Who are the "villains from Star Trek" that Sofie Fatale is dressed like?

Question

In Kill Bill, O-Ren Ishii's right hand Sofie Fatale:

Sofie Fatale

is described by The Bride as

The pretty lady who's dressed like she's a villain on Star Trek is O-Ren's best friend and her lawyer, Sofie Fatale.

^{Thanks to tugs for the exact quote. Emphasis mine.}

I've been scratching my head since the first time I saw the film who could be meant by that. The closest uniform her clothes resemble would actually be TNG-style Starfleet uniforms without the colour (past Season 3). Considering the sequel's take on superheroes could it possibly be that The Bride perceived the Federation to be the villains in Star Trek? Otherwise who is meant by this comparison?

Could it possibly have been a mix-up with a different Franchise/Universe?

My guess would be the TNG era Romulans, but it's just based on her high forehead, and her "exotic" skin tone (it's not really all that exotic but in comparison to both Uma Thurman and David Carradine's pale skin it is) — Monty129, Mar 07 '13 at 19:50
@Monty129: Romulans would've been my second guess, but since the connection strikes me as so week I didn't want to bias potential answers by including that in the OP. — bitmask, Mar 07 '13 at 19:52
@bitmask I agree it is a very thin line of reasoning. I think ultimately it was Tarantino trying to be clever in his dialogue as usual. — Monty129, Mar 07 '13 at 19:55
For some reason her face reminds me a lot of Gul Dukat, except without all the plated ridges. — Tacroy, Mar 07 '13 at 20:00
@Tacroy: Yeah, could be brother and sister ... No, really, What?! — bitmask, Mar 07 '13 at 20:03
@bitmask Well that's why I said "for some reason" - I read "Star Trek", saw her face, and thought "huh she looks like that guy". I don't know why, she just reminds me of him. — Tacroy, Mar 07 '13 at 20:11
I'm going to guess this was a mistake on their part. The part of the outfit in the screenshot looks similar to what Peacekeeper grunts wear. And she looks like Aeryn Sun, former Peacekeeper grunt. — Izkata, Mar 07 '13 at 21:55
@Izkata: Yes, they look similar. What Universe/Franchise is that? — bitmask, Mar 07 '13 at 21:58
@Izkata: I upgraded the question to include story identification. Why don't you make your case in an answer? — bitmask, Mar 07 '13 at 22:01
Quickly checked Kill Bill's script. The line seems to be: "The pretty lady who's dressed like she's a villain on Star Trek is O-Ren's best friend and her lawyer, Sofie Fatale." I'd say that rules out facial resemblance answers. — tugs, Mar 08 '13 at 20:03
@tugs: Thanks, I really should have checked that myself. I'll change the quote. — bitmask, Mar 08 '13 at 22:01
Well, thanks to this question, a Google image search for "star trek villains" now includes poor Sofie :) You'll need to scroll down a bit. — Chahk, Mar 11 '13 at 16:27

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 07 '13 at 23:01

8

The outfit and hair style look similar to a notable Star Trek villain: Screenshot of Khan from Star Trek: TOS

Khan Noonien Singh in his first appearance in the Star Trek: TOS episode Space Seed.

answered Mar 07 '13 at 23:01

Izkata · Answer 2 · 2013-03-11T12:46:04.737

I have the feeling this was a mistake on the part of the writers. Intentional or not, I don't know.

From Farscape, this is Aeryn Sun, former Peacekeeper, next to the image from the question:

Aeryn Sun and Sofie Fatale

Not only do their faces look very similar, there's a handful of other reasons:

Star Trek has no consistent "bad guys" - temporary alliances have even been made with the Borg and Species 8472, and they only comprise a handful of episodes in any series.
- Except perhaps the Dominion, but only in DS9 and the Founders look nothing like the person in question.
The Peacekeepers from Farscape were "bad guys" from Episode 1 all the way through the series-ending movies, The Peacekeeper Wars.
Part of the Peacekeeper uniform involves keeping long hair out of the way - tightly tied back, same as Sofie Fatale appears to have.
Likewise, Peacekeepers always wear black. Usually with body armor, but not always.

This is Captain Crais, another Peacekeeper and the primary antagonist for the first season, to compare the outfit and hairstyle. He wears a tightly-wound ponytail:

Captain Crais

Unfortunately, Farscape is not well-known. If it was mentioned in the movie, not many would understand the reference. However, Star Trek - even if only by name - is known by just about everyone, and the layman often has difficulties distinguishing one space opera from another.

EDIT: A better shot of the Peacekeeper uniforms. This is Lieutenant Teeg, a bridge officer on Crais's ship, from the very first episode:

Teeg and Crais

I considered Aeryn Sun but the reference to Star Trek derailed my decision. I agree, the physical resemblance is striking. — Thaddeus Howze, Mar 07 '13 at 22:37
I would really be disappointed if Tarantino had made such a blunder. Anyway, I'm going to let the community decide which answer is right (by votes). — bitmask, Mar 07 '13 at 22:38
@bitmask - Ah, but it's not Tarantino (a fan of the genre) who makes the mistake. It's the Bride. We may be looking at a form of the unreliable narrator. — System Down, Mar 07 '13 at 22:57
@SystemDown: Well, that excuse works for me. Tarantino back to god-like status. — bitmask, Mar 07 '13 at 23:02

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 07 '13 at 20:54

4

Joanne Linville's Romulan Commander

I think Joanne Linville's Romulan Commander from the Star Trek TOS was the character she meant. Here is a picture of the Romulan commander from the TOS episode "The Enterprise Incident."

answered Mar 07 '13 at 20:54

Thaddeus Howze

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I don't know, they do have similar facial features, but other than that I see no similarity. More importantly, I distinctively remember the description being plural, so the facial features of one individual would be out of the picture, right? – bitmask Mar 07 '13 at 21:01
1

I looked at a lot of the TOS Romulans and they all had a similar appearance. Do a google search for TOS Romulans. It was an aspect of the makeup which makes the appearance similar (in my opinion). But when I saw Sofie Fatale, I had no problem knowing who he was talking about. I also considered his age as a factor. – Thaddeus Howze Mar 07 '13 at 21:13
Please see update of the OP. The correct quote specifically refers to her clothing. This was my mistake, sorry. – bitmask Mar 09 '13 at 02:13

score 2 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 12 '14 at 03:29

2

She does have a noticeable Widow's Peak, which resembles the common pointed Romulan hairstyle, seen here:

Romulan female Another Romulan Romulan male

edited Jun 12 '14 at 03:29

Robotnik

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answered Mar 08 '13 at 04:34

Junuxx

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 11 '13 at 13:00

0

I found another possibility, from Star Trek. But technically, they're not villains, and were only in a small handful of episodes (4 ENT, 3 DS9): Section 31

Three operatives from Section 31

answered Mar 11 '13 at 13:00

Izkata

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I think ENT is too new to have been referenced in Kill Bill. – bitmask Mar 11 '13 at 13:13
1

@bitmask Hmm.. Almost certainly true. First appearance in ENT was Season 4 (2004-2005), and I'm pretty sure they didn't use these uniforms. However, that screenshot is from DS9, which aired several years before Kill Bill. – Izkata Mar 11 '13 at 15:42

Who are the "villains from Star Trek" that Sofie Fatale is dressed like?

5 Answers5