Orion (Star Trek)
Orion | |
---|---|
First appearance | "The Cage" (Star Trek: The Original Series) |
Last appearance | Star Trek: Lower Decks |
Created by | Gene Roddenberry |
Portrayed by | Various actors |
The Orions are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the American science fiction franchise Star Trek, making their first appearance in the initial pilot for Star Trek: The Original Series, "The Cage". Susan Oliver portrayed the first Orion seen on screen, when her human character Vina was transformed into one, although it was Majel Barrett who underwent the original makeup test. The footage was subsequently used in the two-part episode "The Menagerie". Yvonne Craig, who was considered for the role of Vina, later played an Orion in "Whom Gods Destroy".
Male Orions made their first appearance in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "The Pirates of Orion" but did not appear in live action until the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Borderland", which also featured female Orions. Orion women have also been seen in the films Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, and the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks features an Orion as a main character. Females of the species have become known as Orion slave girls, who have become popular among fans as cosplay.
Development
The first mention of the Orion was in
To the surprise of the production team, Barrett appeared normal flesh colored in all footage. They tried again, applying a much darker shade of green. Once again, when the results were received, she didn't appear green at all. They tried a third time and the same result was received.[6] Roddenberry phoned the development lab out of frustration, only to hear their surprise that the character was supposed to be green. They had presumed that the cinematographer had set up the camera incorrectly and had spent a great deal of time correcting Barrett back to a normal color.[7]
A number of actresses were considered for the part, including
To prepare for the Orion scenes, Oliver took a week's worth of choreography instruction, later stating in an interview with
Star Trek: Enterprise and reboot films
Writer
A further Orion-centric episode was shown later in the fourth season. Entitled "
Appearances
The official Star Trek website describes the Orion species as being organised into a "loose nation or empire", also described as the Orion Syndicate.
The Talosians seek to stimulate an attraction between Captain
The Orion Syndicate is mentioned in Deep Space Nine as a
Star Trek: Lower Decks, an animated series first aired in 2020, features an Orion main character for the first time, D'Vana Tendi, a science officer voiced by Noël Wells.[37][38]
Star Trek: Discovery includes Orions in seasons 3 and 4, which are set in the 32nd century.
Season 3 of
Reception
Fandom
Fans of Star Trek embraced the Orions, specifically the image of the Orion slave girl, making it a popular choice for cosplay at science fiction conventions.[39] This includes an Orion themed dance troupe called "Orion's Envy".[40] Several fan-based Star Trek web series have been created since the end of Enterprise, including Star Trek Continues which follows on from the events of The Original Series.[41] The second episode, "Lolani", focused on the events following the murder of three Tellarite crewmembers of a cargo vessel and the discovery that an Orion slave girl survived the incident. Lou Ferrigno, famous for his role as the Hulk in the 1978 The Incredible Hulk television series, appeared as a similarly green male Orion.[42]
Critical reception
Justin Everett, in his essay "Fan Culture and the Recentering of Star Trek", described the appearance of the Orions in the fourth season of Enterprise as an attempt by Coto to bring viewers back to the series. However, he described the Orion women themselves as providing "softcore porn" to the viewer.[43] Regarding those same appearances, David Greven wrote in his book Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek, that the attraction of the men on the Enterprise demonstrated the "extraordinary heterosexuality of all the Trek series" as none of them can resist them, nor do any of the women feel a similar attraction. Regarding their dancing, he found that it was "similar to the jerky movement of birds", referencing that the sirens of Greek mythology shared some features with humans and others with birds.[44]
In other media
- The Green Girlis a 2014 biographical documentary film of Susan Oliver, so named for her role in "The Cage".
- The 2015 parodic Henry Danger episode "Dream Busters" (the title itself a reference to Ghostbusters) is almost completely set in a world made of hallucinations, one of which is an almost mute character which another hallucination names "the Green Dancing Girl", clearly a reference to Star Trek's Orions.
- In The Big Bang Theory, season 11 episode 4, Leonard complains that the dry cleaner did not get the stain out of his Starfleet uniform. Penny remarks that he would not have to dry clean it so much if he did not make her wear the green body paint in bed, but Leonard decides that it was worth it.
Notes
- ^ Cushman & Osborn (2013): p. 40
- ^ a b c Cushman & Osborn (2013): p. 48
- ^ a b Block & Erdmann (2010): p. 10
- ^ Westmore et al; (2000): p. 14
- ^ Solow & Justman (1996): p. 39
- ^ a b Westmore et al; (2000): p. 16
- ^ Westmore et al; (2000): p. 17
- ^ Alexander (1995): p. 212
- ^ Cushman & Osborn (2013): p. 28
- ^ Alexander (1995): p. 215
- ^ Garcia, Frank (October 1988). "First Trek". Starlog (135). Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^ Cushman & Osborn (2013): p. 58
- ^ Solow & Justman (1996): p. 47
- ^ Anders, Charlie Jane (March 2, 2012). "Rare Star Trek photos show green Orion slavegirls like you've never seen them". io9. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^ Cushman & Osborn (2013): p. 65
- ^ Cushman & Osborn (2013): p. 338
- ^ Alexander (1995): p. 529
- ^ Douglass Jr., Todd (November 29, 2006). "Star Trek – The Animated Series – The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek". DVD Talk. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
- ^ a b Erdmann & Block (2000): pp. 538-539
- ^ Nemecek, Larry (April–May 2004). "Enterprise Scribe" (PDF). Star Trek Communicator (149): 58–62. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^ a b c O'Hare, Kate (October 28, 2004). "'Enterprise' reaches across 'Star Trek' history". Zap2it.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
- ^ Leao, Gustavo (March 21, 2005). "John Billingsley Says Star Trek Needs a Rest, Plus 'Orion Slave Girl' Bobbi Sue Luther Speaks". TrekWeb.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2005. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
- ^ "Production Report: Orion Slave Girls "Bound" for Glory". Star Trek.com. January 24, 2005. Archived from the original on March 3, 2005. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
- ^ James Dyer (May 2009). "The Prime Director". Empire. Bauer Media Group. pp. 76–79.
- ^ a b "Catching Up With Trek (2009)'s Green Gal, Rachel Nichols". StarTrek.com. February 24, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^ Davis, Erik (November 3, 2009). "'Star Trek' Deleted Scene Features Deleted Orion Slave Girl". Moviefone. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^ Hoffman, Jordan (April 27, 2009). "Roberto Orci – Star Trek Interview". UGO Networks. Archived from the original on November 19, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^ a b "Orion". StarTrek.com. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
- ^ "Borderland". StarTrek.com. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
- ^ "Bound". StarTrek.com. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
- ^ Asherman (1986): pp. 13–14
- ^ Asherman (1986): pp. 47–48
- ^ Asherman (1986): p. 88
- ^ Asherman (1986): p.124
- ^ Ottens, Nick (May 30, 2015). "Trouble Keeping Her Green". StarTrek.com. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^ Abrams, J.J. (director) (2013). Star Trek Into Darkness (Motion picture). United States: Paramount Pictures.
- ^ "How Star Trek Redeems TOS' Orion Slave Girl". ScreenRant. August 10, 2020.
- ^ Bastién, Angelica Jade (August 6, 2020). "Lower Decks Is Fun, But Star Trek Is Suffering an Identity Crisis". Vulture.
- ^ Boudreux, Dan (October 17, 2015). "Louisiana Comic Con proves big hit at Cajundome Convention Center". The Acadiana Advocate. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
- ^ Boudreux, Dan (September 6, 2015). "Calling all geeks and fantasy fans: Louisiana Comic Con is coming to Lafayette on Oct. 17-18". The Acadiana Advocate. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
- ^ Mann, Court (April 13, 2014). "Expert nostalgia: 'Star Trek' fan tribute sets a new standard". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
- ^ Tramel, Jimmie (November 5, 2014). "Pop culture: Hulk Trek? Did you know about Lou Ferrigno's "Star Trek" role?". Tulsa World. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-3034-5.
- ^ Greven (2009): p. 133
References
- Alexander, David (1995). Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry. New York: Roc. ISBN 0-451-45440-5.
- Asherman, Allan (1986). The Star Trek Compendium. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-067162-7263.
- Ayers, Jeff (2006). Voyages of Imagination. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-1-4165-0349-1.
- Block, Paula M.; Erdmann, Terry J. (2010). Star Trek: The Original Series 365. New York: Abrams. ISBN 978-0-8109-9172-9.
- Cushman, Marc; Osborn, Susan (2013). These are the Voyages: TOS, Season One. San Diego, CA: Jacobs Brown Press. ISBN 978-0-9892381-1-3.
- Erdmann, Terry J.; Block, Paula M. (2000). Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-6715-0106-8.
- Greven, David (2009). Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek: Allegories of Desire in the Television Series and Films. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-4413-7.
- Gross, Edward; Altman, Mark A. (1993). Captain's Logs: The Complete Trek Voyages. London: Boxtree. ISBN 978-1-85283-899-7.
- Shatner, William; Kreski, Chris (1993). Star Trek Memories. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers. ISBN 978-0-06-017734-8.
- Solow, Herbert F.; Justman, Robert H. (1996). Inside Star Trek: The Real Story. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0671896287.
- ISBN 978-0-671-04299-8.