Question for die-hard Trekkers: "Q" in TOS?

[Funky]

I've been to more than my share of sci-fi expos and conventions and participated in many of the "geek" conversations. The topic of "Were the Q in TOS?" Charlie and Trelane always seem to come up and of late Apollo is coming up more and more (though Trelane and Apollo had power sources, so go figure :confused)
My question for the Trekkers, in your opinion do you think the Q ever made it's appearance in TOS and if so, where? I'd be very interested to get your point of view.

 

[Jannix Quinn]

There's a novel called Q Squared which basically says Trelane is a member of the Q Continuum. It's non canon though.

 

[thegreatgalling]

I imagine Trelane is a Q because I think it's cool to tie the shows together. But I don't think anyone can answer whether his being retconned as a Q by fans or the author of the book was in the heads of the TNG creators. The way Trelane operates is pretty similar to how Q acts, so at least in my head, I wonder if the writer who first developed Q used Trelane as an inspiration. It is equally likely that the similarities are just a coincidence.

What we do know is the term "Q" is never mentioned, nor is the concept of a continuum (Trelane COULD be a one off).

Are you asking if TNG intended that Trelane was a Q?

 

[Funky]

Are you asking if TNG intended that Trelane was a Q?

Oh, not at all. It's just fun conversation (and playful argument) to see if we can fit a round peg into a square hole. :lol

 

[thegreatgalling]

Ha. It's funny because I did have this exact conversation with my buddy at the Vegas con last year. I guess we dorks are all cut from the same fabric.

But absolutely, in my head he's a Q. There can't be THAT many mischevious aliens with super powers. :lol

 

[Funky]

How about Charlie and Apollo? And were there others?

 

[robn1]

I prefer to think of the "Q" as different from the others. Trelane needed a device to amplify/direct his powers, Q was never seen needing it. And Trelane was a child with parents, the Q don't seem to have a family structure. Roddenberry once joked that Trelane was a young Q, but I think it was just that, a joke. Otherwise I'm sure that Q in TNG would have been tied to Trelane somehow.

Apollo was presented as the actual god Apollo from Greek mythology. But the episode suggested something that has been a theory for many years, that the gods of ancient myth were advanced aliens who visited Earth. In the episode, the other "gods" left when it became apparent that mankind no longer needed their help. But Apollo became attached to the role and the trappings of a god. He also had a device that was related to his powers, again un-Q like. And the Q just don't seem to be into the "let's pretend to be gods" thing.

Charlie was a human who was given powers by aliens. We don't know anything about them, but the fact that they can give powers to someone else would suggest that it's more than just a natural ability of their species. It's believed by some that humans have these abilities, we just don't know how to use them. Maybe the aliens taught Charlie how to use these dormant powers. Most of what we saw Charlie do seemed to be telekinetic, perhaps they gave him the powers telepathically.

 

[Treadwell]

Speaking of Charlie, the aliens at the end said they reversed everything he did except the ship he blew up (although I imagine they could restore the "baffle plate" he removed--just not reverse the results of that removal). But what about the woman with no face? She couldn't breathe. They could restore her face, but she's already suffocated.

 

[Jeyl]

But what about the woman with no face? She couldn't breathe. They could restore her face, but she's already suffocated.

I think she'll be fine. The being did say that they restored everything to what it once was.

Still, that featureless face would have made for a great model for a Renee Montoya as The Question cosplayer.

Mmmm. Turkeys. Real turkeys.

 

[Kennyd]

I think of them as perhaps a less evolved Q, seeing as they need machines.

 

[BAK55]

As stated earlier, Trelane was a child with a machine that were his "training wheels". His parents were very apologetic to Kirk for his mischief, which seems to be beneath the Q to ever do. So I don't believe them to be of the continuum.

The aliens of pure energy that gave Charlie his power to survive, seem very similar to the Organians, also of pure energy, who are compassionate, but prefer to be left alone and not interfer with lesser evolved species. They don't seem to fit the continuum mold either.

Apollo was actually Apollo. An alien who, with other aliens and had used machines for their power, were mistaken to be gods in ancient times. They appear to be gone (deceased?) now, so not of the continuum.

The Metrons, who pitted Kirk against the Gorn captain on a planet they created when intruders entered their part of the galaxy, seem to be the closest to the Q in attitude and extent of their power. But were surprised by Kirk's act of mercy. And had said humans were still a savage but promising species, but aslo stated perhaps in a thousand years they could make contact with humans. But they had stated they were the Metrons, not Q, so I don't believe them to be of the continuum either.

The Q was an invention for writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and had nothing to do with TOS at all.

But it is fun to compare the omnipotent characters that are out there.

 

[CB2001]

Well, we know the Q existed long before the events with Trelane. That is thanks to the episode of Star Trek: Voyager, where we discover that one Q hung out on Earth throughout most of history, helped Woodstock go on as it did and saved Will Riker when he was a kid. And that Q didn't even need a machine.

 

[Treadwell]

People keep assuming everyone in the Q continuum has the personality of the Delancy Q. There could be Qs with better attitudes.

 

[darthgordon]

While I think that Trelane served as inspiration for Q, I don't believe he was intended to be the same species. The biggest give-aways are the fact that the Q, all refer to each other such. They do not have individual names. Then there's Trelane's machine... even though it could have been used to focus his power rather than the source of it.

I thought I had read that Roddenberry (who created Q) had said that Trelane was not a Q... however, for many years, fans still speculated as much, so Q-Squared was written. However, I can't find a source for a quote. It may have been in Star Trek Creator.

According to Q, the Q did not procreate. A child had not been born in the Continuum for over ten millenia.

The others I don't think have enough Q-like qualities to be considered.

While the aliens that rescued Charlie could have been Q, it seems too much like an act of compassion that the Q do not possess. Besides, I certainly don't see them giving dangerous powers away to a human child and allowing him to be picked by a Federation ship. Also, the Q wouldn't have to do this. If they did feel some sort of compassion they could have simply transported him away from the deserted planet.

 

[micdavis]

In an infinite galaxy why would there be any limits on how many different all powerful aliens there "might" be.

That's not Star Trek thinking at all.

None of them is Q.

The end.

 

[BAK55]

People keep assuming everyone in the Q continuum has the personality of the Delancy Q. There could be Qs with better attitudes.

I kinda doubt it with the events of "Encounter at Farpoint" where John DeLancey's character was speaking on behalf of the continuum. And the "jury" was still watching human events up to the final episode of TNG.

But this was only the impression I got over the run of the series.

Yes, there had been a Q who was very interested in human's and wanted to be more like a human and have a limited lifespan as a human, but was deemed insane by the continuum and placed in a their equivalent of a padded cell which he eventually escaped from. He did get his wish of being able to die at the end of that story, if memory recalls.

 

[darthgordon]

There were also the two Q that decided to take exact human form and live on Earth then create a child... in apparently, human fashion. Because of this, the Q killed the two of them and when they discovered their child and her abilities, were perfectly willing to kill her as well.

Guinan did say that not all the q were alike. Some of them were "almost" respectable.

 

[BAK55]

Well, we know the Q existed long before the events with Trelane. That is thanks to the episode of Star Trek: Voyager, where we discover that one Q hung out on Earth throughout most of history, helped Woodstock go on as it did and saved Will Riker when he was a kid. And that Q didn't even need a machine.

I'm not so sure about this. Being omnipotent, they were capable of time travel, which is what DeLancey's Q had done with Picard on Earth to show him the primordial sludge that life had evolved from, besides tripping through time as seen in the series finale.

 

[CB2001]

I'm not so sure about this. Being omnipotent, they were capable of time travel, which is what DeLancey's Q had done with Picard on Earth to show him the primordial sludge that life had evolved from, besides tripping through time as seen in the series finale.

Yes, but in that episode, "Death Wish" I do believe it was called, the Q that wanted to commit suicide (Quinn I think he referred to himself as), had argued that he was tired of immortality, which suggests that the Q Continuum existed long before the first encounter of the Q in "Encounter at Far Point" in the TNG series). Even if the Q COULD travel back and forth through time, it's even more possible that Quinn had been on Earth during the first go around without time travel (especially since the three people that were called were in a chronological order of events: first Newton with the Apple, then the Woodstock and then Will Riker's ancestor). Not to mention, why would Quinn even bother with the human race and influence historical events by traveling back in time to cause them? Even with Q and his games with the Enterprise crew never resulted in influence in historical events that were perminant to human history. I can't remember if the Q had rules against such a thing, but I would think that they wouldn't drastically interfere with the human race and its history.

 

[robn1]

I kinda doubt it with the events of "Encounter at Farpoint" where John DeLancey's character was speaking on behalf of the continuum. And the "jury" was still watching human events up to the final episode of TNG...

The DeLancy Q "claimed" to speak for the continuum, but was really acting on his own. Each Q pretty much does as he pleases, and the continuum doesn't seem to care. Except for the time when DeLancy Q went too far even for the continuum and they stripped him of his powers, was it Deja Q or Q Who I can't keep the Q titles straight :lol