Are there any non-human captains (and up) in Starfleet?

Question

Both the admiralty and the captains (regularly) featured on Star Trek are, to my knowledge, all human. Isn't this odd, for an organisation priding itself on including as many different species as possible? There are plenty examples of non-human first officers (Keira on DS9, Spock and T'Pol, to name a few), far fewer of captains.

Are there non-human captains in Starfleet? How about admirals / commodores? Are humans over-represented in the higher echelons?

Related/Partly Overlapping question: Are there any non-human Starfleet ships? — Mark Rogers, Dec 06 '15 at 15:03
Also related: How do humans dominate the Federation in Star Trek? — Mark Rogers, Dec 06 '15 at 19:53

Ben Brooks · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-05T16:42:17.680

56

Yes. Here are a few:

Captain Spock, a Vulcan (of course):

Admiral T'Lara, also a Vulcan. Seen here in 2372 in the DS9 episode Rules of Engagement:

Captain Rixx, a Bolian, seen in the TNG Season 1 episode Conspiracy

Captain Nog, a Ferrengi, is seen in the DS9 episode The Visitor (in an alternate future):

Rear Admiral Sitak, a Vulcan, seen in 2374 in the DS9 episode Favor the Bold:

Captain Solok, another Vulcan:

Captain Satelk, also a Vulcan:

Also, although not Starfleet, the president of the Federation was a Grazerite in 2372 during the events of the DS9 episodes Homefront and Paradise Lost:

edited Dec 05 '15 at 16:42

answered Dec 05 '15 at 16:13

Ben Brooks

656
6
6

2

+1, but I suggest you mention the alien species of each of these characters, to make a good answer even better. – Rand al'Thor Dec 05 '15 at 16:28
@randal'thor Thanks, and done! – Ben Brooks Dec 05 '15 at 16:33
1

Great first answer. Welcome! – Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE Dec 05 '15 at 20:28
8

And the Federation president in The Undiscovered Country was an Efrosian. – Plutor Dec 05 '15 at 21:07
@Plutor There might also be something in the courtroom scenes in The Voyage Home. – jpmc26 Dec 06 '15 at 21:05
Vulcans are basically "humans+", but the more exotic races definitely make a mark. – Therac Aug 27 '23 at 13:54

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 05 '15 at 19:54

8

How about admirals / commodores?

Certainly. A single glance at the Federation Council from Star Trek IV is sufficient to see several aliens in Starfleet uniforms. While not everyone in there is wearing a Starfleet uniform¹, about one third to one half of the members are, and various of those Starfleet people seem to have the rank of Admiral. Among others, we can spot some Andorians and aliens that are typically interpreted to be Caitians.

¹: Out of universe, I always found it rather questionable why the Federation Council (this sounds like an organ of the civilian government) would have any acting Starfleet officers among its members; in particular 1/3 to 1/2 of its members. Unless we want to accept the grim thought the UFP is actually governed in part by military rulers, it is, however, well possible the Federation Council is not actually what its name suggests, but e.g. some special institution dealing with Starfleet affairs.

answered Dec 05 '15 at 19:54

O. R. Mapper

7,322
1
26
50

Do we have any cannon on what percentage of the population is in Starfleet? It seems to me you would want military advisers on a civilian council for a number of reasons - representation of the Starfleet personnel, the ability to use Starfleet information wrt security related council decisions, etc. However, I would expect that group to be proportional to the population. Also remember that Starfleet is a scientific and ambassadorial organization as well. – Emerson Dec 05 '15 at 22:25
@Emerson: Citizens are not normally represented in their role as employees, but in their role as private citizens in governmental institutions. E.g., the same representatives answer to firefighters and to bakers; a council does not need firefighters and bakers (in their respective uniforms/business clothing from their firefighter/baker occupation!) to represent these citizens. I don't see why Starfleet personnel should be a special "caste" that would require a different treatment. If seating locations have any meaning in that council, it seems unusual that those "advisors" (essentially, ... – O. R. Mapper Dec 06 '15 at 00:44
... technical experts on their respective field/responsibility) would be seated amidst the other council members, as if they held the same influence as the actual council members instead of assuming a mere advisory role. (Of course, we do not know whether seating order is indeed meaningful in that council.) All of this looks more like rampant Starfleet lobbyism than expert advisors. However, you have a point that Starfleet being primarily scientific and ambassadorial could change the game in unforeseen ways compared to nowadays' war-focused militaries. – O. R. Mapper Dec 06 '15 at 00:44

score 6 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 07 '20 at 00:41

There are non-human captains in Starfleet.

Spock himself was a captain during the The Wrath Of Khan timeframe.

There are other examples, such as Captain Solok of the USS T'Kumbra in Deep Space Nine who was also Vulcan, and Captain Rixx, a Bolian captain of the USS Thomas Paine in The Next Generation.

Admiral T'Lara was a Vulcan Starfleet Admin.

It is true that humans over-represented in the higher echelons, but this is also true for almost all of Starfleet ranks.

Are there any non-human captains (and up) in Starfleet?

3 Answers3