The Adventures of Captain Proton The Adventures of Captain Proton was a holonovel created by Tom Paris for play ( or historical study ) in the ' s holodeck . The program was built to look like 1930s science fiction B - movie serial s . During this program , the holoprojectors would display in black and white . Real people and objects entering the holodeck would also appear in monochrome . ( , " et al . " ) Appendices . Background information . Captain Proton was an homage to and similar movie serials of the 1930s . ( " Star Trek FAQ " , p . 14 ) Even so , Captain Proton took many of its direct stylistic influences from one specific serial / movie , namely " by Republic Productions , the latter being a recut of the former into a full length 70 minute movie . These productions featured leonard Nimoy as one of the Martian invaders , Narab . Chaotica ' s " Satan ' s Robot " is a near identical recreation of the robots used in numerous Republic Productions serials such as " , and is almost certainly named as a result of this inspiration . Similarly , Captain Proton ' s outfit , including rocket pack and chest box is nearly identical to that of the hero ' s in " Satan ' s Satellites " . The Captain Proton simulations establish that the " Voyager " holodeck has the ability to fade the colors of anything and anybody inside , making them appear " black and white " . Prior to the on - screen introduction of Captain Proton , Brannon Braga predicted , " " That will be an interesting stylistic departure for us , to be doing black and white sequences with cheesy science fiction and big clunky robots and cheesy rocket ships that shoot sparks . " " ( ) While the episode " Night " was undergoing initial development , the name of this serial was " " The Adventures of Captain Galaxy " " . It was originally called that in the final draft script of " Night " ( as of ) , though the name was changed to " " The Adventures of Captain Proton " " by the time the eighth revision to that final draft teleplay was issued ( on ) . Robert Duncan McNeill has very fond memories of playing Captain Proton : " " To me it was kind of the epitome of Paris ' love of nostalgia and it combines the nostalgia with the sci - fi element . It was kind of a show within a show . It was just so much fun to play these old style kind of sci - fi scenes . We were able to make fun of ourselves in many ways while we played it and that was a lot of fun . That was definitely my most favorite of the holodeck creations that we came up with . " " ( " " , p . 282 ) Apocrypha . At least one complete " Captain Proton " story has been written in the real world , by Dean Wesley Smith , " " . He presumed that , in the " Star Trek " universe , the holonovel " Captain Proton " was adapted from a supposed 1930s pulp magazine , and set out to write and publish that story . In the computer game " " , Tom Paris flies the Hazard Team to the " Scavenger " mission and tells them that the in - flight movie will be " Captain Proton vs . the RoboZombies " . The game also contains a " Captain Proton " - themed training level on the holodeck . In addition , in , players may go to the holodeck and play through a short " Captain Proton " - themed level , complete with usable ray gun weapon . In " " by David Mack , one of Captain Erika Hernandez ' crew members , while stuck on New Erigol , writes a treasure trove of Captain Proton books before dying of old age . The and , later , the and USS " Aventine " discover this trove . In " Star Trek Online " , the Captain Proton holonovel has become distributed at the very least among Federation crews within various sectors of the Alpha Quadrant , with at least one mission objective involving the protection of an ensign while he salvages his copy of the holonovel from his quarters during an Undine takeover of his ship .