Logic and Honor - Why Vulcans and Klingons?

[Greg Cox]

Here's the thing: For all that subsequent series have retconned the Andorians and the Tellarites as founding members and keystones of the Federation, none of that was established in TOS, where, honestly, they are barely a presence and we learn little or nothing about them.

"Journey to Babel": that episode is mostly about Spock's family drama, not the Andorians or the Tellarities. Ambassador Shrev gets a few lines explaining that his are a passionate people but that's about it as far as exploring their culture is concerned. And Thelev, the Andorian who gets the most screen time, isn't even an Andorian. He's really an Orion in disguise.

Meanwhile, the Tellarite ambassador gets one scene to to establish that Tellarities like to argue before he's murdered. That's it.

"Whom Gods Destroy": Let's be honest, Garth's Andorian and Tellarite henchmen are basically glorified extras. While it was undeniably cool to see those aliens again, that episode isn't about them and reveals nothing more about their respective cultures. They're just there to provide muscle for Lord Garth.

So, really, aside from their distinctive makeups, there was nothing there for fandom to latch onto back in the day.

 

[Christopher]

Here's the thing: For all that subsequent series have retconned the Andorians and the Tellarites as founding members and keystones of the Federation, none of that was established in TOS, where, honestly, they are barely a presence and we learn little or nothing about them.

The reason fandom made them founders was presumably because they were the only named Federation-member aliens we got in TOS, other than human-looking ones like Ardana (and they were recent members). So it was pretty much by default. TOS didn't really explore the Federation that much, since it was about a ship exploring beyond the Federation.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Most of what they encountered were things no man had seen before, after all. They could have included more non-aliens in Federation/Starfleet roles if they didn't think it would water down Spock.

Having two regular enemy factions was more than enough. The Federation was supposed to be at peace, an oasis of cooperation. Having powerful enemies on all sides constantly threatening you would kind of call that into question. If there are threats, they're (when the Enterprise encounters them) manageable one-offs, or far away maybe someday threats to watch.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I would also add that both are examples of virtues which, when you base your society around them, can be taken to unreasonable extremes, in some people's opinions.

Having said that, another popular species would do the same.

 

[Planxty]

Vulcans and Klingons became popular because of Spock and Worf -- characters with rich inner lives who felt torn between human society and their alien societies, played by charismatic actors.

If Strange New Worlds gives us a Tellarite played by a charismatic actor who has a rich inner life and is torn between human society and Tellarite society, I think we'll see a jump in Tellarite popularity.

Very this. As someone who never was into TAS and only

Vulcans and Klingons became popular because of Spock and Worf -- characters with rich inner lives who felt torn between human society and their alien societies, played by charismatic actors.

If Strange New Worlds gives us a Tellarite played by a charismatic actor who has a rich inner life and is torn between human society and Tellarite society, I think we'll see a jump in Tellarite popularity.

Absolutely.

I was never into TAS and didn’t give a hoot about the Catains. I knew M’Ress existed but thought she seemed like an easy “sexy cat girl” thing

And then there was T’Ana! And she made me think of what my spicy cat would be like if she could talk! And now I’m super interested in Catians because ithey aren’t limited to the sexy cat girl trope

 

[Christopher]

I knew M’Ress existed but thought she seemed like an easy “sexy cat girl” thing

More of a lion girl, really, which makes it odd that the subsequent Caitian designs we've seen have been based on other big cats, or on domestic cats in the case of T'Ana and the Caitian girl in Prodigy.

And any sexiness was toned down for Saturday morning kids' TV, although Majel Barrett did give her a sultry purr in at least one episode.

 

[somebuddyX]

It's down to the richness of the characters and their archetypal embodiment of their species and the mythology of their backgrounds. Also Spock has those sexy elf ears and Worf has that sexy Sydney Opera House forehead.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Never heard it described that way before. I think Worf looks like a bison.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, when people bring up the Sydney Opera House in a Trek context, it's usually in reference to Vedek Winn's headwear.

 

[Henoch]

I'm still a strong proponent that biological differences between alien races minimize mixed crews. For example, even Vulcans find normal Human conditions uncomfortable; from TOS we learn half-Vulcan Spock finds the Enterprise too cold, and from ENT/SNW we learn Vulcans find Humans sink badly and need to use nasal smell suppressants. In reverse, a human on a Vulcan ship would find the environment too hot and the air too thin. Various sources like ST6: TUC show that Klingons smell even much worse. ENT has Andorians from a cold environment and probably find the Enterprise too hot. I wouldn't recommend that alien races routinely serve on other alien ships if they need to wear special clothes/equipment or need to take drugs to counter the incompatible environments.

 

[Christopher]

I'm still a strong proponent that biological differences between alien races minimize mixed crews. For example, even Vulcans find normal Human conditions uncomfortable; from TOS we learn half-Vulcan Spock finds the Enterprise too cold, and from ENT/SNW we learn Vulcans find Humans sink badly and need to use nasal smell suppressants.

Realistically, that would only be the case for Vulcans who don't spend much time with humans; if you're exposed to a scent regularly, you get acclimated to it and don't notice it anymore. This generally takes anywhere from minutes to hours, except with particularly strong scents. Vulcans aren't human, of course, but it stands to reason their nervous systems would work in a similar way; if the senses didn't become acclimated to a constant stimulus and stop noticing it, it would blind them to new stimuli that might be more important.

So I suspect that T'Pol's early use of a "nasal numbing agent" was more psychological, basically a manifestation of anti-human prejudice, seeing us as smelly animals. Once she got to know humans better, she probably didn't need it anymore.

(This came up a number of times in Isaac Asimov's Robot/Empire/Foundation series which I recently re-read -- characters would talk about how every planet smelled bad at first until you got used to it, whereupon returning to your home ship or planet would smell bad because you'd again detect the scents you'd grown acclimated to before.)

ENT has Andorians from a cold environment and probably find the Enterprise too hot.

Nothing has ever given the indication that Andorians on Starfleet ships have any difficulty with the temperature. Just because they live on a glaciated moon doesn't mean they prefer such conditions.

And again, temperature differences like that are something you can acclimate to. Heck, it's no different from a Minnesota native and a Florida native serving on the same US Navy ship. Some people are perfectly comfortable being out in winter temperatures in their shirtsleeves, while others have to bundle up if the temperature falls below 70 F. The "alien" climates we see in Trek are all within the normal range of climate variation on Earth; if they weren't, the species couldn't coexist in the same environment at all, and it would be like the Tholians, who'd freeze to death in Earthly conditions (except in the IDW Year Five comic that inexplicably forgot that in some issues but remembered in others).

For that matter, we've seen species using technology to acclimate to hostile environments, like the Zaranites in TMP and the Benzites in TNG with their breathing apparatus, or Melora Pazlar wearing a strength-boosting armature to function in standard gravity. Using technology to acclimate to hostile environments is as old as the invention of clothing. The species that expand into space are the ones that aren't deterred by hostile environments but instead choose to use their ingenuity to adapt to them. So it's contradictory to say that aliens in Starfleet, the very embodiment of that spirit of daring exploration of the new, would be so unadaptable or afraid of challenges that they couldn't handle a few degrees' temperature variation or an unusual scent.

 

[Sci]

I prefer to think that Starfleet ship crews are usually extremely mixed in terms of species composition, and that it Just So Happens that the characters we see on camera are mostly Human or look Human.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I wonder if there's an alien race that routinely gets plastic surgery to appear more human(oid) because it's their idea of beauty or to be socially accepted. Like, they make no secret about what they really are - it's not done for subterfuge reasons - they just like the look.