Star Trek: 15 Most Hilariously Unthreatening Alien Races

By John K Kirk /

14. Balok €“ "The Corbomite Manuever" €“ TOS

The name of Balok's species isn't identified in this episode, other than being a representative of the First Federation, which is a real myopic stretch of the imagination. Should the United Federation of Planets take offense to the First Federation's name? But the real hint that this is an alien you shouldn't worry about is that he hides behind a giant mannequin alter ego in order to test the true nature of humanity of the crew of the Enterprise. Aside from Balok's two-faced nature, there are two things wrong with this species. First of all, the mannequin doesn't even look real: it's supposed to look alive, but how can the Enterprise crew be fooled by this thing that doesn't even look at them properly? It's exaggerated, mechanical motion and it looks like the love-child of E.T. and some misanthropic sex-doll. Secondly, when Balok reveals himself, he's actually some kid with a tea-cozy strapped to his head with really badly-formed dental work. Furthermore, the question that bugged my adolescent mind was how could this tiny individual ever hope to fool us into thinking that he controlled the entire Fesarius from an incredibly small yet well-cushioned murphy bed? It just boggled my mind. Plus, he dressed like a little girl.