The USS Enterprise has 6 Starfleet Officers with awesome superpowers and special abilities inStar Trek: Strange New Worlds. The highly anticipatedStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3 premieres July 17th on Paramount+.Strange New Worldsseason 3 continues the series' bold genre-bending adventures after resolvingStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 2’s cliffhanger endingagainst the Gorn.
Whilemost of the Starship Enterprise’s crew members are human, a few aliens are serving aboardunder Captain Christopher Pike’s (Anson Mount) command.Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows the precedent set by otherversions of the USS EnterpriseinStar Trek. The USS Enterprise-D inStar Trek: The Next Generationhad an android, Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), a Klingon, Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn), and a Betazoid,Counselor Deanna Troi(Marina Sirtis), all of whom had special abilities.
Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 1 introduced the lateLt. Hemmer (Bruce Horak), the Starship Enterprise’s Chief Engineer. Hemmer was an Aenar, an offshoot of the Andorians. Despite being blind, Hemmer’s other senses were heightened, and he was a skilled engineer and mentor to Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding). One might even considerthe singing talent of many of Captain Pike’s crew to be a special ability. However, here are 6Star Trek: Strange New Worldscharacters who are more than meets the eye.
6Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh
Descendant of Khan Noonien Singh
Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) is human, but she is a descendant ofKhan Noonien Singh(Ricardo Montalban). The infamous genetically engineered tyrant ruled much of Earth during the Eugenics Wars, though he is years away from being discovered by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) inStar Trek: The Original Series.La’an lived her entire life taunted by others for her surnameand dreading potentially inheriting Khan’s legacy of genocide and torture.
Despite La’an’s fears, she has not displayed Khan’s super strength or physical endurance inStar Trek: Strange New Worlds. However, this doesn’t mean La’an lacks latent abilities derived from Khan’s augmented DNA.La’an is highly intelligent, singularly focused, driven, and she was the lone survivor of a Gorn attackthat killed her family when she was a child. La’an may be more special than she lets on, and perhaps we’ll see aspects of Khan inStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3.
5Captain Christopher Pike
Future Knowledge Of His Own Fate
Captain Christopher Pike is completely human, but he was grantedforeknowledge of his own futureinStar Trek: Discoveryseason 2. At a Klingon monastery on Boreth, a time crystal allowed Pike to see that, in less than a decade, Chris will be horribly disfigured by delta rays and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Pike was burdened by his awareness of his destiny throughoutStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 1.
InStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 1’s finale, “A Quality of Mercy,” Captain Pike learned that avoiding his fate means transferring the tragedy to Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck). Thus, Pike must live his life to the fullest before the inevitable happens. However,Pike’s foreknowledge also grants Chris a certainty and clarityhe would otherwise lack as he commands the Starship Enterprise inStar Trek: Strange New Worlds.
4Dr. Joseph M’Benga
Starfleet Assassin With Chemical Enhancements
Dr. Joseph M’Benga is Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise inStar Trek: Strange New Worlds, but he’s a physician who may have taken more lives than he has saved. DuringStar Trek: Discovery’s Klingon War, M’Benga was known as “The Ghost,” an operative of Starfleet Special Forces with more confirmed hand-to-hand kills than anyone.M’Benga is one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in Starfleetand regularly spars with his crewmates on the Enterprise.
Babs Olusanmokun is a real-life Brazilian jiu-jitsu master.
Making Dr. M’Benga even more dangerous is a compound he created called Protocol 12. This serum, a cocktail of adrenaline boosters and pain inhibitors,placed M’Benga on an even physical plane with the Klingons he killed. M’Benga secretly carries Protocol 12 with him on missions, and Nurse Christine Chapel’s (Jess Bush) combat skills have also been boosted by Joseph’ssuper soldier serum.
3Commander Pelia
Long-Lived Lanthanite
Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) looks human, but theChief Engineer of the USS Enterpriseis a Lanthanite, an alien species that lives for an extremely long time.Pelia has seemingly lived on Earth for thousands of years; she claims she knew Pythagoras when he invented mathematics, and Pelia also says she knew Cary Grant.
In the 23rd century, Pelia not only knew Lt. Spock’s mother,Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner), but Amanda was one of the few humans to whom Pelia revealed her true nature as a Lanthanite. Remarkably,Pelia knew nothing about engineering before mastering warp theory to become an engineering instructorat Starfleet Academy. Pelia even taught Lt. Hemmer, Lt. Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn), and Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn).
2Lieutenant Spock
Half-Vulcan
Lieutenant Spock is the most famousVulcan inStar Trek, and his abilities have been established since Leonard Nimoy portrayed Mr. Spock inStar Trek: The Original Series. As a Vulcan, Spock is fiercely intelligent with a keen logical mind. Spock’s Vulcan physiology makes himstronger than a normal human. Spock also possesses Vulcan touch telepathy, which allows him to perform mind-melds and nonviolently subdue others with a Vulcan nerve pinch.
Although Spock is also half-human, this doesn’t diminish his Vulcan abilities. Spock controls his human emotions through Vulcan logic, buthis humanity has been unleashed occasionally,to great effect. InStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 1, episode 9, “All Those Who Wander,” Spock, tapping into his innate rage, helped him face the Gorn.
1Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley
Genetically Engineered Illyrian
Affectionately known as Number One,Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley is an Illyrian, a race that practices genetic modifications to suit their environment. In Number One’s case, she was augmented before birth to haveenhanced strength and an immune system that can burn out pathogens. Una was seen easily lifting and carrying an unconscious Lt. Hemmer inStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 1, episode 3, “Ghosts of Illyria.”
Number One might be the most physically powerful person aboard the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Because genetic engineering is banned by the United Federation of Planets, Una hid her augmented nature when she joined Starfleet. Ultimately, Number One revealed that she’s an augment and won a court-martial that recognized her rights and allowed her to return to the USS Enterprise as First Officer. Proud to let her crew know who she really is, Number One might be the most physically powerful person aboard the Starship Enterprise inStar Trek: Strange New Worlds.
