Star Trek: 10 Alien Species You’ve Probably Forgotten About

6. The Hur'q

Star Trek Deep Space Nine Sword Of Kahless The Hur Q
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Named from the Klingon word Hur'Iq — slang for 'outsider' or 'foreigner' (Hur meaning 'outside') — the Hur'q have only ever been mentioned by name in two episodes of Star Trek. Presumed extinct by 2372, we don't even know what the Hur'q looked like.

The species was introduced in The Sword of Kahless in which our trio of honourables — Dax, Kor, and Worf — go on a quest to find the titular weapon, nabbed by the Hur'q during their invasion and pillage of Qo'noS over 1000 years prior. After Jadzia identifies Hur'q writing and DNA on the sword's shroud, brought back from the Gamma Quadrant by Kor, all three set off to the ruins of a Hur'q museum. That's about as much of a look at this species as we get — the rest of the episode is mostly two grown-ups arguing over a bit of metal. The Hur'q then get a second, off-hand mention in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode Affliction.

Star Trek: Online gives the species quite the backstory, however. In it, the Hur'q were once a peaceful race, until the Dominion stopped by and removed a crucial fungus from their ecosystem. This caused the Hur'q to go insane and start their rampage as "the great plunderers of the galaxy," as Kor would later describe them.

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Jack has been a content creator for TrekCulture since 2022, and a Star Trek fan for as long as he can remember. He has authored over 170 articles, including one of TrekCulture's longest, and has appeared several times on the TrekCulture podcast. He holds a first-class honours degree in French from the University of Sussex, a master's with distinction in Language, Culture and History: French and Francophone Studies and a PhD in French from University College London (UCL). He has previously worked in the field of translation. His interests extend to science-fiction television and film more widely. His favourite series is Star Trek: Voyager, followed closely by Stargate SG-1.