Tribbles were originally cute and cuddly little balls of fluff beforeStar Trekkept changing them. Tribbles famously made theirStar Trekdebut inStar Trek: The Original Seriesseason 2, episode 15, “The Trouble with Tribbles,” when Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his USS Enterprise crew encounter them aboard a space station. When Lt. Uhrua (Nichelle Nichols) brings one of the little creatures up to the Enterprise, one Tribble quickly turns into thousands of Tribbles with truly hilarious results.
Tribbles emit a pleasant cooing sound when held by most humanoids (aside from Klingons), producing a tranquilizing effect on human nervous system, in particular. Tribbles have appeared in numerousStar Trektelevision showsand movies,both in the background, and as central plot points.Star Trek: Deep Space Nineeven revisited “The Trouble with Tribbles” in the excellent season 5 episode, “Trials and Tribble-ations.” AlthoughTribbles were a nuisance to the United Federation of Planets, they were a true menace to theKlingons, who destroyed the Tribble homeworldsometime in the late 23rd century.
Star Trek Revealed Tribbles Were Changed By A Starfleet Officer’s Dumb Mistake
Lt. Edward Larkin Defied Orders To Keep Experimenting On Tribbles
Star Trek: Short Treksseason 2, episode 2, “The Trouble with Edward” revealed more about the origin of the Tribbles seen inStar Trek: The Original Series.In the 2250s, a foolish Starfleet officer aboard the USS Cabot namedLt. Edward Larkin (H. Jon Benjamin) hatched a plan to turn Tribbles into a viable food source.When Larkin first found the Tribbles, the creatures bred extremely slowly. Wanting to make Tribbles a quickly replenishing source of food, Larkin proposed his plan to genetically alter the Tribbles to make them breed faster.
Tribbles Are Proof That Star Trek’s Federation Are Hypocrites
The history of Tribbles and Starfleet highlights the hypocrisy of the United Federation of Planet’s ban on genetic engineering in Star Trek.
Captain Lynne Lucero (Rosa Salazar) raised several moral objections to Larkin’s plan, questioning whether the Tribbles were intelligent. As Larkin was dismissive of her concerns and could not provide a clear answer to her inquiry, she ordered him to halt the project. Larkin kept working on it anyway, modifying the Tribbles with his own DNA.His modifications worked far too well and Tribbles soon overran the Cabot,forcing the crew to abandon ship. Larkin refused to leave the ship and was killed when the Cabot was destroyed, but his modified Tribbles found their way into Klingon space, where they continued to wreak havoc.
Starfleet Genetically Engineered Tribbles Again To Attack
Section 31 Has A Scary Attack Tribble In Storage
Another genetically altered Tribble popped up inStar Trek: Picardseason 3 among the manyEaster eggs glimpsed at Daystrom Station. InPicardseason 3, episode 6, “The Bounty,” Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Captain Worf (Michael Dorn), and Commander Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) transported to Daystrom Station in search of answers regarding a recent attack on Starfleet. When Raffi wondered what Starfleet stored at Daystrom Station,Worf replied:“Section 31’s most nefarious table scraps.“One of these so-called"table scraps"included an aggressive new kind of Tribble.
Cyrano Jones (Stanley Adams) also attempted to genetically alter Tribbles inStar Trek: The Animated Seriesseason 1, episode 5, “More Tribbles, More Troubles.”
The Tribble was kept in a glass cage aboard the station, and it violently attacked the glass when Worf approached. Tribbles have always reacted negatively to Klingons, butthis"attack Tribble"displayed at least five separate mouths, each with multiple rows of very sharp teeth.Riker joked that Worf was a"mighty Klingon taken aback by the even mightier attack Tribble,“but this genetically modified Tribble was genuinely frightening. It remains unknown what purpose Section 31 planned for their attack Tribbles, but an army of those creatures would be truly terrifying.
Klingons Also Genetically Engineered Tribbles
The Klingons Sent Out Warriors To Hunt The Tribbles
As seen inStar Trek: Prodigyseason 2, the Klingons also dabbled in genetic manipulation when it came to Tribbles. InProdigyseason 2, episode 13, “A Tribble Called Quest,” Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) and the young crew members of the USS Protostar encounter giant and unusually aggressive Tribbles. They soon learn thata Klingon scientist named Dr. K’ruvang (Jorge Gutiérrez) was attempting to stop the Tribbles from breeding so rapidly.His experiments, however, resulted in surprisingly"voracious"Tribbles that move more quickly, have more teeth, and get much larger than regular Tribbles.
Star Trek Reveals Why Tribbles Are No Longer A Threat In Discovery
In Star Trek: Discovery’s 32nd century, Tribbles can be kept as pets and not breed into an ecological disaster. Star Trek Prodigy explains how.
Thankfully, Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui) had studied Tribbles for her Starfleet admission thesis and had devised a way to stop them from multiplying.Rok-Tahk helped K’ruvang alter his Tribbles yet again,shrinking them back to normal size and slowing them down. This “victory” over the Tribbles allowed K’ruvang to regain his honor and return home to Qo’noS. Despite the Federation’s ban on genetic engineering, Starfleet and the Klingons can’t seem to leave Tribbles alone. Tribbles have gone through several changes since theirStar Trekdebut, with most of these alterations making the creatures worse.
