10 Weirdest Laws In The Star Trek Universe

5. Protocol 28, Subsection D

Star Trek Voyager EMH
CBS Media Ventures

In the event of a hostile takeover, the EMH is to deactivate and wait for rescue.

This one is bizarre! Quite frankly, this one could end up sentencing a crew to death. In the situation of the USS Prometheus, the EMH-2 cites this protocol to Voyager's EMH as he attempts to deactivate himself. Thankfully, The Doctor sees the folly in this and prevents it. While the crew of the Prometheus had been killed by the Romulans, this protocol simply couldn't exist fleet-wide.

If that were the case, Voyager's takeover by the Hirogen in The Killing Game should have resulted in The Doctor switching himself off. The same would be true of Voyager's takeover by The Kazon. Voyager gets taken over a lot, come to think of it.

Without The Doctor's help, many of the crew of Voyager would have perished at the hands of the hunters. He continued to patch them up again and again, so that they could continue to fight in the wargames. While this could be seen as a form of cruel and unusual punishment, it saved the lives of the Starfleet officers. Had this protocol been enacted to the letter, there would only have been Hirogen hunters to patch people up - something that no member of the crew would want in the least.

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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"