Of course, “most liked” is a highly subjective title. Different races have vastly different relationships with one another across the galaxy. With that in mind, it’s better to classify some of the most best-liked races in Star Trek into their distinct categories.

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Of all the aliens found in Star Trek ,the Betazoids are most likely up there with the most widely adored, beings of compassion and empathy. Their telepathic abilities give them a unique advantage. They can get quick and easy reads on others, allowing them to fully understand their feelings, emotions, and thoughts. Betazoids can then adjust their behavior to follow suit.

Deanna Troi, the ship’s counselor aboard the iconic Enterprise D of The Next Generation era, is a prime example of a Betazoid (despite being half human). She is a caring and much loved character who embodied the compassion and empathy the race was all about. This was reflected perfectly not only in how much her crew liked her, but audiences too.

Members of the Vulcan race take the crown for the most respected. They are an incredibly loyal race of beings that have an almost elf-like gravitas in any given situation. Their devotion to logic might make them unapproachable, but their lack of emotion means that they can always be trusted, their judgment always clear, precise, and just.

Vulcan culture is shown to be idyllic, having moved far away from warfare (unlike their Romulan cousins) and focusing heavily on the pursuit of scientific knowledge. Not only this, but they are much stronger than humans (and even Klingons), and have a much longer life expectancy. While all this makes them well-liked across the galaxy, their honesty can often be brutal, as they may not take into account the feelings of others. Audiences can often get annoyed by their strict code of emotionless honor. While a Vulcan is always a desirable colleague, they do not always mix well with others as a friend.

Humans are a complicated one. They are (for obvious reasons) the most relatable of all Star Trek races for audiences. They are shown in both good lights and bad. The early iterations of them are the utopian vision Gene Roddenberry strived for, a highly evolved humanity that has moved beyond pain, hardship, and strife, much better than the quarreling humans of today.

This changed, however, as the series got darker. Humans began to gain a reputation as politically nefarious beings, often with ulterior motives. They go from the best the Federation has to offer, without a blemish to their name, to easily as fallible as any other race in the galaxy. Their pride often gets in the way of morality.

These hardy warriors are a tricky one. Any representation they had before 2293 was vastly negative, as they were the main adversary to the Federation. They were the primary villains throughout the Original Series and a force to be reckoned with. Stories depicted them as pure evil, cannibalistic creatures, with aptly scary ship bridges. However, this all changed once the war between the federation and Klingon empire ended.

From 2293 onwards, the Klingons became begrudging allies for the Federation and many of the show’s protagonists. They go from monsters to incredibly honorable, loyal people. Klingon characters have had rich and surprisingly emotional personalities, summing up the notion of never judging a book by its cover. While many Klingons who appear over the series remain feared by audiences, Worf remains a fan favorite. His lovable nature has slowly evolved and revealed itself over the years, even resulting in one of the franchise’s most emotional episodes to date.

These are, of course, just a few of the many recurring races to appear across the many shows and movies. However, they represent the bulk of the most liked and respected to appear. The flip side of all these, of course, are races such as the cybernetic body horror specialist Borg, the Breen, Romulans, and of course the Nazi-adjacent Cardassians. These potentially four of the most consistently feared and hated warmongering peoples across the Star Trek galaxy. Just as the above races make formidable alliances, their enemies would make deadly combination that would truly tear the alpha quadrant apart — if only they could work together.

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