God ( Sha Ka Ree ) This entity claimed to be God but was actually a malevolent noncorporeal being discovered by the Vulcan Sybok and the crew of the in 2287 . It was imprisoned on located within the Great Barrier , at the center of the galaxy , which was believed by Sybok to be " Sha Ka Ree " of Vulcan mythology . History . In 2287 , this being assumed the identities of several mythological figures including the God of Sha Ka Ree to lure Sybok and the " Enterprise " to its location so that the starship could free it from imprisonment . " God " asked for the ship to help it spread its " wisdom " with the universe . Though Sybok wanted to oblige , James T . Kirk was suspicious of " God " ' s motives and asked why " God " would need a ship . In response , " God " shot energy beams from its eyes at the Starfleet captain . Spock tried reinforcing Kirk ' s point only to be shot as well . " God " asked Leonard McCoy if he doubted it too . The doctor responded , that he doubts any God who inflicts pain for its own pleasure . " God " then revealed it had been a prisoner on the planet and wanted to escape . He changed into a form mimicking Sybok , to mock the foolish Vulcan for his arrogance , informing him also that the vision of it being a God was created only by Sybok ' s own imagination . Realizing his mistake , Sybok sacrificed his life by thrusting himself into the entity , so that the " Enterprise " crew could escape . Kirk ordered a photon torpedo to be fired , killing Sybok but not the entity , who was only rendered incapable for a few moments . Enraged , the entity attempted to kill the remaining three . Kirk had Spock and McCoy beam away , leaving himself to the mercy of the entity . Manning the weapons of a Klingon Bird - of - Prey , Spock fired upon the entity , hurting or possibly destroying it , and rescued Kirk from the planet . ( ) The Faces of God . After appearing , the God assumed several shapes , before settling on the one it felt " would better suit your expectations " . Appendices . Background information . The Human image portrayed by the " God of " from " Star Trek V " was portrayed by actor George Murdock . The image of the Andorian god , as well as the other two unidentified gods ( shown below ) , were among the images shown to represent the " many faces of God " in " Star Trek V " . Apocrypha . According to the non - canon " " series of novels by Greg Cox , the Sha Ka Ree entity was known as " The One , " and was exiled to the center of the galaxy for causing a civil war centered around the premature destruction of the legendary Tkon Empire millennia before being rediscovered by Sybok and the crew of the " Enterprise " - A . He was an associate and contemporary of 0 ( pronounced " Nil " , as in nothing ) , the Beta XII - A entity , or ( * ) as 0 referred to it ( used in type because its real name was apparently unpronounceable , or even incomprehensible , by Humans ) , and Gorgan in this endeavor . The One was referred to by 0 as the entity " who invented Monotheism . " He was not originally of this plane and was summoned to this universe via the Guardian of Forever . After causing chaos among the Tkon Empire , he was subsequently defeated and his body destroyed by the combined efforts of Q2 , the female Q , and the Q who became known as Quinn ; only his head remained , and that was subsequently sealed away by the Q Continuum at the center of the galaxy until his repentance or the heat death of the universe – whichever came first – while 0 was sealed outside the galaxy by the galactic barrier for all eternity .