Keenser Keenser was a Starfleet engineering division crew member serving in the 23rd century . ( ; ; ) History . In 2258 , in the alternate reality , Keenser worked with at an automated Federation outpost on . He was Scott ' s only company for month s before Spock and arrived . Scott often belittled and berated Keenser , particularly regarding Keenser ' s tendency to climb up on things and the fact that his species required very little food . It was clear that they were fond of each other , however ; Keenser , in particular , was saddened when Scott transported with Kirk to the . After the " Enterprise " successfully defeated Nero and the Romulan mining vessel " Narada " , Keenser joined the " Enterprise " crew as an engineer under Scott . ( ) A year later , Keenser left the " Enterprise " with Scott when Scott submitted his resignation ; Scott had objected to not being allowed to examine a group of top secret photon torpedo es , which had been brought aboard the ship and were to be used for the targeted killing of traitor and mass murder er John Harrison . While Keenser was dining with Scott in San Francisco ' s Port of San Francisco bar , they received a call from Kirk , who had opted to arrest Harrison instead , and received coordinates from him . Keenser glared at Scott , silently insisting that he investigate the coordinates . Keenser resumed his duties on the " Enterprise " as it embarked on its first five - year mission . ( ) Keenser was still serving on the " Enterprise " when it was destroyed during the Battle of Altamid . Though suffering from a bad cold at the time , one which Scott feared might lead him to sneeze on the warp core and cause a warp core breach , Keenser helped Scott hook the core up to the impulse engine s and was captured by Krall ' s forces during the escape from the ship . Keenser later used his acidic sneezes to briefly break and out of confinement , but they were later recaptured . Along with the rest of the crew , Keenser was rescued by Kirk , , Spock , and Jaylah . Keenser was beamed to the with the last batch of crewmembers where Scott excitedly greeted him . Scott nearly hugged Keenser , but ultimately settled for a handshake . Keenser then helped Scott repair the " Franklin " and worked in engineering during the attack on Yorktown . Keenser later attended Kirk ' s birthday party and presumably joined the crew of the along with everyone else . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Keenser was played by actor Deep Roy . In the script of the film , Keenser was described as " a small , dark , oddly alien creature . " Much of the work that went into designing Keenser was done with sculptures of his head and shoulders . ( " Star Trek - The Art of the Film " , p . 130 ) One initial decision that Director J . J . Abrams made was that Keenser ' s eyes shouldn ' t look totally Human . When Lead Creature Designer Neville Page was showing Abrams one of the early Keenser concept sculptures but was unsure precisely where the eyes should be on Keenser ' s face , Abrams told him that these features would stay in the same place but that , instead of having normal Human eyes covered by contact lenses , the idea was for Keenser to have a pair of strange , little , silver nubs that pop out of each eye socket . ( " Aliens " special feature , and ( Three disc Blu - ray ) ) In retrospect , Industrial Light & Magic Visual Effects Art Director Alex Jaeger commented , " " Seeing Human eyes , it didn ' t look alien enough . To take it out of that realm [ . . . ] J . J . had described what he wanted as like the metal tip end of a pencil . " " ( " Star Trek - The Art of the Film " , p . 131 ) A total of at least four concept sculptures were crafted for Keenser . Additionally , a series of at least five concept sketches were done in pen , once the facial design was selected , to illustrate possible costume configurations . ( " Star Trek - The Art of the Film " , pp . 130 & 131 ) Proteus FX created Keenser as a full - head silicone makeup design . ( " Cinefex " , No . 118 , pp . 62 & 68 ) " " We created all our original Keenser molds in BJB Enterprises ' TC - 1630 UltraCast polyurethane casting resin , " " recollected Prosthetic Makeup Designer Barney Burman . " " They were very strong , and held up well . " " ( " Cinefex " , No . 134 , p . 82 ) The makeup was designed with the intention of featuring subtle CGI enhancement . ( " Cinefex " , No . 118 , pp . 62 & 68 ) Representing the eyes digitally was a very costly option , but it was thought that adding the metallic probes to Keenser would appropriately give him a more convincingly alien appearance . ( " Aliens " featurette , and ( Three disc Blu - ray ) ) Deep Roy was specifically sought to play this character . " " I was introduced to J . J . Abrams by the art director . They were looking for me , " " Roy stated . " " My good friend , Tommy Harper , who is the co - producer / production manager , was the one who recommended me . I was introduced to J . J . and he hired me , and that ’ s how it started . " " The role required two makeup artists to apply the makeup for approximately two hours each day . Despite Roy having been provided with his scripted dialogue , the filming crew chose to eliminate these lines during production . " " They said , ' It doesn ' t look right for this guy to talk because , after all , he ' s from another planet . He ' s an alien . He doesn ' t speak the language . ' So that ' s what happened [ . . . ] J . J . told me why and I said , ' Sure , whatever it is , it is . " " Nevertheless , Keenser does have one line , when replying to Scott ' s rhetorical question of whether any other starved and freezing Starfleet officer was in the room : " " Me ! " " Originally , Keenser was not going to join the " Enterprise " crew . However , Scott actor Simon Pegg talked to J . J . Abrams about how sad it was that Keenser was left on Delta Vega . Abrams then asked Costume Designer Michael Kaplan for a small . Recalled Deep Roy , " " They were debating whether to leave me or put me on the " Enterprise " . J . J . created a special scene for me . I was finished with the movie , but I got a callback and they said , ' They want you for one more day . ' They didn ' t tell me for what . They said , ' You ' ll find out when you come on the set . ' When I went on to the set , J . J . said , ' We ' re going to put you on the " Enterprise " [ . . . ] They actually made a " Star Trek " uniform for me , practically on the spot . " " Roy was delighted and grateful that the character was granted the opportunity to go aboard the " Enterprise " . " " I said , ' Well , here comes the sequel . Maybe I ' m a permanent fixture now . " " Following production on the film " Star Trek " , Digital Domain edited out the actor ' s eyes , created a dark cavity which was blended into the eye sockets , then added antenna - like rods that could dart in various directions . The animation of these rods required tracking of the actor ' s head and eyes to root the rods to the back of each eye socket and gauge their movements . Digital Domain Visual Effects Supervisor Kelly Port explained , " " We tracked the actor ' s head and eyes separately , and then created a rig to align the tips of the rods with the actor ' s pupils . That gave us our first pass on the eye - line . Then we played with eye - stalk motion , adding little twitchy moments that resembled blinks . " " ( " Cinefex " , No . 118 , pp . 62 & 68 ) Roger Guyett , the film ' s visual effects supervisor and second unit director , remarked that , despite the resultant probes being a subtle detail , it made " a tremendous difference to the believability " of Keenser ' s alien nature . ( " Aliens " featurette , and ( Three disc Blu - ray ) ) For , B2FX – the same makeup studio which had originally produced the Keenser makeup under the name Proteus FX – reprised the character ' s makeup . " " Jamie Kelman and I applied the makeups with some subtle color changes , " " said Barney Burman , " " but we kept as close as possible to the original . " " ( " Cinefex " , No . 134 , p . 82 ) Having the character not talk in the sequel " made sense , " observed Deep Roy . Nonetheless , off - camera alterations were made to the makeup to enable more flexibility of expression in dialogue . B2FX did this by creating facial appliances with three densities of silicone . " " We first applied one very firm outer layer of skin inside the mold . We then added a thickened layer and a soft 180 - percent deadened layer . That created rigid , shell - like outer structures , while the under - skin could flex whenever Deep emoted . " " ( " Cinefex " , No . 134 , p . 82 ) On a daily basis , the time it took to apply Keenser ' s makeup was now reduced to one hour and forty - five minutes , and only required one artist . This time , the makeup was digitally enhanced by Pixomondo , adding the characteristic CGI animated eye - stalks to Keenser . ( " Cinefex " , No . 134 , p . 82 ) When asked how he felt about the character following his participation in " Star Trek Into Darkness " , Deep Roy commented , " " Keenser is a smart alien . I try to bring a little bit of comedy into it , but he ' s a great thinker . He is a [ quiet ] guy … silence is golden , as they say , but he ' s well aware of what ' s going on around him . He doesn ' t hold grudges against anyone . Even though Scotty gives him a hard time and always blames Keenser – whatever happens , it ' s Keenser ' s fault – Keenser just takes it with a grain of salt and moves on . " " Roy also expressed happiness that his work as Keenser was appreciated by fans and speculated , " " Maybe Keenser can get his own spin - off , " The New Adventures of Keenser " . That could be a new franchise . " " A set of three concept sketches of Keenser can be found at . Simon Pegg once characterized Keenser as " an oyster - faced alien . " ( " Aliens " special feature , and ( Three disc Blu - ray ) ) The magazine " Cinefex " ( No . 134 , p . 82 ) has similarly likened Keenser ' s distinctive eye - stalks to those of a crab . Apocrypha . The name of Keenser ' s species was not stated in either of the movies . Keenser was the protagonist of the fourteenth issue of IDW Publishing ' s " " , which identifies Keenser as a Roylan from the planet of Royla , where he lived with his parents . He was often ridiculed by his so - called " friends " because he was taller than all the others of his kind . In 2230 , after first contact with his people was made by the Federation Starfleet ship , Keenser demonstrated his engineering skills to the " Kelvin " s first officer , Lt . Cmdr . George Kirk , and security officer Lt . K ' Bentayr by giving them a complete diagnostic and pinpointing the problem . With his parents ' best wishes , Keenser was allowed to leave with the " Kelvin " s away team . He experienced space sickness on the way to the ship . He had graduated from Starfleet Academy in 2233 , becoming the first Roylan to have left Royla and joined Starfleet , dedicating his service to the fallen . The issue also identifies Keenser as having the rank of Lieutenant . His service on Delta Vega preceded Scott ' s , having outlasted all the other personnel formerly employed there . In a parallel universe depicted in " Parallel Lives , Part 1 " , a female equivalent of Keenser , named " Keensera " , is shown serving as a lieutenant aboard the " Enterprise " of that reality . Although Keensera herself does not talk in the comic , Marjorie " Scotty " Scott , the ship ' s chief engineer , mentions she initially suspected Keensera of causing , by messing about with the " Enterprise " s functions , entanglement in the ship ' s systems , an opinion Scotty implies she has since revised . In " The Tholian Webs , Part 2 " , Keenser was rendered unconscious . After Scott went mad and tried to take over the ship , though , Keenser ended up saving the vessel . Captain Kirk subsequently noted , in a captain ' s log entry , that he wished to commend Keenser . They thereafter had a drink together in the ship ' s lounge and , although Kirk tried to make conversation , Keenser was extremely quiet , as usual . Keenser appeared in the Esurance automobile insurance company flash game " " , where he was rescued by Esurance advertising mascot Erin Esurance . He also appeared in the " " video game , in which he was established to be . He plays an important role in the second half of the game ; Kirk and Spock check out the source of a sound nearby , which turns out to be Keenser , who is cowering behind some storage crates in an attempt to hide from the Gorn . When they escort him safely to engineering , he is met with joy by Scott , who hadn ' t been sure the Roylan was even still alive . After performing a diagnostic on the " Enterprise " , he informs the player ( through Scott ) that the warp cores are offline . Kirk and Spock clear engineering of Gorn so Keenser can effect repairs . When Kirk shouts at Keenser to hurry up , Scott tells Kirk he doesn ' t have to be condescending , seeming to indicate that Scott has a low tolerance for anyone " else " insulting his friend . Keenser also appeared on card # 52 , Engineer Keenser , of the virtual collectible card battle game " " .