Trekkie
Star Trek fan
A Trekkie or Trekker is a fan of the Star Trek franchise, or of specific television series or films within that franchise. The show developed a following shortly after it premiered, with the first fanzine premiering in 1967. The first fan convention took place in 1969, the year the original series ended.
The degree of Trekkies' devotion has produced conflicted feelings among the cast and crew of the show. Creator Gene Roddenberry initially encouraged the fan participation, but over the years became concerned that some fans treated the show with a quasi-religious zeal as though it were "scripture." While some stars have been vocally critical of the franchise's most devoted fans, others including Sir Patrick Stewart have defended Trekkies.
There has been some disagreement within the fandom as to the distinction between the terms "Trekker" and "Trekkie." Some characterize Trekkers are "more serious" in comparison to the "bubble-headed" Trekkies, while others have chosen the term Trekker to convey that they are "a rational fan." Leonard Nimoy advocated for the use of "Trekker" over "Trekkie". Overall, the term "Trekkie" is more commonly used.
History
Many early Trekkies were also fans of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968), another show with science fiction elements and a devoted audience. The first Star Trek fanzine, Spockanalia, appeared in September 1967, including the first published fan fiction based on the show. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who was aware of and encouraged such activities, a year later estimated that 10,000 wrote or read fanzines.
The public source identifies “Trekkie” as star Trek fan. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Trekkie, Star and Trek.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Trekkie”, the useful work is to connect “star Trek fan” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1412961. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1967, 1969, 1964 and 1968.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Trekkie” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.