List of Star Trek: Discovery characters
Star Trek: Discovery is an American television series created for Paramount+ by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman. Set roughly a decade before the events of the original Star Trek series and separate from the timeline of the concurrent feature films, Discovery explores the Federation–Klingon war while following the crew of the USS Discovery. It premiered on September 24, 2017.
The series stars Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham, a Starfleet mutineer who is given a war-time field assignment as a science specialist on the USS Discovery and the adopted sister of original series character Spock. Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, and Mary Wiseman round out the main cast. They were joined by Jason Isaacs for the first season and Anson Mount for the second. Characters seen previously in Star Trek also appear in recurring roles, including Spock's father Sarek, portrayed by James Frain, and Harry Mudd, portrayed by Rainn Wilson.
The following list includes Star Trek: Discoverys main cast, as well as all guest stars deemed to have had recurring roles throughout the series, and a supplementary list of other noteworthy guests.
Overview
Main characters
Michael Burnham
Michael Burnham is a science specialist aboard the USS Discovery. Burnham was first officer of the USS Shenzhou, where she was referred to as "number one", until she was convicted of mutiny and sentenced to life in prison. Discovery captain Gabriel Lorca, brings Burnham back to duty with a temporary wartime assignment as a scientist on his ship. Burnham was raised following Vulcan culture and traditions by Sarek, and is the first human to attend the Vulcan Learning Center and Vulcan Science Academy.Series co-creator Bryan Fuller had anticipated casting announcements for the show in October 2016, but no announcements had been made by the end of that month. The majority of the series main characters were believed to have been cast by then, but no actress had been cast for the series' lead role. This was a source of "some internal stress" at CBS, with the casting of the character deemed "a far tougher assignment" than expected. Several African American and Latina actresses were being looked at for the role, with CBS "not seeking a huge star and a fresh face for the part." Martin-Green was cast in the role in December, which was revealed with the character's production codename "lieutenant commander Rainsford". Her casting was officially confirmed in April 2017, following the end of her run on The Walking Dead, with the character's actual name also revealed. The character has an inner conflict due to being raised by Sarek, with showrunner Aaron Harberts explaining that many of the actresses tested for the role "either went way too robotic and chilly or way too emotional", but Martin-Green was "able to be aloof but warm; logical but able to surrender her emotional side to the audience."
Since Sarek's son Spock never mentioned a sister in the original series, executive producer Alex Kurtzman said that the specifics of Burnham's backstory would be revealed in a way that would not break the existing canon continuity. As the show's protagonist, Burnham was not made a starship captain, like those of previous Star Trek series, "to see a character from a different perspective on the starship—one who has different dynamic relationships with a captain, with subordinates; it gave us richer context", though she does become captain of Discovery at the end of the last episode of season three. In the first two episodes of the series, she is referred to as Number One to honor the character of the same name portrayed by Majel Barrett in the original 1965 Star Trek pilot "The Cage", and was initially pitched to CBS as only being called Number One in the series. Fuller deliberately gave the character a traditionally male name as he did with the female leads of three previous productions. Martin-Green decided that the character was named after her biological father.
Saru
Saru is a captain serving as first officer of the USS Discovery, and the first Kelpien to enter Starfleet. Saru was introduced in the series premiere as a lieutenant commander serving as chief science officer on the USS Shenzhou, which is rendered a hulk during a battle in the series' second episode. Before the events of "Context Is for Kings", Saru becomes first officer on the USS Discovery.In the Star Trek: Short Treks episode "The Brightest Star", it is revealed that Saru adapted a communication device left behind by the pre-warp Kelpien's oppressors, eventually connecting with a young Starfleet officer—Lt. Philippa Georgiou—who obtained permission to "rescue" him from his planet.
Jones was cast as Saru in November 2016. Kelpiens, a new species created for Discovery, were hunted as prey on their home planet and thus evolved the ability to sense the coming of death. This skill has given them a reputation for cowardice in the Federation. Jones was excited to, "from the ground up, develop and find this character and his species" and not have to honor a previous fan-favorite representation. He based Saru's walk on that of a supermodel, out of necessity thanks to the boots he had to wear to portray the character's hooved feet forcing Jones to walk on the balls of his feet. The producers compared Saru to the characters Spock and Data from previous series in the franchise.
In the Mirror Universe, Saru is a nameless slave stationed on the ISS Shenzhou.
Ash Tyler and Voq
Voq is an albino Klingon, described as being "touched by fate and fire". He undergoes surgery and personality alterations to disguise himself as Ash Tyler, a human Starfleet lieutenant and former prisoner of war.Latif was originally cast in the role of the Klingon Kol in December 2016, before being recast as Tyler at the end of April 2017. Voq was initially credited as being portrayed by Javid Iqbal, an invented actor named for Latif's father, to hide the connection between the characters. Latif described his character as "a very complex and painful and deep character", and noted that "there's a chemistry, a relationship" with Burnham. Latif's accent for Voq is Arabic-inspired, and he tried to maintain "a kind of pharyngealness" to Tyler's American accent.
Paul Stamets
Paul Stamets is a science officer specializing in astromycology. He is married to Hugh Culber. Rapp was revealed to have been cast as Stamets in November 2016. He was originally cast in a different, smaller role, but when discussing gay actors who could portray the character Stamets, the executive producers realized that Rapp was the actor they wanted to fill that role instead. He did not audition for either role.Stamets and Culber are jointly the first openly gay characters in a Star Trek series, and the showrunners "wanted to roll out that character's sexuality the way people would roll out their sexuality in life". Rapp noted that Hikaru Sulu was portrayed as gay in the film Star Trek Beyond, calling that "a nice nod. But in this case, we actually get to see me with my partner in conversation, in our living quarters, you get to see our relationship over time, treated as any other relationship would be treated". Stamets is inspired by a real-life mycologist of the same name, whom Fuller had introduced to the series' writers early on after becoming interested in his research into spores. The character's outlook that physics and biology are quantifiably the same thing also comes from the real Stamets's research and theories.
Sylvia Tilly
Sylvia Tilly is a cadet in season 1 and in her final year at Starfleet Academy and is assigned to the Discovery. She is assigned to engineering and works under Stamets aboard the Discovery, and becomes roommates there with Burnham. In season 3 Captain Saru made Sylvia Tilly the first officer on board Discovery. Due to Saru being off of the ship for a long amount of time she took over as captain, but in the final episode she relinquishes the role of acting captain due to Commander Burnham's promotion to captain. During season 4 Tilly served as a lieutenant onboard the USS Discovery under Captain Burnham before leaving to join Starfleet Academy as a tutor.Wiseman was cast in March 2017. Tilly was included to represent people "at the very bottom of this ladder" of the Starfleet hierarchy. She is "the most optimistic … has the biggest heart", and Harberts described her as "sort of the soul of our show". The character was named after showrunner Gretchen J. Berg's two-year-old niece. On February 7, 2018, Wiseman said that Tilly was not written and portrayed as on the autism spectrum, but is personally touched by the fans interpretation and has been praised by autistic trans commentator Jessie Earl for not falling into the tropes of socially isolating from other characters.