Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Neelix

10. None To Neelox

At first, there was no Neelix. For months during the initial development of Star Trek: Voyager, there was only the "Mayfly," otherwise unnamed. According to Jeri Taylor's notes from March 1993, given in Star Trek: Voyager — A Vision of the Future, the Mayfly was to be "the alien 'scout' for the ship" AND "a female (or male or androgynous) with a life span of only seven years". In other words, this was Kes, with more than a hint of her future Talaxian lover.

The 'Mayfly' combo-character persisted all the way into September 1993. Only by the end of that month did 'Neelix' begin to appear as his own separate entity in Michael Piller's complete first draft of the Voyager series bible. Or to be more precise, Neelix was "Felux," "alien—male," and "gofer/guide".

By October 1993, Piller's first story draft for Caretaker had changed Felux to "Felox". A little later, in February 1994, another version of the series bible switched Felox to Neelix. On the very same day, a further story draft for Caretaker gave Neelix as "Neelox". The day after that, he was back to being Neelix. And the name-calling didn't end there…