Kes - Notes

Universe :	Prime Timeline
Name :	Kes [1]
Species :	Ocampa

The Ocampans lived for many generations within a sealed underground city, and this is where Kes was born and spent her early life. A naturally inquisitive person, she was fascinated by the tales of life beyond the city and sought to escape after the death of her father in 2371. She succeeded in finding a way past the force fields sealing the city, and after arriving at the surface she met Neelix, a trader who travelled extensively in the area. The two fell in love, but Kes was subsequently captured by a Kazon sect on the planet. Neelix searched for some time for a way to free her, finally finding a solution in the shape of Voyager. He convinced Captain Janeway to visit the Kazon camp and used the opportunity to rescue Kes from them. [1]

Both Kes and Neelix subsequently joined the ship in its journey back to the Alpha Quadrant. [1] Kes served a dual role with the crew; she ran an airponics area in one of the cargo bays to supplement the ship's replicators with natural food stocks [2], and also served in sickbay as a trainee nurse. Kes proved to be an extremely fast learner in the latter role, much impressing the ship's EMH. [3]

The Ocampans had many legends regarding the mental powers of their distant ancestors, and Kes was eager to explore these abilities. She sought the guidance of Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, who taught her various Vulcan mental disciplines with some success. In 2372 Voyager encountered Sisperia, a member of the Caretaker species, living with a small group of Ocampa on a space station. Under the guidance of Tanis, the leader of the Ocampa, Kes apparently developed her powers to an extraordinary level. She achieved a significant telekinetic ability, gaining control of matter on a subatomic level. Unfortunately, after Voyager departed it transpired that Tanis had been acting as some form of amplifier or focusing mechanism and once out of his influence Kes lost her new-found abilities. [4]

In 2373 Kes ended her relationship with Neelix, and shortly thereafter considered leaving Voyager altogether. By this time she had spent the majority of her life on board the ship and was feeling that she may have become stuck in something of a rut. Eventually, however, she chose to remain with the ship. [5]

Late in the same year, Voyager reached Borg space and encountered Species 8472 for the first time. Kes had brief telepathic contact with members of the species [6], causing a profound change in her. Her mental abilities began to increase by orders of magnitude and it gradually became clear that she was no longer able to control them. Voyager began to suffer considerable damage from her affects on the ships structure, and at her own request Kes was placed on board a shuttlecraft and moved to a safe distance from the ship. Almost immediately Kes underwent a metamorphosis into a non corporeal life form and ascended to a transdimensional state. Her last act before leaving was to throw Voyager almost ten thousand light years closer to home, placing it clear of the immediate Borg threat. [7]

In 2376 Kes returned to Voyager, but this was no friendly visit. She had come to feel furious at being cut off from her former life, and placed the blame on Voyager's crew for encouraging her to explore space. Kes used the energy of the ship's warp core to throw herself backwards in time, where she incapacitated the earlier version of herself then attempted to engineer a Vidiian ambush which would destroy the ship and so prevent her transcendence. Janeway discovered the plan and was forced to kill Kes. The Kes of the past then recorded a message to her future self attempting to reason with her and make her realize that the Voyager crew was not to blame. [8]

Back in the future, the message was successful in preventing Kes from attempting to destroy the ship. Janeway convinced her to go back to her home world and return to her people, reasoning that they would be best placed to help her. Kes departed the ship and has not been seen since. [8]

Colour key

Canon source

Backstage source

Novel source

DITL speculation

Associated with

Crew of the Enterprise NX-01

Played by

Series	Season	Actor	Film / Episode Title
VOY	3	Janna Michaels	Before and After
VOY	4	Jennifer Lien	Scorpion, Part 2
VOY	4	Jennifer Lien	The Gift
VOY	6	Jennifer Lien	Fury
VOY	1, 2, 3	Jennifer Lien

References

#	Series	Season	Source	Comment
1	VOY	1	Caretaker
2	VOY	1	Phage
3			Various Voyager episodes
4	VOY	2	Cold Fire
5	VOY	3	Darkling
6	VOY	3	Scorpion, Part 1
7	VOY	4	The Gift
8	VOY	6	Fury

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Last updated : 22 Oct 2021

Series :	VOY Season 1
Episode :	Caretaker

Series :	VOY Season 1
Episode :	Phage

Series :	VOY Season
Episode :	Various Voyager episodes

Series :	VOY Season 2
Episode :	Cold Fire

Series :	VOY Season 3
Episode :	Darkling