Because Star Trek: Lower Decks takes place in the early 2380s, shortly after the USS Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant in 2378, cameos from Star Trek: Voyager characters are not only possible, but expected, in Lower Decks' nearly-overflowing basket of Star Trek Easter eggs. Star Trek: Voyager characters crossing over to Star Trek: Lower Decks establishes the continuity between the two shows, and also helps viewers catch up with USS Voyager crew members after Voyager ended. This is especially interesting for the Voyager characters who aren't in Star Trek: Prodigy or Star Trek: Picard.
In the few years since Captain Kathryn Janeway's (Kate Mulgrew) homecoming, the details of the USS Voyager's perilous journey from the Delta Quadrant have become common knowledge among Lieutenants Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), D'Vana Tendi (Noël Wells), and T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz). The USS Voyager's place in Starfleet history as the little Intrepid-class starship that traversed 70,000 light years in a mere 7 years makes the Star Trek: Voyager crew into modern legends — not quite on the level of the USS Enterprise-D crew, but heroes to the USS Cerritos' junior officers all the same.
8 Honorable Mention: Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan)
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, Episode 9, "The Inner Fight"
An honorable mention — and it's literally just a mention — goes to Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine, whose name is dropped in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 9, "The Inner Fight". Seven's name appears on a list of former Starfleet officers and associates who might need protection in the wake of a series of targeted attacks. While the USS Cerritos goes after disgraced ex-Starfleet cadet Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill), another ship gets to look for Seven of Nine, who at the time of Star Trek: Lower Decks is working as a vigilante with the Fenris Rangers near the Romulan Neutral Zone.
7 Lieutenant Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill)
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2, Episode 3, "We'll Always Have Tom Paris"
Naturally, Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2, episode 3, "We'll Always Have Tom Paris", includes the USS Voyager's helmsman, Lieutenant Tom Paris, visiting the USS Cerritos. Paris is on a "handshake tour" of Starfleet vessels as part of a public relations campaign following Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant. As an enthusiast of all things Starfleet, Ensign Brad Boimler is excited to meet Tom Paris and get his commemorative Voyager — er, "VOY" — plate signed.
Through dialogue, Star Trek: Prodigy reveals that Tom Paris and his wife, B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), still work for Starfleet designing spacefaring vehicles. Torres worked on designing the USS Protostar, while Paris contributed ideas to the single-pilot fighters flown by Prodigy 's Nova Squadron.
Despite the fact that Tom Paris was in prison when Star Trek: Voyager began, Paris' years of service on the USS Voyager proved his dedication to Starfleet. Like Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) and Voyager's other Maquis crew members, Paris' crimes against the Federation were forgiven, and his Starfleet rank was reinstated.
6 Lieutenant Commander Tuvok (Tim Russ)
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3, Episode 1, "Grounded"
Commander Tuvok (Tim Russ) appears for just a moment in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episode 1, "Grounded". The glimpse of Tuvok in Star Trek: Lower Decks reveals that the USS Voyager's former Chief Security Officer has been promoted to full Commander, and still works with Starfleet security. Tuvok's Vulcan mind-meld abilities are instrumental in the success of Starfleet security's mission to free the USS Cerritos' Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) by uncovering the Pakled conspiracy that framed Freeman.
Commander Tuvok doesn't speak in the brief flashback, so technically, Star Trek: Lower Decks can't count Tim Russ among its many Star Trek cameos. If the upcoming final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks does feature Star Trek: Voyager's resident Vulcan in a speaking cameo, Lower Decks would be the third Star Trek show that Russ appears in as Tuvok, after Voyager and Star Trek: Picard.
5 The USS Voyager
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, Episode 1, "Twovix"
In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 1, "Twovix", the USS Cerritos is tasked with helping curator Beljo Tweekle (Andy Richter) relocate the USS Voyager to San Francisco, where the famed starship is set to become a museum. On the now-grounded USS Voyager, the crew are represented by mannequins wearing mission-worn uniforms in appropriate locations. Displays throughout Voyager recall some of the weirdest things that happened in Star Trek: Voyager, from Paris and Janeway's unfortunate warp 10 salamander incident to the very fortunate "Neelix cheese" that once again saves the day.
Despite being a starship, we're still counting the USS Voyager as one of the Star Trek: Voyager characters in Star Trek: Lower Decks. Because Star Trek hero ships have features that are unique to each vessel and help make each Star Trek show what it is, the USS Voyager itself is a character in its own right. The Intrepid-class starship's bio-neural gel packs even make the USS Voyager a little more alive than Star Trek ships of the past.
4 The Clown (Michael McKean)
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, Episode 1, "Twovix"
Originally featured as the villain in Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 23, "The Thaw", the Clown (Michael McKean) appears as a hologram in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 1, "Twovix". Curiously, the Clown wasn't a hologram in "The Thaw", but an entity that was created as a manifestation of fear within a virtual environment. The Clown only wanted to survive, so he kept his victims terrified in order to feed off of their fear.
Star Trek: Lower Decks implies that someone on the USS Voyager recreated the Clown as a character for a holodeck program. Because the solution to beating the Clown in "The Thaw" involved trading the victims' lives for a holographic version of Captain Janeway, this holographic Clown may have been used to test run that solution on the holodeck before actually carrying out that plan.
3 Doctor Chaotica (Martin Rayner)
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, Episode 1, "Twovix"
During the USS Voyager's relocation mission in the Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 premiere, "Twovix", the villainous Doctor Chaotica (Martin Rayner) leads Star Trek: Voyager's trio of holographic characters who are accidentally unleashed on the unsuspecting USS Cerritos crew. Originating from Tom Paris' (Robert Duncan McNeill) serialized Adventures of Captain Proton holodeck program, Chaotica is displayed in grainy, period-appropriate grayscale by the holoemitters that have been installed throughout the USS Voyager's corridors.
The holo emitters that were installed on the USS Voyager after its return are a standard feature on Star Trek: Prodigy 's USS Voyager-A.
Chaotica must be met with an appropriate amount of Captain Proton melodrama in order to be defeated and subsequently contained. Fortunately, Ensign Boimler has that in spades, as Boimler proclaims that he's the long-lost son of Captain Proton.
2 Michael Sullivan (Fintan McKeown)
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, Episode 1, "Twovix"
Holographic bartender Michael Sullivan (Fintan McKeown) is a character from another one of Tom Paris' holodeck creations, the 19th-century Irish town of Fair Haven. Sullivan is a simple man whose appearance and social parameters were tweaked by Captain Janeway to appeal to Kathryn as a holographic love interest. In Star Trek: Lower Decks, Sullivan was released alongside Chaotica and the Clown, but Michael's sights aren't set on villainy; instead, Michael simply misses his wife, who Janeway carelessly deleted in Star Trek: Voyager season 6, episode 11, "Fair Haven".
Although Michael Sullivan isn't one of Star Trek's sentient holograms, he's still aware that Fair Haven exists within the confines of the USS Voyager. Janeway's tinkering gave Michael curiosity and intelligence, so he can grasp the concept of a ship sailing through space instead of across the sea, so he could understand why Janeway's Fair Haven alter-ego was away from the town so often.
1 Lieutenant Harry Kim (Garrett Wang)
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5
In the recent trailer for Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, Star Trek: Voyager's Harry Kim is finally promoted to lieutenant. Near the trailer's end, an entire crowd of Kims is gathered together, some outfitted in variant uniforms, like the gray-shouldered Starfleet uniform from Star Trek: First Contact, and the racing suit from Star Trek: Voyager season 7, episode 3, "Drive". Only one Harry Kim variant sports two pips on his collar, however, and this Lieutenant Kim appears appalled that his doubles are all "still ensigns".
Star Trek: Voyager 's series finale, "Endgame", features Captain Harry Kim in an alternate future timeline. Prime Timeline Harry Kim must get there someday, right?
Clues throughout Star Trek: Lower Decks' season 5 teasers and trailers suggest that Star Trek's multiverse will play a role in the upcoming final season, so whether Lieutenant Harry Kim is from the Prime Universe remains to be seen. Regardless, a Lieutenant Kim finally exists somewhere, and it's fitting that Star Trek: Lower Decks, as Star Trek's animated celebration of junior officers, is the series to honor Starfleet's hardest-working ensign with a long-awaited promotion.
