cardassian Intelligence Organization called the Obsidian Order. Despite his love of Cardassia, Garak aided Starfleet during the Dominion War, providing them with intelligence on Cardassia and even putting his assassination skills to use when required. Garak helped Cardassia when they rebelled against the Dominion and after the end of the Dominion War, Garak was supported by the Federation as a leader of what remained of his planet.
2 Neelix – Star Trek: Voyager
As one of the first new species the USS Voyager encountered in the Delta Quadrant, Neelix (Ethan Phillips) proved to be a valuable asset to Captain Kathryn Janeway’s (Kate Mulgrew) and her crew on Star Trek: Voyager. A Talaxian, Neelix helped Captain Janeway and Voyager’s crew navigate the unfamiliar Delta Quadrant, and he also served as the ship’s chef and self-appointed Chief Morale Officer. Neelix proved to be a valuable and resourceful member of Voyager’s crew, often helping to negotiate with the locals of the Delta Quadrant. When Voyager found a way to return to the Alpha Quadrant, Captain Janeway offered Neelix the opportunity to serve as an ambassador for Starfleet in the Delta Quadrant.
1 Quark – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
As the first Ferengi to be given depth as a character, Armin Shimmerman’s Quark almost single-handedly changed the perception of the Ferengi species. The bartender on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Quark may always be out for a profit, but he also has a big heart and cares deeply about his friends. Throughout DS9, Quark causes more than a few headaches for Constable Odo (René Auberjonois), but he proves to be a valuable asset to the Federation. Since Quark is not a member of Starfleet, he is often privy to information that few would have shared with uniformed Starfleet officers. Although Quark never attended Starfleet Academy or donned a Starfleet uniform, he became an important and beloved Star Trek hero just the same.
