Human (Star Trek)

Human (Star Trek)

In the Star Trek science fiction universe, Humans/Terrans (Homo sapiens) are one of the races undertaking interstellar travel. Human beings were instrumental in the founding of the United Federation of Planets. Although politically fragmented at the end of the 20th century, Humans underwent political unification, and made first contact with the Vulcan race in 2063.

Human history in Star Trek diverged from the real world in the 20th century. Most remarkably, the 1990s saw the emergence of the Eugenics Wars where genetically engineered "supermen" such as Khan Noonien Singh sought to conquer Earth. They failed, and Khan and his followers escaped to space aboard a cryogenic sleeper ship.

The 21st century saw social changes, unrest, and eventually World War III, a nuclear exchange that left the world factionalized. This period of Human history ended when Zefram Cochrane invented the warp drive, leading to first contact with the Vulcans.

In the 22nd century, Human starships such as the Enterprise explored the galaxy, leading to hostile contact with the Suliban and Xindi and not quite friendly contact with the Klingons. Later in that century, Humans fought an interstellar nuclear war with the Romulans, a war that ended with the negotiation of a peace treaty by subspace radio. This treaty established the Romulan Neutral Zone.

Later on, Humans became a founding member of the United Federation of Planets, and their history from that point forward is largely the history of the Federation.

Most species in the Star Trek universe appear humanoid, because of the seeding efforts of the Ancient humanoids. In reality, it is because of the limitations of feasible television special effects, but in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the story was added to in order to justify this limitation. Prior to this explanation, Gene Roddenberry cited "parallel evolution" as another potential explanation.

In the Borg species classification code, Humans are Species 5618.