Why so much love for Arex?

[plynch]

Several people on another thread (TAS in your personal canon) mention Arex as a great character. Why the love?

[sbk1234]

I think a lot of it came from a time when Spock was the only alien on the ship. Seeing more aliens, especially one who really couldn't be made with the make-up skills of the day, was very exciting, and c aught a lot of people's attention. Personally, even though I was not a big fan of TAS, I really liked the idea of the Edoans (is that even canon for the species' name?), and I include them in my own personal canon/fanon.

[Therin of Andor]

sbk1234 wrote:

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I think a lot of it came from a time when Spock was the only alien on the ship. Seeing more aliens, especially one who really couldn't be made with the make-up skills of the day, was very exciting, and c aught a lot of people's attention.

I saw random episodes of Saturday morning TAS (in b/w) long before any episodes of TOS. My grandmother owned the TV in the 60s and we watched what she wanted to watch. When colour TV started in Australia in 1975, they started re-running TAS during breakfast television. Arex was orange! How had I not noticed this guy with the high-pitched voice? And it took quite a long time before I even noticed he had three arms, let alone three legs.

In 1980, having discovered ST:TMP, TOS and Blish and Foster adaptations in book form, I became entranced by Arex and M'Ress. So much untapped potential! Arex was added to TAS as an alien because the animators were free to draw any bizarre aliens they could imagine - and yet he only walks in one episode, because it takes time and money to make a three-legged alien walk! In the TAS novelizations, the "Star Trek Log" series, Alan Dean Foster gives us some background (through flashbacks) into these characters, and lots of little asides featuring them.

Arex was just a cool character!

I really liked the idea of the Edoans (is that even canon for the species' name?), and I include them in my own personal canon/fanon.

"Edos" and "Edoan" were terms never used in the aired episodes, only in a biography prepared for sale by mail order from Lincoln Enterprises. (Neither are M'Ress's "Cait" and "Caitian" terms used in aired episodes, but the revised ST Writers Bible, used for TAS, does have a hand-drawn map of Cait's position in the Lynx constellation.)

DS9 and ENT canonised the term "Edosian", and the writers have stated it was in reference to Arex. Author Peter David calls Arex a "Triexian" in the "New Frontier" novels, but there a great short story, "The Road to Edos" by Kevin Dilmore, which hilariously explains why the two terms are often confused.

[Warped9]

I agree in that Arex was a distinctly different character from Spock as an alien and as a crew member of the Enterprise.

ST09 could have redeemed itself in my eyes at least a little if they had found a way to have Arex in the film and on the bridge. It probably would have been the film's high point.

[Therin of Andor]

Warped9 wrote:

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ST09 could have redeemed itself in my eyes at least a little if they had found a way to have Arex in the film and on the bridge. It probably would have been the film's high point.

Hahaha. Nah, you would have said, "Don't those idiots know that Arex shouldn't be aboard at the same time as Chekov?"

C'mon, you really can't claim that little ol' Arex would have changed your opinions on JJ's film after the last few years of tirade.

[Warped9]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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Hahaha. Nah, you would have said, "Don't those idiots know that Arex shouldn't be aboard at the same time as Chekov?"

C'mon, you really can't claim that little ol' Arex would have changed your opinions on JJ's film after the last few years of tirade.

No, but at least I could have said, "Okay the film's fucked up, but a live-action Arex is kinda cool."

[Therin of Andor]

Warped9 wrote:

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"... a live-action Arex is kinda cool."

There was lots of cool stuff in the movie. Sad you refuse to even try to enjoy it.

I once found a brief interview with Gene Roddenberry where he was asked if Arex and M'Ress were going to be in ST:TMP and Gene said that he'd tried to convince Majel to do a dual role in the then-upcoming movie. She steadfastly refused to contemplate wearing latex, not even for a brief cameo.

[Warped9]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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There was lots of cool stuff in the movie. Sad you refuse to even try to enjoy it..

What kind of arrogant, presumptuous remark is that? How the hell do you know what I try and try not to do?

If I don't fucking like something for my own reasons that someone else does like than that's my damned business. I have as much right to think something is shit as anyone has to see it differently.

Jesus Christ!

It isn't dissenters around this board that are a problem. It's people who presume to ascribe all kinds of ulterior motives to dissenters other than being able to accept that we just disagree and don't fucking like the same things.

[Shatnertage]

Umm...back to Arex?

I think people think he's so great because you don't see very much of him. I'm just going from TAS, not the novels. Every time you see him, it's kind of a treat.

From personal experience, from when I first watched the show as a very small kid, he was just cool because he had a funny voice and...he had three arms! In those days, I guess, the bar for kewl aliens was much lower than it is today.

[Kelso]

Oh, good. I was afraid this thread wouldn't turn into a Trek XI pissing match.

Whew. Crisis averted.

Oh, and insert something about Arex [here].

[Rageforthemachine]

It has also become kind of a cultural meme for fans to latch on to a minor character and turn him into a folk hero. It's called the Boba Fett syndrome.

[Rageforthemachine]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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There was lots of cool stuff in the movie. Sad you refuse to even try to enjoy it.

I once found a brief interview with Gene Roddenberry where he was asked if Arex and M'Ress were going to be in ST:TMP and Gene said that he'd tried to convince Majel to do a dual role in the then-upcoming movie. She steadfastly refused to contemplate wearing latex, not even for a brief cameo.

I wonder if that's also a look into the Roddenberry's sex life?

[Lieut. Arex]

Dark Journey wrote:

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It has also become kind of a cultural meme for fans to latch on to a minor character and turn him into a folk hero. It's called the Boba Fett syndrome.

There is something of that. From TAS, aside from his physical appearance, there's very little to the character. Still, to a nine-year old, three arms and three legs was more than enough for me to fall in love with the Edoans and Arex. A real alien on the Enterprise, not just a big cat or guy with pointed ears. It's a shame we never got more.

[Kelso]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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I once found a brief interview with Gene Roddenberry where he was asked if Arex and M'Ress were going to be in ST:TMP and Gene said that he'd tried to convince Majel to do a dual role in the then-upcoming movie. She steadfastly refused to contemplate wearing latex, not even for a brief cameo.

I've heard that, and I would have loved to see it. She was fairly useless as Doctor Chapel, anyway. M'Ress might have at least been memorable (what with her being a giant cat person and all). Actually, it would have been nice if Gene had gone ahead with it with a different actress. I love getting alien looking crewmembers.

I guess I really liked Arex because I could pretend that he was a part of the original series, as well. Like he might have been just off screen and we just missed seeing him. It makes the TOS Starfleet seem that much more magical to imagine that it wasn't limited to humans (and that one guy with the ears).

[Warped9]

Well, in TFF we saw some sort of cat being in the Nimbus III bar that attacked Kirk that might have been a Caitin like M'ress.