Ironically I really like the Ferengi

[Draconarius King]

Sure they’re all one dimensional and entirely predictable but I can’t help but love those little douche bags. Somehow knowing their agenda is therapeutic to me, as most villains go in Star Trek motive is almost never obvious so I tend to never trust any of the encounters at face value which causes suspense and curiosity, accept for the Ferengi who I can always trust to be problematic and the only shock value I’ll get out of them is if they do something good which is a bonus! I find them charming and nonthreatening although I am well aware that they can be murderous their 10th rule generally puts my mind at ease. I don’t know I just find them fun and not too annoying, yet.

 

[cgervasi]

Sure they’re all one dimensional and entirely predictable but I can’t help but love those little douche bags.

They usually are. There are few times in later-season DS9 where you can see there's something more to their culture, if you overlook the silliness. The best one for this is In the Cards. There are a bunch of little problems the characters are struggling with. Nog makes a series of trades that makes everyone happier. The Ferengi way solves the problems that the Federation way cannot.

 

[Oddish]

DS9 Ferengi are awesome. Mostly.
TNG Ferengi... not so much.

 

[JR TREK]

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This has got some great Ferengi scenes. It's game art, but still, it's a nice to step back into the DS9 world again.

 

[Charles Phipps]

The problem with the Ferengi is they come off more like Goblins than capitalist critiques.

Not even WOW Goblins.

Where are the massive megacorporations that leave planets environmentally dead and yet pleading for more exploitation?

 

[Oddish]

Probably wiped out when Ferenginar morphed into Federation 2.0 in "The Dogs of War".

 

[at Quark's]

The problem with the Ferengi is they come off more like Goblins than capitalist critiques.

Were they ever meant as a serious critique on capitalism in the first place? With those neuronic whips (or whatever they're called) and the cartoonish way they behave in The Last Outpost, where they were introduced?

 

[Charles Phipps]

Were they ever meant as a serious critique on capitalism in the first place? With those neuronic whips (or whatever they're called) and the cartoonish way they behave in The Last Outpost, where they were introduced?

Well, that's what they claimed they were and the whole "Yankee Traders" comment. Which is a bizarre thing to have survived to the 24th century. The whole idea about them being driven by greed and materialism as contrasted to the Federation.

Except, well, they were what they were.

I think one fan summarized it as, "The Ferengi never terrified anyone except for the way they treated women and that was treated for laughs."

 

[at Quark's]

Well, that's what they claimed they were and the whole "Yankee Traders" comment. Which is a bizarre thing to have survived to the 24th century. The whole idea about them being driven by greed and materialism as contrasted to the Federation.

Except, well, they were what they were.

I think one fan summarized it as, "The Ferengi never terrified anyone except for the way they treated women and that was treated for laughs."

Yes, I know they claimed that, but I'd say you simply can't have it both ways. By going for the ridiculously cartoonish characters we got, they dropped the possibility of delivering an actual critique, in my eyes.

 

[Charles Phipps]

Yes, I know they claimed that, but I'd say you simply can't have it both ways. By going for the ridiculously cartoonish characters we got, they dropped the possibility of delivering an actual critique, in my eyes.

Oh I agree that they didn't do a decent critique of capitalism at all. I also wasn't kidding about my goblin comparison:

Klingons: Orcs
Ferengi: Goblins
Vulcans: Elves

We just need some dwarves now.

 

[valkyrie013]

agreed, 95% of Tng Ferengi were comical and not that great. The Stargazer one and the one where riker and troi were kidnapped were the exceptions. Now DS9 done them Justice with Quark and the rest, though started comical.

Now if they were going to do a Capitalisms gone nuclear, there would be a government, but be controlled by corporations ( ring a bell?) and do anything for a buck, and treat there workers like dung. ( lots of bells ringing here..)
So could have done a better on the comparisons

 

[imranbecks]

We learnt more about the Ferengi in DS9 which they never really ventured into in TNG.

 

[JR TREK]

Yeah, TNG Ferengi are just a first pass on the idea. The writers didn't figure out what to do with them until DS9, when they became brilliant.

 

[JR TREK]

They really aren't that bad, even in TNG. Just not as good as in DS9!

 

[Qonundrum]

IMHO, DS9 showcases the Ferengi in both the best and worst ways. Either Quark's discussion with Sakonna about the price of peace, ending up time traveling due to sabotage and having to get back (with a little help from a surprisingly "germanely"-applied Odo as their double act is as reliable as it is unpredictable), or developing compassion for Sisko and his three officers stuck in the Wadi game (again, with Odo making a mention), they're great.

Then comes the flip side, with "epic event"s such as "Profit and Lace", which undercut even TNG's worst uses of them (their first use, Rascals, et al) in terms of how crass they can be written as.

But DS9 came much later and the makers and actors therein offered more than just the 1D joke they were seen in TNG as. DS9 took big risks and it paid off despite the misfires. Even the debatably-bad "Move Along Home" is where the Ferengi/Quark show genuine depth and brilliance that would be built on big-time.

 

[DS9forever]

Oh I agree that they didn't do a decent critique of capitalism at all. I also wasn't kidding about my goblin comparison:

Klingons: Orcs
Ferengi: Goblins
Vulcans: Elves

We just need some dwarves now.

The Ferengi are Hobbits then?

 

[Orphalesion]

Yes, I know they claimed that, but I'd say you simply can't have it both ways. By going for the ridiculously cartoonish characters we got, they dropped the possibility of delivering an actual critique, in my eyes.

I'm gonna chalk that up to general Season 1 incompetence and interference.

Oh I agree that they didn't do a decent critique of capitalism at all. I also wasn't kidding about my goblin comparison:

Klingons: Orcs
Ferengi: Goblins
Vulcans: Elves

We just need some dwarves now.

When I came to Star Trek all the old shows were already in existence, so from some Enteprise episodes I always assumed the Tellerites were the Space Dwarves to the Vulcan Space Elves.
So I always waited for them to show up and play that role in TNG and DS9, but they never did.

The Ferengi are Hobbits then?

No, the Ferengi are Goblins (or maybe Gnomes)

I'd say the Ocampa come the closest to Space Hobbits.

Also the Romulans are the Dark Elves/Drow.

 

[Bork359]

I've 180'd on Ferengi over the years. Back when DS9 was new and I was a teenager I HATED them so much and found them so annoying that I refused to even watch the series. I found all of the "weird looking aliens" on that series extremely off-putting, at the time. It wasn't until years later in my 20s that I ended up binging the entire series and really enjoyed. Today I'm in my late 30s and I think the Ferengi episodes are some of the best ones. Little Green Men was awesome

 

[Farscape One]

Oh I agree that they didn't do a decent critique of capitalism at all. I also wasn't kidding about my goblin comparison:

Klingons: Orcs
Ferengi: Goblins
Vulcans: Elves

We just need some dwarves now.

How about Tellarites as dwarves?

 

[Oddish]

Andorians could be dark elves, even if their ears aren't pointy.