Black Vulcan
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Tuvok is supposed to be all Vulcan. So him or his ancestors being the result of interbreeding doesn't make sense.
VOY just showed that diversity wasn't limited to Humans. Tuvok was one of the best things about VOY, IMO.
I'm not assuming it, I'm wondering if it's possible.
It's likely that the question has never been asked before because it's probably impossible.
Don't count me as one complaining that there are ethnic varieties in Vulcanians. However, what i do wish is that there would be more world building involved when creating these aliens. Sure there is probably ethnic variety in alien species, that's just basic biology. But what are the chances that the Vulcanian equivalent of "black" would be the same is the human version of "black"?
I agree, lets show diversity in alien species. But that diversity should be alien as well, not just humans with rubber bits glued on. It just seems careless to not put very much thought into your world building.
I agree, lets show diversity in alien species. But that diversity should be alien as well, not just humans with rubber bits glued on. It just seems careless to not put very much thought into your world building.
Vulcan is a hot desert planet. Of course there are people with very dark complexion.
Kor
Vulcan is a hot desert planet. Of course there are people with very dark complexion.
Kor
But see it's not just the dark complexion. Tuvok also has the wide nose, large lips, curly hair, black hair of Humans.
Meaning a "black" Vulcanian is, on the exterior, exactly the same as a "black" human (except for the ears and eyebrows). The chances of those exact same features occurring in two separate species are astronomical. We know that there is some genetic connection (see "The Chase") between Star Trek aliens. But it would be nice if more thought was put into alien ethnicities.
What you see on tv is an actor in makeup playing a Vulcan. In universe he doesn't look any different than other Vulcans. Same as Chris Pine's Kirk looks exactly like Shatner's Kirk to old Spock.
In other words, don't overthink things.
In other words, don't overthink things.
About the same that the Vulcanian equivalent of "white" would be the same as the human version of "white".
And a "white" Vulcanian is, on the exterior, exactly the same as a "white" human (except for the ears and eyebrows).
Of course Vulcans aren't the only case of this.
Okay, this is really stupid. A Vulcan with a brown skin doesn't mean there is somehow an Africa-shaped continent on Vulcan. It just means there is at least a region on Vulcan where darker skin became more common, due to reason we will never know, as they'll never dare touch base on in the films, the TV shows, and the novels. It doesn't have to be the same purpose or cause darker skin occurs among Humans on Earth...
Oh so much this. Russ' Tuvok is my favorite Voyager character by far. I loved it when he dominated a scene with that sourpuss of his. Tuvok projected efficiency, a little disdain, a little hauteur, and had real bearing. He was a real PITA and a stand-up guy. Also very dangerous when he needed to be. Absolutely what I thought a Vulcan should be like. Was a shame he didn't get more to do.
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To the OP's point:
I will say that I am not sure we could count on melanin or pigment to evolve the same way on Vulcan as on earth (funny we don't capitalize earth...never mind). If Vulcan has climates that produce dark-skinned Vulcans, we might ask why a different protective color didn't evolve, maybe a dark blue or dark green. It MIGHT be possible that brown affords so much better protection than dark blue or dark green that it always wins in the natural selection department, but I think that is doubtful. So there is some scientific validity in this question.
But still--I wouldn't change a thing for the sake of probability. Russ reset the Vulcan standard as far as I am concerned. I am going to just assume the improbable here--that melanin or a pigment that produces the same color effect as melanin evolved on Vulcan. Improbable, but not impossible, and hey, TUVOK man!
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All the fuss over Tuvok being black is silly when we'd already had a black Vulcan priestess and a black Romulan. It was already established that the Vulcanoid races had both white and black races. I believe we see an Asian Vulcan at one point too, and we saw a diverse selection of races of Bajorans and Klingons.
The galactic seeders are an easy explanation for the humanoid similarities and cross fertilization of species.
The galactic seeders are an easy explanation for the humanoid similarities and cross fertilization of species.
The progenitor species that gave the universe the humanoid form may have included racial diversity in the genetic code they left behind on each world the seeded.
10/10And Hanna-Barbera already had a Black Vulcan back in the '70s.
The silly thing is not that there are black Vulcans, the silly thing is that Vulcans and most other aliens look almost like humans.
The reason there are so many Humanoids in STAR TREK was actually spelled out in The Classic Series. I forget what they were called, right now - "The Protectors," maybe. They "seeded" Humanoids throughout the Galaxy, apparently. I believe this was established in the 3rd Season episode "The Paradise Syndrome," where Kirk becomes another character, entirely, called "Kirok," for most of the show. Somewhat reminiscent of Picard's becoming "Kaman" in "Inner Light," although Kirk's fantasy life was actually real.
http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Preserver_(race)
Oddly enough Chakotay's tribe that could have easily fallen under this umbrella, were just dissidents sick of Earthlings, and left under their own power in the mid 22nd century.
(This factoid is in the Voyager Bible, but not referenced on screen.)
It's likely that Chuckle's grandfather was born on Earth, so the degree of skin he had in the Maquis is a little less than if aliens transplanted his descendants half way across the sector a thousand years earlier.
I always wondered why the green blood didn't give Vulcans a more inhumanly olive complexion?
Oddly enough Chakotay's tribe that could have easily fallen under this umbrella, were just dissidents sick of Earthlings, and left under their own power in the mid 22nd century.
(This factoid is in the Voyager Bible, but not referenced on screen.)
It's likely that Chuckle's grandfather was born on Earth, so the degree of skin he had in the Maquis is a little less than if aliens transplanted his descendants half way across the sector a thousand years earlier.
I always wondered why the green blood didn't give Vulcans a more inhumanly olive complexion?
Why would complexion even be related to solar climate, just because it is that way on Earth? It might be related to something completely different. It could be the way the magnetic field of Vulcan is configured, it could be solely down to sexuality, it could be down to dietary differences in different regions, it could be down to deliberate social and genetic engineering. Surak introduces logic and IDIC, and to make the message stick geneticists deliberately increase the diversity of the Vulcan genome.
Then again Vulcan was a warlike planet in the past, all those nukes going off introduce a whole lot of random mutations, and all of a sudden there a bunch of pale skinned Vulcans.
Then again Vulcan was a warlike planet in the past, all those nukes going off introduce a whole lot of random mutations, and all of a sudden there a bunch of pale skinned Vulcans.
I know. That's a point which requires suspension of disbelief, at least from me. Hence the "silly".
There could be a case of simple commonality among humanoid life-forms, and that humanoids are a fairly common life-form throughout the Galaxy. Maybe in some other parts of the Universe, humanoids may be rare.
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