Ancient, malevolent noncorporeal beings able to possess others and grant them great power, long imprisoned on the world Vadia IX.
The Vezda are an ancient and malevolent noncorporeal species able to take possession of other beings and give them immense power. Long ago they were imprisoned on Vadia IX, where a guardian figure known as the Beholder kept them confined.
In Strange New Worlds, a Vezda took over Ensign Gamble during Through the Lens of Time and later escaped, passing itself off as a god to another people. In New Life and New Civilizations it set out to destroy the Beholder statue and free its kind, until Marie Batel, whose altered DNA matched the statue, sacrificed herself to become the new Beholder and keep the prison sealed.