10 Star Trek Characters That Gained SUPERPOWERS

8. Paul Stamets: Lost In Space And Time

Stamets the Navigator
CBS Media Ventures

How many superpowered origin stories begin with a scientist injecting themselves with bad-idea serum?

The good news is that Stamets managed to get his highly experimental spore drive working in Star Trek: Discovery. The bad news is that navigating the mycelial network required the integration of a live creature into the system, causing it horrific pain. We eventually find out why Captain Lorca doesn't care, but the rest of the crew should have known better.

Burnham does the right thing in the end by releasing the tardigrade, but it leaves the ship with a navigation problem. Stamets takes matters into his own hands, injecting himself with tardigrade DNA and entering the spore chamber to serve as the new navigator.

Miraculously, it works...but it comes with some strange (but handy) side effects. His grasp of time and reality changes, resulting in glimpses of the future and the mirror universe. It even allows him to thwart Harry Mudd's plan to take the ship when he becomes aware of the time loop that Mudd has trapped them in. Not bad as far as first superhero rescues go.

Eventually, the strain becomes too much for the scientist and his consciousness is caught in the mycelial network. Through the power of some serious mind-palacing, he finds his way back to the physical world...and, incredibly, decides to stay with Discovery, even navigating the ship again. While Stamets went on a journey of...well, ' discovery' that most scientists could only dream of, it does start to feel like he's a bit of a glutton for punishment.

Contributor

Katherine has been boldly going since childhood, when the BBC Two 6pm Star Trek slot changed her life. She was drawn in by the franchise's optimism, compassion and flair for character-driven storytelling. She's been writing stories since she could pick up a pen and has spent far too much time immersed in television, films, books, music and theatre. She loves any chance to talk or write about her favourite fandoms, of which there are many. When not busy writing, she can usually be found playing video games or explaining why the concept of a transporter is actually terrifying.