The Ceti eel appears in the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It is the only indigenous lifeform of Ceti Alpha V known to have survived after Ceti Alpha VI exploded and sent Ceti Alpha V into a different orbit. Ceti eels incubate their larvae between protective plates that line their backs. The slime-covered larva will seek out a larger animal, enter its skull through the ear and wrap itself around the cerebral cortex. This causes the subject intense pain and makes them very susceptible to suggestion. As the larva grows, the host suffers from insanity and eventual death. Ceti eels bear a remarkable resemblance to antlion larvae.
Khan Noonien Singh and his followers were marooned on this planet by James T. Kirk. Khan's wife, Marla McGivers, was killed after becoming a host for one of these creatures. Twenty more of Khan's people were killed in the same fashion, forming the basis for Khan's vendetta against Kirk. In the film, Captain Clark Terrell and Commander Pavel Chekov were captured by Khan while conducting a close-range sensor scan on the planet. Khan put the larvae into their helmets, where the creatures crawled into the men’s ears and subsequently burrowed into their brains. Terrell later killed himself, but Chekov's larva exited his ear and was disintegrated by a phaser-blast from Admiral Kirk's phaser.
- In popular culture
The Ceti eel is widely considered a terrifying creature.
Plastic toys of Ceti eels have been made in full size, and in miniature for sale with Khan dolls. Original castings of the movie prop are also available.
The 2009 reboot Star Trek film introduces "Centaurian slugs" with a similar appearance and function, as a homage.
In the 1995 episode of Freakazoid! entitled "The Chip", Ricardo Montalbán's character Gutierrez (who intentionally resembles his earlier role as Khan) threatens to put "ooey gooey worms" in his captives' ears during an interrogation.
The Ceti eel provided the inspiration for the Yeerks, the primary antagonists of the young adult book series Animorphs.
A 2011 episode of Supernatural ("...And Then There Were None") showed a creature that took over the minds of people by burrowing into their heads in the same way as Ceti eels. The character Dean Winchester dubbed the creature the "Khan Worm".
- External link
- Ceti eel at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
Read more about this topic: List Of Star Trek Animals