Pakled The Pakleds were a humanoid species in contact with the Federation by the 2360s . To the casual observer , the Pakleds appeared to be intellectually challenged , especially in their verbal skills . However , despite the marked lack of intellect , they proved to be far more cunning than they appeared , and used their innocuous appearance to deceive other races . Overview . The Pakleds ' own technology was significantly less advanced than that of many other space faring races . According to Data in 2365 , it remained " a genuine curiosity how they ever mastered the rudiments of space travel . " They were driven by their unwillingness to develop technological knowledge on their own , desiring to instantly gain the power that other cultures enjoyed . They therefore tried to acquire technology from other species , generally by theft . ( ) In 2365 , a Pakled transport named " Mondor " sent out a Mayday in the Rhomboid Dronegar sector 006 in order to lure in other ships whose technology could then be stolen . They were offered assistance by the crew of the , who lent the Pakleds their chief engineer , Geordi La Forge , to help fix the Pakled ship . The Pakleds kidnapped La Forge , but eventually returned him , after the " Enterprise " demonstrated its " force " with a harmless pyrotechnic display involving the Bussard collector s . ( ) In 2366 , a Pakled trade ship found and retrieved Lore after he had drifted in space for nearly two years . ( ) Pakleds frequently visited Deep Space 9 and were likely to be found at Quark ' s or on the Promenade . ( , et al . ) In 2370 , a pair of Pakleds spoke to each other at Quark ' s , while Odo and Rom conversed with each other nearby . ( ) In a search for the Duras sisters , Lursa and B ' Etor , in 2370 , the USS " Enterprise " entered the Kalla system , which lay within Pakled space . ( ) In late 2370 , the Pakleds crossed the Demilitarized Zone to supply the Cardassian s with a shipment of retro - viral vaccine s . ( ) When Major Kira was paying Kubus Oak a visit in DS9 ' s brig later that year , a Pakled was sitting in another of the brig ' s cells . ( ) Two Pakleds visited Deep Space 9 while the employees of Quark ' s were on strike in 2372 . Alongside a Bolian woman , they were almost the only guests in the establishment . ( ) Appendices . Background information . " PACK - led " was the pronunciation of this species ' name from the script pronunciation guides for " Samaritan Snare " and " Firstborn " . The Pakleds were created by " Samaritan Snare " writer Robert L . McCullough . He thought them up in the knowledge that , no matter how bizarre the aliens were , the TNG production staff would most likely be able to find some way to portray them . " " I wanted to do something fun . In all these space shows , the aliens are so damn smart and sophisticated , I thought , ' How about having them come across as dummies ? ' As all the aliens were malevolent and intuitive like Q , I felt it would be neat to find some aliens left out of the loop of development , " " McCullough laughed . " " Third world aliens ! They appear to be stupid , but they ' re not : they ' re just needy . They ' re so needy , they become desperate . " " He was extremely pleased to create the " dull , laughable and grossly overweight aliens . " ( " " , issue 187 , p . 54 ) Robert McCullough took a logical approach to naming the aliens . " " They were called Pakleds , which is pretty obvious – they were sheep , " " he noted . Although only two members of the species were named ( both of them in " Samaritan Snare " ) , their names – Grebnedlog and Reganod – also made some sense . " " These were names I learned in junior high school , " " McCullough explained . " " My last name used to be Goldenberg and my best friend ' s was Donager , and we had a code of calling each other by our last names backwards . " " ( " " , issue 187 , p . 54 ) The script of " Samaritan Snare " described the Pakleds as " slothful , droopy - eyed humanoids " with " " typically wistful Pakled hypoplastic speech , almost a sense of hopeful longing in their every word . " " When designing the Pakled appearance , the make - up department had to bear in mind that the Pakleds were to be introduced as a race of aliens intended to appear slow - witted and harmless , incapable of creating their own technology , but in reality were a sharp and nefarious race who would steal anything they wished . To aid the make - up department in representing the aliens ' dual nature , the casting department hired portly actors whose expressions were naturally benign , in order to convey a sense of innocence . ( " " , pp . 111 & 113 ) Robert McCullough commented , " " They got the biggest actors they could find , and with those costumes , they looked huge . " " ( " " , issue 187 , p . 54 ) The make - up itself consisted of appliances for the foreheads , cheeks , and a pointed lower lip . The make - up department also came up with a set of eyebrows that went up to the center of their foreheads , intended to project a sense of helplessness about their situation . For the mouth , a set of double - size teeth was used . ( " " , p . 113 ) " Samaritan Snare " Director Les Landau was careful to show the Pakleds in a balanced way . Of their appearance in the episode , he recalled , " " What I had to deal with was a race of people who " appeared " to be dimwitted and unattractive , but yet had a need for things to make themselves sufficient . I didn ' t want them to appear silly , foolish or unrealistic , or rather unbelievable , so it was a constant self - conscious awareness to keep them threatening yet simple . " " ( ) According to an internal reference document , listing all the aliens seen in , which was circulated around the time of the production of TNG Season 5 , the Pakleds were given the description of " A rotund , lethargic scavenger race . " Though their only major appearance was in the TNG Season 2 episode " Samaritan Snare " , the Pakleds were also mentioned in the TNG Season 4 installment as having rescued Data ' s brother , Lore . The Pakleds were originally to have been led by him in the sixth season two - parter and , though they were ultimately replaced with the Borg in that pair of episodes . ( " TV Zone " , issue 61 , p . 38 ) Subsequently , the Pakleds went on to appear in the background of several installments . A person wearing a Pakled costume can be seen in a bar on Ronara Prime in TNG Season 7 outing ; however , he lacks the unique Pakled facial features . The Pakleds were briefly considered to feature as main antagonists in , when that episode was in pre - production , by which time it was too late to make such a drastic change to the episode . " " During prep I started saying , ' We should have used someone like the Pakleds from TNG , " " offered René Echevarria . This idea was dismissed by Executive Producer Ira Steven Behr in favor of Harcourt Mudd instead being used as the villain , despite neither of them ultimately being used . ( " " , p . 531 ) In the script for , the android B - 4 revealed , in a lengthy speech , that he had told a group of Talosian s that he originally had been rescued from his homeworld by the Pakleds , whom he referred to as " fat , " prior to him having ended up in space for a long duration and then being found by the Talosians . In the first draft script of " Nemesis " , B - 4 outrightly informed Data that he had been rescued by the Pakleds and had later relayed news of the rescue to the Talosians , though , in the shooting script , B - 4 phrased it by saying only that the Pakleds ' involvement had been what he had told the Talosians . Also , in the first draft script , he mentioned that the Pakleds had traded him to a Bolian ship , which he didn ' t say in the shooting script . Apocrypha . In the " Strange New Worlds 10 " short story " " , set in 2373 , a Borg cube en route to Sector 001 encounters a Pakled freighter , but the Collective considers them unintelligent and an inefficient use of resources to assimilate . However , they are later assimilated when the Borg need extra reinforcements in their battle with Starfleet forces in Earth orbit . They are designated as Species 95012 . The " " novel " A Time to Die " reveals Pakleds have purplish blood . A ship of Pakleds is also featured in the video game " " , in which Gowron coaxes the Pakled captain to come over to his ship to explain why he could not come over to his ship . In " Star Trek Online " , Pakleds are a playable race for Starfleet , which may indicate they have become a member of the Federation . Visually , the Pakleds are a lot less bulky than in " Star Trek " canon ( though their appearance can be modified in the character customization editor ) . Pakleds are also one of the races that can be discovered in the video game " " .