No one can question the intelligence of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), but in the decades since Star Trek: The Original Seriesseveral characters have been introduced who exceed the formidable brain power of the Vulcan science officer.
Mr. Spock is half-Vulcan, but he has rigidly developed his intellect, which has served him and Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) well in the dual roles of science officer and first officer of the USS Enterprise. Spock’s ability to calculate mathematical numbers and recite obscure facts was limitless.
Spock’s intelligence was so highly regarded that he was often used by Starfleet to test security protocols, as the Vulcan’s logic and perception easily overwhelmed human attention to detail. In Star Trek: The Original Series, Spock was generally considered one of the sharpest minds in Starfleet.
As Star Trek evolved, however, other characters were introduced with even greater intellectual capacity than Spock. It’s worth noting that most of them are higher life forms or different types of artificial intelligence, which goes to show what it takes to overtake Spock’s powerful brain.
Sybok
No one knew Spock had an older half-brother until Star Trek V: The Last Frontier, which introduced Sybok (Lawrence Luckinbill). Sybok was the son of Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard) and a Vulcan princess.
Describing his brother to Captain Kirk, Spock said that Sybok was “exceptionally gifted, possessing great intelligence. It was believed that he would one day take his place among the great scholars of Vulcan.” But Sybok was also “a revolutionary” who sought knowledge forbidden by the Vulcans.
Presumably, Sybok matches or exceeds Spock’s intellect, and Sybok also gained the forbidden knowledge he sought. Sybok developed his Vulcan psychic abilities to sense and “heal” the pain of others, converting them into his willing acolytes.
As brilliant as he was, Sybok was a believer who believed he had been chosen to find God. Instead, Sybok found an alien pretending “god” (George Murdock) on the legendary world of Sha Ka Ree, and Sybok sacrificed himself to save his brother, Kirk, and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley).
Spock seemed to defer to his older brother’s intellect. Sybok may indeed have been smarter than his brother, but Sybok’s disregard for logic and reason ultimately doomed Spock’s brother on Sha Ka Ree.
Zora
Zora (Annabelle Wallis) was the evolved, sentient AI that evolved from the USS Discovery’s computer. In Star Trek: Discovery season 2, Disco’s computer was merged with Sphere Data, which represented 100,000 years of galactic knowledge.
The Sphere Data was sought by another self-aware AI threat assessment protocol, Control, Section 31. Had Control merged with Sphere Data, it would have achieved its goal of wiping out all organic life in the galaxy.
After the USS Discovery’s computer linked to the Sphere data, it developed into an empathetic female personality who took the name Zora. Zora even got the job as a Starfleet specialist.
With the combined knowledge of Sphere data and everything 32nd century Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets knew, Zora was one of the most intelligent beings in the galaxy.
The doctor
Star Trek: Voyager introduced The Doctor (Robert Picardo), the first emergency medical hologram, brought online in 2371 when the USS Voyager ran aground in the Delta Quadrant, more than 70,000 light years from Earth.
Based on the personality of EMH creator Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, the Doctor evolved rapidly throughout his career. Star Trek: Voyagerexpanding his wealth of medical expertise and gaining real-world experiences beyond his programming.
The Doctor became so accomplished that he became a mentor and instructor at the Starfleet Academy after the USS Voyager returned to Earth in 2378. The Doctor supervised the young crew of the USS Protostar in 2378. Star Trek: Prodigy season 2.
Putting the Doctor’s experience and intelligence at the forefront, the EMH has been continuously active for over 800 years. In Star Trek: Starfleet AcademyIn the 32nd century, the Doctor instructs a new generation of Starfleet cadets, who benefit from the near-infinite capacity of his knowledge.
The Borg Queen
The Borg Queen (Alice Krige) was introduced in Star Trek: First Contact. Leader of the Borg collective, the Queen is the central control center for all Borg drones in the galaxy.
The Borg Collective’s primary function was to assimilate lifeforms and add their collective knowledge to the Borg. Since the Borg had absorbed countless species throughout their existence, the Borg Queen was the sum of all this information and had immediate access to it.
The Borg Queen also possessed a multidimensional sensory ability. Alternate reality versions of the Borg Queen had consciousness beyond their planes of existence.
In Star Trek: Picard season 2, the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) from the Earth Confederation reality was needed to play the role of Spock and calculate the trajectory required to launch a slingshot around the sun to achieve time travel.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2’s Borg Queen was a hybrid who also possessed the knowledge and personality of Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill). This Borg Queen led a benevolent collective that gained preliminary membership in the United Federation of Planets.
The original Borg Queen and Collective was destroyed at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 3, eliminating this embodiment of the cybernetic ruler’s infinite knowledge and malevolence from the galaxy.
Wesley Crusher
Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) started out as a teenage genius on Star Trek: The Next Generationbut he was in no way smarter than Spock. However, Crusher’s destiny would expand his mind and body beyond the limits of his humanity.
Towards the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wesley Crusher became one of the Travelers, a species of cosmic beings charged with exploring and protecting time and space.
Wesley Crusher’s role as a traveler became clear in Star Trek: Picard season 2 finale, when Wesley made a surprise appearance and hinted at the scope of the multiverse to his new recruit, Kore Soong (Isa Briones).
The Travelers were restored by Star Trek: Picard season 2 as Overseers of the Overseers, who were introduced at the end of Star Trek: The Original Series season 2.
In Star Trek: Prodigy In Season 2, Wesley Crusher played a crucial role in helping the young crew of the USS Protostar stop the reality-eating entities called the Loom. Without Wesley, the multiverse would have been consumed by the Loom.
As a traveler, Wesley Crusher possesses inconceivable amounts of information across time and multiple alternate realities, which can sometimes overwhelm Wesley’s human-born brain.
Data
Star Trek: The Next Generation decided not to copy Star Trek: The Original Series and create another Vulcan on the USS Enterprise-D. Instead, Gene Roddenberry created something new: an android Starfleet officer, Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner).
Created by Dr. Noonien Soong (Brent Spiner), Data was the most advanced artificial life form of his time. Data’s positronic brain had a memory storage of 800 quadrillion bits, with computing speeds of 60 trillion operations per second. Spock was often derisively called a computer, but Data was actually one.
Data could not only process information at lightning speed, but also move at speeds much faster than humans when desired. In terms of physical strength and mental capacity, Data was above Spock, even at his Vulcan best.
Data’s malevolent brother Lore (Brent Spiner) also had a positronic brain which probably made him smarter than Spock.
Two decades after Data’s death in Star Trek: Nemesis, he was resurrected in Star Trek: Picard season 3 as a more human synthetic with a full suite of emotions.
Presumably the new and improved Data is as intelligent as ever, but Spock had a command over his emotions that Synthetic Data might envy.
Q
Possessing what appears to be literal omnipotence, Q (John de Lancie) and the other members of the Q continuum should rank among the most intelligent sentient species in the galaxy.
Q can literally do anything, and his impressive reality-altering powers—along with Q’s irritating personality—often obscure Q’s intelligence. Q can see and know beyond space, time, dimensions, and reason.
When Q was temporarily transformed into a human by the Q Continuum in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, he claimed his IQ was “two thousand five.” (The highest recorded IQ in real life is 276).
Q also represents the multitude of higher beings seen throughout Star Trek, space gods like Metron and the Organians, who are much older and possess cosmic knowledge beyond Spock’s understanding.
Star Trek: The Original Series established an incredibly high intelligence base with Mr. Spock. To his credit, if Spock met some of these others Star Trek characters that are beyond the superior intellect of the Vulcan, Spock would probably find them “fascinating.”
- Release date
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1966 – 00/00/1969
- Showrunner
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Gene Roddenberry
- Directors
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Marc Daniels, Joseph Pevney, Ralph Senensky, Vincent McEveety, Herb Wallerstein, Jud Taylor, Marvin J. Chomsky, David Alexander, Gerd Oswald, Herschel Daugherty, James Goldstone, Robert Butler, Anton Leader, Gene Nelson, Harvey Hart, Herbert Kenwith, James Komack, John Erman, John Newland, Joseph Sargent, Lawrence Dobkin, Leo Penn, Michael O’Herlihy, Murray Golden
- Writers
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DC Fontana, Jerome Bixby, Arthur Heinemann, David Gerrold, Jerry Sohl, Oliver Crawford, Robert Bloch, David P. Harmon, Don Ingalls, Paul Schneider, Shimon Wincelberg, Steven W. Carabatsos, Theodore Sturgeon, Jean Lisette Aroeste, Art Wallace, Adrian Spies, Barry Trivers, Don Mankiewicz, Edward J. Lakso, Fredric Brown, George Clayton Johnson, George F. Slavin, Gilbert Ralston, Harlan Ellison
