10 Most Irredeemable Star Trek Villains

To be clear, and so as not to let Tendi down, we're not saying all Orions are wrong'uns — just the ones who are. There are certainly a lot of femme fatale stereotypes out there about the species dating back to the first Star Trek pilot, and which have only recently begun to be deconstructed. It's really the Orion Syndicate (and future 'rebrand') that gives the rest the bad 'space pirate' name.

The Orion Syndicate was one of the worst, or at least the most organised, criminal gangs in the galaxy. By the 22nd century, when the NX-01 had a run in with them near Klingon space thanks to the 'handiwork' of two of the other entries on this list, several members of Archer's crew were captured and auctioned into slavery before being rescued. If you're like T'Pol, though, you can always kick the Syndicate in the Brussel sprouts.

In the 24th century, the Orion Syndicate had expanded its membership to include a smorgasbord of criminals of different species. Notably, Chief O'Brien was once sent undercover by Starfleet Intelligence into a section of the Syndicate on Fabius Prime to root out an informant. The consequences of this mission would follow the Chief, leading him a year later to investigate the family of Ezri Dax (formerly Tigan) who had become embroiled with the nefarious organisation.

In the post-Burn world of the 32nd century, the Syndicate got a makeover and a nodding name change to become the Emerald Chain. Much like their forebears of the 24th century, the Chain was a multi-species enterprise, with a green lady at its helm: the Orion Osryaa. Thorn in the side of the Federation and the Discovery, Osyraa and the Chain relied on the most brutal methods of control; slave labour was enforced by explosive implants, and anyone who tried to oppose or simply got in the way was either left without antennae or fed to an oversized worm. Osyraa did get her comeuppance, however… at the end of Michael Burnham's phaser rifle! And never insult a man's cat: "She's a queen!"