Moto Moto was a Starfleet security officer who was stationed in the brig of the in 2259 . Moto had dark brown , mottled skin , a large , bulbous head , a hump on the back and web bed hands . When beamed Captain , Chief Engineer and Weapons Officer into one of the cells of the " Enterprise " s brig from aboard the , Moto turned round to view the new arrivals and was told by a frustrated Scott to immediately let them out of the cell . The trapped officers were later released . ( ) Background information . Moto was played by Heather Langenkamp , a makeup artist on who had acted in the " Elm Street " film franchise and whose husband , David LeRoy Anderson , was involved in helping design the make - up for Moto . " " I wanted to be in " Star Trek " really desperately because , after having experienced all the " Elm Street " fan love , having been a part of the conventions and having been a part of such an iconic franchise , I knew it was something similar with " Star Trek " [ . . . ] So , when my husband got the job , when our studio got the job to do the makeups , I begged my husband , like , ' Please , can we make one that I can wear ? ' I tried to be cool about it , but I probably wasn ' t very cool . But I was persuasive enough and he caved . " " The design of Moto was originally conceived by influential make - up effects sculptor Moto Hata . " " There was no movie that it was for , originally , " " explained Heather Langenkamp . " " A sculptor had come up with these designs . It was kind of a spec project and it ended up sitting on the shelf for many years . The sculptor actually passed away from a tragic bout with cancer . So we were even more determined to get this makeup on screen and we said , ' If it ever gets on screen we ’ ll call the character Moto , ' because that was the name of the sculptor . " " Heather Langenkamp , in particular , was very eager to persuade Director J . J . Abrams into including the character in the film as an homage to Hata . ( ) She described the makeup as " a very special design that we ’ d developed in our studio . " Langenkamp also recalled , " " We begged J . J . to let us put it in the movie and he was gracious enough to let us . " " ( ) The director , in fact , was highly interested in using the makeup in the film . " " J . J . was really open - minded when David told him the scenario and the story , and he loved the design . So we found a place in the film where this character could fit , where it could logically be , which is in the brig . " " Interested in discovering what it was like to wear such an extreme makeup design for a " Star Trek " film , Langenkamp was chosen to play the role of Moto . " " I wanted to see what it felt like to wear that kind of make - up and act [ . . . ] Even though I ' m a background character , I wanted to take it seriously . " " The makeup Heather Langenkamp wore to portray Moto in " Star Trek Into Darkness " was a six - part , time - consuming arrangement of prosthetics . " " That was a five - hour application , " " noted Langenkamp . " " We arrived at 3 a . m . " " After her hair was tied back ( so it wouldn ' t become accidentally glued into the makeup ) and skin protectant was applied to her ( so the glue wouldn ' t harm her skin ) , the makeup application process began . Langenkamp ' s father - in - law , Lance Anderson , was one of the persons who applied the makeup . " " We [ . . . ] put on a cowl , which is basically a headpiece , " " stated Langenkamp . The main weight of all the prosthetics was in the headpiece , which was glued onto the shoulders . Also included in the makeup were a chin - piece and face - piece . " " There was a lip and throat - piece that went over that [ face - piece ] . Then there was another lip they put on at the end . The next piece had an internal bladder that could puff up real big . " " The bladder , an inflatable bag that would be obscured from being shown on - screen but was designed to emulate breathing , could not only blow up but also light up . Following a short break in the application process , Heather Langenkamp donned the portion of the costume used to represent the hump on Moto ' s back . Still to be applied was the texture of the alien ' s skin . " " The painting begins and the painting was designed in advance , so we have the bust of the design in front of the artists . Most of the pieces have already been pre - painted to save time . You had layers and layers of spots and streaks , to make it look like real skin . I glossed it up with some kind of shiny substance , so it looks like the sheen of a frog ' s skin . Then I put on the rest of the costume [ . . . ] [ Costume Designer ] Michael Kaplan and his crew were so patient because they had to make a special shirt for this character and the hump . " " ( ) Heather Langenkamp played Moto over a period of three or four days . " " The first day was in the brig , when the " Enterprise " characters are imprisoning Khan , " " Langenkamp reflected . " " The second day was also in the brig , when Alice Eve and Simon Pegg get transported back to the " Enterprise " after their adventure . " " She found things to occupy her attention during this time . " " I imagined that Moto is a climate - control officer , keeping the humidity at a proper level . I sat at a desk and had all these dials to play with . " " Moto was also filmed as part of a memorial scene near the end of the movie , though the character ' s involvement in the scene was ultimately deleted . Although Heather Langenkamp is fairly well known from the " Elm Street " franchise , the prosthetics for Moto were so extensive that many people are unaware she was in " Star Trek Into Darkness " . " " I actually have to tell them I ' m in the movie because nobody in the world is going to know that on their own , unless they like to read the credits . " " In summation of her experience playing Moto , she said , " " It was exciting . I hope I didn ' t jump the shark , but I ' m really happy that I got to do it . " " Owing especially to the family connections in designing and applying the Moto makeup , Langenkamp noted , " " It was a fun make - up for me to do , and to wear . " " She referred to putting on the character ' s Starfleet uniform as " probably the most exciting part of the whole thing for me . " ( ) A behind the scenes picture of Moto was used for card # 17 , Security Officer Moto , of the virtual collectible card battle game " " in .