The Andorians have been a staple of Star Trek mythology since their introduction in Star Trek: The Original Series, but the Aenar are a relatively new race that is shrouded in much mystery. The Andorians are a distant relative of the Aenar that have made several appearances throughout Star Trek. The first was in season 2, episode 10, “Journey to Babel.” Written by D. C. Fontana, it follows the Enterprise crew after the ship is attacked en route to transporting galactic ambassadors to a diplomatic conference on the planet Babel. The episode was made iconic for its introduction to Spock’s parents – Amanda Grayson (Miss Jane Wyatt) and Sarek (Mark Leonard). It also marked the series’ first peek into Spock’s childhood and his cuddly but fanged pet sehlat named I-Chaya.
The Andorians in the episode are only as important as their relevance to the main plot in terms of espionage, foul play, and one of the more sophisticated plots of the series. This particular race is marked by blue skin, white hair, and two antennae on either side of their foreheads. They are described as a warrior race with violent tendencies and a penchant for militarism. They're not the type one would see on a pleasure planet like Risa, at least not just for the fun of it. Meanwhile, the Aenar also have similarly-placed antennae to the Andorians with whom they share a planet. That, however, is where their similarities end. So just who are these relatives of the Andorians?
The Aenar have pale white skin instead of the familiar blue, are typically born blind, and possess telepathic abilities. Not much else is known about them, though, because they’ve rarely been featured in any Star Trek projects. In fact, outside of Enterprise and Strange New Worlds, they’ve hardly been featured. It’s a wonder there’s any lore or curiosity around them at all. Trust the Trekkies to keep their presence alive even when the narrative seems to continuously forget their existence.
Yet, it’s the fans' love of this race that ensures that more content is written around them, further engaging those who want to learn more about this particular race of galactic beings. This passion eventually led to Strange New Worlds making Trek history with the addition of a character that no one – not even the character himself – saw coming.
Bruce Horak is quite literally the man behind the mask of Hemmer in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and he did an interview with StarTrek.com’s Christine Dinh to discuss what Hemmer is all about. Horak talked extensively about Hemmer’s Aenarian heritage, remarking ironically that “[they] really do see better than anyone else” in reference to the character’s blindness as well as his telepathy. The actor goes on to describe the Aenar as:
“[having] these [incredibly] heightened senses […] telepathic at a level that’s much more than your average Andorian.”
The Aenar share both their home planet and their isolationist tendencies with the Andorians, but are considered a peaceful and even mythical counterpart to their warmongering distant relatives. Many fans, of course, had already learned this from another controversial series.
It’s hard to find a Star Trek series that doesn’t have a huge following. It’s a mega-franchise with many projects ranging from live-action to animated, from screen to novel, and even comic interpretations of everyone’s favorite space-faring officers. Then there’s Star Trek: Enterprise. It’s difficult to find fans who enjoyed the series, and almost impossible to find those who even remember it existed. That being said, it was the first series to deepen the fans’ understanding of the Aenar. It can even be argued that they were the first to feature this particular race in any capacity.
​​​​​​​In 2001, season 1, episode 7, “The Andorian Incident” featured an Andorian named Shran (Jeffrey Combs) who brought up the mysterious Aenar of his home world. This is later followed up in season 4, episode 14, “The Aenar.” Not only did Star Trek: Enterprise bring in the Aenar, they took a deep look into their pacifism and how it has put them at odds with the Andorians. It might not have been the most memorable project. Yet, it would go on to become the inspiration for Hemmer in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Ironically, it’s two shows that have polarized Trekkies worldwide that have spent any time with the peace-loving Aenar.
Part of the reason the Aenar have been such a rare sighting in Star Trek projects has been their isolationism. It’s hard to involve them with they rarely ever want to involve themselves with the rest of the galaxy. Another part is that, unlike Vulcans, the makeup process for preparing an actor to play an Aenarian is a lot more involved. While the Aenar aren’t blue like Andorians, they still require body paint and extensive adhesive to alter their appearance. In the past, this has proven quite challenging when studios were more reluctant to create big budgets for Star Trek projects.
These days, though, studios like Paramount are more than willing to shill out the big bucks. The result? Star Trek: Strange New Worlds introduces Hemmer, who is complex because of his Aenarian heritage as well as because he’s a complex depiction of a character with a disability. The show left many fans disappointed with the ultimate treatment of his storyline. In a way, it’s a blessing that they’ve been left with so little knowledge of the Aenar. Moving forward, it just means more opportunities for Star Trek to introduce diverse characters like Hemmer into their repertoire. Let’s just hope they don’t all meet such a violent end.
Source: WARP FIVE: Bruce Horak on Hemmer’s Mission to Fix What is Broken
