I had a question about the Tholians.

[Gingerbread Demon]

OK first off I felt this was a general sort of question that didn't fit into any one series or movie..

OK I have been wondering about the Tholians. We don't really know much about them do we? Brief bits in TOS, Enterprise. Were they mentioned or used at all in any other series?

What are they like? What are their motivations?

I remember the episode "Future Tense" in Enterprise when it seemed like every race other then the humans wanted to get their hands on that tardis like spacepod that the Enterprise crew had found drifting in space. I was surprised that the Tholians turned up. I always wondered why they wanted the ship..

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[Nerys Myk]

I seem to recall a mention of Tholian silk in one of the 24th Century shows.

 

[Albertese]

I seem to recall a reference in some episode where Riker had, in his academy days (maybe?) figured out some maneuver to counter a Tholian ship, which would suggest that there were still at least tensions in the mid-24th Century. Also in DS9, there was a reference to sheets made of Tholian silk... so, I guess that's a thing.

You're right, official Trek hasn't done a ton with the Tholians. If you want to browse non-official sources, look up the Tholians from Star Fleet Battles. They go much more into them. Turns out the Tholiians were originally from a different galaxy and had enslaved at least one other race (Seltorians? off the top of my head...), who rebelled against them and almost wiped them out, leaving onlyu a small remnant to escape to the Milky Way. It's pretty interesting and doesn't actually conflict with official material about them (which is unusual for SFB, which hasn't even been trying to follow official Trek since the 80's.)

--Alex

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I seem to recall a mention of Tholian silk in one of the 24th Century shows.

That's interesting. I'd be very surprised they can make silk but they are insectoids so it's possible they actually make it the way insects make silk here on Earth.
I'd be more surprised considering they also like to live inside high heat environments like the insides of their ships.

They always make me think of the Pyrians from Andromeda because of that.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Looks like it's from DS9. Tholian silk

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Looks like it's from DS9. Tholian silk

I did not know that.

 

[scotpens]

According to the (non-canon) Starfleet Medical Reference Manual (1977), Tholians are "anaerobic, with an average body temperature of 275°C . . . Inhabitants of a small, dense, hot planet, the Tholians are members of a hive culture and possess a hive mind."

Doesn't sound like they'd have much use for silk. Maybe they make it strictly as a trade item.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

According to the (non-canon) Starfleet Medical Reference Manual (1977), Tholians are "anaerobic, with an average body temperature of 275°C . . . Inhabitants of a small, dense, hot planet, the Tholians are members of a hive culture and possess a hive mind."

Doesn't sound like they'd have much use for silk. Maybe they make it strictly as a trade item.

Being insectoid they don't tell potential customers the silk comes out their butts

 

[section31agent]

OK first off I felt this was a general sort of question that didn't fit into any one series or movie..

OK I have been wondering about the Tholians. We don't really know much about them do we? Brief bits in TOS, Enterprise. Were they mentioned or used at all in any other series?

What are they like? What are their motivations?

I remember the episode "Future Tense" in Enterprise when it seemed like every race other then the humans wanted to get their hands on that tardis like spacepod that the Enterprise crew had found drifting in space. I was surprised that the Tholians turned up. I always wondered why they wanted the ship..

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

They were only seen in ENT and TOS. Early TNG mentioned past skirmishes with the Tholians but it might have been resolved already because we never saw any problems with them during the show's run. By DS9, the Tholians had an ambassador and diplomatic observers stationed in the Federation so they had some kind of diplomatic relations going on. When the Dominion moved its invasion fleet into the Alpha Quadrant they talked the Tholians into staying neutral by signing a non-aggression pact with them.

But if they didn't sign the treaty, it would've been cool to see a swarm of Tholian warships try to surround a large Dominion fleet and set up their web before the Dominion can blast their way out of it.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

They were only seen in ENT and TOS. Early TNG mentioned past skirmishes with the Tholians but it might have been resolved already because we never saw any problems with them during the show's run. By DS9, the Tholians had an ambassador and diplomatic observers stationed in the Federation so they had some kind of diplomatic relations going on. When the Dominion moved its invasion fleet into the Alpha Quadrant they talked the Tholians into staying neutral by signing a non-aggression pact with them.

But if they didn't sign the treaty, it would've been cool to see a swarm of Tholian warships try to surround a large Dominion fleet and set up their web before the Dominion can blast their way out of it.

If they could blast their way out of it.

Those webs seem pretty powerful. And we don't know at all the full capabilities of the Tholian ships. I'd still like to know why they might have wanted the timeship from Enterprise?

 

[Maurice]

Dennis Bailey used the Tholians in the fanfilm "Starship Exeter: The Tressaurian Intersection" (link).

"The new Assembly does not tolerate insolence."

 

[Timo]

The web is made to sound like a typical Tholian anti-ship weapon - but the episodes featuring it don't really support that theory much. In TOS, the purpose of the web is to capture the already almost helpless Enterprise, like one might a wounded tiger; that it would contract and crush the ship is baseless speculation, and that it would help tow the prize to Tholius Holius is the more natural assumption. In ENT, the web is there to deny maneuverability again. For all we know, it's simply their counterpart to tractor beams (less vulnerable than the one mirror Archer blasted).

OTOH, if that's what Tholians make of their silk, no wonder the material is so coveted...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Richard Baker]

If the Tholians live in such a high temperature environment then their silk should have some incredible properties.

Star Trek has a history of introducing fascinating races in one episode and then ignoring them except for an obscure reference from then on. The Tholians have more of a presence than just about all of them- and it is refreshing to see a very alien race instead of people in obvious costumes or with funny noses.