Star Trek within Star Trek

This article is about "Star Trek" in-universe. For real world information on the franchise, see Star Trek.

James T. Kirk and Spock saw themselves on a TOS poster.

A number of stories have incorporated the real-world Star Trek series into their narratives.

"Far Beyond the Stars"

Star Trek was the name given to a series of science fiction stories created by Benny Russell, a writer for Incredible Tales of Scientific Wonder Magazine in the summer of 1950. These tales were set in a fictional world of the 23rd and 24th centuries. (DS9 novelization: Far Beyond the Stars)

In September of 1953, Russell wrote his last official Star Trek story. Titled Deep Space Nine, the story was a spin-off centering around a space station commander of African descent named Benjamin Sisko. That issue ceased publication and most were pulled from the shelves by Douglas Pabst, for fear of a backlash of racism at the magazine. (DS9 episode: "Far Beyond the Stars")

After suffering from a nervous breakdown, Russell continued writing Star Trek stories while incarcerated in a mental institution. These unpublished stories include:

• "The Emissary" (April 1954)
• "Image in the Sand" (January 18, 1955)
• "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" (February, 1955)
• "Shadows and Symbols", "Afterimage", "Chrysalis", "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River", "Once More Unto the Breach", "The Siege of AR-558", "Covenant", "It's Only a Paper Moon", "Prodigal Daughter", "The Emperor's New Cloak", "Field of Fire", "Chimera", "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges", "Badda-bing, Badda-bang", "Penumbra", "'Til Death Do Us Part", "Strange Bedfellows", "The Changing Face of Evil", "When it Rains...", "Tacking into the Wind", "Extreme Measures", "Dogs of War", "What You Leave Behind" (February 17, 1955)

These stories were pasted on his cell walls, covering them entirely. (DS9 short story: "Isolation Ward 4")

Eventually, Benny Russell's original story was published under the title Far Beyond the Stars. (TOS novel: The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 1)

Russell's Star Trek incorporated many elements of Star Trek: The Original Series as well as Star Trek: The Next Generation, perhaps inspired by the Prophets.

The March, 1953 issue of Incredible Tales included the following stories, which may or may not be related to Russell's Star Trek:

• "The Cage" by E.W. Roddenberry
• "The Corbomite Maneuver" by Jerry Sohl
• "Journey to Babel" by D.C. Fontana
• "Metamorphosis" by Gene L. Coon
• "Where No Man Has Gone Before" by Sam Peeples

(DS9 episode: "Far Beyond the Stars"):

"Research"

In 1964, television writer Gene Roddenberry met time travelers J. R. and Berlinghoff Rasmussen, who shared with him knowledge of the future. He used this to write the television incarnation of Star Trek.

J. R. and Berlinghoff Rasmussen later traveled to the 1980s, and used their future knowledge to provide Paramount executives with material for three Star Trek spin-offs well into the 1990s. Some time after Berlinghoff's death in 1999, J. R. left the television Star Trek franchise. (DS9 short story: "Research")

"Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited"

During filming of an episode titled "The Omega Glory," Star Trek actors William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley were somehow transposed through space and time to 2268, onto the real USS Enterprise. Kirk, Spock and Leonard McCoy were likewise transposed onto the Star Trek soundstage in Burbank. After the incident, the three actors told Roddenberry of their adventure. (TOS short story: "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited")

The Motion Picture

Star Trek was a novel by a 23rd century author named Gene Roddenberry. It was based on the V'Ger Incident, and written at the request of Rear Admiral James T. Kirk. (TOS novelization: Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

"Dream a Little Dream"

In 2019, Star Trek: New Visions artist John Byrne fell asleep and dreamed about visiting Enterprise and helping Captain James T. Kirk battle an armada of Klingon and Romulan battlecruisers. (TOS - New Visions comic: "Dream a Little Dream")

"Make-Believe"

The Star Trek franchise was a favorite of United States Army pilot Kevin Howard, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was his favorite movie. Kevin passed his love of the show to his young son, Breandán, and gave him several action figures of the original series' crew. When Kevin was sent to Iraq during the Iraq War in 2003, he told his young son Captain Kirk was sending him to fly shuttlecraft. Following his father's death, Breandán withdrew into his imagination, where Captain Kirk lead a search party for his lost father. (TOS short story: "Make-Believe")

"Getting Real"

In 2279, the Enterprise was assigned to prevent the Icarus plague from killing five million people in 1983. After time traveling, James T. Kirk, Spock, and Montgomery Scott beamed down incognito to confirm the date. They were spotted by Joey and Malcolm, who recognized them — they were Shatner, Nimoy and James Doohan from Star Trek, airing Saturdays on Channel 32. But the kids ran away when they realized Spock’s ears were real. Eventually the kids beamed up to the Enterprise, where Kirk told them he would have to shoot down NASA’s manned space shuttle Icarus. Malcolm became agitated, pointing out that TV’s Captain Kirk would solve the problem without killing anyone. Spock determined that they were orbiting a parallel Earth where the plague would not happen, saving the shuttle. (TOS comic: "Getting Real")

See also

• IDW continuity
• Marvel continuity