We also saw a 2 male Caitians as members of the Federation Council in Star Trek IV. And then in “Into Darkness” Kirk was sleeping with 2 Caitians.
Animated Series Novels
- Thread starter DeepSpaceYorks
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As scripted, but it was never stated in dialogue and the makeup design contradicts it, so I consider that unconfirmed. (Although the name "Caitian" has never been canonically spoken anywhere else either.)
Discovery introduced us to the idea of a "half-Caitian" (Connolly's Academy roommate), so it's possible that Kirk's twin lovers were hybrids themselves, and that could explain their dialed-down felinoid appearance.
They also appear in various comic books (DC Comics volume 1, DC Fontanas Year Four mini series, the current Year 5 ongoing...).
Yeah: I read the first 6 logs (collected in 2 books of 3 logs each) before seeing the actual cartoon. It was a bit of a whiplash situation...
Yeah: I read the first 6 logs (collected in 2 books of 3 logs each) before seeing the actual cartoon. It was a bit of a whiplash situation...
Absolutely.
Although I own them on disc, I still haven't managed to watch all of the episodes and probably won't.
I've read all the novelisations - they're far better.
They are, ironically, the least animated of all the Star Trek shows.
I really dislike it when tie-ins go against the spirit of what was intended in the source material, and since I'm quite fond of the nonsensical mess that is "Yesteryear" I was put off the ADF TAS novelisations by his treatment of it.
They don't look remotely felinoid to me; tails are hardly a uniquely feline feature. They could just as well be Caitian by nationality rather than species; I hate the way Trek defaults to the assumption that those are the same thing, ignoring the existence of immigration and cultural blending. It would be racist as hell if the races involved weren't fictional.
Again, though, if something is not explicitly stated in the story, it doesn't count as a "fact" just because it happens to be mentioned in the credits. Sometimes credits get things wrong, like "Major Christopher" in "Tomorrow is Yesterday." Words floating on the screen are not a diegetic part of the narrative, except in Green Acres.
Huh? Do you mean "The Counter-Clock Incident?" "Yesteryear" doesn't make perfect sense, but I don't remember Foster making any significant change to its story aside from the spelling of "I-Chaya."
I was wondering that myself. I read the first LOG last year and I don't recall any significant changes in ADF's adaptation there. There was some additional information I recall, but nothing that I recall that changed the story.
My bad, I meant "Counter-Clock Incident". All these episode names are getting mixed up in my old age (37)
Good to know. It'll be a while before I get to that LOG but I'll keep an eye out for it.
I was wracking my brain trying to think if there was anything ADF did to "Yesteryear" that didn't make sense.
ADF, as I recall, added a B-plot to Star Trek Log Ten, involving M'Ress and three other Caitan crewmembers going into heat because they'd missed their semi-annual hormone supplements.
Then again, in the prologue of that book, ADF also added what he'd almost certainly intended as a nod to African culture, but turned out to be, ahem, somewhat regrettable.
Well, the Talking ViewMaster adaptation of "Yesteryear" complicated that just a bit, changing the pronunciation of the name.
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Two thirds of "Star Trek Log Seven", "Eight", "Nine" and "Ten" each contain all-new material, with several featuring backstories: with another Edoan (not Arex), a story with M'Ress and three other Caitians going rogue on the ship; plus M'Ress masquerading as a male Kzin when a junior officer on a mission.
Both characters were in the post-ST IV DC Comics, then vanish by ST V. It is later revealed that they time jump in the "Gateways" saga "New Frontier" novel instalment. They later move over to the USS Trident and also appear together in a NF comic mini-series. Arex moves to security, which was Peter David's original intention (and given to Ensign Fouton) for his post-ST V comics. M'Ress had to be reconceived as an antelope woman, M'yra, in that series, but still a love interest for Sulu.
Ensign Janos, the Mugato, shares some interesting scenes with M'Ress in NF and it is revealed that he has some Caitian DNA in his artificially-created genetic structure.
IDW's "Year Four" and the current "Year Five" TOS mini-series have featured Arex and M'Ress. DC Fontana gave Arex some telepathic attributes that were meant to have been revealed in TAS, had it continued.
Kirk's old Klingon Exchange Program room mate, Kumara, was from an unused two-part TOS spec script that ADF wrote, anticipating a Season Four. When he was given little warning about expanding only one episode for "Star Trek Log Seven", he pulled the script out of his filing cabinet and cannibalised it. Kumara also returns in another Log.
The obvious one that could have included M'Ress was "Uhura's Song", which featured a felinoid medical mystery, but the late Janet Kagan had never followed TAS.
A little on culture in Shane Johnson's "Worlds of the Federation".
With Arex.
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Her name is Lora Johnson now.
The Tuttle & Bailey TAS cels tantalizingly hinted at Arex and M'Ress being more involved in episodes. eg, They seemingly replace Kirk and Lara in this "montage of aliens" from "The Jihad":
Filmation's TAS - "The Jihad" by Ian McLean, on Flickr
And from a similar series of cels offered to readers of Japanese "Starlog":
Kzinti Chuft-Captain, M'Ress and Arex, "The Slaver Weapon" by Ian McLean, on Flickr
The famous watermelon setting of the Slaver Weapon.
Filmation's TAS - "The Jihad" by Ian McLean, on Flickr
And from a similar series of cels offered to readers of Japanese "Starlog":
Kzinti Chuft-Captain, M'Ress and Arex, "The Slaver Weapon" by Ian McLean, on Flickr
The famous watermelon setting of the Slaver Weapon.
I will note that it was in Log Nine that ADF came up with what I still regard as one of the greatest gems of literary Trek, the Pandronian version of a common Earth saying,
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