Trekker

Some Star Trek enthusiasts prefer the term "Trekkie", while some others self-identify as "Trekker". The Trekkie v. Trekker debate may mirror the Sci-Fi vs SF debate.

When the media picked up on the word "Trekkies", some fans thought the term sounded too much like "Crazies". Self-identification as a "Trekkie" became even less popular in the late 1980s after a famous national television parody (see Parodies below); several self-described "Trekkers" were quoted as saying they "had a life" (contrasting themselves from "Trekkies").

In the 1991 TV show Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special, Leonard Nimoy attempts to settle the issue by stating that the term 'Trekker' is the correct one.

The issue is also shown in the film Trekkies 2, in which a Star Trek fan recounts a supposed incident during a Star Trek convention where Gene Roddenberry used the term "trekkies" to describe fans of the show, only to be corrected by a fan that stood up and yelled "Trekkers!" Gene Roddenberry, allegedly, responded with "No, it's trekkies. I should know, I invented the thing."

One popular belief is that a "Trekkie" is a fan of the original Star Trek series and only the original whilst a "Trekker" is a fan of all Star Trek series such as The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, etc.