Star Trek: The Original Series was filmed on a shoestring budget, which meant that the aliens had to be as lo-fi as possible in their appearance. It's due to these cash flow problems that the resident alien aboard the Enterprise was just a guy with pointy ears.
The fact that a Vulcan was differentiated from a human by the shape of their ears did little to deter Leonard Nimoy from selling the character as a cold and logical being who could be just as alien as someone who was coated in prosthetics.
The character of Spock on Star Trek: The Original Series took the world by storm and he quickly created a huge fanbase that was fascinated by the prospect of an alien who was always suppressing his powerful emotions in order to follow the path of pure logic and science.
Spock has appeared in numerous different forms of Star Trek media and has been played by several different actors since his creation. There is a lot to unpack when it comes to a character who is so iconic, yet has a rich history that most casual fans are unaware of.
We are today to learn the secrets of the most famous Vulcan of all time - from the time when he was almost replaced, to the novel where he almost got it on with Captain Kirk.
Here are Twenty Hidden Things About Spock Only Trekkies Know!
Spock Almost Left The Series
When Star Trek: The Original Series ended, the fans spent years petitioning for its return. The franchise would eventually come back in the form of the movies, but there was almost a sequel to the TV show in the form of the unmade Star Trek: Phase II.
Star Trek: Phase II was going to focus on an older version of the Enterprise crew, with almost the entire original cast reprising their roles. We say almost because Leonard Nimoy declined to return.
The role of Spock was going to be replaced with a new character, who was a full-blooded Vulcan named Xon. Elements of Xon's character were later worked into Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Spock Became A Symbol
The producers of Star Trek likely envisioned Captain Kirk as the romantic figure of the show that would attract a female viewership, which would explain why Shatner kept losing parts of his shirt in battle.
It turns out that most of the original viewing audience of Star Trek: The Original Series was actually interested in Spock, as Leonard Nimoy was inundated with amorous fan mail from female fans from the moment when the first series was broadcast.
Spock Was Descended From The Vulcan Who Had First Contact With Humanity
The first Vulcan to (officially) contact humanity was Solkar, as his ship was passing by when the Phoenix became the first Earth vessel to move at warp speed. The meeting between Solkar and Zefram Cochrane was shown in Star Trek: First Contact.
Star Trek: Enterprise revealed that other Vulcans had arrived on Earth before Solkar and his crew, but they kept their existence hidden.
Solkar became the first Vulcan ambassador to Earth and would sire children, one of whom was the father of Sarek, making Solkar the great-grandfather of Spock and Sybok.
Spock Was Also Descended From The Founder Of Vulcan Society
The Vulcan race was once barbaric and warlike, due to the powerful emotions that all Vulcans feel.
The person who founded modern Vulcan society was Surak, who managed to control his emotions and seek the pureness of logic, which prompted others to follow in his footsteps.
The various Star Trek novels that have been released over the years have revealed that Surak formed his own noble house (or the closest approximation to that idea that Vulcans use) and that Sarek and Spock were both distantly related to Surak through the bloodline of his house.
Spock Was Played By A Girl In A Deleted Scene
The role of Spock will forever be associated with Leonard Nimoy, but Zachary Quinto did a pretty good job when he portrayed the character in the recent Star Trek movies. It remains to be seen whether Ethan Peck will live up to the standard set by Nimoy/Quinto when he appears as Spock in Star Trek: Discovery.
Spock was briefly played by a girl named Jenna Vaughn in a scene where his birth was shown, which was meant to appear in the 2009 Star Trek film, but it was cut from the movie and saved for the deleted scenes.
Spock Once Defeated Wolverine Of The X-Men
The members of the classic '90s iteration of the X-Men have encountered two separate Enterprise crews in crossover comics & novels. The X-Men met Captain Kirk's crew in the Star Trek/X-Men comic book series and they would later meet Captain Picard's crew in the Planet X novel and the Star Trek: The Next Generation/X-Men comic book series.
Wolverine made the mistake of trying to attack Spock when he was aboard the Enterprise, which resulted in Spock going all Austin 3:16 on Wolverine and taking him down with a Vulcan nerve pinch.
Spock Once Wore The Ring Of The White Lanterns
The Green Lantern is a famous hero in the DC superhero universe, but there are actually seven different Lantern Corps that represent seven different emotions, with green representing courage.
There was once a crossover between Star Trek and the Green Lantern comics, called The Spectrum War, that showed the war between the Corps taking place in the Star Trek universe.
Spock has the emotional control necessary to use the power of all seven rings, which allows him to wield the power of the White Entity of Light and become a White Lantern.
Spock Served As An Admiral During The Dominion War
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine told the story of the Dominion War, which was a galaxy-wide conflict that involved almost every major faction in the history of the show. We are only privy to a small part of the conflict on Deep Space Nine, as we only see the actions of the main cast members.
The Star Trek novels have filled in the gaps of the Dominion War and explained that characters like Captain Picard also fought in the conflict.
The novel called Spectre revealed that Spock reinstated his Starfleet rank and served as an admiral during the Dominion War.
Spock's Ears Were Airbrushed Out Of Promotional Material
The original design for Spock was influenced by the quality of the televisions available at the time of his creation. The intention was for Spock to have reddish skin, but the producers realized that this would look bad on the black & white television sets of the era.
Spock was always intended to have pointed ears, but the people responsible with promoting Star Trek: The Original Series were concerned that he would appear too devilish for the show to be picked up in the Bible Belt, so his pointed ears were airbrushed in promotional material to remove the tips.
Spock Was Originally Going To Eat Food Through A Metal Plate In His Stomach
The special effects technology available to the producers of Star Trek: The Original Series was primitive and had to be used sparingly due to budgetary reasons, which is why most of the aliens on the show only had different skin colors to show how different they were.
Spock's pointed ears are the only visible way for people to determine that he isn't human, but he was originally intended to be far more alien in his appearance, as the original description of Spock stated that he had a metallic plate in his stomach that he used for ingesting food into his body.
Spock Was Almost Played By The Same Actor Who Played Stonn
Lawrence Montaigne was an actor who appeared twice on Star Trek: The Original Series, as he played a Romulan named Declus in "Balance of Terror" and a Vulcan named Stonn in "Amok Time."
We almost saw a lot more of Lawrence Montaigne in Star Trek: The Original Series, as he was considered to be one of the possible replacement actors to play Spock in the event that Leonard Nimoy wanted to leave the show or was unable to return due to other commitments.
Spock's Unpronounceable Surname Was Revealed During A Convention
Spock reveals that he has a surname in the episode called "This Side of Paradise" but he claims that it is unpronounceable by humans.
The various pieces of Star Trek media have given different answers as to what Spock's surname could be, but the one that many people consider to be canon was given by D.C. Fontana in an interview for a Star Trek fanzine, where she claimed that the name was intended to be "Xtmprsqzntwlfd" and was intentionally made so it couldn't be pronounced.
Spock Is Descended From A Character From Here Come The Brides
Spock's mother was a human woman named Amanda Grayson, which means that Spock has an extensive human ancestry that he is loathe to talk about.
The Star Trek novels established that one of Spock's ancestors was a man named Aaron Stemple, which is a reference to a role played by Mark Lenard, who also played Spock's father.
Mark Lenard appeared in a show called Here Come the Brides, where he played a character named Aaron Stempel.
Spock Married Saavik
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan introduced a character named Saavik to the series, who was a Vulcan Starfleet officer. Saavik also played a pivotal role in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
Captain Picard mentioned in Star Trek: The Next Generation that he attended the wedding of Sarek's son, which many took to mean that he was at Spock's wedding, but no one who exactly Spock was marrying.
The novel called Vulcan's Heart revealed that Spock was betrothed to Saavik and the events of the story detail their wedding.
Spock Has Monuments Built To Him All Over The Galaxy
Leonard Nimoy passed away in 2015, which resulted in the revelation that Spock had also passed away in the Kelvin timeline universe, with the younger Spock being informed of his future self's demise.
The creators of Star Trek Online decided to honor Leonard Nimoy by placing memorials of Spock on the planet Vulcan and on New Romulus.
The Star Trek comics also revealed that a life-sized monument of Spock was built on New Vulcan, which was at the request of Spock before his passing, as he wanted his memorial to represent his true self.
Spock's Ears In An Advert Caused A Lawsuit
The reason why Leonard Nimoy wasn't willing to participate in Star Trek: Phase II was due to the fact that he was engaged in a lawsuit with Paramount Pictures, as they used his likeness in a commercial for Heineken beer without his permission.
The success of the first Star Wars movie prompted Paramount to put a Star Trek movie into production, which resulted in the lawsuit being settled and Nimoy returning to the role of Spock in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Spock Accidentally Witnessed The Borg Homeworld
In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Spock enters the machine entity known as V'ger and discovers that it was originally a space probe from Earth that was recreated by strange denizens of another planet.
When the Borg were introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the fans speculated that the planet that Spock witnessed was the Borg homeworld.
Gene Roddenberry hinted that Spock did indeed see the Borg homeworld in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which was later confirmed in the novel called The Return.
Spock Can Resist Borg Assimilation
The time when Spock mind-melded with V'ger would also have another benefit in the form of protecting him from assimilation by the Borg.
Spock is captured by the Borg in the novel called The Return, but he is saved by Captain Picard before the procedure could be completed. Spock revealed that he was already immune to assimilation, as he still held a piece of the Borg Collective in his mind from his experiences with V'ger.
Spock Has A Barbarian Son
Having a cavewoman for a baby mamma might not be the most logical thing in the world, but it didn't stop Spock from knocking up Zarabeth during the events of "All Our Yesterdays."
Spock's relationship with Zarabeth was only hinted at in the show, but the novels confirmed that the two had a son together. Zarabeth named the boy Zar and he developed some telepathic abilities from his Vulcan bloodline which allowed him to influence the emotions of animals.
Spock would meet Zar during the events of the novel called Yesterday's Son.
A Book That Featured Romantic Stuff Between These Two Existed
Captain Kirk may have had a reputation as being a ladies man and Spock was too logical for flings, but the fans knew the truth - that Kirk & Spock were secretly in a relationship of their own.
The early Star Trek fanzines were filled with stories about the love between Kirk and Spock, but there was never any official confirmation of an attraction between the two... except for one time.
There was a Star Trek novel called Killing Time, which featured a lot of subtext between Kirk and Spock. Gene Roddenberry found this material so objectionable that he personally ordered the recall of the books and forced all of that content to be removed, but a few copies of Killing Time made their way into the hands of fans, where they became instant collector's items.