Mirror Universe (Star Trek)

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The Mirror Universe (MU) is a fictional parallel universe in which the plots of several Star Trek television episodes take place. It is named for "Mirror, Mirror", the original series episode in which it first appeared.

Contents

[edit] Overview

The characters in the Mirror Universe are generally the same as the characters in "normal" Star Trek continuity (for example, it has a James T. Kirk and a Spock), but their personalities are, on the whole, much more aggressive, mistrustful, and opportunistic. Whereas the Star Trek Universe usually depicts an optimistic future which values peace and understanding, episodes set in the Mirror Universe show it to be marred by continual warfare, and compassion is seen as a liability. Uniforms are often more suggestive, such as women baring midriffs.

Though the Mirror Universe is much darker and more violent than the normal Star Trek universe, a few Mirror characters are more friendly or docile than their "normal universe" counterparts. For example, Mirror Quark puts himself at risk to help escaped slaves reach freedom, and while "normal" Brunt is selfish and power-hungry, Mirror Brunt is a kind and considerate Ferengi.

There are an infinite number of parallel universes in Star Trek canon (as witnessed in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Parallels"). However, the Mirror Universe is prominent amoing dimension-crossing incidents. The Mirror Universe has been visited in one episode of Star Trek, five episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and two episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as in several Star Trek novels and several of the games (Star Trek: Shattered Universe, for example, takes place entirely in the Mirror Universe).

Not all "normal" characters have a Mirror counterpart; because the Mirror versions of Ben and Jennifer Sisko separated before conceiving a child, there is no Mirror version of Jake Sisko. Also, since the Dax symbiont was never joined with Ezri Tigan, there is not an exact copy of Ezri Dax in the Mirror Universe, only "Mirror" Ezri Tigan. Several Mirror Universe versions of established characters have also died during the course of the various canonical and non-canonical Mirror Universe storylines, whereas their "normal universe" counterparts remain alive.

Characters from each universe refer to the other as "parallel" or "alternate" rather than as "mirror".

[edit] Chronology

[edit] Enterprise

A two-part episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, entitled "In a Mirror, Darkly", introduces the early developments of the Mirror Universe.

On April 5, 2063, Zefram Cochrane conducted his warp flight, drawing the attention of a passing Vulcan ship, as per the events shown in the standard Star Trek universe in Star Trek: First Contact. When the Vulcans landed and made their peaceful introduction, however, Cochrane killed the leader with a concealed weapon, then led the townspeople in commandeering the Vulcan ship. "In a Mirror, Darkly" implies that in the Mirror Universe, the Vulcan vessel was either the vanguard of an invasion fleet, or was interpreted to be so by humans.

The special opening credits sequence used for "In a Mirror, Darkly" chronicles the history of human warfare and the interstellar domination of the Terran Empire, as opposed to the regular opening sequence depicting peaceful exploration. One of the more notable scenes is a Terran Empire flag being planted on the moon, which may or may not be intended to be in 1969. (The spacesuit being worn is the same as that which the Enterprise crew wears, but commentary on the episodes by their producers indicates that this was simply a matter of convenience, as the CGI model for that suit had already been created.)

Terran domination was made possible by technology taken from the Vulcans and (presumably) from other defeated races; thus, the Starfleet of the Mirror Universe was somewhat more advanced than its regular counterpart. By 2155, the Terran Empire had already enslaved the Vulcans, Andorians, Orions, and Tellarites, and launched successful attacks against the Klingons and the Xindi (as seen in the opening credits). However, the Mirror Universe crew of Enterprise, also known as the ISS Enterprise, is more racially diverse than its "real" universe counterpart, with Vulcans and Tellarites serving as crewmembers. The Mirror version of T'Pol, in particular, holds a position of trusted authority, and as in the "real" universe, a Denobulan, Phlox, serves as Enterprise's physician. The Mirror version of Soval is seen to be an enlisted science crewman aboard the ISS Avenger, another Starfleet vessel which is also seen to include Andorian and Orion crewmembers.

During the episode's stated date of January 2155, Archer steals the USS Defiant, a Kirk-era constitution class starship which disappears and presumed destroyed in The Original Series episode The Tholian Web, from the Tholians (who are more aggressive than their non-Mirror counterparts), but is later apparently killed by Hoshi Sato, who subsequently declares herself Empress of the Terran Empire (though whether she succeeds in this gambit is not revealed). During the episode, future events are foreshadowed, such as the fall of the Terran Empire after several centuries (as seen in the Deep Space Nine storyline described below).

The episode's story was continued in a novel mini-series Star Trek: Mirror Universe.

[edit] The Original Series

The existence of alternate realities was first established in the original Star Trek series episode "The Alternative Factor". In this episode, the crew encounter a man named Lazarus who appeared to undergo extreme shifts in behavior. After a time, it was discovered that there were two men, one from an alternative anti-matter universe who was calm and rational, and another from our universe who was irrational. Both men had a ship that had the ability to send people into the other's universe. The Lazarus from the alternative reality said that there was a corridor of sorts between the universes where he and his counterpart could safely meet. If they met outside the corridor, both universes would be annihilated due to the contact between matter and anti-matter. Lazarus arranged with Captain Kirk to trap both him and the other Lazarus in the corridor forever by having Kirk destroy the ship, and at the same time, the ship in the other universe was destroyed as well. Both men were trapped forever in the corridor, one sane, and one not.

The Mirror Universe was first introduced in the original Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror". It was established that in the Mirror Universe the United Federation of Planets counterpart was the brutal Terran Empire, run by humans and their Vulcan allies. In the Mirror Universe, the term "Terran" is predominantly used for humans. The Mirror-Captain Kirk of the Imperial Starship Enterprise was a mass-murderer, who had been promoted to Captain by assassinating Captain Christopher Pike.

In the Terran Empire, officers were promoted for assassinating their superiors and order was kept by use of the "Agonizer" pain-giving devices. In some serious cases, the "Agony Booth" could also be used. Aesthetic differences included: the Mirror-crew's uniforms were flamboyant and somewhat robe-like, with ceremonial daggers for the officers; Mirror-Sulu was a Gestapo-like political officer with a disfiguring facial scar; Mirror-Spock had a goatee (which has led to a number of pop culture references of people from "evil alternate universes" having goatees, whereas the regular character does not); the "United Nations" emblem of the Federation was replaced in the Terran Empire symbol, which was a vertical sword of conquest savagely thrust through the Earth.

In this original encounter, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Lieutenant Uhura, and Chief Engineer Scott had been turned down by the peaceful Halkans, who did not want to trade for dilithium. They feared the use of the material for war. An ion storm causes a beam-up to go awry, switching the crew with their alternates.

Kirk tries to save the alternate-Halkans from destruction; the common tactic used by the Terran Empire when meeting resistance. He suffers several assassination attempts.

Both Spocks find out the dual nature of the affected officers and work on a way to get them home in time; there is a limit.

Before leaving the Mirror Universe, Kirk gave an impassioned speech in which he told Mirror-Spock that because the Empire would die in a few hundred years, that it was illogical, and Mirror-Spock was illogical for supporting the Empire. He asks Mirror-Spock to work for change, and Mirror-Spock replied that he would consider Kirk's proposal.

About a year after his first crossover, Kirk unknowingly experienced a second encounter with the mirror universe. In "The Tholian Web", the Enterprise encounters the crippled Constitution class U.S.S. Defiant, which is phasing in and out of existence with Kirk's reality as a result of a localized spatial anomaly. Kirk leads an away team and discovers the crew is dead as a result of the anomaly's effect on the brain. As the Defiant begins to shift out of reality, the away team is beamed out, but Kirk is somehow trapped in the interphase. The Tholians claim this particular area of space and attempt to ensnare the Enterprise in their energy web, but the Enterprise, under the command of Spock, is able to escape and retrieve Kirk from between dimensions. Kirk remarks that during his experience the Defiant was pulled away into another dimension.

What Kirk never knew, but which was established in the Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly". was the Tholians of the Mirror Universe managed to open a dimensional rift hoping to steal technology from alternate realities. Their efforts also created a temporal rift, connecting from a universe 110 years in Kirk's past. The mirror Tholians sent out a distress call to lure a spacecraft and ensnared the Defiant in their trap, eventually pulling it completely into the mirror universe. So determined were the Tholians to unlock the technological secrets of the future ship that work crews began dismantling the ship before moving the bodies of the crew, several of whom were discovered in the same positions by the ISS Enterprise away team as Kirk had found them.

As a side note, the Tholian tactic of stealing future technology was paralleled in the regular Trek universe. In "Future Tense", 22nd century Tholians attempt to capture a 31st century Federation vessel but are thwarted by Archer's Enterprise.

[edit] Deep Space Nine

The Mirror Universe was later revisited in the Deep Space Nine episode "Crossover", and turned into a story-arc that spanned into the final season, with roughly one Mirror Universe episode a season.

On Deep Space Nine, which takes place over 100 years after the original contact with the Mirror Universe, it was revealed that drastic changes had occurred in the Mirror Universe, ironically, because of the interference of the regular universe's Kirk. Before he left the Mirror Universe, James T. Kirk planted seeds of doubt in the Mirror-Spock's mind about the Terran Empire's brutal tactics. Kirk noted that Spock was a man of honor in both universes, and the Mirror-Spock listened to Kirk's urging for reform. Mirror-Spock's future role on Enterprise and the fate of Mirror-Kirk are unclear, though some have suggested that Mirror-Kirk was assassinated (and was shown in a non-canon Star trek comic). Mirror-Spock then went on to become Chief of State of the Terran Empire. Mirror-Spock introduced many popular reforms that largely ended the iron-fisted rule of the Terran Empire, especially a vast demilitarization program. However, these reforms were very ill-timed.

Not long after Mirror-Spock's demilitarization drive, the Terran Empire encountered the Alliance. In the Mirror Universe, the Alliance is a unified government of the Klingons and the Cardassians, presumably ruled by the Klingon Emperor. The Alliance conquered the ill-prepared Terran Empire and enslaved the Terrans and Vulcans. Terrans became pariahs and a slave race, often subjected to mass forced physical labor.

The Alliance does not have cloaking device technology (although a ship was seen decloaking in an earlier episode, an episode in the seventh season established that the Mirror Universe does not have cloaking devices, and the earlier appearance was retconned out as a graphical error). However, cloak technology did exist in the 22nd century on at least one Terran ship (who in turn took it from the Suliban).

It is unknown what role the Romulans play in the Mirror Universe. However, there is evidence of their existence. When Sisko was finished impersonating Mirror-Sisko, he told Mirror-Jennifer Sisko that he was leaving to see the Romulans, to get them to join the fight against the Alliance. This implies that the Romulans are an independent empire, much like they are in the "prime" reality or universe. It also means that, unlike other races such as the Vulcans and Andorians, the Romulans were able to resist the Terran Empire and to survive the mirror equivalent of the Earth-Romulan War, assuming that one took place to begin with.

The Bajorans of the Mirror Universe were ruled by the Terran Empire but later sided with the Alliance and became masters of Terran slave forces. Notable among them was Intendant Kira, the counterpart to the normal universe's Kira Nerys. Intendant Kira was a ruthless, sadistic hedonist; she was outwardly bisexual and sexually aggressive — characteristics apparently more common in Mirror Universe females than in normal universe ones. She maintained power in her sector of the Alliance from Terok Nor, the counterpart of Deep Space Nine.

When Deep Space Nine officers Julian Bashir and Kira Nerys visited the Mirror Universe, they sparked a rebellion among the Terran slaves led by the Mirror-Sisko and Mirror-O'Brien. Over the next five years, the Terran Rebellion would drag on and was not conclusively finished. However, Regent Worf was eventually taken as a prisoner of war by the rebellion.

The Klingon Empire of the normal Star Trek universe hasn't actually had an Emperor in 300 years; they were replaced by the Chancellor and the High Council. But in the Mirror-Klingon Empire there are still ruling Emperors. The Mirror-Imperial Family is House Duras, who were deposed in disgrace in the normal Trek universe. However, during Deep Space Nine, a Regent currently ruled as the true power behind the throne: the brutal Regent Worf.

Other characters in the Mirror Universe:

  • Garak was Intendant Kira's first officer.
  • Odo was the cruel foreman of the human slaves on Terok Nor, and was killed by the Dr. Bashir of the normal universe.
  • Sisko was something of a shady pirate, but later started the Terran Rebellion, although he was later killed.
  • Tuvok never got lost in the Delta Quadrant and was a member of the Resistance.
  • Quark and Rom were both Rebel-sympathizers and were killed by Intendant Kira.
  • Nog and Brunt were also later killed by Intendant Kira (it almost seemed to be a rule that one mirror-Ferengi had to be killed in each Mirror Universe episode).
  • Sisko's wife Jennifer never died at the hands of the Borg in the Mirror Universe, and she had to be convinced to join the Resistance. She was later killed by the Mirror-Kira.
  • Julian Bashir was an uncouth, unshaven and aggressive member of the Resistance, although he was quite loyal. It is unclear if this Bashir was genetically enhanced, but humanity's status as a conquered slave race make it unlikely that he was.
  • Jadzia Dax was the lover of Mirror-Sisko, although she later died (roughly the same time her counterpart in the normal universe died).
  • Ezri (who did not have the Dax symbiote) was a double-agent working both sides, somewhat promiscuous and bisexual.
  • Leeta was a member of the Resistance, also somewhat promiscuous.
  • Jake Sisko was never born in this reality.
  • Miles O'Brien was a somewhat depressed character, so Mirror-Sisko dubbed him "Smiley" as a play on his first name 'Miles', and the name stuck to distinguish him from the normal O'Brien. Smiley never married or had children, but eventually became a high ranking cell leader in the Terran Resistance — and after Mirror-Sisko's death, perhaps the leader.
  • Bareil Antos is also still alive, but never became a Vedek (religious leader). In the mirror universe, Bareil was a thief and petty criminal.
  • Vic Fontaine also makes an appearance, working alongside Mirror-Ezri. Inexplicably, he is not a hologram in the Mirror Universe, and the moment is played as comical. He was killed by Bashir shortly after making his appearance.

Eventually, the Terran Resistance captured Mirror-Terok Nor and used it as a base of operations, and built a Mirror-Defiant using plans stolen from the normal universe.

[edit] Episodes

The following is a list of episodes that take place in the Mirror Universe or involve characters from the Mirror Universe, in chronological order.

Series # Title Overview
ENT 418 "In a Mirror, Darkly" Mirror-Archer, Mirror-Forrest, and the rest of the crew discover that a ship from 100 years in the future in an alternate universe, the U.S.S. Defiant, has travelled to their universe through some kind of rip in space. All of the crew members except Captain Forrest evacuate the I.S.S. Enterprise as it is attacked by Tholians and board the Defiant. The Enterprise blows up, and its transferred crew uses the improved technology of the Defiant to chase away the Tholians. Archer replaces Forrest as captain.
ENT 419 "In a Mirror, Darkly Part II" The Mirror Enterprise crew find the Defiant littered with the corpses of its former crew who murdered each other due to the effects of Interphase which causes humans to become psychotic. The Tholians use slaves to strip the ship. The overseer is a Gorn named Slar, who sabotages the Defiant and kills some of the survivors of the ISS Enterprise . Mirror Archer defeats the Gorn, and then his thoughts turn to using the powerful Defiant to take control of the Terran Empire. However, it is Mirror-Hoshi Sato who ultimately threatens to use the Defiant's weapons on the Emperor of the Terran Empire and replace him as Empress of the Empire.
TOS 204 "Mirror, Mirror" Four crew members from the USS Enterprise switch places with their mirror universe counterparts and must get home while avoiding being discovered by the mirror universe crew of the Enterprise.
TOS 309 "The Tholian Web" The USS Defiant (NCC-1764) is trapped in Interphase in Tholian Space and vanishes. Note: Until "In a Mirror, Darkly" there was no obvious connection between this episode and the Mirror Universe. No elements from the Mirror Universe are shown or mentioned anywhere in this episode.
DS9 223 "Crossover" Dr. Bashir and Major Kira are transported to the Mirror Universe 100 years after the events of "Mirror, Mirror". They find that the Terran Empire has been replaced by the Alliance of Klingons, Cardassians, and Bajorans and that humans are slaves.
DS9 319 "Through the Looking Glass" The Mirror-O'Brien kidnaps Sisko where Sisko must impersonate his late counterpart in order to save the mirror version of his late wife.
DS9 420 "Shattered Mirror" After the Mirror-Jennifer Sisko kidnaps Jake, Captain Sisko must travel to the Mirror Universe to retrieve his son. While there the Mirror-O'Brien wishes for Sisko to help him prepare their version of the Defiant for battle against the Alliance in what could mean freedom for the Terrans.
DS9 608 "Resurrection" The Mirror version of Vedek Bareil arrives on DS9 as he flees from the Alliance. His real reason for being in our universe is to steal the Bajoran Orb of Prophecy and Change for the Intendant, the mirror Kira. However, before he can complete this mission, he has a change of conscience, convinced by Kira, leaving the Orb behind and returning to the Mirror Universe with the Intendant.
DS9 712 "The Emperor's New Cloak" Grand Nagus Zek, financial leader of the Ferengi Alliance, is captured and taken to the Mirror Universe as a hostage. Quark and Rom must pay a ransom of a cloaking device to free Zek, but Regent Worf imprisons them all in his quest to crush the Terran rebels.

[edit] Novels

Various novels have been set in the Deep Space Nine version of the mirror universe, including a trilogy by William Shatner, which reveals the Mirror-Kirk (or "Emperor Tiberius", as he calls himself) was still alive, and plotting to reconquer his Empire. Apparently, it had been he who originally created the Alliance to overthrow Spock, before it turned on him. His right-hand man is Regent Jean-Luc Picard, who works with the counterparts of other Enterprise-E bridge crew. He is opposed in his aims by Mirror-Spock, now the Intendant of the Vulcan Resistance. Mirror versions of Kathryn Janeway, other Voyager crewmembers and Tasha Yar also appeared.

Shatner provides a mind- and time-bending explanation for the point of departure between the Mirror Universe and our own: In the Mirror Universe, the events of "Star Trek: First Contact" caused the brand-new Human/Vulcan alliance to become paranoid about Borg invasion; this in turn led to an increasingly military theme in their alliance, and by the time of the 23rd Century depicted in "Mirror, Mirror," this military Human/Vulcan alliance had evolved into the totalitarian Terran Empire. (This has subsequently been contradicted by the Enterprise episodes which show there was no Human/Vulcan alliance, as noted above.) In this reality, the Borg were discovered by the Terran Empire much earlier than in the regular universe, and were therefore easily dispatched.

The Star Trek: Stargazer novel Three, by Michael Jan Friedman also features the Mirror Universe. Since the Stargazer novels are set during Picard's first command, nearly 40 years before the DS9 crossover, it gives us a glimpse of the Mirror Universe during the war between the Empire and the Alliance. In it, the counterpart of a member of the USS Stargazer crew crosses over from the ISS Stargazer to kidnap the Stargazer's chief engineer Simeon for the Empire. The captain of the ISS Stargazer is the counterpart of the USS Stargazer's first officer, Gilaad Ben Zoma.

Dark Passions by Susan Wright is also set before the DS9 episodes, at about the time of The Next Generation. It focussed on the mirror-Seven of Nine, a Terran slave who had been fitted with cybernetics to be a spy for the Obsidian Order. The sequence ended with her escaping in a ship she named Voyager, along with the counterparts of many of the Voyager crew (this may contradict the Shatner novels).

In 2007, two collections of Mirror stories were published: the first involves Mirror Enterprise, TOS and TNG, the second features Mirror DS9, Voyager and New Frontier (the first time the mirror New Frontier has ever been seen). However, Dark Passions and the Shatner novels are not part of the canon as established in these stories.

The first of these collections, Glass Empires, comprises Age of the Empress (describing Hoshi Sato's reign as Empress); The Sorrows of Empire (Spock's career from immediately after Mirror Mirror, to the forging of the Alliance at the mirror-Khitomer Accords; explaining that the fall of the Empire was orchestrated by Spock, forcing the people of the empire to fight for their democracy to make sure the Empire never reformed); and The Worst of Both Worlds (in which Picard, a Terran slave, must defend the Alliance against the even worse threat of the Borg).

The second, Obsidian Alliances, comprises The Mirror-Scaled Serpent (Chakotay's restistance cell encounters Neelix and Kes in the Badlands); Cutting Ties (in which M'k'nzy of Calhoun {"Muck"), a slave of the Romulan Empire, meets the mirror counterparts of the Excalibur crew); and Saturn's Children (in which Kira plots to regain the position of Intendant from Ro Laren, while O'Brien faces discontent in the Resistance). The latter of these ties into the Mirror-Kira's appearance in the Deep Space Nine relaunch series of novels.

[edit] Another view of the Mirror Universe

Diane Duane, in her Star Trek: The Next Generation book Dark Mirror (ISBN 0-671-79377-2) offers another explanation of what happened after Captain Kirk and three others of his crew encountered the Mirror Universe.

In Dark Mirror, the Mirror-Spock left the Enterprise and rose through the ranks and spearheaded an effort to reform the Empire. However, the Mirror-Kirk framed him for treason, which resulted in Spock's execution. Soon afterwards Mirror-Sarek was assassinated by another Vulcan seeking his job. As a result, Spock's attempted reforms died with him. The Empire is still alive and powerful. The Klingons were a conquered race who were forced into slavery by the Empire after their defeat. The Romulan Empire had also been defeated by the Empire, but committed suicide en masse rather than submit to Terran rule.

Dark Mirror tells how Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D were forced to deal with their counterparts. Like the Original Series episode Mirror, Mirror, their counterparts are also brutal and savage. A tag line for the book said that the crew was going to deal with their worst enemies - themselves. For example, the Mirror-Captain Picard had murdered the Mirror-Jack Crusher so as to claim his wife, Beverly Crusher, for himself. Crusher is further forced to build biologically-based weaponry, considered a horrific crime in the 'base' universe. The alternate Deanna Troi is a Gestapo-like security officer who freely uses torture. The missions of the crew of the Mirror-Enterprise-D's were filled with brutality and even genocidal activities (they managed to destroy the Edo "god", for example). Interestingly, personal communicators are intentionally not used in the mirror Starfleet seen here; due to the prevalence of assassinations, they would make crewmembers too easy to track down and kill.

When the Enterprise-D crew met with their alternates in this book, they discovered that the Empire was planning to cross into our universe and invade the Federation. The first step of the plan was to capture our universe's Enterprise, kill the crew, and use the vessel as an infiltrator. However, the crew of the Enterprise was able to foil their plans, and find a means to prevent the Empire from invading the Federation.

Captain Picard found that the Mirror Universe Empire had almost reached the limits of what it was presently capable of expanding to. The Empire (like its "prime" universe counterpart the Federation, as well as the Klingon and Romulan Empires) was located in an isolated area of the Milky Way Galaxy, which was surrounded by space empty of stars and habitable worlds for many, many light years, such that it would take the Empire's ships decades to cross that emptiness and reach any area where there might be new worlds to conquer. Given the cruelty and the tendency of the Empire's personnel to betray and assassinate each other, it was apparent that focusing those energies on conquest of new worlds was all that held the empire together, and that once there were no more habitable worlds for them to conquer, the Empire's people would turn on each other, and it would collapse. Picard comes to believe they plan to invade the 'main' universe, simply because they have no other choice. He also finds that the seeds of the Mirror Universe's brutality lie far far in the past; Plato sings the praises of fear as part of a ruler's arsenal, and their version of The Merchant of Venice is described as "as blatantly and sensationally done as anything in The Revenger's Tragedy", in which Portia (perhaps to avenge an injury done to her by Antonio — who is probably not the good man he is in "our" version) sides with Shylock, and allows him to slice off a pound of his flesh. Picard finds the level of tragedy is about the same in Shakespeare, however. Similarly, during "In a Mirror, Darkly" Phlox comments that literary characters in the Defiant's logs are 'weaker,' with the exception of Shakespeare's work, being equally dark in both universes. Picard also finds a copy of the King James Bible in his counterpart's quarters; however, fearing what he might find inside, he refuses to open the book. Toward the book's end, Picard speaks to Mirror-Worf in a manner which parallels the final discussion between Kirk and Mirror-Spock from their own encounter, explaining that soon the Empire will spread itself so thin among the worlds it controls to the point where that control is merely a myth, and Worf should inform his people so they can be ready when this day comes.

Dark Mirror is not considered part of Star Trek canon; few if any of the Star Trek novels are; apart from novelizations of the movies and some of the episodes.

[edit] "The Mirror Universe Saga" (DC Star Trek comic, 1984-85)

 The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article.
Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot.

The Mirror Universe Saga (ISBN 0-930289-96-X) is a trade paperback that reprints eight issues of DC Comics's Star Trek comic book (issues #9 - #15, as well as issue #16 which completed the arc but did not actually involve the Mirror Universe) chronicling an encounter between the Mirror Universe and our own. It is set immediately after the events of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, which had just been released shortly before the series was first published. The series was credited to Mike W. Barr (head writer for DC's Trek comic at the time), Tom Sutton, and Ricard Villagran. When originally published, this story arc was called "New Frontiers", though it is best known by the title used in this section heading.

The I.S.S. Enterprise (which has undergone a refit similar to that of the "real" Enterprise) obtains the Genesis technology developed by Dr. Carol Marcus (killing her and destroying the Regula I spacelab once said information is obtained), then enters our universe (the Empire having learned how to artificially re-create the conditions originally used to breach the dimensional barrier in the "Mirror, Mirror" episode) to spearhead the Empire's intended conquest of the Federation. Meanwhile, in the "real" universe, Captain Styles of the Excelsior has arrived at Regula I, where Kirk and crew have found temporary safe haven, to take them back to Earth to stand trial for their mutinous actions (as depicted in Star Trek III). When they encounter a mystery attacking ship, Styles overconfidently believes the Excelsior can defeat the attacker, which is an "outdated" Constitution-class ship, but it turns out to be the I.S.S. Enterprise under the command of Mirror-Kirk. The Mirror-Enterprise crew easily overpowers the inexperienced Excelsior crew, taking over the advanced vessel, and Mirror-Kirk dispatches Mirror-Spock (who despite his words at the end of "Mirror, Mirror" had elected to return to Mirror-Kirk's side after all, after logically deducing that the efforts of any one single man would be a useless gesture against the Empire), Mirror-Sulu and Mirror-Chekov to Vulcan (aboard Kruge's Klingon bird-of-prey, captured by Kirk during Star Trek III and confiscated by Styles when taking custody of the Enterprise survivors) to find Spock, still recovering from the fal-tor-pan ritual on Vulcan. Kirk and his own crew manage to escape and take over the I.S.S. Enterprise, which is destroyed by remote control by the Mirror-Kirk; the real Kirk's crew survives by escaping in the ship's saucer section.

After retaking the Excelsior from Mirror-Kirk (and placing the Mirror-Enterprise crew in stasis), Kirk takes command of Excelsior and takes it to the Mirror Universe in a gambit of impersonating Mirror-Kirk yet again. His plan is to break the back of the Empire's planned invasion by taking command of the Imperial fleet aboard Excelsior, then turning on the fleet at the critical moment. One Empire officer, a Captain Blaine, is suspicious of Kirk's intentions; however, rather than suspecting Kirk is in fact his counterpart from the other (our) universe, he is familiar with Mirror-Kirk's history of advancing through the ranks by use of treachery and intrigue and thinks Kirk is out to take control of the Empire for himself.

Saavik researches Imperial history to help familiarize the crew with the Mirror Universe and its history, so as to better portray their own counterparts. Her research reveals the likely point of divergence between the two universes - the Romulan War. In our universe, Earth and Romulus fought their war in deep space. In the mirror universe, the war was fought in Earth's solar system, and Earth lost. The Romulans held Earth for ten years until a resistance overthrew them. This resistance did not disband once the Romulans were deposed, however; rather, its leaders proclaimed that Earth would no longer be conquered, but rather would be the conquerors themselves. Thus did the resistance movement form the seeds of what would eventually become the Terran Empire.

Meanwhile, Mirror-Spock reaches Vulcan, where he engages in a mind meld with the recovering Spock of our universe. However, once Mirror-Spock touches his mind, Spock is able to reflexively initiate a meld of his own. In the ensuring battle of minds, Spock draws strength to restore his mind, and at the same time, Mirror-Spock becomes reconciled to "our" Spock and the two make common cause to stop the Empire. The two Spocks use the captured Klingon ship to cross into the Mirror universe.

Also seen during this storyline is the counterpart of Kirk's son, David Marcus - still very much alive in the Mirror Universe, and leading a resistance cell against the Empire.

The Empire accepts Kirk's proposal to align with the Romulans and Klingons to defeat the Federation, Klingons and Romulans. However, Kirk and Scott have a plan to disable the entire fleet of Empire ships, then, when sufficiently defeated, disable the Romulan and Klingon ships (correctly suspecting both parties would turn their guns on Excelsior once the battle had ended) and return home. The empire, however, already had its own Excelsior built; they had studied the Federation ship earlier in the arc, and used the data gleaned from this examination for help in making their own Excelsior operational. The Mirror-Excelsior is under the command of Captain Blaine, who had evidently convinced others within the Empire's Admiralty of Kirk's duplicity. Fortunately, Scotty had deliberately screwed up the Excelsior's systems before Empire technicians studied them, giving their scanners false readings; as a result, the Mirror-Excelsior cannot draw enough power to operate and is easily defeated.

The Excelsior then returns to the Federation, having dropped off their mirror counterparts in shuttles. When Mirror-Kirk awakens, he tries to contact the nearest Imperial vessel for assistance - not realizing he and his crew have been branded as traitors after the real Kirk's actions left the Imperial fleet crippled. The I.S.S. Nogura picks up Mirror-Kirk's distress signal, and after verifying the identity of those aboard, destroys the shuttle, killing all aboard. Of the Mirror-Enterprise crew, only Mirror-Spock survives, and he elects to join David Marcus's resistance cell.

After returning to his own universe, Kirk gives a reporter an exclusive on how he and his crew saved the Federation from an invasion they would have never known about. Her reports in the mass media paint the Enterprise survivors as heroes, much to the consternation of Starfleet brass who still wanted Kirk court-martialed. In the end, facing a public-relations nightmare if they proceeded with a full trial, Starfleet reluctantly gives Kirk full command of the Excelsior, ostensibly for an extended shakedown cruise to help work out all the bugs in its system. With the exception of Spock (who is assigned to a command of his own, the science vessel Surak), Kirk's entire crew joins him on this new mission. This sets up the later Star Trek comics stories which were published in the interim leading up to the release of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home in 1986.

This story, like all Trek comics stories and novels, is not considered canonical with the main Star Trek universe.

[edit] Shattered Universe

A recent Star Trek game -- "Star Trek: Shattered Universe" -- is set sometime after the original series episode "Mirror, Mirror". In the game, Captain Hikaru Sulu and the crew of the U.S.S. Excelsior swap places with the crew of the I.S.S. Excelsior thanks to a localized stellar ion storm. They are hunted by Mirror-Chekov, who commands the I.S.S. Enterprise, and assisted by the Mirror-Klingons and Mirror-Romulans. During their trek home, the Excelsior crew encounter Mirror Universe variations of the original series' missions, including the M-5 multitronic computer, a giant space-amoeba and a Doomsday Machine, although the latter is under the escort of the ISS Constellation and ISS Intrepid.

While the game takes place at some point during the era of the Star Trek films, it is unclear exactly when. The Enterprise has not yet been decommissioned, but Sulu is in command of the Excelsior, placing the game somewhere in the timeframe of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" and "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country". Spock has not yet completed his coup d'etat -- the Empire contacts Mirror-Chekov several times during his mission to capture Sulu -- but there is still much time for that to occur in the Mirror Universe timeline. There is no indication the character of Kirk, either version, is involved in the storyline.

[edit] Elite Force

During the Star Trek game -- "Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force" -- the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager are trapped in what is called a 'ship's graveyard'. Among the wreckage of ships there is an unidentified Constitution class vessel from the mirror universe crewed entirely by humans. It is made apparent that this vessel is from the mirror universe by the 'sword in the earth' symbol on the walls of the ship, the uniforms of the crew, and the fact that they attack hand to hand with daggers instead of phasers (It is shown in Mirror Mirror that crew members are equipped with daggers). These members of the Terran Empire have presumably been trapped in the graveyard for many years and have formed an alliance with crews of Klingons, Malons and Hirogen, though it is unknown if any of these races are also from the mirror universe. This alliance practices piracy and scavenges ships within the graveyard, taking by force any needed supplies and weaponry. Their own ship appears to have been heavily damaged and has received many emergency repairs. Many of the ships belonging to the Klingons, Malons, Hirogen and Terran Empire have been joined together to form a base of operations. This is referred to as 'The Scavenger Base'.

The members of the Voyager's Elite Force, a specially trained group of officers trained to deal with unusual threats, are sent to board this base of operations in order to recover isodesium. This substance is needed to survive against the power-draining effects of the graveyard.

[edit] Star Trek: Starfleet Command

In the Federation section of the computer game Star Trek: Starfleet Command, there is an optional series of missions that has the player investigate and track down several mirror Federation ships (including the player's mirror) that have entered into the regular Star Trek universe and are causing havoc.

[edit] Other ramifications

While in the "Alternative Factor", the Lazarus of the alternate universe said that to meet his counterpart would cause the destruction of both his and our universe, while in later episodes characters met their counterparts in the Mirror-Universe and the meetings did not cause any apparent damage to either universe. This apparent discrepancy is explained by the explicit statement made in the episode that the alternate Lazarus is from an anti-matter universe; it has long been established in "Star Trek" canon that physical contact between matter and its anti-matter counterpart is catastrophic.

When commenting on whether the Star Trek: Enterprise show takes place in an alternate universe, Brannon Braga has declared that it was "of course not" the case [1].

[edit] Parodies, homages and similar stories

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  • The Mirror Universe concept has been much parodied, notably in the episode "Spookyfish" in the second season of South Park in which a friendly, helpful Cartman with a goatee (and mean-spirited versions of Stan and Kyle, also wearing goatees) briefly cross over into the regular "South Park" universe. Goatees are common in the various parodies of the Mirror Universe. This is because the major difference between Spock and Mirror-Spock in "Mirror, Mirror" was Mirror-Spock's goatee.
  • There have also been episodes of the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess that reveal a "mirror universe" where all of the main characters are polar opposites of the normal characters Hercules is power-hungry and an arbitrarily evil villain with a goatee; Ares is a meek pacifist without the goatee of his normal counterpart. This same line of logic was used in an episode of Sealab 2021 and a This Modern World strip. In 1994, episode 611 of Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured a plot in which two of the show's robots, Tom Servo and Gypsy, become trapped in the Mirror Universe while their counterparts are trapped in the regular universe. In this Mirror Universe, the counterparts of Dr. Clayton Forrester and TV's Frank are the ones who are trapped on the Satellite of Love and forced to watch bad movies by the Earth-bound Mike Nelson (who sports a goatee and a Mirror-Kirk sleeveless tunic) and the robots.
  • Also of note is an episode of Red Dwarf, "Angels and Demons," where the crew encounter both "perfect" and "evil" versions of themselves after Lister uses a device designed to triple an object. The last episode of Red Dwarf, "Only the Good...," featured a Mirror Universe in which Rimmer was the captain, Kochanski was a ditzy secretary, and Cat was a brilliant scientist (a deleted scene would have featured an upper-class Lister).
  • In Futurama, the robot Bender has a twin, Flexo (with a magnet goatee). It was later revealed that Bender himself was the evil one of the two. The episode "I Dated a Robot" featured a viewing station at the edge of universe from which visitors could look to the corresponding edge of a parallel universe, with the main characters waving at their 'cowboy universe' selves. Professor Farnsworth declared that this was the only parallel universe, but later on in the episode "The Farnsworth Parabox" another parallel universe was discovered (Or possibly created by Professor Farnsworth), whose numerous differences from "our" universe were explained by the fact that every coinflip ever made had landed on the opposite side (later in the episode, the characters also made brief trips to a number of other parallel universes). A running gag in this episode is the assumption by most of the characters that their counterparts must be evil.
  • In Captain N: The Game Master, Princess Lana's father, King Charles was banished to a "mirror dimension" by Mother Brain prior to the start of the series. The mirror dimension is later seen as the King from the mirror side dupes the N-Team into entering a unique mirror warp, which brings their evil duplicates to Videoland. Megaman and Kid Icarus, being alterted to the plan, capture and take the evil N-Team to the mirror warp as their own doubles try to capture the N-Team. The episode ends as both teams are forced through the mirror warp. King Charles grabs his own duplicate and pulls him into the mirror dimension with him, the stress of two versions in one realm causing the mirror warp to shatter. While none of the characters had beards, they were all drawn mirrored of their usual character model sheets, including a backwards N on Captain N's right side. The mirror dimension is again mentioned in season 2's Game Boy, as King Charles uses a rare opening that occurs every 1000 years to send the sapient computer Game Boy to help the N-Team. Game Boy was never shown to have a duplicate in the "normal" world strangely, although his duplicate in Videoland would have been evil.
  • In an episode of Darkwing Duck, "Life, the Negaverse, and Everything", Darkwing follows his enemy NegaDuck to his home in the "Negaverse", in which every character is the opposite of their selves in Darkwing's universe. Similarly, an episode of Codename: Kids Next Door, "Opereation P.O.O.L", features a mirror universe, in which everyone is the exact opposite of their normal selves. Negative Numbuh 4, the Numbuh 4 of the mirror universe, wears a goatee to tell him apart from the real Numbuh 4.
  • The Stargate SG-1 third-season episode "Point of View" features an alternate universe in which the main villain, Apophis, has a goatee. And in the season nine episode "Ripple Effect," several alternate SG-1s appear through the stargate, with varying differences. When the first alternate team hijacks the Prometheus the "real" Lt. Col. Mitchell remarks "you don't have beards, so you're not from the evil twin universe, right?"
  • The Gen 13/Monkeyman and O'Brien crossover comic largely lifts its plot from the Star Trek episode, including giving mirror universe John Lynch the beard and "passive good" side of mirror Spock as well as a sash on the evil Fairchild duplicate. The crossover differed in that a slight difference in atomic alignment in everyone would eventually cause them to explode in an atomic explosion if not returned to their own universe in time.
  • The progressive rock band Spock's Beard is named for the Mirror-Spock's goatee.
  • The Star Trek band Warp 11 has also done a mirror mirror show where they played alternate versions of themselves as well as changed their song lyrics.
  • In an episode of the Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats entitled "Mirrorland", the characters Tommy and Chuckie imagine that after "walking through a mirror", they are transported to a mirror universe. While in the "mirror universe" the two characters explicitly refer to everyone with the mirror title.
  • The Justice League animated series featured an episode titled "A Better World" this featured alternate universe versions of the regular JLA; see Justice Lords
  • In the Charmed episodes "It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World (Part 1)" and "It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World (Part 2)", a mirror universe is featured in which there are reversed-morality versions of everyone in the regular Charmed universe. The Charmed Ones are evil, demons are good, etc. Barbas is the Demon of Hope, whereas his more familiar self is the Demon of Fear. Anyone who is normally a Whitelighter or Whitelighter hybrid is instead a Darklighter or Darklighter hybrid. In the same adventure, they visit a world with an over-abundance of morallity; parking violations are punished by executions; swearing is sometimes punished with removal of a limb.
  • In the Seinfeld episode "The Bizarro Jerry", Elaine breaks up with her boyfriend Kevin and they decide to be "just friends". While visiting Kevin's apartment, she meets his bizarro-world friends Gene and Feldman who share George and Kramer's physical characteristics but have mirror personalities; Gene and Feldman are courteous and helpful while George and Kramer are rude and self-centered. Kevin's apartment is a mirror duplicate of Jerry's apartment with everything, including a duplicate of Jerry's bicycle hanging on a wall, (actually a unicycle) on opposite sides of the room. A mirror version of Newman with a "nice" personality also visits the apartment.
  • The website The Agony Booth, which recaps bad movies, took its name from the agony booths used for torture in the mirror universe. The site moderator uses a picture of the bearded alternate Spock, and the section devoted to miniature recaps and miscellaneous but related topics is known as 'the Agonizer'.
  • In the superhero MMORPG City of Heroes, a group of high-level enemies called the Praetorians exist. The Praetorians are from a mirror universe to the main one in the game, and are made up of villainous counterparts to the major NPC heroes in the game.
  • The "Shattered Glass" set of exclusive Transformers toys for BotCon 2008 features a "mirror universe" theme, with "heroic" Decepticons battling "evil" Autobots. The toys themselves are redecos of previous toys (many of them originally the non-mirror version of the same character), but with the color schemes altered. For example, colors normally traditionally found on Decepticons, such as purples and blacks, are found on the alternate universe Optimus Prime, who also wears the slogan "'Til all are gone" across his bodywork, a corruption of the unifying "'Til all are one" phrase. Likewise, Starscream wears a color scheme which resembles the Autobot Skyfire. While the faction insignias have not been swapped, the colors of the insignias have, with the Autobot symbol becoming purple, and the Decepticon logo becoming red.[2]
  • In the Strange Days at Blake Holsey High episode Hemispheres, Corrine crosses through a mirror into an alternate universe where everything is a mirror image, but based on the left-right hemispheres of the brain: those that are scientifically oriented in the original universe have an alternate who is artistically inclined, etc.
  • There is in the video game Crash Twinsanity a mirror universe named the Tenth Dimension.
  • In the Bionicle fiction, there is a parallel universe in which Takanuva arrives at a universe in which Toa are ruthless dictators and the Makuta are freedom fighters

[edit] See also

Star Fleet Battles

The game Star Fleet Battles features a series of scenarios in which the Mirror Universe Imperial Starfleet attacks the Federation. At first, the Imperial vessels show up and cause quite a stir. A destroyer is taken into custody, revealing all sorts of strange things such as an agony booth. Captain Decker is captured in one of the scenarios and eventually, the player must fight himself and an identical ship. Commodore Decker is the leader of the invaders and in an ironic twist, reactivates a squadron of "planet killers", c.f. "The Doomsday Machine" of TOS in order to destroy Earth.

[edit] External links