Romulans should've looked like Vulcans

[commodore64]

What made the Romulans the best aliens in TOS was that they looked like our "friendly," allies: Vulcans. Romulans and Vulcans were able to tell each other apart, but humans couldn't make out who was who or which was which. Balance of Terror was that much more interesting because Stiles -- already prejudice -- began to somewhat convince even Kirk that his first officer might be a 'bad guy.'

More over, it enabled the Romulans to be sneaky (or sneakier) and had a lot of potential. Then came TNG, which made the Romulans thick-browed ding dongs. I love TNG, but the Romulans really suffered in that series.

Enterprise had a real chance to make the Romulans diabolical again. And they started on a good road during the Forge, partly why I really like that arc. But where I think Star Trek kept messing up is that they believed the television audience wouldn't be able to tell the Romulans and the Vulcans apart. I say: good! I mean, I think you can do so with dialogue. In the end, V'Las could be a Romulan and I like the idea people here argue whether that's the case. I mean, that's the good stuff.

More over, the Vulcans back in this day don't know the difference, adding another dimension. If the Romulans looked like Vulcans and could pass for Vulcans, think about the dirty work they could do to undermine the Federation and Vulcan (as well as humanity's view of the Vulcans).

For example, I always loved the idea of Soval as Future Guy -- he could single-handedly (okay, with the lame Suliban) undermine the Federation and human-Vulcan relations by denying Henry Archer access to technology and being a butt about it. More over, he could as a diplomat, continue to thwart efforts that he knew would create a strong Federation. I would've liked to have seen that.

 

[JiNX-01]

I thought it was idiotic that from TNG on the Romulans -- who are supposed to be the ancient kin of the Vulcans -- don't look like them. They broke away only a few thousand years before, so why would they have changed so radically?

I agree that it should have been the Romulans who played mischief in the region of space where Archer and Co. are exploring and building alliances and it certainly would have made ore sense than some silly, ill-considered temporal cold war with no plan for how it would play out.

The Romulans could have been using free-lance Orion mercenaries as surrogates, giving instruction to the Suliban agents we saw. The Suliban seed suspicion among species (Andoria vs. Vulcan, Orion Syndicate vs. everybody...).

Even though Paramount limited the use of the Romulans on Enterprise because they might-maybe-perhaps someday in the distant future use them in a movie, they still could have been used occasionally -- which they were.

 

[Unicron]

I don't think appearances had that much to do with it. What made the Romulans interesting in BOT was how they were characterized. Given that no one had ever seen a Romulan until that point, why would Stiles or anyone else accept that they look exactly like Vulcans? If their goal was war, as seemed likely, wouldn't it make more sense to assume the Romulans might be trying to divide Earth from the allies it now had?

I prefer the ridges myself, so that the two races don't look completely identical. It seems fair to assume from the brief glances we've seen of Romulus that its environment differs from Vulcan's, and it's certainly possible for a mutation like the ridges. I'd rather have the Romulans look distinct in some way, because otherwise the fans would just think of them as being Evil Vulcans and not a distinct race.

 

[JiNX-01]

I don't think appearances had that much to do with it. What made the Romulans interesting in BOT was how they were characterized. Given that no one had ever seen a Romulan until that point, why would Stiles or anyone else accept that they look exactly like Vulcans? If their goal was war, as seemed likely, wouldn't it make more sense to assume the Romulans might be trying to divide Earth from the allies it now had?

It was the Romulans' identical appearance to Vulcans that brought Stiles' bigotry to the fore in BoT. If they had looked like they do in TNG and beyond, they would have looked vulcanoid, but not directly related to the Vulcans.

I prefer the ridges myself, so that the two races don't look completely identical. It seems fair to assume from the brief glances we've seen of Romulus that its environment differs from Vulcan's, and it's certainly possible for a mutation like the ridges. I'd rather have the Romulans look distinct in some way, because otherwise the fans would just think of them as being Evil Vulcans and not a distinct race.

I don't think of the TOS Romulans as being just Evil Vulcans. In fact, I don't think of them as being evil at all.

They are what the Vulcans were before Kir'Shara. Passionate. Disciplined militarily as opposed to intellectually. Warriors vs. pacifists.

Leaving them physically identical to the Vulcans would have created a more interesting setup for stories, because of the potential for infiltration, espionage, sabotage, on both sides of the Neutral Zone.

 

[Unicron]

You're right, but Stiles was already bigoted as a plot device. That's another reason I prefer having different makeup, because that was the main reason for having them look identical. Not necessarily because the Romulans are descended from a section of Vulcan society.

But I do agree with you about their development, though. The Romulans certainly can represent an interesting look at how the Vulcans might have developed differently.

 

[Shintaek]

I prefer the ridges myself, so that the two races don't look completely identical. It seems fair to assume from the brief glances we've seen of Romulus that its environment differs from Vulcan's, and it's certainly possible for a mutation like the ridges. I'd rather have the Romulans look distinct in some way, because otherwise the fans would just think of them as being Evil Vulcans and not a distinct race.

I agree and would understand if this was the reason why Romulans and Vulcans don't look very similar. But their hair can also be different, I don't know why Romulans still have the funny (sorry, it just is ) haircut that Vulcans had if they chose to throw away everything that pretains to Post-Surak Vulcan.

I thought it was idiotic that from TNG on the Romulans -- who are supposed to be the ancient kin of the Vulcans -- don't look like them. They broke away only a few thousand years before, so why would they have changed so radically?

My guess is that ridges on women was somehow preferred by men for procreation, therefore leading to many Romulans having these forehead ridges.

Hey, it's a good theory that mirrors how blonde hair was possible in less than 850,000 years.

 

[Captain X]

I agree that the ENT Romulans should've been ridge-less, or at least that we'd seen both versions. The on on Vulcan should've definitely been ridgeless so he could blend in, but I guess TPTB decided if they didn't have the ridges and a uniform from NEM that we wouldn't know he was supposed to be a Romulan.

 

[Lt_Wandrey]

I also agree that the ENT Romulans shouldn't have had the ridges. While there could be differences in such a short time they wouldn't be all that radical. The evolution process would've taken longer.

 

[pookha]

considering over 90 percent of the romulans we saw in tos wore those helmets
most romulans in tos could have had ridges.

 

[Unicron]

There's certainly that too. And it was clear in TNG that ridged Romulans had no trouble co-existing with ridgeless Romulans, and that nobody seemed to recognize Spock.

 

[pookha]

cosnidering how small a population the romulans would have been it wouldnt have been suprising if they interbred with some other species along the way.
we do know as far back as tos there were biological differences between vulcans and romulans.

what we could have seen in tos was that in that time period the smooth headed romulans had more power thus were seen more as ship commanders.
but things even then may have been a state of flux.
one of the helmeted romulans we were told had friends of great power and position.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I know there are few people who like Nemesis, but the appearance of the Remans provide an excellent excuse for the ridges via interbreeding even if it was not voluntarily on the Romulans part, considering the Remans probably would not count as attractive mate.s

 

[Captain X]

About the only thing I liked about NEM was that they toned down the ridges on the Romulans. Well, that and the new uniforms were kinda snazzy.

 

[Unicron]

cosnidering how small a population the romulans would have been it wouldnt have been suprising if they interbred with some other species along the way.
we do know as far back as tos there were biological differences between vulcans and romulans.

Yep. And TNG confirmed that, despite all the genetic similarities that still exist, both races are different enough to be distinct. I can only think of one specific instance of this, in "The Enemy." Dr. Crusher tried to use some Vulcan medicines on the first Romulan they recovered, and these failed because he had too many "subtle differences." Something to that effect. I don't know if this ever came up in any other eps or series.

 

[commodore64]

I believe in Enterprise Incident, they were able to target Spock and beam him up in the nick of time. I can't remember and would have to watch it again if it's his Vulcan heritage or his half-human heritage that saves him. Maybe they weren't specific.

Hey, caucasions, blacks and Asians all have biological differences -- our skin hue, for example -- but are not biologically different. Why can't the Romulans and Vulcans look the same, but have minor biological differences.

And I think the "some Romulans didn't take off their helmets in TOS" is a pretty weak argument. I mean, enough did that we know they didn't have ridges. If one goes down that road -- we never saw Nurse Chapel undress, so she could've been a man. Or Spock has touched Dr. McCoy before thus possibly creating a mind link that lasted over twenty years before he ever deposited his katra, etc. In other words: possible, I suppose, but not canon and not fact.

 

[pookha]

it is canon that they did wear the helmets.
it is fact that the helmets would have covered the area of the ridges.
so it is possible some of the romulans wearing those helmets easily could have ridges.
nothing weak about that especially considering the high percentage seen wearing helmets.

oh and it is the difference between romulans and vulcans that is mentioned in enterrpise incident.
and as undead noted it is mentioned again in tng the enemy.

KIRK: Mister Chekov, there's only one Vulcan aboard that ship. He should be easy enough to locate.
CHEKOV: Romulans and Vulcans appear to read almost exactly alike. There is just a slight difference which. Got him, sir.

 

[Unicron]

It certainly is tempting to make Ruffles jokes...

 

[commodore64]

it is canon that they did wear the helmets.

Some, yes. It's not canon all did.

it is fact that the helmets would have covered the area of the ridges.

No, it's fact that the helmets covered the foreheads.

so it is possible some of the romulans wearing those helmets easily could have ridges.

I said possible, yes. However, I think it's a retrofit and not a true interpretation. Plausible does not make "accurate."

nothing weak about that especially considering the high percentage wearing helmets.

Actually, we didn't see that many wear helmets. Watch the Rom episodes of TOS again. And if you feel like you have time on your hands, it'd be interesting to determine "helmet" vs. "non-helmet." Sounds like a task you're up for.

oh and it is the difference between romulans and vulcans that is mentioned in enterrpise incident.

Wow, as I noted. Thanks for the dialog.

 

[pookha]

It certainly is tempting to make Ruffles jokes...

hmm you cant just lick one..
i mean in combat

in balance of terror the only crew we see with out the helmet is the commander and elderly centurion.

enterprise incident the guards all have helmets

higher rankig officers without helmets but the lower ranking bridge crew also wear helmets like balance of terror.

 

[Timo]

in "The Enemy." Dr. Crusher tried to use some Vulcan medicines on the first Romulan they recovered, and these failed because he had too many "subtle differences." Something to that effect.

Quoth the raven:

Crusher: "He has cell damage to vital areas. He's going to need a transfusion of compatible ribosomes in order to recover. I'm setting up a schedule to test every member of the crew."

And later on:

Picard: "You haven't found a compatible ribosome donor?"
Crusher: "The lab is still processing the tests. Early results indicate humans have far too many bio-rejection factors. I've also ruled out the Vulcans we've tested."

It's not more definite than that. So basically, it could be that Vulcan and Romulan blood is identical in principle, but it just happens that none of the Vulcans aboard had the Type W# blood that the Romulan needed (even though some 23% of all Vulcans would have it), or something like that. Tough luck, but shit happens.

However, Crusher's lead-in to the original diagnosis features the "subtle differences" bit:

Crusher: "We thought it would be like working on Vulcans, but there are subtle differences. Too many of them."

So perhaps there has been some divergent evolution, either because the Romulans were forced to interbreed, or inbreed, or were affected by the environment, or did some genetic engineering on themselves for reason X.

Or then Crusher simply meant that operating on a Vulcan would require violent slapping of the face, but the Romulan patient appears to prefer other body areas.

Timo Saloniemi