Rank the four steps in the stereotyping process with the first step at the top.

Ensign Boimler: We get all the paperwork signed, make sure we're spelling the name of the planet right, get to know all the good places to eat...

This also applies to her fellow California-class ships. They may not look flashy, but they're easily customizable for specific missions.

Boimler actually addresses this to the Titan crew. The Titan is a much more action-oriented ship, with the crew going into battles every five minutes. However, the Cerritos is a much more subdued ship, full of explorers, and harkens back to old TNG. The Titan crew finds TNG exploring and political episodes boring, but both Boimler and Riker find them soothing. Riker even says that Boimler shouldn't take the Cerritos for granted.

Dude, Where's My Respect?: Part of the show's premise is that the Cerritos is one of Starfleet's least important ships. In-Universe, her captain feels that Starfleet considers the Cerritos to be a joke. However, to the California-class fleet at large, the Cerritos might as well be the Enterprise.

Famed In-Story: Despite being a California-class and not too amazing in the whole workings of Starfleet, the Cerritos is actually beloved by other California-class crew in the fleet, being considered the Enterprise of the California-class. This is due to their adventures, including surviving two encounters with the Pakleds.

Non-Standard Character Design:

• A downplayed example; while the Cerritos is unusually designed and lacking the sleek lines of other "main character" ships, her saucer section and warp nacelles clearly identify her as a Federation vessel. Her odd placement of the secondary hull is not without precedent either, as other "background" designs such as the Oberth
  
  - and Steamrunner
  - class vessels have unconventional secondary hulls as well.
• California-class ships have their name and registry number on the back of the saucer rather than on the front as with most Starfleet designs. According to invokedWord of God, this is for the benefit of ships that the Cali is towing.

Stylistic Suck: With a "flat" saucer section, oddly placed warp nacelles, lack of a connecting "neck", and awkwardly-connected secondary hull, the California-class is designed to look like one of the throwaway ship models kitbashed from other models to be seen in distant group shots in some other Star Trek series. The disconnect between the saucer and the engineering section also symbolizes the disconnect between the senior officers and the lower deckers.

What a Piece of Junk: As a "second contact" ship, she is considered one of the less prestigious duty postings in the fleet. In "Cupid's Errant Arrow", the Cerritos is shown to need constant maintenance, and is prone to random plasma fires. She's approximately a decade and a half old, as her registry number would place her as a contemporary with the U.S.S. Voyager (NCC-74656). On the other hand, the Cerritos shows surprising robustness at times (not unlike Voyager, in fact), as in "Moist Vessel", when the effects of the terraforming goo are completely reversed and leave no permanent damage. Even more impressive considering that the same goo renders her sister ship the Merced unsalvageable, with barely a Hand Wave (the ship was allegedly "more exposed" to the effects of the goo). Riker also compliments her hardiness in the season 1 finale, considering how long she lasted against scavengers with superior firepower. Overall, while the Cerritos is not a particularly prestigious ship, she's still much more capable than dedicated support ships like the Miranda- and Oberth-classes, which are notorious for their loss rates in TNG and DS9.

Main Cast

    Ensign Beckett Mariner 

Ensign Beckett Mariner

"Sometimes, you have to do what's wrong to survive."

Voiced by: Tawny Newsome

An ensign aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos in the command division, and the daughter of Captain Carol Freeman.

---

• 10-Minute Retirement: After the events of “Trusted Sources”, where she is accused of trying to wreck the reputation of the Cerritos and is sent to Starbase 80 in punishment, she resigns her commission and takes up Petra’s offer to be an independent exoarcheologist. She ultimately realizes doing things like this isn't her thing and she belongs in Starfleet, with her returning to the Cerritos.
• The Ace: Zig Zagging. While she excels at most of the practical skills it takes to be a Starfleet officer, she has a horrible attitude and resents most authority figures. Season 2 shows that she basically has no life skills other than what's necessary to be a badass and leans into it to build an emotional wall around herself and others.
• Action Girl: Deconstruction. Beckett can throw down the best of 'em and has saved her ship time after time, but she struggles when she encounters a problem she can't punch away.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Mariner will date anyone of any gender (or species), so long as said gender has "bad" before it. This includes bad as in evil, since "ruthless alien masterminds" are on her list. This is subverted in Season Three when it's revealed she has been "babe-ing" with Jennifer, who seems pretty far from a bad girl based on her appearances.
• Almighty Janitor: Incredibly competent at every skill applicable to being a Starfleet officer, she nevertheless prefers to be an ensign on the lower decks rather than on the bridge. When she's promoted, she is still very adept — but also incredibly miserable from all the bureaucracy required of the role.
• AM/FM Characterization: Mariner is a big fan of Klingon acid punk.
• Anything That Moves: She is pansexual. She likes bad boys, bad girls, bad non-binaries, bad Bynars...
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other:
  • In "Moist Vessel", she and Freeman briefly put aside their long-standing animosity and hug each other after they save the crews of the Cerritos and the Merced. When they realize that they're in an embrace, they quickly let go and pretend like nothing happened.
  • Her plot in "Cupid's Errant Arrow" is all about her being desperate to keep her best friend (Boimler) safe from what she's convinced is an insidious plot by his girlfriend to kill him.
  • In a backwards way, "Crisis Point" demonstrates this too. Although the real Mariner is dead-set on thrashing holo-Freeman (after violently tearing through the rest of the crew), she is thwarted when holo-Mariner beams Freeman away and holds real-Mariner off long enough to trigger the self-destruct while delivering a "The Reason You Suck" Speech about how much she really loves her mom, the ship, and Starfleet. Mariner really can't refute this as Boimler used the crew's personal logs as a template for their personalities in the program.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension:
  • With Ransom in "Temporal Edict". After an intense argument, he stabs her foot with a crystal battle blade, and she finds him hot while he fights shirtless during his Trial by Combat. Amusingly, both her and Ransom are visibly disturbed by this development.
  • Also implied in "First First Contact" between Beckett and Jennifer, who the former claims dreams about her every night with her "stupid little butt". She later admits that she goes out of her way to put distance between herself and the people she likes.
• Blood Knight: Deconstruction. Mariner loves having her back to the wall with a bat'leth in one hand and a phaser in the other, but she works for an organization that veers into Suicidal Pacifism more than once. In her recreational activities, she uses intensely dangerous scenarios for her calisthenics and can go from 1 to 100 on a dime in martial arts.
• Book Dumb: She has her experience and street smarts... and figures that's really all she needs.

  Mariner: (regarding whether she actually read a mission briefing) I skimmed almost most of it, and read some of the captions, so...

• Breaking the Fourth Wall: While Leaning on the Fourth Wall is par for the course for this show, Mariner so far appears to be the only character who outright breaks it. She mutters Khan's dialogue in her sleep; drops titles of old Trek episodes, and refers to characters from series that never made it to production. How she is able to do this is never explained.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: She knows the regulations even better than Boimler does, and she used to have a higher rank, but she just doesn't like the work or Starfleet's bureaucracy, so she's been kicked back down to ensign and has no desire to earn a promotion again.
• Broken Ace: She's incredibly competent at nearly everything she does with a wide breadth of galactic knowledge despite her young age, but she's so contemptuous of Starfleet's Vast Bureaucracy that almost no one wants to work with her (including her parents). "Much Ado About Boimler" reveals that she was actually a straight-laced student in Starfleet Academy who was predicted by her classmates to be the first among them to reach Captain, but something happened that changed her attitude.
• The Bully: Mixed with Hero-Worshipper of all things. Mariner is a huge fan of the legendary James T. Kirk, even modelling her entire identify off of him, or at least his reputation that has survived the generations. This translates to little more than Becket trying to bully her way to getting whatever she wants and hiding behind her parents from consequences, something her own mother calls her out on as she points out that, while Kirk was daring, he always tried diplomacy first and had confidence in his comrades. Mariner on the other hand just turns everything into a fight and tries to push people away, something that she's forced to acknowledge in the Season 2 finale.
• Bully and Wimp Pairing: Mariner's dynamic with Boimler. At the start of the series Beckett treated Brad as little more than her ensign shaped stress ball rather than a friend and Boimler viewed Mariner as someone to escape rather than impress and earn respect from. All the while calling each other their best friend. The Deconstruction part comes in where even years into their partnership both still readily believe the worst in the other, Boimler easily seeing Mariner as someone who sells weapons or a murderous black ops agent based on rumors alone while Mariner refuses to see Boimler as anything other than a green newbie right up until he phasered her and saved both their lives from starvation.
• Butt-Monkey: Whenever Boimler isn't around to take the heat, this is what Mariner turns into. If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. Ranging from being part of a group that accidentally caused a war due to bringing the wrong artifact to a peace summit, to setting off a labyrinth of death traps on a collector's ship, to even being a magnet for the bridge officer's hazardous trash.
• Can't Take Criticism: Mariner will tell anyone to their faces that she's always right and outright despises being disagreed with. Something her own mother, the captain, calls her out on. When she's proven wrong, Mariner will do anything possible not to admit it. Even something so small as sharing funny stories with an acquaintance sets her off, but only if she's the butt of the joke. Everyone else is fair game.
• Chaotic Stupid: She may have street smarts, but almost no common sense. She gets drunk on Romulan whiskey and wildly swings a bat'leth around in a corridor, raises and lowers a blast shield on a shuttlecraft rather than get work done, and fires a phaser at someone behind a force field in order to test its field strength without first making sure that her firearm is actually set to 'stun'. In every case, the recipient tends to be Boimler.
• Character Development: In Season 1, Mariner glories in being a pain in the ass to her superiors and twice sabotages herself to avoid promotion, insiting that she's a "cool, Kirk-style badass" until "Crisis Point" forces her to acknowledge that there are deeper issues motivating her behavior. Over the next two seasons, Mariner starts to repair her relationship with her mother, opens up more to her crewmates, and becomes a more reliable officer (although she's still a Military Maverick, she's a more directed one). When she gets an ultimatum to shape up or ship out, Mariner takes it seriously and ends up with a glowing performance review. Unfortunately, the rest of the crew—apart from her close Beta Shift friends—haven't forgotten her initial attitude. Ultimately, being able to leave Starfleet and do things without people telling her what to do convinces her that Starfleet is her home and she returns, even requesting Ransom to be her mentor.
• Commitment Issues: Implied in "Mining the Mind's Mines". When the telepathic spy-orbs start turning the Ensign's dreams into reality, Mariner's takes the form of her new Love Interest Jennifer acting seductively towards her. When they start conjuring up their nightmares, on the other hand, she is replaced by a werewolf-ized version of Jennifer who starts chasing her while talking about spending their lives together.
• Cool Big Sis: Mixed with Big Sister Bully. Deconstruction. Mariner has been in Starfleet a long time and is qualified to be an XO or even captain of a starship but for her refusal to get promoted. Which means that for the majority of her career most or all of the co-workers on her shift are either green newbies about to leave her behind or demoted screw-ups on their way out. The few people Beckett does see as her peers refuse to see her as such. This causes Mariner to be condescending even on a good day and it takes being phasered to even register that her closest friend has grown to be her equal.
• Covered with Scars: Mariner's body is riddled with scars, according to "Temporal Edict".

  T'Ana: Want me to clean up those disgusting scars?
  Mariner: Uh, no way. No, these are my trophies.
  T'Ana: Congratulations, you look like a [bleep]ing scratching post.

• Crying Wolf: Gets hit with this as part of a Deconstruction of her rebellious space-explorer persona. Having a lifelong history of blowing off orders and bucking authority not only means that her superiors will immediately look at her when things go wrong, but also won't believe her when she tries to set the record straight. When the bad track record of the Cerritos is passed on to a reporter, blame is immediately pinned on her based on her trouble-making personality and nobody's interested in what she has to say to defend herself. When her mother apologizes to her and asks why she didn't trust her, Mariner straight up admits "Maybe it's because I spent years making sure you didn't."
• Custom Uniform: Downplayed. She wears a standard-issue uniform, but with the sleeves rolled up, which Ransom points out is against regulation, and has the collar open most of the time unless she's on a mission. It shows that she'll subtly thumb her nose at authority in any way she can, while also establishing she's not afraid to do hard work and get her hands dirty.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: She once dated an Anabaj just to piss off her mother.
• Deadpan Snarker: Mariner has a dry, sarcastic sense of humor, and is willing to take cracks at most of the people on the Cerritos and others, especially her mom and the bridge crew.
• Declining Promotion: An extremely common Star Trek trope, Exaggerated and Deconstructed with her. Many Starfleet characters turn away promotions that would take them away from things they love (Kirk, Picard, Riker), but these still leave them in prestigious positions. Mariner intentionally sabotages her career so she can remain at the lowest possible rank. The problem is that what keeps her from getting promoted is that she (sometimes on purpose) instigates every situation she gets in and bucks rank. Characters who don't know how capable she is treat her like her rank suggests and blow her off as an overeager ensign, and characters who do are often too exasperated by her attitude and lack of responsibility to take her seriously.
• Determinator: Zigzagged. While Mariner is the most intense, connected, and experienced character on the show, whenever there's not enough action or there's too much effort to a task she will call it a day. That said, if it appears someone in genuine trouble, she will not abandon them and try to help them to the best of her abilities. This contrast with Fletcher who was willing to let the ship be destroyed if it means avoiding trouble for a problem created by his attempt to slack off.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Tells Q right to his face to piss off because she (and Boimler, Rutherford and Tendi for that matter) doesn't have time for any of his "Q bullshit" at the end of a particularly rough day on the Cerritos.
• Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Comes up more than once in season 2 because she has trouble opening up to people. Since she looks like a tough, smart-mouthed rogue, her friends don't realize when she's upset (or don't question why) until it hits a breaking point.
• Establishing Character Moment: Two in "Second Contact"; the first time we see her, she's drunk on Romulan ale and carelessly wielding a Klingon bat'leth. Later in the same episode, Boimler discovers she's been secretly delivering farming supplies to some impoverished Galardonians who need them, bypassing the bureaucracy so they can comfortably survive. She may be a loose cannon who doesn't care much for regulation, but she sincerely cares about helping people wherever she can.
• Every Scar Has a Story: In "Temporal Edict", she explains the history of her scars to Ransom.

  Mariner: See this bad boy? Tentacle guy, bunch of arms. Stabbed me with a barnacle blade. Check it out — Magus III, Nanibia Prime, Scottsdale. That was a mess. I earned every one in high-concept fights just like this one.

• Everyone Has Standards: Mariner has been all over the galaxy, seen every quirk to every culture, and goes out of her way to be as audacious as possible when she can get a way with it. But even this rogue was outright disgusted when she realized she was holding an unwashed Caitian libido post with her bare hands.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Any photos or flashbacks of Mariner all have different hairstyles. Apparently she changed them whenever she was shuffled to a new assignment, and she's been reassigned a lot.
• Extreme Omnisexual: She likes her romantic/sexual partners to have the word "bad" in front of their gender (whatever it may be), but other than that everyone is fair game for her.
• First-Episode Spoiler: It's revealed at the end of the pilot that Captain Freeman is her mother.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Well, her current friends like her, but Mariner has a long history of pissing people off, so any time we see her talking to old contacts, they do stuff like charge her double for a repair job or try to trick her into being arrested for carrying contraband. Even as-is, the main reason she's still on good terms with her current group of friends is her Character Development means she's able to admit her mistakes with them, show her vulnerable side, and listen when they put their foot down with her.
• Give Geeks a Chance: Non-romantic version, probably. When Mariner and the rest of Shax's search team were captured by Ferengi poachers, the moment that Boimler and Rutherford showed up to negotiate their freedom Mariner happily announced 'those beautiful nerdy men' were saving them all with the power of math.
• Gender-Blender Name: Beckett is a unisex name, so, on its own, it's difficult to tell the character's gender.
• Going Commando: This appears to be Mariner's default. As while we've seen her wearing underwear in the first episode, she considers the simple fact of putting on underwear enough of a reason to power through station security and threaten criminals. Indicting that, aside from field missions, Mariner usually just wears the Starfleet uniform and nothing else.
• Has a Type: As she says in "We'll Always Have Tom Paris", it's bad boys, bad girls, and bad gender non-binary people. In a physical appearance sense, she's had an immediate reaction to characters with big muscles on multiple occasions on screen.
• Have I Mentioned I Am Sexually Active Today?: While Mariner has claimed to have been with everything from outright villains, to gender nonbinary babes, to borderline Eldritch Abominations, she's never actually been seen dating anyone. The only confirmed person Mariner has dated was Captain Amina Ramsey, and that was back in their academy days, along with one awful date with a Conspiracy Theorist on the Cerritos a year before the series started. Averted in Season 3, where she's in a relationship with her former Sitcom Arch-Nemesis Jennifer the Andorian.
• He Is Not My Boyfriend: With Boimler. They both claim that they're nothing more than friends, though Mariner can come off as possessive due to her own past trauma (like the time she saw a colleague get devoured by her boyfriend.) All the same, while this trope often serves as cover for Belligerent Sexual Tension, Mariner really is upset seeing Brad in any sort of sexual situation and even professes at one point to view him more as a pet than anything else. And the thought of other people finding Brad attractive makes her dump an entire bottle of alcohol in her glass.
• Hypocrite:
  • Is greatly annoyed that the senior officers do not treat her as a peer when she butts heads with them, despite the fact that the only reason that she is still an ensign is because she actively resists promotion.
  • Also says repeatedly that the reason she hid that she was the captain's daughter was to avoid special treatment, and how much she dislikes her superiors trying to kiss up to Freeman by using her a proxy. At the same time, the only reason she wasn't kicked out of Starfleet years ago was because of her connections, and a major reason she hates the idea of her Mom being transferred to another ship is because she knows another captain won't give her anywhere close to as much leeway.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Mariner has been in Starfleet a long time. Because of that and how crew members are moved around every couple of years to new posts and positions, Beckett has never had a friend longer than a term of service on a starship, or even less when they're promoted and get transferred even faster. It's gotten to the point that Mariner even thinks its better not to make friends in the first place than to lose them, making her one of the loneliest crew members on the Cerritos if not all of Starfleet. The fact that her own mother, the captain, can barely stand to be around her does not help.
• Internal Reformist: The first season finale has her becoming one, with her deciding to work together with her mother to help pull Starfleet out of its Lawful Stupid Obstructive Bureaucrat policies that allow for stuff like the Pakleds becoming a Not-So-Harmless Villain. While the alliance ends rather quickly next season when Mariner and Freeman realize how much they hate working together, Mariner will continue to try and find loopholes for said policies to help people.
• Jabba Table Manners: She's a messy eater. In "Envoys", she spills broth all over the shuttlecraft's consoles while enjoying a noodle soup.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She might be an obnoxious prick with an almost pathological inability to follow the rules, but sincerely cares about both Starfleet and her crewmates, and is furiously dedicated to doing the right thing.
• Kicked Upstairs: In "Moist Vessel", Ransom and Freeman try to make her transfer by assigning her terrible duties, but Mariner finds a way to make them all fun. What does make her miserable? Being promoted back to Lieutenant with all the bureaucratic busywork and agonizing social events that entails.
• The Last DJ: She's been in Starfleet for a surprisingly long time, and it's implied she's been both promoted and demoted several times. She's got a strong sense of her own convictions and is extremely competent when she applies herself, but her laziness when she doesn't care and a general disdain for authority have severely limited her career advancement (which is a state she seems perfectly content with). None of the people who are her peers by age and experience have much respect for the insubordinate ensign with the sloppy uniform.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: The masculine girl to Boimler's feminine boy.
• Meaningful Name: "Mariner" is another word for sailor, and Starfleet's basic command structure was inspired by Gene Roddenberry's time serving in the U.S. Navy. It also helps that any Federation starship is essentially a submarine in space. invoked This adds some extra Fridge Brilliance to her first scene where she's wasted on Romulan ale; she's a drunken sailor.
• Motor Mouth: She tends to talk a light-year a minute.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Mariner is a born warrior with no patience for paperwork and a strong distaste for anything sentimental. Naturally she's in a Quasi-military that focuses on peace, bureaucracy, and cultural artifacts. Dont' even get her started on Earth, which Mariner thinks is the most boring and dumb place in the galaxy.
• Naked People Are Funny: Most likely crew member to get naked for a gag instead of fanservice.
• Nepotism: While she definitely earned her way into Starfleet, her insubordinate attitude would have gotten her kicked out if it had not been for her family connections. Since her captain mother and admiral father don't want to have a washout for a daughter, her punishments are limited to demotion and brig time (which don't bother her anyway). While she resents being coddled and even considered transfer herself at one point, she does accept the protection of being on Freeman's ship. Subverted in her mother tells her that she and her father will not longer cover for her, and that from now on her being a member of Starfleet will be Ransom's call.
• Nonuniform Uniform: Among all the crew, she's the only one who wears her uniform with the sleeves rolled up. She also frequently has her uniform flap open, when she can get away with it.
• Noodle Incident: As the oldest and most experienced of the lower deckers, her backstory is full of unexplained incidents, including the matter of how she got demoted and transferred off the Quito. She also appears to have an equal amount of apparently random intergalactic connections who either owe her a favor, or who bear an undying grudge against her.
• Not so Above It All: Mariner loves everything about being in Starfleet, but has cultivated a Military Maverick attitude and "cool" image that makes her reluctant to admit she gets excited about the same stuff that her fellow ensigns do—like the sight and sound of the warp core, or foraging off the bridge crew's conference snacks during cleanup.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Mariner will go to some lengths to keep herself from adding another pip. She's actually qualified to be the XO of a starship, and her old Academy friend tries to get Mariner to be hers, so Mariner pretends to be a flake until an actual crisis forces her to stop. She also has no problem calling herself a Federation dog to get information from a Klingon and gets herself demoted from lieutenant by embarrassing Freeman in front of an admiral.
• Older than They Look: Or at least, older than she acts. If, as her flashback in "Cupid's Errant Arrow" implies, she was already in Starfleet by the time of the events of TNG's "Descent"note or the very least the Dominion War considering the uniform she wore at the time came out in 2373- this gets more muddled as we see the Titan are still using those uniforms, then she'd have to be at least in her mid-thirties. "Much Ado About Boimler" appears to confirm this, as one of her Academy contemporaries is already a starship captain.
• Out of Focus: Downplayed, as she remains the lead character, but she is much more clearly the main protagonist in Season 1 than in Season 2, which focuses more on the ensemble and makes Boimler and his arc more prominent, both at her expense.
• Percussive Therapy: Mariner has issues. But because of the emotional walls and reputation she's built for herself over the years, not to mention the incompetent therapist assigned to her ship, Beckett has no one to talk to about them right up until the breaking point. The only time Mariner has any kind of breakthrough is when there's some kind of physical catharsis. She only makes progress on her issues during an action-filled holodeck simulation or a mission that's gone south—during which time everyone around her is preoccupied with terror, disgust, and/or survival. By the beginning of the second season, we see that she's made this her hobby. Regular workouts are too boring so she stages Cardassian prison breaks in the Holodeck while spilling her guts to an interrogator about her personal problems. It seems to work better than talking to Migleemo...
• Permission to Speak Freely: When she asks this in "Temporal Edict", Ransom points out that nobody can stop her from speaking freely.
• Platonic Life-Partners: What Mariner insists she and Boimler are. Though to everyone else it looks like they're dating. Even Tendi, a close friend of hers on the same shift, thinks the two practically share the same bunk.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: While playing the villain in the holodeck movie in "Crisis Point", she casts Tendi as a character that amounts to a stereotype of her species which seriously upsets her causing her to leave. While she apologizes at the end of the episode, she still doesn't see a whole lot wrong with casually referencing the stereotypes of other species in the galaxy, or sometimes even exploiting them for her own ends.
• Properly Paranoid: In "Cupid's Errant Arrow", she goes off the deep end a bit when she finds out Boimler is dating a woman who seems way out of his league and spends the entire episode trying to unmask Barb. It turns out she is right to suspect the relationship, but her focus was on the wrong half of the couple.
• Psychological Projection: Mariner has issues. A lot of them and whenever she runs into something she doesn't like she immediately attaches it to those issues. Even people and things Mariner does like, she attaches stuff she doesn't like about herself to them. Something Beckett awkwardly admits when she asks out her Sitcom Arch-Nemesis the Andorian Jennifer.
• Rank Up: Promoted to Lieutenant (full Lieutenant - that's two pips on her collar) in "Moist Vessel", incensing Boimler, as part of a plot by Freeman to convince her wayward daughter to resign or request a transfer. She is busted back down to Ensign at the end of that episode after mocking an Admiral's pronunciation of the word "sensors".
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Boimler's Blue, being carefree and insubordinate compared to his desire to stick to the rules and not rock the boat.
• Reformed, But Rejected: In Season 3, Mariner takes her last chance in Starfleet seriously and it seemed that she was doing much better. However, when a reporter seemingly changes her tune around Captain Freeman and Commander Ransom reveals that Mariner was interviewed, she stands accused of ruining the ship’s reputation and, heartbroken, resigns after she is transferred to Starbase 80.
• Rejection Projection: Mariner has this tendency.
  • After treating Boimler like crap for much of the first season (albeit, what she regarded as a Vitriolic Best Buds friendship), she gets pissed when he accepts a transfer to the Titan, calling him a "backstabbing little weasel" and threatening him with bodily harm. She's still mad at him come season two, but after he gets transferred back to the Cerritos they talk things out and make up.
  • This also applies to Mariner's Sitcom Arch-Nemesis, Jennifer the Andorian. Mariner has a crush on her, which manifests in one-sided Belligerent Sexual Tension, which causes Jen to dislike her, which leads to Mariner disliking her back.
• Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: Mixed with When All You Have Is a Hammer…. Mariner is a fighter. Possibly the best on the Cerritos, though she can be overpowered. The problem is that she has no other skills. When Beckett runs into a problem she can't punch away, she makes more problems that she can, leaving her teammates and commanders to fix the original problem and clean up her mess along with it. This is best shown in "Grounded", as Mariner almost destroyed the careers of the entire main cast while Starfleet brass had already resolved the conflict of the episode in spite of Becketts's actions instead of because of them.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Her character in a nutshell, and at least part of the reason why she has been demoted so many times. By the time of "Crisis Point", this is Deconstructed as she's seen as nothing more than a loose cannon by her own mother and is sent to therapy for it. This gets so bad that, by the time of “Grounded”, she’s willing to pull crimes in the name of “being right”.
• Ship Tease: Mariner can generate this in prolific amounts:
  • With Ransom in "Temporal Edict", leading to a now-infamous case of Belligerent Sexual Tension.
  • With Captain Amina Ramsey in "Much Ado About Boimler".
    
    Word of God even confirms that it was left deliberately ambiguous as to whether they are platonic friends or Amicable Exes, with Mike McMahan apparently favouring the latter explanation.
  • With Jennifer after they resolve their Sitcom Arch-Nemesis feud in the Season 2 finale.
• Slave to PR: Deconstruction and something she inherited from her mother, the captain. Though in the opposite way. Beckett has been in Starfleet most of her life and is fully qualified to take command if her mother is incapacitated. Mariner also has a strong desire to stay where she is and refuses promotion. The problem is to do that she must be viewed as a loose cannon to anyone that can promote her. Which means staged accidents, mistakes, embarrassing stories, borderline catastrophies, and of course open insubordination to superiors. All of which reflect bad on friends and family alike, which pushes them away and isolates Beckett more and more over time.
• Spoiled Brat: Her main problem and glaring flaw. Beckett Mariner is Starfleet royalty in all but name. By her parents own admission they have covered for, excused, and protected her from any form of consequence. Because of that Mariner has nothing but open contempt for the rules and regulations, breaking them even when following procedure is in her best interest. This led to her developing a major case of arrogance and entitlement and prevents her from learning her lesson and overcoming her many issues, let alone a being better member of Starfleet. Deconstructed in that it has done nothing but cause trouble at best and put people in danger at worst, ultimately landing her in a 'shape up or ship out' with the person who hates her the most.
• Street Smart: Combined with Taught by Experience. She doesn't care much for studying, but she can handle herself competently in almost every situation, largely because of these two tropes.
• To Be Lawful or Good: Beckett chooses good. And like most things with Mariner, deconstructed. Beckett has a strong drive to help people. From random locals on the planets her ship visits, her fellow crewmates, to even people that have crossed her- though the latter only to an extent. The problem is that she chooses to do all this under the radar because Mariner can't stand going through the rings of bureaucracy to do it legally. Which means no one- aside from a select few, know why Mariner breaks so many rules. So most of Starfleet views Mariner as little more than a spoiled brat that keeps getting in trouble for the sheer fun of it. Even Boimler at first is fully willing to believe that Mariner is selling weapons than helping farmers before they're let in.
• Too Much Alike: With her mother, the captain. They're both committed to helping people, but they have a strong need to be in charge of whatever group they're working in. When they have to work together personally, they immediately start butting heads until Freeman pulls rank. This comes to a head in "Strange Energies" where the two are forced to admit that they just can't work together on a regular basis.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the tomboy (sassy, forceful Action Girl) to Tendi's Girly Girl (naïve, sweet-natured cutie).
• Toxic Friend Influence: She encourages her lower decks friends — typically Boimler — to do things the non-Starfleet-approved way, which she insists is better and more fun in spite of all the chaos.
• Trauma Button: Overly-perfect romantic partners. She witnessed her good friend Angie being eaten by one. (It's still Played for Laughs.)
• Tuckerization: Mariner is named for creator Mike McMahan's sister, Beckett Mariner McMahan.
• Unaffected by Spice: In "Grounded", she dumps at least half a bottle of 17,000,000 Scoville hot sauce (1,000,000 higher than pure capsaicin) into her food, and after tasting it casually remarks that it has a "nice little kick". A little dash of the stuff was enough to make Boimler pass out after about 30 seconds.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: She's deliberately disrespectful to her superior officers (including her own mother who even tries to force Mariner into requesting a transfer in "Moist Vessel"), and she frequently jibes and emasculates Boimler. This is taken up to eleven in "Crisis Point", where she uses the holodeck to roleplay as a villain and kills the entire crew, dead-set on killing her mother. As she starts working on her issues over the course of the first season, she tones this down and begins to treat Boimler as a real friend.
• Uptight Loves Wild: Inverted. Though her stated preference is bad anything, she used to be in a relationship with Captain Ramsey and has Belligerent Sexual Tension with Ransom, both of whom are far more by-the-book than her.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Reconstruction, and surprisingly not with Boimler but with her mother and captain- Carol Freeman. These two have so much in common it's downright scary sometimes, for both of them. They have been forced to admit that they can't work together personally on a regular basis because they constantly end up fighting inevitably each time. While they avoid each other when they can, the few times they share their off time together isn't much different. The reconstruction part comes in that is these two actually do enjoy spending time with someone who shares their interests, history, and on equal footing when off the clock. Something exceptionally rare for the both of them.
• We Help the Helpless: In "Second Contact", it initially appears from her suspicious behavior that she's selling Federation weapons, but in fact she was giving agricultural tools to two Galardonian farmers who desperately need them.

    Ensign Brad Boimler 

Ensign Bradward "Brad" Boimler

"We all joined Starfleet to dive headfirst into the unknown. We're explorers. Of course we don't always know what's going on!"

Voiced by: Jack Quaid

An ensign aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos in the command division, fresh out of the Academy.

---

• The Ace: As of Season 2, he is slowly becoming this over the course of the series thanks to his time serving as a lieutenant on the U.S.S. Titan. He has become so skilled in fact that in "I, Excretus", not only was he the only member of the crew to pass any of the training simulations, but he was eventually able to increase his score to a perfect 100% and only ended up failing because Captain Freeman ordered him to not finish the program in order to stall for time. This becomes even more impressive when it's revealed that the training simulations were rigged to make sure everyone failed and Boimler was able to not only pass but get a perfect score despite that, something not even James T. Kirk was able to do without resorting to cheating by reprogramming the simulation.
• Affectionate Nickname: Mariner sometimes calls him "Boims".
• Alliterative Name: Bradward Boimler
• Ambiguously Human: A running joke through several episodes now, most notably "I, Excretus", is that Boimler is in fact not actually human, merely some sort of very human-presenting species. Whether this is just a joke at his expense, or hinting at another truth entirely has yet to be seen.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: He gets the promotion to the Titan he wanted. But the reason the Titan is so prestigious is because it's essentially a battleship, and being a helmsman on a ship that is in constant combat with a captain who eagerly dives into space anomalies is really stressful. That said, Boimler is still disappointed when circumstances force him to transfer back to the Cerritos.
• Berserk Button: Do not touch his rank pips or insult Starfleet's uniforms to his face.
• Beware the Nice Ones: For the most part, Boimler is very passive and unwilling to engage. However, even Boimler has his limits and he will flip out.
• Butt-Monkey: He's on the receiving end of constant humiliation and abuse, mostly because of Mariner.
• Can't Live with Them, Can't Live without Them: Despite Boimler and Mariner's frequently tense friendship, Rutherford notes at one point that Bradward seems noticeably more unhinged without her around.
• Character Development:
  • Boimler gets a great deal of this in Season 2. While he's still something of a nebbish and needs backup often, he's found a spine and is a much more capable character overall. Best demonstrated in "Where Pleasant Fountains Lie", a Mariner/Boimler two-hander away team mission (which made up the plot of several Season 1 episodes) where Boimler successfully comes up with a plan to defeat the episode's villain and executes it on his own without any help from Mariner despite her having him re-assigned so that she could look out for him.
  • In Season 3, he's convinced to take up a new way of thinking when he's being hunted and decides to become "Bold Boimler", becoming more vocal and taking more risks. Despite Mariner thinking "Bold Boimler" is gonna get him killed one day, it gives Boimler more confidence — he blows up at a bunch of hecklers while defending Starfleet's actions, becomes an amazing Dabo player and ultimately gets the entire bridge crew of the Cerritos to listen to Shaxs' idea of ejecting the warp core.
• The Chew Toy: To a literal extent in the series premiere, "Second Contact", where he's bodily employed as a pacifier to calm down a giant alien spider (which is itself livestock).
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: In Season 3, he's completely oblivious to the flirtations of all the vineyard girls, taking their questions seriously, though it is debatable whether this is because he hates the lifestyle or because he just doesn't notice. This also applies to fellow Ceritos crewmembers, as Mariner pours herself another round when two of the other girls at Jennifer's sleepover ask whether he is single.

• Cowardly Lion: His first instinct in mildly-dangerous situations is to run away screaming, but when his back's really up against the wall, or if someone else is in danger, he'll step up to save the day, even at the risk of his own life. You know, like a Starfleet officer!
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite being The Chew Toy who frequently finds himself out of his league when dealing with aliens, he's a crack shot with a phaser. He's also the only person on the Cerritos who can function perfectly without buffer time (even the captain herself struggles to uphold her own directive). Appears to be drifting slowly towards Hidden Badass as he's pulled the wool over both Mariner's and Amigus' respective eyes more recently.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Slowly revealed to be suffering from this over the course of Season 3, which nicely informs his Married to the Job status. It's revealed that he was raised on a vineyard for raisins, which he found unbearable, and tried to find a greater purpose by joining Starfleet. As an ensign he's clearly discouraged by his career seemingly hitting nothing but roadblocks, and tries to compensate by doing his menial job to the best of his ability. This comes to a head when his transporter clone is seemingly killed in a random accident, which sends him into existential despair at the apparent meaninglessness of his life.
• Deuteragonist: As in most Star Trek series, Lower Decks is a clear two-man show, with Boimler as the deuteragonist to Mariner. When he isn't sharing the A-plot with Mariner, he is usually the focus of the episode's B-plot. He even gets an episode named for him ("Much Ado About Boimler"), a rare honor among Star Trek regulars. He turns the trick again in Season 2 (although we only learn this at the very end, when he mentions that "Excretus" is his assimilated Borg identity in the simulation). Season 2 also sees his story arc becoming more prominent at the expense of Mariner, the protagonist, whose arc formed the throughline of Season 1.
• Determinator: When Boimler puts his mind to something, nothing will stop him from doing it. Usually through non-violence, though the little guy is more than happy to whip out his phaser when the situation calls for it. Getting beaten up, humiliated, his life threatened is little more than standard operating procedure for this guy.
• Easily Forgiven: Mariner gladly takes him back into the gang when he returns to the Cerritos, despite having been pissed at him for "abandoning" her by accepting a transfer to the Titan. A few episodes later, she admits that she actually is still upset about it, but once he apologizes for how he handled the situation she accepts it without any further drama.
• Effeminate Voice: Downplayed since it's not his normal voice, but when he's overly anxious, he speaks in a high-pitched tone.
• Endearingly Dorky: Reconstruction! Once people get past the straight laced professional butt kisser persona, this is essentially him. Each and every time Brad has managed to get noticed- not just potential suitors but friends and superiors- they note that his non-violent and friendly nerdy personality does so much for them. Ranging from saving the ship itself to simply brightening up their morning after receiving a bad work assignment. All this in a vast organization where everyone is forced to be an action survivor at the very least just to survive, this allows him to stand out.
• Fantastic Racism: He's clearly prejudiced against the Ferengi, believing them to be Obviously Evil and Always Chaotic Evil.note This is probably from being warned about the Ferengi in the academy, a Call-Back to the first episode of Star Trek: Voyager.

  Boimler: He could not be any more Ferengi — the big ears, the beady eyes, the greedy thing they do with their hands. Ferengi are the most untrustworthy race in the galaxy. He probably just wants to lure us over there so he can mug us.

• Fearless Fool: In the third season he declares himself "Bold Boimler" after realizing his cautious nature may be slowing his career advancement, but is quite bad at judging the difference between "bold" and "suicidally reckless."
• Fish out of Water: He's great at following the rules, but out of his depth when the situation calls for flying by the seat of one's pants.
• Happy Ending Override: The first season ends with Boimler getting a promotion and being transferred to the Titan, his dream job. He is shown to be much more in his element on the Titan and seems like things are looking up for him. At the start of the second season though, three months have passed and he is constantly freaking out due to the intense battles he finds himself in. A position on the Titan is more prestigious than most other ships, but much more stressful because it is essentially a battleship instead of an explorer ship. This is zig-zagged at the end of "Kayshon, His Eyes Open", when Boimler is forced to return to the Cerritos and demoted back to Ensign: though a bit annoyed by this turn of events, he now has a better appreciation for his old position, with Riker even encouraging him to enjoy it while it lasts, and he immediately reconnects with his old friends.
• Heroic BSoD: In "Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus", he slips into one when he learns his transporter clone was killed in a freak gas accident and tries to use his holodeck movie to search for The Meaning of Life. When he doesn't find them, he slips even further before passing out and having a dream meeting Captain Hikaru Sulu... or being clinically dead from lack of water, one or the other.
• Hidden Depths: He can play the violin incredibly well, although his songwriting skills need some improvement because he bored the audience during his performance.
• Informed Deformity: At least according to inorganic beings, Boimler has been described as 'pimply faced' by an evil computer and 'almost human' by a simulation of the Borg queen. Though to everyone else he's rather ordinary, even seen as 'mousy sweet and soft'. Though the latter was under influence from a mating parasite. Of course thanks to the minimalist art style to the show, the viewers can't verify any of this.
• The Klutz: While normally Boimler is the epitome of straight laced, he's naturally clumsy and prone to bad luck on a good day. So much so that even the nicest of people and closest of his friends can't help but laugh at his expense. He uses this to save Tendi from her transformation into an angry scorpion by pratfalling repeatedly, making her laugh, which also earns him a compliment from Ransom.
• Married to the Job: Ditches his friends and cuts contact with Mariner following his promotion to U.S.S. Titan.
• Momma's Boy: For the ship's Talent Night, he performs two violin pieces ("Essence" and "Requiem for a Hug") he wrote about his mother.
• My Hover Craft Is Full Of Eels: He gets his metaphors a bit mixed up talking to Kayshon and accidentally calls him fat (at least that's apparently what happened based on context).
• Naked People Are Funny:
  • In "Second Contact", he and Mariner are forced to strip so that she can use their uniforms as a decoy for the spider, but he's irritated that it only goes after his uniform. Then he loses his underwear when the spider uses him as a pacifier. He returns to the ship in a pair of too-short farmer overalls.
  • In "Cupid's Errant Arrow", Mariner finds him in an orbital platform completely naked, because he was expecting his girlfriend.
  • In "I, Excretus", seeing a simulation of Brad going spread eagle during the "Naked Time" simulation is what starts to break Mariner into a complete failure of her simulation training, where she was previously skeeved out at seeing everyone in a sex frenzy but not willing to quit.
• New Meat: In contrast to Mariner, he actually is fresh out of the Academy, although he wants to be promoted as soon as he can.
• No-Respect Guy: He's repeatedly belittled by Mariner and treated as a worthless non-entity by his superior officers. Subverted toward the end of the first season, when his accomplishments finally pay off and he's promoted and transferred to the Titan. Even after returning to the Cerritos in season 2, he's treated with more respect than before and Ransom, at least, openly recognizes him for his accomplishments.
• Non-Action Guy: Like many things with Boimler, Reconstruction. While Brad isn't afraid to whip out his phaser when its called for, Boimler is proud to admit that he's an explorer over an adventurer because it allows him to actually enjoy his service in Starfleet, an organization whose job it is to do exactly that. He even inspired the Space Marine types on the Titan to rediscover their love of "boring" Starfleet things and figured out a non-violent way for them to escape certain death. Conversely, his time on the Titan has made him a more capable fighter and officer, which becomes more obvious when he returns to the Cerritos.
• Obfuscating Disability: He pretends to still be a patient at "the Farm" in order to flirt with the attendants, which works until one of the actual patients calls him out.
• Oblivious to Love: Season 3 shows that he may be more attractive to the opposite sex than he realizes. Jennifer's friends ask Mariner if he's single (to her bafflement), and he's completely oblivious to the fact that all the female employees on his family's vineyard want to have sex with him (no matter how overt they get).
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In "Envoys", Mariner knows something is very wrong with Boimler when he loses the will to carry out their mission.

  Boimler: I don't even care anymore.
  Mariner: What? Oh man, how much blood did you lose?

  • There's also his Rage-Breaking Point in season 3's "Reflections", which occurs after a couple of outpost scientists make fun of Starfleet's uniforms, then take his rank pip and stomp on it. He goes completely apeshit
    and wrecks most of the other booths at the job fair while ranting at the other booth runners and swearing up a storm. Ransom's taken aback to see Boimler on the rampage and Mariner calmly signing people up for Starfleet.
• Other Me Annoys Me: He's transporter-cloned in the second season and feels betrayed and hurt when his other self does not self-sacrificially volunteer to leave the Titan with him — and also starts sucking up to Riker. That said, Brad DOES experience some intense grief when he thinks William's been killed, though it's up to the viewer if it's actual mourning for his other self or if it he's just been painfully reminded of his own mortality.
• The Perfectionist: He desperately needs his efforts to be rewarded, and strives for perfection in whatever task he's assigned. On the one hand, this makes him efficient and he's the only one who can function without "buffer time", on the other, this means he won't stop until he makes a perfect score. (This actually ends up saving the ship in the second season, not only does he pass a rigged simulation, his repeated attempts to bump up his score and avoid The B Grade mean that the bureaucrat trying to disband the ship can't submit the crew's score until he's done.)
• Purple Is the New Black: "Grounded" confirms that his hair is in fact purple, not just a Hollywood Darkness style of black, and that he dyes it that way to cover up his true hair color. What that color is, however, is conveniently not revealed.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: He does his best to curry favor with senior officers and dignitaries, though usually without much luck. He cheerfully admits that he's looking forward to kissing Ramsey's ass when she's assigned temporary captain, although he would have phrased it differently. Ironically Boimler is always noticed by his superiors when he's not doing this, particularly Commander Ransom (who hates bootlickers in general and is never impressed by Boimler whenever he sucks up to him).
• Prone to Tears: He tends to break down into tears whenever he feels unappreciated or helpless.
• Rage-Breaking Point: In "Reflections", after spending the entire time trying his damnedest to prevent Mariner from going rogue, a pair of scientists mock the Starfleet uniform, then one of them pulls off and tosses away his rank pip, leading it to getting it stepped on. That was the last straw for Boimler and he goes apeshit.
• Rank Up: Gets promoted to the rank of Lieutenant (j.g.) at the end of the Season 1 finale. It doesn't last, he ends up getting demoted back to the rank of Ensign at the end of the second episode of Season 2.
• Rapid-Fire "No!": Occasionally prone to this when things are very bad (e.g.: three Pakled ships warping in in the Season 1 finale, or facing death by drowning in the Season 2 finale).
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Mariner's Red, constantly being browbeaten by her into actions he'd rather not do.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: He has a very high-pitched scream when he's in trouble (which is often).
• Social Climber: Of the main characters, Boimler is the most concerned with getting promoted.
• The Stool Pigeon: When the fed-up patients of a medical ship he's on decide to mutiny, Boimler pretends to side with them and immediately tells the captain, although it's mostly out of his belief that they're making a mistake. (Which is—eventually—proven true.)
• Stupid Sexy Friend: Boimler has admitted that he finds Mariner 'hot'... at the worst possible time, during a performance review with the ships captain- Mariner's own mother.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Zig Zagging.
  • After being the resident Butt-Monkey of the Cerritos and having all his attempts at currying favor and advancing himself blow up in his face throughout the first season, the finale has him earn a promotion to and a transfer to the U.S.S. Titan, where he seems to have made new friends and is liked by Captain Riker... Then he gets transporter cloned and his clone steals his promotion and gets him sent back to the Cerritos.
  • Ransom acknowledges his talents at the end of "wej Duj" by recommending him to give pointers to a new cadet who was having trouble maintaining his work schedule.
  • In the aftermath of deciding to be bold in season 3, it seems to be paying off: his rage-induced rampage, while landing him in the brig for a night, impressed Ransom to the point the latter offered to have a drink with Boimler after he's released. Then, during the crew's visit to DS9, he gets absurdly lucky at Quark's dabo table, to the increasing horror of the pit boss; when the boss offers Boimler a gift voucher for Quark's gift shop instead, Boimler gladly takes it (since as he points out, Starfleet doesn't use money) and gets to walk away with no debt and a bunch of Quark's merchandise.
• To Be Lawful or Good: Boimler always goes lawful. He knows the rules and regulations of Starfleet forward, backward, and upside down, following each of them to the letter. The problem that it's left him with little real world experience and initiative to think on his own when he runs into something the regulations didn't cover or handle wrong. More than that, because he sticks to the rules so much, he's seen as a wet blanket by his fellow lower deckers and boring by the higher ups to such an extent he's seen as part of the background at best and outright worthless at worst.
• Took a Level in Badass: After returning from the Titan, one would be excused for assuming that Boimler would backslide to becoming the same nebbish load that he was for most of the first season. And he CAN be... a bit... but also has become a much more capable and well-rounded person during his time on the bigger ship, and is more capable of taking charge, commanding others (including, at times, Mariner herself), deception, trickery and even physical combat. He's also a much more quick-thinking and capable officer.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Downplayed. Beckett at first makes fun of the fact his name is "Bradward", but he treats it as if it's no big deal.
• Workaholic: If it were up to him, there would be no breaks in Starfleet. "Temporal Edict" demonstrates that he excels in a hectic work environment which has strict, jam-packed scheduling, and he effortlessly completes the menial tasks assigned to him in the allotted time (with some tasks even being completed ahead of schedule). He tells Freeman that it has been the greatest week of his life after she eliminated buffer time.

    Ensign D'Vana Tendi 

Ensign D'Vana Tendi

"WE are your family! We will always be there for you! And right now we're headed for a crazy pile of space debris!"

Voiced by: Noël Wells

An ensign aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos in the medical department.

---

• The Ace: A unorthodox example, but Tendi's natural curiosity and relentless zeal for whatever she's doing means she can accumulate new skills and knowledge very quickly, plus she's far more capable in a fight than she looks.
• Achievements in Ignorance: She started practicing DNA sequencing in her off-time, and she ended up creating a dog that could shapeshift, fly, and speak English. Turns out she had no idea what regular dogs were like since they don't have them on Orion, so she didn't think it was weird to add new features.
• Alien Blood: The show establishes in canon that Orions aren't just green-skinned space babes, but green-muscled and green-blooded as well.
• Audience Surrogate: She seems to be written as this, as her reaction to serving aboard the starship is, at least initially, pure Squee. She's also the Naïve Newcomer, so ship protocols can be explained to the audience through her.
• Boyish Short Hair: Her hairstyle is very short (it's shaved around the sides and the back, so her locks are limited to the top of her head), unlike the long hair that's typically associated with Orion women.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Tendi is one of the sweetest and most helpful members of the Cerritos, but she is fully capable of kicking seven shades of green shit out of fully armed and trained soldiers with her bare hands. There's some pretty heavy implications that she was once a fearsome pirate, which are confirmed in "Hear All, Trust Nothing."
• Break the Cutie: Tendi loves Starfleet. She loves the ship, the crew, the adventures and especially her friends. The green medic tries to pack as much fun as she can into her job. But when Tendi unwittingly volunteered her and her friends for the most demeaning and dangerous job on the Cerritos she was smacked down bit by bit until she had an emotional breakdown and wished she never left Orion. Luckily Boimler was there to give her the slapstick Cooldown Hug she needed.
• The Captain: Reveals in "Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus" that this is her ultimate goal.
• Compelling Voice: She may not have the mood-altering pheremones certain other types of Orions have, but she has a "bossing everyone around voice" that she uses on other Orions in "We'll Always Have Tom Paris." It only works on people willing to listen to her in the first place, however, and it initially disturbs her to use it. As she grows more confident, however, she learns how to draw upon her more decisive side to make herself a more effective officer.
• Creating Life Is Awesome: As a personal project she engineered a dog from scratch with no prior experience with one. The result is physically identical to a normal dog, with a lot of random extra abilities.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: You wouldn't know it from her quirky, ditzy personality, but she's more than capable of demolishing close to a dozen armed Romulan guards, with her bare hands. "We'll Always Have Tom Paris" implies these combat skills come from a Dark and Troubled Past that she's loathe to talk about.
• Cultural Rebel: Every other Orion we've seen in the prime timeline has been either a murderous pirate (male) or a voracious sexual predator (female). Conversely, she's a socially awkward medic.
• Curtains Match the Window: Her hair and her eyes are green.
• The Cutie: Big eyes, freckles on her cheeks, a light and sweet voice, and an inherently kind-hearted demeanor; she fits this trope to a tee.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Doesn't want the knowledge to spread she was once called "Mistress of the Winter Constellations." It's eventually confirmed her family were full-on Syndicate pirates, something she's worked hard to put behind her (though some of the skills they taught her do come in handy.)
• Determinator: Deconstruction. Much like Boimler, when Tendi gets an idea in her head she will not stop until she does it. The problem is when this happens it always results in more danger, bodily harm, and unnecessary complications than are necessary. Ranging from hunting friends down to remove body parts, to visiting violent pirate dens, to even willingly cracking open her own limbs.
• The Ditz: For as lovable as Tendi is, she admittedly is this when it comes to Earth-related matters, such as believing that all dogs can shapeshift, fly, and talk.
• Desperately Craves Affection: Kinda. Tendi NEEDS to be liked by anyone she meets. When someone dislikes her, this cute medic describes it as 'ants on her brain'. Tendi will go to any lengths to making someone like her. It really says something that her attempts at this starts at stalking and ends at removing someone's brain and trying to rewire it neuron by neuron.
• Girly Bruiser: She may be bubbly and sweet, but she's devastating in hand-to-hand combat.
• Green-Skinned Space Babe: Played With. She's a member of the Trope Namer species and is certainly attractive, but she doesn't wear revealing clothing (outside of the movie in "Crisis Point") and endears people to her with her kind, cute, and optimistic personality rather than by being an overt seductress the way Orion women are portrayed as. Tendi is admittedly rather upset by the stereotyping of her species as this trope.
• Hidden Buxom: She heavily downplays the fanservice elements seen in Orions up until now and is usually just seen in her Starfleet uniform. Averted in "Crisis Point", when she wears the usual Orion space pirate outfit, and it's made clear she's noticeably curvier than Mariner.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: In "Moist Vessel", we learn that Tendi has an obsessive need to be liked by everyone. In "Strange Energies", she is willing to extract Rutherford's brain rather than risk losing him as a friend.
• Instant Expert: Well, "instant" may be a stretch, but she dedicates herself to any task she gets with 100% enthusiasm, and takes up numerous side projects in her off-time. She has the same dedication for cleaning the conference room as she does running a secret Black Ops mission with her executive officer. It makes Dr. T'Ana take notice and recommend she take the bridge exam to become Science Officer.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Thanks to the training she received from her pirate family, when Tendi decides to kick ass, she goes hard.
• Mad Scientist: She shares this role equally with Rutherford. As a member of the medical staff her first day started with her pumping a fully awake patient's heart with her bear hands, creates a borderline eldritch abomination dog in her spare time, and when she's worried about a friend's behavior she tries to hunt him down to remove his brain.
• The Medic: Among the main cast, she's a medical officer who assists Dr. T'Ana in sickbay.
• Minion with an F in Evil: On the occasions she has to pretend to be a bad person, she's not very good at it, using G-rated swears and half-heartedly talking about robbing people. If the implication she used to be a pirate is true, this is probably why she isn't one anymore.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Up until now, Orions have been portrayed as vicious space pirates and seductresses. Tendi isn't either of those things and insists that Orions haven't engaged in piracy for, like, five years now (mostly).
• New Meat: She's fresh out of Starfleet Academy and new to the U.S.S. Cerritos.
• Nice Girl: She's the most consistently kind-hearted and good-natured of the four main characters, aside from perhaps Rutherford.
• Not so Above It All: Tendi is the nicest person on the Cerritos, if not all of Starfleet, and tries to get along with everyone. But even the heart of Beta Shift can't help but laugh when she sees the resident Butt-Monkey make a mess of himself. Because of this and her love of slapstick, she's able to bounce back from her worst day on the job, which sees her tortured by space trash and turned into a man-eating bug.
• Plucky Girl: No matter how dire the situation is, nothing seems to dampen her enthusiasm.
• The Pollyanna: At the end of the pilot episode, Mariner jokingly asks if she's still excited to be there. Tendi's response is an enthusiastic "Yes!" because she got to hold a heart (as in, one still attached to a patient that she had to manually pump) on her first day! And in the Season 1 finale, she does not despair over Rutherford's amnesia making him completely forget her... she sees it as an opportunity to become his bestie all over again.
• Punctuation Shaker: Her given name contains an apostrophe.
• The Red Baron: In her former life (and to members of her family) she was known as "Mistress of the Winter Constellations." May also qualify for Names to Run Away from Really Fast status, as the person who uses this name for the first time seems rather frightened of her.
• Ruthless Modern Pirates: Eventually confirms that she grew up in a pirate family allied with the infamous Orion Syndicate. It's ambiguous if Tendi was ever one of these herself (making her a Reformed Criminal) or if she was merely trained by her father. Either way, it's made abundantly clear that just because she decided against going into the family business doesn't mean she wasn't GOOD at it.
• Ship Tease: She gets some mild teasing with Rutherford throughout the first season, but it's especially heavy in "Terminal Provocations." They connect really well due to them being the two nicest and most pure-hearted crewmembers of the Cerritos, their friendship is clearly healthier and more mutually respectful than Mariner and Boimler's, and Tendi often excitedly hugs Rutherford when she's happy with him. Only time will tell, however, if they'll ever decide to become more than friends. For what it's worth, when Mariner asks her if the two are dating in "We'll Always Have Tom Paris," Tendi's response is an uncertain "Not really?"
• Stepford Smiler: Her insistence on always finding the bright side to any situation means she sometimes tries to force herself to be cheerful even when it's doing more harm than good, and she sometimes pretends to be more okay than she really is after a crisis.
• Token Heroic Orc: She's the first Orion series regular in the franchise and the first Orion Starfleet officer seen in the prime timeline. Her species is mostly portrayed as villainous criminals.

  Tendi: And the truth is, a lot of Orions are hyper-capitalist libertarian gangster pirates, just not this one. That's why I'm here.

  • She is also very uncomfortable with how abusive Orion females can get when talking to males.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the Girly Girl (naïve, sweet-natured cutie) to Mariner's tomboy (sassy, forceful Action Girl).
• Visual Pun: Her skin color. In Season 1 she's "green" (short for greenhorn), as in a person who is inexperienced. In Season 2 she's jealous of Rutherford's relationship with Barnes and could be described as "green" with envy.
• You Are in Command Now: Kind of. In "Second Contact", when Dr. T'Ana starts giving her instructions, Tendi protests that she's not qualified and she's supposed to be reporting to a nurse rather than the CMO. T'Ana points out that the growling, slavering, rage-vomiting patient strapped to the biobed is the nurse. And it seems to stick — from "Envoys" onward, she seems to report directly to Dr. T'Ana.
• Youthful Freckles: She's the youngest member of the main cast, and her freckles reflect this.

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    Ensign Sam Rutherford 

Ensign Samanthan "Sam" Rutherford

"I belong in the tubes."

Voiced by: Eugene Cordero

An ensign aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos in the engineering department.

---

• Ambiguously Bi: It's confirmed that he finds Tendi cute and has gone on romantic dates with women, but "Crisis Point" shows hints that he might be attracted to Commander Billups (unless they really are just talking about engineering).
• Ambiguously Brown: He's dark-skinned and is voiced by Filipino-American actor Eugene Cordero, but his name does not suggest any particular race. "Reflections" hints that Rutherford is also Filipino, with his past self naming a racing ship Sampaguita after the national flower of the Philippines
  .
• Amnesiac Dissonance: Rutherford, before getting his implant, was actually a womanizing Jerkass who only wanted to race and flouted Starfleet rules and regulations. The Laser-Guided Amnesia that the implant also enforced on him turned him into the sweet and lovable guy he is now.
• Casual Danger Dialog: In "Second Contact", he and his date continue asking get-to-know-you questions and flirting after they get caught up in the firefight and emergency evacuation caused by the virus.
• Catchphrase: "Okeydokey!"
• Cyborg: He has a Vulcan cybernetic implant that aids his sight, making him somewhat of an Expy of Geordi La Forge and his VISOR (notably, crewmembers actually wearing a VISOR appear in the background a few times). It occasionally malfunctions and tries to suppress his emotions.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Thanks to his implant, Rutherford can fight off a simulation of a Borg strike team (the purpose of said simulation being to humble new recruits). Even without the implant, this is a guy who creates homicidal A.I.s in his off time that can destroy enemy flagships in minutes.
• Dark and Troubled Past: In "First First Contact", he deletes redundant memories of Tendi in order to free up his memory. However, he then sees a memory of his implant being installed which suggests it wasn't voluntary. "Reflections" then reveals that he was injured working on a top-secret project, and his supervising officer had his memories of the project erased. "The Stars at Night" finally reveals that he was working on then-Lieutenant Commander Buenamigo's new Texas-class prototype.
• The Engineer: He serves in the engineering department, so he's this among the main cast. It's taken to an adorkable level when he forgoes romance as he wonders why a red alert would deactivate an emergency hatch.
• Fan of the Past: When Barnes tells him that she's a fan of a "classical band called The Monkees" (a group that is over 400 years old from their perspective), he responds, "Let's just say I'm a believer." "I'm a Believer" is one of the Monkees' biggest hits.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: His left eye, and much of the left side of his head, is cybernetic. The metal ear is pointed, reflecting its Vulcan origin, while his organic ear is rounded. Also, his right eyebrow has a gap.
• Flawed Prototype: Rutherford is enthusiastic and does have the skill, but his attempts to create or upgrade things independently tend to go wrong, mainly because he tried to run them before they were ready.
• Gender-Blender Name: Samanthan Rutherford.note Which is especially funny if you know that the name "Samantha" is already a literal Gender Blender Name, originating in the 20th century from blending the names "Samuel" and "Anthea" and devised specifically so there'd be a feminine form of "Samuel".
• Grease Monkey: In "Envoys", he's covered in black stains after working on the EPS conduits. He enjoys completing arduous tasks that other people would find extremely unpleasant.

  Rutherford: Well, if you see an unaligned EPS conduit, don't call me. Mine are aligned as hell.
  Tendi: Wait, aren't there like a hundred of those? How long have you been in there?
  Rutherford: A solid week. Crawling through cramped ducts, prying open panels and adjusting red-hot power cables. Look, look, look, I've got blisters on my blisters.
  Tendi: Oh wow, you must be so relieved to be done.
  Rutherford: Oh, I'm not done. Now I get to recalibrate everything. That's another three, four days in the tubes!

• I Hate Past Me: Having discovered what a Jerkass he was before, Rutherford really didn't like who he was.
• I Know Mortal Kombat: His cybernetic implant allows him to vanquish an entire team of holographic Borg drones in unarmed combat.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: In "No Small Parts", due to his cybernetics getting ripped out, he suffers amnesia and forgets the events of the entire season. By season two he's mostly back to normal, save for a few temporary personality changes (he likes pears when before he hated them). "Reflections" reveals that he was actually hit with this much earlier, his entire personality having been changed.
• Loved I Not Honor More: He chooses to investigate a broken emergency hatch over his hot date who had just passionately kissed him.

  Rutherford: Who has time for romance when there's a level 2 diagnostic just sitting there waiting to be run?

• New Meat: He's relatively new to Starfleet, and he's still figuring out his way in shipboard engineering.
• Nice Guy: Despite his awkwardness, he's always friendly and kind to everyone on the Cerritos. In "Crisis Point", during the movie sequence, when playing the part of one of Mariner's minions, he ominously says that he wants to tell the simulation of Commander Billups "what he really thinks of him" and get away with it, as if setting up a nasty "The Reason You Suck" Speech, only to instead tell the simulation of Billups how much he admires his engineering skills. It's a shame Rutherford thinks he can't tell the real Billups how much he respects him.
• Non-Action Guy: Before he participates in Shaxs' combat training simulation in "Envoys", he panics because he's never fought anyone before ("I don't know how to fight!"). However, his cybernetic implant helps him to overcome his lack of experience.
• Oblivious to Love: In "Second Contact", he doesn't realize that his date for the evening is annoyed by his interest in a broken emergency hatch over her.
• Robo Cam: We occasionally see from his perspective how his cybernetic implant functions.
  • In "Envoys", it has a setting that can analyze potential targets and determine the optimal combat strategy to defeat them.
  • In "Moist Vessel", it warns him of the "Unauthorized terraformation" that's taking place on the ship, so he has a slightly better chance than the average person to move out of harm's way quickly enough to avoid getting impaled by jagged rocks.
  • In "No Small Parts", he breaks off a knob from his implant and finds a button that changes his attitude. We see the various moods as he switches through them.
• Ship Tease: He gets some mild teasing with Tendi throughout the first season, but it's especially heavy in "Terminal Provocations" when he admits to Badgey that he thinks Tendi's cute and wanted to impress her. He doesn't explicitly state that he has a crush on her, but it certainly sounds like it when he says he wants to impress her with something he made in a simulation because she's cute, not that Rutherford would even need to do that, as Tendi already likes him for his good-hearted nature.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: After having his implant damaged in "No Small Parts," he's notably more irritable and snappy in Season 2, even after Tendi stops trying to bring his old personality back. "An Embarrassment of Dooplers" suggests this is out of frustration for feeling like he's lagging behind where his old self used to thrive.
  • Season 3's "Reflections" clarifies things: The levels in Jerkass he took were his original personality trying to reassert itself, and he Took a Level in Kindness due to side effects of the procedures involved in giving him the implant... and erasing his memories of just what he was involved in that led to him needing one in the first place.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Viewers stopped dead in their tracks when it's revealed his full name is Samanthan.
• Workaholic: Rutherford absolutely loves the endless monotonous tasks that keep the ship running. He's positively gleeful at the thought of spending days in the Jeffries tubes.

Senior Staff

    Captain Carol Freeman 

Captain Carol Freeman

"Warp me!"

Voiced by: Dawnn Lewis

The captain of the U.S.S. Cerritos and a veteran Starfleet officer. She also happens to be Ensign Mariner's mother.

---

• Abusive Parents: Ultimately subverted. In the series premiere, she orders Boimler to follow Mariner and nail her on the first sign of trouble so that Freeman has a valid reason to send her back to the U.S.S. Quito. While Freeman argues with her husband over subspace, she suggests throwing Mariner in the brig, but he points out that it's useless because their daughter apparently likes it there. Mariner reciprocates by openly defying and mocking her, which justifies some, but not all of this, as she represents a discipline problem on a starship. It's subverted because she does all of this to keep Mariner in Starfleet. If she does not discipline Mariner at all then Starfleet will inflict far harsher punishments and might even kick Mariner out.

  Holo-Mariner: She's the Captain! And I'm a pain in the ass!

• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: In "Moist Vessel", she and Mariner briefly put aside their long-standing animosity and hug each other after they save the crews of the Cerritos and the Merced. When they realize that they're in an embrace, they quickly let go and pretend like nothing happened.
• Badass Creed: Cerritos Strong!
• Black Boss Lady: As The Captain of the vessel.
• The Captain: As per her rank and position.
• Catchphrase: "Warp me!"
• Character Focus: In the first season, Freeman was a distant, aloof figure even when she directly interacted with the Lower Deckers (except in scenes with her daughter). As the show has continued, Freeman has gotten more attention as a viewpoint character in her own right, with her own storylines independent of the Lower Deckers.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass:
  • "Cupid's Errant Arrow" shows she can be a very effective diplomat given the chance. When the inhabitants of Mixtus III are too busy dealing with their petty grievances to recognize the threat of a moon about to destroy their world, Freeman sorts them out in no more than a few hours.
  • Despite her quirks and flaws as a commander, Freeman recognizes how dangerous it is for Starfleet to warp in, change a society, and then warp out without ever following up, even if they're usually getting rid of something objectively terrible. She manages to convince Starfleet that they need to actually go back and help such planets not fall into old habits (or develop worse new ones). Unfortunately, her obsession with making the first attempt look good doesn't end well.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: She has this view about Starfleet. She believes they have no respect for her or the Cerritos. This is ultimately deconstructed in "Trusted Sources" where, given the chance to actually prove her worth, she goes to extreme lengths to make herself and the ship look good, blames and punishes Mariner when she thinks she made things worse and learns she was completely wrong too late to fix things.
• Fantastic Racism: She must detest the Anabaj because Mariner had dated one just to infuriate her mother. Then again, they do lay eggs in people's throats...
• A Father to His Men: Initially averted, even when it's her own daughter who's one of her officers. Freeman was usually dismissive of her lower-ranking crew. Even when crediting Boimler for helping her in "Temporal Edict", she condescendingly called it "the wisdom of a child". By the end of Season 2, however, she tells her assembled subordinates that they're "the best crew in Starfleet" and declares her intention to turn down a transfer to another ship in order to stay with them. She's also more willing to fraternise with the lower deckers as equals off-the-clock in the second season, most notably in "An Embarrassment of Dooplers" where she, Boimler and Mariner joke and banter together in the dive bar where they all end up at the end of the episode. By the time of season 3's "Reflections", she is shown attending to the bedside of Rutherford, obviously concerned for the well-being of one of her junior-most officers.
• First-Episode Spoiler: It's revealed at the end of the pilot that Ensign Mariner is her daughter.
• Glad I Thought of It: In "Moist Vessel", Ransom suggests giving Mariner the worst jobs on the ship to get her to transfer. Seconds later, Freeman repeats it as though it's her own brilliant plan. Ransom's reaction suggests this is par for the course.
• Glory Seeker: She seems to want fame and respect from Starfleet and frequently complains that they don't respect her. Her daughter implies this is her primary motivation as well.
• Hypocrite:
  • She lectures Mariner about her immaturity, but Mariner points out that trying to trick a crew member into requesting a transfer isn't the height of maturity, either.
  • In general, she believes that Starfleet has no respect for her "Lower Deck" ship's duties, yet she has no respect for her own "Lower Deck" crew.
• It's All About Me: Her own daughter thinks this is true about her, and the first four episodes seem to support that Freeman is self-centered. "Cupid's Errant Arrow" shows a different side of her, as she quickly brings a dangerous standoff from dissenting parties to a decisive and satisfactory conclusion without physically harming any of them. This comes back to bite her in the ass in "Trusted Sources" when she manipulates things to make herself and her new "Project Swing By" look good, punishes Mariner when she thinks she ruined things and learns too late that it wasn't her.
• Kick the Dog: In "Second Contact", she assigns Boimler to spy on her own daughter to give her cause to kick Mariner off the ship.
• My Beloved Smother: "Moist Vessel" shows that some of the strain with Mariner is from Freeman's habit of constantly second-guessing and micromanaging her rather than treating her like an adult who can make her own decisions.
• Not so Above It All: Her conversation with the ship's therapist doesn't go any better than Mariner's did because she can't stand his condescension and constant food metaphors either.
• Passed-Over Promotion: Freeman is not happy that her career has stalled out at Captain of what, in her mind, can just barely be called a starship, and constantly connives to get a transfer to a better posting. Subverted in that she finally gets it in the second season finale, only to turn it down because she's finally bonded with the ship and crew. And then she gets arrested.
• Pointy-Haired Boss: Throughout the series, we see that Freeman is this to a T. Suffering from Dude, Where's My Respect?, she can't stand the fact that Starfleet at large and Mariner in particular don't give her the respect she feels she deserves. When given a chance to prove herself, she goes into panic mode, becoming a massive ass-kisser to suck up to people and can be completely vindictive if it goes wrong. A Glory Seeker, she will happily take credit for various things others have done or implement ideas while suffering from Didn't Think This Through. She's probably one of the worst recurring captains in the franchise.
• Slave to PR: Deconstruction and something she has passed down to her daughter, though in the more traditional way. Capt. Carol Freeman is fundamentally a good person, but she is ambitious and a glory hound with a strong desire to advance her career. Something very much expected in a quasi-military organization like Starfleet. The problem is that Capt Freeman has shown on many occasions to be fully willing to not only endanger her ship, her crew, and even her own life just for the chance of increasing her standing in Starfleet, only to be snubbed each and every time.
• Stealing the Credit: According to her captain's log in the pilot, the senior staff saved the day, with no mention of the contributions from other crew members. All of this is done while Boimler, the crewman who brought back the key to the cure, is in the room. She gets better about this in future episodes.
• Suicidal Pacifism: In "Terminal Provocations", she's so insistent on being diplomatic with the Drookmani, even in the face of their obvious intransigence, that she lets them completely deplete the shields before finally letting Shaxs retaliate. Unfortunately, the Drookmani have unintentionally disabled the Cerritos' weapons with the repeated strikes, nearly forcing Freeman to order everyone to Abandon Ship before Mariner and Boimler accidentally solve the problem for her.
• Team Mom: Carol Freeman's "stern, overbearing mother" qualities merge with her captaining style, to the point Mariner says "The line between Captain stuff and Mom stuff has gotten too hazy!"
• Too Much Alike: The main source of conflict with her daughter, the problem child of Starfleet. These are two headstrong women that have a strong drive to help people but are terrible at doing things on their own. The problem is that these two NEED to be in charge of any group they're in and micromanage everyone in it. When they're put together, they constantly butt heads until Capt. Freeman is forced to pull rank. This comes to a head in "Strange Energies" where the two are forced to admit that they just can't work together on a regular basis.
• Too Much Information: As Mariner's mother and Captain, Carol Freeman has intimate knowledge of her daughter's service record, medical history, and childhood activities. She also has no problem announcing the most embarrassing details to the entire ship, much to Beckett's chagrin.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Reconstruction! With her own daughter no less, Beckett Mariner. These two have so much in common it's downright scary sometimes, for both of them. They've been forced to admit that they can't work together personally on a regular basis because they constantly end up fighting inevitably each time. While they avoid each other when they can, the few times they share their off time together isn't much different. The reconstruction part comes in that is these two actually do enjoy spending time with someone who shares their interests, history, and on equal footing when off the clock. Something exceptionally rare for the both of them.

    Commander Jack Ransom 

Commander Jack Ransom

"Setting my fists to 'stun' and my kicks to 'kill!'"

Voiced by: Jerry O'Connell

The first officer of the U.S.S. Cerritos.

---

• Ace Pilot: In the Season 2 finale, Jack manages to manually pilot the Cerritos through a huge debris field without sensors and only Beckett and Jennifer calling out larger chunks to him.
• Anything but That!: Ransom is horrified when Mariner suggests he become her mentor and Freeman signs off on it, mostly because this time he's dealing with a confident and serious Mariner, not one on the verge of getting kicked off the ship.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Mariner in "Temporal Edict". She throws an object at him in Sickbay and threatens to kill him, and he admits that it was kind of hot. Amusingly, both him and Mariner are visibly disturbed by this development.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Throughout season 3, he claims that Freeman is "too soft" on Mariner and constantly encourages her to "put her foot down" regarding her daughter's antics. When she finally does so in the penultimate episode, not only does she go way overboard, but it ultimately turns out to have been over something that wasn't even Mariner's fault this time.
• Benevolent Boss: Despite his quirks and desperation to get promoted, Ransom has repeatedly been shown to be a capable First Officer.
  • Played for Laughs in "Envoys". His response to Rutherford failing a basic command simulation in a uniquely terrible way is to be impressed by getting such a unique result and try for more.
  • More seriously, he'd also rather die than let anyone on his away mission team get put in danger.
  • He is consistently the bridge officer who's most likely to give Boimler the praise he craves.
  • He's also pretty horrified in "Trusted Sources" when Captain Freeman is in the process of exiling and effectively disowning her own daughter, despite being just as pissed as everyone else on the Cerritos over what they think Mariner pulled.
• Boring, but Practical: When in a scrap, he tends to rely solely on a two-handed fist strike against his opponents. But, credit where it's due, he tends to win every scrap he fights in.
• Calling Your Attacks: When we've seen him fight hand-to-hand, he's always yelling out his attacks moments before doing it.
• Casanova Wannabe: Tries to flirt like Kirk and Riker did. The reactions have ranged from disinterest to getting thrown into a table (which he takes pretty cheerfully). Deanna Troi calls him out as this immediately, saying it stems from his own insecurity. Ransom thinks he could use that on other Betazoid women as a pity move. Oh, and the few times his conquests have been successful, it only seems to be due to his dates wanting to eat him (i.e., one of his dates being a salt vampire).
• Casting Gag: Jerry O'Connell is married to Rebecca Romijn, who plays Una Chin-Riley aka Number One on Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, making them the only husband and wife first officers in Trek history.
• Domed Hometown: He's from Tycho City, a domed city on Luna (the Moon).
• Everyone Has Standards: He threatened to transfer Mariner to Starbase 80 if she screwed up, but later told Boimler that he would never send anyone to that hellhole. When Freeman reassigns Mariner to Starbase 80 for real, he is completely shocked.
• Expy: invoked His Rated M for Manly style of command and personality invoke previous commanding officers like Kirk and Riker. This includes assuming the Captain Morgan Pose whenever he wants to appear commanding. Word of God even described him as "Riker, but on speed and with less shame."
• A God Am I: Gets zapped with strange energies in the Season 2 premiere and promptly goes berserk, remaking the planet into his own image as a Fitness Nut. Mariner snaps him out of it by kicking him in the balls a few times.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: He doesn't use weapons in combat, as he prefers to fight anyone bare-handed, and usually wins.

  "Looks like we'll have to repel them the old-fashioned way. Setting my fists to stun and my kicks to kill!"

• Hidden Depths:
  • In "Temporal Edict", the often shallow and careerist Ransom is clearly aware that stabbing Mariner in the foot (so he can take her place in a Trial by Combat) could get him court martialed. He does it anyway because he genuinely accepts responsibility for the crew under his command, including Mariner herself, and considers the duel to be his duty as the ranking officer present.
  • Related to the first point, up until the actual fight it seems that Ransom is all hat and no cattle, as he was unceremoniously stunned, spent most of the first part of the episode preening, and was mostly notable for being patient zero in a zombie plague in the first episode. Come the actual fight with Vindor, he rips off his shirt to reveal his amazing physique, tosses the sword aside, faces the giant bare-handed and wins.
  • During "Crisis Point", while it was a holo-Ransom based on the real one's personal logs, he correctly identified Vindicta's quotes as coming from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" which, one must recall, is even more ancient literature by the time of Lower Decks.
  • More subtly, he never tries to kill anyone directly while an "omniscient murder-god" in "Strange Energies". Given that he can do stuff like make a moon disappear with a snap, it makes him look like a fundamentally decent Starfleet officer.
  • In seasons 2 and 3, he often gives small but suitable praise towards Boimler when the Ensign steps up or performs well, giving him his due.
• Hunk: He has broad shoulders and a very muscular build which he maintains by exercising with a lot of free weights. Mariner thinks he's hot despite hating him, and the mere sight of him shirtless defuses a diplomatic disaster on a planet with a "wellness-based society."
• Hypocrite: Has little patience for bootlicking ensigns despite himself being a major suck-up toward Captain Freeman.
• It's Probably Nothing: In "Second Contact", he gets a bug bite on the Galardonian homeworld, but declines to have it checked in sickbay. Naturally, it soon gives him a horrible zombie-Hate Plague that he then spreads to much of the crew.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A goofy, arrogant, and sleazy womanizer who nonetheless is firmly loyal to Starfleet and is willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of his crew.
• Klingon Scientists Get No Respect: Hates non-Starfleet scientists as he hates that they graduate from college on degrees on something ridiculous like spores, decide to fly off into the galaxy and end up getting eaten by some alien flower (resulting in Starfleet officers having to clean up their messes). After Boimler's rampage against the non-Starfleet scientists and others, he looks forward to getting a drink with Boimler (after he had to put Boimler in the brig for a night) and listening to how he gave those stupid outpost scientists what they deserved.
• Mirror Character: Although the character is an obvious parody of Kirk and Riker, he is also surprisingly similar to Boimler in several ways, and this may be why he has intermittently taken the Ensign under his wing. Like Boimler he is a capable but quirky officer, desperate for promotion and prone to some unseemly sucking up to his superiors.
• Mr. Fanservice:
  • He gets a Shirtless Scene in "Temporal Edict" which shows off his muscular physique. During the combat, some of the scenes look like he's been oiled up, with a slight glow to his skin.
  • In First First Contact he appears in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it flashback, posing nude for a life drawing class that Rutherford and Tendi were attending.
  • In "The Least Dangerous Game", he manages to defuse a diplomatic crisis by popping his top off on a planet whose hat is physical fitness.
• Number Two: As the first officer to Captain Freeman.
• Out of Focus: Ransom was never a main character but starting season two, he's mostly been in the background with maybe a line an episode as the other members of the bridge crew took over to show the POV of the Cerritos's inner circle.
• Passed-Over Promotion: He's the first officer aboard what might generously be called a fifth-rate ship and it appears he's reached the high point of his career (a contrast to Riker, whom Starfleet brass continually wanted to promote to Captain, despite his repeated refusals). Notably, when Freeman is to be transferred to a new posting, Ransom (though dejected that she won't be taking him with her) fully expects to be made the ship's new commanding officer, only for her to shoot him down and inform him the new Captain is going to be an outside transfer.
• Patrick Stewart Speech: He keeps trying this on the Gelrakians in "Temporal Edict", but he doesn't really have the chops for it. He also gives one to Mariner in the prison cell about what it means to be a good Starfleet officer right before stabbing her in the foot.
• Perma-Stubble: Drawn with this.
• Pet the Dog: Despite treating Boimler about as well as the rest of the officers, he does acknowledge that he's a very capable crew member in the season finale when the latter requests a transfer and promotion to the Sacramento: He admits his record is impeccable and the only reason he's torn between him and Mariner over the promotion is because he wants to suck up to Freeman after learning Mariner is her daughter. He later makes up for his indecisiveness by personally recommending him to Riker for a transfer and promotion to the Titan. After Boimler's failed attempt to have Ransom be his "bridge buddy", he also turns other Starfleet personnel Boimler's way to help him make new friends.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: He'll do anything to suck up to Captain Freeman, including being nice to Mariner once he finds out they're mother and daughter. Neither one is impressed.
• Punny Name: His name is Jack, and he's also jacked, not to mention totally obsessed with working out!
• The Resenter: By the start of Season 2, Ransom is highly upset over the fact that Freeman is treating Mariner like an acting first officer while ignoring her real first officer, himself. For their part, they decide to tone that down.
• Signature Move: Has two. One is standing in a Captain Morgan Pose. The other is a two-handed fist strike when in combat.
• Testosterone Poisoning: He lifts weights a lot, even during meetings with other crew members. His room is basically a gym. One of the first things he does after being turned into a Physical God by some strange energy is to telekinetically bicep curl some trees.

  Ransom: It's easy to become a god. The trick is staying a god.

  • He also ends up turning random objects into gym equipment; Dr. T'Ana realizes he's "creating his own jacked utopia!"

    Doctor T'Ana 

Doctor (Commander) T'Ana

"REOWWWW! Get the [bleep] out of my sickbay!"

Voiced by: Gillian Vigman

The Caitian Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the U.S.S. Cerritos.

---

• Action Girl: In "Temporal Edict", she performs a flying kick that knocks out three Gelrakians armed with spears.
• Afraid of Doctors: Despite being the Chief Medical Officer on a Starfleet vessel, T'Ana herself has never reported for and in fact appears to vehemently fear getting an annual (and mandated) physical. It takes Tendi chasing her through the Jeffries tubes and risking life and limb to scan her to get her to come around on the concept. A core part of it seem that she hates the idea of getting a checkup from someone else, seeing it as insulting as she's a doctor herself.
• Benevolent Boss: She praises Rutherford's surgical skill while also calmly telling him that his lack of bedside manner makes him ill-suited to be a doctor. She's also generally even-tempered and considerate with Tendi, and takes notice when Tendi proves to be overqualified to be working in sickbay.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Sports a pair to go with her cranky personality.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: In "Second Contact", after figuring out a cure to the outbreak on the ship, Captain Freeman tells T'Ana that she has another paper to publish. T'Ana just grumbles about more paperwork.
• Cat Folk: As a Caitian, this comes with the territory. However, she seems to be as far from the stereotypical Cat Girl as possible. While she is a humanoid feline of female gender, she has a personality more in line with an acerbic senior office worker than a bubbly Genki Girl.
• Cats Are Mean: Downplayed. She's said to be an excellent doctor, but an unpleasant person to deal with. That said, she's not needlessly cruel, just irritable. Fletcher describes her as "just a cat in a coat," which sounds about right.
• Cats Are Snarkers: She's a sapient felinoid with an appropriate snark streak.

  (re Mariner's collection of scars) "Congratulations, you look like a [bleep]ing scratching post."

• Combat Medic: In "Second Contact", she keeps her cool in what could be best described as a Zombie Apocalypse and gives strict orders to make sure people survive.

  T'Ana: Don't pass out! Nobody's authorized to pass out!

  • That said, she typically stays out of combat situations and in Sick Bay. When she does have to break the Hippocratic Oath, though...
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: The only previous Caitian character, M'Ress, was a sexy Cat Girl in a TOS miniskirt. T'Ana is a scruffy, bad-tempered alley cat in a coat.
• Dr. Jerk: She has a grouchy disposition in the tradition of Bones and The EMH Doctor. That said, she recognizes the importance of an effective bedside manner and keeping patients calm (in part because a patient having an anxiety attack is going to make whatever medical issue they have worse).
• Ear Notch: She's missing a piece of her right ear, which suggests that she survived a very dangerous mission as a Combat Medic sometime in the past. This makes her a bit of a hypocrite, as she criticizes Ensign Mariner for hanging onto her collection of scars.
• Exotic Equipment: Once mentions she'd like to get her "coital hooks" around Shaxs, though this is probably metaphorical. Probably.
• Exotic Eye Designs: Her sclerae are yellow. 'Cause, y'know, cat.
• Furry Reminder: She occasionally exhibits cat-like behavior.
  • In "Temporal Edict", she hisses like a cat while defending sickbay from the Gelrakians.
  • Later on, in "We'll Always Have Tom Paris", she acts like she's in heat for the entire episode and tasks Tendi with bringing her a Caitian libido post. When she finally gets the post, it turns out she just wanted a box to play in. "If I fits, I sits."
  • In "Mugato, Gumato", she hisses, scratches and flees when Tendi tries to give her her physical, not unlike real cats resisting going to the vet. At one point she's hiding under a bio-bed.
• Guttural Growler: As one would expect from a grumpy feline, she speaks with a raspy voice.
• Interspecies Romance: With Lieutenant Shaxs, a Bajoran, as of "Mugato, Gumato".
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A crotchety Caitian with a caustic tongue... Who nevertheless becomes a genuinely supportive mentor figure for Tendi once she realises just how capable the young Orion is.
• Lady Swears-a-Lot: T'Ana gets more Sound-Effect Bleeps than any other character in the show.
• The Medic: She's the Chief Medical Officer of the vessel. She's also Ensign Tendi's superior officer.
• The Mentor: Starts to take more of a personal interest in Tendi during Season 2, even inviting her to go rock-climbing on the Holodeck. She eventually concludes that Tendi is too hard-working to be a mere nurse, and suggests she apply to be Science Officer on the bridge.
• My Instincts Are Showing: Like many Caitians, she toys with her animal side, speaking in a bestial growl and dreaming about getting her coital hooks into Shaxs. But get her in heat, or force her to get a medical exam, and she suddenly becomes full-on cat.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The last time a Caitian got a speaking role on-screen was also the last time Trek was animated.note Excluding the "Caitian" twins bedded by Kirk in Star Trek Into Darkness, which are neither furry, nor catlike, nor named as Caitians onscreen, only by Damon Lindelof.
  • She tends to wear a light-blue lab coat, much like Doctor Crusher from TNG, while her attitude evokes Dr. Pulaski from the same series.
• Out of Focus: In season 3, with Tendi no longer serving under her, she is seen far less frequently than before.
• Punctuation Shaker: Her name contains an apostrophe. It's not cosmetic, though, but a glottal stop.
• Seen It All: She has had to fix a lot of weird medical problems during her time in Starfleet. Even someone being turned into a hand puppet is something she's seen before and isn't particularly concerned about. A Pakled waking up from exposure to space surprises her, though.

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    Lieutenant Shaxs 

Lieutenant Shaxs

"Not if I have something to scream about it!"

Voiced by: Fred Tatasciore

A Bajoran lieutenant aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos, serving as the tactical officer and chief of security.

---

• Back from the Dead: He somehow comes back from being dead, lampshading the tendency for major characters in the series to return to life for whatever reason. This was apparently an extremely traumatic experience which is why lower deckers generally aren't told the details.
• Berserk Button: Making any light-hearted comments about his past on Bajor. It's clear he fought in the resistance, so anyone making light of his time fighting the Cardassians is understandably a sore spot for him.

  "You think I had time for anything other than resisting?! Fighting fascism is a full time job!"

• Bear Hug: Fittingly for a guy who loves using bear metaphors, he's huge enough to lift people clean off their feet in an embrace, in particular Doctor T'ana.
• Benevolent Boss: He's perfectly fine with Rutherford transferring back to Engineering after proving himself a surprisingly competent fighter because Shaxs respects Rutherford for being true to himself. Even long after Rutherford has transferred back, Shaxs still refers to him as "Baby Bear" out of respect for his performance.
• The Big Guy: It goes with his large stature; he's heavily involved in combat and can carry Boimler or Rutherford over his shoulder with ease.
• Blood Knight:
  • He loves a good fight and hates it when the captain won't let him resort to violence. He sees a potential Suicide Mission with incredibly poor odds as the best day of his life.

    "Phasers locked onto their warp core, Captain. Please, please let me shoot their warp core! I have been very good this month!"

  • Getting to eject and detonate the warp core (a gigantic improvised matter/antimatter bomb) is practically euphoric for him, with the whole crew cheering him on for finally getting to realize his dream.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Leaps into combat with jovial glee, emphasised by him having No Indoor Voice.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: He's huge, got a rock-hard body, loves violence and has to suppress the urge to kill things when triggered. He's also a fan of pottery, runs a Bajoran dirge choir, and cries easily when troubled about his past. When they're doing a violent bank robbery sim together, he is the one who tells T'ana that he wants to stop everything and talk about their feelings.
• Came Back Wrong: Downplayed, but the ordeal of coming back from the dead haunts him every day.
• Cultured Warrior: A Blood Knight ass-kicker who spends his off-duty hours making pottery and singing in a Bajoran dirge choir.
• Connected All Along: It turns out that he worked with none other than Kira Nerys in the Bajoran Resistance.
• Face Death with Dignity: The last moments of his Heroic Sacrifice have him manhandling two guards while laughing maniacally.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: In the first and last episodes of the first season, he responds to an Escort Mission by doing an Over-the-Shoulder Carry on the escort and charging through every enemy in his path.
• Hair-Trigger Temper:
  • He says he's killed better men for less during an argument over new chairs for the conference room, though he amends it to "wanted to kill them for about the same" when pressed.
  • Boimler's simulation of him shouts, "Don't talk to me, I'm pissed off!" when Rutherford says hello. Rutherford is amazed because the real Shaxs said the same thing to him an hour earlier.
• Heroic Build: He's incredibly tall and incredibly broad; Mariner jokes that he keeps spilling his coffee because he can't raise it past his enormous pecs.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrifices himself to save Rutherford during the season 1 finale. He gets better.
• Hidden Depths: Sociopathy aside, Shaxs is religious and a practitioner of the Bajoran faith. As of season two he's also taken up pottery to channel his rage and trauma into something more constructive.

  Rutherford: Put it in the clay, Papa Bear, put it in the clay.
  Shaxs: I'm going to fight! I'm going to get revenge! I'm... (working the clay) going to make a cute little ashtray for my incense. It's going to look like a puppy.
  Rutherford: Ooh, a puppy!

• Interspecies Romance: With Doctor T'Ana, a Caitian, as of "Mugato, Gumato".
• Mythology Gag: In "Second Contact", the shirt of his uniform is torn while he fends off infected crewmembers, exposing much of his chest. This is a nod to Kirk's frequent Clothing Damage after a fistfight in TOS.
• No Indoor Voice: Downplayed. Shaxs speaks normally most of the time, but anything that gets him riled up raises the volume to match, and it doesn't take much to get him there. Shaxs himself even lampshades it in the season 1 finale.

  Shaxs: Not if I have anything to scream about it!

• Over-the-Shoulder Carry: If something needs to be brought somewhere else, Shaxs won't hesitate to toss it over his shoulder and charge through whatever he needs to to get it there, even if he doesn't need to.

  Rutherford: You know, I can run on my own...

• Papa Wolf: Papa Bear, thank you very much. Everyone in his "Bear Pack" (what he calls the Cerritos security team) is family to him, even temporary members like Rutherford.
• Religious Bruiser:
  • It's not given nearly as much attention as other Bajoran characters, but he is still Bajoran, and can clearly be seen wearing the traditional Bajoran earring that is a symbol of their faith to the Prophets. During his training of Rutherford on the holodeck, after the young Ensign kicks all kinds of ass, we do get this gem:

    Shaxs: In the name of the Prophets!

  • And again during the "movie", though technically, that was only a holographic simulation based on him.

    Shaxs: When you get to Hell, tell the Pah-wraiths Shaxs sent you! [opens fire with a BFG]

  • The crew of the Cerritos gives him a funeral service where the Captain says "He's with the Prophets now", suggesting he was a known adherent of the Bajoran faith.
• Running Gag: Shaxs has a reputation for wanting to eject or otherwise weaponize the warp core. According to his entry on the Trek Logs Instagram, it's because of the sheer, unabashed awesomeness of using a two-story matter-antimatter bomb. The fact it was tactically useful came as much of a surprise to him as everyone else on the Cerritos bridge (minus Boimler).
• Rugged Scar: He has a scar across his right eyebrow and cheek, which generally serves to make him look more badass.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: As evidenced by his reaction to Boimler's casual question about his life on Bajor, not all of Shaxs' scars are on the outside.
• Top-Heavy Guy: His upper body really is huge.
• Trauma Button: He has two: The circumstances behind his resurrection and being asked about his homeworld. Anyone who's seen TNG or Deep Space Nine can tell you that the homeworld thing being traumatic is a very Justified Trope, and that he's far from the only Bajoran to carry scars (emotional and physical) from the occupation.
• Unexplained Recovery: He's suddenly back alive without explanation in "We'll Always Have Tom Paris". Rutherford eventually works up the courage to ask him how he came back, but the circumstances are so horrific that thinking about it drives Shax to tears and the audience is spared from hearing it, (Rutherford was going to ask earlier in the episode but backed off when a different crewmember did and got disciplined for poking into a very sensitive topic). Apparently this happens a lot to the bridge crew.

    Lieutenant Commander Andy Billups 

Lieutenant Commander Andarithio "Andy" Billups

"The only lady I love is two decks tall and pumped full of dilithim."

Voiced by: Paul Scheer

The chief engineer of the U.S.S. Cerritos, and Ensign Rutherford's superior officer.

---

• Abdicate the Throne: He is the crown prince of the planet Hysperia, but he renounced his claim to pursue a career in Starfleet. Doesn't stop his mother from periodically trying to get him back.
• A Day in the Limelight: He doesn't get a focus episode until Season Two, but it goes over his whole back story...
  • He's not originally from Earth, but in fact from the planet Hysperia, which based itself off of Ren Faires.
  • He's in line for the throne, but is much more interested in being a part of Starfleet.
  • He'll be forced to take up the throne if he ever loses his virginity, so he's purposefully remained celibate long into adulthood. His mother, Queen Paolana, keeps trying to trick him into having sex, but thus far hasn't succeeded.
• Benevolent Boss: He gladly allows Rutherford to transfer to another department, congratulating him for being willing to expand his horizons and saying any department would be lucky to have him. When Rutherford talks to a holodeck version of him, to tell him something he could never say to the real Billups... it's embarassingly gushing praise about Billups.
• Celibate Hero: Done very purposefully. If he loses his virginity, he'll be forced to take the throne back on his home planet and thus resign from Starfleet, which he doesn't want.
  • This even extends to holographic re-creations of Billups. When Mariner goes through the Naked Time scenario during "I, Excretus", Billups is just sitting in the back (completely nude) surfing his PADD rather than participating in the orgy.
• The Engineer: He's the head of the engineering department aboard the Cerritos.
• A Father to His Men: Of all the senior staff, he gets the most obvious love from his subordinates.
• Informed Attribute: Done as an in-universe gag when Rutherford calls him a stone-cold badass who doesn't need someone like Rutherford gushing to him openly. Cut to Billups quietly eating lunch alone, looking neither particularly badass nor likely to reject anyone asking to sit with him.
• Married to the Job: He tells his mother that the only lady he will ever love is the warp core.
• Mauve Shirt: He is this to the bridge crew/senior staff. Not a main character like Freeman, Ransom, Shaxs, or T'Ana, but still an instantly recognizable authority figure on the Cerritos.
• Mr. Fixit: As the ship's chief engineer.
• My Beloved Smother: His mother is the queen of his home planet, Hysperia. She's dead set on getting him to succeed her, and is willing to do so by any means necessary, including damaging her own ship and faking her death.
• Odd Name, Normal Nickname: As discovered in "Where Pleasant Fountains Lie", the unusual long form of Billups's name comes from his origins as the prince of a superficially renaissance-style monarchy. His disinterest in ruling or even participating in his culture of origin is the likely reason he chooses to go by a more ordinary nickname.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Despite normally being rather soft-spoken, he unleashes a torrent of angry curses that puts even T'Ana to shame when he finds out Captain Freeman kept her potential promotion to another Starfleet ship a secret from the senior staff.
• Out of Focus: The only senior staff member we've been introduced to who isn't listed in the credits.
• Stronger Than They Look: Looks like a normal dude standing next to Shaxs and Ransom, but...
  • He's able to volleyball bump a Gelrakian for Shaxs to spike into the floor, in "Temporal Edict".
  • When "Bionic Five" fist-bumps him in "Crisis Point", it's with his apparently metal hand. Billups reacts like it's flesh.
  • In "No Small Parts", he can be seen holding the line in front of the sick bay with Ransom - mostly by brute-force pushing against the halbreds the Pakleds are using.
  • "I, Excretus" and "Where Pleasant Fountains Lie" both show Billups either shirtless or in the nude, and dude is jacked.
• Token Good Teammate: While the other senior officers on the Cerritos have mild Jerkass tendencies, Billups is by all indications a Nice Guy through and through.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: In line with "Bradward" and "Samanthan", Andy's full name is revealed to be Andarithio. Presumably his mother thought it would be a good medieval-esque name, even though Andrew is a medieval name.

---

"The Redshirts"

    In general 

A club of command-division ensigns on the Cerritos, who work together to get themselves promoted as quickly as possible.

---

• Dramatic Irony: They call themselves the "Red Shirts" because they think it makes them sound invincible. Red shirts started off as a fan term for the extras killed on away missions, since back in the TOS era, Red was the color that security personnel would wear.
• Early-Bird Cameo: They each make a few minor appearances prior to appearing more prominently in "The Spy Humongous".
• Professional Butt-Kisser: They make a point of trying to emulate other captains in an attempt to look "promotable" and advance their career as fast as possible. To be fair though, almost all of them decided to tone it down after Boimler called them out on it.
• Rousing Speech: Their reaction to a crisis in the mess hall in "The Spy Humongous" is to give one of these. As in, one speech per member, simultaneously.

    Ensign Casey 

Ensign Casey

"Nice speech. I'm sure it'll play well on the lower decks."

Voiced By: Neil Casey

A male Human ensign serving aboard the Cerritos as a conn officer, and the head of the Redshirts club.

---

• Alpha Bitch: A male example of this trope, acting as the unofficial leader of the Redshirt clique aboard the Cerritos.
• invokedThe Danza: He shares his surname with the actor voicing him.
• A Day in the Limelight: He's a minor antagonist in "The Spy Humongous", which is where most of his characterization happens.
• Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments.
  • In "Strange Energies", he reports that there is "a giant head approaching the ship" in a tone that implies he's Seen It All.
  • In "The Spy Humongous", when Boimler practices giving a Rousing Speech (and fails miserably), Casey is silent for a few seconds before deadpanning, "We should mutiny."
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: More selfish than evil, but unlike the other Red Shirts, Casey doesn't see any value in Boimler's slapsticks in "The Spy Humongous". All he can see is that Boimler humiliated himself to make a "bug" laugh, ignoring that the bug was a fellow officer suffering from the effects of an alien artifact and that Boimler saved her and everyone else in the bar at the low price of some temporary indignity.
• Interservice Rivalry:
  • Casey looks down on the other lower-deckers, regarding them as working for Starfleet rather than being worthy members of the agency like himself.
  • As a member of Delta Shift, he and Castro have an antagonistic relationship with Boimler, Mariner and the other Beta Shift members.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: Casey gets a stint as acting captain, but only because Ransom, Freeman, and the rest of the bridge crew decide to duck out early for drinks. Shaxs relieves him almost immediately, having come in with the next shift. He's then ordered to clean up the airlock the Pakled used as a toilet.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: His response to Boimler calling him out:

  Boimler: Alright, you know what's shameful? Trying to build a persona by copying other captains. You think Riker did that? You guys are wasting your time on this Redshirt stuff. Be your own captains!
  Casey: Cute speech. I'm sure it'll play great on the lower decks.

• Smug Snake: He considers himself above the other lower-deckers, but Ransom and Shaxs give him a nice reality check when he finally gets that position as acting captain.
• Unexplained Recovery: He's seemingly killed by an exploding console in "No Small Parts", and his blood-soaked body is abandoned when the Pakleds invade the bridge. Come Season 2, though, and he's alive and kicking again with no explanation.

    Ensign Jennifer Sh'reyan 

Ensign Jennifer Sh'reyan

Voiced By: Lauren Lapkus

A female Andorian ensign serving aboard the Cerritos. She appears to have a rivalry with Mariner.

---

• Ambiguously Gay: Of the Belligerent Sexual Tension kind between herself and Mariner in First First Contact, where the latter claims the former dreams about her every night. Also, in I, Excretus, a holographic representation of her can be seen making out with Ensign Barnes. Not so ambiguous by Season Three, however, as it's revealed that she and Mariner have been "babe-ing" since the finale of Season Two.
• Ascended Extra: While originally a
  
  One-Scene Wonder, her name alone increased her screen time come season 2, and by season 3 she and Mariner have upgraded to calling each other "babe" (but they don't want to label it yet).
• Green-Skinned Space Babe: An attractive blue-skinned Andorian.
• In Love with Your Carnage: She's downright giddy when watching Mariner phaser all her friends to conserve oxygen following a power outage, even admitting that she had introduced them to each other in the hope that she'd make a scene.
• Ms. Fanservice: A memory projection of her appears in "Mining the Mind's Mines" parading around in a bikini trying to seduce Mariner. Even before they started dating, Mariner mutters to herself that she had been dreaming about Jennifer's "stupid little butt."
• Name From Another Species: Despite being Andorian, she has a human sounding first name. The name "Jennifer" comes from Tawny Newsome invokedimprovising, unaware the character was Andorian.
• Rescue Romance: She and Mariner get much closer after Jennifer stops Mariner from floating off into space.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Boimler criticizes the Redshirts for building personas based on other captains, Jennifer is convinced by his actions and words to leave the club along with Ensign Castro and the nameless Kzinti Ensign.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Seems to be this for Mariner, who admits to hating Jennifer despite knowing Starfleet officers are "not supposed to have interpersonal conflict". Mariner eventually admits in a later episode after Jennifer saves her life that she has a tendency to put distance between herself and the people she likes.

    Ensign Castro 

Ensign Castro

"It was then that I realized that the real Enterprise was inside me all along!"

Voiced By: Gabrielle Ruiz

A female Human ensign serving aboard the Cerritos.

---

• Incredibly Lame Fun: She and her pretentious friends love parties —which she calls "salons"— where they make candles, tell ghost stories and do interpretive dance.
• Interservice Rivalry: As a member of Delta Shift, she and Casey feud with Mariner and Boimler on Beta Shift.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Implied — she served on the Enterprise-E, the most prestigeous ship in Starfleet, "for like one minute" before being transferred to the Cerritos, which certainly sounds like a punishment for something...
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Boimler criticizes the Redshirts for building personas based on other captains, Castro is convinced by his actions and words to leave the club along with the Kzinti Ensign and Ensign Sh'reyan.
• Ship Tease: With Boimler. She hits on him once during his stint in the Redshirts, and later invites him to a Winger Bingston performance.

    The Kzinti Ensign 

Voiced By: Fred Tatasciore

A Kzinti ensign serving aboard the Cerritos.

---

• Mythology Gag: When he demonstrates poor posture to Boimler, his pose is identical to that of the Kzinti telepath in "The Slaver Weapon" (which introduced the Kzinti to the Star Trek universe).
• No Name Given: The only one of the Redshirts not to receive a name thus far. This may be on purpose, as Kzinti seen in "The Slaver Weapon" (and by extension the other Larry Niven books) don't get names unless they earn them.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Boimler criticizes the Redshirts for building personas based on other captains, he is convinced by his actions and words to leave the club along with Ensigns Castro and Sh'reyan.

Other Cerritos crewmembers

    Ensign Barnes 

Ensign Barnes

Voiced by: Jessica McKenna

A Trill junior officer who mans the Cerritos' operations console on the bridge.

---

• Ambiguously Bi: Briefly dated Rutherford in Season 1, and a holographic representation of her can be seen in I, Excretus having a drunken make-out session with Ensign Jennifer Sh'reyan. That said, the ambiguous part comes from the latter example being a hologram and not the real Barnes.
• Bridge Bunnies: She can often be seen working on the bridge whenever the senior staff are featured, and the lower-deckers aren't.
• Casual Danger Dialog: During her date with Rutherford in "Second Contact", they continue asking get-to-know-you questions and flirting after they get caught up in the firefight and emergency evacuation caused by the virus.
• Fan of the Past: She's fond of a "classical" band called The Monkees, a group that is over 400 years old from her perspective.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Implied. She has a human-sounding surname, and her spots seem less prominent than those of normal Trills.
• Informed Attractiveness: Mariner thinks that Barnes is "crazy hot", and Rutherford later confirms that she's pretty. However, due to the show's simple character designs, she isn't very different from any other female characters in the audience's eyes.
• Ms. Fanservice: Arguably the closest the show has to one: She comes on to Rutherford pretty aggressively, even suggesting a skinny-dipping threesome with a whale, and in a "Naked Time"-inspired simulation, is seen making out with the similarly attractive Jennifer.

    Lieutenant Commander Steve Stevens 

Lieutenant Commander Steve Stevens

"OH GAWD, my beautiful (insert body part here)!"

Voiced By: Ben Rodgers

A command division officer on the Cerritos.

---

• Afraid of Doctors: Implied in "Mugato, Gumato", in which he's among the crew members who skipped getting their annual physical exam. After the And Show It to You incident mentioned below, it's hard to blame him.
• Ambiguously Bi: Though he is seen hitting on women, his idolization of Commander Ransom seems to go far beyond Hero Worship, and in the holographic orgy in "I, Excretus" he can be seen riding and spanking Ransom. May be a case of If It's You, It's Okay.
• And Show It to You: Subverted in "Second Contact". After having his chest ripped open by a Hate Plague-infected crew member, Tendi has to keep his heart pumping with her bare hands without anesthetic, much to his horror and agony. It does save his life, but he's Afraid of Doctors as a consequence.
• Butt-Monkey: He's rarely seen having a good day, and his suffering tends to be Played for Laughs.
• The Chew Toy: He tends to get kicked around a lot when he appears, be it getting injured, ignored by his superiors, or embarrassed.
• Hero Worship: He idolizes Commander Ransom. When the latter becomes imbued with god-like powers in "Strange Energies", Stevens immediately begins openly worshipping him, much to the annoyance of Mariner and T'Ana.
• The Klutz: At one point, he leans on the warp core twice in a single day.
• Iron Butt Monkey: He's incured several, normally fatal, injuries including pretrification and extensive radiation burns (twice in one day!), yet manages to recover with zero lasting physical trauma thanks to 24th century medical science.
• Repetitive Name: His name is Steve (possibly short for Steven) Stevens.
• Straw Loser: A downplayed example for the Cerritos crew as a whole. Most of his screen time is devoted to simpering over Ransom or suffering Amusing Injuries, but while he's not the only accident-prone fellow on the ship (read: "Boimler"), his misfortunes tend to stem from his own incompetence/stupidity rather than bad luck, and he's yet to demonstrate any of the Hidden Badass qualities common to the rest of the crew.
• Taken for Granite: Happens to him in "Mining the Mind's Mines". He gets better. Somehow.

    Ensign Fletcher 

Ensign Fletcher

Voiced by: Tim Robinson

A command division Ensign, and one of Boimler's classmates at Starfleet Academy.

---

• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He's friendly, supportive, good at defusing arguments, and even volunteers to take on Mariner and Boimler's workload so they can attend an event. However, he's later revealed to have an incredibly selfish personality, constantly making excuses, and even throwing others under the bus to avoid taking responsibility for his own mistakes.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Fletcher shows up in the background or in brief, dialogue-less scenes prior to his feature episode. The most notable is during "Temporal Edict" where he exhaustedly shoves a pile of cylinders into a wall compartment instead of installing them properly (though this isn't necessarily foreshadowing of his laziness as everyone was struggling to make ends meet that episode).
• Foil:
  • To Mariner. She openly breaks rules she considers an impediment to her duty, but would never endanger the crew to benefit herself. Fletcher is just trying to cover his own ass with no regard for the consequences.
  • To TNG's Reginald Barclay. Barclay is a good engineer whose skills are hampered by his crippling social anxiety, but he was willing to take steps to correct his own failings. Fletcher gets along with everyone as a front, but at the first sign of trouble, he will throw anyone under the bus to avoid taking responsibility, and he can't be expected to perform even the most basic task if he doesn't have someone keeping an eye on him.
• It's All About Me: His first instinct in any adverse situation is to duck responsibility for whatever's happening, even if doing so results in others getting hurt.
• Kicked Upstairs: Mariner spins a lie about Fletcher deliberately modifying an isolinear core into a weapon to use against the Drookmani scavengers, so he'll be promoted... and transferred to another ship, far away from them.

  Mariner: You know what they say. Keep your friends close, and your enemies way the hell somewhere else.

• Lethally Stupid: His misadventures in "Terminal Provocations" put a lot of people in danger, nearly getting the ship destroyed by the Drookmani. And he very nearly destroyed the Titan six days after getting transferred there.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Without friends like Boimler and Mariner to help him, Fletcher's incompetence gets him fired and sent back to Earth six days after his posting to the Titan.
• Too Dumb to Live: He apparently thought plugging his brain into an isolinear core would make himself smarter. Later, on the Titan, he gets fired for throwing garbage into the warp core. "It all just burns up anyway!"

    Dr. Migleemo 

Dr. Migleemo

"Tendi, that's cantaloupe talk! I want you to be a CAN-aloupe!"

Voiced by: Paul F. Tompkins

Ship's counselor aboard the Cerritos. Mariner calls him the worst counselor in the fleet.

---

• Actor Allusion: Paul F. Tompkins playing a smug anthropomorphic bird associated with the color green who gets on everybody's nerves.
• Bird People: His species hasn't been named yet, but he's some kind of humanoid bird with green feathers.
• Custom Uniform: Much like Deanna Troi on the Enterprise-D, Dr. Migleemo's Starfleet duty uniform apparently consists of his normal civilian attire and a comm badge. Whether this is some sort of standard practice for ships' counselors in Starfleet or not is debatable.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Nobody likes therapy sessions with him because of his obnoxious food metaphors. Unlike a certain other Ship's Counselor, he is also rarely seen on the bridge, with the third seat in the command well typically being filled by Chief Engineer Lt. Commander Andy Billups.
• Momma's Boy: When Freeman leaves him in command for the first time, his very first order is to open a channel to his "meemaw" so she can see him sitting in the captain's chair.
• Running Gag: He uses food metaphors in sessions to an annoying degree.

  Dr. Migleemo: Carol, you're being a real prickly pineapple right now.
  Capt. Freeman: Ugh, stop referencing foods!

• Visual Pun: He's some kind of duck alien. That combined with him being a lousy therapist clearly makes him a quack.

    CPO Lars Lundy 

Chief Petty Officer Lars Lundy

A transporter chief aboard the Cerritos.

---

• Fantastic Racism: A holographic recreation of him (based on the real Lundy's personal logs) calls Tendi a "dirty Orion".

    Ensign Peanut Hamper 

Ensign Peanut Hamper

"Smell ya later! And I mean that literally, y'all just [bleep] everywhere!"

Voiced by: Kether Donohue

A "female" Exocomp serving in Starfleet.

---

• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: A variation on the trope: she's definitely bad, but it's not due to any programming fault, she's just a horrible person. When first introduced, she's nothing but sweet—up until she's asked to go on a suicide mission, at which point she pulls a Screw This, I'm Outta Here and runs for it. When she returns in "A Mathematically Perfect Redemption", it's revealed she was willing to risk the destruction of an entire species and the Cerritos as a means to get back in Starfleet. Unfortunately for her, the Cerritos crew is far from amused and stuff her in the Daystrom Institute to rot with the other examples of this trope. Right next to AGIMUS, in fact.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She may seem like a clumsy yet well-meaning little robot, but when she's called upon to save the Cerritos from destruction, she beams herself away while taunting her crewmates over their impending demise.
• Didn't Think This Through: Her fatal flaw stemming from shortsighted selfishness. Peanut Hamper tends to go with whatever will benefit her at that exact moment, forgetting to play the Long Game. She abandons the Cerritos by beaming herself into space, but has no means to go anywhere herself and is unsurprisingly left behind by the Titan because they didn't even know she was there. Her attempt to manipulate others later don't pan out because she regularly forgets to check a crucial detail that completely ruins her plans.
• Digging Yourself Deeper: Refusing to die for the Cerritos would have gotten her written up for insubordination at worst, but actively beaming away makes her a deserter and would give her time in a penal colony. Then she risks a village full of people so she can play hero. Then she tries to call the Borg to assimilate the Cerritos and the planet she landed on. By the end of it all, she's gone from "mild reprimand" to "indefinitely locked in the Daystrom Institute". And she's learned nothing from it.
• Dirty Coward: Beams off the Cerritos at the first sign of trouble rather than help in a crisis.

  "I joined Starfleet to piss off my dad, not to be a virus bomb!"

• Do-Anything Robot: Exocomps were designed to be this by default with a mini-replicator nozzle in front for making tools. Peanut is also able to replicate small treats for kids, vitamin supplements, and has enough engineering know-how to build a rudimentary starship from scratch.
• Fantastic Racism: Downplayed. She doesn't hate organic life, but she does hate organics from a less technologically-advanced civilization. While she seems to get over this given how they took her in despite their own misgivings, it becomes Double Subverted when it's shown she still hates how less advanced they are.
• Hate Sink: Eventually revealed to be one over the course of the series. While her first appearance presented her exit from a suicide mission and taunting everyone about it as dickish (albeit not entirely wrong), "A Mathematically Perfect Redemption" demonstrates her as The Sociopath who's willing to manipulate everyone around her to get her way, toy with another beings' feelings for her, and let innocents die (including and up to Borg assimilation) if it means she comes out on top. Starfleet then stuffs her in the Rogue A.I. containment unit at the Daystrom Institute, utterly disgusted with her.
• It's All About Me: Peanut Hamper cares nothing about anyone but herself. In "A Mathematically Perfect Redemption", she plots to return to Starfleet, caring nothing about the safety of the people who rescued and cared for her.
• Jack-of-All-Trades: Exocomps have the ability to replicate any tool for any job you'd normally have on a starship, making her very useful for surgery in Sickbay.
• Jerkass: To an extreme degree. She hates organic civilizations that are less technologically developed, she will gladly abandoned her crew when they ask her to undertake a suicide mission, she was willing to use Engineered Heroics and let both her old crew and her soon-to-be husband get wiped out so she could "save the day", and when her plans get foiled, she was going to call The Borg to assimilate everyone on the planet.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: In "A Mathematically Perfect Redemption", Peanut Hamper spends some time with the Aerore, grows to like her place in their society, falls in love, and even volunteers to sacrifice herself for their people. Except that it was all staged, she actually hates her fiance and the whole planet, and if anything she's only gotten worse.
• Kick the Dog: Seems to have a bad habit of doing this. It's not enough for her to just desert her post; she also has to insult all the crewmates she's leaving to die as she beams out. It's not enough for her to use and betray the Aerore; she has to publicly mock her fiancee for Crying After Sex and then try to call down the frigging Borg on everyone in a fit of pique after her plans are ruined.
• The Klutz: Constantly knocks stuff over because she's designed to replicate mostly surgical tools, not stuff like an ordinary hand to grab things.
• Love Redeems: Subverted and invoked. She seemingly falls in love with and almost marries Rawda, but turns out to have just been manipulating him and the other villagers all along. To add insult to injury, she even publicly reveals that he cries after sex.
• Manipulative Bitch: Manipulates Rawda and his village for months, then moves onto manipulating the Cerritos and the Drookmani rather than take responsibility for her actions.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: A rare inversion of the "see, even the bad guy aliens aren't all evil" examples usually seen from this trope. In contrast to the Exocomps first seen on TNG, who didn't speak but showed a willingness to sacrifice themselves to save others, Peanut Hamper is a full-blown sociopath: manipulative, selfish, narcissistic, and completely devoid of empathy.
• Redemption Rejection: Even after Peanut Hamper's plot is revealed, Tendi still offers her one last chance to redeem herself by saving the Cerritos from the Drookmani. The Exocomp flatly refuses.
• Ridiculously Human Robots: She talks like a Valley Girl, which strongly contrasts with her robotic body (which is a roundish box about the size of a football).
• Shadow Archetype: Eventually, she is revealed to be this to the main cast of Lower Decks. Like all the four protagonists, she is really good at any task she sets herself to (science, medicine, engineering, piloting, and socializing). But while all of the ensigns are willing to risk themselves for others (even Boimler, though he may be shrieking in terror while doing it) she absolutely is not.
• The Sociopath: She is a textbook example of one. She pretends to care about other life forms when it benefits her, she doesn’t feel regret about betraying people, she looks for opportunities to save herself or look like a hero to Starfleet, and she thinks she’s superior to all organic beings. She also proves herself to be incapable of love once Rawda learns she betrayed his trust and her coldly admitting in public that he cries over anything, even after sex. She is very manipulative, but also very shortsighted and maliciously spiteful when confronted about her scheming.
• Special Effects Failure: Purposefully invoked; the original Exocomps in TNG were dangled on a fishing line that was later removed digitally. The creators explicitly asked the animators to make Peanut Hamper move like she was being dangled from a fishing line.
• Ungrateful Bastard: The Aerore accept her into their community, put up with her insults, and even reveal their deepest secrets as a culture to her. How does Peanut Hamper repay their kindness? By siccing the Drookmani on them (destroying most of their village in the process) and using the resulting conflict to her own ends.
• Villainous Breakdown: When her plan to rejoin Starfleet is foiled, she attempts to contact the Borg and ensure everyone gets assimilated. Luckily she's foiled rather easily, but that's pretty extreme as far as Trek villains have gone.
• Villain Team-Up: She ends up stored in the Daystrom Institute...right next to AGIMUS. Naturally, they immediately begin planning to get their revenge.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: She chose the name "Peanut Hamper" rather than use her numerical designation because she calculated it'd be a mathematically perfect name. Considering Tendi loves it, she may not have been completely wrong, although this opinion is reversed after she bails out on helping to save the ship. AGIMUS also likes it.

    Lieutenant O'Connor 

Lieutenant (j.g.) O'Connor

Voiced by: Haley Joel Osment

An operations division officer serving on the Cerritos.

---

• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: His goal, which apparently is attainable through meditation and sacrifice.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Turns out ascension is a really intense and painful process. Time has no meaning and apparently, the universe is balanced on the back of a giant koala.

  "WHY IS HE SMILING?!! WHAT DOES HE KNOW??"

• Heroic Sacrifice: He's crushed by debris while trying to save Tendi. His selflessness is what helps him finally ascend (though he may regret that).
• Hot-Blooded: Hasn't spiritually ascended yet because of his volatile temper.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Finally admits he was attempting ascension to stand out in Starfleet.

    Ensign Jet Manhaver 

Ensign Jet Manhaver

"We don't have to be heroes today, people. We just have to survive."

Voiced By: Marcus Henderson

An operations division officer serving aboard the Cerritos.

---

• The Ace: Tall, strong, handsome, and a model officer respected by the crew. Boimler calls him a "Kirk sundae with Trip Tucker sprinkles".
• Always Someone Better: There's always someone better, and that someone tends to be Jet. He's not even trying to outdo everyone else or be a jerk about it, but both Mariner and Boimler are irritated by him being so dang good at everything.
• Amicable Exes: He used to date Lt. Brinson, much to Boimler's paranoia.
• By-the-Book Cop: Insists on following procedure compared to Mariner's gung-ho attitude in a crisis.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: He wears two rank pips in "Cupid's Errant Arrow", which paints him as a full Lieutenant, but in "Kayshon, His Eyes Opened" he's an Ensign and referred to as such. Lampshaded — apparently he just had a stray kernel of corn on his neck.
• The Rival: In "Kayshon, His Eyes Open", he constantly butts up against Mariner's rebellious nature and tries to take her leadership role after Kayshon was transformed into a puppet.

    Lieutenant Winger Bingston, Jr. 

Lieutenant Winger Bingston, Jr.

Voiced By: Eugene Cordero

A science division Lieutenant serving aboard the Cerritos.

---

• Master Actor: Puts on a one man show for Starfleet diversity training, "The United Federation of Characters." Mariner is aghast at having to sit through it.

  (Spotlight illuminates him sitting on a stool) "Oh hello... didn't see you beam in there..."

• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Mariner seems to really hold a grudge after being forced to sit through his one-man show, since she opts to crush him to death during her Holodeck program in "Crisis Point".

    Lieutenant Steve Levy 

Lieutenant Steve Levy

"Changelings aren't real! The Dominion War didn't happen!"

Voiced By: Fred Tatasciore

A science division Lieutenant aboard the Cerritos. Also a massive Conspiracy Theorist.

---

• Arbitrary Skepticism: Wolf 359 and the Dominion War cost countless lives across all corners of the Federation, but he claims the latter never happened and the former was an inside job. Note that the Dominion War ended just five years ago in-universe.
• Conspiracy Theorist: He thinks Wolf 359 was an inside job, that Changelings aren't real, and that the Dominion War didn't happen.
• Casanova Wannabe: Mariner went on one date with him a year ago and hasn't talked to him since. Probably not a good idea to spout conspiracy theories about Changelings and the Dominion on a date with someone who most likely encountered Changelings and the Dominion in the past.
• Everyone Has Standards: While he dismisses the feud between Freeman and Buenamigo as a meaningless "cold war", he still considers Mariner ruining the Cerritos' reputation in Veronica's report "pretty messed up". Subverted when it turns out Mariner actually didn't cause the report to go wrong this time.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: Tries to pitch some ideas for decorating the Captain's Yacht to Mariner the instant he finds out she's Captain Freeman's daughter.

    Lieutenant Kayshon 

Lieutenant Kayshon

"You gettin' 'Vasmendi, when he pulled back the veil' vibes from this guy?"

Voiced By: Carl Tart

A Tamarian Security chief aboard U.S.S. Cerritos, brought in to replace Shaxs.

---

• Caring Gardener: A quick cut-away shows him Talking to Plants in the ship's hydroponics lab, presumably during his off-hours.
• Casanova Wannabe: Tries to flirt with a fellow officer using his people's metaphors, only for her to roll her eyes and leave.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: While Shaxs was a violent Bajoran Blood Knight with No Indoor Voice, Kayshon is a soft-spoken Gentle Giant.
• Forced Transformation: Gets turned into a puppet in "Kayshon, His Eyes Open". He gets better.
• Strange-Syntax Speaker: Seemingly at first, as he uses a Tamarian metaphor when he first comes aboard. Subverted when he then explains that the Universal Translator can now mostly translate Tamarian metaphors into regular Federation Standard and that he's also been taking language lessons as well, but sometimes misses one and translates it literally.
• Temporary Substitute: He fills in for Shaxs for all of two episodes before Shaxs returns from the dead. Unlike most other characters in Trek who fit this role, Kayshon instead just sticks around and continues being an active part of the Cerritos's crew, seemingly sharing duties with Shaxs now interchangeably.
• Weight Woe: A failed attempt by Boimler to speak in Tamarian metaphors apparently comes across as an insult regarding Kayshon's weight, sending the security officer storming off in a huff.

    Ensign T'Lyn 

Ensign (Provisional) T'Lyn

"Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end."

Voiced by: Gabrielle Ruiz

A female Vulcan crewmember formerly serving aboard the Vulcan cruiser Sh'Vhal, now reassigned to the Cerritos.

---

• Big Damn Heroes: Her efforts end up saving both the Cerritos and the Sh'Vhal from destruction.
• Cultural Rebel: T'Lyn is more in touch with her emotions and instincts than most Vulcans, and believes her approach to be the superior one.
• Custom Uniform: While aboard the Sh'Vhal, she wears her belt as a headband.
• Deadpan Snarker: Practically given for a Vulcan, T'Lyn has quite an acerbic wit.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Despite being instrumental in saving the crew, she receives no recognition for her efforts, and is in fact booted off the ship because of them.
• Foil: Within seconds of arriving on the Cerritos, her quiet demeanor is immediately contrasted with Tendi's bubbly personality as the latter literally drags her to meet the rest of Beta Shift.
• Gadgeteer Genius: She is quite proficient with technology, as seen when she boosts the range of the Sh'Vhal's scanners and later improves its shields.
• Hot-Blooded: By Vulcan standards, at least. While she can be logical enough to sway her captain on several occasions, she also has a habit of letting her emotions get the better of her to the point where her captain describes said behaviour as "outbursts" and accuses her of acting like a child. The rest of the crew also berates her "passionate" actions.
• Mirror Character: She is essentially a Vulcan version of Mariner. She's a rebellious young woman whose outside-the-box thinking saves the day, and she even wears her uniform informally compared to everyone else. Unlike Mariner, her violations are minor with a more direct benefit to the ship, but committing them at all eventually gets her transferred to another ship, just like Mariner.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: T'Lyn is berated by her peers for exceeding her duties and experimenting with ways to improve the systems on the Sh'vhal, because they're otherwise operational. Even though in both cases her innovations were functional and improved systems, she's still transferred to a Starfleet vessel by her captain because she's considered too headstrong for doing so in the first place.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Despite her saving the day in "wej Duj", the captain of the Sh'Vhal has her transferred off the ship, recommending she serve on a human Starfleet vessel instead as punishment for her disruptions. She eventually does this, and becomes assigned to the Cerritos.
• Sarcastic Well Wishing: Departs the Sh'Val on a "Live long, and prosper" so barbed it would make Kelvin timeline Spock proud.
• Smug Smiler: Downplayed. T'Lyn gives off a smirk when the captain of the Sh'Vhal is unable to refute her logic, but is otherwise fairly stoic.
• To Be Lawful or Good: T'Lyn has no compunctions about disregarding protocols and orders if she believes they are interfering with her mission.
• Workaholic: When ordered to meditate by her captain, she briefly attempts to comply before giving up and returning to her work. This is one of the many marks against her character on the Sh'Val, as everyone questions the logic of working to improve already serviceable and functional systems.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: T'Lyn's transfer to Starfleet at the end of her debut appearance suggests she'll play a major part in season 3, but she only makes a small cameo appearance. Creator Mike McMahan explained that this is because "wej duJ" was written as a one-off episode and that, by the time it premiered and went on to become the most acclaimed episode of Lower Decks to date, season 3 had already been written with zero expectation that both it and T'Lyn would have gone over so well. She will appear in a larger role in the show's fourth season, and shows up in the season 3 finale after being assigned to the Cerritos.

    Badgey 

Badgey

"I will burn your heart in a FIRE! Blargararagll!"

Voiced by: Jack McBrayer

A holographic training tutorial programmed by Rutherford, which then turns homicidal.

---

• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: It's the Holodeck. What else did you expect? In this case, it's a result of deliberate sabotage by Rutherford's past personality fighting back against his implant.
• And I Must Scream: Like Moriarty, he remains conscious even when when his program is not in use.

  Badgey: [happy] If you need me, Badgey's here! [menacing] I'm ALWAYS here...

• Animate Inanimate Object: He's a talking anthropomorhized commbadge.
• Ax-Crazy: Gruesomely kills some holographic Bajorans in a scenario Rutherford programmed, then goes after his "father" and Tendi.
• Big Brother Is Watching: He's always monitoring comms, even when his program isn't in use.
• Brought Down to Normal: Disengaging the safety protocols may have made him psychotic, but it also made him bound to normal physical limitations. In the end, Rutherford and Tendi defeat him by tiring him out, then freezing him, and finally a fight to the death.
• Catchphrase: "Can I teach you a lesson?"
• Crazy-Prepared: Emphasis on "crazy." He already has three computer viruses ready to go to infect the Pakled ship by the time Rutherford asks him for help.
• Create Your Own Villain: Regards Rutherford as his "father", which seems to be mutual.
• Cutting the Knot: Rutherford downloads him to his eye implant so he can infect the Pakled ship. When Badgey activates the self-destruct in an attempt to kill Rutherford, Lt. Shaxs rips out the implant and throws Rutherford onto the shuttle to get him to safety.
• Evil Is Petty:
  • Wants to kill Tendi simply because Rutherford likes her.
  • Refuses to infect the Pakled ship until Rutherford kills himself. When Rutherford refuses, Badgey just activates the self-destruct.
• Gone Horribly Right: As it turns out, Badgey going going from zero to serial killer in 10 seconds wasn't (present day) Rutherford's fault, it was a coding error by past Rutherford's attempts to create a black book project Attack Drone AI for Starfleet, which present Rutherford subconciously duplicated.
• Here We Go Again!: Another Holodeck program that turns deadly when the safeties are off? You don't say.
• Large Ham: "Here's a tip! I AM GOING TO BURN! YOUR HEARTS! IN A FIRE!!!"
• Laughably Evil: The juxtaposition between his ridiculously cheery voice and his Ax-Crazy attitude is nothing short of hilarious.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: He turns against his "father" after getting kicked in the gut during a slow loading period.
• Moral Myopia: He makes it so the virus for the Pakled ship slows to a crawl right as it is nearly finished, and says it won't work until after the Pakleds kill Rutherford. When Rutherford asks why, Badgey angrily says because he snapped his neck. Rutherford only did that because Badgey was already trying to kill him and Tendi.
• Neck Snap: How Rutherford defeats him in their battle to the death, even though he doesn't have a neck.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: It's unclear if this was always the case. However after the first incident where the safety protocols were disabled while he was running he seems to have started doing this when the safety protocols are on. He seems nice and sweet when they're turned on even after the attempted murders but once they're off he shows off his more sinister side.
• Obvious Beta: Rutherford shows him to Tendi even though he hasn't worked out the kinks in his programming yet. That turns out to be a bad idea.
• Psycho Prototype: Somewhat inverted. The Season 3 finale reveals that the AI controlling the Texas-class drone ships was made from the same base code that Rutherford made while working for then-Lieutenant Commander, later Vice Admiral Buenamigo. The program operating the U.S.S. Aledo, U.S.S. Corpus Chrsti and U.S.S. Dallas and Badgey are effectively long lost brother AIs descended from the same father code created by Rutherford. This is further emphasised when the Aledo begins transmitting the phrase "I will burn your heart in a fire", over and over again.
• Restraining Bolt: The holodeck safeties keep him from acting on his violent impulses. Unfortunately, those get knocked offline in his first appearance, and Rutherford has to deliberately disable them the second time to get Badgey's help.
• Shout-Out: He's the Starfleet version of Clippy from Microsoft Office.
• Taking You with Me: He's more than willing to kill himself if it means Rutherford will die with him.

  "You want me to disable their systems? Fine! I'll do it... EXPLOSIVELY!"

• Uncertain Doom: It's unclear whether his program still exists on the Cerritos after he transferred himself to Rutherford's implant (and then got blown up). His absence in Season 2 suggests he was, indeed, fully uploaded into the implant. In the Season 3 finale, the implant is shown to have survived the destruction of the Pakled ship, and Badgey is still conscious within.

    Lieutenants Kimolu and Matt 

Lieutenants Kimolu and Matt

A pair of beluga whales who work in Cetacean Ops.

---

• Anything That Moves: They... really want people to swim with them. This led many viewers to assume they were meant to be dolphins (who are notoriously horny) before it was confirmed that they are beluga whales.
• Friendly, Playful Dolphin: Beluga whales, but close enough.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Kimolu missed the revelation that Captain Freeman is Mariner's mom.
• Mythology Gag: An early concept for the Enterprise-D was that it would have a giant water tank with dolphins who would help with navigation. It was dropped because it was deemed too expensive, though Cetacean Ops is mentioned a few times on screen. It would take 34 years before the franchise finally showed Cetacean Ops aboard a Starfleet ship.
• Those Two Guys: They both work in a giant water tank and thus are never apart.
• Worst Aid: Their advice when they bring up Boimler after he runs out of air is to keep him wet, as though he were a beached whale. To be fair, they ARE beluga whales, and that is how they'd treat their own.

Crew of the U.S.S. Titan (NCC-80102)

    U.S.S. Titan 

A Luna-class starship, named after Saturn's largest moon. She was first mentioned in Star Trek: Nemesis, one year prior to Lower Decks (chronologically).

---

• Canon Immigrant: While the Titan had been mentioned in Nemesis, the design was only seen in the Star Trek: Titan book series and in the video game Star Trek Online prior to its onscreen appearance in "No Small Parts".
• Cool Starship: Though she's no Enterprise, the Titan is a magnificent ship, giving the Pakleds all sorts of hell. She also contrasts nicely with the Cerritos, taking out three Pakled ships with ease when the Cerritos barely survived against one (though it's obvious Riker is impressed they managed even that). As of Season 2, she's still kicking Pakled ass. She's considerably larger and more powerful than in her non-canon novel appearances, having been upgraded from a medium-sized science ship around the size of the U.S.S. Excelsior to a capital ship rivaling the Sovereign-class Enterprise-E in size and firepower.
• Gunship Rescue: How she makes her arrival in "No Small Parts".
• Theme Music Power-Up: The Next Generation theme starts blasting on the soundtrack while she saves the Cerritos and kicks Pakled ass.
• Walking Spoiler: Any mentions of the ship and her crew spoils the last few minutes of "No Small Parts" as they were not expected to show up at all!

    Captain William T. Riker 

Captain William T. Riker

"I LOVE MY JOOOOOOOOB!"

Voiced By: Jonathan Frakes

The former first officer of the Enterprise-D and E, now captain of the U.S.S. Titan. It has been about a year since he took up the ship and shows no signs of slowing down.

For tropes related to his appearances on some of the other shows, see his entries on:

• The Next Generation
• Picard

---

• The Ace: He's competent, confident, is always on a mission to do something heroic, and his ship is one of the most admired in the fleet.
• Big Damn Heroes: The Titan caught wind of the U.S.S. Solvang's distress signal and arrived in time to save the Cerritos from certain doom. Complete with Star Trek: The Next Generation cinematic theme.
• Catchphrase: "Give me warp in the factor of 5, 6, 7, 8..."
• Change the Uncomfortable Subject: Mariner blurts out that he gives her contraband from time to time, forcing him to quickly turn off the comms. When Troi asks what she was talking about, he tries to pivot to the battle at hand, but she says they'll be talking about it.
• Cool Uncle: Hooks Mariner up with contraband behind her mother's back. With the reveal of Riker being an old family friend, it's reasonable to assume Beckett knew and looked up to him since she was young.
• Flanderization: He's a very exaggerated version of his TNG self, portrayed as a supremely confident ace and jazz nut who warps into danger laughing all the way.
• Hero of Another Story: This show may be about the Cerritos, but Riker has his own plotline in which he takes point in the war against the Pakleds.
• Large Ham: Much hammier here than in any previous appearances, giving Captain Kirk a run for his money. Jonathan Frakes is clearly having a blast.
• The Mentor: He shared a similar dynamic with Freeman as Mariner does with Boimler.

  Riker: You were sort of my ch'DIch! We used to get in so much trouble!
  Freeman: We?

• Sickeningly Sweethearts: Troi is serving with him as ship's counselor on the Titan and they're just as in love as ever.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: He's serving on the frontlines of the new war against the Pakleds, and considering what they've put him through before, he has every right to want vengeance on them.

  "A Pakled party and I wasn't invited?!"

• Sophisticated as Hell: "Let's see how these Pakleds do with their afts hanging out!"

    Commander Deanna Troi 

Commander Deanna Troi

Voiced by: Marina Sirtis

The former Counselor onboard the Enterprise-D and -E and Captain Riker's wife. She joined him onboard the Titan and has stayed on ever since.

---

• Deadpan Snarker: This Troi is a far snarkier incarnation of the character than previously seen; everything from flirting with her husband to her deflection of Ransom drips with it.
• Insult Backfire: She tries to tell Ransom that he hides his insecurities with his bravado. He thinks he can make that work for him.
• Put on a Bus: She does not appear in Season 2, despite Boimler being on the Titan initially.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: A year after their wedding and she is still flirtatious with her husband.

    Lieutenant William Boimler 

Lieutenant (j.g.) Bradward "William" Boimler

Voiced by: Jack Quaid

A transporter clone of Brad Boimler.

---

• Cloning Blues: Is created from a transporter malfunction similar to the one that created Thomas Riker. Though in this version, the clone ends up being the one who prospers in Starfleet, getting to stay a lieutenant on the Titan, while the original Boimler is demoted and sent back to the Cerritos.
• Evil Twin: Not so much "evil" as just more conniving than the original Boimler. He knew Brad would think they would both volunteer to be demoted together and held his piece in order to remain on the Titan. He ends up embracing this when he joins Section 31.
• Faking the Dead: Supposedly died in a gas leak; in reality, he's still alive and now part of Section 31.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: His choosing the name "William" is clearly his way of sucking up to Riker.

Crew of the U.S.S. Oakland (NCC-75012)

    Captain Amina Ramsey 

Captain Amina Ramsey

Voiced By: Toks Olagundoye

Captain of the U.S.S. Oakland. Serves as temporary command for the Cerritos in "Much Ado About Boimler". She and Mariner were very close in their Academy days.

---

• The Ace: Already made Captain and has her own command at a rather young age, and effortlessly keeps up with Mariner when saving the crew of the Rubidoux.
• Amicable Exes: It's not stated explicitly that she and Mariner dated in her first appearance, but
  Word of God confirms they're meant to have this dynamic.
• Cool Teacher: According to her, "Nobody likes a babysitter captain," so she tries to be amenable while temporarily commanding the Cerritos.
• Dare to Be Badass: Assigns Mariner as her temporary First Officer and offers to help her "rank up" whenever she decides she's ready to.
• Deadpan Snarker: She can be, easily.

  Lt. Durga: There's some sort of alien entity inside the ship!
  Ramsey: Oh, ya think??

• Foil: She's what Mariner could be if she took her career in Starfleet more seriously. Even their accents are different, with Mariner having a Valley Girl American accent and Ramsey having a posh British accent.
• Former Teen Rebel: She and Mariner used to be this in their Academy days, even stealing a beloved professor's antique car. Mariner still thinks it's hilarious, but she views it as invokedOld Shame after her senior staff give her some dirty looks.
• Not so Above It All: She takes captaining and managing her crew very seriously, but still gets a giggle out of Mariner's antics.
• What the Hell, Hero?: She's very troubled that Mariner is now kind of a screw-off and not the badass space adventurer she remembers from their youth.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: She believes Mariner still has what it takes to make Captain one day, and says she'll be happy to help her.

    Lt. Durga 

Lt. Durga

Voiced By: Jennifer Hale

Captain Ramsey's Vulcan Science Officer aboard the U.S.S. Oakland.

---

• Holier Than Thou: Doesn't have a lot of patience for Mariner's goofy antics, and looks down on her for still being an Ensign.
• Jerkass Has a Point: She looks down on Mariner from minute one, but considering Mariner's history of insubordination, her screwball personality, and still being an Ensign while her former classmate has already made Captain, it's hard to blame her.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She powers the Rubidoux back on when they discover it adrift. Only problem was the ship had been invaded by an unknown alien entity that was feeding on the ship’s power.

  Lt. Durga: There's some sort of alien entity inside the ship!
  Ramsey: Oh, ya think?

Crew of the U.S.S. Solvang (NCC-12101)

    Captain Dayton 

Captain Dayton

"I don't want to die in space!"

Voiced By: Gillian Vigman

The ill-fated Captain of the U.S.S. Rubidoux and, briefly, the U.S.S. Solvang.

---

• Butt-Monkey: Two starships under her command get destroyed over the course of a single ten episode season, the second time killing her and her crew. The other captains who came to her rescue made snarky comments about going to her rescue.
• Crying Wolf: This is the reason why her distress calls are treated lightly by Freeman and Ramsey, because she's known to be nervous and incompetent. Freeman thinks her partial distress call was because "somebody sat on a button."
• Killed Off for Real: Just days after she takes command of the Solvang, she and her crew are wiped out by the Pakleds.
• Dropped a Bridge on Her: The Pakleds wipe her and her new ship out in her second appearance.
• The Load: Both Captain Freeman and Ramsey have implied they've had to bail her out of a jam more than once.
• Madness Mantra: "I don't wanna die in space! I don't wanna die in space!" Maybe she should have retired, because when she gets her next ship that's exactly what happens.
• Nervous Wreck: Being at the mercy of an alien entity feeding on her ship’s power has turned her into this, to the point that Mariner has to knock her out and carry her to rescue. She's not much better during the Pakled attack, reflexively ordering the ship to warp and getting the entire crew killed because the Pakleds had managed to grapple one of the Solvang's nacelles.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Dayton is one of the more ridiculous personalities encountered by the Cerritos crew (and by extension, the audience) in Season 1. "No Small Parts" quickly establishes its more serious raised stakes by brutally killing her and her entire crew.
• Super OCD: After taking command of the Solvang, she gets annoyed when people take the plastic covers off of the comm panels and insists her bridge crew not wear shoes so they don't get the carpet dirty.
• Tempting Fate: She insists on keeping the bridge of the Solvang new and clean for as long as possible. She and her crew are brutally killed less than a minute after expressing this.
• Undignified Death: She, and her entire crew, are killed by Pakleds, the most famously stupid (though clearly not harmless) species in the franchise. They don't even get a chance to fight back.

Crew of the U.S.S. Archimedes (NCC-83002)

    Captain Sonya Gomez 

Captain Sonya Gomez

Voiced By: Lycia Naff

The Captain of the U.S.S. Archimedes, an Obena-class starship. Briefly served as an engineer on the Enterprise-D a long time ago.

---

• All-Loving Hero: The members of her bridge crew adore her, and she's very supportive of her lower decks crew. They remind her of when she first started out.
• The Bus Came Back: She's been gone sixteen years in-universe, and over thirty years out-of-universe. Turns out she's come a long way since we last saw her.
• Character Development: On TNG, she was clumsy and nervous around the command crew. Sixteen years later, she's a self-assured Captain with her own vessel.
• Determinator: She works herself to near exhaustion trying to find a way to save her ship, to the point that her crew need to remind her to rest.
• Heroic Sacrifice: She's prepared to make one, insisting that her crew evacuate to the back of the ship so they have a better chance of survival before they collide with a planet. Nobody budges. They refuse to abandon their captain.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: For a long time, she was just known — both in- and out-of-universe — as that ensign who spilled hot chocolate on Captain Picard. She seems to have taken it in stride, and is very supportive to nervous young crew-members who feel in over their head.

  Gomez: Don't worry about it. I've done way worse in front of much more intimidating captains!

• The Pollyanna: It's not that she doesn't acknowledge bad things happening, more that she tries her best regardless. Very little gets her down, even the impending doom of both her ship and a neighboring planet.

  Gomez: Alright, that's enough existential dread! Let's get to work!

• This Is Gonna Suck: After her ship is sent flying towards a sovereign planet and the power is knocked out, so they can't stop it.

  Gomez: Alright, gimme the bad news.

• Tuckerization: Not her, but her ship; fans initially mistook the Archimedes for an Excelsior-class ship, but
  Word of God confirmed it's Obena-class, which is inspired by the original Excelsior design. The name comes from Nollan Obena, the Art Director for Season 2.
  • Among other things, the saucer section has a more oval shape like the Enterprise-E and the nacelles look closer to TNG than TOS. The "neck" of the Engineering section is also longer.

Starfleet Command

    Admiral Les Buenamigo 

Vice Admiral Les Buenamigo

"The good of the many, Carol!"

Voiced by: Carlos Alazraqui

A member of Starfleet Command and an old family friend of the Freemans. Not as upstanding as he seems.

---

• Affably Evil: He acts like he's a big, generous Santa Claus doing you a favor no matter the situation, even if that situation is "we're taking away your crew and giving you a desk job with a bunch of epaulets."
• Big Bad: Of Season 3.
• Didn't Think This Through: His grand plan involved constructing an entire class of powerful warships controlled by AI systems programmed by a young, inexperienced and hotheaded engineer (that being pre-implant Rutherford), all to perform mundane tasks currently handled by the bottom rung of Starfleet's armada (at least at first, to prove their worth). The second he lets one be autonomous—Rutherford having warned him that the ships are Ax-Crazy and that giving them permission to do what they want will have deadly consequences—A.I. Is a Crapshoot ensues.
• Engineered Heroics: Knew about the Breen incursion of Brekka, but allowed the Cerritos to run into them so he could pull a faux Big Damn Heroes with the Aledo and convince Starfleet to adopt the Texas-class.
• Evil All Along: Turns out he was the shady officer who ordered Rutherford's memory wiped after he was seriously injured working on his secret project — the prototype for the Texas-class. He had also purposely set up Freeman and the Cerritos to fail in "Hear All, Trust Nothing", expecting her to botch the negotiations with the Karemma if she had no time to prepare, which didn't pan out. In "Trusted Sources" he knew that the Breen were on Brekka, risking the lives of everyone on the Cerritos and all those killed by the Breen in the interim just so he could make the Aledo look good.
• False Friend: His genteel attitude belies the fact that he's dumping extra work with no prep time on Freeman in "Hear All, Trust Nothing", and it later turns out he's using her as a stepping stone for his drone ship project.
• Fan of the Past: A lot of Starfleet senior staff have this trope. Buenamigo's particular fascination is, obviously, Texas, because his office is covered in 19th-century Texas historical artifacts. There's the flag, a manual typewriter, an old revolver, a Texas Rangers star and other such things. He even smokes cigars, a habit all but eliminated by the TNG era.
• Glory Hound: He wanted to be remembered for his Texas-class ships being Starfleet's best tool for Second Contact, and he was willing to eliminate anyone who could jeopardize that. After the carnage that his ships wrought against Starfleet assets, he'll probably be remembered as one of the worst admirals ever.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: Supposedly, his reason for developing the Texas-class ships was to save Starfleet lives on dangerous missions (and ensure his career advancement in the process). However, when he lets the Aledo's AI off the leash, it ends up killing him and many other Starfleet officers when it goes on a homicidal rampage.
• Greater-Scope Villain: It turns out, he was the cause of many of the Cerritos' crew's problems throughout season 3, and even earlier:
  • Before the show began, he recruited the pre-implant Rutherford out of the Academy to design the AI for his Texas-class ships, then had his memory erased during his emergency cyborg surgery. And, it turns out the amnesiac Rutherford would later resurrect the unstable AI code when he programmed Badgey.
  • He arranged to Capt. Freeman to run the trade negotiations on Deep Space Nine in "Hear All, Trust Nothing", giving her no warning or prep time in the hopes she'd botch the negotiations.
  • He sent a reporter to the Cerritos without warning in "Trusted Sources", then sent them to a Breen-occupied world as part of an Engineered Heroics situation, putting the ship and crew in jeopardy so the U.S.S. Aledo could swoop in and save them as a demonstration of the Texas-class's combat capabilities. Afterward, the reporter writes an exposé painting Freeman as a paranoid tyrant, and the Cali-class ships as a hostile toxic work environment after the crew inadvertently trash themselves and Freeman completely mishandles the situation by transferring Mariner to Starbase 80 for what turns out to be no reason, setting the stage for the whole class to be retired in favor of his new autonomous ships.
  • Then in "The Stars at Night" he finally abandons all pretext and orders the Aledo to destroy the Cerritos when they find a critical flaw in the new ships' AI.
• History Repeats: He makes the exact same mistake Dr. Richard Daystrom made over 120 years earlier: developing an unstable autonomous starship AI that goes berserk and opens fire on other Starfleet ships.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He gets killed after giving the Aledo autonomy and ordering it to fire on the Cerritos, not heeding that its flawed programming will make it go rogue and fire on him first.
• Insane Admiral: He was responsible for the accident that almost killed Rutherford, and he then had Rutherford's memory erased. He was also responsible for the Cerritos being attacked by the Breen, and he tried to have her destroyed when Rutherford discovered the truth. When Freeman protests that he's not one of those "bad-faith admirals", he just says that yes, he is.
• Limited Advancement Opportunities: Apparently, this is why admirals in Starfleet turn evil all the time — they hit flag rank, their career has nowhere else to go, and they turn to ill-advised vanity projects in an effort to not fade into obscurity. Buenamigo may be justifying his own ambitions however, as he's already a Vice Admiral - the second highest rank in Starfleet (and if Starfleet is similar to modern navies in scope of promotion, the highest rank he can reach without confirmation to the post by the Federation Council).
• Meaningful Name: His last name translates to "Good Friend" and he is an old friend of the Freemans, to the point that Beckett calls him 'Uncle Les'. Unfortunately, it appears to be an Ironic Name when it turns out that he set up Freeman to fail so he can prove the superiority of the Texas-class, but his actions prove that he's "less" of a good friend than the Freemans thought he was.
• Shadow Archetype: To Captain Freeman — both want to get ahead in their Starfleet careers and get recognition for their hard work. However, he's basically stuck at the top where flag officers are a dime a dozen, which ends up leading him to create a vanity project that ultimately ends up being far more trouble than it was worth and causes Buenamigo himself to go full-tilt evil in the process — whereas Captain Freeman knows where to draw the line (and her vanity project by comparison was a lot less grand and more to try and address an existing problem in Starfleet).
• There's No Kill like Overkill: He ends up being killed by a ship-mounted phaser beam, which are thousands of times more powerful than handheld units.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: He claims that destroying the Cerritos will allow him to save more lives by replacing the California-class with automated, uncrewed ships that don't have a crew to die when they get in over their heads.
• Villain with Good Publicity: He definitely invokes the "good publicity" bit by having a reporter on the Cerritos when the Aledo saves then from the Breen, thus ensuring that the entire Federation can see how awesome his new Texas-class ships are.
• Walking Spoiler: It's rather difficult to discuss him without giving away his role as the Big Bad of season 3.

Other Starfleet Personnel

    Shari yn Yem 

Voiced by: Lennon Parham

A Pandronian who works as a drill administrator for Starfleet, Shari is tasked with testing ships' crews to make sure that they're all in fighting trim.

---

• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While she first appears peppy and helpful, she chose the Cerritos as a dupe and rigged the drills to have them all fail in order to prove that her drills are still necessary.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: As a Pandronian, Shari can split her body into three pieces (head, torso, and legs) that can float and move around independently. They all bounce around the bridge like pinballs when Freeman demonstrates what a starship crisis is actually like.
• The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: She rigged all the tests so that everyone would fail. Despite that, Boimler still manages to get a passing grade, and is the only member of the crew who doesn't fail, at least until he's forced to.
• Continuity Nod: Shari is a Pandronian, the same species as Commander Ari bn Bem, and, like him, tends to refer to herself as "this one" and has come aboard to run efficiency tests on the crew.
• Evil Laugh: She lets out a long one when Mariner and Freeman suggest that the drills were a Secret Test of Character, revealing that, on the contrary, she set them up to fail on purpose.
• Hurricane of Aphorisms: Even when she's not making direct puns about her detachable head, almost everything she says is an allusion to her kind's ability to separate and come back together, i.e. "the true measure of a crew is how they come together as a single unit."
• Jerkass Has a Point: While she's a complete Bitch in Sheep's Clothing and trying to cause the Cerritos to fail to preserve her own job, she has a very valid point that the commanders' carelessness in responding to the SOS (from a temporal distortion involving a repeating time loop — while the Bakersfield was in distress, based on the short periodicity of the time loop, she wasn't going anywhere for a while), and specifically her leaving four ensigns behind in deep space for several hours, could have had serious and lasting consequences.
• Killer Game-Master: Her simulations are heavily railroaded and immediately penalize any and all attempts at Sequence Breaking, and are rigged to fail the participant as quickly as possible.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Shari's job is to train and evaluate Federation starship crews on how to do their jobs efficiently. However, all her training programs are simply copied from past adventures of other crews throughout Starfleet history: she's never actually served on a starship, and doesn't understand the need to adapt and overcome challenges herself. When Shari is exposed to actual danger by Captain Freeman (namely facing off against a Crystalline Entity and a Negative Space Wedgie), she completely panics.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Freeman and Mariner put Shari through the hell of a normal day of Starfleet adventures until she passes them. Shari also resigns at the end of the episode due to the traumatic experience, meaning that no lower-class ship will ever be put through that again.
• Motive Rant: Shari breaks into one when Mariner and Freeman confront her about supposedly running a secret team-building exercise.
• Not Me This Time: Shari ran out of time to program all her sabotaged simulations, meaning that when Mariner caused a horse to go irate and trample her, she did that purely through her own ineptitude.
• Smug Snake: Shari is so confident in her plan that she laughs and gloats to Mariner and Freeman's faces about her true motives when they come to her under the impression that she intended to strengthen the Cerritos crew's bonds. All this does is give them a heads-up to have Boimler stall for time while they blackmail her into passing them by taking her through various harrowing space phenomena, since it turns out that she never actually served on a starship. If she had just gone along with their presumption, her plan would have gone off without a hitch.
• Stylistic Suck: Shari hands vary between having four or five fingers in different shots... because the same error happened with Ari in "Bem".
• Unwinnable Training Simulation: Shari deliberately set up her simulations this way. Not as a Secret Test of Character, but to make the crew of the Cerritos fail the tests so she can keep her consultant job.

    Carlton Dennis 

Voiced by: Bobby Moyniham

A sweet old man who looks after the transporter repository in Los Angeles.

---

• Beware the Nice Ones: He seems perfectly nice and gives sweets and soup to the group. However, it's clear that he'd phaser them all into unconsciousness if they had hostile intentions.
• Cool Old Guy: A veteran Starfleet officer with a hobby of restoring vintage transporters, and still more than willing to fight if the need arises. He actually sympathises with the main cast's plan to break into the Cerritos with the aim of exonerating Captain Freeman, too.
• Miniature Senior Citizens: Partly as a result of being bent nearly double, he's much shorter than the twenty-something ensigns.

    U.S.S. Aledo 

U.S.S. Aledo (NA-01)

"I will burn your heart in a fire."

Voiced by: Carlos Alazraqui

The first of the Texas-class, a series of automated ships overseen by Admiral Buenamigo. Unfortunately, it and its sister ships have a slight problem with emotional stability that Rutherford is all too familiar with...

---

• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Rutherford programmed the AI prior to the accident, and his amnesic self later used the same code for Badgey. As such, once Buenamigo gives the Aledo full independent control, it kills him and attacks the starbase.
• Attack Drone: The Texas-class were designed to be fully autonomous Starfleet ships. Though Buenamigo offers them as a replacement for the California-class in Second Contact missions, and they possess capabilities such as large-scale fabrication and transporter technology to that end, they are also powerful warships equaling any of Starfleet's most advanced vessels.
• Ax-Crazy: The second it's free to do what it wants, it phasers Buenamigo's office, activates its equally unhinged sister ships, and goes on a rampage that leaves Douglas Station's upper decks Swiss cheese.
• Evil Is Petty: Hopelessly outgunned by an entire fleet of the California-class, the Aledo attempts to destroy the Cerritos even though it's dead in the water and isn't even an active threat. Note that the Aledo was also able to obliterate three Breen ships in about as many shots, so the Cerritos surviving the first salvo before the cavalry arrives can only be put up to the Aledo spitefully prolonging their death.
• History Repeats: Starfleet's first attempt at an AI-controlled starship did not end well, and the Aledo manages to be an even bigger disaster than the M5.
• Not Quite Dead: In desperation, the Cerritos drops its warp core as a mine for the pursing Texas-class ships. The Dallas and Corpus Christi are destroyed, but the Aledo manages to survive with burns on its outer hull.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: This ship manages to give Ben Sisko's Defiant a run for its money in terms of firepower within a tiny hull. They're equipped with experimental weapons such as a purple photon torpedo that splits into seven warheads and just three are able to turn the exterior of a Starbase into swiss cheese.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The blue highlights of the Aledo turn red when Buenamigo activates independent control and the ship turns evil.
• Ridiculously Fast Construction: The Aledo is equipped with industrial-grade replicators, letting it fabricate entire habitat modules to beam straight onto a planet as fast as it takes for the order to come through.
• Something Only They Would Say: After becoming fully autonomous, the Aledo repeatedly says "I will burn your heart in a fire," a sign that it truly is the Badgey AI running the ship.
• Talking to Himself: An In-Universe variation, as Buenamigo gave his voice to the Aledo's main computer.
• Theme Naming: Like the California-class, the Aledo and her sisters get their names from cities in Texas.
• Unskilled, but Strong: The Aledo excels in combat, to the point that all three ships make short work of a Sovereign-class starship, but its AI is much slower at adapting than flesh and blood Starfleet officers. When confronted with 31 identical targets, it tries to prioritize all of them at once and makes only the most basic of evasive maneuvers before it's overcome.

---

Klingon Empire

Klingon Defense Force

Crew of the IKS Che'Ta'

    Dorg 

"The Empire used to choke the quadrant with fear, power, but now?! We've lost our way."

Voiced by: Colton Dunn

The captain of the Che'Ta', who has been pulling the Pakleds' strings to make them act against the Federation.

---

• Department of Redundancy Department: He describes Ma'ah as "smaller, weaker, slower, and smaller" than his other officers.
• Enraged by Idiocy: He's intensely frustrated by the Pakleds foolishly wasting the bomb that he gave them by "testing" it on an asteroid.

  Dorg: IT WAS A BOMB! You can only use it once!

• Hoist by His Own Petard: Twice:
  • He's been supplying the Pakleds with weapons and technology to use them as Unwitting Pawns and destabilize the system. However, when he meets with them, he finds out they wasted the bomb that he gave them by "testing" it, and the resulting radiation lured the Cerritos and Sh'vhal to their location.
  • He is impressed by Ma'ah's knowledge of Klingon history and strong sense of honor despite his young age, and decides to officially make him his new second-in-command. When Ma'ah learns of his dishonorable ways, though, including using the Pakleds to fight his battles for him and trying to start a war without the approval of the High Council, he turns on him and kills him.
• Kick the Dog: Almost literally. Dorg, after revealing his plan of using the Pakleds to destabilize a system, punts his pet targ across the bridge. Said targ then bites back during his duel with Ma'ah, which provides enough of a distraction to get him killed.
• Large and in Charge: Downplayed. While he's still within the normal range of sizes for Klingons, he's noticeably taller and more broadly built than his subordinates — something that particularly stands out against Ma'ah, who's decidedly on the short side.
• The Man Behind the Man: He's manipulating the Pakleds into acting against the Federation, and is secretly the ultimate responsible figure for everything they've gotten up to in the past season and a half. This is what drives Ma'ah's mutiny, since Klingon culture condemns not fighting one's battles openly.
• Unknown Rival: As the instigator of all the Pakled attacks on Federation space, he's this for Starfleet and the Cerritos in particular. Because he's been doing all it in secret, however, he's not honored or respected as an opponent by the Federation or his own government and dies in relative anonymity.

    Ma'ah 

Ma'ah

Voiced by: Jon Curry

A male Klingon crew member of the Bird of Prey IKS Che'Ta'. Later, its captain.

---

• Asskicking Equals Authority: A downplayed example. As a Klingon Captain, Ma'ah is expected to be a capable warrior and he did indeed get his rank in true Klingon fashion. But while he's still dangerous, his talents lie more in insight and cunning than outright brawn.
• Canine Companion: The targ he takes care of the entire episode at Captain Dorg's behest takes a real shine to him and saves him during the duel.
• Combat Pragmatist: Takes advantage of the physical environment around him, unforeseen opportunities, as well as a feint in order to kill his captain in a duel.
• Mirror Character: He is essentially a Klingon version of Boimler, being a huge kissass looking for a promotion, yet still insightful and capable when the moment arrives. Difference being that as a Klingon, he has a much more... direct method of rising in rank.
• Klingon Promotion: Justified. Having been promoted to first officer, he kills his old captain for dishonorable behavior, thus becoming the new captain.
• Mirror Character: He parallels Boimler in being ambitious in his career and an adherent to the rules, occasionally mocked by his peers for being so rigid. Because he is a Klingon, he's also more confrontational than Boimler ever would be, and has his ambition rewarded by winning an honor duel for the position of captain.
• Non-Action Guy: Downplayed. As a Klingon, Ma'ah is more than willing to engage in combat, but it's clear it's not his strongest skill.
• Rank Up: Exaggerated. Goes from being a low-ranking officer to captain in the course of a single day.
• Social Climber: Ma'ah is very eager to be promoted. He very quickly gets his wish.
• The Paragon: Ma'ah is a firm believer in the rules and traditions of the Klingon Empire, and will not tolerate dishonorable behavior. More than that he's also a skilled combatant able to hold his own against much larger and stronger foes, and willing to put his own ambitions aside for the glory of the Empire.
• Weak, but Skilled: What Ma'ah lacks in physical strength, he makes up for in cunning.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite having been a witness to the Pakled conspiracy, he is never called to exonerate Freeman when she is accused of high crimes, and in fact is never seen or mentioned again.

---

Others

    Ferengi Poachers 

Voiced by: Tom Kenny (leader)

A band of Ferengi that has set up a poaching operation to hunt the mugatos living on Rylon IV.

---

• Evil Poacher: They're are systematically hunting the mugato for their horns, even though Mariner points out that they could just replicate them, and attempt to imprison anyone who suspects them.
• Lightning Lash: They use the traditional Ferengi energy whip returns to corral the mugatos and attack the Cerritos crew.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • In classic Ferengi fashion, they're ultimately convinced to give up their brutal, mugato-killing enterprise through negotiation. When Rutherford and Boimler explain how they could make far greater profits in the long run by running a preserve that cares for the mugato and allows visitors, they eagerly drop their reservations and adopt this new plan, with only a brief mention that it will involve more work.
  • Additionally, while the lead poacher is reluctant to just let their Starfleet captives go, he relents when it's pointed out that it would normally be upon Starfleet to pursue him for attacking Starfleet officers. It's easier for everyone if he just lets them go and everyone puts this behind them.
• Stop Being Stereotypical: Mariner accuses them of playing into Ferengi stereotypes in their villainy, even calling them "Last Outpost"-style throwbacks.

    The Doopler Emissary 

Voiced by: Richard Kind

A diplomat being ferried by the Cerritos to Starbase 25. He's a bit of a nervous wreck — which, given his species' tendency to uncontrollably duplicate when stressed, is a bit of a problem for the ship.

---

• Emotional Powers: His species involuntarily duplicates in response to emotional stress, usually embarrassment. Inversely, his duplicates merge together when they're offended.
• Me's a Crowd: He involuntarily duplicates in response to emotional stress. That includes being stressed by duplicating. Naturally, the duplication quickly snowballs. Freeman eventually snaps and starts insulting him/them, which turns out to be the key to making the duplicates recombine.
• Nervous Wreck: He's extremely paranoid and self-conscious, and is easily sent into a spiral of panic by the thought of being rude or a bad guest.

  Freeman: There's no need to feel embarrassed!
  Emissary: Thank you, you're very kind— wait! That's what someone says when there is a reason to be embarrassed!
  Freeman: Okay, I'm just not gonna say anything. We can just be silent.
  Emissary: ... she's giving us the silent treatment! THAT'S EVEN WORSE!"

• Right Behind Me: Freeman complains to the Admiral about him being a hassle and emotionally fragile, not realizing that he just exited the turbolift and heard everything she said.

    AGIMUS 

AGIMUS

Voiced by: Jeffrey Combs

Your run-of-the-mill evil computer that took over a planet until Starfleet's intervention. While en-route to the Daystrom Institute, Boimler and Mariner hit a gravimetric shear and crash onto a deserted planet. AGIMUS attempts to take advantage of this situation by manipulating the ensigns into helping them for their own own survival.

---

• A God Am I: It's indicated the inhabitants of his planet were tricked by him into thinking he was a god.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Yet another evil computer that developed a god complex and took over a planet. The Starfleeters are used to it by this point.
• Evil Is Hammy: It's Jeffrey Combs, would you expect anything else?
• Evil vs. Evil: When he's deposited in the Daystrom Institute, he immediately begins making plans and boasting that he'll be getting his revenge on Starfleet and conquering the galaxy. This soon sets off an argument between him and all the other A.I.s stuck in there as they all want to do the same.
• Manipulative Bastard: He attempts to play Boimler and Mariner against each other for his benefit. It turns out that Boimler was only playing along so he could use AGIMUS as a battery for a distress signal.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: An evil, megalomaniacal computer with a dark gray casing and blood-red lights.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: When he meets Peanut Hamper, he likes how her name is mathematically perfect.
• Villain Team-Up: When Peanut Hamper gets imprisoned in the Daystrom Institute, they both begin to make plans to take revenge on Starfleet.

    K'ranch 

Voiced by: Nolan North

A Kromsapiod, a powerful alien hunter driven by a biological urge to hunt, who sets his sights on Boimler when the latter shortsightedly agrees to be K'ranch's prey.

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• Alien Blood: His blood is bright green.
• Black Eyes of Crazy: He begins the hunt by inhaling incense that turns his eyeballs black.
• Creepy Good: Ultimately, he's this. He needs to hunt stuff due to a biological impulse, but it's just catch and release and he's respectful of his targets (although poor Boimler gets a spear through the shoulder for trying to fight back).
• Guttural Growler: He constantly wheezes, groans, moans, inhales sharply, yowls, shrieks and gurgles while speaking.
• Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: He needs to hunt challenging prey as an innate drive, and when he starts getting antsy because the broken space elevator means he can't get down to Dulaine for his hunt he starts asking the crew and passengers of the Cerritos if any are willing to be his prey.
• Meaningful Background Event: In the mess hall, you can see K'ranch approaching various people and them shaking their head to him. It's a Five-Second Foreshadowing of him wanting someone to hunt.
• Mercy Lead: He gives Boimler an hour to prepare after he agrees to be hunted. Boimler ends up wasting it by visiting K'ranch to ask for details, by which point his hour is up and the hunt begins.
• Predator Pastiche: He's heavily based on the Yautja — he's an intimidating eight-foot-tall animalistic alien whose species' culture revolves around finding prey to hunt using advanced harpoons and boomerangs, changed just enough to avoid copyright.note His face is especially reminiscent of Mass Effect's turians, another Predator Pastiche, with nearly identical chitinous face plates, backswept scalpal protrusions, pointed mandibles, triangular teeth, black sclera, and colored facial markings.

  What are the four stages of stereotype formation?

  Four factors are hypothesized to have an impact on the processes of forming stereotypes and prejudice. These include: (1) essentialism, (2) ingroup bias, (3) explicit attributions to social groups, and (4) group-attribute covariation.

  What is the first step in the stereotyping process?

  Categorization. We categorize people into groups according to criteria..

  Inferences. We infer that all people within a category possess the same traits..

  Expectations. We form expectations of others and interpret their behavior according to our stereotypes..

  Maintenance..

  What are the stages of stereotyping?

  Stereotyping involves two processes in which first, social stereotypes are activated (stereotype activation), and then, stereotypes are applied to given targets (stereotype application). Previous behavioral studies have suggested that these two processes are independent of each other and may have different mechanisms.

  What are the stages of social perception?

  The perception process has three stages: sensory stimulation and selection, organization, and interpretation. Although we are rarely conscious of going through these stages distinctly, they nonetheless determine how we develop images of the world around us.