Lost Era -- Tzenkethi War

[Christopher]

Cynoid (doglike) species in Trek include TNG's Anticans and the Erithian Lt. Seena Maybri in Howard Weinstein's TOS novel Deep Domain.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Maybe Geoff Thorne can do up a comic sketch of a Tzenkethi. Personally, I picture an overmuscled platypus with a mohawk, sunglasses, and a big tattoo on his bill. And he's wearing crossed bandoliers with grenades, kind of like Duke Nukem.

"Man.....I'm lookin' good."

 

[F. King Daniel]

^So that's what happened to him after Duke Nukem Forever was cancelled!

 

[Cybersnark]

Maybe Geoff Thorne can do up a comic sketch of a Tzenkethi. Personally, I picture an overmuscled platypus with a mohawk, sunglasses, and a big tattoo on his bill. And he's wearing crossed bandoliers with grenades, kind of like Duke Nukem.

*imagines a Tzenkethi wearing a fedora*

. . . And now you've got me imagining the rest of the Typhon Pact races as Phineas and Ferb characters. Thank you.

("MOM! The Romulans and Breen are building a red matter generator!")

 

[EmperorKalan]

Though I do agree that, given the inclusion of the Gorn in the Typhon Pact, it would be preferable to make the Tzenkethi a little more distinct. Had it been up to me, I would've used Robert's idea as inspiration but maybe played up the "heavily armored" aspect, giving them kind of an insectoid chitin plating over a raptorlike body plan, or something along those lines.

I have vague memories of a (non-trek) comic book with a reptillian race of different sub-species; their warrior/big muscle guys looked like they borrowed features from horned lizards and ankylosaurs (lot of natural armor).

I remember I thought they looked really cool at the time, though it was so long ago I have no idea if my current sensibilities would agree.

 

[DimesDan]

How about something akin to Hobbits or Ewoks? Something short, cute and unimposing, something that looks like anyone could take in a fight, but were hard as nails!

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Maybe Geoff Thorne can do up a comic sketch of a Tzenkethi. Personally, I picture an overmuscled platypus with a mohawk, sunglasses, and a big tattoo on his bill. And he's wearing crossed bandoliers with grenades, kind of like Duke Nukem.

*imagines a Tzenkethi wearing a fedora*

. . . And now you've got me imagining the rest of the Typhon Pact races as Phineas and Ferb characters. Thank you.

("MOM! The Romulans and Breen are building a red matter generator!")

...

That'd be INCREDIBLE. I like.

 

[Herbert1]

How about something akin to Hobbits or Ewoks? Something short, cute and unimposing, something that looks like anyone could take in a fight, but were hard as nails!

Or they could be blobs of fat like the Adipose.

Actually Robert was thinking of the Hakazit from Jack Chalker's Well of Souls universe. And given the T. rex analogy, they sound more like larger versions of Dr. Ree from Titan than like the Gorn (though the "In a Mirror, Darkly" version of the Gorn is a bit more dinosaurlike in body structure than the "Arena" version).

Though I do agree that, given the inclusion of the Gorn in the Typhon Pact, it would be preferable to make the Tzenkethi a little more distinct. Had it been up to me, I would've used Robert's idea as inspiration but maybe played up the "heavily armored" aspect, giving them kind of an insectoid chitin plating over a raptorlike body plan, or something along those lines.

Interesting idea.

Perhaps to differentiate them from the Gorn, maybe they could also have feathers as have been found on Velociraptor fossils? Maybe a cross between dinosaurs and birds? Incorporate some of the recent fossil findings of feathered dinosaurs? Perhaps the feathers are arranged in tiger-like stripes?

Maybe we are taking Wolfe too literally and we might be able to incorporate both T-Rex and cat-like features into a totally new alien race? The Turians from Mass Effect look like a combination of bird, dinosaur, and cat-like elements.

 

[Thestral]

I'd prefer the cat-people approach because at least it'd be something not so close to the Gorn. And except for one Animated Series episode and one early TNG episode, I can't think of any cat-people from Star Trek.

The Caitian Lt. M'Ress was in six TAS episodes. There were felinoid aliens (generally assumed to be Caitians) in the Federation Council scenes in The Voyage Home. There was a three-breasted felinoid alien in The Final Frontier. In the literature, we've had the Eeiauoans and Sivaoans from Uhura's Song, the Sadrao from The Wounded Sky, Snnanagfashtalli's species from The Entropy Effect, the M'Dok (renamed from Kzinti) in The Captains' Honor, and no doubt others. Not to mention the Grond in the DC Trek comics. Felinoid aliens are a huge cliche by this point, in Trek and elsewhere.

Oh, oops about the Caitains. For some reason I'd mentally put them into another universe. I don't recall any of the others, but I'll take your word for it. I think there's something about felines that we humans keep liking to make them alien.

Cynoid (doglike) species in Trek include TNG's Anticans and the Erithian Lt. Seena Maybri in Howard Weinstein's TOS novel Deep Domain.

Wait... the Anticans were supposed to be cynoid?! Dude, I always always interpreted them as cat people.

Actually Robert was thinking of the Hakazit from Jack Chalker's Well of Souls universe. And given the T. rex analogy, they sound more like larger versions of Dr. Ree from Titan than like the Gorn (though the "In a Mirror, Darkly" version of the Gorn is a bit more dinosaurlike in body structure than the "Arena" version).

Though I do agree that, given the inclusion of the Gorn in the Typhon Pact, it would be preferable to make the Tzenkethi a little more distinct. Had it been up to me, I would've used Robert's idea as inspiration but maybe played up the "heavily armored" aspect, giving them kind of an insectoid chitin plating over a raptorlike body plan, or something along those lines.

Interesting idea.

Perhaps to differentiate them from the Gorn, maybe they could also have feathers as have been found on Velociraptor fossils? Maybe a cross between dinosaurs and birds? Incorporate some of the recent fossil findings of feathered dinosaurs?

Ooh, I like all of these ideas. And now I have an image of the Tzenkethi as emus...

 

[Herbert1]

Ooh, I like all of these ideas. And now I have an image of the Tzenkethi as emus...

Not emus! Feathered T-Rex or Velociraptors!

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Ooh, I like all of these ideas. And now I have an image of the Tzenkethi as emus...

Not emus! Feathered T-Rex or Velociraptors!

Let's compromise and have them as cassowaries. Nasty things those.

 

[kkozoriz1]

Actually Robert was thinking of the Hakazit from Jack Chalker's Well of Souls universe. And given the T. rex analogy, they sound more like larger versions of Dr. Ree from Titan than like the Gorn (though the "In a Mirror, Darkly" version of the Gorn is a bit more dinosaurlike in body structure than the "Arena" version).

After seeing IAMD I started thinking of that version of the Gorn as the male and the version from Arena as being female. Don't know why but it works for me.

 

[JD]

How about dog people? We've never seen those. And Porthos doesn't count.

How about dog people? We've never seen those. And Porthos doesn't count.

Well, we've never seen them onscreen obviously, but New Frontier had the Dogs of War.

Cynoid (doglike) species in Trek include TNG's Anticans and the Erithian Lt. Seena Maybri in Howard Weinstein's TOS novel Deep Domain.

I wouldn't mind more cynoid species in Trek, it's not really something I've seen alot in the sci-fi stuff I've watched/read. T

 

[Christopher]

Better yet, why base aliens on Earth animals at all? Why is an alien that looks like a cat or a dog or a praying mantis any less absurd than an alien that looks like a human with a bit of latex on the face? Real aliens wouldn't duplicate Earth taxonomy any more than the continents on alien planets would be shaped like Earth's continents.

 

[JD]

I think part of the reason this tends to be so common, is that perhaps people find them easier to accept if they look like something they are familiar with.

 

[Herbert1]

Better yet, why base aliens on Earth animals at all? Why is an alien that looks like a cat or a dog or a praying mantis any less absurd than an alien that looks like a human with a bit of latex on the face? Real aliens wouldn't duplicate Earth taxonomy any more than the continents on alien planets would be shaped like Earth's continents.

That's a rhetorical question, is it not? Why do you think that aliens are described as cat-like, or dog-like, or insect-like in science fiction stories and on television? Reptile-like or mammalian herbivores?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

*imagines a Tzenkethi wearing a fedora*

Or a sombrero.

 

[Dayton Ward]

*imagines a Tzenkethi wearing a fedora*

Or a sombrero.

Or one of those baseball caps with a beer can on each side, and straws running down to the wearer's mouth.

Now that's fashion and functionality.