10 Reasons To Stop Hating Star Trek: Discovery

No one can reproach Discovery for not being creative when it comes to alien species. We've been thoroughly spoilt for novelty (for example, see: Osnullus), exceptional make-up and prosthetics (see: Linus [a Saurian]), and some outstanding CGI numbers for the radically alien aliens such as the 10-C.

Speaking of new aliens, Saru quickly became a fan-favourite character, although there might still be those who look at him and think 'Oooh, fricassee!" Saru is also played by the tremendously talented Doug Jones, so prolific an actor and 'creature make-up' legend that if you print off his IMDB page, you'll be charged with ecocide.

Because no one had ever seen (or heard of) a Kelpien before, Jones had free rein to create Saru's physicality quite literally from the ground-up. In a 2019 interview, Jones told StarTrek.com that Saru's posture, stance, and the "signature sway" of the arms behind the back came almost immediately from the "delicious boots" he was given to wear. The 'hoof' of the shoe had the effect of pushing his frame forward, making Saru walk, as Jones put it, "like a super model".

Also as the first Kelpien in Starfleet, Jones decided that Saru would be "very polite, very mannerly, very gentlemanly," but always with an "undercurrent of fear" (until his vahar'ai). To get the mannerisms right, Jones said he "channelled the butler from Downtown Abbey".