Before anyone ever heard of  Kim or Khloe, Star Trek introduced a new faction for The Federation to deal with known as the Cardassians. Originally recurring  characters in the later seasons of The Next Generation, Cardassians came into their own as major players throughout seven years of Deep Space Nine.  Many actors that have portrayed Cardassians have also had roles as Klingons and other characters. Although not introduced until 1991, Cardassians have become an integral species in the Star Trek Universe, much like their Klingon or Romulan counterparts. Here is a list of recognizable actors whom have donned the Cardassian makeup.

David Clennon portrayed the character of Cardassian Dr. Crell Moset in an episode of Voyager. You may recognize Clennon from his role as Palmer from the John Carpenter classic The Thing with Kurt Russel, Wilford Brimley and Keith David (a fantastic film, by the way). He also appeared in From the Earth to the Moon.

Paul Dooley reprised his role of Enabran Tain four different times on Deep Space Nine. Tain was the former head of the Obsidian Order and mentor to fellow Cardassian Elim Garak. You may recognize Dooley from his appearances in Hairspray and Sixteen Candles.

We’ve seen this guy before! David Warner has also portrayed Klingon Chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI (he was also in Star Trek V). He makes the Cardassian list as Gul Madred, who tortured Jean-Luc Picard in a two-part episode of The Next Generation called Chain of Command. This episode featured one of Patrick Stewart’s best performances and also featured Ronny Cox.

The first of several female Cardassians on this list, Melanie Smith portrayed Tora Ziyal, the half-Bajoran – half-Cardassian daughter of Gul Dukat on Deep Space Nine. Although the character has been played by different actors, Smith appeared as Ziyal six times. She has also been on Seinfeld and you may recognize her from her role on Gotham. Bonus Note: Melanie Smith is a member of a large list of Star Trek Actors from Pennsylvania – born in Scranton.

Martha Hackett is no stranger to the Star Trek Universe having played several different characters. She is best knows as Seska, a Cardassian undercover operative on Voyager whom she portrayed 13 times. Hackett has appeared with Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed and Robert Downey Jr. in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Model and actress Tracy Scoggins makes our list as Cardassian Gilora Rejal from an episode of Deep Space Nine. You may also recognize her from her role on Babylon 5… or all the swimsuit pictures that come up when you Google her name.

Richard Poe portrayed Cardassian Gul Evek five different times in the Star Trek Universe. Poe has appeared in The Peacemaker with George Clooney and you may recognize him from his role on Gotham.

John Vickery is not the first one here to have also played a Klingon (He was Prosecutor Orak on Enterprise). He makes this Cardassian list as Gul Rusot, which he played three times. You make also recognize him from Babylon 5 or his role in Murder by Numbers with Sandra Bullock.

He wasn’t even credited for his role as Cardassian Overseer, but John Fleck can’t be ignored. He has portrayed many characters on Star Trek, most notably several Romulans and the Suliban Silik from Enterprise. Heck, he even appeared as a human in one of Enterprise’s ‘period’ episodes. Fleck has appeared in Waterworld with Kevin Costner and Falling Down with Michael Douglas.

You have seen Gregory Sierra somewhere before, but he makes this list as the Cardassian Entek in the Star Trek Universe. Sierra is the second Cardassian here to have appeared in a John Carpenter film – he played a priest with James Woods in Vampires. You may also recognize him from his role in Towering Inferno.

The third entry on this list to have also portrayed a Klingon, John Schuck has actually portrayed TWO. He is on the Cardassian list as Legate Parn from Deep Space Nine. Schuck also appeared with Star Trek legend Ricardo Montalban (Khan Noonien Singh) on Fantasy Island.

He was only ever on Star Trek once, but what a great performance. Harris Yulin was Aamin Mariza (or Gul Darhe’el?) during the first season of Deep Space Nine. Seriously, one of the best DS9 episodes, especially in the early seasons. Yulin has been on tons of TV shows and movies: Ghostbusters II, Clear and Present Danger, Scarface, Training Day… you may have heard of him.

You may have seen him in his roles from Heart and Souls or Return of the Living Dead. John Durbin is known as the Cardassian Gul Lemec, which he played twice on Star Trek. He also appeared on The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager.

Frank Collison has played Cardassian Dolak on Star Trek two times. You may have seen him on Twin Peaks or with George Clooney and John Turturro in O Brother Where Art Thou. He was also on the Roanoke season of American Horror Story.

I’m always happy when horror movie people make a list. Mark Bramhall has portrayed Gul Nador on The Next Generation. You may recognize him from Annabelle: Creation. He also played one of the Vulcan Elders in the Star Trek reboot movie by J.J. Abrams.

A star since the 1960’s, Linda Thorson played Tara King on The Avengers TV series. She has been in dozens of productions from Dynasty to Half Past Dead with Steven Seagal. Thorson makes this list as Gul Ocett, one of the few female Guls from The Next Generation.

No stranger to heavy makeup, Joel Swetow has portrayed several interesting aliens on Star Trek. He makes the Cardassian list as Gul Jasad from Deep Space Nine. Swetow has been in movies such as Jumper and the third Mummy movie (ya know, the really bad one that took place in China).

Nana Visitor was Major/Intendant/Colonel Kira Nerys for all seven seasons of Deep Space Nine. Besides some holosuite episodes, and that one where Sisko thought he was Benny Russell, she always played a Bajoran. Except that one time when she was a Cardassian named Iliana Ghemor.

Casey Biggs is ranked third in the number of times wearing Cardassian makeup. He played Damar on Deep Space Nine, who climbed from the rank of Glinn – all the way to Legate by series end. Damar has been an integral character from story arcs with Gul Dukat, to the uprising against the Dominion. Biggs has appeared in Broken Arrow and The Pelican Brief and was once married to Trek actor Roxann Dawson.

Although he portrayed two different Cardassians, including the first one ever seen, Marc Alaimo misses the number one Cardassian rank by TWO shows. He has played other characters as well, but is most well known as Gul Dukat, the primary antagonist on Deep Space Nine. Alaimo has been either Gul Macet or Dukat a total of 35 times. You may have seen him in 80’s movies like Total Recall or Tango and Cash.

Our top 3 actors have been Cardassians a total of 95 times and Andrew Robinson is king. Originally written as a minor recurring character, he portrayed tailor/spy/hero Elim Garak on Deep Space Nine 37 times. Garak is one of the show’s most complex characters. You know how happy horror actors make me and Robinson sure makes the cut from his leading role in Clive Barker’s classic Hellraiser.