Prophet (Star Trek)

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Benjamin Sisko (right) speaks with his mother (left), a Bajoran Prophet

In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Prophets, also known as Wormhole Aliens, are non-corporeal beings who inhabit the artificially constructed Bajoran wormhole which connects a distant point in the Gamma Quadrant to the Alpha Quadrant, near the planet of Bajor and the space station Deep Space Nine.

The Bajoran people worship the Prophets as gods, in a religion referred to as The Way of the Prophets; this is because the Wormhole Aliens have sent prophecies, as well as mysterious spiritual devices called Orbs or Tears of the Prophets, to Bajor. The prophets exist outside of time and space, and do not understand linear time; a probable explanation for the prophetic visions experienced by many who interact with them. Captain Benjamin Sisko, who took command of Deep Space Nine after the withdrawal of the Cardassians from Bajor, became the first corporeal being to communicate with the prophets on stardate 46379, ("Emissary"). The Bajorans thus consider him a sacred emissary. They appear to Sisko as people with whom he is familiar. They refer to him as The Sisko.

At some point in the distant past, some prophets were forcibly expelled from their wormhole home, and chose to reside on Bajor, where they became known as the mythical Pah Wraiths. The wraiths long for revenge against the other prophets, and often take over the bodies of corporeal beings to reach that end. In the DS9 episode "The Assignment" a Pah Wraith occupies the body of Keiko O'Brien, to force her husband, Chief Miles O'Brien, to kill the prophets using the station's deflector array.

Since the Wormhole Aliens/Prophets seem at times to have little knowledge of other species, the exact nature of their relationship to the Bajorans is unknown (they often claim that "We are of Bajor", although it is unclear what they mean by this). It is unsure if the Prophets ever called on the Bajorans to worship them, or if the Bajorans took it upon themselves; in any event, the Prophets (with the exception of the Pah Wraiths) do not seem to be tyrannical deities, and most of their activities with their devotees seem to be sending them aid or helping to defeat the Pah Wraiths.