Tim Russ' Star Trek Debut Strangely Foreshadowed His Voyager Role 2 Years Later

Although he's best known for playing Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager, Tim Russ actually played another character within the franchise two years before he stepped into the shoes of Voyager's Chief of Security, and his Star Trek debut included a meta wink to what would become the actor's most famous role.

Tim Russ played Tuvok in every season of Star Trek: Voyager, and his character was instrumental in the crew's success in surviving the Delta Quadrant and reaching Earth. Before his time among Star Trek: Voyager's cast, Russ was no stranger to the iconic sci-fi saga, but he had yet to snag a recurring role. Tuvok became and remains a key figure in the Star Trek timeline.

Captain Picard Took Out Tim Russ' Human TNG Character With A Vulcan Nerve Pinch

Tuvok used the same move many times in Star Trek: Voyager

Tim Russ' first Star Trek appearance was in The Next Generation season 6, episode 18, "Starship Mine." He played a human character called Devor, one of a group of mercenaries that served as the installment's villains. During an altercation with Devor, Captain Jean-Luc Picard incapacitates Devor using a Vulcan Nerve Pinch. While it's a move not commonly used by humans, Picard is proficient at it.

"Starship Mine" first aired in 1993, and Star Trek: Voyager wouldn't make its debut until 1995. So, Tim Russ being taken down by a move of Vulcan origin becomes especially interesting when it's considered that the actor would go on to play a Vulcan as a member of the core Voyager cast.

Tuvok was the first regularly-appearing Vulcan in Star Trek since Leonard Nimoy's Spock, and remains one of the most heavily-covered members of his race to date. The Tuvok-centric episodes of Star Trek: Voyager often taught audiences a lot about Vulcan culture, as well as recontextualizing what had been learned from Spock's presence in Star Trek: The Original Series.

Tim Russ' Second Star Trek Character Also Has A Strong Tuvok Connection

Voyager retconned Russ' Generations character to make Tuvok a member of the USS Excelsior's crew

Devor wasn't the only Star Trek character Russ played before being cast as Tuvok, as he would appear once more in a bit part in another corner of the franchise. In 1994's Star Trek Generations, Russ appears as an unnamed human lieutenant as part of the crew of Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei).

At the time, Russ' second Star Trek character had no canonical connection to either Devor or Tuvok. However, Star Trek: Voyager retconned his Generations appearance so that he was always playing Tuvok, despite his lack of pointy ears in the 1994 movie.

Star Trek: Voyager season 3, episode 2, "Flashback," saw Tuvok and Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) journey into the Vulcan's memories and explore the era of his career that is briefly glimpsed in Generations. So, airing in 1996, "Flashback" retroactively made it so that the Star Trek: Voyager pilot episode in 1995 was not Russ' first appearance as Tuvok.