Why are 99% of Trek captains Human?

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Originally posted by Dan Gurden

However, lets not kid ourselves.
In TNG Conspiracy we see a Bolian captain.
In Emissary, we see Siskos Vulcan CO at Wolf 359.
We see the Vulcan captain of the T'Kumbra in 'Take me out...'
and can assume the aptain of the all Vulcan USS Intrepid in Kirks time was a Vulcan (although he got no screen time)

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I like these examples. The point I was trying to make was that when you compare these examples to all of Star Trek, there really aren't that many non-human captains.

And besides... in the big scheme of things the non-human captains we see generally aren't very important. They don't even have major guest-starring roles that often, the exception being the Vulcan captain in "Take me out..."

Because humans are the bomb...man

Just kidding, I think it is to keep a sense of humanity

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Originally posted by erhershman
I've been a Star Trek fan for quite awhile now, and I have noticed a Trek trend of sorts: The captains of Federation starships always seem to be Humans.

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Ever notice how many alien Admirals are in Starfleet? I can't recall seeing even a single one.

I think I saw some Vulcan admirals sometime (there was one in Conspiracy).
On a similar matter, I noticed once that almost every human member hailed from an english-speaking country (TOS being the most multicultural crew). Similarly, there are always more men than women among the regular cast.
Just some question of habitude, I think... and, as far as aliens are concerned, the cost of make up ;).
I'd like to know, however : apart from TOS, where was it explicitely stated that StarFleet was mainly human-staffed (apart from screen evidence, I mean) ?

As for my games, well, yeah, my CO is human :o ... but my 3 players are alien (all department heads), so I had to compensate somewhere :D

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Originally posted by C5
I On a similar matter, I noticed once that almost every human member hailed from an english-speaking country (TOS being the most multicultural crew). Similarly, there are always more men than women among the regular cast.

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Similarly, I also noticed that almost all the aliens on Star Trek look and sound like Americans. e.g., all the Bajorans are white-skinned and none of them have accents, same with Betazoids, Trill, etc. The reasoning behind this I believe is that the producers are afraid of accused of being racist for putting racial characteristics into alien species... George Lucas keeps getting hit badly by nutcase reviewers because the bounty hunter in AOTC happens to be played by a Pacific Islander. So the producers think they'll be accused of the same thing if they incorporate people with different skin tones, speech mannerisms, etc. into the show.

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Originally posted by erhershman



Similarly, I also noticed that almost all the aliens on Star Trek look and sound like Americans. e.g., all the Bajorans are white-skinned and none of them have accents, same with Betazoids, Trill, etc. The reasoning behind this I believe is that the producers are afraid of accused of being racist for putting racial characteristics into alien species... George Lucas keeps getting hit badly by nutcase reviewers because the bounty hunter in AOTC happens to be played by a Pacific Islander. So the producers think they'll be accused of the same thing if they incorporate people with different skin tones, speech mannerisms, etc. into the show.

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And, of course, that sort of whacko sentiment is completely ludicrous. Do the aboriginals of Australia protest over Lani Tupu being the black-hat heavy for the first couple of seasons of Farscape?

However, I do agree that there is probably a genuine fear amongst network execs of negative feedback if they give aliens ethnic traits, but c'mon, this is Star Trek. Aren't they supposed to push the boundaries? Isn't that why we loved the show in the first place? Or did that die with Gene?

I wonder if the Blue Man Group will sue Star Trek for some racial trait the Bolians posess... ;)

::Statistical Analysis Incoming::

TOS
8 cast members, 7 Terran
Kirk (Riverside, Iowa), Spock (Vulcan), McCoy ("Deep South" of USA), Scott ("an old Aberdeen pub-crawler", Scotland), Chekov (Russia), Uhura (United States of Africa), Sulu (San Francisco, California), Chapel (no birthplace given)
4 definite native English speakers, 1 probably English, 1 Russian native, 1 Swahili native

TNG
12 cast members, 6 Terran
Picard (Labarre, France, although you'd never know it ;) ), Riker (Valdez, Alaska), Data (android), La Forge (African Confederation...I wonder if this is different from the US of Africa in the 23rd Century), Worf (Klingon), Dr. Crusher (Copernicus City, Luna), Troi (raised on Betazed), Yar (Turkana IV), Q (Q), Guinan (El-Aurian), Pulaski (not established), Wesley Crusher (Earth, probably near San Francisco since Beverly was at Starfleet Medical School at the time)
1 definite native English speaker, 3 probably English, 1 French, 1 probably Swahili or other African language

DS9
16 cast members, 4 Terran
Ben Sisko (New Orleans, Louisiana), Odo (Founder), Ezri Dax (Trill), Worf (Klingon), Jadzia Dax (Trill), Jake Sisko (not established, but probably Starfleet brat), O'Brien (Killarney, Ireland), Quark (Ferengi), Bashir (not established), Kira (Bajoran), Dukat (Cardassian), Nog (Ferengi), Rom (Ferengi), Leeta (Bajoran), Gowron (Klingon), Garak (Cardassian)
3 definite native English speakers, 1 possibly English (given actor's heritage)

Voyager
10 cast members, 3 Terran
Janeway (Indiana), Chakotay (Dorvan V, but Native American), Torres (Kessick IV), Paris (not established, but probably Starfleet brat), Neelix (Talaxian), The Doctor (hologram), Tuvok (Vulcan), Seven (Tendara Colony), Kim (Terran, exact birthplace not established), Ken (Ocampan)
1 definite native English speaker, 2 probably English (given Kim's first name, probable that he is Asian-American)

Enterprise
7 cast members, 5 Terran
Archer (San Francsisco, California), Phlox (Denobulan), T'Pol (Vulcan), Reed (Britain), Mayweather (space boomer), Sato (not established), Tucker (probably southeast USA)
3 definite native English speakers, 1 probably English, 1 just doesn't matter, since she can probably speak just about every major language on Earth :D

So, out of the 25 nominally "Terran" characters in the five series, 12 are definite native English speakers, 7 probably speak English as their native language, 1 possibly speaks English as his native language, and 1 speaks so many languages fluently, she really shouldn't count.

Counting "probably" as two-thirds and "possibly" as one-third (we won't count Hoshi at the moment), we're talking 17 of 24, or an overwhelming majority. But, given that this is a US show, with primarily US writers and producers, it should be expected. Would a Star Trek show populated primarily by Europeans and Asians sell in the US? It would be a tougher sell, IMO.

Do you fault Dr. Who for being Anglo-centric? Hmmm? I mean, it is a bit of a stretch that just about everything that happens to this Time Lord on Earth happens in England. Wasn't Peri the first of the Doctor's Terran companions to be from somewhere outside the Commonwealth (an American debutante)?

(Now, please don't take that as an indictment of Dr. Who. I love the show and wish that someone, somewhere would start producing it again...c'mon, I'm even growing fond of Paul McGann {is that his name?} as the 8th Doctor...although the Fox movie was still horrible. Heck, if I had the money, I would buy Dr. Who from the BBC!)

I think, in the end, that we shouldn't fault the Star Trek universe for the decisions of network execs and producers. People are going to play characters they identify with. I, personally, identify largely with Vulcans (I'm sure you would never have guessed). Many identify with humans, since, well, they're human. It may not be "realistic" in Star Trek terms, but, then, it is just a game based on a science-fiction show. :)

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Originally posted by CorpBoy


Ever notice how many alien Admirals are in Starfleet? I can't recall seeing even a single one.

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Vulcan Admiral in Conspiracy.

Caitian and Andorian Admirals/Commodores in Star Trek IV.

Bolian Admiral in Homefront/Paradise Lost.

Vulcan Admiral in Rules of Engagement.

Vulcan Admiral in Favour the Bold.

I'm sure there's more.

I'm a Betazoid PC captain in our series. Though I see your point.

Simply put, its easier. Why don't we see many aliens in the background? Because it would take too long to make these extras. The fact is that putting on make-up is time consuming for a small extra on the show.

But, in truth, its a massive conspiracy by Starfleet to position all the humans in choice positions and when something goes bad we blame it on the new alien guys.:D :)

I prefer my second explanation.

Interestingly enough, we've never had a Human in a commanding officers' position. Our current CO, Captain Weishahan, is a Bolian; we've also had a Deltan, a Caitian, an Andorian, and a Vulcan. Any other non-human Captains out there care to step forward?


Well as Epetai of my House I must say that human Captains are
by far the craftiest opponents.... They may not be strictly speaking (honorable) but always deadly.

Simple Question, simple answer: because all actors are human, because the audience is human and because the audience can identify best with humans

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Originally posted by erhershman



Similarly, I also noticed that almost all the aliens on Star Trek look and sound like Americans. e.g., all the Bajorans are white-skinned and none of them have accents, same with Betazoids, Trill, etc. The reasoning behind this I believe is that the producers are afraid of accused of being racist for putting racial characteristics into alien species... George Lucas keeps getting hit badly by nutcase reviewers because the bounty hunter in AOTC happens to be played by a Pacific Islander. So the producers think they'll be accused of the same thing if they incorporate people with different skin tones, speech mannerisms, etc. into the show.

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Its also an incorrect statement.

I will guarantee you that if you own DS9 on video and watch/re-watch every episode, you will see bajorans of colour... And I am not just refering to the two that Nog and jake infect with beetles early in season one.

To be fair, they are few, and difficult to spot... The reason for this is probably the same reason that they are an on-screen rarity.

Because the nose ridges simply do not show up on the TV screen, and therefore it saves make-up budgets not to be bothered. The same can be said for Trill markings (unless they are in negative???)

So I doubt it is a racially motivated reason, but rather a cost-cutting one.

Jeez, some people DO see conspiracies everywhere!

I think perhaps, the Captains in starfleet issue has been addressed pretty well, but I'm going to contribute my view anyway.

It is established at least in the Trekverse that the Terran Spacefleet used to fight the Romulans became the Federation Starfleet, and since the capital was put on Earth, most of the Human spacefleet rituals and regulations were carried forward.

The Andorians who had built a fleet to help the Humans converted it into the Federation Merchant Marines and the ADF respectively, which is why the Andorians are as dominant in the Federation Merchant Marines as Humans are in Starfleet -- its part of their racial/cultural heritage, a family business. So keep in mind that Starfleet has competition for Andorians from the ADF (of course Starfleet is more prestigious but tradition means something too), the FMM and the various Pra Thal mercenary companies.

It is established that Centaurans look just like humans on the outside. Being so close, slightly over 4 lightyears, those inclined to such adventurism just applied for the new Starfleet but really didn't stand out visually anyway.

The Tellarites were more interested in building ships then commanding them, and despite the passage of time, are still more interested in a freemarket corporate system -- so less of them end up in the Command branch that carries one to Captaincy. I bet if there was a tour of Utopia Planetia there would be a predominance of high ranking Tellarites, even compared to the humans.

The Vulcans, it has been established, had no desire to participate in the Starfleet, they kept their own Science Fleets and a discrete but strong VDF, at least according to the Vulcan book.

So of the original five founders, the Humans picked up the brunt of the burder of Starfleet, mostly because they *wanted* it and they liked it, and there were greivous concerns about the abilities of the new allies to crew together -- this is why Starfleet *gave* each of the other member worlds a Constitution class for just their species. I think that that is indicative.

As time passes, Humanity expands faster into colonies then the other races, in part because of their more diversified internal culture that each wants its own niche -- but that with the human breeding rate and capacity started making humans more numerous than any other species in the Federation. It is establishing the Price of Freedom that Colonial Representation at the Council policy was in fact affected by concerns about humanity's spread -- if every colony had a vote then the Humans would be able to control all of the policy by sheer numbers. (I also point out that of the Federation presidents we have seen only one has been a human). Now, this pioneering spirit in humanity and the challengeing conditions out there keep the applications for the fleet full as well as the enlisted ranks as as they outnumber the other races in general, of course they outnumber them in Starfleet which started as a primarily human organization.

Many new species that joined had no desire to be part of Starfleet due to thier own peaceful natures, or, only wished to participate in narrow areas where they felt comfortable. Starfleet is a way of directing human curiousity and aggression, which is exactly why the Vulcans encouraged the human Space Fleet to be made the Fleet of the Federation -- the believed the Humans if not put in that role, would have their fleet acting independently and mucking about in areas they had no authority (not unlike the Am Tal of the Andorians).

If any species is going to give humanity a run for it's domination of Starfleet and the Executive and Admiralty ranks, it is going to be the Bolians who are hypermotivated to prove themselves and who are naturally gifted at the Administrative and Cooperative Team skills Starfleet appreciates in the upper ranks.

Of course, if the Bajorans do join the Federation they will likely begin making an impact as well.

Or in game mechanics -- Humans have 5 Courage points so have a better chance to survive or pull off the amazing than other races do, the exception being the Bajorans who also have 5.

:shrugs: Just my view on an answer to your question. Pax.

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Originally posted by Sea Tyger
Do the aboriginals of Australia protest over Lani Tupu being the black-hat heavy for the first couple of seasons of Farscape?

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Not to criticize but they would have no razson to get upset as he is neither Aboriginal or Australian.

Lani John Tupiu is a Half Samoan/Half English New Zealander.

Still you don't hear the Samoan's getting all bent out of shape because he played a black hat ;)

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Originally posted by AslanC
Not to criticize but they would have no razson to get upset as he is neither Aboriginal or Australian.

Lani John Tupiu is a Half Samoan/Half English New Zealander.

Still you don't hear the Samoan's getting all bent out of shape because he played a black hat ;)

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Hmmm...I'll have to fire my source of information, then. :p :)

Fortunae has a good explanation for the dominance of humans in Starfleet from a Trek perspective. Excellent work. And I think you're right on UP. But you have to admit that there are a bunch of Tellarite politicos who take command positions just so they can practice their debate skills. ;)