Summary
Chameloids and Changelings are both shapeshifting aliens in theStar Trekuniverse, but these two individual species are very different. Chameloids were first introduced inStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, when aChameloid named Martia (Iman)encountered Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForrest Kelley) in the Klingon prison, Rura Penthe. Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) ofStar Trek: Deep Space Ninewas the franchise’s first Changeling, though Odo didn’t know his important origin as a Founder of the Dominion whenDS9started.
Changelings and Chameloids haven’t been given equal due inStar Trek, despite having similar abilities to impersonate people.Star Trek: Deep Space NineandStar Trek: Picardelaborated on the mythology and nature of Changelings asStar Trek’s primary shapeshifting species, whileChameloids like Iman’s Martia fell by the wayside. That will change withStar Trek: Section 31, when the made-for-streamingStar Trekmovie brings back the forgotten Chameloid species. At San Diego Comic-Con 2024,Section 31star Sam Richardson revealed that his unnamed character isn’t human at all, butStar Trek’s first Chameloid sinceStar Trek VI.
Star Trek Alien Not Seen For 33 Years Returns In Section 31 Movie
At SDCC 2024, Sam Richardson confirms which alien he plays in Star Trek: Section 31, and the last time we saw this species was in Star Trek VI.
What Is A Chameloid In Star Trek VI & Section 31?
Section 31 Brings Back Star Trek VI’s Shapeshifting Aliens
Compared toStar Trek’s shapeshifting Changelings, Chameloids are somewhat limited in their shape-changing ability. Chameloids can only change shape into other humanoid forms, andChameloids' eyes take on a bright golden yellow.InStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Iman’s Chameloid character, Martia, takes on the guise of a “brute” (Tom Morga), a young girl (Katie Jane Johnston), and finally, Kirk himself, once Kirk and McCoy realize they’re being set up. InStar Trek: Section 31, the made-for-streamingStar Trekmovie starring Michelle Yeoh that debuts in 2025, Sam Richardson’s Chameloid character shares the yellow-eyed trait with Iman’s Martia.
Because of their shapeshifting abilities,Chameloids may find easy employment with some of the galaxy’s more unsavory types.In an early draft ofStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Martia is sentenced to Rura Penthe for smuggling. Martia’s transformations make escape from Rura Penthe quite easy, as the “brute” form lets Martia into restricted areas of the prison, and Martia can slip through restraints as a young girl. No doubt Sam Richardson’s Chameloid inStar Trek: Section 31will have similar skills that could aid Starfleet’s black ops team — and indeed, may have landedSection 31’s Chameloid on Starfleet’s radar to begin with.
What Is A Changeling In Star Trek: DS9 & Picard?
Odo’s People Are The Founders Of The Dominion
Star Trek: Deep Space Nineintroduced a new type of shapeshifter with the Changelings andDS9’s Constable Odo.Changelings can take on almost any form,but the natural state of Changelings is an amorphous liquid, which they must revert to every 16 hours before losing structural integrity and becoming irritable. On their home world, the Changelings exist in the Great Link: a single organic ocean where they can experience each other’s emotions, memories, and heal each other. As the Founders of the Dominion, Changelings ruled the Gamma Quadrant, and sought to expand their reach into the Alpha and Beta Quadrants duringStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Dominion War.
DS9’s Odo admits to having difficulty with replicating individual faces, whereas other Founders can easily replace specific people. Presumably, other Founders, like Salome Jens' Female Changeling, mimic Odo’s indistinct features when they take a humanoid shape to try sympathetically winning Odo to their side.
Because Changelings could effectively replicate anyone down to the last detail,Changelings were able to infiltrate Starfleet and the Klingon Empire, sowing seeds of distrust. Only blood tests could discern who had been replaced with a Changeling. InStar Trek: Picardseason 3, Vadic (Amanda Plummer), a Changeling who had been experimented on by Section 31, led a faction of vengeful Changelings who were allied with the Borg. Vadic’s Changelings acquired Vadic’s ability to mimic individual humanoids down to their DNA, making them impossible to detect using Dominion War blood tests.
Why Star Trek Made Changelings More Important Than Chameloids
Changelings Have Powerful Advantages Over Chameloids
Because Changelings are far more powerful than Chameloids, in terms of both shapeshifting ability and political power,Star Trekmade Changelings more important than Chameloids.Changelings have advantages that make them compellingStar Trekadversaries. Changelings aren’t limited to humanoid forms, like Chameloids are. Changelings don’t eat or breathe, and can survive in the vacuum of space. Their liquid nature makes Changelings resistant to disruptor fire. A quantum stasis field invented by the Cardassian Obsidian Order can prevent Changelings' shapeshifting, but won’t kill them. Ultimately, Changelings changed the political landscape inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, because anyone could have been a Changeling replacement duringDS9’s Dominion War.
Chameloids, by contrast, haven’t driven an extensive plot the way that Changelings did inStar Trek: Deep Space NineandStar Trek: Picard. Martia wasn’t inStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Countryvery long, but as a Rura Penthe prisoner desperate to trade Kirk and McCoy for her freedom,Martia really didn’t have the power that a Changeling might have hadin the same situation. If Chameloids do have advantages that Changelings don’t, we just might see them whenStar Trekproperly introduces Sam Richardson’s Chameloid inStar Trek: Section 31when it streams on Paramount+ in 2025.
