Canon in Star Trek Online

Without doubt, many players are drawn to Star Trek Online because they cherish the  universe, its characters, setting and the multitude of stories told over the span of more than 700 TV episodes and thirteen movies. This article gives an overview over the canon elements of Star Trek which appear in-game (see "What is canon?" for details).

Throughout the game, many references are made to the fictional history of the Star Trek universe. The chronology articles give an overview over historic events related to Star Trek Online (see also 22nd Century, 23rd Century, and 24th Century). Almost all in-game technologies, items and abilities are references to Star Trek lore. The same applies to most races, ship classes and star systems. Their origins can easily be searched on Memory Alpha.

Note that since 2009, two story continuities of Star Trek exist. The "Prime Timeline" concerns all events from the TV-series and the first 10 films while the "Kelvin Timeline", a divergent continuity which is however still canon, concerns the motion pictures released from 2009 onward.

Star Trek Online

 * See also: List of canon characters, List of canon starships & List of canon locations

Star Trek Online is set primarily between 2409 and 2411. This is 30 years after the last on-screen appearance of the USS Enterprise-E ("Star Trek: Nemesis"). In addition, it is 10 years after the events of the first season of "Star Trek: Picard", although those events are yet to be acknowledged in-game.

The 2009 Star Trek film did impact the canon of the Prime Timeline, namely the destruction of Romulus, and this is present in Star Trek Online's canon, along with Spock's disappearance being referenced several times. These events occurred in between Star Trek: Nemesis and Star Trek: Picard. The remaining events of the 2009 film and its sequels take place within a separate Kelvin Timeline.

Star Trek Online's internal canon extends beyond what takes place in the game. It also includes official posts made by Cryptic Studios' developers, game documentation, news updates, Lore Blogs, and original fiction (e.g. those on the game's website and the novel Star Trek Online: Needs Of The Many).

As part of the Star Trek franchise, the game itself has to be considered soft-canon, as any new TV series or movie could easily contradict its stories and settings.

Timeline summary

 * Further information: Chronology


 * 2151-2155: Star Trek: Enterprise.
 * 2254: Star Trek: The Original Series; Pilot: "The Cage".
 * 2256-2258: Star Trek: Discovery (Seasons 1 and 2).
 * Star Trek Online: Early missions for the DSC Starfleet faction.
 * 2265-2269: Star Trek: The Original Series.
 * 2269-2270: Star Trek: The Animated Series.
 * 2270: Star Trek Online: Early missions for the TOS Starfleet faction.
 * Early 2270s and 2290s: The original 6 Star Trek films, and the opening of Star Trek: Generations.
 * 2360s-2370s: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and the Next Generation Films.
 * 2375: The Dominion War ends.
 * 2378: Voyager returns to the Alpha Quadrant.
 * 2379: Events of Star Trek: Nemesis, including the death of Data.
 * 2387: The destruction of Romulus in Star Trek (2009 film).
 * Nero and Spock travel back in time, creating the Kelvin Timeline.
 * 2380: Season 1 of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
 * 2399: Season 1 of Star Trek: Picard (may not align with Star Trek Online's timeline)
 * 2409-2411: Primary setting of Star Trek Online
 * 2800s: Origin of Federation time travellers in the Voyager episodes Relativity and Future's End.
 * 3000s: Origin of Daniels in Enterprise.
 * 3188-3189: The setting of Season 3 of Discovery.

Star Trek: The Original Series


Star Trek, now called Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), aired 79 episodes from 1966 to 1969. It later spawned an animated series and six movies.

Many references to original series episodes have been made throughout Star Trek Online. The first missions set in the 23rd century were and  featuring McCoy and Scotty. Both of these actors have since passed away, but voice-over for Scotty was added by the actor’s son, Christopher Doohan, with Agents of Yesterday.

Agents of Yesterday notably introduced a playable TOS-era faction along with a significant quantity of TOS content.


 * Main Cast


 * Other Characters and References

Star Trek: The Animated Series
The Animated Series (TAS) was aired for two seasons in 1973 and 1974 and featured the Enterprise crew in much the same style as the Original Series. Although canon to the game and produced by CBS, the Animated Series is not part of CBS' licence to Cryptic Studios. This is one of the reasons the were replaced by the Ferasans. The Caitians however do appear, as they were included in later movies.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture



 * For in-game content based on the 6 original movies, see Category:Original Movies Content.

The game includes the uniforms from the film, Deltan characters and models the Unimatrix 0047 Command Ship on Vger (referencing a soft-canon connection between Vger and the Borg). The refit Constitution class and the Saurian species is also available in-game.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Uniforms from the Wrath of Khan that feature in-game include the The Wrath of Khan Uniform, the Starfleet Excursion Jacket and Khan's Outfit.

Pulse Phaser ship weapons and phaser pistols from the film also feature along with the Miranda class.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Earth Space Dock, first featured in Search for Spock, is the primary social hub for Federation players in the game while Vulcan is modelled on elements of the planet seen at the end of the film. Search for Spock also marked the first appearance of B'rel Bird-of-Prey which is the first playable ship for Klingon players and the Oberth and Excelsior classes which are available to Federation players.

Protomatter, referenced by David as the major flaw in the Genesis Device, is also a key element of the Lukari and Tzenkethi arc of Star Trek Online.

Finally, Search for Spock is the first time the Klingon make-up seen throughout the 24th century, and Star Trek Online is used (their appearance in Motion Picture is slightly different from standard).

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
There is a plaque at Starfleet Academy which references the whales in San Francisco bay and Scotty's jacket is available.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Nimbus III from Final Frontier is the focus of the Wasteland arc; the bar on Nimbus III still has the broken TV screen from where Kirk threw the cat dancer into it. The phasers from the film are also available to players.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country


Rura Penthe, and an escape therefrom, features for Klingon players and includes Jackal Mastiffs while Khitomer features in, and the Khitomer Accords feature heavily in lore.

In addition;
 * The Gorkon Science Battlecruiser (T6) and the I.K.S. Azetbur are named for the Chancellor and his daughter.
 * The environment suits used by the assassins can be purchased by players.
 * Referencing the Klingon's claim on Shakespeare, a doff assignment to put on a production of Hamlet and a Klingon Hamlet doff.
 * Ability: Emission-Seeking Photon Torpedo referencing the Enterprise's defeat of Chang.

Star Trek: The Next Generation


The Next Generation (TNG) was the first Star Trek not to feature any of the original cast. It aired 176 episodes from 1987 to 1994. The era of The Next Generation is shared with Deep Space Nine and Voyager, all of which is just thirty years before Star Trek Online so most of the feel of the game, including the LCARS interface, is derived from The Next Generation.

The uniforms from the series, including the season 1, Admirals, Troi and Skant versions, have all appeared in game along with most species, equipment, phasers, ships and shuttlecraft.


 * Main Cast


 * Other Characters and References

Star Trek: Generations
The Excelsior class variant featured on the U.S.S. Enterprise-B features along with Trilithium, Kirk's Captain's Vest and the Nexus which is the focus of.

Star Trek: First Contact
First Contact introduced several new elements of the Borg which feature heavily in Star Trek Online, including the Borg Queen and Borg Spheres. It also introduced several ships in game including the Sovereign class, Akira class, Steamrunner class, Saber class and the Norway class.

The events of the film are celebrated each year with a First Contact Day event. The event includes a featuring the building of a Phoenix model in Montana and a mission to travel back to the events of 2063 in  (where audio from the film is reused).

The uniforms, phasers and style of the Borg have all been featured in-game.

Star Trek: Insurrection
The Son'a, their starships and the Briar Patch featured in and the Ba'ku have been included with duty officers.

Star Trek: Nemesis
A lot of lore from Nemesis regarding the Remans, starships (Mogai Warbirds the Scimitar and Scorpion Fighters), Thalaron weapons and Romulan politics (including Donatra) feature heavily in Star Trek Online's backstory and its Romulan storylines.

The Sovereign Legendary Miracle Worker Assault Cruiser features a refit of the Enterprise-E that is only seen in deleted scenes from the end of the film.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine


Deep Space Nine (DS9) was the first spin-off from TNG and aired along side its final seasons with 173 episodes from 1993 to 1999. Some cast members from TNG moved to DS9 and it built on a lot of the universe created by TNG; for example Cardassians and the occupation of Bajor.

DS9 ships, uniforms and aliens (including the Dominion and Breen) are common throughout Star Trek Online and story released with Victory is Life is focused on Deep Space 9 and the Gamma Quadrant.


 * Main Cast


 * Supporting Cast


 * Other Characters and References

Star Trek: Voyager


Voyager began during DS9's run and aired 168 episodes from 1995 to 2001. Despite the Delta Quadrant being originally inaccessible at launch, much of Voyager still had a large impact on Star Trek Online early on via its portrayal of the Borg, the Hirogen and advanced technologies from the series finale.

With the Delta Rising expansion, the amount of Voyager content increased drastically. Every system and species encountered in the Delta Quadrant sectors is a canon reference from a Voyager episode.


 * Main Cast


 * Other Characters and References

Star Trek: Enterprise



 * For in-game content based on Enterprise, see Category:Enterprise Content.

Enterprise began in 2001, after Voyager concluded, and aired 97 episodes. Much of its lore contributed to the time travel related storyline which lead to the release of Agents Of Yesterday. It also contributed a great many species, such as the Suliban and Xindi, and to a new look of species such as Andorians and Tellarites.


 * Main Cast


 * Other Characters and References

Kelvin Timeline Films

 * Main article: Kelvin Timeline
 * For in-game content based on the Kelvin Timeline movies, see Category:Kelvin Timeline.

The Kelvin Timeline refers to the film series produced by Paramount between 2009 and 2016. It includes three films which exist in a different continuity of Star Trek called the Kelvin Timeline (also referred to as the "Alternate Universe"). Despite being a different timeline, they are linked and both are considered canon. The below three feature films (and any soft-canon stories derived from them) are the only elements to exist in the Kelvin Timeline.

Star Trek (2009)
The rebooted Star Trek film came out in 2009, during the initial development of Star Trek Online. Writing had to be change to account for changes from the film to Star Trek's Prime Timeline, namely the destruction of Romulus, and the game features an intro voiced by Leonard Nimoy recounting those events. A single, special item based on the film, the Red Matter Capacitor (developed in the Prime Timeline), was also introduced but nothing from within the Kelvin Timeline featured in-game.

As a nod to the recently released film, actor Zachary Quinto (who played Spock in the Kelvin Timeline) appeared in-game as the voice of an EMH during the tutorial.

The Agents of Yesterday expansion of 2016 was the first opportunity Cryptic had to introduce content from the first two Kelvin Timeline films around the time the third was being released. For the event, the game set in the Kelvin Timeline, and released the Kelvin Timeline Lock Box (plus some Lobi items) which introduced an array of elements from the film. These elements included uniforms, weapons, the Kelvin Constitution class, a Romulan mining drill console, as well as several other.

In 2019's Season Eighteen: Awakening, more ships from this movie were added to the game in occasion of the Kelvin Divergence Lock Box: the Kelvin Einstein Heavy Destroyer, Kelvin D7 Heavy Destroyer, and Vulcan Experimental Scout Vessel (based respectively on the, the of the Kobayashi Maru simulation, and ).

Star Trek Into Darkness
The aforementioned Kelvin Timeline Lock Box and associated store items also introduced elements specific to Into Darkness, like the Kelvin Vengeance Intel Dreadnought Cruiser, but also many Klingon items such as the Kelvin Timeline D4x Pilot Bird-of-Prey, uniforms, head ridges, and weapons (including the powerful Boolean Heavy Assault Cannon).

In addition, the mission featured 0718, voiced by Joseph Gatt, who is also available as a bridge officer via the Temporal Agent Starter Pack and Temporal Special Agent Pack.

Star Trek Beyond
Although part of the same canon as the previous two movies, Cryptic Studios did not have a license for the content from Beyond until September 2019.

Afterwards, the Kelvin Divergence Lock Box was made, heralding the arrivals of items such as the Altamid Adaptation set and Plasma weapons, the Freedom Exploration Frigate (based on the ), and Jaylah's Staff.

The Kelvin Constitution Legendary Intel Battlecruiser added the appearance of the refit Enterprise that featured in the first part of the film.

Altamid Drones have been indicated as being added at a later, unspecified date.

Star Trek: Discovery



 * For in-game content based on Discovery, see Category:Discovery Content.

Star Trek: Discovery is a TV series launched in late 2017. It is produced by CBS and set in the Prime Timeline.

The first inclusion of Discovery in Star Trek Online was the Discovery Uniform set, initially released as a free promotion for Discovery's September 2017 premiere. That was followed in January 2018 by the Discovery Lock Box. The lock box provided the USS Discovery's Crossfield Class among other items.

In October 2018, Age of Discovery was released and added a Discovery-era faction, beginning a new storyline tied into Star Trek: Discovery. There are two story-arcs currently in-game heavily revolving around Discovery: Age of Discovery and J'Ula's Discovery.

Season 3 has seen representation via the Far From Home Lock Box, in addition to several starships and uniforms.


 * Main Cast


 * Other Characters and References

Star Trek: Picard



 * For in-game content based on Picard, see Category:Picard Content.

Star Trek: Picard is a TV series launched in early 2020. It is produced by CBS and set in the Prime Timeline.

Star Trek: Lower Decks



 * For in-game content based on Lower Decks, see Category:Lower Decks Content.

Star Trek: Lower Decks is an animated series launched mid-2020. It is set between the events of Nemesis and Picard, prior to the destruction of Romulus (from the 2009 film). It is focused on a group of junior Starfleet officers.

2 days before the show's premiere on 6 August 2020, a duty officer pack was released for free featuring Ensigns Brad Boimler, Beckett Mariner, Tendi and Rutherford (the show's main characters). In the following month, Starbase 80 was added to the Beta Quadrant as an easter egg from its reference in.

Soft-Canon

 * ''Memory Beta is the soft-canon counterpart to Memory Alpha

For Star Trek, canon is defined as anything that has appeared "on screen" - the television series and movies. Anything besides that is part of the expanded universe; sometimes referred to as "soft-canon". This includes novels, reference books, video games, and related materials. These stories can and do tend to contradict each other from time to time, and have often been contradicted by television episodes and films.

Star Trek Online has made use of some soft-canon as the basis of generating its own lore. Early examples include Mackenzie Calhoun, the Vesta-class and the Captain's Table. Much of the Romulan backstory from Path to 2409 and elaborated with Season Seven also draws from the  line of novels. However, it diverges significantly in order to establish Star Trek Online's own chronology. The first two chapters of the Path to 2409 reference elements from the TNG relaunch and Titan novel series, which had been in publication for several years at the time the game launched.

The first instance of a character established in soft-canon becoming a central part of Star Trek: Online is J'Ula, T'Kuvma's sister who debuted in the Discovery comics  before being introduced as the main antagonist in Age of Discovery. Later, in 2019, the Somerville Intel Science Vessel was taken directly from official comics.

A different instance of soft-canon is sector space; when it was was first designed, and especially when it was overhauled to bring about a single Alpha and Beta Quadrant, the developers took canon locations as closely as possible from, which is an atlas of all Star Trek locations. Once again however they did diverge slightly where they needed to for the game, and the Star Charts themselves clash with some on-screen canon.

Star Trek Online in other media
In 2010 a tie-in book for Star Trek Online was published; The Needs of the Many, which provides backstory for the game from the perspective of Jake Sisko.

The Odyssey-class and the Faeht Intel Warbird from Star Trek Online both appear in the comic, the first time something intended only for Star Trek Online has appeared in other media not linked to the game.

The group who ran the Shield of Tomorrow have had a new ship design developed by Cryptic Studios to be used for their series as well as be included in the game: the Ross-class. Previously, items from Shields of Tomorrow had been included in Star Trek Online but the Ross-class is the first time something was developed by Cryptic to appear in other media.