Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Q

For a long time, the details of Q's backstory were murky at best. We knew his name was the seventeenth letter of the alphabet, then we knew that his name was the name of all of his kind, and it's always been clear that he's an omnipotent practical joker.

And, in terms of his history, those who watched the show don't get much more than that - admittedly because Q is at his most interesting when you're having to work out what his exact agenda is.

However, those who delved into the annals of Trek literature would find out far more, as The Q Continuum trilogy sheds light on the otherwise elusive history of the character.

As it turns out, Q's interest in learning about - and testing - other beings comes from watching a similar entity named 0. Though he learnt from 0, Q would ultimately find himself against the cruel methods 0 employed, as he would often specifically make tests his subjects would fail.

The war that would broke out between 0 and Q's factions as a consequence of this would have many effects, but the most crucial is that it wiped out Earth's dinosaurs, as in this universe the asteroid that hit the planet was one redirected that way by Q, to avoid it hittong one of the Continuum.