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Zefram Cochrane makes first contact

Zefram Cochrane greets a Vulcan captain at the first contact of Humans and Vulcans

Gral and Shran call a truce

Tellarite Ambassador Gral and Andorian Commander Shran exchange a handshake, watched by Captain Jonathan Archer and Sub-Commander T'Pol

Worf and Picard reconcile

Worf and Picard shake

A handshake was a type of hand gesture used as a greeting by Humans and other races. (ENT: "Cold Front", TNG: "Half a Life", Star Trek: First Contact) It might also be used when making up after a conflict, and when sealing a deal. (VOY: "Once Upon a Time"; ENT: "United"; DS9: "In the Cards")

Elias Giger refused to shake hands due to the high amount of germs he believed were transmitted that way. (DS9: "In the Cards")

History[]

In August of 2151, Captain Jonathan Archer shook hands with fellow captain Keene when he left the infirmary of the Earth Cargo Service freighter ECS Fortunate. (ENT: "Fortunate Son")

In 2366, while vacationing on Risa, Jean-Luc Picard was baffled when Vash greeted him with an embrace and acted as though she knew him. He suggested she might have mistaken him for someone else, and she agreed, adding "Welcome to Risa." In Picard's opinion, "A simple handshake would have sufficed.". (TNG: "Captain's Holiday")

In 2369, Benjamin Sisko surmised that being probed by a Bajoran orb might be akin to a handshake. (DS9: "Emissary")

Handshaking was a form of greeting between Trill. Jadzia Dax shook hands with Lenara Kahn on her arrival at Deep Space 9 in 2372. (DS9: "Rejoined")

In 2373, Quark, hoping to get out of an upcoming confrontation with Thopok, asked Worf if there might be a ceremony or a secret handshake he could do instead. (DS9: "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places")

In 2375, Kathryn Janeway wondered aloud what the equivalent of a handshake would be for Species 8472. (VOY: "In the Flesh")

In 2379, Captain Picard shook hands with his former first officer William T. Riker, who had just been promoted to captain of the USS Titan, as a way of both congratulating him on his promotion and thanking him for being his number one. (Star Trek Nemesis)

In 2380, Lieutenant Brinson tells Ensign Mariner that on her second date with Boimler, he "shook hands" with a Lortian's egg sac. (LD: "Cupid's Errant Arrow")

Appendices[]

Background information[]

The final draft script of TOS: "Dagger of the Mind" described Doctor Tristan Adams as having an "aggressively friendly manner which promises firm handshakes."

In ultimately unused dialogue from the final draft script of TOS: "Miri", James T. Kirk motioned to engage Miri in a handshake, telling her, "On our Earth, this means – we'll be friends...." Miri was already familiar with the gesture, and explained it meant the same thing on Miri. She then looked down with the intention of shaking Kirk's hand, but suddenly noticed a blemish on his hand, a tell-tale sign of a plague which had killed the planet's adult population. In the final version of the episode, Miri discovers the blemish when she looks down at Kirk's hands, but the intention of them exchanging a handshake isn't in the episode.

Ira Steven Behr disliked Star Trek aliens shaking hands, commenting: "Every now and then when I'm watching the shows, the aliens will shake hands with one another and stuff like that, and my head starts to explode. Then again, I guess the shows aren't really about that. We're not writing books where you can spend a whole three volumes creating these deep alien cultures. But those handshakes, and asking for glasses of water and stuff! Man!" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, issue 13)

In a deleted scene from Star Trek Nemesis, Captain Picard greets his new first officer, Commander Martin Madden, with a handshake aboard the bridge of the Enterprise. (Star Trek Nemesis blu-ray special features deleted scene; [1])

In the final draft script of ENT: "The Shipment", Jonathan Archer and Gralik Durr were described as bidding each other farewell with a handshake. However, they do not shake each other's hand in the final version of the episode. Another scripted but not shown handshake was to have been between Archer and Commander Tucker at the end of ENT: "Countdown".

The final draft script of ENT: "United" made it clear that the handshake between Shran and Gral was elicited by Archer. However, this is not so evident on screen.

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