The Vidiians are a fictional alien race in the Star Trek franchise. Developed by Star Trek: Voyager series' co-creators Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor, they serve as recurring antagonists during the show's first two seasons. They are represented as a nomadic species suffering from a pandemic known as the Phage, which destroys their tissue. A society with highly developed medical technology, the Vidiians harvest organs from corpses and living beings to stall the progression of the Phage, and experiment on other alien species in an attempt to develop a cure. Vidiian storylines frequently revolve around the aliens' attempts to take its Voyager crew members' organs, though a Vidiian scientist named Danara Pel serves as a love interest for The Doctor. The alien species have made minor appearances in the show's subsequent seasons, and have been included in novels set in the Star Trek universe. Inspired by the Maya civilization, the bubonic plague, and Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, the Vidiians were seen by the show's co-creators as a way to honor Gene Roddenberry's approach to portraying well-developed antagonists in the Star Trek franchise. The Vidiians were presented as one of three new alien species that could be expanded as recurring antagonists; the other two were the Kazon and the Sikarians. The concept for the Phage as a bacteriophage was decided through a collaboration between science consultant André Bormanis and the show's producers. Michael Westmore was the primary make-up supervisor involved in the creation of the Vidiians' appearance. The make-up and prosthetics for the Vidiians were extensive, requiring actors to wear head masks, contacts, and dentures. The Vidiians received a generally positive response from critics who praised them as successfully bringing horror themes to the series. Susan Diol garnered positive reviews for her performance as Danara Pel. Appearances Star Trek: Voyager The Vidiians appear as recurring antagonists during Star Trek: Voyager first two seasons. The crew of the USS Voyager first encounters the alien species in the season one episode "Phage", in which the Talaxian Neelix (Ethan Phillips) has his lungs stolen by two Vidiians, Dereth (Cully Fredricksen) and Motura (Stephen Rappaport). After Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) pursues the Vidiians to recover Neelix's organs, the Vidiians explain that their entire species has been infected by a pandemic known as the Phage. They have developed advanced medical technology to remotely harvest organs directly from living humanoids in order to stop