Understanding Blue Orions in Star Trek: A Comprehensive Guide

Essential Insights

For the first time, Lower Decks delves into the culture, social dynamics, and traditions of the Orions.
The reintroduction of Blue Orions from TAS positions them as rivals to traditional Green Orions.
Blue Orions are depicted as a natural skin-tone variation, existing within a patriarchal societal framework.

Star Trek: Lower Decks has expanded the understanding of Orion culture beyond what any previous Star Trek series has achieved. While Star Trek: Discovery brought forth the Emerald Chain — a criminal organization linked to Orions — it offered little insight into their cultural complexities, leaving fans with the traditional view of Orions as green-skinned pirates with a penchant for lawlessness.

When the Lower Decks creative team chose to integrate an Orion character into the main cast, they opened the door for a deeper exploration of Orion society. D’Vana Tendi, the Orion character, originally kept her planetary origins and past under wraps during the initial seasons. However, in the fourth season, she revisited Orion multiple times, providing a rare glimpse into its societal norms, customs, and practices. By the season’s conclusion, Tendi makes a pivotal choice to leave Starfleet to engage in piracy with her family, highlighting the complexities of her cultural ties.

Warning: Spoilers for episodes 1 and 2 of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 follow. In the recent episodes that debuted on October 24th on Paramount+, Tendi and her team confront adversaries on Orion that may only be recognized by the most ardent Star Trek enthusiasts: the Blue Orions. Who are these distinct members of the Orion species, and what is their backstory within the franchise?

The Blue Orions in Star Trek: The Animated Series

Seven years post the cancellation of Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), the inaugural episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS) premiered. This quirky iteration of the Star Trek universe, though short-lived with only two seasons, sparked ongoing debates about its inclusion in the franchise canon. The series gained notoriety for its frequent contradictions and inconsistencies with established Star Trek lore.

A notable inconsistency arose in the second season episode titled “The Pirates of Orion,”where, for the first time, Orions appeared as light blue rather than varying shades of green, the established norm. Additionally, these Orions pronounced their species name as “OR-ee-un”rather than the traditional “oh-RYE-on,”a pronunciation that had persisted until that episode.

The introduction of Blue Orions marked the first occasion the Enterprise crew encountered male Orions, which led fans to speculate that all male Orions were, in fact, blue — an idea that expanded rather than contradicted the existing canon. However, decades later, Enterprise, a prequel to TOS, showcased male Orions with the familiar green skin tone.

Despite this inconsistency remaining unexplored for years, the fifth season of Lower Decks revisits the concept. When Tendi comes across the Blue Orions, it is revealed that they represent a faction opposed to the Green Orions.

Explaining the Existence of Blue and Green Orions

The Lower Decks series finally provides clarity on the long-standing question of the different Orion skin tones: the blue and green variations are simply natural occurrences. This distinction is not tied to gender or sex, which some fans had previously assumed.

As for the behind-the-scenes rationale, it’s a bit murky. Dorothy Fontana, a key writer for Star Trek, noted in an interview that many color inconsistencies in TAS arose because the frequent director, Hal Sutherland, was colorblind and viewed all aliens as shades of gray, failing to notice any color discrepancies.

In contrast, Bob Kline, a character designer for TAS, indicated that Irvin Kaplan, the color director, was often responsible for such inconsistencies:

“Irv was in charge of ink and paint, coloring the various characters and props […] He was also referred to by many people there as the purple and green guy. You’ll see it in a lot of scenes, purple and green used together […] It was all Irv Kaplan’s call. He wasn’t listening to anyone else when he picked colors or anything.”

While Kline didn’t attribute the blame for Blue Orions directly to Kaplan, the association with distinctive colors raises questions about his influence. The Blue Orions are seen wearing uniforms that are bright green with purple accents, possibly aligning with Kaplan’s signature style.

Another theory posits that the blend-up may have occurred during the design process when character designers confused Orions with Andorians, stemming from the TOS episode “Journey to Babel,”where an Orion operative was depicted in disguise as an Andorian. This confusion could have led to the animated portrayal being influenced by that particular episode.

Ultimately, the precise reasoning behind the Blues’ unexpected skin color in TAS remains a mystery. However, thanks to Lower Decks, fans can now confidently acknowledge their existence within the Star Trek canon.

The Pronunciation Quirk of Orion

While the reason for the Blue Orions’ skin color may remain a grey area, the peculiar pronunciation of their species name does have a consistent backstory. In a podcast episode titled Enterprise Incidents with Scott & Steve, Trek expert Scott Mantz explained that William Shatner frequently mispronounced terms during his recordings. He notably referred to Orion as “OR-ee-un,”and the other actors adopted this pronunciation, possibly resulting from a lack of pronunciation guides in the TAS scripts.

The in-universe explanation for the divergent pronunciation between Blue and Green Orions is not addressed within Lower Decks, but it appears to be an established quirk among the Blue Orions, as Tendi and her crew poke fun at their pronunciation.

The Conflict Between Green and Blue in Lower Decks

Blue Orions TAS — A still from *Star Trek: The Animated Series* episode “The Pirates of Orion”

Although the initial episodes of Lower Decks season 5 do not provide a clear-cut explanation for the discord between Green and Blue Orions, keen-eyed viewers may draw conclusions from the narrative and dialogue. The summons of both factions before the Orion Pirate Queen suggests they are part of a shared societal framework—likely aligned with the Syndicate, led by a Green Orion. However, it is evident that the two groups do not coexist harmoniously.

A revealing remark about the Blue Orions characterized them as “patriarchal doofuses.”This aligns with prior canon that confirms Orion culture as primarily matriarchal, with women exerting influence over governance and trade, and overseeing the lives of men. Consequently, this comment implies that the Blue faction represents a patriarchal split from the historically matriarchal Green Orions at some juncture in Orion’s history.

As Tendi returns to the U.S.S. Cerritos by the end of the second episode of season 5, it remains uncertain whether the Blue Orions will make another appearance. Yet, given the unpredictable nature of Lower Decks, there’s no telling what the future holds.

Sources: Phase II E-Magazine, Star Trek: The Official Guide to the Animated Series, Enterprise Incidents with Scott & Steve

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