History Trivia / StarTrekDiscovery

* SpoiledByTheCastList: [[spoiler:The series unsuccessfully attempted to avert this. Voq subsequently infiltrates the ''Discovery'' crew as a human named Ash Tyler, with both "characters" played by the same actor, Shazad Latif. In the early episodes of the series, Voq was credited on-screen and in media cast lists as being played by a fictitious actor, "Javid Iqbal". Unfortunately, it didn't take long for Internet sleuths to notice that "Iqbal" had no other film or TV credits and no Internet or social media footprint, leading almost all of them to guess the twist. After the on-screen twist reveal, Latif confirmed that "Javid Iqbal" had been his father's name.]]

* FanNickname:
** [[https://i.imgur.com/07GTjt5.jpg "Ensign Daft Punk."]]
** [[spoiler:Voqler, or Tyvoq, for Shazad Latif's character (a Klingon surgically altered to appear human and made a ManchurianAgent).]]

* ActorAllusion: Lt. Stamets offers to go see ''Theatre/LaBoheme'' with Dr. Culber, despite disliking it. Anthony Rapp, who plays him, is arguably most famous for his role in the musical ''Theatre/{{RENT}}'', which is a RockOpera re-imagining of ''La Bohème''.

* FanNickname:
** [[https://i.imgur.com/07GTjt5.jpg "Ensign Daft Punk."]]
** [[spoiler:Voqler, or Tyvoq, for Shazad Latif's character (a Klingon surgically altered to appear human and made a ManchurianAgent).]]
* FunWithSubtitles: The subtitle options include Klingon.[[note]]On Netflix in some countries, but not on CBS in the United States.[[/note]]

** This was fortunately subverted when Paramount [[https://intl.startrek.com/news/star-trek-discovery-season-four-lands-on-paramount-pluto-tv-internationally announced]] that the fourth season would air on Creator/PlutoTV worldwide, following the backlash surrounding the removal.

* {{Jossed}}:
** One bit of generally accepted ''Star Trek'' non-canon had that the Klingons had acquired cloaking technology from the Romulans during a brief period of alliance against the Federation. Here it's clearly stated that Klingon cloaking technology is an innovation T'Kuvma was responsible for developing, even though this technology was apparently not shared among all the Houses of the Empire.
** After it was revealed that Captain Georgiou would be seen on the show in some capacity after [[spoiler:the character's death]], a handful of fans were hoping that it meant the character would be [[spoiler:brought back to life in some way]]. With the revelation in "[[Recap/StarTrekDiscoveryS1E04TheButchersKnifeCaresNotForTheLambsCry The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry]]" that [[spoiler:the remaining Klingons on T'Kuvma's ship ''ate her corpse during a food shortage'']], the theory was quickly shut down: her subsequent appearances are all {{flashback}}s and a recording made before her death. [[spoiler:Well, and her MirrorUniverse counterpart, the ''Terran Emperor''.]]

* TheOriginalDarrin: Thanks to some archived footage from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Creator/LeonardNimoy is able to reprise his role as Spock, only five years after his passing, in the episode "Unification III".
* TheOtherDarrin:
** The first two seasons involve a number of characters from ''TOS'', whose portrayers have all passed away. Thus: James Frain replaces Mark Lenard as Sarek; Mia Kirshner replaces Jane Wyatt as Amanda Grayson; Creator/RainnWilson replaces Roger C. Carmel as Harry Mudd; Anson Mount replaces Jeffrey Hunter as Capt. Christopher Pike; Ethan Peck replaces Creator/LeonardNimoy as Spock; Rebecca Romijn replaces Creator/MajelBarrett as Number One; and Melissa George replaces Susan Oliver as Vina.
** More traditionally, Hannah Cheesman replaces Sara Mitich as LCDR Airiam for the second season, while Mitich moved to the role of Lt. Nilsson. (For whatever reason, Nilsson also takes Airiam's bridge station after the latter is written out.)

* YouLookFamiliar: Kenneth Mitchell plays four different characters over the first three seasons, three of them Klingons: General Kol in Season 1, Kol's father, Kol-Sha, in episode 2.03, "Point of Light", and Tenavik, a Timekeeper [[spoiler:and L'Rell and Voq's son]], in episode 2.12, "Through the Valley of Shadows." In Season 3, he plays the Emerald Chain human scientist Aurelio.

** After it was revealed that Captain Georgiou would be seen on the show in some capacity after [[spoiler:the character's death]], a handful of fans were hoping that it meant the character would be [[spoiler:brought back to life in some way]]. With the revelation in "[[Recap/StarTrekDiscoveryS1E04TheButchersKnifeCaresNotForTheLambsCry The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry]]" that [[spoiler:the remaining Klingons on T'kuvma's ship ''ate her corpse during a food shortage'']], the theory was quickly shut down: her subsequent appearances are all {{flashback}}s and a recording made before her death. [[spoiler:Well, and her MirrorUniverse counterpart, the ''Terran Emperor''.]]

* YouLookFamiliar: Kenneth Mitchell plays four different characters over the first three seasons, three of them Klingons: General Kol in Season 1, Kol's father, Kol-Sha, in episode 2.03, "Point of Light", and Tenavik, a Timekeeper [[spoiler:and L'Rell and Voq's son]], in episode 2.12, "Through the Valley of Shadows." In Season 4, he plays the Emerald Chain human scientist Aurelio.

** In “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2”, Pike at one point refers to Number One as Una, a name used in the Literature/StarTrekLegacies trilogy to refer to her, given that she was no longer a first officer by the time of the novels.

* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: Many viewers heartily approved that Creator/MiaKirshner, who plays Amanda Grayson, is basically a younger version of Jane Wyatt, Amanda's original actress. She also has a similar appearance to Creator/WinonaRyder, who played Kelvin timeline-Amanda in [[Film/StarTrek the 2009 film]].

* YouLookFamiliar: Kenneth Mitchell plays three different characters over the first two seasons, all of them Klingons: General Kol in Season 1, Kol's father, Kol-Sha, in episode 2.03, "Point of Light", and Tenavik, a Timekeeper [[spoiler:and L'Rell and Voq's son]], in episode 2.12, "Through the Valley of Shadows."

** Due to being a prequel and thus a case of TimeShiftedActor for both roles (as well as the original actors being dead), James Frain and Creator/RainnWilson respectively replace Mark Lenard as Sarek and Roger C. Carmel as Harry Mudd. Season Two introduces Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Rebecca Romijn as Christopher Pike, Spock, and Number One, replacing Jeffery Hunter, Creator/LeonardNimoy, and Creator/MajelBarrett, respectively, all of whom have all passed as well. Later in the season, there's an appearance by Vina, now played by Melissa George, Susan Oliver having passed away in 1990.

* ActorAllusion: Lt. Stamets offers to go see La Bohème with Dr. Culber, despite disliking it. Anthony Rapp, who plays him, is arguably most famous for his role in the musical RENT which is largely based on La Bohème.

** As a fourth-year cadet [[spoiler:(eventually comissioned and holding the rank of ensign in the Season 1 finale)]], Sylvia Tilly is supposed to be in her early twenties (most likely 22 or 23 by the end of the first season), whereas the actress who portrays her, Mary Wiseman, was actually 32 (the same age as Burnham's actress Sonequa Martin-Green) when the season was shot.

** Due to being a prequel and thus a case of TimeShiftedActor for both roles (as well as the original actors being dead), James Frain and Creator/RainnWilson respectively replace Mark Lenard as Sarek and Roger C. Carmel as Harry Mudd.
** As of season two, we can add Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Rebecca Romijn as Christopher Pike, Spock, and Number One to the list as well, whose original portrayers (Jeffery Hunter, Creator/LeonardNimoy, and Creator/MajelBarrett, respectively) have all passed as well. Later in the season, there's an appearance by Vina, now played by Melissa George, Susan Oliver having passed away in 1990.
** More traditionally, Hannah Cheesman replaces Sara Mitich as Lt. Cdr. Airiam for the second season, while Mitich moved to the role of Lt. Nilsson.

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/JasonIsaacs as heroic (if slightly grey and potentially PTSD-ridden) Starfleet Captain Gabriel Lorca. [[spoiler:Subverted when it's revealed his character is actually the MirrorUniverse Lorca, and as evil as they come. DoubleSubverted as Jason Isaacs voices Prime Universe Lorca in ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'', who is an exemplary Starfleet captain, and would almost certainly play the character should Prime Universe Lorca appear in any future episodes of ''Discovery''.]]

** Season Two introduces Lieutenant Commander Jet Reno, who mentions that her wife died during the war with the Klingons the previous season. Reno is played by Creator/TigNotaro, who is also gay. This leads to a quite amusing scene where Stamets and Reno flirt while possessed.

* TheOriginalDarrin: Thanks to some archived footage from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Creator/LeonardNimoy is able to reprise his role as Spock, only five years after his passing.

* DawsonCasting: As a fourth-year cadet [[spoiler:(eventually comissioned and holding the rank of ensign in the Season 1 finale)]], the character of Sylvia Tilly is supposed to be in her early twenties (most likely 22 or 23 by the end of the first season), whereas the actress portraying her, Mary Wiseman, was actually 32 (the same age as Burnham's actress Sonequa Martin-Green) when the season was shot.

* ActorAllusion:
** Lt. Stamets offers to go see La Bohème with Dr. Culber, despite disliking it. Anthony Rapp, who plays him, is arguably most famous for his role in the musical RENT which is largely based on La Bohème.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/AngelaBassett was an early casting favourite, but she was busy with ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory''.
** Creator/TonyTodd[[note]]Known earlier as Worf's brother Kurn, plus a couple other guest roles across the franchise[[/note]] expressed interest about working on the new series and even confirmed he was on a casting list of the studio.
** Music/BryanAdams claims he was approached for a role. During a television appearance on Creator/TheBBC with Creator/JasonIsaacs and Sonequa Martin-Green in early November 2017, he claimed that he had received a call about a month earlier whether he would come to Toronto, the series' shooting location, but "then it went away". Adams joked he looked "like a Klingon anyway."
** [[Film/DevilInABlueDress Walter Mosley]] was hired as a writer for Season 3, but quit after less than a month over feeling the writer's room was overly hostile, including reporting him to HR for using the N-word in a story about how a cop said it to him.
** Before he left the show, Bryan Fuller’s concept was that it would be an anthology with each season having an entirely new cast in different periods across the franchise’s history. [[spoiler:The move to the far future at the end of Season 2 actually retains some spirit of this idea.]]

* RealitySubtext: In "Far From Home," Reno advises Stamets on his difficulty accepting his physical difficulties after being seriously injured. She's quite familiar with this after her battle with breast cancer.

* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: Many viewers heartily approved that Creator/MiaKirshner, who plays Amanda Grayson, is basically a younger version of Jane Wyatt, Amanda's original actress. She also has a similar appearance to Creator/WinonaRyder, who played Amanda in the 2009 film.

* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: Many viewers heartily approved that Creator/MiaKirschner, who plays Amanda Grayson, is basically a younger version of Jane Wyatt, Amanda's original actress. She also has a similar appearance to Creator/WinonaRyder, who played Amanda in the 2009 film.

** Lt. Stamets offers to go see La Bohème with Dr. Kulber, despite disliking it. Anthony Rapp, who plays him, is arguably most famous for his role in the musical RENT which is largely based on La Bohème.