Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzinti?

[I am not Spock]

Don't move this one to the ENT forum, mods, it concerns references from other Trek series as well.

Ever since the Xindi arc in ENT, I have thought that there could be a possible connection between the Xindi, the Kzinti (TAS 'The Slaver Weapon'), the Xendi Cabu star system (TNG 'The Battle'), and the Tzenkethi (DS9 'The Adversary'). They could all be of the same species. The name difference can be easily explained away. Maybe Xindi is the human name for the different sub-species. And perhaps 'Tzenkethi' or 'Kzinti' is what they call themselves. COuld there be a further felinoid Xindi race?

The difference between Xindi and Kzinti is purely semantic. Like Beijing or Peking, or Mao Tse Tung and Mao Zedong.

 

[captcalhoun]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

it's a bad case of small universe syndrome and besides there's no Felinoids in the Xindi so that lets out a link with the Kzinti.

 

[Skywalker]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

Not if the Kzinti refused to band together with the other Xindi after the war and left the area.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

No relation. (Though I do remember hearing that the Tzenkethi were a nod to the Kzinti.)

Barzans and Bajorans
Talarians and Tarellians
Khan Singh and Lenara Khan

Trek spans an entire galaxy. It's to be expected that certain names sound alike.

 

[Icy_Penguigo]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

The Kzinti were supposed to appear in the unmade Season 5 of Enterprise. It would have been weird if they and the Xindi were major players in that show. Oh well.

Regardless, I would have watched S5 of ENT religiously if the Kzinti were in it.

 

[JNG]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

From Memory Alpha:

Robert Hewitt Wolfe said recently in December 2006 that he named the Tzenkethi by combining the name Kzinti with Tsankth, after a race from the RuneQuest and HeroQuest RPGs. Wolfe also said he did not picture them as cats like the Kzinti, but as being like the Hakazit from Jack L. Chalker's Well of Souls novels. He saw the Tzenkethi as being "heavily-armored lizard things".

In the thread where he said that, I think it was Christopher who pointed out that there are many "alien" names in Trek that sound as, or more, similar to one another as "Kzinti" and "Tzenkethi" do.

I also think we are ascribing too much authenticity to the names when we make a leap like this, considering that the aliens who live on those worlds would almost certainly have hundreds of names for their own species in various native languages, just as we do here on Earth. Many of said names could even be unpronounceable for certain other species, and probably "Kzinti" and "Tzenkethi" are "shorthand" names chosen by Federation representatives for ease of reference. It's a bit of a reach to take the vague name similarity as a sign of a much more sweeping species similarity, especially in a densely populated Trek galaxy which nevertheless could use more diversity among its inhabitants.

 

[captcalhoun]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

Khan Singh and Lenara Khan

Trek spans an entire galaxy. It's to be expected that certain names sound alike.

Khan Noonien Singh and Noonien Soong...

 

[Finn]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

Not if the Kzinti refused to band together with the other Xindi after the war and left the area.

No. All Xindi species were established in Enterprise, when that Arboreal Xindi at the mining facility (I think that what it was) said there was once six but now five Xindi species, mentioning that Avian Xindi were extnict.

 

[Dane_Whitman]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

Khan Singh and Lenara Khan

Trek spans an entire galaxy. It's to be expected that certain names sound alike.

Khan Noonien Singh and Noonien Soong...

Mr. Singh, chief engineer from TNG "Lonely Among Us".

Lenara Khan Noonien Soong Mr Singh.

hey this could be a fun game...

 

[Skywalker]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

Not if the Kzinti refused to band together with the other Xindi after the war and left the area.

No. All Xindi species were established in Enterprise, when that Arboreal Xindi at the mining facility (I think that what it was) said there was once six but now five Xindi species, mentioning that Avian Xindi were extnict.

True, forgot about that. I was just throwing ideas out there.

 

[USS Excelsior]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

If they were going to be the same species they would have just called them by their original names and not made up Xindi.

 

[ria 75]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

The difference between Xindi and Kzinti is purely semantic. Like Beijing or Peking, or Mao Tse Tung and Mao Zedong.

As it turns out, there is a semantic difference between Xindi and Kzinti, but the difference between Beijing and Peking is orthographical, not semantic, which means "in meaning".

Another spelling pair (a near homophone like Xindi and Kzinti) : Admiral Chekote and Commander Chakotay.

For the fun of it: if Xindi and Kzinti were the same species, I guess the 2 words would be allophonic.

 

[The Wormhole]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

I have to ask, why the hell does everyone see a connection between Xindi and Tzenkethi? Aside from both starting with a "zen" sound, there are no similarities.

 

[I am not Spock]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

^ It's a fun game to play, that's why.

More examples:

-There's Terrellians, Talarians, Tellurians, and whatever the hell other variants of this, out there in the ST Galaxy.
-Ensign Janeway from a TNG Troi episode (I forget the name), and Captain Janeway.
-El-Aurians and Ellorans (ST Insurrection)
-Archer IV and Jonathan Archer (there could actually be a link here!)

 

[ialfan]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

-Archer IV and Jonathan Archer (there could actually be a link here!)

That one's been established in the onscreen bio in IAMD. Archer IV (the planet from 'Strange New World') and Archer's Planet were both named for Jonathan Archer.

 

[Dane_Whitman]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

^ It's a fun game to play, that's why.

More examples:

-There's Terrellians, Talarians, Tellurians, and whatever the hell other variants of this, out there in the ST Galaxy.
-Ensign Janeway from a TNG Troi episode (I forget the name), and Captain Janeway.
-El-Aurians and Ellorans (ST Insurrection)
-Archer IV and Jonathan Archer (there could actually be a link here!)

Kes (VOY) and The Kes (TNG "Attached")!

 

[I am not Spock]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

^^Ooh, good one. I forgot about that

 

[Timo]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

The Kzinti in the Star Trek universe are known basically for one thing: that they were enemies of the Earth some two centuries before TAS "Slaver Weapon". Now TAS by current reckoning must have taken place in the 2260s, give or take a decade at most. And "two centuries" in factually and grammatically correct speech is at least 151 years, and preferably something like 170 or more. So if we are to believe "Slaver Weapon", this means the last Kzinti war was in the 2110s or earlier.

Now, I have nothing against the idea that Earth fought interstellar wars before ENT. Sure, none were mentioned in the show - but Earth did possess numerous spacegoing warships, and in the 2150s, its space navy veterans were all excited about this new thing called "exploration", suggesting they had been doing something completely different until then. So perhaps the Kzinti indeed came to Earth in the very first decades of the 22nd century, or the very last of the 21st.

However, there is an entirely different way of looking at it, one that might avoid cluttering up the timeline with things that we didn't see or hear about. Perhaps the events of ENT S3 were "the last Kzinti war against Earth"? The attacks there were made by the general Xindi society, even though the feisty Felinoids (who hadn't been discovered at that point, and perhaps hadn't even joined yet) or the amicable Arboreals weren't among the actual aggressors. Later generations would still remember that the Xindi were responsible, and would bunch up the Felinoids and Arboreals with the rest - especially in situations where such Xindi members again portrayed anti-Earth sentiments.

It might well be revealed later on that there had been three previous rounds of aggression against Earth by the Xindi society before the bombardment of Florida, Cuba and Venezuela. After all, the Xindi did hold a longterm grudge; they were known for abortive strikes that were intended to leave no evidence of the culprit; and they also had time-travelers on their side. A series of early 22nd century raids previously unconnected to the Xindi or any of their member species might by the 2260s indeed be associated with the Xindi.

And "Kzinti" is just how you pronounce "Xindi" when you have a mouth full of fangs...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

I have to ask, why the hell does everyone see a connection between Xindi and Tzenkethi?

Because a fan once announced that the term "Tzenkethi" was "a near anagram of The Kzinti", then a "Strange New Worlds VII" story described a Tzenkethi male as a "feliform" biped, and then others made a connection between Kzinti and Xindi.

 

[I am not Spock]

Re: Possible connections between the Xindi, Tzenkethi, Xendi, and Kzin

The Xendi star system mentioned in TNG 'The Battle' could well be the remnants of what used to be the Expanse.