FRIENDS, FOES, OR IN NEED OF OUR HELP: A LOOK AT "GODS" IN STAR TREK (THE ORIGINAL SERIES)

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 Am I the only person who noticed there are several godlike characters and planets in Star Trek? 

I'll confess I'm a Trekkie. I can tell you the titles for each of the 79 episodes from the Original Series. I've seen almost all of those twice (two of my least two I've only seen once) plus all the movies with the original cast except Star Trek V, and I read all the adaptations by James Blish and J. A. Lawrence and the first two Star Trek novels (plus the novella in Lawrence's Mudd's Angels). My knowledge decreases after that, but I think the above is enough to show my knowledge.

One thing I've noticed is that the crew of the Enterprise come in contact with beings that can be called gods. Some of these are beneficial to Captain Kirk and friends, some are detrimental, and some aren't all bad but need help from us. How frequent? Twenty five episodes. That's almost one out of three.

Allow me to distinguish the difference between gods and Goliaths, because there are several "Goliaths" as well. A Goliath is a superhuman: they may be stronger or faster or be a planet destroyer, but they still fit into the mode of being a creation. The "gods" I mention have abilities that transcend mere people.

Let's take the episode "The Arena" as a way to distinguish the two. The Federation is in a battle with the Gorn. When we see the captain of the Gorn's ship, we see this large reptilian creature who would be the favorite in a hand to hand combat. A typical "Goliath". However, the reason Captain Kirk has to defeat the Gorn captain is that another race, the Metrons, stopped both the Enterprise and the Gorn ship, transported the captains for them to duke it out on a planet where they have what they need to create weapons. The Metrons fit into the "gods" territory.

I mentioned some of these gods aided Captain Kirk, in some cases in ways that Kirk didn't really appreciate (e.g. the Organians in "An Errand Of Mercy" or the above mentioned Metrons). More often, they were enemies. Note of interest- the Talosians were villains in the pilot "The Cage", but at the end of the two part episode "The Menagerie", they weren't so bad after all. Still, adding the Talosians to the good guy camp, only four fall into that category, compared to sixteen (again including the Talosians) as the bad guys.

There's also the typically human mindset of us needing to help an out-of-touch deity, which occurs in half a dozen episodes. Examples of this include the Kelvans in "A Rose By Any Other Name" and the Vians in "The Empath."

Is there a pattern during the three seasons? The number of "gods" faced aren't too far off: respectively 9, 7, and 10 per season. In the first two seasons, there were several goliaths as well (8 per season), but only three in season three. The first season had all four of the good guy "gods" and the other two seasons split the six that needed our help.

But then, the pilot "The Cage" and two of the first three episodes to air ("Where No Man Has Gone Before" and "Charlie X") had bad guy "gods". And if you go beyond the series, you've got a god needing help in Star Trek The Motion Picture, and Q fits the role in the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Am I meaning to pick on Star Trek? Not at all. You notice how many religious bad guys show up in TV episodes? Star Trek differs because of its genre.

Do you know anybody who views God as either a foe to be defeated or as a good being who really needs our help? Either way is a misrepresentation of the God of the Bible.