Kes

For other uses, see Kes.

For the mirror universe counterpart, see Kes (mirror).

"Oh, she's so... she's so beautiful. Kes. I think one day she'll see the sun."

—Martis after the birth of Kes, 2369 ^[src]

Kes was an Ocampa female born in 2369. Kes was a curious person who was eager to explore her planet Ocampa V beyond the subterranean city and to not be dependent on the Caretaker. After emerging on the surface of her world she was taken prisoner by the Kazon and began a relationship with the Talaxian trader, Neelix.

Both Kes and Neelix' life changed in 2371, when they were rescued by the USS Voyager, a Federation starship stranded over 70,000 light years from Earth. Kes soon found herself a role aboard Voyager as The Doctor's assistant. She departed Voyager in 2374 when her increasing telepathic powers allowed her to evolve beyond her corporeal existence. (VOY episode & novelization: Caretaker; VOY episodes: "Phage", "The Gift")

By 2376, Kes' powers had failed and she returned to Voyager to reap revenge on her former crewmates. However, a meeting with her past self convinced her that the Voyager crew were her friends and she returned home to Ocampa to help her people. (VOY episode: "Fury")

Once back on Ocampa on stardate 54868.6 in 2377, Kes implanted her lifetime's memories into a childhood friend's son's mind and used her newly-returned powers to regenerate Ocampa's energies, returning the planet to a blissful long-term state, but killing Kes in the process. (VOY - Strange New Worlds V short story: "Restoration")

This is in contradiction with the Voyager novel String Theory: Evolution. In the String Theory trilogy, Kes was called to Ocampa's distant past to help the Doctor and Q oversee the birth of an Ocampa/Nacene hybrid; the Ocampan mother lacked the life energy to carry the child to term, so her life-force merged with Kes', who then mated with the Nacene male. It was also revealed that the Kes who attacked Voyager in "Fury" was not actually the future Kes, but was instead the personification of the anger and rage in Kes' soul, created when she was forced to separate herself from the Ocampan she had merged with while fighting a rogue Nacene. As a result of the improper separation, Kes' 'dark side' merged with the body of the Ocampan, although the spirit of the Ocampan herself passed on peacefully. After a short pregnancy, Kes' son Balim was born, and then taken to be raised safely by Q, protected from other Nacene who would wish to harm him. Returning to the present day and reuniting with the now-fully grown Balim, Kes returned to Ocampa, and was witness to Balim's restoration of the planet's biosphere. Therefore we can assume that Kes survived the events in "Restoration".

In 2381, Kes helped resurrect Kathryn Janeway from the dead. (VOY novel: The Eternal Tide)

Appendices

Connections

USS Voyager miscellaneous personnel
	Agalsoff • Allyn • Bagdadi • Bernard • Betts • Bokk • Bourse • Braswell • Brownfield • Brooks • Burgess • Canamar • Charnock • Chichester • Chronister • Connolly • Cooper • D'Angelo • DiPasquale • Djanrelian • Dorton • Drapanas • Enberry • Englert • Eyslee • Ferginson • Forster • Frankenheimer • Gerron • Heebaek • Mariah Henley • Hester • M. Hoffman • Hoffman • Homs • Hutchinson • Icheb • Ishii • James • Kardesh • Karnes • Kes • Knapp • Lattin • Mackey • Mackey • Madalone • Magdaleno • Mannick • Mayer • Middleton • Minster • Moore • Mosko • Neelix • Nelson • Nesterowicz • O'Hea • D. Okuda • M. Okuda • Peets • Perskle • Phillipuk • Renta • Rush • Russo • Santo Pietro • Schwartz • Sears • Sepulveda • Settle • Seven of Nine • Shostrom • Sims • Sirelka • Spitalny • Sternbach • Stimson • Tarrine • Taylor • Thomas • Thompson • Trexis • Triggiani • VanZyl • Vitolia • Weisz • Westmore • Wheeler • Wildman
see also: engineering personnel • medical personnel • operations personnel • pilots & flight control personnel • security & tactical personnel • sciences personnel • senior staff

USS Voyager medical personnel
	Hugh Cambridge • The Doctor • Fitzgerald • Jarem Kaz • Kes • Tom Paris • Sharak • T'Prena
see also: engineering personnel • operations personnel • pilots & flight control personnel • security & tactical personnel • sciences personnel • senior staff • miscellaneous