You will only know of Arex if you are a Star Trek super fan or you have such excellent recall you can summon the long ago memories of childhood Saturday mornings.  Arex was voiced by our very own James Doohan on the two-season animated series.

Source: StarTrek.com

Arex, an Edosian (Triexian) possessed of his tripodal species’ characteristic orange skin and six limbs (three arms and three legs, with three digits on each hand and foot), began serving as a navigator aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise on stardate 5371.3 (2269).

Later that year, on stardate 7403.6, the versatile Lieutenant Arex manned the bridge science station, from which he scanned the surface of Delta Theta III in search of Captain Kirk and Commander Spock.

Arex has been in Starfleet for many years. He is known as the best navigator in the fleet. Before he entered the service as a technician, he spent 10 years in the merchant space fleet. While Arex is an officer, and a good one, he is not a product of Starfleet Academy. He worked his way up through the ranks, becoming an officer via a “field commission” during a battle involving the Klingons and the small cruiser aboard which he was then serving. It is not fair to say Arex has never been to Starfleet Academy — he spent two years there some time ago, as a space navigation instructor. One of his high-scoring students was a young Russian named Pavel Chekov.

His reflexes are quick, and he can move with great speed when necessary. In an emergency, he can operate the complex helm-navigation console by himself.

Arex is a thoughtful being, given to long silences. There are times when he retreats to the solitude of his quarters to deliberate … or perhaps to worship the many gods of Edos. One never knows, for Arex never speaks of these moments of isolation.

Arex has no brothers or sisters. In fact, it is highly unusual for there to be more than one child per family on his home planet Edos. The population must be kept down due to the longer life factor. 

Aboard ship, Arex often keeps to himself. However, when the mood is right, he can be persuaded to play a flute-like instrument called a sessica. Arex also can be persuaded — at very rare moments — to display a special proficiency in sleight-of-hand, a trick he picked up while in the merchant space service. Arex is entitled to wear three decorations for bravery and has a Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Valor.  Read more…