Genetic augmentation is illegal in the Star Trek universe, and the superhuman powers displayed by Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) and his fellow Augments is a good example of why those laws exist. Star Trek: The Original Series first introduced the concept of the Augments in the classic episode "Space Seed", which introduced Khan as the future nemesis of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). The product of 20th century genetic engineering, Khan and his fellow Augments ruled the Earth with an iron fist before in-fighting led to the Eugenics Wars and the eventual outlawing of genetic enhancements.

Even after his death in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Khan Noonien Singh continued to cast a long shadow over Starfleet and the Federation long into the 24th century. The fear of others gaining Khan's superior strength and intelligence have inadvertently punished several Star Trek characters including Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Most recently, the USS Enterprise's Number One (Rebecca Romijn) was almost discharged from Starfleet due to the institution's fear of Augments and their considerable superpowers.

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10 Khan's Super Strength

When Khan took control of the USS Enterprise, he bragged that he had "five times" the strength of Captain Kirk. Fighting the superman in the Enterprise's engine room, Kirk was unable to defeat Khan in hand-to-hand combat. Instead, Kirk had to use a metal rod to beat Khan into submission. Later, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, he showed his superior strength once again when he lifted Commander Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig), complete with bulky space suit, clean off the ground on the ravaged surface of Ceti Alpha V. However, Khan used much more of his cunning in his attempts to avenge himself against Captain Kirk.

9 Khan's Intelligence

In "Space Seed", Khan displays his superior intelligence by rapidly absorbing centuries worth of history. This allows him to catch up on everything that's happened since Star Trek's Eugenics Wars, giving him the information he needs to launch a takeover of the Enterprise. Khan is shown to be a peerless tactician, which is why his Kelvin Timeline counterpart (Benedict Cumberbatch) was tasked with strategizing a war with the Klingons. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Khan quickly figures out how to use the USS Reliant and the Genesis device to unleash his vengeance on Kirk, though in his hubris, he failed to predict his own downfall.

8 Dr. Bashir's Intelligence

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" it was revealed that Julian Bashir was genetically enhanced as a child. Worried that "Jules" was falling behind the other kids at school, his parents took him to Adigeon Prime, a planet where DNA resequencing and genetic enhancement were permitted. Thanks to the treatments, Julian's IQ rapidly increased over two weeks, leaving him with superior intelligence. It was later implied that Bashir deliberately got questions wrong while studying medicine at Starfleet Academy to conceal his genetic enhancements from the organization.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Dr. Bashir later tried to rehabilitate a group of fellow Augments by offering them a chance to use their own superior intelligence to strategize a potential end to the Dominion War. However, this backfired when the Augments, and Julian himself, realized that the only way to end the war without further bloodshed was to surrender to the Founders. Bashir eventually stopped his fellow Augments from enacting this controversial plan, ultimately leading to the Federation's eventual victory, albeit after extensive loss of life on both sides of the conflict.

7 Dr. Bashir's Coordination

Julian's hand-eye coordination was also vastly improved by the genetic augmentations to his reflexes and vision. This is possibly why Bashir initially considered a career as a tennis ace before he eventually decided to study medicine. While at Starfleet Academy, he was the Captain of the racquetball team, a game he continued to play against his best friend Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney). Presumably, it was his superior coordination that led his team to win the Sector Championships in Julian's final year at the Academy.

6 Number One's Super Strength

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 3, "Ghosts of Illyria" revealed that Number One was genetically enhanced. As an Illyrian, Una was genetically engineered before birth and received further enhancements when she was a child. As it was part of their culture, Number One's trial interrogated Starfleet on their persecution of Illyrians due to their fear of another Khan Noonien Singh. One of the augmentations that Una received enhanced her physical strength, and she was able to carry Hemmer with ease when he fell victim to the contagion that ravaged the Enterprise in "Ghosts of Illyria".

5 Number One's Glowing Powers

Also in "Ghosts of Illyria", it was revealed that Number One could purge contagions from her body with an enhanced immune system. The effect of this purging was a glowing orange light which enabled her to heal herself. Unfortunately, because of the attention that such an ability would draw in a society which hated and feared Augments, Una nearly died from blood poisoning after her leg was broken as a child. It was only in the safety of her family home that she could use her abilities to fix the fracture.

4 Dal R'El's Multiple Abilities

Star Trek: Prodigy's Dal R'El (Brett Gray) always knew he was different, and it was revealed in the episode "Masquerade" that he was genetically augmented. Engineered by scholars of Dr. Arik Soong (Brent Spiner), Dal contained the genetic code of 26 different Star Trek species. In "Masquerade", Dal's dormant genes were activated by an implant which allowed him to harness the superior abilities of just some of these alien races. He showed psychic abilities, superior agility, and strangely, the ability to produce a slimy blue substance. Dal's physical appearance was also altered, sprouting Spock-style Vulcan ears, a Klingon beard, and Andorian antennae.

3 La'an's Alcohol Tolerance

In the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 premiere, La'an Noonien-Singh subtly hinted at the future revelations about her own genetic enhancements. In an early scene on the planet Cajitar IV, La'an was seen engaging in a drinking competition with Kr'Gogh (Kyle Kass). La'an downed several mugs of Klingon blood wine, without the ill effects that other Humans usually suffer from. Star Trek Into Darkness' Khan Noonien Singh was also able to tolerate vast quantities of alcohol, so she clearly inherited this from her ancestor. Presumably La'an has other, hitherto unrevealed powers beyond the ability to outdrink Klingons.

2 The Klingon Augments' Plague Powers

Star Trek: Enterprise's genetically enhanced Klingon variants also gained the superior intelligence and strength of Augments like Khan and Bashir. However, an unfortunate quirk of the augmentation process also allowed them to spread a deadly plague that nearly wiped out the Klingon Empire. The Klingon scientists accidentally enhanced the Lenovian flu carried by one of their subjects, causing the virus to become an airborne plague. Alongside respiratory problems, the plague also caused victims to lose their proud Klingon cranial ridges, a change that provided a canonical explanation for the flat headed Klingons from Star Trek: The Original Series.

1 Malik's Super-Strength And Ruthlessness

Arik Soong believed that Star Trek's Eugenics Wars were a result of Humanity's inability to use genetic engineering responsibly, and stole a clutch of Augment embryos to prove his point. Sadly, the uprising led by Malik (Alec Newman) against the Klingon Empire cast doubts on Soong's hypothesis. Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) enlisted Soong's help in convincing his Augments not to start a war between Earth and the Klingons. Like Khan Noonien-Singh before him, Malik was incredibly strong, hyper-intelligent and utterly ruthless, meaning that a peaceful solution was never on the cards. After attempting to kill Soong, Malik was shot dead by Captain Archer, and the Federation failed to be convinced of the benefits of creating superhumans for another century.