Mirror Universe (Star Trek)
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The Mirror Universe is a fictional parallel universe in which the plots of several Star Trek television episodes take place. The characters in the Mirror Universe are generally the same as the characters in "normal" Star Trek continuity (for example, it has a James T. Kirk and a Mr. Spock), but their personalities are, on the whole, much more aggressive, mistrustful, and opportunistic. Whereas Star Trek usually depicts an optimistic future which values peace and understanding, episodes set in the Mirror Universe show it to be marred by continual warfare, and compassion is seen as a liability.
Though the Mirror Universe is much darker and more violent than the normal Star Trek universe, a few Mirror characters are more friendly or docile then their "normal universe" counterparts. For example, Mirror Quark puts himself at risk to help escaped slaves reach freedom, and while "normal" Brunt is selfish and power-hungry, Mirror Brunt is a kind and considerate Ferengi.
There is an infinite number of parallel universes in Star Trek canon (as witnessed in the TNG episode "Parallels"). The Mirror Universe in specific has been visited in one episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, five episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and two episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as in several Star Trek novels.
Characters from each universe refer to the other as "parallel" rather than as "mirror".
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Background
The Original Series
The existence of alternate realities was first established in the original Star Trek series episode "The Alternative Factor." In this episode the crew encounter a man named Lazarus who appeared to undergo extreme shifts in behavior. After a time it was discovered that there were two men, one from an alternative universe who was calm and rational, and another from our universe who was irrational. Both men had a ship that had the ability to send people into the other's universe. The Lazarus from the alternative reality said that there was a corridor of sorts between the universes where he and his counterpart could safely meet. If they met outside the corridor both universes would be annihilated. Lazarus arranged with Captain Kirk to trap both him and the other Lazarus in the corridor forever by having Kirk destroy the ship, and at the same time the ship in the other universe was destroyed as well. Both men were trapped forever in the corridor, one sane, and one not.
The Mirror Universe was first introduced in the original Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror." It was established that in the Mirror Universe the United Federation of Planets counterpart was the brutal Terran Empire, run by humans and their Vulcan allies. In the Mirror Universe, the term "Terran" is predominantly used for humans. The Mirror-Captain Kirk of the Imperial Starship Enterprise was a mass-murderer, who had been promoted to Captain by assassinating Captain Christopher Pike.
In the Terran Empire, officers were promoted for assassinating their superiors and order was kept by use of "Agonizer" pain-giving devices. Aesthetic differences included: the Mirror-crew's uniforms were flamboyant and somewhat robe-like, with ceremonial daggers for the officers; Mirror-Sulu was a Gestapo-like political officer with a disfiguring facial scar; Mirror-Spock had a goatee; the "Starfield-surmounted-by-olive-branches" emblem of the Federation was replaced in the Terran Empire symbol by a map of Earth's Western Hemisphere with a broadsword running through it.
In this original encounter, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Lt. Uhura, and Cmdr. Scott were on a mission to Halkan to see if the Halkans would agree to give the Federation dilithium crystals. The Halkans refused because they were worried about the crystals being used for aggressive reasons. The crew were transported into the Mirror Universe as the result of a transporter accident when they tried to beam up from the Halkan planet during an ion storm. Their counterparts in the Mirror Universe were beaming up at the same time from Halkan. The storm caused the crew to switch places with their Mirror-Universe counterparts.
The four crew members had to learn how to adapt to survive long enough in this universe until they could find a way home without being detected. Captain Kirk also tried to prevent the genocide of the Halkans - which violated the Mirror-Starfleet's orders. As a result, Kirk suffered several assassination attempts during his time in the Mirror Universe. Mirror-Starfleet ordered Mirror-Spock to give Kirk until planet dawn over their primary target to complete the mission.
The crew did find a way home, but had to move fast because the field density between the two universes was collapsing. At the last minute, Mirror-Spock found out about the four crew members. He decided to return the crew to our universe.
In a happy coincidence, the regular Spock easily determined the true nature of the Mirror-Kirk and the Mirror-versions of the other officers and promptly slapped them in the Enterprise brig while he worked on his side of the return exchange.
Before leaving the Mirror Universe, Kirk gave an impassioned speech in which he told Mirror-Spock that because the Empire would die in a few hundred years, that it was illogical, and Mirror-Spock was illogical for supporting the Empire. He asked Mirror-Spock to work for change, and Mirror-Spock replied that he would consider Kirk's proposal.
Deep Space Nine
The Mirror Universe was later revisited in the Deep Space Nine episode "Crossover", and turned into a story-arc that spanned into the final season, with roughly one Mirror Universe episode a season.
On Deep Space Nine, which takes place over 100 years after the original contact with the Mirror Universe, it was revealed that drastic changes had occurred in the Mirror Universe, ironically, because of the interference of our universe's Kirk. Before he left the Mirror Universe, our James T. Kirk planted seeds of doubt in the Mirror-Spock's mind about the Terran Empire's brutal tactics. Kirk noted that Spock was a man of honor in both universes, and the Mirror-Spock listened to Kirk's urging for reform. Mirror-Spock's future role on Enterprise, and the fate of Mirror-Kirk is unclear, though some have suggested that Mirror-Kirk was assassinated. Mirror-Spock then went on to become Chief of State of the Terran Empire. Mirror-Spock introduced many popular reforms that largely ended the iron-fisted rule of the Terran Empire, especially a vast demilitarization program. However, these reforms were very ill timed.
Not long after Mirror-Spock's demilitarization drive, the Terran Empire encountered the Alliance. In the Mirror Universe, the Alliance is a unified government of the Klingons and the Cardassians, presumably ruled by the Klingon Emperor. The Alliance conquered the ill-prepared Terran Empire, and enslaved the Terrans and Vulcans. Terrans became pariahs and a slave race, often subjected to mass forced physical labor.
The Alliance does not have cloaking Device technology, (although a ship was seen decloaking in an earlier episode, an episode in the seventh season established that the Mirror Universe does not have cloaking devices, and the earlier appearance was retconed out as a graphical error) However, cloak technology did exist in the 22nd century on at least one Terran ship (who in turn took it from the Suliban).
It is unknown what role the Romulans play in the Mirror Universe. However, there is evidence of their existence. When Sisko was finished impersonating Mirror-Sisko, he told Mirror-Jennifer Sisko he was leaving to see the Romulans. Also, in our own universe, the Earth-Romulan War was fought 100 years before Kirk visited the Mirror Universe, and if the Terran Empire also encountered the Romulans at this time, they may have eradicated them rather then letting them surrender as our own Earth did. This remains to be explained.
The Bajorans of the Mirror Universe were ruled by the Terran Empire, but later sided with the Alliance and became masters of Terran slave forces. Notable among them was Intendant Kira, the counterpart to our universe's Kira Nerys. Intendant Kira was a ruthless, sadistic hedonist; she was outwardly bisexual and sexually aggressive - characteristics common in the Mirror Universe. She maintained power in her sector of the Alliance from Terok Nor, the counterpart of Deep Space Nine.
When Deep Space Nine officers Julian Bashir and Kira Nerys visited the Mirror Universe, they sparked a rebellion among the Terran slaves led by the Mirror-Sisko and Mirror-O'Brien. Over the next five years, the Terran Rebellion would drag on and was not conclusively finished. However, Regent Worf was eventually taken as a prisoner of war by the rebellion.
The Klingon Empire of the normal Star Trek universe hasn't actually had an Emperor in 300 years; they were replaced by the Chancellor and the High Council. But in the Mirror-Klingon Empire there are still ruling Emperors. The Mirror-Imperial Family is House Duras, who were deposed in disgrace in the normal Trek universe. However, during Deep Space Nine, a Regent currently ruled as the true power behind the throne: the brutal Regent Worf.
Other characters in the Mirror Universe: Garak was Intendant Kira's first officer; Mirror-Odo was the cruel foreman of the human slaves on Terok Nor, and was killed by the Dr. Bashir of our universe; Mirror-Sisko was something of a shady pirate, but later started the Terran Rebellion, although he was later killed; Tuvok never got lost in the Delta Quadrant and was a member of the Resistance; Quark and Rom were both Rebel-sympathizers and were killed by Intendant Kira; Mirror-Nog and Brunt were also later killed by Intendant Kira (in fact, there seemed to be a rule that one mirror-Ferengi had to be killed in each Mirror Universe episode).
Sisko's wife Jennifer never died at the hands of the Borg in the Mirror Universe, and she had to be convinced to join the Resistance, she was later killed by the Mirror-Kira; Mirror-Julian Bashir was an uncouth, unshaven and aggressive member of the Resistance, although he was quite loyal; Mirror-Jadzia Dax was the lover of Mirror-Sisko, although she later died (roughly the same time her counterpart in our universe died); Mirror-Ezri (who did not have the Dax symbiote) was a double-agent working both sides, a bit of a tramp and bisexual; Mirror-Leeta was a member of the Resistance, also a bit trampy, and "interrogated" Ezri (they almost definitely had sex), Jake Sisko was never born in this reality; Mirror-O'Brien was a somewhat depressed character, so Mirror-Sisko dubbed him "Smiley", and the name stuck to distinguish him from our O'Brien, he never married or had children but eventually became a high ranking cell leader in the Terran Resistance, and after Mirror-Sisko's death, perhaps the leader. Bareil Antos's Mirror Universe counterpart is also still alive, but he never became a Vedek (religious leader) like the one in our universe. Vic Fontaine also makes an appearance, working alongside the mirror-Ezri. In this universe he is an android rather than a hologram like in the normal universe, he is killed shortly after his character appears.
Eventually, the Terran Resistance captured Mirror-Terok Nor and used it as a base of operations, and built a Mirror-Defiant using plans stolen from our universe.
Enterprise
A two-part episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, entitled "In a Mirror, Darkly", expands further upon the history of the Mirror Universe.
On April 5, 2063, Zephram Cochrane conducted his warp flight, drawing the attention of a passing Vulcan ship, as per the events shown in the "real universe" in Star Trek: First Contact. When the Vulcans landed and made their peaceful introduction, however, Cochrane killed the leader with a concealed weapon, then led the townspeople in overtaking the Vulcan ship. "In a Mirror, Darkly" implies that the Vulcan vessel, in the Mirror Universe, either was, or was interpreted to be by humans, the vanguard of an invasion fleet.
Terran domination was made possible by technology taken from the Vulcans and presumably from other defeated races; thus, the Starfleet of the Mirror Universe was somewhat more advanced than its regular counterpart. By 2155, the Terran Empire had already enslaved the Vulcans and Tellarites and launched successful attacks against the Klingons. However, the Mirror Universe crew of Enterprise, also known as the I.S.S. Enterprise, is actually more racially diverse than its real universe counterpart, with numerous Vulcans and Tellarites actually serving as crewmembers, and the Mirror version of T'Pol, in particular, holding a position of trusted authority; as in the "real" universe, a Denobulan, Phlox, serves as Enterprise's physician. The Mirror version of Soval is seen to be an enlisted science crewman aboard the ISS Avenger, another Starfleet vessel which is also seen to include Andorian and Orion crewmembers.
During the episode's stated date of January 2155, Archer steals the U.S.S. Defiant from the Tholians but is later apparently killed by Hoshi Sato, who subsequently declares herself empress of the Terran Empire (though whether she succeeds in this gambit is not revealed). During the episode, future events are implied, such as the fall of the Terran Empire after several centuries (as seen in the Deep Space Nine storyline described above).
The title sequence of the "In a Mirror, Darkly" episodes chronicles the history of human warfare and interstellar domination of the Terran Empire, as opposed to the regular opening sequence depicting peaceful exploration.
Novels
Various novels have been set in the Deep Space Nine version of the mirror universe, including a trilogy by William Shatner, which reveals the Mirror-Kirk (or "Emperor Tiberius", as he calls himself) was still alive, and plotting to reconquer his Empire. Apparently it had been he who originally created the Alliance to overthrow Spock, before it turned on him. His right-hand man is Regent Jean-Luc Picard, who works with the counterparts of other Enterprise-E bridge crew. He is opposed in his aims by Mirror-Spock, now the Intendant of the Vulcan Resistance. Mirror versions of Kathryn Janeway, other Voyager crewmembers and Tasha Yar also appeared.
Shatner provides a mind- and time-bending explanation for the point of departure between the Mirror Universe and our own: In the Mirror Universe, the events of "Star Trek: First Contact" caused the brand-new Human/Vulcan alliance to become paranoid about Borg invasion; this in turn led to an increasingly military theme in their alliance, and by the time of the 23rd Century depicted in "Mirror, Mirror," this military Human/Vulcan alliance had evolved into the totalitarian Terran Empire.
The Star Trek: Stargazer novel Three, by Michael Jan Friedman also features the Mirror Universe. Since the Stargazer novels are set during Picard's first command, nearly 40 years before the DS9 crossover, it gives us a glimpse of the Mirror Universe during the war between the Empire and the Alliance. In it the counterpart of a member of the USS Stargazer crew crosses over from the ISS Stargazer to kidnap the Stargazer's chief engineer Simeon for the Empire. The captain of the ISS Stargazer is the counterpart of the USS Stargazer's first officer, Gilaad Ben Zoma.
Dark Passions by Susan Wright is also set before the DS9 episodes, at about the time of The Next Generation. It focussed on the mirror-Seven of Nine, a Terran slave who had been fitted with cybernetics to be a spy for the Obsidian Order. The sequence ended with her escaping in a ship she named Voyager, along with the counterparts of many of the Voyager crew (this may contradict the Shatner novels).
Another view of the Mirror Universe
Diane Duane, in her Star Trek: The Next Generation book "Dark Mirror" offers another explanation of what happened after Captain Kirk and three others of his crew encountered the Mirror Universe.
In Dark Mirror, the Mirror-Spock left the Enterprise and rose through the ranks and spearheaded an effort to reform the Empire. However, the Mirror-Kirk framed him for treason, which resulted in the execution of Mirror-Spock. Soon afterwards Mirror-Sarek was assassinated by another Vulcan seeking his job. As a result, Mirror-Spock's reform efforts died with him. The Empire is still alive and still quite powerful in this book. The Klingons were a conquered race in this book who were forced into slavery by the Empire after their defeat. The Romulan Empire had been destroyed early on by the Empire.
Dark Mirror tells how Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D were forced to deal with their counterparts. Their counterparts were also brutal and savage. A tag line for the book said that the crew was going to deal with their worst enemies - themselves. For example, the Mirror-Captain Picard had murdered the Mirror-Jack Crusher so that he could have the Mirror-Beverly Crusher to himself. Mirror-Dr. Crusher used her skills to build bioweapons. Troi was the Gestapo-like security officer who freely used torture to obtain information. The missions of the crew of the Mirror-Enterprise-D's were filled with brutality and even genocidal activities.
When the Enterprise-D crew met with their alternates in this book, they discovered that the Empire was planning to cross into our universe and invade the Federation. The first step of the plan was to capture our universe's Enterprise, kill the crew, and use the vessel as an infiltrator. However the crew of the Enterprise was able to foil their plans, and find a means to prevent the Empire from invading the Federation.
Captain Picard found that the Mirror Universe Empire had almost conquered all that it could, and that in a matter of only decades it would collapse. He also finds that the seeds of the Mirror Universe's brutality lie far far in the past; Plato sings the praises of fear as part of a ruler's arsenal, and their version of The Merchant of Venice is called The Revengers Tragedy (not to be confused with the actual play of the same name), in which Portia (perhaps to avenge an injury done to her by Antonio - who is probably not the good man he is in "our" version) sides with Shylock, and allows him to slice off a pound of his flesh.
Obviously, the book Dark Mirror would not be part of the Star Trek Canon since later episodes of DS9 contradict what was written in the book. One possible theory for this version of the Mirror Universe is again the TNG episode "Parallels." In this episode, Data explained that for every choice made, the other choices available were made in alternate universes. As a result, at some point in the course of the history of the Mirror Universe a choice would have made that would have resulted in the branching off of two universes. One would be the Mirror Universe found in Dark Mirror, the other would be the one seen in several episodes of Deep Space Nine. Essentially, the Mirror Universes seen in "Dark Mirror" and Deep Space Nine are not each *the* Mirror Universe, but *a* Mirror Universe; again, as seen in "Parallels" the number of possible Mirror Universes is infinite, and in many of them the Terran Empire probably never fell.
Other ramifications
While in the "Alternative Factor" the Lazarus of the alternate universe said that to meet his counterpart would cause the destruction of both his and our universe, in later episodes characters met their counterparts in the Mirror-Universe and the meetings did not cause any apparent damage to either universe. This apparent discrepancy is explained by the explicit statement made in the episode that the alternate Lazarus is from an anti-matter universe; it has long been established in "Star Trek" canon that physical contact between matter and its anti-matter counterpart is catastrophic.
Some Star Trek fans speculate that the most recent series, Star Trek: Enterprise actually takes place in the Mirror Universe described above. While nothing in the first three seasons of the program directly support this view, comments by the show's writers that it might take place in an "alternate" or "altered" time line have led some fans to extrapolate that is might mean the series does not take place in the "real" Star Trek Universe. However, this has since been proved to be impossible, since several episodes of the show have mentioned that Captain Jonathan Archer will be instrumental in founding the United Federation of Planets, thus placing this series firmly in "normal" continuity. The two-part "In a Mirror, Darkly" storyline definitively established that Enterprise proper does not take place within the Mirror Universe. Additionally, a scene in "In a Mirror, Darkly Part II " establishes the existence of "our" universes' Enterprise in the ship's historical logs on the Defiant.
Parodies
The Mirror Universe concept has been much parodied, notably in an episode in the second season of South Park in which a friendly, helpful Cartman with a goatee (and mean-spirited versions of Stan and Kyle, also wearing goatees) briefly cross over into the regular "South Park" universe. (Goatees appear to be common in the various parodies of the Mirror Universe). This same line of logic (or illogic) was used in an episode of Sealab 2021 and a This Modern World strip.
Episodes
The following is a list of episodes that take place in the Mirror Universe or involve characters from the Mirror Universe.
| Series | # | Title | Overview |
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| ENT | 418 | In a Mirror, Darkly | Mirror Archer, Mirror Forrest, and the rest of the crew discover that a ship from 100 years in the future and an alternate universe, the U.S.S. Defiant, has travelled to their universe through some kind of rip in space. All of the crew members except Captain Forrest evacuate the I.S.S. Enterprise as it is attacked by Tholians and board the Defiant. The Enterprise blows up, and its transferred crew uses the improved technology of the Defiant to chase away the Tholians. Archer replaces Forrest as captain. |
| ENT | 419 | In a Mirror, Darkly Part II | The Mirror Enterprise crew find the Defiant littered with the corpses of its former crew who murdered each other due to the effects of Interphase which causes humans to become psychotic. The Tholians use slaves to strip the ship. The overseer is a Gorn named Slar, who sabotages the Defiant and kills the survivors of the ISS Enterprise . Mirror Archer defeats the Gorn, and then his thoughts turn to using the powerful Defiant to take control of the Terran Empire. However, it is Mirror Hoshi Sato who ultimately threatens to use the Defiant's weapons on the Emperor of the Terran Empire and replace him as Empress of the empire. |
| TOS | 204 | Mirror, Mirror | Four crew members from the USS Enterprise switch places with their mirror universe counterparts and must get home while avoiding being discovered by the mirror universe crew of the Enterprise. |
| TOS | 309 | The Tholian Web | The USS Defiant (NCC-1764) is trapped in Interphase in Tholian Space and vanishes. Note: Until In a Mirror, Darkly there was no obvious connection between this episode and the Mirror Universe. No elements from the Mirror Universe are shown or mentioned anywhere in this episode. |
| 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 been replaced by the Alliance of Klingons, Cardassians, and Bajorans and that humans are slaves. |
| DS9 | 319 | Through the Looking Glass | The Mirror O'Brien kidnaps Sisko where Sisko must impersonate his late counterpart in order to save the mirror version of his late wife. |
| DS9 | 420 | 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 the Defiant for battle against the Alliance in what could mean freedom for the Terrans. |
| DS9 | 607 | Resurrection | The Mirror version of Vedek Bareil arrives on DS9 as he flees from the Alliance. His real reason for being in our universe is to steal the Bajoran Orb of Prophecy and Change for the Intendant, the mirror Kira. Howver 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, ruler of the Ferengi Empire, is captured and taken to the Mirror Universe as a hostage. 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 Terran rebels. |