Manas, formerly Anderson Le, was a Human male who served as a Federation Starfleet officer until he was stranded on the planet Altamid. Le became the alien Manas after the use of energy transference technology severely mutated his body.
Quick Answers
How did Anderson Le become the alien Manas?
What role did Manas play on the USS Franklin?
What caused the USS Franklin to crash on Altamid?
How did energy transference technology affect Manas?
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Biography
Early career
Anderson Le in 2164
Le served as an operations division Starfleet officer during the 22nd century, serving on board the USS Franklin. In 2164, the Franklin was displaced by a wormhole while inside the Gagarin Radiation Belt. The ship crashed on the distant planet Altamid, with Le, Captain Balthazar Edison, and Jessica Wolff as the only survivors. (Star Trek Beyond)
Becoming Manas
On Altamid, Edison, Le, and Wolff found technology left behind by a previous civilization, including Swarm ships, a drone workforce, and an energy transference process that allowed them to "drain" other individuals to prolong their own lives. Using their newly acquired Swarm, Edison, Le, and Wolff captured scores of alien ships and drained their crews to survive, which also mutated their biology to resemble that of their victims. In time, Le became "Manas", suppressing much of his Human identity and even ceasing to speak in English.
During his time on Altamid, Manas aided Krall in corralling survivors of starships deliberately crashed on the planet to be used by Krall to extend his and his shipmates' lives through energy transference. At some point, Manas killed Jaylah's father as he helped his daughter to safety.
Alternate reality
In the alternate reality, Manas joined Krall's forces in an attack on the USS Enterprise in 2263. Boarding the Enterprise, Manas was responsible for the deaths of numerous Enterprise crew members, at one point pursuing Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott through the remains of the engineering section and forcing the Starfleet officer to escape inside an advanced long-range torpedo.
Following the destruction of the Enterprise, Manas helped Krall round up the surviving Starfleet crew and hold them on the surface of Altamid. When Captain James T. Kirk and Jaylah stormed Krall's camp to free the Enterprise crew, Manas engaged Jaylah in hand-to-hand combat until Scott transported Jaylah back to the wreck of the Franklin along with Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew, leaving Manas to fall to his death from the top of a high structure. (Star Trek Beyond)
Appendices
Background information
Manas was portrayed by Joe Taslim.
Make-up prosthetics for Manas were designed by Joel Harlow. "Manas clocked in at around nine pieces," Harlow remarked. "He was similar to Krall, because this entire crew has been feeding off the same alien DNA." (Cinefex, No. 148, p. 85)
A concept sketch of Manas can be found at TrekCore.
Apocrypha
Manas kills Jaylah's father
The fifth issue of Star Trek: Boldly Go established that after Manas and Krall captured Jaylah and her family's ship, they took her older sister, Keelah to be used for the energy transference. When Jaylah tried to fight back, Manas then threatened to kill her father if she did not allow them to take her sister. Manas and his drones later discovered that Jaylah and her father were trying to escape. Jaylah's father stayed behind to confront Manas, where he was shot and killed by his captor.
External link
Manas at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works