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Hybrids are fairly common in Star Trek: Spock is half Vulcan, Deanna Troi is half Betazoid, B’Elanna Torres is half Klingon and, just for good measure, Simon Tarses is ¼ Romulan.

However, in all of these cases that I can think of, the other half is always human.

Are there any non-human hybrid characters? Especially ones that are recurring or at least the focus of an episode?

If not, is there an out-of-universe explanation for their absence/rarity/scarcity? From a fandom point of view, I can’t imagine a half-Klingon half-Vulcan might not make for an interesting story, for example.

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Timwi
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    Do Xindi count? – Mazura Jun 06 '16 at 23:20
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    An in-universe answer to the related question, "Why are there more human/alien hybrids than alien/alien?" could be that humans are so much more diverse than other species, so finding a compatible human (culturally/emotionally/intellectually) would be easier than most other races that are depicted in the show as being very monolithic, and in fact when alien races do diversify they often diversify so strongly that they split - such as the vulcans and romulans. The humans appear to be one of very few races with such diversity and no splits. – Adam Davis Jun 07 '16 at 15:19
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    @AdamDavis Did you just write that "humans are the sluts of the galaxy" in the nicest and most academic way possible? – Todd Wilcox Jun 07 '16 at 16:42
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    @ToddWilcox I can neither confirm nor deny the allegations presented. – Adam Davis Jun 07 '16 at 17:18
  • @Todd - Have you seen the show? – Mazura Jun 08 '16 at 12:12
  • I felt that my answer was pretty comprehensive. Is there anything else you'd like to see before considering an acceptance? – Valorum Jul 01 '16 at 21:05

2 Answers2

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Per Memory Alpha's article on "Hybrids"

  • Betazoid / Tavnian (Lwaxana Troi's and Jeyal's child) (DS9: "The Muse")
  • Cardassian / Bajoran (Mika and Dukat's child, and Tora Ziyal) (DS9: "Covenant")
  • Cardassian / Kazon (Seska and Culluh's child) (VOY: "Basics, Part I", "Basics, Part II")
  • Romulan / Klingon (Ba'el and several other prisoners in the Carraya IV colony) (TNG: "Birthright, Part I")
  • Romulan / Vulcan (Saavik)
  • Talaxian / Mylean (Neelix's great-grandfather was Mylean) (VOY: "Scientific Method")
  • Talaxian / Mylean / Vulcan (Tuvix, was caused by a transporter malfunction with hybridizing flowers) (VOY: "Tuvix")
  • Trill / Klaestron (Benjamin Sisko briefly assumed that Ilon Tandro was the son of Curzon Dax and Enina Tandro) (DS9: "Dax")

As to the scarcity of non-human hybrids, the simple fact is that the overwhelming majority of characters (especially those in committed long-term relationships where having children is likely) are human or part-human.

On top of that, many of the aliens that we see (Klingons, Romulans, Vulcans, Cardassians) view cross-species relationships, especially those that result in offspring as deeply unpleasant. While that's a fun well to dip for adult characters, watching children suffer isn't something that audiences want to do.

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Valorum
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  • Surely, any Romulan and Vulcan offspring shouldn't count as as a hybrid of two species? They'd be mixed race, not a hybrid, no? – Shane Jun 07 '16 at 15:13
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    Although I guess that opens a whole new can of worms. On 21st century Earth what defines a species is whether members can interbreed. According to our current understanding of biology, all the main races are the same species. – Shane Jun 07 '16 at 15:14
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    @Shane - I'm not touching that one with a bargepole after all the downvotes I got for daring to suggest that Hermione Granger had a 'race'. – Valorum Jun 07 '16 at 15:29
  • Romulans and Vulcans are from different planets. – Mr Lister Jun 07 '16 at 16:18
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    @MrLister Romulans are the descendants of Vulcans who rejected logic and left Vulcan. – chepner Jun 07 '16 at 18:15
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    @Shane It's a trifle more complicated than just what can interbreed. For example, you can cross lions and tigers, but nobody suggests that the two are the same species because the offspring of such a pairing is significantly different from either parent. – Perkins Jun 07 '16 at 19:19
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    @Perkins Nobody suggests they are the same species because the offspring cannot reproduce itself. It has nothing to do with looks. –  Jun 07 '16 at 19:38
  • @Perkins, true. Lions and tiger can (fairly easily) interbreed. But the female offspring are usually infertile, and males are always sterile. – Paul Draper Jun 07 '16 at 19:51
  • It's the same with mules. They are almost always infertile... But not always. In ancient days a mule giving birth was seen as an exceedingly bad omen. These days, modern genetic testing is threatening to completely overturn our ideas about what constitutes a "species" as we're discovering that our tree of what is related to what is full of errors and are finding that some "species" that have been known for a long time are actually true-breeding hybrids of two or more other species that live nearby. – Perkins Jun 07 '16 at 20:27
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    @Shane I suggest taking a look at the Wikipedia article on 'species': there is no hard-and-fast definition of species, and thus far the term defies technical specification. In addition to all the hybrids that aren’t (always) incapable of reproduction, there is also unicellular life, which just reproduces in such wildly different ways that the “cannot produce viable offspring” definition doesn’t even begin to make sense. – KRyan Jun 07 '16 at 21:39
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Yes.

You can find a full list here.

DS9

  • Tora Ziyal is a Bajoran-Cardassian hybrid.
  • In the DS9 episode The Muse, Lwaxana Troi and her husband Jeyal have a half-Betazoid half-Tavnian child.
  • In the DS9 episode Covenant, Mika and Benyan have a half-Bajoran half-Cardassian baby.

TNG

  • In the TNG episode Parallels, Worf and Deanna Troi have children who are half Klingon, one-quarter Betazoid, and only one-quarter human. (OK, there is some human in there, but neither parent was fully human.)

  • In the TNG episode Birthright, Part I, Be'al and several others were Klingon-Romulan hybrids.

Voyager

  • In the VOY episode Scientific Method, Neelix was a Talaxian-Mylean hybrid.
  • Tuvix was a Talaxian-Mylean-Vulcan hybrid. (He wasn't created through ordinary means though, but by a transporter malfunction.)

Films

  • Saavik was a Vulcan-Romulan hybrid.
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Rand al'Thor
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    Follow-up question: how many of these characters have you seen? ;) – Often Right Jun 07 '16 at 00:57
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    Re Tuvix: I don't think transporter malfunctions count. It sounds as if OP is looking for offspring. But most of the other examples look good. – Kevin Jun 07 '16 at 05:10
  • @OftenRight None, sorry. I'm still debating whether or not to continue watching TNG after the first season. – Rand al'Thor Jun 07 '16 at 10:47
  • @Kevin True; the Worf-Troi kids are also an edge case. Perhaps I should put both in brackets or something. – Rand al'Thor Jun 07 '16 at 10:48
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    @Randal'Thor the second season isn't bad, but hang in there till the third season; it really matures a lot by then – Often Right Jun 07 '16 at 10:51
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    @Randal'Thor Season 3 saw a new head writer, and Roddenberry taking a backseat, and the show's flavor changes. Most fans consider season 3 onwards clearly better than season 1 & 2. You might consider skipping the first two seasons and then revisiting them later if you want more TNG. – Ranger Jun 07 '16 at 16:59