Balok Balok was a male citizen of the First Federation . In 2266 , as captain of the " Fesarius " and the sole occupant of that vessel , he made first contact with the Federation . History . Balok encountered the while it was midway through a star mapping mission . He used a puppet of a bluish , cat - eye d alien , that wavered and rippled on the " Enterprise " s viewscreen , to fool the starship ' s crew into believing the puppet was named Balok and was in control of the " Fesarius " . Balok apparently condemned the crew as warlike , because they had been forced to destroy a marker buoy , and repeatedly threatened them with the consequences , such as seemingly planning to destroy the " Enterprise " . After Balok ' s pilot vessel ( a much smaller craft , launched from the " Fesarius " ) was damaged by the " Enterprise " and Captain James T . Kirk beam ed aboard with a landing party that also included Doctor McCoy and Crewman Dave Bailey , the real Balok divulged the truth to his visitors ; he revealed his use of the puppet and that the entire encounter had been an elaborate test of character and ethics . Balok was amused by having manipulated the " Enterprise " crew with the puppet , which he called " Mr . Hyde to my Jekyll " , and which he commonly used to frighten and intimidate others . He shared a drink of " tranya " with the landing party , and gave them a tour of his ship . As the " Fesarius " had a crew of only one , Balok was the only representative of the First Federation encountered by Starfleet so far . He admitted he was lonely , so Kirk left Crewman Bailey with Balok , for an exchange of cultures and ideas . Balok gave all three visitors a tour of his small pilot vessel , before Kirk and McCoy departed . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Origins . Balok was portrayed by Clint Howard and voiced by Walker Edmiston . Originally ( in an outline called " Danger Zone " , from ) , Balok was an avian who initially told the " Enterprise " crew that he was the liaison officer of the " Fesarius " . Balok lost consciousness , but was saved by the " Enterprise " medical staff . Aboard the " Enterprise " at the end of the story , he revealed he was actually the commander of the " Fesarius " and shook Kirk ' s hand with his talons , in a friendly gesture . Before leaving the " Enterprise " , Balok extended an open invitation for Kirk and his officers to visit the " Fesarius " at any time . Balok was also described as having more attractive plumage than two of his subordinates , who were of the same species as him . In the second draft outline of , the character was portrayed as acting in much the same way . However , Balok was no longer an avian . Instead , he was described as a non - descript alien who was taller than his fellows and who shook hands with Kirk ( though a question mark indicated that there was still some uncertainty as to whether Balok even had hands ) . Another change affecting Balok was the introduction of the concept of corbomite ; Balok was insistent that no such substance existed , though at the end of the story , he admitted he was unsure as to whether it did or not . Jerry Sohl developed Balok further while trying to devise the conclusion to the episode " The Corbomite Maneuver " . He later commented , " " How the hell were they [ the " Enterprise " crew ] going to get out of this one ? And then we added the fellow at the end , which was so much like the end of many of my novels , where a little kid is behind the whole thing . That tickled Gene Roddenberry . " " ( " " # 136 , p . 69 ) This idea was first established in the third draft outline of " The Corbomite Maneuver " , in which Balok was the only member of his species to appear – doing so only at the end of the story , using a puppet before that point – and was simply described as " a midget by Earth standards . " The outline also related some uncertainty over whether he could smile . Also , rather than coming aboard the " Enterprise " at the end of the episode , Balok met Kirk , Spock , the doctor from the " Enterprise " and two of his aides onboard Balok ' s pilot vessel . Without shaking hands with Kirk , Balok revealed that he himself was the " Fesarius " commander , extended his open invitation for the " Enterprise " crew to visit the " Fesarius " , and admitted to being unsure if corbomite really existed . In the first draft script of " The Corbomite Maneuver " ( submitted in ) , Balok was described as " tiny by earth standards , almost childlike ( a child actor ) , soft , warm , almost lovely in his tiny simplicity . " In the final draft of the script ( dated ) , Balok was characterized as " a veritable child of a man , pudgy , soft - looking , warm and cuddly , wearing a robe of fine cloth , [ . . . ] smiling cherubically . " The second revised final draft of the script ( dated 20 May 1966 ) added to this description by commenting that Balok was to be " less than four feet tall . " A later description in both the final draft and the second revised final draft stated , " " Balok ' s voice , deep and commanding , belies his small stature . " " In a memo Robert Justman sent John D . F . Black ( on ) , Justman proposed that , rather than staying on his own ship and being visited there by officers from the " Enterprise " , Balok should come aboard the " Enterprise " at the end of the episode , a potentially cost - cutting but ultimately unrealized story point . In the first draft and final draft of the teleplay for " The Corbomite Maneuver " , Balok met only Kirk and McCoy from the " Enterprise " . In at least the final draft , though , he allowed them to contact Spock , who was on the bridge of the " Enterprise " . At one point in the same draft of the script , Balok reacted dismally to being asked what would have happened if they hadn ' t tried to save him . The scripted stage directions concerning Balok ' s gloomy response remarked , " " The merest shadow of some of Balok ' s former fierceness plays over his small features and we get a glimpse of the strength that lies beneath . It passes . " " All of these elements were excluded from the script by the time the second revised final draft of the teleplay was issued , that version also including Balok meeting Bailey and arranging for him to stay . Casting . At first , the casting requirements for the role of Balok were different than they eventually became . In retrospect , Casting Director Joseph D ' Agosta offered , " " As I recall we had to get someone who could play young , but was an adult . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 11 / 12 , p . 60 ) This , though , was problematic . In the aforementioned memo Robert Justman wrote John D . F . Black ( on 21 April 1966 ) , Justman critiqued , " " Although I like the conception of the character called Balok , there could be one drawback with regard to this . The part should be played by a midget or a dwarf . There aren ' t many actors with these physical characteristics who could handle the job . And certainly the few that are available are rather well known to our audience . " " NBC Manager of Film Programming Stan Robertson essentially came up with the notion of hiring two different actors to play Balok , with one of them voicing the part while the other ' s physical performance would be used . Robertson submitted this concept in a letter he wrote John D . F . Black ( on ) . However , Robertson ' s idea was actually to cast a large actor to appear as Balok ' s puppet , and the voice of " a smaller person " for that same role , then for the latter performer to appear as the real Balok in the episode ' s conclusion . Regarding the real Balok , he commented , " " When we actually meet him in person , at this time we could see that he is a ' Michael Dunn ' type person . Obviously , as you pointed out , we will be giving the whole thing away if we show Balok at the outset to be a ' Dunn ' type character . " " In fact , Michael Dunn himself eventually guest starred , , in . During a casting meeting for " The Corbomite Maneuver " , much discussion was concentrated on how Balok , who was conceived as being three - and - a - half feet tall , should look . Multiple strange ideas were suggested and considered , in an effort to resolve this problem . After quietly listening to the proposed ideas , Gene Roddenberry finally commented , " " I think if you cast anyone over seven years old , you ' re in trouble . " " ( " The Making of Star Trek " , p . 348 ) Concerning the casting of a child actor to appear as Balok with an adult actor providing the character ' s voice , Richard Arnold , who worked as a research consultant for Roddenberry , commented , " " Yeah , that was Gene pushing the envelope . It was the sort of thing that good science fiction did . " " ( " Inside the Roddenberry Vault , Part I " , " " special features ) Clint Howard was found by Joe D ' Agosta , who added , " " I met Clint Howard through the agents as a type , a dwarf - like type . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 11 / 12 , p . 60 ) Howard himself explained , " " The " Star Trek " audition entailed a lot of learning of dialogue , because although they eventually voiced my character , I learned the dialogue . " " ( " Inside the Roddenberry Vault , Part I " , " " special features ) The day after Gene Roddenberry advised casting an actor under the age of seven as Balok , D ' Agosta brought Howard , who was then aged seven , onto the Desilu lot . He then auditioned for the role . ( " The Making of Star Trek " , p . 349 ) " " I remember his interview as being kind of overwhelming , " " D ' Agosta admitted , " " because he had the built - in cry - baby sneer on his face . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 11 / 12 , p . 60 ) Nonetheless , Howard was offered the role . ( " Inside the Roddenberry Vault , Part I " , " " special features ) He was cast in the part immediately after auditioning . ( " The Making of Star Trek " , p . 349 ) Decades later , Howard commented , " " The character of Balok , interesting character because of the way he would taunt the " Enterprise " , and then the choice of hiring a child , almost with a cherub face , with an adult voice , this kid face , having played this game of death poker with Captain Kirk , was an odd [ but successful ] choice . " " ( " Inside the Roddenberry Vault , Part I " , " " special features ) A voice - over performer was additionally sought for the role of Balok . In a memo Robert Justman sent Gene Roddenberry ( on ) , Justman wrote , " " I spoke last night with Joe D ' Agosta with regard to bringing in some people to be interviewed for Looping Balok ' s voice in ' The Corbomite Maneuver ' . It is important that we set this actor or actress as soon as possible , so that we can do the necessary looping this coming Tuesday morning , August 9 , 1966 . This will enable us to take advantage of the Looping Stage , as we have to do other Loops for the show currently in progress that day anyway . We should have someone cast by Friday , or Monday at the latest . " " Portrayal . Clint Howard was originally asked if , to play Balok , he was willing to shave his hair off , but both he and his father said no . ( " The Making of Star Trek " , p . 349 ; " " ) Decades later , Howard recalled , " " Now , [ that ] wouldn ' t be an issue , but back then . . . hell , yeah , it was an issue ! They went and put a bald cap on me . " " ( " Inside the Roddenberry Vault , Part I " , " " special features ) The make - up Howard wore for the role of Balok was designed to be minimal and inexpensive . The bald cap was premade from plastic by John Chambers . It was glued around Howard ' s hairline with spirit gum . Once dry , the bald cap ' s edges were dissolved with a little amount of acetone , making the seam between the cap and the actor ' s head nondistinguishable on camera . To establish the overall skin tone , a tan cream base was sponged over Howard ' s bald cap and face . As a final touch , a pair of extremely bushy eyebrows were also employed to exaggerate the actor ' s alien look . These bushy eyebrows , almost belying the character ' s childlike appearance , were hand - laid on the actor ' s face , then affixed with glue . The make - up made Balok look noticeably different from the " Enterprise " crewmembers , but was entirely non - threatening in comparison with his puppet . ( " " , p . 35 ) ( Make - up test shots of Howard as Balok , from the Gene Roddenberry Collection at UCLA , can be seen here : ) The scenes involving Clint Howard as Balok were shot on Wednesday . ( " Information from " The Corbomite Maneuver " call sheets " ) One challenge Clint Howard found with portraying Balok was having to drink the character ' s tranya , which – according to the actor – was grapefruit juice , a beverage he detested in his childhood . " " I saw the guy pouring it from the carton , so I went over to my dad and said , ' Dad ? Come on . I mean , [ . . . ] grapefruit juice makes me gag . Can you get them to change it to apple juice ? I love apple juice . ' And my dad said , ' We ' re not going to change it . Just think about this as an acting challenge . Drink it and just act like you really enjoy it ' [ . . . ] Probably the most difficult acting I did back then was to drink that stuff , " " Howard laughed . ( ) It was because Balok was meant to be an adult alien , despite having a childlike appearance , that Clint Howard ' s vocal track was deleted in post - production and the character was instead voiced by Walker Edmiston . ( " " , p . 34 ) Edmiston later recalled , " " We ' d tried a number of different things and then we just went to one of those very soft , child - like , ethereal vocals . It was more in timing and attitude than in voice . That ' s what ' s so important in creating a voice for creatures and all types of unearthly things . You have to analyze what it is , what they do , are they large , small , and what is the process behind them . And physically , of course , that makes a lot of difference as he had those big teeth and a weird little smile . " " ( " " # 58 , p . 21 ) Legacy . Seeing Balok in " The Corbomite Maneuver " was one of " Star Trek " author David R . George III ' s earliest memories of watching " Star Trek " . In his adulthood , he remarked , " " I remember understanding that the alien whom the " Enterprise " crew encountered was not all that different from any human being – and not simply because it turned out that Balok actually appeared quite human , and not at all like his spooky doppelgänger – but because he lived and thought and felt in a recognizable way . I really think that helped form an empathy within me , an ability to see things from other people ' s points of view . " " The fact Clint Howard appeared as Balok was referenced during an audition the actor later had , when he was about twenty - two or twenty - three years old , with renowned filmmakers and . Howard remembered , " " [ Lucas ] looks at me and he goes , ' Commander Balok , " Corbomite Maneuver " . " " ( ) Lucas ' reference to the character was the first thing he said to Howard . ( ) " " It absolutely blew me away , " " the actor recalled . ( ) In reply , Howard felt he wanted to yell at Lucas to " get a life . " ( ; ) Clint Howard later reprised his role as a grown Balok , part of ' s roast of William Shatner . In it , Howard portrayed Balok as being an alcoholic , addicted to " tranya " . As with the episode , Balok ' s voice was again dubbed in by another actor .