One Of Star Trek: Voyager's Best Villains Had An Incredibly Understated Debut
By Dan Bibby
November 4th, 2025
Due to being set in the largely unexplored Delta Quadrant, Star Trek: Voyager was able to introduce several new bad guys to the franchise during its seven-season run. One of the most compelling new antagonists didn't show up until about halfway through the show, and their first episode almost makes it seem as though they were handled with ease and would not return.
However, they did come back almost immediately and served as the central focus for one of Voyager's best storylines. They have largely been left untouched by successive Star Trek shows, but that makes sense given their immense distance from the franchise's core setting of the Alpha Quadrant. So, while I'd like to see them used more often, I can fully understand why they exist mainly within Star Trek: Voyager.
However, they did come back almost immediately and served as the central focus for one of Voyager's best storylines. They have largely been left untouched by successive Star Trek shows, but that makes sense given their immense distance from the franchise's core setting of the Alpha Quadrant. So, while I'd like to see them used more often, I can fully understand why they exist mainly within Star Trek: Voyager.
The Hirogen Seemed Like An Easily-Vanquished Threat In Their Star Trek: Voyager Debut
Star Trek: Voyager season 4, episode 14, "Message in a Bottle," is most remembered for the hilarious combination of Robert Picardo as the EMH Mk I and Andy Dick as the EMH Mk II. That said, the plot that saw Picardo's Doctor board the USS Prometheus was indirectly set in motion by a new alien race known as the Hirogen. The network used to transfer the Doctor's program to the Alpha Quadrant was the property of the Hirogen, and they didn't much like their technology being accessed without permission.
The first Hirogen appeared in "Message in a Bottle" only to threaten Voyager and demand that the crew disconnect from the network. Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) wasn't feeling all that diplomatic that day, though. To buy the crew time to retrieve the Doctor and hopefully communicate with Starfleet, Seven sent a feedback surge via their ships' comms systems and rendered the Hirogen Alpha unconscious.
After that, the Hirogen didn't factor into the episode beyond the use of their technology. "Message in a Bottle" wraps up its high-octane finale, and Star Trek: Voyager appears to move on from the Hirogen for good after a very brief apperance from Idrin. Thankfully, the writers were simply using "Message in a Bottle" as a soft launch for the danger posed by the Hirogen. Voyager then introduced other members of the Hirogen race in later episodes and set up a far more substantial arc.
Three more Star Trek: Voyager season 4 episodes would go on to showcase the Hirogen as central antagonists, and they would return in the show's final run for an equally brilliant two-episode arc. For a race used so infrequently in Voyager lore, they certainly managed to leave an impressive impact on the show and its characters in a way that would've been impossible for audiences to predict from the Hirogen's 1998 debut.
The first Hirogen appeared in "Message in a Bottle" only to threaten Voyager and demand that the crew disconnect from the network. Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) wasn't feeling all that diplomatic that day, though. To buy the crew time to retrieve the Doctor and hopefully communicate with Starfleet, Seven sent a feedback surge via their ships' comms systems and rendered the Hirogen Alpha unconscious.
After that, the Hirogen didn't factor into the episode beyond the use of their technology. "Message in a Bottle" wraps up its high-octane finale, and Star Trek: Voyager appears to move on from the Hirogen for good after a very brief apperance from Idrin. Thankfully, the writers were simply using "Message in a Bottle" as a soft launch for the danger posed by the Hirogen. Voyager then introduced other members of the Hirogen race in later episodes and set up a far more substantial arc.
Three more Star Trek: Voyager season 4 episodes would go on to showcase the Hirogen as central antagonists, and they would return in the show's final run for an equally brilliant two-episode arc. For a race used so infrequently in Voyager lore, they certainly managed to leave an impressive impact on the show and its characters in a way that would've been impossible for audiences to predict from the Hirogen's 1998 debut.
It's A Shame The Hirogen Haven't Appeared Much In Star Trek Since Voyager
The Hirogen have factored in Star Trek stories away from the shows and movies, but those adventures are rarely fully integrated into the main canon. As such, it can be tough to keep track of exactly how many run-ins Starfleet has had with the Hirogen since their first encounter in "Message in a Bottle." That said, the franchise has directly addressed the hunter race since Star Trek: Voyager ended.
The two most prominent Hirogen references can be found in Star Trek: Picard, the soft Next Generation legacy sequel, which also allowed Jeri Ryan to come back as Seven of Nine. In Picard's first season, an ex-Borg drone can be spotted that is quite clearly a member of the Hirogen race. Perhaps most excitingly, though, Picard's final season gently reveals that the show's title character has had his own off-screen Hirogen encounter. It would be nice to see more of the race that debuted in Star Trek: Voyager, but I guess it's just not all that practical — and arguably a little too much of a deep cut.
The two most prominent Hirogen references can be found in Star Trek: Picard, the soft Next Generation legacy sequel, which also allowed Jeri Ryan to come back as Seven of Nine. In Picard's first season, an ex-Borg drone can be spotted that is quite clearly a member of the Hirogen race. Perhaps most excitingly, though, Picard's final season gently reveals that the show's title character has had his own off-screen Hirogen encounter. It would be nice to see more of the race that debuted in Star Trek: Voyager, but I guess it's just not all that practical — and arguably a little too much of a deep cut.
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