Why so much love for Arex?
- Thread starter plynch
- Start date
The problem I had with Arex is that he was anatomically absurd. The tiny neck would never support the head in 1G. The third arm and leg are beyond ridiculous. Evolution would never go in that direction.
I think it is cool that they went with characters it wouldn't be practical to do with live action but I wish they had put a bit more thought into it.
M'Ress/Catians were well-done but Arex/Edoans were silly.
I think it is cool that they went with characters it wouldn't be practical to do with live action but I wish they had put a bit more thought into it.
M'Ress/Catians were well-done but Arex/Edoans were silly.
On Earth, perhaps.
How did you feel about Species 8472?
And weren't Larry Niven's Pierson's Puppeteers a race of three-legged sentient beings?
Yup. Three legs, two heads.
Evolution has produced some crazy shit right here on Earth. Arex is at least as plausible as a universe where nearly every planet produces human beings.
Exactly. If we can accept Species 8472, with their three necks and three legs, we can buy Lt Arex.
Anyone see this?
Yep. Cool effect, but Phase II Arex apparently doesn't even have the third arm or leg. So it's not really Arex. Like Spock without the pointy ears and eyebrows, or an Enterprise without nacelles, or something
Anyone see this?
Yep. Cool effect, but Phase II Arex apparently doesn't even have the third arm or leg. So it's not really Arex. Like Spock without the pointy ears and eyebrows, or an Enterprise without nacelles, or something
I think its only a test though
Well, they've also said that, since they're CGIing over existing, filmed footage of another character's face, they weren't planning on doing the extra arm or leg at this point (even questioning how Arex in TAS managed to sit on his regulation bridge chair). But... they also said that the bridge scenes in which this CGI Arex will appear may not actually show him from the neck down anyway.
As a commercial artist, I have to say that Arex's look is also just a really strong design.
And for me, Jim Doohan's Arex voice fit the character's appearance perfectly.
And for me, Jim Doohan's Arex voice fit the character's appearance perfectly.
The chair is an issue. I've assumed the hind leg folds forward, but that means a complicated hip joint. The leg would practically be dislocated. Ideally, Arex would sit on a stool. Easy on, easy off, no back to tangle the rear leg.
Maybe the chairs in the future are really customizable? Perhaps part of the base is removable, giving him room for his leg. The remaining bit of chair base that he sits on would be horseshoe shaped (like a toilet seat!)
This leads to another question: Between which of his legs are his nads? Perhaps we shouldn't go there...
This leads to another question: Between which of his legs are his nads? Perhaps we shouldn't go there...
Arex's third leg bends like the other two legs. Here's a screencap: http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:Arex_in_command.jpg
That picture would seem to indicate that Arex isn't a true tripod, but has three forward-facing legs side-by-side-by-side.
Unfortunately my mind cannot seperate many years of pictures of Arex from TAS, old comics or other old Trek books enough to know if he's depicted differently in other TAS episodes. I can only say (in a somewhat unhelpful manner) that I've seen a pic of him somewhere with a rounder "base" and three legs in proper tripod fashion - two front, one rear.
Or, he's just very flexible.
Arex is only seen walking in one episode of TAS, "The Terratin Incident", when he's shrunk to tiny size. He stands and walks with two legs in front and the middle one behind.
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