Copyright Screen Rant
No one can question Mr. Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) intelligence, but in the decades after Star Trek: The Original Series, several characters were introduced who exceed the Vulcan Science Officer's formidable brain power. Mr. Spock is half-Vulcan, but he rigidly developed his intellect, which served him and Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) well in the dual role of USS Enterprise Science Officer and First Officer. Spock's ability to calculate mathematical figures and recite obscure facts was boundless. Spock's intelligence was so valued, he was often used by Starfleet to test security protocols because the Vulcan's logic and perception easily exceeded human attention to detail. In Star Trek: The Original Series, Spock was generally considered among Starfleet's sharpest minds. As Star Trek has evolved, however, other characters were introduced with even greater intellectual capacity than Spock. It's notable that most of them are higher life forms or are various kinds of artificial intelligence, which just goes to show what it takes to exceed Spock's mighty brain. Sybok No one had any idea that Spock had an older half-brother until Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which introduced Sybok (Lawrence Luckinbill). Sybok was the son of Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard) and a Vulcan princess. Describing his sibling to Captain Kirk, Spock said Sybok was "exceptionally gifted, possessing a great intelligence. It was assumed he would one day take his place amongst the great scholars of Vulcan." But Sybok was also "a revolutionary" who sought knowledge forbidden by Vulcans. Presumably, Sybok matches or exceeds Spock's intellect, and Sybok also acquired the banned knowledge he sought. Sybok developed his Vulcan psychic abilities to sense and 'heal' the pain of others, which converts them into his willing acolytes. Brilliant as he was, Sybok was a believer who thought he was chosen to find God. Instead, Sybok found an alien pretender 'god '(George Murdock) on the fabled world of Sha Ka Ree, and Sybok sacrificed himself to save his brother, Kirk, and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley). Spock seemed to defer to his older brother's intellect. Sybok indeed may have been more intelligent than his sibling, but Sybok's defiance of logic and reason ultimately doomed Spock's brother on Sha Ka Ree. Zora Zora (Annabelle Wallis) was the evolved and sentient A.I. that evolved from the USS Discovery's computer. In Star Trek: Discovery season 2, Disco's computer was merged with the Sphere Data, which was 100,000 years of galactic knowledge. The Sphere Data was sought by a different A.I., Control, Section 31's self-aware threat assessment protocol. If Control had merged with the Sphere Data, it would have achieved its goal of wiping out all organic life in the galaxy. After the USS Discovery's computer bonded with the Sphere Data, it developed into an empathetic female personality that took the name Zora. Zora was even granted the Starfleet position of Specialist. With the combined knowledge of the Sphere Data and everything known by 32nd century Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, Zora was one of the most intelligent beings in the galaxy. The Doctor Star Trek: Voyager introduced The Doctor (Robert Picardo), the first Emergency Medical Hologram, who came online in 2371 when the USS Voyager was stranded in the Delta Quadrant, over 70,000 light-years from Earth. Based upon the personality of the EMH's creator, Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, The Doctor rapidly evolved throughout Star Trek: Voyager, expanding his wealth of medical expertise and gaining real-world experiences beyond his programming. The Doctor became so accomplished that he became a mentor and instructor at Starfleet Academy after the USS Voyager returned to Earth in 2378. The Doctor oversaw the young crew of the USS Protostar in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2. Putting The Doctor's experience and intelligence over the top is that the EMH has been continuously active for over 800 years. In Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's 32nd century, The Doctor instructs a new generation of Starfleet cadets, who benefit from the near-infinite capacity of his knowledge. The Borg Queen The Borg Queen (Alice Krige) was introduced in Star Trek: First Contact. The ruler of the Borg Collective, the Queen is the central control hub for every Borg Drone throughout the galaxy. The Borg Collective's primary function was to assimilate lifeforms and add their collective knowledge to the Borg. Since the Borg had absorbed countless species throughout its existence, the Borg Queen was the sum of and had immediate access to all of that information. The Borg Queen also possessed multi-dimensional sensory capacity. Alternate reality versions of the Borg Queen had awareness beyond their planes of existence. In Star Trek: Picard season 2, the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) from the Confederation of Earth reality was needed to perform Spock's role and calculate the trajectory required to slingshot around the sun to perform time-travel. Star Trek: Picard season 2's Borg Queen was a hybrid that also possessed the knowledge and personality of Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill). This Borg Queen led a benevolent Collective that was granted preliminary membership in the United Federation of Planets. The original Borg Queen and Collective was destroyed at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 3, eliminating that incarnation of the cybernetic ruler's infinite knowledge and malevolence from the galaxy. Wesley Crusher Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) began as a teenage genius on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but he was in no way more intelligent than Spock. However, Crusher's destiny would expand his mind and body beyond the limits of his humanity. Near the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wesley Crusher became one of the Travelers, a species of cosmic beings charged with exploring and protecting time and space. Wesley Crusher's role as a Traveler became clear in Star Trek: Picard season 2's finale, when Wesley made a surprise appearance and hinted at the scope of the multiverse to his new recruit, Kore Soong (Isa Briones). The Travelers were retconned by Star Trek: Picard season 2 as the overseers of the Supervisors, who were introduced at the end of Star Trek: The Original Series season 2. In Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, Wesley Crusher was pivotal in helping the young crew of the USS Protostar stop the realities-devouring entities called the Loom. Without Wesley, the multiverse would have been consumed by the Loom. As a Traveler, Wesley Crusher possesses inconceivable amounts of information across time and multiple alternate realities, which can sometimes overwhelm Wesley's human-born brain. Data Star Trek: The Next Generation decided not to copy Star Trek: The Original Series and create another Vulcan on the USS Enterprise-D. Instead, Gene Roddenberry created something new: an android Starfleet Officer, Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner). Created by Dr. Noonien Soong (Brent Spiner), Data was the most advanced artificial lifeform of his day. Data's positronic brain had an 800 quadrillion-bit storage memory, with computational speeds of 60 trillion operations per second. Spock was often derisively called a computer, but Data actually was one. Data could not only process information at lightning speeds, but also move at speeds much faster than human when he desired. In physical strength and mental capacity, Data was levels above Spock, even at his Vulcan best. Data's malevolent brother, Lore (Brent Spiner), also had a positronic brain that presumably also made him smarter than Spock. Two decades after Data's death in Star Trek: Nemesis, he was resurrected in Star Trek: Picard season 3 as a more human-like synthetic with a full suite of emotions. Presumably, the new and improved Data is as smart as he ever was, but Spock had a handle on his emotions that the synthetic Data might envy. Q Possessing what appears to be literal omnipotence, Q (John de Lancie) and the other members of the Q Continuum would have to rank among the most intelligent sentient species in the galaxy. Q can do literally anything, and his impressive reality-altering powers - as well as Q's irritating personality - often obfuscate Q's intelligence. Q can see and know beyond space, time, dimensions, and reason. When Q was temporarily turned human by the Q Continuum in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, he claimed his IQ was "two thousand and five." (The highest recorded I.Q. in real life is 276). Q also represents the slew of higher beings seen throughout Star Trek, space gods like the Metron and the Organians, who are far older and possessed of cosmic knowledge beyond Spock's understanding.
