star trek character with big forehead

Top 39 Most Popular Big Forehead Characters

Just the thought of watching cartoon characters on our screens manages to invoke our minds with joy. Not only are their antics ludicrous and unabashedly funny but they are also hilarious in the way they look.

Needless to say, these characters seem like a breath of freshness in a world full of mendacity and despair. While cartoon characters are creative as they are, the illustrators and creators deserve all the kudos for making some of them even more distinct by providing them with a big forehead.

However, this credit is also shared by screenwriters and filmmakers who sketch similar-looking characters for their big/small screen projects. While having a distinctively large forehead might seem minor, some of Hollywood’s most iconic characters have been provided with the same to stand out in a wide range of genres they appear in.

Better still, these unique characters often have other interesting traits to match their big foreheads. So, let’s take a closer look at our some of our favourite and most popular fictional characters with large foreheads.

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1. Homer Simpson (The Simpsons)

Homer Simpson might be chubby, lethargic, and often unaware of what is transpiring in the world, but his character sketch is one of the finest to have ever hit the world of animation.

Just like people in the real world, he also comes with his own set of shortcomings. However, that does not negate the fact that he is extremely loving and caring towards the people he adores.

Not only has Homer’s catchphrase, ‘D’oh’, become a part of the American television culture but a lot many of the issues that he withstands throughout the series also go on to shed light on the socio-economic scenario of the country.

The writers of The Simpsons ensured that through his character sketch, a lot was elucidated about the traditional family norms, parenting in the ’90s, and the idea of machismo. So, even if this beloved family patriarch is not the perfect husband or father, he is still pretty much a reflection of society at large.

Oh, and yes, he is also someone who clearly has a big forehead.

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2. SpongeBob SquarePants (SpongeBob SquarePants)

Since the creator of the SpongeBob SquarePants series, Mr. Stephen Hillenberg, was a marine biologist himself, it isn’t surprising that his creation is a sea sponge; one that lives in a pineapple.

Both the series and the character connected with the younger generation of the ’90s in a big way and, therefore, turned out to be a massive success on television. Kiddish, playful, and extremely likable, SpongeBob is a one-of-a-kind character who loves to be in the company of his best pal Patrick.

One of his biggest dreams is to get himself a boating license. But, as luck would have it, SpongeBob is a careless driver who gets the jitters every single time he takes charge of a boatmobile.

That said, this popular yellow character can not only be sneaky and over-smart when he wants to be but he also has a great singing voice and is a good climber.

Oh, and how can we forget that he has a big head or that the gap between his teeth allows him to whistle flawlessly!

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3. Bart Simpson (The Simpsons)

If his father, Homer Simpson, can come across as lazy to many, Bart, on the other hand, is the hyperactive rebel of the highest order. Not only is this Simpson kid mischievous but he is also proud of his wayward ways.

However, what makes Bart Simpson special is not only the fact that he has a big forehead but also that he believes in the power of unity, and ensures that those who wrong him are, sooner than later, wronged in return.

He is Homer’s only male child but he alone is competent enough to set both his house and school on fire. What gives him a definitive edge over the others on this list is that he can provide his viewers with a good laugh even if they have had the toughest day possible.

Bart’s intelligence fluctuates throughout the series, but he is always seen ready to play pranks at Springfield Elementary, no matter what the day or circumstances.

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4. Tweety (Looney Tunes)

Tweety, also known as Tweety Pie or Tweety Bird, is a yellow canary with a large head in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. Contrary to popular belief, he has always been male.

Famous for his catchphrases, “I tawt I taw a puddy tat!” and “I did! I did taw/tee a puddy tat!”, he was initially depicted to be short-tempered. However, as his character progressed, he became calmer.

Tweety might appear to be an innocent little bird, but he always gets the better of his rivals such as Hector the Bulldog and Sylvester the Tuxedo cat. Not only can he be seen hiding behind Granny to avoid the cat, but in the end, he always manages to humiliate him, unless he ends up humiliating himself trying to catch Tweety.

Granny is always overprotective of Tweety and, therefore, keeps him in a birdcage in her house so that Sylvester cannot reach him easily. That said, it’s difficult to deny that his big head makes him look super cute.

5. Shin-chan (Crayon Shin-chan)

Shin-chan is the main character of the Japanese manga series Crayon Shin-chan, which has been dubbed in 30 languages and aired in 45 countries. He is a kindergarten-aged boy whose antics are the basis for the extremely popular series.

While he loves chocolate biscuits and a TV superhero named “Action Kamen”, what he perhaps likes even more is disobeying the instructions of his parents. The brutally honest and highly inquisitive lad has no shame whatsoever; something that is more than visible in his relentless attempts to flirt with older girls and women.

That being said, one can find him doing drag or wearing animal costumes both in manga and anime. While he certainly is seen as the ultimate troublemaker, there are several instances where he has gone on to solve the problems around him.

That is precisely why you’ll barely ever come across a kid in the real world who doesn’t love Shin-chan and his antics.

6. Genie (Aladdin)

Aladdin is one of the most popular animated feature films of all time. And, why not? It does comprise some truly popular and eccentric characters. The screenplay of the movie revolves around a magical journey that can never be described without talking about the giant Genie and his giant head.

One of the most memorable characters to make it to our story, Genie is a larger-than-life (literally) spirit who brings a whole lot of wit into the motion picture. While he acts as a servant to whoever holds ownership of the magic lamp in which he resides, he is someone who holds extraordinary cosmic power that allows him to grant wishes, shape-shift, and transcend space and time, among other things.

That being said, he is also someone who refuses to look serious or sound pessimistic. That’s precisely why this fun-loving character can often be seen cracking silly jokes and impersonating others. And, he even manages to resort to his antics when he feels that a conversation is getting fueled by tension.

7. The Minions (The Despicable Me Franchise)

The adorable-looking minions are small, yellow, capsule-shaped creatures, that have one or two eyes and, of course, a big head. They are the signature characters of the very successful Despicable Me series of animated motion pictures.

While they were initially used to inject a ton of comedy and energy into the movies, they ended up turning out to be quite the scene-stealers; so much so that they became the official mascots for Illumination.

Described by The New York Times as “corporate icons”, they can be seen speaking in an incomprehensible language in the films. Childish as they may be, the Minions can also turn out to be quite smart when they have to be.

Not only are they incredibly loyal to Gru and Dr. Nefario but they go to extreme lengths to prove their loyalty to them. It includes doing their best to help them in their many wicked plans.

Sure, they are simple-minded creatures, but when it comes to making weapons, using computers, and driving, it is tough to think of someone who can top them.

8. Boss Baby (The Boss Baby Franchise)

Theodore Lindsey “Theo” Templeton Jr., better known as Boss Baby, is a professional kid with a babyish twist. Don’t let his appearance fool you though for he appears to have a good head for business.

Boss Baby is incredibly fond of order and believes in achieving his goals. He may come across as cute, but it would be wise on your part to not underestimate the little boy’s potential.

Staying true to his name, he’s as bossy as they come and is surprisingly professional with his ways of working and words. And, yes, he does have a small physique and a big head.

The main protagonist of the DreamWorks franchise of the same name cares primarily about himself first. However, that by no means suggests that he doesn’t give two hoots about others.

He may have been very carefree as a child but we have seen him growing into a bossy individual, who can fight for his family and friends – as shown in the television series.  

9. Megamind (Megamind)

The intelligent, bumbling, and egomaniacal Megamind is a former supervillain turned superhero and the main protagonist in the Megamind franchise. While he certainly does possess an incredible mind, it has also made him arrogant over time.

However, his intellect seldom stops him from being awkward or clumsy. Characterized by his incredibly large forehead, Megamind is Roxanne’s love interest. Even though he was a smart wrongdoer, his evil plans were constantly botched by the competent Metro Man.

The amazing character has been voiced by Will Ferrell.

10. Arnold (Hey Arnold!)

Hey Arnold! is an animated comedy television series that traces the adventures and misadventures of a fourth-grader who lives with his grandparents. Arnold, who has yellow hair with a tiny blue hat in the middle, is blessed with a prominent football-shaped head which somehow makes him come across as adorable.

However, what’s sad about him is that his parents seem to have gone missing for reasons unknown to the audience. That said, Arnold is someone who always tries to be there for his friends and helps them in dealing with their respective life issues; something that is both essential and educative for kids to see.

When the show premiered, the young adults managed to relate to the character. One reason for the same was that living with one’s grandparents has turned out to be a trend of sorts in the contemporary world since most parents seem to be working in the 21st century.

11. Stewie Griffin (Family Guy)

Stewie Griffin is an evil genius baby who not a lot of animated characters can compare with. He was the breakout star of the popular animated series Family Guy. Characterized by his large forehead, he often comes across as a villainous sociopath trying to kill his mother.

Needless to say, his sketch is unlike any other character in the series. Mostly seen sporting his red overalls, the notorious little guy has a unique football-shaped head and narrow forehead.

While his antics are certainly the ones to watch out for, one can’t deny that his distinctive appearance also makes him one of the most prominent cartoon characters today.

12. Wednesday Addams (The Addams Family)

Christina Ricci made a name for herself by ably portraying Wednesday Addams in the hit 1991 motion picture The Addams Family. With an all-star cast, she was one of the breakout stars as Wednesday.

While she is famous for her pale skin, jet-black hair, and prominent forehead, her true strength lies in the fact that she shows sadistic tendencies and a dark personality from time to time.

Be that as it may, Wednesday’s unique appearance and mysterious persona helped in making her one of the film’s most recognizable characters.

13. Mr Bean (Mr Bean: The Animated Series)

Rowan Atkinson shot to fame by playing the ridiculously rubber-faced Mr Bean in the British sitcom of the same name that premiered in 1990. While his clueless character did seem to have a large forehead, it got clearer when the animated series of the same title hit our television screens at the beginning of the 21st century.

Weird and always ending up in trouble somehow, Mr Bean has been a character that aspiring comedians and young adults have tried to emulate across the globe. While the kids sure do love the big-headed and large-nosed Bean, they also have to make peace with the fact that he probably loves his faithful sidekick Teddy more than anybody else.

14. Johnny Bravo (Johnny Bravo)

The next character on our list is someone who will make you want to comb and take good care of your hair. The overconfident and handsome Johnny Bravo, who is always seen with gelled-up blonde hair, is convinced that every woman in the world craves his attention.

Often seen sporting sunglasses, a black shirt, and blue jeans, he is blessed with a great body and a big but suitable forehead. He might be superficial and brash, but he can make any woman believe that he is a sensible guy with no flaws whatsoever.

For that alone, Bravo deserves to be on this list. Let’s just say that no matter how tough the circumstances are, if Johnny likes a girl, he can go to extreme lengths to ensure that she likes him back.

That being said, there is no denying that he wouldn’t be too proud of his intelligence or level of maturity.

15. Beavis (Beavis And Butt-Head)

Beavis, aside from being one of the main protagonists of Beavis and Butt-Head, is also Butt-Head’s closest friend and confidant. Best recognized by his blonde hair which he wears in an oversized pompadour style, he is often seen playing second fiddle to his mate.

However, as the show progresses, Beavis turns out to be a dynamite of sorts and holds his own in the face of Butt-Head’s dominant persona. Also popular for his battleship bow chin and big forehead, he can be seen having a fixated gaze on his face.

Timid as Beavis may be, he has his limits, and his dissatisfaction with Butt-Head does come to the fore when he is poked unnecessarily by him. In addition, he is often the one who comes across as both humorous and encouraging in the series.

16. Jimmy Neutron (The Adventures Of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius)

The amazingly smart and competent Jimmy Neutron is known to have developed a full-fledged laboratory to put his incomparable skills on display. However, he works on himself to adjust to life outside of work as well.

Genius as he may be, he maintains an active social life and even ends up romancing Cindy. However, there is one physical feature that makes him stand out: he has an extremely large forehead.

One of the smartest and most renowned characters to make it to our story, Neutron has invented an anti-ageing tonic, the time machine, and his mechanical dog Goddard, among other things.

17. Lurch (The Addams Family)

We assume that most of you would agree when we claim that The Addams Family wouldn’t be the same without Lurch. The man is easily recognizable, all thanks to his Frankenstein-like appearance, imposing size, and a large forehead.

Needless to mention, he is able to make quite an impact in the show through his commanding screen presence. The Addams Family isn’t your typical American family for they have been fortunate enough to have supernatural strengths and frightening appearances.

While each of the members is fairly distinguishable from the others, nobody is, however, scarier than the family butler. Lurch appears in the 1960s Addams Family series and the 1990s feature films with his prominent forehead and a big head.

18. Nick Birch (Big Mouth)

One of the main characters on the hit animated sitcom Big Mouth, Nick Birch is famous for having one of the biggest foreheads in cartoon history. However, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to assert that his prominent forehead complements his bright blue eyes and brown hair.

In Big Mouth, you can find him and his beloved mates trying to deal with the many insecurities of growing up; one of which happens to be having a big forehead.

Yes, it can truly be an issue for some.

19. Worf (Star Trek Franchise)

Fans of the beloved Star Trek franchise have been of the firm opinion that it wouldn’t be the same without the undeniable presence of Worf. One of the most prominent characters in several series, he also appears in motion pictures such as Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis.

Like most Klingons, Worf has a distinctively large forehead. And, even though Klingons were originally the villains of the series, it was he who helped evolve the alien species; therefore, going on to become very popular in the process.

20. Chancellor Palpatine (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

Chancellor Palpatine from the computer-animated series, titled Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is a true genius. We say so because he was the one true mastermind behind the fall of the Jedi Order.

His gimmicks ushered in the reign of the Sith successfully; all this without his intentions ever coming within the ambit of suspicion. Also known as Darth Sidious, his unparalleled strategies turned him into the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic.

Arguably the most intelligent character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Chancellor Palpatine made appropriate use of both his allies and enemies to get what he wanted.

21. Butt-Head (Beavis and Butt-Head)

One of the main protagonists of Beavis and Butt-Head, Butt-Head is Beavis’ best friend and closest companion. However, it’s been seen that he has been abusive towards his friend at times.

While he certainly is the leader among the two, he is also marginally more intelligent than Beavis. He may come across as calm and laidback but it also makes him oblivious to subtleties.

You have to give it to him for not losing his cool no matter how tough situations get.

22. Vegeta (Dragon Ball Franchise)

We all know that anime characters are often provided with unique and distinct features. The Dragon Ball is no different in this regard for it features characters with distinctive appearances.

One such popular character is Vegeta. Once upon a time, Vegeta was an assertive villain and bitter enemy of Son Goku. However, he turned out to be an anti-hero and a protagonist as the series progressed.

While he is easily recognizable with his spiky hair and widow’s peak, it is actually his prominent forehead that ends up giving him an intimidating screen presence.

23. The Brain (Pinky and the Brain)

Pinky and the Brain is a delightful cartoon series that features a mouse and his sidekick and their many rollicking adventures. While its two titular characters are quite the opposite of each other nature-wise, what they do have in common is their giant mouse heads.

Brain is a highly intelligent character who has a large and wide head, which probably houses his abnormally large brain. Even though he is slightly ill-tempered and coldly unemotional, he does thrive on his subtle sense of humour.

He has a soft heart and can often be heard speaking in a deadpan manner.

24. Mr Mackey (South Park)

Let’s all put our hands together for Mr Mackey from the critically acclaimed and controversial South Park. The show has a reputation for creating unique-looking characters, and it’s understandable why once you manage to get a good look at Mackey.

While most characters in the animated series share some similarities, they all have distinctive personalities and physical appearances. Mr Mackey, who is a Guidance counsellor, has seen his hairline go as far back as possible.

Needless to say, his thinning hair reveals a large forehead. However, what’s also unmissable about him is his famous catchphrase, “M’kay.”

25. John Merrick (The Elephant Man)

The Elephant Man is a 1980 British-American biographical drama film about a severely deformed man in late 19th-century London, called John Merrick. Since he was born with extreme facial and bodily deformities, it earned him the cruel nickname of “The Elephant Man” over time.

Those who have seen this rather unconventional motion picture must have noticed how Merrick’s appearance makes nurses shriek and children grab their parents with dread. However, it is tough to negate the fact that he seems to be equally frightened of them.

Thanks to filmmaker David Lynch for making The Elephant Man – the movie – a thought-provoking mediation on fear and humanity.

26. Bert (Sesame Street)

Those who have seen Sesame Street would be more than familiar with Ernie and his best pal and roommate, Bert. The pair shares a basement apartment at 123 Sesame Street.

While Ernie is shown to be extroverted, Bert comes across as a serious and studious individual who is often seen trying to make sense of his friend’s actions. Bert enjoys reading, collecting paper clips and bottle caps, eating oatmeal, and studying pigeons.

Also known for moving his unibrow up and down and for his prominent forehead, Bert is funny and nice and, yet, as grumpy as one can be.

27. Lumiere (Beauty and the Beast)

One of the significant supporting characters in Disney’s 1991 animated feature film Beauty and the Beast, Lumiere is one of the servants in a French castle ruled by a formerly spoiled, selfish, and unkind prince.

He may be charismatic and rebellious, but he was turned into a candelabra by the Enchantress’ curse. Also, he is one of the few inhabitants of the castle who can actually speak with an exaggerated French accent.

A showman of sorts, Lumiere has a big forehead and is admired by his peers. It is not surprising then that he happens to be a significant member of the prince’s unofficial council of confidants.

Even though he can be seen disobeying the firm rules of his antisocial master, he is incredibly hospitable and likeable.

28. Leopold “Butters” Stotch (South Park)

Loosely based on Eric Stough, an animation director/producer that works on the show, Butters Stotch is a major character in the incredibly popular and acclaimed adult animated sitcom, South Park.

He is a fourth-grader in South Park Elementary, whose role began to increase after he replaced Kenny during his temporary removal in Season Six. This not only allowed Butters to gain more screen time but also compelled the makers to develop his character further.

Stotch is not only the most “innocent child” in the group but he is also Cartman’s most exploited and possibly best companion. Also, he is yet another character who is characterized by his large head and forehead.

29. Professor Farnsworth (Futurama)

Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth is popularly known as Professor Farnsworth. He is one of the smartest fictional characters from the much-liked American animated television series, titled Futurama. He’s been interested in science ever since he was a teenager and it reflects in his work as well.

It is not surprising then that he is mainly seen spending time with his inventions. What makes his creations different is the fact that several of them are capable enough of disobeying the known laws of physics.

His greatest strength lies in his undeniable intelligence. However, his intelligence seems to have found an arch-rival in his senility.

30. Caillou (Caillou)

Characterized by his prominent head, Caillou is a 4-year-old boy who serves as the main protagonist of the TV series and books of the same title. He has been presented as an inquisitive young lad who enjoys exploring the world around him.

Intended to be a true representation of a real preschooler, Caillou has been projected as bald in the popular Canadian educational television series. The little guy, who is constantly asking questions about the world, is too helpful and imaginative for his age.

However, his tantrums have often been a source of criticism.

31. Squidward J. Q. Tentacles (Spongebob SquarePants)

Squidward is an octopus in the Nickelodeon animated TV series Spongebob SquarePants. He is a co-worker and occasional friend of Spongebob and Patrick, and he works at the cash register at Krusty Krab.

He is a cynical, selfish, and overall unpleasant individual, which means that he is the exact opposite of the happy-go-lucky and optimistic Spongebob. Squidward has rectangular pupils in his round, half-closed eyes and a big forehead.

He loves painting self-portraits and playing the clarinet.

32. Master Billy Quizboy (The Venture Bros.)

Ardent viewers of the adult swim show The Venture Bros. will perhaps never be able to forget Master Billy Quizboy, who played a significant supporting character in the series. While he certainly does have a big forehead, having an eye patch also ends up giving him a rather unique look.

He may have been portrayed as a genius boy, but he isn’t really a “boy” so to say. However, he likes to be called that since it apparently sounds cool to him.

33. Casper The Friendly Ghost (Casper The Friendly Ghost)

No one thought that ghosts could be cordial until they chanced upon Casper The Friendly Ghost. He is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name.

Not only has he starred in many comics but he is also known to have made his presence felt in several feature films. While not much is known about how Casper came to be a ghost, what is, however, known is that he is a good ghost who prefers to help people, rather than scare them out of their wits.

34. Roger Smith (American Dad!)

Roger Smith is a centuries-old alien who started living with the Smith family after having crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. He is said to have rescued the main character Stan Smith at Area 51 four years before the beginning of the show’s storyline.

When the series commenced, he was shown to be a sensitive pushover who was taken advantage of, fooled, and mocked by those in his vicinity. However, he turned the tables soon enough and went on to become a sociopath of sorts.

While the Smith family is oblivious to his nature, Stan is actually aware of his malicious character. Roger is seen wearing nothing and has thin arms. But, it’s his unbelievably large head that makes his stand out in the true sense of the word.

35. Skips (Regular Show)

Skips is one of the most pleasant characters on Regular Show. He may come across as modest when you first catch him on the screen. He is an immortal character who has had the privilege of experiencing much more than what most people experience throughout their lives.

Skips has his share of preaching and wisdom to impart to others and is often seen helping both Mordecai and Rigby throughout the show. The aforementioned traits, apart from his big forehead, make him one of the most distinct characters to make it to our piece.

36. The Coneheads (Coneheads)

The Coneheads are a fictional family of extraterrestrials with bald conical heads, which, of course, means that they have got a large forehead each as well. The characters were created for a series of recurring sketches on Saturday Night Live (SNL).

However, they managed to grab eyeballs after the feature film, Coneheads, hit the screens in 1993. The movie also featured roles and cameos by actors and comedians from SNL and other television shows that were running at the time.

37. Hector Hammond (Green Lantern)

Hector Hammond, who was originally a high school professor, is Green Lantern’s first enemy. He was taken by government agents to study Abin’s physiology after his corpse was found.

However, he got infected with Parallax’s DNA after having removed some of it during the autopsy. It not only ended up driving him insane but also gave him telepathic powers which allowed him to read others’ minds.

38. Blanka (Street Fighter: The Movie)

Blanka and Charlie have been combined into one character, Carlos “Charlie” Blanka, in the commercially successful Jean-Claude Van Damme starrer Street Fighter.

The live-action feature film showcases how Charlie gets mutated and turned into the familiar green beast-man by M.Bison’s scientists. Blanka was played by Robert Mammone in the 1994 title.

39. Egghead Jr. (Looney Tunes)

Egghead Jr. is quite possibly one of the smartest and among the most underrated characters of Looney Tunes. The studious young lad, who happens to be a master of physics, applied sciences, and chemistry, has a large head and is unquestionably intelligent.

He is often seen with a book in his hands and he does not come across as someone who is loquacious. That said, he has appeared in several shorts with Foghorn Leghorn.

Since Looney Tunes is a show that comprises a lot many popular characters, a lot many of us may cease to remember Egghead Jr.

A cinema enthusiast who holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Hindu College, University of Delhi.

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Star Trek Introduces Alien Character With Totally Different Forehead Wrinkles

HOLLYWOOD, CA—In a move expected to spark debate and excitement among fans, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine producers announced Monday that next week a new alien character will appear on the show possessing "completely different" forehead wrinkles from those of any previous alien. According to make-up artist Rick Baker, "We're very excited to feature a character whose forehead wrinkles look nothing like those of either a Klingon or Romulan or Bajoran or Ferengi or Cardassian. They're like no other forehead wrinkles we've ever created."

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The Rubber-Forehead Aliens Trope In Sci-Fi, Explained

Though the idea of aliens could contain any number of crazy biological designs, most sci-fi aliens turn out to be humans with one or two weird traits.

It's tough to imagine what an alien might look like. The mind races, combining biological ideas that exist with ones that don't to create something we haven't seen yet. In a visual medium, however, there are logistical concerns that make designing aliens much tougher. It's much easier to create an alien by outfitting a human actor with a single weird trait, like a rubber forehead.

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Rubber-Forehead aliens are extraterrestrial beings that are unquestionably different species , but look almost identical to humans. Since the character's face will almost always be visible, an unusual feature placed there will inevitably set them apart from humanity. This trope isn't limited to facial features, slight changes like unique skin colors or bodily markings would also qualify. These aliens can serve any purpose, their look is the focus of the trope. Of course, the easy explanation of the Rubber-Forehead alien is that they're a cheap solution to the problem of creating believable aliens. There's more going on with this trope than cheap prop work.

There are reasons to use Rubber-Forehead Aliens in a story. A hard sci-fi story might use this to keep an alien looking relatable since humans would have an easier time seeing the subtle emotional details in a fellow human. A more complex design can be tough to choreograph action for since there would be little source material to animate after, and we can only motion capture things that exist. The opposite of a Rubber-Forehead alien is a Starfish alien, which completely eschews human-like attributes, in favor of something completely unique. Some of the most beloved characters in sci-fi are Rubber-Forehead aliens.

The go-to example of this trope almost always comes out of Star Trek . The series has countless creatures of the week that pop up throughout the many seasons, but it often returns to the same handful of iconic species. As the series falls more and more into self-referential callbacks, the familiar faces will rear their ugly forehead even more frequently. Most of the iconic Star Trek races are Rubber-Forehead aliens. The Klingons have those central ridges, the Vulcans have pointed ears, the Ferengi have giant ears and a raised brow ridge, and so on. Interestingly, the Star Trek movies often feature brief glimpses of more complex alien designs. The films have the budgets to accommodate Starfish aliens, but the classic structure of the many Star Trek series are better suited to rubber foreheads.

The overwhelming majority of aliens in the space-faring corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are Rubber-Forehead beings. Four of the Guardians of the Galaxy fit the bill. Gamora's green skin and facial markings, Drax's gray skin and red tattoos, Mantis's antennas and black eyes, and Nebula's purple skin and cyborg parts all leave most of their human appearance intact. Just about every bystander in the Guardians franchise is of a similar description. Plenty of horns, spikes, weird hair, unusual skin tones, bizarre eyes or mouths, and other small details that don't mess with the overall human frame. Humanoid seems to be the dominant design strategy throughout the Marvel universe, but the films do feature interesting alternatives, like a giant tree or a talking raccoon.

Star Wars provides one of the most interesting looks at this trope. For a galaxy so full of life, there are shockingly few Rubber-Forehead designs wandering around. Imagining alien biology as a spectrum with unaugmented humans on one side and H. P. Lovecraft's Old Gods on the other, the Rubber-Forehead is one step away from humanity. George Lucas's beloved franchise prefers to take a second step more often than not. Most of the aliens in Star Wars are still humanoid, but they are unmistakably more alien than something like a Klingon. The most iconic Rubber-Forehead alien is probably the Twi'lek, which are effectively humans with unique headgear. The go-to alien in Star Wars is human-shaped with heavy animal features. Zoomorphic beast-people make up a lot of the franchise's bystanders and minor characters. People with lizard-like heads, bipedal bear dogs, giant slug people, and other unique designs are common in the galaxy far, far away.

Rubber-Forehead aliens aren't lazy or uninteresting, but they are a frequent target of good-natured jokes. It would seem a bit silly if the theoretically endless expanse of space featured almost exclusively other stuff that looks like us. Most sci-fi works feature a wide variety of alien designs, representing multiple points on the theoretical spectrum. With a good idea and the right eye for design, Rubber-Forehead aliens can look distinct and iconic, no matter how close to mankind they may look.

MORE: Exploring Interspecies Romance Tropes In Science Fiction

Den of Geek

Celebrating geek TV’s iconic foreheads

We salute 10 of geek TV’s most iconic foreheads, with help from Star Trek, Doctor Who, Buffy and more…

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As the invaluable resource of Wikipedia will tell you, the forehead is the fore part of the head.

Chaucer liked them shiny, Elizabethans liked them high and powdered, racist Victorians explained all manner of nonsense through their lumps and bumps. Around the world, the Incas artificially flattened those of their offspring due to reasons anthropologists now believe include ‘for a bit of a laugh’, and it’s where Hinduism places the third eye. Jupiter even gave birth out of his, the flashy bastard.

But it’s Gene Roddenberry and co. who are to be most lauded for services to the common forehead. Without Star Trek ’s inexhaustive parade of prosthetic ridges, flaps, distensions and wrinkles, we’d never know that aliens basically look exactly like us, just with the foreheads of people suffering from various tropical diseases.

Join us then, as we salute live-action sci-fi and fantasy TV’s ten most iconic squama frontalises…

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Aamin Marritza – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine  

Species: Cardassian

As pointed out by many a larking Starfleet ensign, were they to remain still enough, the Cardassian forehead would serve particularly good use as a spoon rest, hence the species’ derogatory “spoonhead” nickname.

The distinctive ridge ‘n’ oval hollow here is sported by  Star Trek: DS9 ’s Aamin Marritza, though it could just as well be any of his fellow species. This particular example of forehead topography has undergone plastic surgery to achieve its look, though Marritza didn’t go under the knife in search of a rejuvenating nip and tuck, but as part of a self-punishing plan to impersonate a war criminal and bring him to justice. Along with Quark’s squeeze Natima Lang, this makes Marritza – and admittedly, this is a case of tallest dwarf – one of the nicer Cardassians.

The Cardassians are just one in a long line of bumpy forehead sporting Star Trek alien friends and foes, which includes the Klingons, Talarians, Romulans, Kazon, Vidiians, and to a lesser extent, the Trill, but merit inclusion here as particularly choice examples of the trend.

Herman Munster – The Munsters  

Species: Stitched-together reanimated corpse

We all know the sixties were a time for high concepts (honks comedy horn, activates spinning bow-tie), and few came higher than The Munsters “a traditional family sitcom… but with monsters!” pitch. “What, like the forthcoming ABC series, The Addams Family , based on those thirties comic strips you mean?” said everyone “No, nothing like that” said CBS, “We’ll have a hot vampiric wife, an unpredictable ghoulish grandparent, and a Frankenstein’s creature-y one!” “Huzzah!” said everyone, “that absolutely sounds different!”

As it turned out, Fred Gwynne’s peppy, childish Herman ( The Munsters ’ Frankenstein’s creature-y one) shared but stature and pallor with Ted Cassidy’s laconic Lurch ( The Addams Family ’s Frankenstein’s creature-y one). Even their foreheads told them apart, as Lurch’s boy band fringe all but obscured his prominent brow, while Herman Munster’s Boris Karloff-style frontage was the main event.

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As a Universal production, The Munsters was able to use the copyrighted Karloffian make-up as sported by Boris in the studio’s 1931 Frankenstein for Herman Munster, down to the asymmetric scar and neck furniture. Yes, it’s a geek TV forehead that wholesale nicked its iconic look, but it’s an iconic one all the same.

Species: Tenctonese Newcomer

Before anyone starts writing us a strongly-worded letter, we admit that George Francisco’s actual forehead is relatively human-looking. Technically speaking, it’s the camelopardic, Trill-like hairline area that distinguishes him as Alien Nation ’s most famous Tenctonese Newcomer.

Kenneth Johnson’s one-season Alien Nation series arrived a year after Graham Baker’s 1988 film of the same name, followed up by a string of TV movies completing the Francisco family story. A geek TV stalwart having created The Six-Million Dollar Man , the original V and The Incredible Hulk series, Johnson’s plan was to use the advent of alien ‘Newcomers’ in modern-day America to explore the contemporary reaction to minority groups.

Francisco then, along with his family and Det. Sikes’ paramour Cathy, were representative of a new immigrant class in the light-hearted sci-fi show, though one that could pass for the establishment with the help of a decent hat.

Grey – The X-Files  

Species: Zeta Reticulan (though that rather depends on whom, or if, you believe)

Like The Spice Girls, these critters are designed for optimum silhouette recognition when partially obscured by bright lights and dry ice. Unlike The Spice Girls, the Greys’ plan for world domination doesn’t involve platform heels, worshipping Margaret Thatcher or selling Pepsi, which makes them roughly one hundred times less terrifying than the nineties girl group.

The Greys’ distinctive Mekon-like foreheads are so bulbous, it’s no wonder their lot turned to cloning for reproduction. The lady greys must have held a symposium or something and outlawed natural birth as a barbaric practice. (And before anyone gets up in our grill about there being no such thing as a lady Grey, then answer me this: who do you think makes that tea?)

Greys don’t just appear in The X-Files of course but throughout sci-fi TV, film, literature, and depending on whom you ask real life. Dark Skies had a bunch, and Stargate SG-1 had some just adorable ones, but for sheer recognisability, Mulder and Scully’s ETs deserve to wear the ‘iconic’ crown.

Angelus/Angel – Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Ange l  

Species: Vampire with (intermittently) a soul

Those who’ve seen Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer film will know that the earlier incarnations of Buffy’s mythological foes came sans forehead wrinkles, instead sporting a pale, toothy but more or less au naturel look. By the time John Vulich’s Optic Nerve and make-up artist Todd McIntosh got to the TV series though, this built-up ridged appearance, reminiscent of a demonic Shar Pei puppy as modelled here by Angel, was the fashion.

If any of you are pondering why we’ve chosen Angel, Buffy ’s original vampire-with-a-soul, to represent this iconic frontage, then perhaps it’s time to revisit your box-set. Granted, The Master’s permanently wrinkled bat-like brow might encapsulate the essence of Vulich and McIntosh’s Buffy make-up, but David Boreanaz’ Angel was defined by his forehead in and out of the prosthetics. Dubbed “Captain Forehead” and “Tall, dark and forehead” by rival vamp Spike, Angel’s brow was long a source of consternation for the character. Even Doyle, in Angel ’s season one episode Rm w/a Vu , noted the “overhanging” quality of his friend’s above-the-eyes area.

Quark – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine  

Species: Ferengi

With their rampant misogyny and unscrupulous thirst for profit, the Ferengi are the Star Trek species perhaps best represented by this arse/head mash-up. A mischievous bunch whose potential as villains was lost as soon as audiences clapped eyes on their adorable bum cheek heads, the Ferengi are here represented by DS9 ’s Quark.

Why the Ferengi instead of one of Star Trek ’s many other prosthetic forehead-wearing races? It’s the iconic monobrow transverse ridge that sold it for us – a proud feature, though one that makes it particularly difficult for Ferengi to look good in glasses.

Beldar Conehead – Saturday Night Live  

Species: Remulak (from France)

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No celebration of sci-fi foreheads would be complete without mention of Dan Aykroyd’s Saturday Night Live characters: the Coneheads. These distended foreheads do more than just case the grey matter too, they also double up as an erogenous zone for the Remulakian people. 

Spoofing TV sci-fi’s reliance on forehead bumps on otherwise humanoid aliens, the Coneheads first arrived on SNL in the late seventies, before going on to star in their own, somewhat ill-received spin-off movie fifteen years later.

Rimmer – Red Dwarf  

Species: Hologram (human)

Arnold Rimmer’s face furniture is such an iconic piece of UK sitcom costume, a single glance at Chris Barrie’s in-costume forehead and you know exactly where you are. It’s also, with the help of a Post-It note, a pencil and a ruler, a remarkably cheap and hassle-free Halloween costume.

Regular Red Dwarf viewers are able to use the various H iterations much as a boy scout would moss growing on a tree, to deduce their precise position. Over the ten series, Rimmer’s humble letter morphed from a blocky sans serif to Red Dwarf X ’s slimmer, shinier, hologram-about-town look, not to forget the circular symbol he sported on board the Enlightenment Holoship.

Like Buffy ’s Angel, Arnold Rimmer’s distinguishing feature also made him the butt of jokes and unflattering nicknames of the “goalpost” and “alphabet head” variety. 

Davros – Doctor Who  

Species: Kaled

Introduced in 1975′ The Genesis of the Daleks,  Doctor Who ‘s Davros is about as iconic a TV sci-fi villain as they come, and we like to think his forehead plays a key part in that. Granted,  Doctor Who is no stranger to alien species with notable foreheads (there’s the horned Judoon for one, as well as Zygons, Silurians, The Forest of Cheem, the Sycorax, The Ood and The Silence…) but Terry Nation’s (recently  contested ) design beats the bunch.

It’s the central blue lens that makes Davros’ forehead such an iconic one. Installed as part of his Six-Million-Dollar-Evil–Scientist life-support system, the lens aligns the Kaled genius with his creations’ characteristic Cyclops-on-a-stick look, replacing the vision he lost in the accident that left him disfigured.

Lt. Worf – Star Trek: The Next Generation  

Species: Klingon

Like Doctor Who ’s Cybermen, who began life as little more than a pair of grey tights and some silver duct tape, Star Trek ’s Klingons vary wildly in appearance through the ages. Early Klingons looked more akin to extras in an Am Dram production of Cats than the later, more familiar representatives of the warrior race.

TNG ’s Worf, played by Michael Dorn, is the Klingon we’ve spent the most time with, and thus he finds his way to the top of this list, though even his iconic forehead has gone through its own version of continental drift, forming different peaks, valleys, and to be frank, labial protrusions over the years.

An exhaustive, knowledgeable gallery of sagital ridges entitled The Evolution of Klingon Foreheads , was created by Bernd Schneider and Jörg Hillebrand, from which I take the following quote on Worf’s changing look during Dorn’s TNG  tenure: “The lateral bones of his forehead prosthetics were raised, and the wrinkles were toned down. Most visibly, the transversal rib-like wrinkles were flattened out for the second season. Later on in the series the previously rather thin central ridge was widened and modified to exhibit more peaks and wrinkles.” So now you know.

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Louisa Mellor | @Louisa_Mellor

Louisa Mellor is the Den of Geek UK TV Editor. She has written about TV, film and books for Den of Geek since 2010, and for…

Screen Rant

Star trek’s crazy (& brilliant) reason why so many aliens look human.

There are in-fiction and real-world reasons for why Star Trek's cavalcade of forehead prosthetic-enhanced alien species look so human.

One of the most common criticisms of Star Trek over its long and storied history has been its somewhat limited physical portrayal of its aliens, but there are multiple purposes for that ostensible shortcoming.  Star Trek is home to some of the most iconic alien species in all of fiction; the emotionless Vulcans, the duplicitous Romulans, and the violent, honor-obsessed Klingons are all part of the cultural lexicon at this point, with characters like Spock and Worf appreciating their status as household names. Yet even those species are aesthetically defined by what amounts to some fairly basic prosthetics glued onto actors' heads.

Most science fiction franchises at least attempt to implement some non-humanoid aliens, perhaps most famously utilized in Star Trek's biggest competition in popular space fiction - Star Wars . With very few exceptions - we'll get to those in a moment - there's nothing like fish-man admirals or tiny green Jedi warriors in Star Trek . Over the years, the franchise has established both real-world and in-fiction reasons for the physical similarities, some more convincing than others.

Related:  Star Trek: When Did Picard Take Over From Kirk?

With  Star Trek looking to expand massively as  Discovery season 3 moves into the far future,  Picard reunites  The Next Generation fans with Jean-Luc, and even more TV shows are in the works, we can expect many more humanoid aliens. Here's why the future doesn't go as bold as you'd expect.

The Real World Reason: Most Star Trek Was Cheaply Made

To invoke Star Wars again, this is a franchise that never flirts with billion-dollar movie grosses or ratings dominance on television. Star Trek: The Original Series first aired for three seasons starting in 1966 on NBC. Despite a devoted cult following, the show struggled to maintain an audience and  TOS was ultimately canceled after season 3 . Due to its relative underperformance and the fact that special effects were limited even for the most lavish productions of that era, the crew of The Original Series had to get innovative. The show's most omnipresent extraterrestrial, the Vulcan Spock, was made to look alien with fairly simple ear prosthetics, shaved eyebrows, and a bowl cut. The original Romulans looked essentially identical to Vulcans, meaning they simply borrowed Spock's prosthetic and makeup design. Even the original Klingons were just actors with fake beards and dark makeup on their faces; most of those actors were white, which makes watching those episodes in the 21st century more than a little uncomfortable.

Star Trek: The Original Series made a few attempts at non-humanoid aliens, with mixed results. The best was likely in the beloved episode "The Devil In The Dark," where Kirk and Spock attempt to hunt down an alien that is gruesomely murdering workers on a mining planet. The creature is eventually revealed as the Horta, a misunderstood alien simply trying to protect its young. The Horta itself was played by Janos Prohaska, who created many of the special effects for the show. The Horta was intended to appear as a creature of living rock, but ended up looking more like a giant pile of burnt cheese. Still, Prohaska managed to make the Horta seem alive, and the seriousness with which William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy acted alongside the Horta made that particular experiment a success. Less impressive efforts include the Alfa 177 Canine species seen in "The Enemy Within," which was basically a small dog in a wig.

Related: Picard's Dog Is A Brand New Addition To Star Trek Canon

While their efforts were shaped by practical, real-world limitations, this simplicity would go on to define the look of the franchise for the next six decades. When Star Trek  was revived for the small screen in 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation spruced up some of the alien looks - the Klingons now had their iconic forehead ridges - but for the most part, the designs from TOS were simply updated and make to look a bit sleeker. The Vulcans have remained physically unchanged for the entirety of Star Trek's run - the Sarek in Star Trek: Discovery looks just like the Sarek seen in The Original Series .

The In-Universe Reason: Star Trek's Aliens Share Humanity's Ancestor

While Star Trek: The Next Generation was more than happy to continue in the aesthetic footsteps of The Original Series , it eventually became a more thoughtful, meditative show than its predecessor. In the season 6 episode "The Chase," TNG establishes an in-fiction reason for why humans and aliens look so similar. Captain Picard is delighted by a surprise visit from his archeological mentor, Dr. Richard Galen. The doctor wants Picard to accompany him on an important archeological mission, but Picard declines.

Soon after, Galen is killed by a Yridian ship for reasons that are not made immediately clear. Picard eventually realizes Galen had found a piece of an ancient puzzle and wanted Picard's help in solving the mystery. As they investigate Galen's findings, the Enterprise finds itself accompanied by Klingon, Romulan , and Cardassian ships also looking for whatever Galen discovered. Eventually, the four parties pool their resources and find an ancient, uninhabited planet. On the planet, they are greeted by a holographic message recorded by a long-dead humanoid species. The message explains that this civilization existed billions of years ago, but that they were utterly alone in the universe. In an effort to create similar civilizations, the ancient race seeded their DNA across the galaxy, meaning that humanity and most of the galaxy's humanoid alien species shared a common progenitor.

Related:  Predicting The Next Generation Crew’s Future In Star Trek: Picard

The notion of sharing ancestry disgusts the Klingons and Cardassians, but the Romulan commander offers the thinnest of olive branches to Picard in the aftermath, suggesting that their peoples have more in common than they understood, and peace between humanity and the Romulans might one day be possible. "The Chase" not only offered a perfectly acceptable fictional explanation for all those prosthetic foreheads, while also seeding a possible relationship between Picard and the Romulans , rumored to be a major plot point in the upcoming Star Trek: Picard .

Humanoid Aliens Are Part Of Star Trek - And Always Will Be

It's unlikely Star Trek is ever going to dazzle audiences with creature effects. The modern interpretations have come close on a few occasions - Scotty's diminutive friend Keenser from the J.J Abrams films and Star Trek: Discovery's Saurian Lieutenant Linus look like they would be at home in a Star Wars production. But the iconic alien aesthetics - the Vulcan ears, the Klingon forehead ridges, the Ferengi earlobes - are all low tech, practical work. Some of them may have been modified over the years - like Discovery's highly polarizing, Orc-looking Klingon redesign - but that aesthetic simplicity still tends to cut through.

That low budget, DIY-feel is part of the DNA of Star Trek . It's the smaller-scale, more thoughtful science-fiction franchise, almost never relying on space battles or fistfights to tell the kind of stories it was meant to. And in the age where CGI surrealism dominates not only science fiction, but just about every genre movie and TV show in existence, there's something comfortingly tactile and real about actors performing Shakespearean dialogue with faces covered in rubber.

The explanation offered in "The Chase" is great for fans who like everything to make perfect sense in their fiction, but the blunter real-world explanation is just as thematically important as the fictional one, embodying the franchise's underdog status, that while plenty of science fiction franchises aim for the cheap seats, Star Trek is defiantly specific, a sharply focused vision of a better, more optimistic future. Let's just hope there's a lot of spirit gum in the 24th century.

Next:  Will Discovery’s Secret Be Known In Star Trek: Picard?

The Klingon Forehead Problem

Most notably the make-up of the Klingons was modified for TMP. In TOS their foreheads were flat exactly like those of humans. The only distinguishing mark was their beards. In TMP and thereafter , however, the Klingons had ridges on their foreheads, to emphasize their being alien but probably also their martial nature.

It was supposedly Gene Roddenberry's intention that the Klingons species had always looked so, and that the technical and budgetary restrictions of the old series just didn't allow to show them with the desired sophisticated make-up. After all, we have to disregard other shortcomings of TOS likewise, such as the USS Constellation from "The Doomsday Machine" that looked on screen like the cheap plastic model it was and whose warp engines shook when the ship entered the Doomsday Machine. At the time of the movies and in TNG the simple and straightforward solution, in the ongoing Star Trek production as well as among fans, was to consider the flat-headed Klingons a visual deficiency of TOS that had to be ignored.

The Problem

Since the DS9 episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" the rationale that the look of the TOS Klingons is just a technical shortcoming that we have to overlook has become hard to uphold. The divergence between TOS and TNG Klingons shows up in the direct comparison of the unaltered TOS Klingons from "The Trouble with Tribbles" on one hand and Worf on the other hand. Even the newly filmed Klingons in the episode don't have the forehead ridges.

Also, the divergence is explicitly hinted at in the DS9 episode. Odo, Bashir and O'Brien don't even recognize the TOS Klingons who are sitting next to their table in the bar on K-7 as Klingons:

Bashir: "Those are Klingons?" Waitress: "All right. You boys have had enough." Odo: "Mister Worf?" Worf: "They are Klingons, and it is a long story." O'Brien: "What happened? Some kind genetic engineering?" Bashir: "A viral mutation?" Worf: "We do not discuss it with outsiders."

Worf's statement that Klingons don't discuss the issue with outsiders raises more questions than it can answer.

In addition, the divergence is made an issue even before the TOS Klingons show up, when Worf finds out who Arne Darvin really is, and Jadzia comments on it:

Worf: " His real name is Arne Darvin. He is a Klingon altered to look human." Dax: " His surgeon does nice work."

Why does Worf mention it as being something special that Arne Darvin, a Klingon, was altered to look like a human, although he has just found out that already young Darvin pictured on the screen looked human, just like all TOS Klingons and particularly the TOS Klingons later in the same episode? Why does Jadzia agree that it is a matter of surgery and not interject that Darvin may be just a remnant of the 23rd century? Of all crew members Worf, as a Klingon, as well as Jadzia, owing to Dax's age, must be well aware of the different looks of TOS Klingons.

The central problem is a statistical one. All TOS Klingons without exception had flat foreheads, whereas all Klingons in TMP and later without exception sported the characteristic ridges. The latter include the Klingons who have traveled to the Delta Quadrant (VOY: "Prophecy") and have probably embarked on their long journey just at the time of TMP. The appearance of Kirk's former adversaries Kang, Koloth and Kor in DS9: "Blood Oath" makes the explanation even more difficult. They must definitely have undergone a metamorphosis.

We also need to wonder why the Kahless clone in TNG: "Rightful Heir" looks like contemporary Klingons and not like the flat-headed fake Kahless in TOS: "The Savage Curtain". Maybe the TNG Kahless accordingly altered to look like present-day Klingons? The same may apply to Worf's statue of Kahless and Morath fighting who had ridged foreheads as well. If the Klingons had not always looked like that, maybe they were adapted in the same fashion as depictions of Jesus Christ from different eras show him in contemporary clothes of these times, probably to allow a better identification with the historical figure.

Until the fourth season of Star Trek Enterprise, all Klingons encountered in the new series, without a single exception, are ridged as well, confirming that this is the actual and only look of the Klingons. It looks like the flat-headed TOS Klingons never existed and that DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations" was in error.

In spite of all this, the two fourth-season episodes ENT: "Affliction" and ENT: "Divergence" provide us with the ultimate explanation that there were (or would be) indeed flat-headed Klingons in the TOS era, giving broad hints that the children of the Klingon Augments and of all Klingons treated against the mutated virus would inherit their ridgeless foreheads.

There is a certain degree of variation among the ridged Klingons too. Their basic make-up was modified more than once in the course of the six TOS movies. Notably most Klingons who appeared in "Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country" had less pronounced forehead bones than most Klingons in the other movies. Star Trek settled to a final Klingon forehead style as we know it from DS9, VOY and ENT in later seasons of TNG. Until then even the very same character of Worf was subjected to a metamorphosis. But we may explain the slight change of his ridges with a normal aging process, in accordance with a visible tendency that older Klingons are likely to have more wrinkled foreheads. A commented gallery shows nearly all Klingon make-up variants that ever appeared.

"Affliction" and "Divergence"

In the two Enterprise episodes "Affliction" and "Divergence" we learn what has to be considered the ultimate truth about the appearance of the TOS Klingons. In 2154 the Klingon scientist Antaak, supervised by General K'Vagh, devises a program to use the genetic improvements of human Augments to create a new breed of Klingon warriors. Several Klingons, including K'Vagh's son Marab, volunteer to have themselves genetically altered. One of the side effects is that they lose their forehead ridges. But soon a new problem emerges. The Levodian flu, a usually rather harmless infection, mutates because of the human DNA and becomes airborne. The illness now threatens the lives of millions of Klingons. Based on the virus Dr. Phlox, who has been abducted by the Klingons, develops an antivirus. The antivirus takes away the genetic superiority from the Klingon Augments. Any other Klingon who is given the antivirus as a cure against the mutated virus loses his forehead ridges just like the Augments. Dr. Phlox says that the children of the so treated Klingons would inherit their look. Even if the trait were recessive, it would perfectly explain the existence of smooth-headed Klingon still more than a century later.

Although skeptics may object that the story arc with the Klingon Augments is still no proof for the existence of flat-headed Klingons still 100 years later, there are unmistakable hints in the two episodes that the Klingons treated with the antivirus are indeed the same type of Klingons that would be dominant in the TOS era. First of all, their looks are nearly identical. The Klingon Augments have dark skin and they otherwise look just like humans. Even their fashion doesn't seem to have changed in more than 100 years. We can see that these Klingons, most obviously Marab, have the kind of beards we know from the TOS era, and even their uniforms are similar to those of TOS Klingons. It is implausible that the smooth-headed Klingons would develop cultural distinctiveness so soon, still the broad hint was devised to dispel any doubts about the connection of the Enterprise arc to TOS. Furthermore, if possibly millions of Klingons are treated with the antivirus, lose their forehead ridges and pass on this trait to their children, we would expect them to still exist in the 23rd century.

Yet, it is harder to explain why there are several entire starship crews composed only of these flat-headed Klingons in the 23rd century. It would be more plausible if the Empire either integrated the smooth-headed Klingons or killed them. Racial segregation doesn't exactly seem to be the Klingon way. On the other hand, the flatheads could have isolated themselves mostly voluntarily. We have to bear in mind that there are different castes and houses with their own ships and troops already among the ridgeheads. Moreover, we can assume that major Klingon houses are affected by the plague as well, which would justify that flat-headed Klingons hold some power in their hands in the 23rd century even if their sight is not accepted. This, however, is only possible if the trait is dominant and if there are no mixed families.

Furthermore, one aspect of the otherwise silly notion that the flat-headed Klingons were intended to spy on the Federation may help us find an explanation. According to "Divergence" they all retain some human DNA, and at some point the Klingon Defense Force may have decided that these Klingons were the best to deal with the human-dominated Starfleet. It still wouldn't explain why we don't see a single "real" Klingon in TOS though. It is also possible that, because of their human DNA, the flatheads themselves may have a special interest in dealing with humans in one way or another, so it wouldn't be surprising to meet many of them on ships near the Federation borders. On the other hand, the leadership of the Defense Force may be rather concerned about possible fraternization with humans.

Side note While the origin of the smooth-headed Klingons as outlined in the two Enterprise episodes sounds very similar as the obsolete theory 2 (illness) in the addendum, the outcome of the episodes could lead to much the same implications in the 23rd century as described in theory 1 (two races). So our considerations are not really useless since the principal question about the Klingon foreheads was answered.

The metamorphosis of Kang, Koloth and Kor may be justified rather easily. If smooth-headed Klingons were still commonplace in the 2260's, a fast progress in cosmetic surgery may have allowed most of them to have their foreheads reconstructed until 2271. Probably no Klingon would forgo such an opportunity. It is quite plausible that until the time of TNG not a single flat-headed Klingon would be left. But this would also imply that prior to 2268 there was no efficient technique to restore the foreheads. A genetic therapy for an authentic reconstruction of the ridges may turn out futile once the virus or antivirus strikes back and flattens the forehead again. But what about cosmetic surgery, a simple procedure that is already available on 21st century Earth? Even if we imagine that Klingon plastic surgery is far behind human standards, it would be somewhat ridiculous if the Klingons were not capable of enlarging their forehead bones with simple implants. The only reason for not getting them might be that Klingons are not fond of fake things (the plastic ridges would be like silicone boobs).

"Trials and Tribble-ations"

Only one puzzle is left, but this is rather a peculiarity of DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations" than a general problem. The episode was made well before the ultimate explanation of the Klingon forehead dilemma in Enterprise. Yet, it didn't stick to the silent agreement of the time that Klingons always looked the same. The DS9 episode bluntly commented on the then obvious divergence that was not supposed to exist.

We may try to find individual excuses for Odo's, O'Brien's and even Dr. Bashir's alarming lack of knowledge about 23rd century Klingons. Maybe Odo as an outsider, who never had any courses in galactic history, really doesn't know how some or many 23rd century Klingons looked like (although at some point he should have encountered old pictures of Klingons in the course of his meticulous investigations). Miles O'Brien may have been a lousy history student who was only interested in technical matters, but we would still expect him to recall such a fundamental fact once it is directly pointed out to him by Worf. It seems unlikely that he could have missed or forgotten about a depiction of human-looking Klingons, for this would be something very memorable from a human point-of-view. Bashir, who was still keeping the secret of being genetically enhanced, on the other hand, may have wanted to evade the topic of genetic engineering that was cropping up and hence played the ignoramus. On the other hand, it is no apology for their failure to identify Klingons that O'Brien and Bashir likewise mistook a relatively low-ranking Enterprise crew member for Captain Kirk. After all, knowing rank signs from 100 years ago is rather special knowledge, even for a Starfleet officer, and the two would not have been the first ones who failed to recognize someone whom they had seen only on photos.

However, it is not just a matter of insufficient history lessons. Odo, O'Brien as well as Bashir apparently don't even recognize 23rd century Klingons when they are sitting next to them. In a bar full of Klingons their conduct and the sound of their language (not to mention the smell) must have given away what species they are - irrespective of the activation of a universal translator. Furthermore, they have been briefed before boarding the station and must have expected them to arrive.

Worf's quibbling in the bar, on the other hand, is quite understandable. The existence of generations of Klingons without one of the most typical Klingon traits is not exactly a glorious chapter of their history in retrospect.

Worf's and Jadzia's statement that Darvin underwent plastic surgery seems pointless, assuming that the two of all crew members should be familiar with how TOS Klingons used to look like. Curzon Dax knew the three flat-headed Klingons Kang, Kor and Koloth, and it seems improbable that none of them would have ever told their Trill friend of the secret. On the other hand, Worf may have known from the spy's biography that he was indeed surgically altered, and Jadzia may for once have decided not to waste too much time talking.

It can be interjected that the Federation and the Klingons may have come to an agreement to remain silent about a disreputable chapter of their common history. But would the Federation or Starfleet ban the topic from school or Academy lessons, respectively, or even delete all evidence from publicly accessible archives? And would other races censor evidence about the Klingons whenever Federation citizens request access to their data? Unquestionably not. Like already in our time, nothing that is common knowledge with visual evidence will ever vanish from archives - especially if it is so interesting and historically relevant. While the Klingon appearance can't have remained a secret, it is still possible that the chapter about the Klingon disease is not common knowledge in the 24th century, like many of the Klingon customs and rituals that were shown or referred to since the beginning of TNG were unfamiliar to the Enterprise crew and had to be explained by Worf.

Yet, perhaps the solution to the dilemma lies in assuming the exact contrary. Starfleet officers may be well aware how Klingons looked in the 23rd century. But there may be a directive not to talk about it with Klingons, just because Klingons are obviously very sensitive about that chapter of their history and "don't discuss it with outsiders" . So Jadzia certainly recognizes Worf's little white lie about Darvin being "altered", and ironically comments on it instead of correcting him in front of the other officers. In the bar, O'Brien, Bashir and maybe Odo too may have been following the directive by the letter (or have a silent agreement among themselves) until the point when their denial of the obvious truth becomes ridiculous. It is only questionable whether upholding a directive when it is unavoidable to break it sooner or later, as well as treating Worf like a fool on a critical mission is the right thing to do. And regarding Worf, he has been to Starfleet Academy, and I can't imagine that Starfleet's knowledge about 23rd century Klingons as well as the directive to other students to pretend ignorance was kept secret from him all the time.

Abramsverse

With the facts established in ENT: "Affliction" and "Divergence", it is irrevocable that the smooth-headed Klingons of TOS actually existed and that we are not entitled to disregard the divergence. There is no reason to still believe that there were never any smooth TOS Klingons, and that it was just a make-up shortcoming of TOS.

Two problems definitely remain. The first is why we couldn't see a single ridge-headed Klingon in all of TOS. The second is why otherwise literate Starfleet officers don't recognize TOS Klingons (or just pretend not to recognize them?) when they see, hear and smell a dozen of them, knowing that a Klingon ship is around in DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations". This is certainly not completely satisfactory, but no other theory could have completely explained away these two problems. Overall, we are left with a good story and a rather intelligent solution to the Klingon forehead dilemma in Star Trek Enterprise.

Addendum: Obsolete Theories

Until ENT: "Affliction" and "Divergence", there were various approaches to explain the metamorphosis of Klingon foreheads. Some of them were sensible, but most needed to be taken with a grain of salt. Theories included two different races, a plague, viral mutation, genetic engineering, fast evolution, cosmetic surgery as a fashion trend, cosmetic surgery to infiltrate/deceive the Federation and even a fancy of Q. However, none of them (maybe except for the Q theory :-D) was sufficient to solve the dilemma in its entirety. The most plausible solution used to be that there were at least two different types of Klingons existing or having existed in parallel.

The first useful theory was based on the assumption that the Klingon Empire consists of at least two races or species. This is no surprise, bearing in mind that the same applies to the Federation and even to the Romulans as seen in "Star Trek Nemesis". The races could have evolved on the same planet or one was subdued by the other. In the times of TOS, the smooth race may have been the dominating one in the Klingon fleet, as is the human species in Starfleet. Maybe their domination was restricted to the space along the Federation border, maybe they ruled the whole Empire at that time, maybe they even treated the ridgeheads like their slaves. Unfortunately these considerations became all more or less futile, seeing that Star Trek Enterprise exclusively showed ridged Klingons as early as in the 2150s, making it unlikely that they vanished until 2265, only to reappear vigorously until 2271.

Theory 1 The smooth Klingons may have been the ruling race. The presumable Klingon-Romulan alliance seems to be an important event in Klingon history in that era, since it incorporated a massive technology transfer, including Klingon D7-class battlecruisers for the Romulans and (presumably) cloaking technology for the Klingons. The treaty, however, seems to have been renounced some time later, and we can imagine that it was not a peaceful time. Either the Klingons were attacked by the Romulans, or a reactionary (bumphead) fraction of Klingons violated the treaty. In either case the smooth Klingons could have been stigmatized as traitors, for they were the ones who made the deal with the despised Romulans, and the bumpheads took over control of the Empire. The smooth Klingons were either killed or forced to have their heads altered to adapt to the new order. The uniform style was significantly changed some time between TOS and TMP likewise which could be a sign of a revolution. In the following decades, the bumpheads regarded the alliance and revolution as dishonorable, and they remained silent on it. So Worf did not want to discuss this topic with Bashir and O'Brien. Though Kang, Kor and Koloth are originally smooth Klingons, they were still held in high esteem due to their merits in battle, while the smooth diplomats were probably executed or dishonored. A more peaceful (and maybe not Klingon-like) variant is that the smooth Klingons, who were only shown in a comparably small number of TOS episodes, were a kind of special task force to deal with the Federation, or they were just a regional "civil defense" force. It has often been suggested that certain Klingons were genetically or cosmetically altered to better deal with humans or to infiltrate the Federation. The stupidity of this idea becomes obvious if we consider that all of them (save Darvin in "The Trouble with Tribbles") were always posing as Klingons with typical beards and uniforms in typically Klingon ships. Thus, any similarity to the outer appearance of humans must be a coincidence. Maybe the smooth Klingon homeworld is located next to the Federation border. When the smooth Klingons could not defeat the Federation, they may have been replaced by "real" Klingon troops and subsequently been stigmatized as cowards. Maybe the smooth Klingons were ashamed about their failure, so they gave up their identity by changing their outer appearance to look like the tough ones. It is also possible that the number of smooth Klingons is very small compared to the "real" Klingons so it is no surprise that they do not reappear in TNG and DS9. Federation members such as the Andorians are rare throughout the Federation likewise, especially in Starfleet, though there are probably billions of them on their homeworld.

There was another quite reasonable theory that would have complied with both the statement in "Trials and Tribble-ations", as well as the appearance of Klingons in Enterprise (thanks to Raja Ramalingam ):

Theory 2 "After watching a rerun of VOY: 'Prophecy', I've thought of a new Klingon forehead theory which I found very plausible: The Klingons in the episode suffered from the nehret, a degenerative disease that infects only their species. The Doctor was able to ultimately cure the disease using the Human/Klingon hybrid stem cells of B'Elanna's unborn daughter. Since the Klingons had been journeying for a century, it may be that the nehret had been epidemic throughout the Empire when they originally left for the Delta Quadrant (pre-TOS era). Klingon scientists, in subsequent years discovered the cure for the disease lie in genetic makeup of their Human adversaries. Not being as skilled as Voyager's Doctor in genetic manipulation (which would've maintained the ridges), Klingons may have been subject to gene therapy on a wide scale, of which smooth foreheads was a side effect. After all Klingons had been purged of the disease through this method (post-TOS era), they were reverted to their natural state by the time of TMP. I doubt if the creators will ever use this theory, but it seems the most plausible one to me, aside from Q or something."

Matt Koenig adds the following considerations:

"After reading the Klingon forehead portion of the inconsistency section I realized that there might, in fact, be something of a transitional Klingon. The delegation that comes aboard the Enterprise in Star Trek VI seems to have extremely varied forehead styles. General Chang and the Chancellor's daughter are the two that really stand out as having the least pronounced ridges with Chang's head being almost humanly flat. I know that this was probably just a matter of the films production and doesn't really have anything to do with the forehead problem, especially since it's 5 films late, but it is a somewhat satisfying answer to me. There is something to be said about the ridge patterns for the first batch of new Klingons, though. Maybe I just need to watch the film again, but the Klingons in TMP all have just about the same ridge pattern to them. Again, this is no doubt a production issue as the makeup technique was new and developing different ridge patterns might not have been within budget considerations, but it does seem to fit into the idea that the absence of ridges was side effect of the cure for sort of genetic disease. The Klingons in TMP may have been previously ridge-less individuals who underwent an early version of this reparation surgery."

The Evolution of Klingon Foreheads - fairly complete gallery and commentary

Galleries - Klingons

Star Trek Enterprise - Season 4

Thanks to Raja Ramalingam for his idea about the nehret and to Ambassador/Ensign_Q for hints about "Trial and Tribble-ations". Some aspects in the update have been provided by Timo Saloniemi in the Flare Forums and by MarshallDog. Thanks also to Torche for the suggestion that Starfleet has a directive or silent agreement not to mention their knowledge of the divergence to the Klingons.

https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/klingon-foreheads.htm

Last modified: 16 Oct 2023

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'Star Trek': Legendary Facts About The Iconic Series That Even The Biggest Fans May Not Know

Posted: May 1, 2024 | Last updated: May 2, 2024

Space, the final frontier. For over three decades, Star Trek has captivated audiences with its bold exploration of the unknown.

From the charismatic Captain Kirk, played by William Shatner, to the logical Spock, portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, the original series ran from 1966 to 1969, sparking a devoted following of 'Trekkies' who gather at conventions to celebrate their beloved franchise. Read on through this incredible list to learn some little-known facts about the beloved franchise. Which one surprised you the most?

Star Trek Had A Captain Before Kirk

The original pilot for Star Trek , featuring Captain Christopher Pike, was rejected by NBC.

Leonard Nimoy's portrayal of Spock was the only character retained for the second pilot, which introduced Captain Kirk, with William Shatner as the lead role. Jeffrey Hunter played the role of Pike in the initial pilot but did not continue with the series.

Spock Almost Had Red Skin

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek , envisioned Spock as a Martian with red skin.

However, due to the lack of color TVs at the show's inception and the hassle of applying red makeup to Leonard Nimoy's skin in every episode, this idea was deemed more trouble than it was worth.

The Fanbase Didn't Arrive Until After The Show Ended

While Star Trek aired its first episode in 1966, the fanbase and Trekkies people know today didn't really show up until after the series ended in 1969.

In fact, it wasn't until the 1970s and the television reruns of the show that people began to become interested in the adventures of Spock, Captain Kurt, and the rest of the crew on the USS Enterprise .

Martin Luther King Jr. Was A Trekky And Convinced Nichols To Stay

Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura on Star Trek, rescinded her decision to depart after season one. A persuasive conversation with Martin Luther King Jr., a Trekky himself, swayed her.

King Jr.'s belief in the significance of her character's representation inspired Nichols to continue in the portrayal of her ground-breaking role.

The First Space Shuttle Was Inspired By Star Trek

The first US Space Shuttle Enterprise was named after the fictional starship from Star Trek and its widespread popularity, the USS Enterprise . The show's passionate fan base, which included NASA engineers, inspired the agency to choose the name.

Enterprise symbolized the spirit of exploration and innovation, capturing the imagination of both science fiction enthusiasts and space professionals.

Bones' Line "I'm a doctor, not a..." Was From A 1933 Movie

The line "I'm a doctor, not a..." originates from the 1933 film The Kennel Murder Case . It was later popularized in the Star Trek series and became a recurring catchphrase uttered by Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, who would say the line when he was frustrated about being asked to do more than he could.

The line was often completed with different endings, emphasizing the doctor's dedication to his medical profession.

Trekkies Can Get A $500 Scholarship For College

Starfleet, an international fan group, offers a $500 scholarship to Star Trek enthusiasts pursuing higher education.

Their generous initiative supports students in their academic journey while celebrating their passion for the beloved sci-fi franchise. Starfleet's commitment to nurturing the next generation reflects the values of unity and exploration championed in Star Trek .

Teleporting Was Cheaper To Film Than Spaceships Landing

In the original Star Trek series, the ingenious use of teleportation during filming proved to be a cost-effective solution to showcase the futuristic technology of spaceships.

With a limited budget, the production team creatively employed teleportation to depict crew members effortlessly moving between locations, giving the illusion of seamless transportation across the galaxy.

Spock Was Not Originally Star Trek's "Number One"

The producers of Star Trek opted to progress with Spock instead of Number One after the pilot. They admired Spock's distinctive ears and eyebrows, which lent a more devilish appearance to the series.

Although it was not easy, their choice eventually set the stage for Spock's enduring presence and the show's subsequent success.

Wardrobe: Miniskirts And Green Shirts

Originally, NBC had wanted the female cast members of Star Trek to don miniskirts, believing it would enhance the show's appeal.

The network's suggestion was ultimately abandoned. Interestingly, the gold shirts the male characters wore were green, but due to the television's color rendering, they appeared gold to the viewers.

Shatner Became Petty With Nimoy

Off camera, William Shatner reportedly clashed with co-star Leonard Nimoy. Shatner's concern stemmed from not wanting other characters to appear more intelligent than Captain Kirk, leading him to steal Nimoy's lines occasionally.

This alleged rivalry behind the scenes added tension to their on-screen dynamic.

Inside Jokes Were Built Into The Set

Star Trek's original series set harbored delightful inside jokes cherished by the cast. Among them, the tubes on the ship flaunted inscriptions like "GNDN" with random numbers, teasingly translating to "Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing."

This witty jest added a touch of amusement to the futuristic surroundings they inhabited and was included in future iterations of the series.

Communicators On Star Trek Influenced The Flip Phone

The iconic communicators featured on Star Trek served as a source of inspiration for the design and technology behind flip cell phones.

The first flip phone, the Motorola StarTAC, was introduced in 1996 by Motorola in the United States. Its sleek, compact form factor and ability to flip open and close echoed the futuristic communication devices seen in the beloved science fiction series.

Nimoy Invented The Vulcan Nerve Pinch

Leonard Nimoy was a method actor before his role as Spock in the TV series. Nimoy is credited with inventing the Vulcan grip. This maneuver, performed by joining the fingers in a specific pattern and applying pressure to the neck, swiftly immobilized opponents.

Affectionately dubbed the "Vulcan nerve pinch," it became a trademark move synonymous with Spock's logical and formidable nature.

Shatner And Nimoy Were Rivals Turned Friends

Actors Shatner and Nimoy, once competitive, formed a unique bond while performing together on screen. They frequently collaborated at Star Trek conventions, delighting fans in character. However, Shatner privately voiced his unease over Spock's popularity overshadowing Kirk.

Despite this, their enduring friendship triumphed, showcasing the depth of their connection beyond on-screen rivalry.

Paramount Tried To Deep-Space Star Trek

After producing the original Star Trek series, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's production company sold it to Paramount. The company then attempted to sell it to Roddenberry, the show's creator, who couldn't afford it, compelling them to retain ownership.

Massive financial losses and a scarcity of syndication-worthy shows prompted their desire to sell the rights.

Kirk Never Asked Scotty To Beam Him Up

The iconic phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" is widely associated with Star Trek , but interestingly, it's never actually spoken in the show. The character referred to as "Scotty" is Montgomery Scott, the skilled chief engineer of the USS Enterprise, played by James Doohan.

The phrase has become a popular cultural reference nonetheless and has been used in subsequent Star Trek films.

Shatner's Superiority Complex Was Built Into The Script

William Shatner's commanding presence on set was accompanied by special considerations that ensured his prominence. With a guaranteed abundance of lines, his dialogue took precedence even when others were cut.

The hierarchy Shatner roamed the set with extended to the credits, granting him a higher placement, which added a palpable tension among the cast.

Nimoy's Dad Offered "Spock Haircuts"

The immense popularity of the show Star Trek transcended the screen, reaching Leonard Nimoy's own father, a barber.

In his bustling barber shop, he delighted customers, often fans of the series, by offering them the opportunity to sport a haircut reminiscent of the iconic Spock. It was a testament to the show's lasting cultural impact.

Nimoy Created The Spock Salute

The origin of Spock's iconic salute can be traced to Leonard Nimoy's creative inspiration. Drawing from his Jewish heritage, Nimoy crafted the distinctive gesture by adapting the hand sign used in a sacred Hebrew blessing.

The open hand, with fingers separated in a "V" shape, became synonymous with Vulcan culture and a beloved symbol for Star Trek fans worldwide.

Shatner Could Not Do The Vulkan Salute

William Shatner, despite his fame as a versatile actor, faced a physical challenge when it came to executing the iconic Spock salute. He couldn't do it.

Stagehands resorted to clever tricks, using fishing lines to carefully tie his fingers apart, ensuring the desired hand gesture. This ingenious solution enabled Shatner to flawlessly showcase the Vulcan salute.

Nimoy Thought He Was Spock

Leonard Nimoy, the brilliant mind behind the creation of Spock, received a modest payment of $2,000 per episode for his iconic portrayal. Despite the show's immense success, he yearned for greater financial recognition.

Dealing with newfound fame was a daunting challenge for the talented actor. Nimoy preferred to stay in character even when not on screen. Shatner accused Nimoy of being Spock more than his natural self.

Spock Was Initially Supposed To Be Female

Initially intended to be female, Spock's character changed significantly before the show's executives decided to make the logical Vulcan a male.

This alteration unknowingly would shape the beloved character we now know and remember fondly, portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, who brought intelligence, stoicism, and a unique perspective to the Star Trek universe.

Nimoy And Shatner Suffered Tinnitus From Explosions

Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner have battled with persistent Tinnitus, a condition characterized by ringing in the ears, stemming from the explosive effects on set. The duo was standing too close to an explosion one day during filming, which caused their affliction.

Shatner resorted to utilizing a white noise-emitting device as a means to alleviate the issue.

Scotty Was A Soldier Off Set

James Doohan, who portrayed "Scotty" in the Star Trek series, was a former soldier. He served in the Canadian military as a member of the Royal Canadian Artillery during World War II.

Doohan valiantly fought in several major battles, including the D-Day invasion.

Takei And Shatner Clashed Off Screen

Star Trek co-star George Takei had a widely publicized feud with William Shatner. Takei famously remarked that Shatner exhibited an attitude of superiority, acting as if he was larger than the show itself.

This dynamic created tension between Takei, Shatner, and other cast members during their time in the series. According to Takei, "We all had problems with Bill on the set."

Every Stardate Announced Was Completely Random

The signature Stardate, spoken at the start of each Star Trek episode, held a unique charm. Fans quickly noticed that the numbers had no discernible sequence or pattern.

They soon realized what seemingly were arbitrary figures actually were made up, yet they embraced them as a beloved part of the show's immersive futuristic setting.

DeForest Kelley "Bones" Auditioned For Spock Initially

DeForest Kelley, known for his portrayal of the doctor in Star Trek , initially auditioned for the role of Spock but was rejected. However, he was later cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, the ship's compassionate and often grumpy physician.

His memorable performance made him an integral part of the beloved sci-fi series.

Spock Was Supposed To Kiss Uhura, Not Captain Kirk

The kiss between Captain Kirk and Uhura in Star Trek was first intended to be a kiss between Uhura and Spock. As fans probably remember from watching the episode, that kiss did not happen.

William Shatner, who played Kirk, complained until the scene was rewritten for his character.

Star Trek Inspired Over 125 Video Games

The original series of Star Trek has served as the inspiration for over 125 video games since 1971. These games have spanned across various gaming platforms, including Atari, Commodore 64, Sega Genesis, PlayStation, and Xbox.

They have allowed fans to immerse themselves in the iconic universe of Star Trek in interactive and exciting ways.

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33 characters with big foreheads from anime, cartoons and films

A character is only as good as their powers, personality and physical appearance. Characters from anime , cartoons and films appear with unique and peculiar features like varied forehead sizes and shapes. Here are the characters with huge foreheads that have captured the attention of viewers.

As humans, we naturally find symmetry and correct proportions more appealing. However, sometimes overexagerrated features stick with us to a greater degree. These characters with big heads have made a lasting impression on the fans.

33 characters with big foreheads

The world of entertainment has various anime, cartoon, and film characters with large foreheads. Below are some of the most recognisable of them.

This former supervillain turned into an egomaniacal, intelligent, and inept superhero. He is arrogant and clumsy despite having an incredible mind. The competent Metro Man repeatedly ruins his fumbled-through evil plans.

Bart Simpson

Bart is a hyperactive rebel who is naughty and proud of his misbehaviour. He believes in avenging himself and in the power of unity. He is the only male child of Homer’s family, and he can set his school and house ablaze singlehandedly.

15 cleft lip and palate celebrities from all over the world

Stewie Griffin

This notorious large-foreheaded character is depicted as a scoundrel who is mostly dressed in red overalls. He is an evil but genius child whose head is football-shaped.

Bert is featured in Sesame Street alongside Earnie, his roommate and confidante, with whom he shares a basement apartment. They’re diametrical in personality, whereby Bert is studious and serious while Ernie is extroverted.

Beavis is one of the characters with large foreheads, battleship bow chin and fixated facial gaze that makes him conspicuous. He is Butthead’s best friend and confidant, whom he plays second fiddle to often.

Leopold 'Butters' Stotch

He features in South Park as a fourth-grade student with an enormous forehead in South Park Elementary. Leopold is Cartman’s best companion, whom he exploits for being the most naïve in the group.

The other main character in Beavis and Butthead , he is often viewed as abusive to Beavis. He is sharper, calmer, and more laid back. Even in difficult situations, he never loses his cool.

Main Jungle Book characters: Remember your childhood favourites

John Merrick

John features in The Elephant Man, a drama about John Merrick, a deformed man born with bodily and facial deformities. His physique scares children and nurses. Despite his appearance, John turns out to be a kind and intelligent man.

Professor Farnsworth

Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth is one of the most brilliant fictional characters with huge heads featured in Futurama. Ever fascinated with science since his teenage years, he invented several creations that defy the laws of physics.

A character aspiring young adults and comedians emulate worldwide. The rubber-faced, large-nosed, and big-headed Bean is amusing and uncanny, often finding himself in a lot of trouble.

Amongst the most famous movie characters with big foreheads is Worf. He has been featured in various series, including Star Trek: First Contact , Star Trek: Insurrection , Star Trek: Generations , and Star Trek: Nemesis .

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Hector Hammond

Originally a high school professor, Hector is Green Lantern’s first enemy. While studying Abin’s physiology, he got infected with Parallax’s DNA, gaining telepathic powers of reading others’ minds.

The Minions

They are the signature characters of the Despicable Me series. They are yellow, capsule-shaped creatures with one or two eyes and big heads who converse in Minionese, an incomprehensible language.

An immortal, modest character as featured in Regular Show . Helps Rigby and Mordecai, sharing wisdom and preaching to impart to others. Distinguished by his qualities and prominent forehead.

Chancellor Palpatine

Also called Darth Sidious, Palpatine is one of the characters with huge foreheads featured in Star Wars: The Clone Wars , a computer- animated series . He is a great strategist, earning him the Supreme Chancellor Title in the Galactic Republic. The character also exists within the movie franchise.

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Lurch from The Addams Family is one of the characters with a big head, a large forehead, a Frankenstein-like demeanour, and a gigantic size, earning him a commanding screen presence. He has supernatural powers, too.

The Coneheads

The Coneheads is a fictional family of bald extraterrestrials. They are conical-headed movie characters with big foreheads. They are known for appearing in the Saturday Night Live series and Coneheads film.

The Brain is a cartoon character from Pinky And The Brain . He and Pinky are opposites in temperament; their enormous mouse heads are the only similitude.

Roger Smith

Roger Smith is from the animated show American Dad! A centuries-old alien who crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947, he is housed by the Smith family having rescued Stan Smith. He is one of the famous characters with big heads.

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Johnny Bravo

Overly confident, Bravo believes every woman worldwide yearns for his attention. He is known for his large forehead, gelled-up blonde hair, sunglasses, blue jeans, and a black shirt on his built body.

Mr Mackey has been featured in South Park as a guidance counsellor with a thinning hairline that reveals a big forehead. His catchphrase 'M’Kay' and distinctive physical appearance and personality make him unique.

Genie is an iconic character from the movie is Aladdin . He is a giant-headed servant to the owners of the magic lamp he resides in. His cosmic power allows him to transcend space and time, shape-shift, and grant wishes.

Casper The Friendly Ghost

Casper has appeared in several comical films featuring as one of the movie characters with huge foreheads. He is a good ghost who enjoys helping people, and he rarely scares them.

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Theodore Lindsey 'Theo' Templeton Jr. is a professional baby. He has a small physique and a big head, good for business. He believes in accomplishing his goals and likes orderliness.

Vegeta is among the famous anime characters with big foreheads. He has been featured in Dragon Ball franchise as an assertive villain, who turns out to be a protagonist and anti-hero as the series advances.

Tweety is a yellow canary in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. He is one of the oldest characters on this list, as his creation dates back to 1942.

Jimmy Neutron

Jimmy from The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius developed a full-fledged laboratory to satisfy his wit and competence. His social life involves a romantic relationship with Cindy. He invented the time machine, mechanical dog Goddard and an anti-ageing tonic.

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SpongeBob SquarePants

He is a sea sponge who lives in a pineapple. A loveable, amusing, full of life, and juvenile character who is a careless driver full of jitters whenever in charge of a boat mobile despite dreaming of obtaining a boating license.

Squidward Q. Tentacles

Squidward Q. Tentacles is an occasional friend of Patrick and SpongeBob, his colleagues at Krusty Krab. A polar opposite of SpongeBob, he is a selfish, unpleasant, misanthropic, and pessimistic individual. In his spare time, he paints and plays the clarinet, although he is not very good at it.

Egghead Jr.

Egghead Jr. is a studious lad, a master of chemistry, applied sciences, and physics. He is one of the intelligent cartoon characters with big foreheads, ever bearing a book. Egghead Jr. is featured in multiple shorts alongside Foghorn Leghorn.

Homer Simpson

He is sluggish, chubby, and oblivious to occurrences in the world . His catchphrase ‘D’oh’ became part of the American TV culture. He copes with various issues that depict the country’s deplorable socioeconomic state.

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Caillou is a curious four-year-old boy who often throws tantrums and enjoys exploring the world around him. This preschooler is very imaginative and perpetually full of questions.

Shin-Chan is the main character in Crayon Shin-chan , a Japanese manga series. This kindergarten-aged boy is fond of chocolate biscuits, disobeying parental instructions, shamelessly flirting with older women, being curious, and brutally honest.

The face is an integral part of any character because it is what the audience looks at to interpret their emotions and intentions. The above characters with big foreheads will leave you glued to your screen with their fascinating looks and personalities.

Legit.ng recently published an article about iconic Shrek characters . Shrek characters are widely known for their humour and the relatable emotions they display to make the story interesting. Their colourful personalities make the series engaging and entertaining.

Shrek is the story of a green ogre named Shrek, who lives in a swamp. Its unorthodox story and unlimited meme potential made the fans love the series even more. Some Shrek people include Donkey, Lord Farquaad and Snow White.

Source: Legit.ng

Cranial ridge

• View history

The cranial ridges , also referred to as exo-cranial ridges or cranial plates were bony plates on the surface of the forehead on many humanoid species.

Klingon - Human hybrids generally inherited cranial ridges from their Klingon parent, although they were less pronounced. ( VOY : " Nothing Human ")

In 2154 , the Klingon augment virus , and the subsequent cure, caused many Klingons to lose their cranial ridges and become more like " Humans ." This would be partially cured via cranial reconstruction . ( ENT : " Divergence ")

During the 23rd century of the alternate reality , helmets issued to the Klingon Defense Force gave all warriors the appearance of cranial ridges. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

As a child, B'Elanna Torres was often mocked and joked at because of her Klingon-inherited cranial ridges. She was referred to by Daniel Byrd as "Miss Turtle Head." ( VOY : " Juggernaut ") Partly because of this bullying, after she discovered she was pregnant , Torres attempted to resequence the DNA of her fetus in order to eliminate the genes that would manifest cranial ridges. However, she was convinced by her husband , Tom Paris , to abandon this effort. ( VOY : " Lineage ")

The Cytherian encountered by the USS Enterprise -D in 2367 was fascinated by Worf 's prominent cranial plate, among other things. ( TNG : " The Nth Degree ")

In 2370 of an alternate timeline , Alexander Rozhenko made a plaster cast of his forehead cranial ridges as a birthday gift to his father, Worf , who received it with pride. ( TNG : " Parallels ")

When he de-evolved due to Barclay's Protomorphosis Syndrome , Worf 's cranial plates thickened by 20%. ( TNG : " Genesis ")

Death is immediate for a Klingon if the cranial exoskeleton is shattered at the tricipital lobe . ( TNG : " Descent ")

Ktarians have sharp exocranial ridges, which are also present in Ktarian- Human hybrids. If the mother is human, these ridges can cause a rare complication where they become lodged in the uterine wall, as was the case with Naomi Wildman 's birth in 2372 . ( VOY : " Deadlock ")

• 1 Species with cranial ridges
• 2.1 See also
• 2.2 Background information

Species with cranial ridges [ ]

• Abaddon's species
• Abdon's species
• Allos' species
• Axum's species
• Dala's species
• Dee'Ahn's species
• Dream Aliens
• El-Adrel IV lifeform
• Emi's species
• Fallit Kot's species
• Fantome's species
• Gosis' species
• Jarlath's species
• Kago's species
• Krit's species
• Nara's species
• Night Alien
• Otrin's species
• Pomet's species
• Prah Mantoos' species
• Romulan Northerners
• Saowin's species
• Sarda's species
• Solanogen-based lifeform
• Species 571
• Species 6339
• Species 8472
• Species 10026
• Swarm species
• Talura's species
• Tarquin's species
• Tash's species
• Tessic's species
• Tret's species
• Varn's species
• Viorsa's species
• Xindi-Arboreal
• Xindi-Primate
• Xindi-Reptilian
• Yost's species
• Zolan's species

Appendices [ ]

See also [ ], background information [ ].

During Star Trek productions, some aliens were introduced without ridges, but ridges were added in later productions. Some aliens this happened to include:

• Romulans ( TOS : " Balance of Terror " vs. TNG : " The Neutral Zone ")
• Klingons ( TOS : " Errand of Mercy " vs. Star Trek: The Motion Picture )
• Andorians ( TOS : " Journey to Babel " vs. ENT : " The Andorian Incident ")
• Tiburonians ( TOS : " The Way to Eden " vs. DS9 : " The Ship ")

In the final draft script of ENT : " Two Days and Two Nights ", a person off-screen who Charles Tucker III and Malcolm Reed notice in a Risan nightclub was scripted to be referred to as having cranial ridges, with Reed stating, " She's got lovely cranial ridges. " However, the only comment made about this unseen individual in the final version of the episode is Tucker remarking, " I don't think 'she' is the right pronoun. "

• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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Show Me the Alien Foreheads

For Star Wars fans who may have only watched the movies and aren’t familiar with the cartoon TV shows that will increasingly form the backbone of the franchise going forward , the new series Ahsoka is eye-opening. One thing it is not, however, is forehead-showing. The show is just the latest example of Star Wars always slapping a hat on one of its most famous alien species, and if you’ll hold off on calling in a wellness check on me, I’ll explain why that’s important — or, at least, annoying.

The mystery forehead in question belongs to Hera Syndulla , a character who made her debut in the Star Wars: Rebels cartoon of which Ahsoka is basically a continuation. She was voiced there by Vanessa Marshall, and she’s played by an all-but-unrecognizable Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the live-action show. Hera, an ace pilot in the Rebel Alliance who went on to become a general in the fledgling New Republic, is a Twi’lek , a species of alien who first appeared in Return of the Jedi who have brightly colored skin and two long fleshy tentacles coming out of their heads instead of hair. In the first few episodes of Ahsoka , as well as all 75 episodes of Rebels (best I can tell), Hera is never seen without her signature aviator’s cap or some other form of headpiece obscuring the base of these head-tails, known as lekku.

Look, I am able to suspend my disbelief and believe I am watching events that took place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. But every single time Hera appears on screen — or whenever almost any Twi’lek throughout the entire franchise does — my immediate thought is not, “Look at this wonderful alien from the mind of George Lucas,” but, “This whole thing is a hat.” In live-action, that’s probably because it is, making it easier from a prosthetics and makeup perspective to hide the transition and support the lekku. But even in animation, where the logistics of affixing two hefty tentacles to a real actor’s head aren’t a concern, Hera and the other Twi’lek women are always wearing a hat. Aside from some body paint, these tendrils are the one thing that makes Twi’leks aliens instead of humans, and in almost every instance the dividing line between what makes them a human and what makes them a fantastical alien is obscured by some sort of headgear. It’s easy to spot where the living creature ends and artificiality begins. It’s a step below the “rubber forehead alien” trope, where many a Star Trek alien is just a wrinkled prosthetic forehead away from being a normal human. Twi’leks are rubber-headband aliens.

Twi’lek — or at least female Twi’lek — have been this way from the very beginning. Return of the Jedi featured two examples of the species. One was Oola , a slave at Jabba’s palace who wore a headpiece that was very clearly helping to hold the prosthetics on actress Femi Taylor’s head while she danced around and eventually got eaten by a Rancor. The other was Bib Fortuna , a male Twi’liek who was one of Jabba the Hutt’s key lackeys. Bib Fortuna does not wear a headpiece because male Twi’liek are pretty ugly compared to their opposite-sex counterparts, as female Twi’liek are consistently some of the most sexualized and conventionally attractive characters in the entire franchise, both in canon and in the (occasionally gross) fandom. Bib’s got weird bulbous growths on his forehead, part of a more elaborate and all-encompassing bit of makeup, with the final effect of making him look much more alien than Oola.

This is perhaps the original sin of Twi’lek design. Because Twi’lek women needed to be hot, their alienness was an accessory — and the constant wearing of literal accessories like hats and headbands makes the lekku read as a one as well. Twi’lek characters in later Star Wars installments were eventually less sexualized. Aayla Secura from the prequel trilogy wears pretty revealing clothes for a Jedi, but Hera’s creators, Henry Gilroy and Dave Filoni, partially created her to be an example of a less-sexualized Twi’lek, as Gilroy explained during a podcast interview .

Gilroy and Filoni’s admirable mission was accomplished, but in all her appearances Hera’s wearing some type of cap. She’s not unique in this regard, as with the notable exception of Darth Talon — a red-skinned Sith Twi’lek from non-canon comics and video games who has never been depicted in a movie or show — basically every female Twi’lek in the series has a chapeau. Even some male Twi’lek , as seen in The Mandalorian , have their heads wrapped up.

If there’s a canon explanation for why , in the fiction of Star Wars , girl Twi’leks wear headgear, it’s obscure enough to not be noted on Wookiepedia, the terrifyingly extensive Star Wars fan resource. There is an unsourced explanation from the noncanonical “Legends” part of the site, which states that many Twi’lek slaves were forced to wear headgear because it prevented them from communicating in their native language, which involves subtle movements of their lekku. That’s deeply messed up and would make the widespread voluntary wearing of hats even more baffling.

And so, with no explanation, pretty much every Twi’lek we see wears some sort of hat. The same is true of Ahsoka’s species, Togruta , who frequently wear a headband exactly covering up where their face transitions to the elaborate crown-like horns and tendrils. Perhaps even more so, as whatever’s going on with her head isn’t the same color as her orange skin, making it even easier to mistake the whole thing for a hat.

Is the lack of alien foreheads really the biggest problem facing Star Wars right now? No, of course not. I saw Rise of Skywalker and Book of Boba Fett — the franchise has bigger issues. But I’m hung up on it because it’s a small detail that prevents the Star Wars galaxy from feeling like a real place. It’s not just because the shows are hiding the seams of the makeup. Practical effects are great! It’s that Star Wars frequently feels too small: Everyone’s a Jedi or at least knows of one, Mandalorians are ubiquitous, and a Skywalker could appear at any moment. The same plots of rebellion happen over and over again so there’s no sense of real change. And so when every single Twi’lek just wears a hat no matter what the circumstance is because that’s just the character model or something? Why, that’s just bone-headed.

Update: Never mind.

• mary elizabeth winstead
• twi'lek

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