Of all the characters introduced by the perennially popular Star Trek franchise, one of the most iconic was right there from the beginning: Spock. Portrayed in the original television series and run of feature films by Leonard Nimoy, the Enterprise's Vulcan/human first officer and science officer was a constant presence alongside Captain Kirk, and an early breakout character with television audiences. However, while Spock remains popular 55 years after the Enterprise first cruised onto television screens, the character was initially almost omitted from the show over religious concerns stoked by his physical appearance.

Franchise creator Gene Roddenberry included Nimoy's Spock in the original Star Trek pilot, "The Cage," as the Enterprise's science officer under Captain Christopher Pike. While the show's network, NBC, was impressed enough to commission a second pilot episode with a largely new cast, they insisted Roddenberry exclude Spock moving forward. The network's rationale had nothing to do with Nimoy's actual performance, however. Instead, it was concerned the character's pointed ears, which were intended to signify his Vulcan heritage, would be perceived as satanic and, therefore, offend viewers in the Bible Belt and other religiously inclined parts of the United States. NBC even went so far as to airbrush Spock's ears in some of the early promotional material for the series.

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Roddenberry ultimately insisted Spock remain on the show and NBC relented. The network's concern led to winking references to the Vulcan's signature pointed ears popping up in many episodes, usually in the form of crass jokes or passing shots from Doctor McCoy.

Young Spock

The most overt nod to worries about Spock's physical resemblance to Satan came in the second season episode "The Omega Glory," when the deranged Starfleet Captain Ronald Tracey tried to discredit Spock among the native population of planet Omega IV. Featuring a primitive war between Yangs (a veiled reference to Yankees) and Kohms (a veiled reference to Communists), the constitutionally minded Yangs revered their version of the Bible. Tracey pointed out Spock resembled their Bible's depiction of Satan, with an illustration in the holy writ underscoring his argument before Kirk persuaded the Yangs otherwise.

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In the end, the network's concerns turned out to be largely unfounded and Nimoy's Spock became the breakout character of the series, with the actor receiving plenty of fan mail after the series premiered. Nimoy's son Adam recalled overzealous fans collecting blades of grass and leaves from his family's home while Nimoy constantly made promotional appearances to capitalize on his character's popularity. Nimoy would also launch a multi-album musical career, even appearing on his first two albums in character as Spock. And Spock's legacy has continued today, with actors Zachary Quinto and Ethan Peck providing their own depictions of the fan-favorite Vulcan in more recent Star Trek movies and shows.

Spock is one of the most widely beloved science-fiction characters to emerge in pop culture in the past 60 years. And now things have come full circle with Peck poised to star as Spock in the upcoming television series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, once again as the Enterprise's science officer under Captain Pike. Yet while Spock is a character who predates Kirk, both in-universe and behind-the-scenes, the fan-favorite first officer almost went the way of Chris Pike and Number One. Fortunately for the franchise, Roddenberry's persistence and Nimoy's winning performance kept Spock front and center, ultimately giving Star Trek its most enduring character.

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