The second new animated Star Trek series, Star Trek: Prodigy, is set to premiere on Nickelodeon sometime in 2021. Here’s what’s been revealed about the show up until now:
- It’s targeting kids instead of adults (sort-of a no-brainer considering it’s going to Nickelodeon)
- Kevin and Dan Hageman are Showrunning.
- The animation is targeting a look similar to the Netflix series, Love, Death & Robots and Ninjago/Trollhunters.
- Kate Mulgrew will be reprising the role of Janeway (presumably Admiral Janeway now).
- The series focuses on a group of lawless teenagers who use an abandoned starship to search for adventure.
Last week we revealed new characters casting for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, now we have new info on the casting for Star Trek: Prodigy. These descriptions give us a look at the adults we’ll be meeting in the show, but not the teens who the show is focusing on. Before venturing forth, I must warn you that these breakdowns give away some story details and could definitely be considered spoilers.
Star Trek: Prodigy Character Breakdowns and Speculation
**If you want to avoid Star Trek: Prodigy spoilers all together, you should stop reading now, otherwise, you may engage.**
A quick word about the names, casting breakdowns often don’t use the actual character names in the descriptions, while sometimes they do, for new properties, it’s not always apparent. The names you find below may or may not be the same as the names you hear when Prodigy airs.
First up is Doctor Torgo. She’s described as an eccentric alien geneticist in her 50s. She chooses to operate outside the Federation to avoid having to follow their rules. She strives to push the boundaries of scientific discovery and make the body a patient dreams of a reality, regardless of the risks.
There’s no species listed for Doctor Torgo, so I think it’s safe to assume she’s human considering the rest of the breakdowns specify a species. As far as how she fits into the overall storyline, I’m not sure. We don’t know if this is a one-off character or if Torgo will be recurring. If she’s not a one-off, they could be opening the door for a potential return of Julian Bashir. Given his heritage and work to help assimilate others who were genetically modified into regular society, it’s not a far leap to imagine we’ll at least get a reference.
Next we have Barniss Frex, a male Denobulan in his 40s. Barniss spent years alone maintaining a Federation comms relay station and as a result of Denobulans not being fans of solitude, he’s thirsty for friends. He’s a “rambling, portly fellow” who’s very welcoming, at least until his visitors become suspect.
Outside of Phlox on Star Trek: Enterprise we really don’t have a lot of experience with Denobulans. His breakdown doesn’t really give us any insight into where he might fit into the Prodigy storyline, but my speculation is going to be that he’ll have information or a connection to information the teens are looking for.
RELATED: STAR TREK: PRODIGY ENGAGES IN 2021, ACCORDING TO COMIC-COM@HOME
Our 3rd character is Nandi. This is an interesting one. Nandi is a female Ferengi in her 50s. Like many other Ferengis we’ve met, she’s a flamboyant, toothy privateer. Also, much like other Ferengi, she’s able to convince people into thinking she’s a trusted ally, but has her own agenda and isn’t afraid of betraying the people around her.
Like Denobulans, we don’t have a whole lot of experience with female Ferengi. The only two of note I can think of off the top of my head are Pel and Ishka (Moogie), both from DS9. Pel hid the fact she was a female so she could work and earn profit and Ishka, Quark and Rom’s mother, ushered in a new era of women’s lib, workers rights, and environmental concern within the Ferengi government.
It will be quite fascinating to see how these ideals have come to affect the Ferengi culture. While I don’t think that will be a focus of the overall Prodigy storyline, it could definitely be a topic that’s visited when learning about Nandi’s past.
Doctor Noum, a Tellarite in his 30s. Tellarites enjoy arguments and Noum is no different. He’s dedicated to keeping his crew healthy and though his bedside manner is brusque, his medical expertise is infallible.
Our last character is Vezria. I’m honestly not sure what to make of her. The standard part of her description states that she’s in her 30s and hunting for the missing ship by pretending to be an Ensign in Starfleet. She’s very intelligent and is skilled at manipulating people. She’s determined to get revenge for her people and destroy the Federation.
That’s all fairly straight forward, right? Here’s what tripped me up. In order to pose as an Ensign, she’s “disguising her true Vau N’Akat form”. I dug all over the place and read through pages of information about shapeshifters and couldn’t find a reference to a species with that name. So, there’s one of two or three things happening here.
“Vau N’Akat” could be a fake name. “Vau N’Akat” could potentially be the Founders or the Devidians, or since since the show is animated, maybe they could be bringing back the Vendorians? Another possibility is Species 8472. We don’t know what happened with them after Voyager, maybe something happened that they blamed Starfleet for or at least that Vezria blames Starfleet for. We only know of them by their Borg designation, “Vau K’Akat” could be their actual name, and with Janeway coming back, it’s not unreasonable to think they could revive some Voyager plotlines.
That’s all we’ve got for now. Vezria, Nandi, Doctor Torgo, Barniss Frex, and Doctor Noum. Do you think these are going to be regulars, recurring characters, or just one-offs that we never see again after their first episode of Prodigy? Vezria definitely sounds like she’s going to be a recurring character and possibly the “Big Bad” at the end.
Let us know your thoughts on these characters, if you think I’m right about Vezria, and what other races or characters you’d like to see pop-up on Star Trek: Prodigy. Let us know what you think of Prodigy in the comment section below or let’s talk in depth over on Twitter.
KEEP READING: STAR TREK: DISCOVERY OFFICIALLY RENEWED FOR SEASON 4
