Are There Famous Redshirts Survivors In Star Trek Canon?

Alright, here’s the short scoop with a bit of fan enthusiasm: the phrase 'redshirt' comes from the early days of 'Star Trek', especially 'The Original Series', where members of the operations/engineering/security division wore red and often ended up as expendable victims in away missions. That reputation sticks, but when you look at canon more closely it’s clear that plenty of famous red-clad characters actually survive and become central to the story.

Take Nyota Uhura and Montgomery Scott — both wore red in 'The Original Series' and both survived through multiple episodes and feature films. Fast-forward to 'The Next Generation' era and the color coding flips a bit, but you still have prominent characters in red: Captain Picard, Commander Riker, and Worf (as head of security) all wear red at times and are very much not disposable. The trope is mostly about unnamed security officers and one-off crew who get killed to raise stakes; main cast members in red rarely meet that fate because writers need them around.

I love how the term evolved from a costume quirk into a pop-culture shorthand. It’s funny and a little morbid, but also a reminder that a uniform color doesn’t decide your fate in the canon — story importance does. I still grin whenever a nameless redshirt shows up in a tense corridor scene, though I root for them to stick around.

Totally — there are famous red-shirts who live through canon stories. If you look at 'Star Trek: The Original Series', two big names in red were Nyota Uhura and Montgomery Scott, both of whom survive and play central roles. Later on, red equals command in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' and beyond, so Jean-Luc Picard, William Riker, Worf, and Kathryn Janeway wear red constantly and aren’t expendable. The classic ‘redshirt dies’ image is mainly a TOS-era thing where anonymous security types were used to show danger; by the time we reach the TNG era, red is a badge of leadership. I find that mix hilarious and kind of charming—what began as costume choice became a long-running in-joke among fans, and I still laugh when a background officer in red strolls onto the bridge.

Let me tell you in plain fan-talk: yes, there are definitely famous people who’ve worn red and survived in the official on-screen continuity. The trick is knowing what people mean by 'redshirt.' If you’re thinking of the classic expendable security troopers from 'The Original Series', that stereotype comes from a bunch of background characters dying to create danger. But named crew who wore red? Totally different deal.

Nyota Uhura and Montgomery Scott are the easiest examples — both are iconic TOS figures who wore red and made it through many episodes and movies. In later shows the color system changes and main characters like Captain Picard, Commander Riker, and Worf often wear red uniforms and obviously don’t get written off just because of a color. So when someone asks if famous redshirts survive, my answer is a lively yes: the trope targets unknowns, not the recurring heroes. It’s a fun piece of Star Trek trivia that also says something about storytelling priorities and costuming choices, which I love geeking out about.

I get asked this at every retro-screening I go to: yes, there are definitely famous redshirts who survive, and that’s part of what made the trope so funny and enduring. Back in 'Star Trek: The Original Series' the color coding put engineering and security in red, which is why the chorus of expendable red-uniformed crew popped up so often in danger scenes. But the main cast weren’t anonymous—Nyota Uhura and Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott both wore red plenty of times and lived to tell the tale. Uhura’s communications role put her in the thick of things repeatedly without getting written off, and Scotty’s engineering heroics essentially made red look heroic instead of disposable.

Over time the meaning of red shifted. By the era of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' and beyond red signified command rather than just security, so beloved characters like Jean-Luc Picard, William Riker, and Worf routinely wore red and survived dozens of life-or-death plots. Even in 'Deep Space Nine' and 'Voyager', red was the color of leadership, not slaughter fodder. That change is worth pointing out because when people say “redshirt” they usually mean the anonymous, one-off security guys who get killed to raise stakes; that’s mostly a TOS-era storytelling shortcut.

So yeah, famous redshirts who survive are absolutely part of canon. The trope’s fun because it started as a visual shorthand and then evolved, letting established characters wear red without being token sacrifices—Scotty and Uhura staying alive is proof that color alone doesn’t doom you. Personally I like that evolution; it turns a cheap trick into part of franchise mythology and gives the red uniform a bit of pride instead of just peril.

I like to keep it simple and a bit nostalgic: the popular idea of redshirts being doomed comes from 'The Original Series' where many background security types in red got killed during episodes. But in canon there are plenty of very famous red-clad survivors — Nyota Uhura and Montgomery Scott are classic examples from TOS, and in the later era main players like Worf or Captain Picard wear red and remain central characters. The key is that the trope usually applied to unnamed extras, not the recurring cast.

So yes, famous redshirts do survive in the official shows and films; the color became shorthand for danger only because of how a few episodes were written and dressed. I always find it delightful when a new redshirt shows up on screen — my immediate hope is that this one beats the odds, and when they do survive it feels a little like a small victory.

There's a neat split if you look at uniforms chronologically: red meant different things in different eras, which explains why some famous people in red never bit it. In 'Star Trek: The Original Series' red typically marked operations and security staff, and many nameless officers in red vanished dramatically. Still, the major TOS stars in red—Nyota Uhura (communications) and Montgomery Scott (engineering)—are obvious survivors and are shown as capable and important, not cannon fodder.

When the franchise moved on to 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' the palette swapped—command officers wore red. That shift made the trope awkward, because now your captain and first officer are literally wearing what audiences had come to equate with expendability. Of course, Jean-Luc Picard, William Riker, and later Kathryn Janeway in 'Star Trek: Voyager' all wore red and survived many catastrophic events. In-universe, nothing mystical is killing red uniforms; it’s a production shorthand and a fan joke. In canon terms, the only people who reliably died because of a red shirt were often unnamed extras in early episodes. From my perspective that evolution is what’s coolest—color became part of Star Trek’s storytelling language, and fans ran with it, turning a practical costume choice into an affectionate bit of lore.