Arthur C. Clarke once said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." In a similar vein, it was
Data who once observed that any sufficiently advanced lifeform would appear to others to be a god. Whether they come from another plane of existence, have acquired telekinetic powers, or are billions of years more evolved, beings who are "godlike" in their nature are sprinkled throughout the universe and have given our Starfleet crews quite a run for their money. (Don't worry,
Captain Archer, we're sure you'll have your day too.) Sometimes they are helpful, sometimes they are mischievous, and sometimes they are downright dangerous. Here is at look at some of those "godlike beings" from the annals of
Star Trek history.
GARY MITCHELL
Where No Man Has Gone Before
James Kirk's friend Gary Mitchell already possessed highly developed extrasensory abilities before the U.S.S. Enterprise set course for the edge of the galaxy. But when the ship passed through the galactic barrier energy field, those abilities were mutated and began growing at an exponential rate. Before long, Mitchell realized he would soon have the powers of a god. And he began to exercise those powers. But in doing so he lost any sense of human compassion. "Morals are for men, not gods," he declared as he willed into being a grave for his friend-turned-foe. (You'd think if he was so omnipotent he would get Kirk's middle initial right on his headstone.) It took another ESP mutant who hadn't yet lost her humanity, Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, to weaken Mitchell enough for Kirk to defeat him.
CHARLIE EVANS
Charlie X
Like Gary Mitchell, Charlie Evans could not handle the godlike powers that fate granted him. He was only three when the transport vessel he was growing up on crashed on planet Thasus, killing all aboard but him. He could not have possibly survived on his own, but for the native noncorporeal beings who endowed him with the ability to manifest his will through mere thought. Unlike Mitchell, though, Charlie's fatal flaw was not lack of compassion, but sheer lack of maturity. After being rescued at age 17 by fellow humans, his awkwardness around other people, especially females, led to reprimands and rejection, which led to typical adolescent acting out. Problem is, when that adolescent has extraordinary mental powers, "acting out" means that people tend to disappear into oblivion, faces get erased, and chess pieces get melted. The Thasians had to take him back, condemning poor Charlie to a life with beings he couldn't even touch.
TRELANE
The Squire of Gothos
Talk about immature. "General" Trelane... "Retired" ... was nothing but a child in god's clothing. His people — apparently a noncorporeal species — had perfected some sort of system to convert energy to matter and alter its shape at will via instrumentation that was infinitely more sophisticated than the U.S.S. Enterprise's Transporter. (Which may explain Trelane's Napoleonic abode, but does it fully account for the ability to move an entire planet all over the place?) When such power is left in the hands of a mischievous boy, any inferior being that comes along is nothing but a plaything for his amusement, like an insect captured by a human child. How do you classify such a being? "God of war," Kirk posited. Or, "A small boy, and a very naughty one at that." A veiled comment about contemporary times? Perhaps. At least Trelane had responsible parents who could send him to his "room."
ORGANIANS
Errand of Mercy
Some godlike beings in the universe are actually good guys. This time the immature ones were two groups of bickering humanoids threatening each other with galactic war, and it took the powers of an incorporeal race of pure energy and pure thought to immobilize their fleets and paralyze their hostilities. The Organians had long ago developed beyond the need for physical bodies and lived simply and peacefully, loathe to any ideas of interference with others' affairs. But when their planet was caught in the middle of a territorial dispute between two superpowers, they could not tolerate the antagonism they witnessed and so used their godlike powers to impose peace. The treaty that resulted from their intervention would forever change the history of the Federation and the Klingon Empire. The Organians were not only incredibly powerful, they were also insightful — they correctly predicted that the two peoples would someday become fast friends and work together.
APOLLO
Who Mourns for Adonais?
When you're a god, it's easy to be full of yourself. A trip to Pollux IV revealed that the pantheistic gods of ancient Greece were not just myth, but actual physical beings, ordinary humanoids with one critical enhancement: an extra organ in their chest which allowed them to channel considerable energy and demonstrate godlike powers. They came to Earth and thrived on the love, admiration and worship that early human civilization had to offer. But the Earth changed — humans outgrew the need for gods (at least, their variety). Without the constant nourishment of veneration, the gods left and returned to the cosmos and "the wings of the wind." Only Apollo was steadfast in his belief that humans would someday come and once again revere him. Darn the luck, the humans that found him were Captain Kirk's crew, who would bow down to no one. They destroyed his source of power and proved there is no more room for gods, so Apollo joined his predecessors and spread himself upon the wind in a dramatic exit worthy of Greek tragedy.
THE SHA KA REE GOD
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
When you go searching for God, too often you end up with someone more than willing to look like God but who doesn't really give a damn about you or your spiritual quest. Spock's half-brother Sybok became convinced that the Vulcan version of Eden, Sha Ka Ree, could be found at the center of the galaxy. He found a god ... but not one with a capital "G." Instead, it was a non-corporeal shapeshifting entity who was imprisoned there for eternity and was pretty bitter about it. He could manipulate matter and shoot lightning from his eyes, but he wasn't powerful enough to escape through a "Great Barrier" that two starships could easily broach (no doubt there's some extradimensional physics involved). Sybok learned the hard way that when you try to look "out there" for your answers, your journey is bound to end in disappointment. The lesson? Anytime you encounter someone claiming to be the Almighty but who makes self-centered demands, be sure and always ask, "What does God need with a starship?"
Q
Encounter at Farpoint
Ah, the irrepressible Q. Billions of years of evolution, virtual omnipotence, an immortal existence that can be eternally boring. But certain members of the Continuum who will remain nameless (initials only please!) refuse to be bored, and traipse around the galaxy playing with the minds of inferior beings — the mind being the one place left in the universe where there's still interesting territory to explore. The Q are about as close to being "real" gods as any other being in the universe — they have no reliance on any instrumentation or extra organs, and they know no limits of time and space. They are only bound by their own rules of conduct, and even that envelope is constantly being pushed. But when our favorite Q once claimed to actually be the Supreme Being, Captain Picard astutely observed that the universe could not possibly be so poorly designed. A healthy skepticism is always in order when "gods" are around, no matter how much fun they are.
EDO LORD
Justice
Captain Picard's crew never did figure out exactly why the Edo of Rubicun III worshipped a multidimensional vessel in orbit as God, or why the lifeforms aboard that vessel were so protective of the Edo and the entire star cluster they claimed as their own. Possibly they actually planted the Edo race on that planet, much like humans plant colonies. But one thing certain was that the Edo were a child race by comparison, and they had been savage and thieving before their "God" imposed a rather severe system of laws (which, interestingly, turned their culture into a very playful and sexually open one). The Edo "God-thing," as Data described it, was a pluralistic entity who once existed as flesh-and-blood, but evolved into a multidimensional state which made them appear to exist and not exist at the same time. They were obviously god-like in their powers — as any sufficiently advanced lifeform would appear to be — but they didn't really have any delusions of being "God." They just played that role for the Edo. That's not always a bad thing.
THE PROPHETS
Emissary, Part II
Joining the ranks of "good" gods are the beings who built and reside in the Bajoran wormhole, known to the Bajoran people as the Prophets (or to Starfleet, "wormhole aliens"). Apparently these gods didn't evolve from lower lifeforms, because to do so would imply the passage of time, and linear time is a concept that eludes these beings. (That, and baseball.) They simply exist in a different realm which happens to intersect with ours. The Prophets protect and inspire the people of Bajor, occasionally sending out an orb with miraculous powers to help them along and remind them they are not alone. But when it came time to bear a Prophet incarnate, for whatever reason they chose Earth on which to plant their seed. Taking human form, one of them mated with Joseph Sisko to give birth to Benjamin, who would eventually find himself drawn back to the Celestial Temple to complete the circle and fulfill a remarkable destiny.
Of course, when you have "good" gods, the natural law of dichotomy dictates there must be equal and opposite "bad" gods. Enter the Pah-wraiths, the evil spirits and immortal enemies of the Prophets, escaped from exile to wreak havoc on galactic affairs, but ultimately banished again to the Fire Caves with their accomplice Gul Dukat.
CARETAKER/SUSPIRIA
Cold Fire
The sporocystian lifeforms called the Nacene who came from another galaxy to explore ours were well-intentioned but apparently rather careless. Somehow their highly advanced technology devastated the atmosphere of the Ocampa homeworld, so taking responsibility for the welfare of the "child" race two of their kind stayed to protect and provide for them. The female, Suspiria, quickly got restless and took off, however, leaving the male behind to serve as Caretaker. Like the Edo Lord, the Caretaker never really had delusions of Godhood — he was, after all, admittedly fallible and certainly not immortal (which was why Voyager got stranded in the Delta Quadrant — he was looking for a new mate before he died so he could leave behind a Caretaker, Jr.). It was Suspiria who led her followers on a spiritual quest — taking 2,000 Ocampa with her on her travels, she helped them develop their psychokinetic powers so they could join her in an idyllic subspace domain called Exosia. Too bad she wasn't the most benevolent god, as one Ocampa in search for answers discovered.
