2026 Is The Year Of This Old School Star Trek Alien

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 3 - "Human Best Friend"2026 is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, but who could have guessed that it would also be the year of this old-school alien from the final frontier. Thanks to comedic odes in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, it has been quite a notable year for the Mugato.

The Mutago debuted in Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, episode 19, "A Private Little War." Native species of the planet Neural, the Mugato resemble Earth apes, but with white fur and a horned head. The Mugato's bite is also poisonous, and Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) nearly died after a violent attack by a Mugato.

After their lone appearance in 1960s Star Trek, Mutagos made a surprise comeback decades later in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2, episode 4, "Mutago, Gumato," a title that winks at the alternate name for the alien apes. 24th-century Ferengi poachers were killing Mugatos before the crew of the USS Cerritos made the Ferengi realize it was more profitable to open a Mutago nature preserve.

Star Trek’s Mugato Costume Appeared In Starfleet Academy & Strange New Worlds

Amusingly, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds both featured characters wearing a Mugato costume in 2026, in the third episode of each show's current seasons, no less. It's even possible that the same Mugato costume was used in Paramount+'s last two Star Trek series, although, in canon, they are separated by over 930 years in Star Trek's timeline.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1, episode 3, "Vitus Reflux," revealed that, in the late 32nd century, the rival War College's mascot was the Mutago. A War College cadet wore a Mugato costume during their Calica showdown with Starfleet Academy. Later, Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta) donned the Mugato suit and infiltrated the War College's dorm so that Starfleet Academy could win their prank war.

The Mutago costume came back in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 3, "Human Best Friend." In the 23rd century, Scotty (Martin Quinn) borrowed a Mugato suit to enter a costume party during shore leave at the Cesnar Grand resort. Hungover from inhaling an intoxicating dragon bomb, Scotty awoke the next day with no memory of why he was wearing a Mugato costume.

Scotty also dropped a meta joke about the Mugato costume in Strange New Worlds, claiming that he could "still smell" its previous wearer. Since Starfleet Academy likely filmed its prank war episode before Strange New Worlds' The Hangover-inspired comedy, Sandro Rosta was the previous wearer. Although Scotty canonically wore a Mugato suit 900 years before Caleb Mir will.

Why Star Trek’s Mugato Made A 2026 Comeback

By virtue of being an unusual-looking alien ape, the Mugato was always a popular alien creature from Star Trek: The Original Series. The writers and producers of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Strange New Worlds are clearly fans of vintage Star Trek, and both shows found ways to incorporate Mugato costumes into lighthearted episodes.

25 years ago, the Mugato was homaged by lifelong Star Trek fan Ben Stiller. In his male model comedy Zoolander, Stiller named the villain played by Will Ferrell "Jacobin Mugatu". Stiller's spelling of "Mugato" was also a nod to how the white ape-like alien was originally named the Gumato, but DeForest Kelley and William Shatner both pronounced it "Mugato" in their 1968 Star Trek episode, leading to a name change.

It's unclear if a Mugato costume appearing in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Strange New Worlds in the same year was merely a happy coincidence, or if it was a coordinated effort by the productions of both series. It's also unconfirmed whether it's the same costume shared by both shows, or if Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy's costume designers each made a Mugato suit.

As for who wore the Mugato suit best, Caleb Mir in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy or Scotty in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, that's up to the eye of the beholder. However, both Caleb and Scotty answered to "Mr. Mugato" for a little while, giving Star Trek's great white horned ape his moment during Star Trek's 60th anniversary year.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's new episodes premiere Thursdays on Paramount+