Daedalic Entertainment just brilliantly exploited a raw fandom nerve with Star Trek Voyager: Across the Unknown trailer

Daedalic Entertainment and GameExcite dropped a new trailer for Star Trek Voyager: Across the Unknown this afternoon, and it's a doozy. It seems that Star Trek gamers have a lot to look forward to, from strategic battles to the Fallout Shelter-like interface that allows them to redesign the interior of the ship (not gonna lie, pretty smart move). But there is one moment in the trailer that is sure to have every fan foaming at the mouth to jump in when the game releases. The inclusion of this guy right here:

The innocuous gentlebeing pictured above is named Tuvix, and the very mention of his name brings on a fandom firestorm. Every Star Trek Voyager fan knows about Tuvix. The original episode of Voyager featuring Tuvix (s2, ep24, to be exact) aired in 1996, and fans are still arguing about it.

The short version of the story is this: In a transporter accident, the Vulcan science officer Tuvok and the ship's chef Neelix get smashed together into one being, complete with both parties' traits and memories. Choosing the name Tuvix, the newcomer adapts to life on the Voyager as a fledgling crew member. 

It takes the ships doctor over a month to figure out how to separate Tuvix back out into the two beings that spawned him. Over that time, Tuvix develops his own personality, and in the end, decides that he doesn't want to die. He feels that he has the same right to exist as any other being, despite his method of creation. In the end, he pleads for his life, asking the crew not to murder him. The doctor refuses to perform the procedure to separate him back out, so Captain Janeway herself runs the controls, recovering Tuvok and Neelix, but murdering Tuvix in the process.

Almost thirty years later, fans still debate the merits of this choice. The episode is frequently referenced throughout Trek history, most recently on an episode of Star Trek Lower Decks, when a newly created hybrid being goes rogue and starts running around "Tuvix-ing" everyone.

Tuvix represents what could be the most contentious moment in Star Trek history, and Daedalic is just dangling the juicy opportunity to save him (or savagely kill him again) in front of gamers. For some, this is the chance to undo the greatest wrong in Trek lore. For others, it is the delicious prospect of reinforcing Janeway's decision to completely obliterate a new, previously unknown lifeform. Delightful. 

In a brief news release today, Daedalic says "Love a character who didn’t make it in the original series? In Across the Unknown, you decide what happens." We know what you are talking about, Daedalic, you cheeky monkey.

Let the debate begin anew! Tuvix is dead! Long live Tuvix!