10 Weirdest Star Trek Doppelgängers
Sometimes even a copy can leave a lasting impression, whether we like it or not.
For decades, Star Trek has been asking questions about humanity, what it means to be alive, and what makes us...us. Sometimes, it even offers an answer to those questions, but more often than not, we're left with bittersweet ambiguity and a lot of food for thought.
We spend hours following the story arcs of our favourite Starfleet officers. So when a doppelgänger inevitably turns up, it can be equal parts shocking and refreshing. Sometimes it's a fun exploration of a 'what-if' scenario, a brief interruption in regular programming to watch a familiar face LARP for a while. Other times, seeing the alternative version of a character simply reaffirms why we love the real thing so much.
Between transporter accidents, holograms, altered timelines, synthetics, and even more transporter accidents, there are plenty of ways for a Starfleet officer to accidentally 3D print a duplicate they didn't ask for. Thankfully, they often prove to be memorable but fleeting, conveniently cast back into the chasm from whence they came before the start of the next episode. But occasionally, they end up becoming a more permanent fixture.
So while we try to avoid the existential crisis of wondering whether we, too, have a doppelgänger lurking in the shadows, these are some of the most unforgettable alternate versions of beloved Star Trek characters.
10. The Two Faces Of B'Elanna Torres
In the aptly named episode Faces, Torres, Paris and Durst (good luck non-recurring crewmember) are captured by the Vidiians, a race that suffers from a vicious disease known as the Phage. Driven by desperation, they routinely harvest organs from aliens. If any new species in the Delta Quadrant was designed to let viewers know that Voyager wasn't in Kansas anymore, it was the Vidiians.
Sulan, a Vidiian surgeon, splits B'Elanna into two separate people: a fully human Torres and a fully Klingon Torres. His aim is to cure the Phage using the natural resistance of the Klingon B'Elanna, but it's fair to say that K-Torres is having none of it. If that weren't bad enough, Sulan decides to take Durst's face off and pin it over his own deformed features in an attempt to woo the Klingon (sweet dreams everyone).
Despite the horror elements, Faces is a story about identity. Coming to terms with the parts of ourselves we don't like. When the two B'Elannas come face to face, they start arguing, blaming each other for the shortcomings of the real B'Elanna in a fascinating portrayal of a mind in conflict.
Human B'Elanna sees her Klingon half as aggressive and impulsive. Klingon B'Elanna sees her human half as weak and vulnerable. And yet, they soon realise that the only way to escape is to work together, focusing on their combined strengths rather than weaknesses.
Klingon B'Elanna dies during their escape, but on her dying breath she says that it's her human half finding courage that makes her death honourable. Before the human B'Elanna is transformed back to her usual self, she realises it's meant to be. And importantly, her acceptance isn't because she needs her Klingon half, but because she's not B'Elanna Torres without her.