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This trend became so known that it spawned multiple parodies, and led to the creation of many memes. Despite that, the good news is that there were plenty of iconic Star Trekcharacters who wore more or less red uniforms - and while some of them perished in their service, other notable red-clothed heroes were luckier and survived despite their unfortunate uniform color!
7 Uhura
Nyota Uhura was the only female officer who actively served on the bridge in Star Trek: The Original Series. Uhura worked as a communication officer and was a capable linguist. Even though Uhura faced the same dangers as her fellow crew members, she survived the entire three seasons as well as the subsequent six movies and retired from active service almost 70 years after she served on the Enterprise commanded by Captain Kirk.
Uhura managed to survive in the rebooted movie franchise as well. And in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, she was in danger of dying but her friend and colleague Hemmer saved her life even if it meant trading his life for hers. As such, Uhura is one of the luckiest Enterprise crew members who wore a red uniform.
6 Scotty
Unlike Uhura, Montgomery “Scotty” Scott was mostly working from the engineering section. He didn’t attend the landing parties as often as other crew members. That saved him from a lot of dangers. However, his nephew Peter wasn’t so lucky and died in the movies, something Scotty blamed Captain Kirk for.
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Scotty had a long and successful career in Starfleet as well. He was born in 2222 and still lived in 2369 when he was over 140 years old. He survived in the rebooted trilogy as well but has yet to make an appearance in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, even though his presence was hinted at by a voice cameo in the first season’s final episode.
5 Captain Picard
It was brave for Captain Picard to take on the captain rank, especially since it included wearing a red shirt. Picard was a more careful captain than his predecessor James T. Kirk and didn’t attend landing parties as often. Instead, he preferred to send his first officer, Will Riker (who also wore a red shirt) to the landing parties.
This strategy, as well as a frequent consummation of Earl Grey, worked out well for Picard, and by the time Star Trek: Picard’s first season premiered, Picard was already in his 90s. Of course, his luck ran out in the first season, as all fans of the show will know, but the good news is that it wasn’t the end of Picard’s journey thanks to advanced Star Trek technology.
4 Kira Nerys
Major Kira Nerys wasn’t a member of Starfleet. Instead, she served as the Bajoran liaison on the formerly Cardassian space station Deep Space Nine. Despite that, Kira had an affinity for the color red and her usual uniform was entirely in this color. Unlike her less fortunate colleague Jadzia Dax, who wore the science blues, Kira survived the entire seven seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
That was a success for someone who used to be a member of the Bajoran resistance against the Cardassians and faced danger regularly. Of course, Commander and later Captain Benjamin Sisko also wore a red uniform but his partially red shirt pales in comparison to Kira’s wholly red outfit.
3 Crewman Thompson
Star Trek: The Original Series killed many redshirts, so much so that it became a popular material for memes. Crewman Leslie Thompson stands out from the rest because she has the doubtful privilege of being the only female red shirt crew member who died on a landing party in the series.
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It happens during the episode “By Any Other Name"and the death seems especially brutal in comparison to others. First, Thompson is transformed into a mineral cube and subsequently crushed by the enemies to dust. Unlike other injuries in the series, this is something even Doctor McCoy wouldn’t be able to deal with, let alone reverse.
2 Crewman Herndorf
The episode “The Apple” is known for killing one of the largest numbers of red shirts in a single episode. The most notable death happens when crewman Herndorf is hit by thorns from an alien flower and dies. The reason why it’s notable is that he isn’t the only one.
A similar thing happens to Spock when he steps in the way to protect Captain Kirk. Unlike Herndorf, Spock has the luck that his heart resides in his side, not his chest, thanks to his Vulcan physiology, so he survives the encounter with the murderous plant.
1 Ensign Boimler
Despite his effort to go down in history as one of the best Starfleet officers, ensign Brad Boimler became known as the laziest Starfleet officer. Still, he survived long enough to experience multiple missions, so he’s one of the luckier Starfleet officers.
Star Trek: Lower Decks isn’t afraid to make fun of established phenomena of the universe, and that includes red shirts as well. Boimler isn’t the only crew member wearing a red shirt in the series but considering his bad luck (such as the time he was almost swallowed by a huge alien creature), he still deserves an honorable mention.
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