In the sixth episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, “Come, Let’s Away,” the cadets on board the Athena meet a new alien adversary, one that comes across as truly terrifying. While out on a deep space training exercise, an alien collective known as the Furies ambushes Captain Ake (Holly Hunter) and her crew. Described by Starfleet as part alien/part human, these wandering creatures are more like evil personified than any alien race we’ve seen yet in the Star Trek franchise. Clad in black, the Furies make insect-like screeching sounds, and their faces literally vibrate at a different frequency, appearing almost demonic to their victims. Cannibalistic and violent, they are the scourge of the galaxy. For Firefly fans, they are very reminiscent of the Reavers. But these Furies are actually inspired by aliens created for a nearly forgotten crossover series of Star Trek novels three decades ago.
A violent, almost demonic alien race called the Furies first appeared in a series of Star Trek crossover novels published in 1996. Titled Star Trek: Invasion!, these four novels spanned the 23rd and 24th centuries, and featured the casts of the classic Star Trek, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. It introduced an ancient alien threat that nearly consumed the Alpha Quadrant. The Furies were described as a threat coming from outside the Milky Way Galaxy, and were a collective of several alien races. 666 alien races, to be exact.
They once conquered the Alpha Quadrant thousands of years ago, enslaving both humans and Vulcans. Starfleet described them as hideously ugly, almost supernaturally so. Some looked like mythological figures from the religions of different worlds, including Satan. The implication being that the Furies inspired many demonic figures from mythology on various worlds.
The Furies originally appeared in the first Star Trek: Invasion! novel, First Strike, taking place during Captain Kirk’s command of the Enterprise. It was here that Spock gave this elusive alien collective the name Furies, based on Earth mythology. They reemerged in the TNG novel Soldiers of Fear, taking place nearly a century later. They also appear in the DS9 novel Time’s Enemy, and the Voyager book The Final Fury. Published in 1996, they were later collected into an omnibus in 1998. Interestingly enough, that same year, a totally different Star Trek: Invasion came out, a video game from. However, the game had no connection to the novels.
The Furies in Starfleet Academy aren’t a one-for-one with the ones from the Star Trek: Invasion! series. The ones from the novels are a collective of alien races from outside our galaxy, entering ours like a virus. The Furies in Starfleet Academy are human/alien hybrids, known to eat their victims, and take no prisoners. Presumably, they emerged after or right before the events of the Burn. Their introduction is very similar to the Yuuzhan Vong, who first appeared as brutal alien conquerors from outside the main Star Wars galaxy. They became the main antagonists in a series of Expanded Universe novels back in the ’90s. Were they a rip-off of Star Trek, or pure coincidence? We will never know.
Starfleet Academy incorporating the Furies into canon, even altered as they were, cites a change in how the Star Trek franchise operates regarding its many ancillary materials, like novels, comic books, and games. All of this is referred to as “B-Canon,” as opposed to the “A-Canon” which is the TV series and films. Star Trek B-Canon is very similar to Star Wars’ Expanded Universe. Officially licensed, but taking place outside the main timeline. However, there’s one big difference. Star Trek almost never uses concepts from B-canon in its series or movies. This is in stark contrast to Star Wars, which cherry picks elements from its non-canonical Expanded Universe to incorporate into Lucasfilm’s many films and series, like Grand Admiral Thrawn and the Night Sisters of Dathomir. All of those concepts originated in non-canonical books.
Will using the Furies in Starfleet Academy signal a change? There are decades of Star Trek comics, novels, and games, many with original concepts. Concepts that are sitting on a shelf, unused. Why shouldn’t modern Trek shows mine some of those B-Canon caverns for gold? On the other hand, modern Star Trek needing to go to the well of old comics and books? It kind of shows the lack of solid sci-fi writers for their modern shows. Yes, a lot of modern Trek has great character dynamics and chemistry between the actors. But there’s a serious lack of original science fiction writing going on. The writing staff leaning on old B-canon stories also shows that they’re desperate for material, and struggling to come up with good story concepts. There’s nothing wrong with mining old books for material on paper, but we’d rather see new concepts in Star Trek any day.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is currently streaming on Paramount+.