Orion The Orions were a warp - capable humanoid species from the Alpha Quadrant . This species originated from the planet . Physiology and society . Orions were known for their distinctive green skin , although at least some had a more pale grayish complexion . Orion males might be bald or partially bald . Orion females could have black , green , or red hair . ( ; ; ; ; ; ) Orion females were very animalistic in nature , known for their extreme carnal appetites and their innate skill of seduction . A Human male could rarely resist the alluring dance of the Orion slave girl . ( ) In Orion society , the males were slaves to the females . As a means of deceiving other species , the Orions maintained the facade that the females were the slaves . This went as far as Orion females on the Orion slave market . ( ; ) Once sold to a male , the Orion slave girls used their unique physiology to their advantage ; their highly potent pheromone s accelerated the metabolisms of males of many species , raising adrenaline production to dangerous levels which caused aggression and , ultimately , a form of delusion . Its most significant effect was to make them susceptible to suggestion . Not long after , the " owner " males began taking orders from their " slave " females . The pheromones ' effects were cumulative ; the longer exposed , the more pronounced the results . Human females reacted negatively to those same pheromones , experiencing headaches , and Denobulan males found their sleep cycles interrupted by them . Vulcan s were immune to effects of the pheromones . In 2155 , Dr . Phlox of theorized that the pheromone acted as a defense mechanism against competition . ( ) History . Orion once harbored a highly advanced civilization whose history had drawn great interest from Federation historian s and archaeologists alike . ( ; ) The Orions had been trading with Coridan for several centuries before 2155 . They were trading with the Earth Cargo Service as early as 2152 . ( ) The Vulcans seemed to have been aware of the Orions , at the latest , by 2154 . According to Arik Soong , the Orions had expanded their area of operations between 2144 and 2154 . ( ) In 2154 , " Enterprise " NX - 01 was raided by an Orion Interceptor , and nine of its crew members were taken as slaves . This soured relations between the Orion Syndicate and Starfleet . ( ) In 2155 , Tellarites suspected Orions of raiding their vessels , and demanded that the Coalition of Planets establish a trade embargo against them . The Coridanite s , however , called this accusation ' Tellarite slander ' . ( ) During the mid - 23rd century , noted Federation archaeologist Doctor Roger Korby translated medical records from the Orion ruins that helped revolutionize modern immunization techniques and became required reading at Starfleet Academy . ( ) By 2257 , the Orions held land on Qo ' noS , used as an embassy outpost . ( ) " In the alternate reality , Orions were living and working on Earth . One such Orion named Gaila was a cadet at Starfleet Academy . ( ) " On stardate 4326 . 3 , the Feira Incident took place during which Klingon patrol forces in the Shepard sector failed to stop Orion merchant raiders attacking Klingon strategic material outpost s . ( , " okudagram " ) In 2269 , through the assistance of the Guardian of Forever , Starfleet officers Captain James T . Kirk , Commander Spock and historian Lieutenant Erickson traveled to the dawn of Orion ' s civilization to view the planet ' s history unfolding , firsthand . ( ) As of the 2370s , the planet Orion was involved in interstellar trade , Orion Free Traders visited Deep Space 9 , and the Orion Institute of Cosmology on Orion I was considered a prestigious cosmology academy . ( ; ) Politics and commerce . Little was known about the organization of the Orion government , or if indeed a government existed . Prior to 2270 , the Orions had carefully maintained an air of neutrality , especially while operating in and around Federation space . This , however , has proven to be more of a guise than a reality , and was often used as an effort to cover their usually shady operations . Nevertheless , Orion ' s official position of neutrality comes before ship and crew , as all unsuccessful Orion missions end in suicide . Orions would keep that rationale in good conscience , as they would otherwise fall subject to Federation retaliation , if they were to lose their neutrality . ( ; ) " In an alternate reality , there was at least one Orion cadet , , in Starfleet Academy during the 2250s . " ( ) Trade entities . Despite the rich cultural history of Orion and outside of their " official " stance of neutrality , a dark side of the Orion culture exists in their active trafficking of forced labor through the Orion slave markets , especially their slave girls . Verex III and the Orion colony were well - known trade centers during the 22nd and 23rd centuries . ( ; ) The primary entity operating within these confines was known as the Orion Syndicate , comprised of a conglomeration of traders , pirate s and smugglers . These individuals were well - known for their many illegal operations outside of the slave trade , including extortion , theft , raids , kidnappings and assassinations . ( ) These activities were facilitated in the region of space which separated the Orion Syndicate from the Klingon Empire , known as the Borderland . During the 22nd century , this volatile region of space attracted the most dangerous elements from both sides . ( ) In 2154 , the Earth starship inadvertently made contact with Orion pirates when they encountered a number of Orion Interceptor s , which kidnapped nine of " Enterprise " s crew . The crew was recovered from the Orion processing station on Verex III , where they had been taken . ( ) A secondary entity operating within the Orion realm was known as the Orion Free Traders . The Orion Free Traders had a partially established relationship with the Vulcan s during the late 24th century . ( ) Trade contacts . The first known Orion contact with Human s was made with Arik Soong during the 2130s . Soong established a relationship with the Orion Syndicate in order to acquire certain goods and equipment that he and his Augment s needed to survive . ( ) The Orions actively conducted trade with the Earth Cargo Service during the 2150s . In late December 2152 , an Orion freighter was scheduled to rendezvous with the ; however the " Horizon " failed to make the transfer . ( ) By the mid - century , certain Orion entrepreneurs , including Harrad - Sar , had made contact with the Gorn Hegemony . ( ) By 2155 , the Orions had established trade with the Coridan " for centuries . " That year , during the formation of the Coalition of Planets , the Tellarite s pushed for an embargo against the Orions , claiming that several of their freighters had been attacked by the Orions . Considering their long history of trade with the Orions , the Coridan stated that they would have known of these apparent attacks , refusing to believe what they considered to be " Tellarite slander " , which they believed was simply a Tellarite attempt to deprive them of valuable commerce . ( ) Little did the Coridans know that a century later , Orion smugglers would be actively raiding dilithium from the Coridan system . The Babel Conference of stardate 3850 . 3 , a prelude to Coridan ' s admission into the Federation , jeopardized future Orion raids , as Coridan would then become subject to Federation law . In 2268 , the Orions circumvented their neutrality by attacking the , which was responsible for transporting delegates to the Babel Conference . Among the delegates was an Orion spy , Thelev , disguised as an Andorian , who in association with an attacking Orion scout ship made a futile attempt to prevent the conference by destroying the USS " Enterprise " . Had their attack on Starfleet succeeded , they would have instigated mutual suspicion and possibly interplanetary war . Had war broken out , they would have cleaned up supplying dilithium to both sides while continuing to raid Coridan . ( ) Loss of neutrality . Orion ' s neutrality remained in dispute ever since the Coridan planets affair and the Babel Conference of stardate 3850 . 3 . This was again brought to light in 2270 when an Orion vessel attacked and raided the of its cargo of dilithium and a shipment of strobolin intended for transfer to the USS " Enterprise " . Following the discovery of the disabled " Huron " , the " Enterprise " tracked the Orion ship to an asteroid belt . Initially , the crew was attacked by , and was later accused of harassing , the Orions , who then threatened to file a formal protest with the Federation . It was when the " Enterprise " detected the dilithium in the Orion vessel ' s hold that Captain James T . Kirk told the Orions that he would allow them to keep the dilithium if they would return the strobolin , and would make no mention of the encounter in his log . The Orions did not trust Kirk , and suggested a nearby asteroid to hand over the drug . This suggestion was a ruse , however , as the Orions planned to destroy themselves and the " Enterprise " during the exchange to preserve the appearance of Orion neutrality . The plot failed and the Orion vessel and crew were captured , casting further doubt on the future of the Orions ' claim to neutrality . ( ) Mirror universe . In the mirror universe , the Orions had been subjugated by the Terran Empire in 2155 . In that year , a female Orion crewmember , possibly a conscript , was serving aboard the . She was killed while aiding fellow non - under in an attempt to destroy the . ( ) Appendices . Background information . " Star Trek " s first depiction of an Orion was in a scene from the series ' first pilot episode , , in which an illusory Earth trader and a uniformed space officer try to talk Captain Christopher Pike into falling in love with Vina , who appears as an illusory Orion slave girl . The final draft of the episode ' s script featured a different version of the scene from that used in the episode . In the scene as first conceived , the illusory Earth trader teased Pike by suggesting that , as former captain of the starship " Enterprise " , he used to send Earth " blistering reports , " such as " ' the Orion traders taking shocking advantage of the natives . . . ' " Intentionally referring to Vina , the illusory space officer asked Pike , " " Do any of you have a green one ? They ' re dangerous , I hear . " " This version of the scene implies that writer and series creator Gene Roddenberry originally conceived the Orions to have more varied colors of skin than just green . Before being used in filming " The Cage " , Vina ' s green make - up was tested on Majel Barrett and Susan Oliver . " " Believe me , it was not easy to be green . There were many experiments with makeup . Fred Phillips , head of the makeup department , couldn ' t get the [ . . . ] [ right ] makeup . They couldn ' t find any green makeup that would stick to skin , so they tried many , many things on me until they finally sent for help from New York where they found what they wanted , " " recalled Oliver . ( " " , issue 135 , p . 78 ) When camera tests of the make - up were being done with Barrett , however , post - production editors were confused at seeing a green woman . They tried to compensate by chemically reconverting the green color tone to flesh color tones , and sent the film back to the production crew three times without the green skin being visible . Angered at this , Phillips had his make - up crew repeatedly paint Barrett with darker shades of paint , hoping it would become visible on screen . The production team eventually discovered that the film processing lab had been recolorizing her because they had been unaware her skin was meant to be green . Gene Roddenberry explained to them it was actually intended to be such . Archive footage of Vina as the illusory Orion slave girl was later used in " The Menagerie , Part II " . Later , " Journey to Babel " featured the first genuine Orion . However , he had been surgically altered to appear Andorian . It was not until their final appearance in " The Original Series " , " Whom Gods Destroy " , that a genuine female Orion appeared on screen and , later , it was in the Orions ' appearance on " The Animated Series " " The Pirates of Orion " that a genuine male Orion first appeared . The Orions appearing in " The Animated Series " depicted an Orion female , in " The Time Trap " , and the Orion males in " The Pirates of Orion " as being light - skinned due to coloring difficulties ( the same problem also occurred with the normally blue - skinned Andorian s , which appeared gray ) . Although most other " Star Trek " episodes had pronounced Orion as " Oh - RYE - on " , the word was pronounced " OR - ee - un " throughout " The Pirates of Orion " . The mistake was due to the fact that the animated scripts did not include a pronunciation page , unlike scripts of later live - action " Star Trek " episodes . " The Pirates of Orion " also featured the second appearance of an Orion craft , this time using a far more detailed animation than that used in " Journey to Babel " . The episode was the first to reference the Orion species in its title and remains the only episode to have done so . No Orions ever appeared in the subsequent Star Trek series – " " , " " , or " " – though references to the Orion Syndicate were made in several " Deep Space Nine " episodes . The notion of bringing the Orions back to " Star Trek " extremely appealed to Manny Coto , who became show - runner of ENT Season 4 . " " I ' d always wanted to do Orions , " " he explained . " " I ' d always been fascinated with Orions [ . . . ] and I wanted to explore the Orion culture , the males and what they look like and how they function . " " ( " Before Her Time : Decommissioning " Enterprise " , Part Two : Memorable Voyages " , ENT Season 4 Blu - ray special features ) After the last live - action appearance of an Orion , in ' s " Whom Gods Destroy " , the next such appearance of the species was finally realized thirty - five years later , in ' s " Borderland " , an installment of ENT ' s fourth season . In that episode , the Orions appeared en masse , with several actors portraying brutish male members of the species and model Bobbi Sue Luther starring as an Orion slave girl . The Orion males were so numerous in " Borderland " that the episode ' s final draft script noted , " " Unless specified , all Orions are males . " " Regarding male Orions , the " Borderland " script stated , " " Orions are hulking , muscular figures . . . like walking mountains . Elaborate tattooing and metal piercings cover their olive skin . " " Although " The Animated Series " coloring difficulties had caused the Orions ' appearances to remain true to Gene Roddenberry ' s original vision of the species as rarely having a green complexion , " Borderland " indeed continued the eventual " Original Series " depiction of the Orions as usually green - skinned . The look of the Orion males in the episode was extrapolated from the Orion females in " The Original Series " episodes . " Star Trek : Enterprise " continued to depict the Orions as a green - skinned species in their following two appearances , the first of which , " Bound " , showed , for the first time in a live - action series , the interior of an Orion spacecraft . One set , reminiscent of an Arabian sheik ' s luxurious abode , was built as an elaborate room where guests could be entertained while another set , which only appeared on a viewscreen , was a one - wall representation of the Orion bridge . The episode also featured three Orion slave girls , as well as the prominent role of Harrad - Sar . In the episode ' s script , Harrad - Sar was described as " powerful , imposing and fiercely intelligent " . Sixty - three year - old William Lucking was cast as the Orion male and was made to look bigger than in reality by wearing platform shoes and a bulky leather - padded costume . Each of the actors who played Orions in the episode , including two extras who appeared as male Orion guards , were spray - painted with green body make - up in special booths for approximately four hours . ENT Make - up Supervisor Michael Westmore has cited his work on the Orions as one of his favorite experiences from his tenure on " Star Trek " in general , remarking , " " I really enjoyed redeveloping the Orion characters from the " Original Series . " ( " " , issue 103 , p . 16 ) Orions have been depicted as serving in Starfleet in the ENT mirror universe episode and in the alternate reality of the film " Star Trek " . To date , no Orion Starfleet officers have been seen in the main universe . The make - up for the Orions of the alternate reality depicted in the film " Star Trek " was designed by Barney Burman , who designed and created the other aliens in that film too . " " I was involved in early designs on our Orions and came up with the initial design , the technique and the kinds of paint that we would use on [ them ] , " " explained Burman . " " Very shortly after that , I was overwhelmed with prosthetic aliens and had to give the Orions over to the straight makeup department . They just did a bang - up job . " " Burman was also responsible for deciding to make the Starfleet Orion crew member in the film ( namely , ) have red hair . ( ) Apocrypha . In the novelization of , tells that Orion women talk in their sleep – implying that , having at some point heard it from her roommate , , unknowingly revealed the information Kirk used to reprogram the Kobayashi Maru scenario . Orions are one of the default playable species in " Star Trek Online " as part of the Klingon Empire faction .