Are changelings asexual?

[Ln X]

I had guessed that they showed up as gender specific when dealing with solids. But that they could have also had some bit or part that would make the individual tend to lean more towards one gender over the other. But I would have loved to see one or more that would appear as both male and female.

As for reproduction, I had guessed that when they are all in the Great Link and it's time for a new individual to form then a little bit from two or more in the Link come together to form an 'infant'

Yeah you've nailed it Star_Trucker, that would explain bisexual reproduction.

 

[Deckerd]

I had guessed that they showed up as gender specific when dealing with solids. But that they could have also had some bit or part that would make the individual tend to lean more towards one gender over the other. But I would have loved to see one or more that would appear as both male and female.

As for reproduction, I had guessed that when they are all in the Great Link and it's time for a new individual to form then a little bit from two or more in the Link come together to form an 'infant'

Yeah you've nailed it Star_Trucker, that would explain bisexual reproduction.

Sexual reproduction

 

[Tiberius]

You're just guessing that. They have reproduction but there's no evidence that it isn't sexual.

"The drop becomes the ocean and the ocean becomes the drop."

Doesn't sound like they'd have sexual reproduction to me.

She's merely talking about their ability to separate off and become and individual or to join with the others. The fact that they can become individuals means that they can have sexual reproduction. The fact that they sent babies out into the void to see what happened means that they do reproduce.

True, but it doesn't mean that they MUST have sexual reproduction. Given that sex requires specialised cells and also given that we never had any indication that there were differentiated cells in a Changeling, I don't think we can conclude that they use sex.

 

[The Dominion]

I would think that their reproduction would be like that of an amoeba's. So it would be asexual fission.

 

[Sean_McCormick]

My guess is, that some aspects were not sufficently thought through. The gendered appearance is one thing, the fact, that changelings, when not impersonating someone, looked the same as Odo is another.

 

[Shatnertage]

^ Even the hair, which he originally copied from the Bajoran scientist who worked with him, right?

 

[SoM]

I don't think much can be read into any given changeling not assuming both male and female disguise forms - we never saw many changeling assume a variety of forms, but when you look at the sort of forms Laas took, it seems faintly ridiculous that they couldn't manage the comparatively slight differences to switch from a male humanoid to a female humanoid or vice-versa.

My guess is, that some aspects were not sufficently thought through. The gendered appearance is one thing, the fact, that changelings, when not impersonating someone, looked the same as Odo is another.

I tend to think that Odo's face was simply the easiest sort of face for a changeling to assume, and that's why they tend to go that route if they need a "non-disguise humanoid" solid form (and Odo, still being a young kid in changeling terms, has just never learned to go beyond that)

 

[DevilEyes]

You're just guessing that. They have reproduction but there's no evidence that it isn't sexual.

"The drop becomes the ocean and the ocean becomes the drop."

Doesn't sound like they'd have sexual reproduction to me.

She's merely talking about their ability to separate off and become and individual or to join with the others. The fact that they can become individuals means that they can have sexual reproduction. The fact that they sent babies out into the void to see what happened means that they do reproduce.

How so? Why would an individual need to have a gender or reproduce sexually? Everything points out to the fact that they reproduce asexually.

The Changelings can assume any form - which means that they don't have the default body shape and default organs. There's no reason to think there are "male" and "female" changelings any more than there's a reason to think that there are 5 or 10 different sexes or that each individual Changeling is of a different sex.

We only see gendered changelings because of the actors portraying them. It would probably cost too much to give them so much makeup that it erases all gender appearance.

And it doesn't follow that changelings must reproduce sexually because there are individuals. They can simply 'split off' a new baby changeling from one parent.

Exactly.

^ Even the hair, which he originally copied from the Bajoran scientist who worked with him, right?

The best fanwank I can come up with is that they did it to look more similar to Odo and therefore gain psychological advantage over him, point out their basic similarity to him and the fact they were "his people".

The reason why the "Female" Changeling assumed a female-shaped humanoid body could be the same: to present herself (itself?) as a female of his species, which fits with his humanoid way of thinking that she was aware of, having grown up among solids. Then I guess maybe she just got used to that shape and was using it as her default one even when dealing with Weyoun and the Cardassians, why bother changing your "clothes" in front of those.

 

[Paradon]

The changlings imprint on someone who they see first when they are first found. For example, the scientist who discovered Odo was male and so that's whom Odo imprinted. Shape shifters has the ability to imprint on things the shape of which they about to assume. The female founder said to Odo: "to know a thing is to become a thing". Once Odo imprinted on his male caretaker, he actually thought he was a male for this reason. but really they can be anything I supposed and can either choose to love guy or a girl... One time as part of the punishment, Odo was changed into a human. the Tricorder couldn't even tell that he was previously a shape shifter. Whatever shape of an object or animal they assume, they become it.

 

[Ln X]

We only see gendered changelings because of the actors portraying them. It would probably cost too much to give them so much makeup that it erases all gender appearance.

And it doesn't follow that changelings must reproduce sexually because there are individuals. They can simply 'split off' a new baby changeling from one parent.

In the TNG episode The Outcast they used thin-looking actors, and those customs, to show they weren't genderized. So they could have done somthing similar with the changelings but they did not. Either this is a mistake on the producer's part, or they did so deliberately perhaps to humanize the changelings...

 

[Paradon]

Have anyone ever studied earthworms in junior high and high school? They have both female and male sexual organ; they can be both depending on the circumstances...

 

[Tiberius]

Well, I;ve changed my mind somewhat.

I think that it's possible that bits from one changeling can mix together with bits of another changeling to make a new changeling.

BUT...

I don't think that means that they necessarily need gender. I still think that it's most likely that changelings are non-gendered life forms, but I'm willing to consider the possibility that they do have gender. After all, did the female founder say that they had once been solids?

AND...

It is possible that if changelings do reproduce as I said above, that the new changeling could consist of parts from many different changelings, not just two.