10 Times Vulcans Were Star Trek Villains
Vulcans have been an important part of the Federation since the beginning, but they haven’t always had a positive influence as these evil Star Trek Vulcans demonstrate. Vulcans were the first alien species created by Gene Roddenberry for Star Trek and immortalized by Leonard Nimoy’s Spock. There have been a number of notable Vulcans throughout the series, from Deputy Commander T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) in Star Trek: Enterprise to Temporary Lieutenant T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) in Star Trek: Lower Decks. No matter how strained the relationship between T’Pol and Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), she is always on the side of good. The same cannot be said for Star Trek’s Vulcan villains, who often act out of a fanatical devotion to Vulcan logic or their own difficulties with suppressing emotions. Although Vulcans are not as known for their villainy as their Romulan cousins, there have still been a significant number of Vulcan villains throughout Star Trek history.
The Vulcan “Monks” In Star Trek: Enterprise – “The Andorian Incident”
The Andorians appear to be the main antagonists in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “The Andorian Incident”, when they take the Vulcan monastery hostage. The Andorians believe – correctly – that P’Jem is not a spiritual refuge for the Vulcans but a listening station to spy on their Andorian neighbors. At the end of the episode, Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) is briefly held at gunpoint by an insider in a desperate attempt to stop the information from leaking. This is an early sign that the Vulcans in Star Trek: Enterprise aren’t as perfect as their 23rd and 24th century counterparts.
Tolaris In Star Trek: Enterprise – “Fusion”
In the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Mersion,” Tolaris (Enrique Murciano) attacked T’Pol while pursuing an invasive mind without his consent. At this point in Star Trek history, mind melding was taboo in Vulcan society, which meant that Tolaris was not properly informed about the procedure. Tolaris’ invasive psychological abuse of T’Pol caused him to be forced off Enterprise NX-01 after he lost control of his emotions and violently attacked Captain Archer. T’Pol also suffered from Pa’nar Syndrome as a result of this procedure, but due to the taboos surrounding the mind in Vulcan society, it took a long time for his condition to be cured.
Administrator V’Las In Star Trek: Enterprise – “Awakening” and “Kir’Shara”
Administrator V’Las (Robert Foxworth) was the head of Vulcan high command in Star Trek: Enterprise and thus authorized the use of P’Jem as a listening station. V’Las’s devious nature becomes more apparent in Enterprise Season 4’s two-part episode “Awakening/Kir’Shara” when he allies himself with a Romulan infiltrator. V’Las and Talok (Todd Stashwick) are planning a military alliance that would allow an invasion of Andoria. However, V’Las was willing to sell his people down the river, agreeing to allow Vulcan to fall under the rule of the Romulan Star Empire, just so he could defeat his old enemies, the Andorians. Luckily, Archer, T’Pol and a younger version of Star Trek: TOS’ T’Pau (Kara Zediker).
V’Latak In Star Trek: Discovery – “Lethe”
Vulcan logic extremists are a group of fanatics who believe, above all, in the “true” ideology of Vulcan logic. In the Star Trek: Discovery episode “Lethe”, V’Latak (Luke Humphrey) infiltrated Ambassador Sarek’s (James Frain) inner circle. Driving Sarek to crucial diplomatic negotiations during Discovery’s Klingon War, V’Latak transformed himself into a bomb with the intention of killing the Vulcan diplomat. Sarek is a frequent target of extremists due to his involvement with the Federation and his marriage to his human wife Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner).
Vulcan Logic Extremist Bombers In Star Trek: Discovery
A key part of Captain Michael Burnham’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) story is the terrorist attack that nearly killed her as a child. In a previous assassination attempt on Sarek, logic extremists bombed the Vulcan Education Center, intending to kill him and his wife Amanda. Sarek and Amanda survived the explosion, but their adopted daughter Michael remained clinically dead for three minutes. Sarek revives Michael with his Vulcan mind, transferring part of his katra and bonding the two for life.
Sybok In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Spock’s half-brother Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill) was introduced as the main antagonist of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Sybok rejects Vulcan’s logic in favor of embracing the same emotions as his ancestors, who saw him imprisoned in the Ankeshtan K’Til Rehabilitation Center. Sybok later embraced spirituality and hijacked the USS Enterprise-A in pursuit of a vision he experienced of what he believed to be God himself. Although Sybok used criminal means to pursue his mission, he redeemed himself by sacrificing his life to defeat the evil entity masquerading as God, which enabled the Enterprise to escape exit.
Lt. Valeris In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Lieutenant Valeris (Kim Cattrall) betrayed his mentor, Captain Spock, by becoming complicit in the Khitomer plot to derail peace negotiations with the Klingon Empire and the Federation. Valeris provided the Klingon plotters with a personal diary implicating Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in the murder of Prime Minister Gorkon (David Warner). Valeris also murdered two of his Starfleet accomplices, Yeomen Burke and Samno, to prevent them from sharing information about their role in Gorkon’s assassination. Valeris believes that peace with the Klingons is illogical, which is why she participates in the vast conspiracy to prevent these peace negotiations from taking place.
Tuvok In Star Trek: Voyager – “Repression”
Although under the psychic influence of Teero Anaydis (Keith Szarabajka), Major Tuvok (Tim Russ) is a villain in the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Crackdown”. After receiving a hidden message from the Bajoran villain, he was able to release the mental conditioning that Tuvok had received years earlier. Tuvok was in fact a sleeper agent of the Maquis who was reactivated and began transmitting Teero’s subliminal messages to Voyager’s Maquis crew members. This leads to a Maquis mutiny aboard Voyager that is nearly successful until Tuvok escapes his conditioning and avoids mutiny.
Lt. Chu’lak In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Field Of Fire
In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Field of Fire”, Lt. Chu’lak (Marty Rackham) was a rare thing, a Vulcan serial killer. Chu’lak suffered a psychological breakdown following the destruction of the USS Grissom by the Jem’Hadar. The Vulcan officer lost control of his emotions and set about murdering members of the DS9 crew, targeting his victims with a TR-116 rifle equipped with a micro-transporter. Chu’lak selected his victims based on whether they had images of people showing emotion on display in their quarters, because “logic demanded it“. Lt. Ezri Dax (Nicole de Boer) eventually brought Chu’lak to justice.
Krinn In Star Trek: Picard – Imposters
Vulcan gangster Krinn (Kirk Acevedo) was kingpin of the V’Lashi crime syndicate in Star Trek: Picard season 3. Krinn used Vulcan logic in his criminal endeavors, brokering for a device that exploited the illogical flaws in the Daystrom Station’s security systems. Krinn also believed it was logical, in a utopia like Star Trek‘s future, for there also to be crime, something which he excelled at. Captain Worf (Michael Dorn) and Commander Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) exploited Krinn’s logic by threatening his life in exchange for the device that was used to break into Daystrom.