TheMirror Universe is the setting of several narratives in theStar Trek science fiction franchise, aparallel universe existing alongside, but separate from, the fictional universe that is the main setting ofStar Trek. It resembles the mainStar Trek universe, but is populated by more violent andopportunistic doubles of its people.[1][2] The Mirror Universe has been visited in one episode ofStar Trek: The Original Series,[3] five episodes ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine,[1][4] a two-part episode ofStar Trek: Enterprise,[5] a storyline woven through the first season ofStar Trek: Discovery (continuing with a Mirror Universe character in the main cast of seasons 2 and 3),[6] and several non-canonStar Trek tie-in works. It is named after "Mirror, Mirror", theOriginal Series episode in which it first appeared.[7]
The characters in the Mirror Universe are aggressive, mistrustful and opportunistic in personality. Whereas theStar Trek universe depicts an optimistic future in which the Earth-basedUnited Federation of Planets values peace, co-operation and exploration, episodes set in the Mirror Universe feature the human-dominatedauthoritarian Terran Empire which values war, despotism and conquest instead.[8] Humans in the Mirror Universe are typically referred to as "Terrans".[9]
InStar Trek: Discovery, it is stated that humans from the Mirror Universe suffer fromphotophobia (a sensitivity to light).[10][11]
The Mirror Universe was first introduced in the originalStar Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror", which featured a brutal Empire, managed by humans and their Vulcan allies, in place of the United Federation of Planets. The Mirror Captain Kirk of the ISSEnterprise was a mass murderer who was promoted to Captain after assassinating CaptainChristopher Pike. Discipline aboard starships was enforced through agony booths and agonizers carried by crewmembers. Officers were barbaric in behavior and advanced in rank by killing superiors who they thought were incompetent.Roman Empire salutes were used by crewmembers to show loyalty to their captain.[7]Spock's double wore agoatee, which became a popular culture trope as a visual marker for an evil version of a character.[12][13]
| Series | # | Title | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| TOS | 204 | "Mirror, Mirror" | Four crewmembers from theUSSEnterprise switch places with their Mirror Universe counterparts and must get home while avoiding being discovered by the Mirror Universe crew of theEnterprise. |
| TOS | 309 | "The Tholian Web" | The USSDefiant (NCC-1764) is trapped in Interphase in Tholian space and vanishes. No elements from the Mirror Universe are shown or mentioned in this episode, but its connection with the Mirror Universe was establishedretroactively by theStar Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly". |
The Mirror Universe was later revisited in theDeep Space Nine second-season episode "Crossover", and turned into a story arc that spanned into the final season, with five Mirror Universe episodes over the course of five seasons.[4] The series reveals that when exposed to individuals from the normal universe, the Terran Empire began to reform itself for the better, but was overthrown in the 23rd century by an alliance of alien species who took advantage of the Empire's self-weakening and conquered it, enslaving humans and Vulcans in the process.[14]
| Series | # | Title | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| DS9 | 223 | "Crossover" | Dr. Bashir and Major Kira are transported to the Mirror Universe 100 years after the events of "Mirror, Mirror". They find that the Terran Empire has fallen and been replaced by an Alliance of Klingons, Cardassians and Bajorans and that humans are slaves. |
| DS9 | 319 | "Through the Looking Glass" | The Mirror O'Brien kidnaps Captain Sisko (whose Mirror counterpart is dead), and Sisko must impersonate his late counterpart in order to save the Mirror version of his late wife. |
| DS9 | 419 | "Shattered Mirror" | After the Mirror Jennifer Sisko kidnaps Jake, Captain Sisko must travel to the Mirror Universe to retrieve his son. While there, the Mirror O'Brien wishes for Sisko to help him prepare their version of theDefiant for battle against the Alliance in what could mean freedom for the humans. |
| DS9 | 608 | "Resurrection" | The Mirror version of Vedek Bareil arrives on DS9 as he flees from the Alliance. His real reason for being in their universe is to steal the Bajoran Orb of Prophecy and Change for the Intendant, the Mirror Kira. However, before he can complete this mission, he has a change of conscience, convinced by Kira, leaving the Orb behind and returning to the Mirror Universe with the Intendant. |
| DS9 | 712 | "The Emperor's New Cloak" | Grand Nagus Zek, financial leader of theFerengi Alliance, travels to the Mirror Universe to seek out more financial opportunities for the Ferengi Alliance and is captured by Regent Worf and the Intendant Kira. Quark and Rom must pay a ransom of a cloaking device to free Zek, but Regent Worf imprisons them all in his quest to crush the rebels. They ultimately escape with the help of Mirror Ezri, and the Terrans and their alien allies capture Regent Worf, all but securing victory for their rebellion. |
A two-part episode ofStar Trek: Enterprise, entitled "In a Mirror, Darkly", introduces the early developments of the Mirror Universe.[5] This is the first episode which takes place entirely in the Mirror Universe, and in which no Prime Universe characters appear.
| Series | # | Title | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENT | 418 | "In a Mirror, Darkly" | The crew of theISSEnterprise (NX-01) discover that the USSDefiant, a ship from 100 years in the future of an alternative universe and last seen in the original series episode "The Tholian Web", has travelled to their universe through a rip in space. TheEnterprise is destroyed, but its surviving crew uses the improved technology of theDefiant to chase away their attackers. |
| ENT | 419 | "In a Mirror, Darkly Part II" | The MirrorEnterprise crew find theDefiant littered with the corpses of its former crew who murdered each other due to the effects of "interphase". Mirror Archer plots to use theDefiant to take control of the Terran Empire. However, it is the MirrorHoshi Sato who ultimately threatens to use theDefiant's weapons on the Emperor of the Terran Empire and replace him as Empress. |
The first season ofStar Trek: Discovery has a storyline involving the Mirror Universe.Captain Gabriel Lorca, commander of the USSDiscovery, is discovered to be an inhabitant of the Mirror Universe on account of his intolerance to bright light, a genetic trait common to all humans from the Mirror Universe.[10][11]
In 2018, Comic Book Resources ratedDiscovery's Mirror Universe saga as the 18th best multi-part episode story ofStar Trek.[15]
| Series | # | Title | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSC | 109 | "Into the Forest I Go" | In the final scene of the episode the USSDiscovery finds itself in the Mirror Universe following an apparent malfunction of its experimental spore drive.[16] |
| DSC | 110 | "Despite Yourself" | The crew disguise their ship as its Mirror Universe counterpart, the ISSDiscovery. They also discover records of the USSDefiant and hope to use that information to find a way back home. They are approached by the ISSShenzhou - the Mirror Universe version ofMichael Burnham's old ship - which Burnham goes aboard in an effort to obtain more information about the USSDefiant.[17][18] |
| DSC | 111 | "The Wolf Inside" | In the guise of her Mirror self, Burnham meets the Mirror versions of Voq and Sarek, who are resistance leaders. The ISSShenzhou is met by the Terran Emperor, who is revealed to be the Mirror version of Burnham's deceased mentor and former captain,Philippa Georgiou.[19] |
| DSC | 112 | "Vaulting Ambition" | Burnham bringsCaptain Gabriel Lorca (both in the apparent guise of their Mirror counterparts) to Mirror Georgiou on board the ISSCharon, the Terran flagship. Burnham notices Emperor Georgiou squinting in bright light. It is revealed that humans in the Mirror Universe are more averse to bright light than their Prime Universe counterparts. Burnham realises that "Lorca" is in fact from the Mirror Universe, and that he has been manipulating her and the rest of theDiscovery crew all along.[10][20] |
| DSC | 113 | "What's Past Is Prologue" | Lorca and Georgiou battle for control of theCharon and the Terran Empire. Lorca is killed and Emperor Georgiou escapes to theDiscovery with Burnham. |
| DSC | 114 | "The War Without, The War Within" | Discovery makes it back to the Prime Universe, but overshoots the point in time when they left by nine months, during which the Federation has nearly completely been overwhelmed by Klingons. A Starfleet admiral authorizes Emperor Georgiou's proposal to use volcanic tunnels to destroy the Klingon homeworld. Passed off as the Prime Universe's own Captain Georgiou miraculously found alive, the Emperor takes command ofDiscovery. |
| DSC | 115 | "Will You Take My Hand?" | Burnham prevents Emperor Georgiou from carrying out her plans and peace is made with the Klingons. In a bonus scene revealed at a convention after the episode's broadcast, Emperor Georgiou is shown being recruited intoSection 31.[21] |
| DSC | 309 | "Terra Firma, Part 1" | Seeking a cure to an illness caused by her temporal and dimensional displacement, Georgiou encounters a being named Carl who directs Georgiou to a door. On the other side, she finds herself back in the Mirror Universe during her reign as Emperor of the Terran Empire. Georgiou finds that her time withDiscovery has changed her, and she uses her knowledge of the past to alter certain events. |
| DSC | 310 | "Terra Firma Part 2" | Georgiou hopes to lead an improved Terran Empire with Burnham by her side, with them working together to hunt Burnham's former lover Gabriel Lorca, but this is a ruse and Burnham soon turns on Georgiou. After a fight, Georgiou kills Burnham before dying herself in Saru's arms. She returns to Dannus V, where Carl reveals himself to be theGuardian of Forever. He says that he had to test her first and was happy to see her attempt to change the fate of the Terran Empire, creating an alternate timeline of the Mirror Universe. Georgiou says goodbye to Burnham before traveling through the Guardian's portal. He sends Georgiou to another time and place where she will survive. |
| DSC | 505 | "Mirrors" | The ISSEnterprise is found trapped in a wormhole in the 32nd century by the crew of theDiscovery. According to a plaque on the ship, the Terran High Chancellor was killed after his reforms failed and theEnterprise crew mutinied and fled to the prime universe with refugees looking for a new life. The crew subsequently abandoned ship after it became trapped in the wormhole. Burnham and Cleveland Booker find the next clue on their treasure hunt on the ship and pull theEnterprise out of the wormhole withDiscovery's help. Burnham subsequently has the ISSEnterprise sent to Federation Headquarters for storage and reveals to Booker that according to Federation databases, most of the crew survived and found new lives in the prime universe. TheEnterprise's junior science officer Dr. Carmen Cho joined Starfleet and rose to the rank of branch Admiral, becoming the person to leave the clue on board the long-abandoned ship. |
Inthe second season ofStar Trek: Prodigy, the crew of the USSProtostar wind up in the mirror universe after an interphasic rift splits the USSVoyager-A into a number of alternate realities.
| Series | # | Title | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| PRO | 214 | "Cracked Mirror" | In 2384, the USSProtostar accidentally creates an interphasic rift, splitting the USSVoyager-A into a number of alternate realities. The bridge level is located on the ISSVoyager-A in the mirror universe which is commanded by the counterpart of Vice AdmiralKathryn Janeway withChakotay as her first officer. By this point, the Terran Rebellion has succeeded in overthrowing the Klingons and the Cardassians and restoring the Terran Empire to power. With the Loom invading the mirror universe as well, Janeway reluctantly allows theProtostar's crew to use the deflector dish on her ship to seal the anomaly, restoring everything to normal. |
In addition to the television episodes, a number of ancillary tie-in works make use of the Mirror Universe setting.[1][7][22] These works may contradict continuity as established in the television episodes, and are not considered canon.[13][23]
TheStar Trek: Stargazer novelThree byMichael Jan Friedman features the Mirror Universe.[7]
TheStar Trek: The Next Generation bookDark Mirror, written byDiane Duane, offers another explanation of what happened after Captain Kirk and three of his crew encountered the Mirror Universe.[7] In the novel, the Empire is still in existence in the 24th century. The point of divergence initially appears to be theEugenics Wars where the genetic supermen were not defeated and eventually turned on each other resulting in atomic war, but works dating back to the days of ancient Greece supporting the Empire's current mindset are noted.[24]
Various novels have been set in theDeep Space Nine version of the Mirror Universe, including atrilogy byWilliam Shatner, which reveals the Mirror Kirk (or "Emperor Tiberius" as he calls himself) is still alive and plotting to reconquer the Empire.[1]
Two collections of Mirror Universe stories were published in 2007: the first,Glass Empires, involves MirrorEnterprise,TOS andTNG and the second,Obsidian Alliances, features MirrorDS9,Voyager andNew Frontier.[citation needed]The Sorrows of Empire, a novel-length expansion ofDavid Mack's story of the same name inGlass Empires, was published in 2009.
A third collection,Shards and Shadows, was released in January 2009.[25] The Mirror Universe storyline was concluded in the novelRise Like Lions, released in November 2011.[26] A further story taking place in the Mirror Universe,Section 31 - Disavowed, was released in October 2014.[27]
A number ofStar Trek games take place in the Mirror Universe or reference it.[1] Among them, the first-person shooterStar Trek: Voyager – Elite Force, themassively multiplayer online gameStar Trek Online, the battle simulatorStar Trek: Shattered Universe which is entirely set in the Mirror Universe, Decipher'sStar Trek Roleplaying Game andStar Trek: Attack Wing.[1][better source needed]
The concept of a morally inverted universe had been pioneered by DC Comics in 1964, three years beforeStar Trek adopted the idea, in theJustice League of America story "Crisis onEarth-Three" written byGardner Fox.[28]The Mirror Universe Saga is atrade paperback that reprints eight issues ofDC Comics'Star Trek comic book (issues #9-16) chronicling an encounter between the Mirror Universe and the Prime Universe. It is set immediately after the events ofStar Trek III: The Search for Spock. The series was written byMike W. Barr and drawn byTom Sutton &Ricardo Villagrán. This version postulates the divergence of history to start at the time of the Earth-Romulan War, with the conquest of Earth by the Romulans; after Earth's liberation, the resistance became an empire-building government.[29]
From 2017 to 2018,IDW Publishing published threelimited series set in the Mirror Universe:Mirror Broken (2017),[30]Through the Mirror (2018),[31] andTerra Incognita (2018).[32] These series focused on Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the ISS Enterprise.[33][34] A new limited series, entitledMirror War, was first published in 2021. It follows Picard's ongoing galactic conquest which draws the attention of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance.[34][35]
The fan-produced web seriesStar Trek Continues included an episode set in the Mirror Universe called "Fairest of Them All".[36]
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