Mirror Universe Assumption

[The Wormhole]

The Mirror Universe is basically our universe turned evil. In the Enterprise story, Dr. Phlox even notes there is a difference between classical Earth literature. MU Earth's classical literature is dark and evil, as opposed to our "soft and weaker" as MU Phlox put it. With the exception of Shakespeare, he's apparentally the same in both universes.

Also, Enterprise's opening credits showed an image of Earth spinning in the opposite direction (so that the sun would rise in the west) leading to some speculation that this is what led to humanity being evil.

 

[SSgt Baloo]

I've always assumed the mirror universe simply had a different set of "virtues" that were extolled. The Nazis promoted Cultural Darwinism to the point that Hitler and others tried to ensure that competition for resources, official attention, etc., would result in the "best" (most ruthless) winning the prize. An only slightly skewed version of this attitude is illustrated in the WWII Disney short: Education for Death.

In Roman times, the gladiatorial contests were not just considered entertainment, but also served the purpose of desensitizing Roman citizens to the suffering of others and demonstrating how Roman soldiers were superior to barbarians. The Romans may have been a great civilization, but in truth, they were as brutal as they needed to be to stay at the top of the heap for as long as they did. When Brutus stabbed Caesar, he was betraying his friend for the greater good of the Empire.

I guess what I'm saying is that we, Americans especially, view our values as "normal" and any departure from that standard as "abnormal". In reality, a lot of different attitudes have been "normal" when the society that valued them decided it would benefit that society.

The Mirror universe is what we might become (and have been in the past) if we did not value freedom and believe that life, even others' life, has value. In the Mirror univers, what's considered "fair" is what you can get away with and what you can intimidate others into conceding to you. If anyone suffers, it's only what they deserve for being weak and unable to stand up for themselves.

 

[Nardpuncher]

The Mirror Universe is basically our universe turned evil. In the Enterprise story, Dr. Phlox even notes there is a difference between classical Earth literature. MU Earth's classical literature is dark and evil, as opposed to our "soft and weaker" as MU Phlox put it. With the exception of Shakespeare, he's apparentally the same in both universes.

Also, Enterprise's opening credits showed an image of Earth spinning in the opposite direction (so that the sun would rise in the west) leading to some speculation that this is what led to humanity being evil.

This is the way I always saw it too. Not just a different set of circumstances, but just everyone is basically more evil, even the Mirror Mother Teresa would be evil!

 

[DevilEyes]

^ That makes no sense, would be incredibly boring and pointless (so everyone we meet will be evil? How predictable. Why should we care what happens then?), and is not even true for what we saw on screen. O'Brien wasn't evil, neither was Quark, Brunt was much nicer in the MU than in the prime universe, Spock was more ruthless but he still had his sense of loyalty and honor, Forrest was not such a bad guy compared to most Terran Empire officials and he was willing to sacrifice himself for his crew, T'Pol, while more ruthless than her PU counterpart (she had to be) was still loyal to captain Forrest and sympathetic as a member of an oppressed race who decided to join the rebellion and fight for freedom, Soval was just insecure and downtrodden second class citizen before she convinced him to join the rebellion, etc.

The Mirror Universe is simply a parallel universe in which some things happened differently, which lead to a very different development of the Human race, and the creation of Terran Empire instead of the Federation. The Terran Empire is simply a ruthless conquering empire - not all that different from some in Earth's past.

"Mirror, Mirror" was written as a fun "what if" scenario: What would our heroes be like if they lived in a very different world, in a 'dog eat dog' society? It's that old "nature vs nurture" issue. Basically, we see that the characters still have some of the same traits, but those traits are twisted into something very different because of their different experiences, upbringing and conditions. It was another attempt to explore the "dark side" of the characters (something TOS had been doing since "The Enemy Within"- and, this time, the dark side of the Starfleet and Earth/Federation as well. It also features the astute observation that it's far easier for a 'civilized' person to convincingly slip into the role of a brute, than the other way round.

In essence, it's a very interesting concept that can work very well if the writers don't get too carried away with black leather, girl-on-girl action and OTT moments to the point of not taking it seriously at all anymore... which, unfortunately, they did on DS9 after the first MU episode - which is why every new MU episode sucked harder.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

T'Pol, while more ruthless than her PU counterpart

Hey now, I'm sure the normal T'Pol doesn't smell bad at all.

 

[scotpens]

What's Q like here? The Dominion, Borg, Romulans, Tzenkethi, Iconians, Organians?

I would reckon that the Dominion, Romulans etc would be like the Federation are now and would be at war with an evil form of the Federation. A total role reversal.

Here's my take on the Mirror Romulans: The TOS Romulans were originally supposed to be the “good” bad guys. Although warlike and ruthless, they were somewhat admirable for their bravery, honor, integrity, and stoicism. They seemed a pretty grim and humorless bunch, and they had that classical Spartan/Roman thing going (the Rommies in “Balance of Terror” even had Latin-sounding names). So I figured the MU Romulans are turned around 180 degrees -- they're like silly, effete Romans or Greeks from a Carry On movie. They're cowardly, conniving, and comically inept. Their plasma weapon is always blowing up in their faces, and their cloaking shield frequently malfunctions so they think they're invisible when they're not. They're the clowns of the galaxy, bungling their way through space.

As to the Klingons, originally they were vaguely modeled after the Mongol Empire, and they were meant to be the real nasties. So I see the Mirror Klingons as something like Shaolin monks, dedicated to peace and nonviolence, spouting ancient Asian-sounding wisdom and philosophy. They're all experts in martial arts and know 100 ways to disable an opponent without causing death or permanent injury. And they're a race of colossal bores.

Of course, the roles of the Klingons and Romulans essentially switched places with the coming of TNG and the Federation-Klingon alliance, so what the two races are like in the post-TNG MU is up for grabs.

. . . This is the way I always saw it too. Not just a different set of circumstances, but just everyone is basically more evil, even the Mirror Mother Teresa would be evil!

Mirror Mother Teresa kicking cripples, spitting on orphans, and stealing from blind beggars in the streets of Calcutta? Now, that I'd like to see.

(Ooooh, I'm such a sicko!)

. . . In essence, it's a very interesting concept that can work very well if the writers don't get too carried away with black leather, girl-on-girl action and OTT moments to the point of not taking it seriously at all anymore... which, unfortunately, they did on DS9 after the first MU episode - which is why every new MU episode sucked harder.

But one thing's for sure -- you can never have too many female bellybuttons!

 

[Destructor]

I always thought it was just a different timeline in which things had happened slightly differently- not that there was an inherent 'evilness' to it all.

 

[Arpy]

Some creative musings...

Q - our Q are THE Q. Everywhere. Every time. Every...every.

Dominion - The Founders made the Jem-Hadar as God made His Angels. They're like the Robots from the Asimov series - only truly happy in service to others. The Changelings see themselves as trying to maintain civilization in a quadrant fallen into chaos...long ago they and the solids coexisted without turmoil. The Dominion is the First Foundation from the other Asimov series.

Romulans - They're like the Atlantis of old. ...Or from the Stargate franchise. They're advanced and quasi Greco-something-or-other like the mythical Atlantis, surrounded by people who want to destroy them like the Stargate one...or like Israel, and they're like the Vedrans of the Systems Commonwealth in that they're a benevolent dominant species in their multi-species society...like the WASPs in the US until the 20th century. I don't know how else you explain the Empire...or Republic maybe(?) being controlled from Romulus and keep all those mirror positions filled by the same people. Perhaps also these Romulans are more Greek or Etruscan than Roman...less Samurai, more Musketeer? Or just more modern Japan than modern China.

 

[The Wormhole]

What we know about the other alien species in the MU:

Vulcans: It is implied in Mirror, Mirror that Vulcans are badass mofos not to be taken lightly. When Spock mentions he employs Vulcan agents, this fact scares the piss out of Sulu. However, Enterprise seems to depict Vulcans as being relatively the same until they made contact with Earth.

Klingons: Not much is really known about MU Klingons, other than they formed an alliance with the Cardassians and defeated the Terran Empire. Also, the Negh'var is really huge in the MU. Some fans speculate the MU Klingons aren't into honour, but there is no canon evidence to support this.

Cardassians: Again, they formed an alliance with the Klingons and liberated Bajor from human oppression. But otherwise, we've seen no differences between the two universes, and Cardassian society may in fact be relatively the same.

Bajorans: They seem to be more militristic and less religious in the MU.

Ferengi: Ferengi society we don't know much about in the MU, but Ferengi individuals are the opposite. Quark cares about helping slaves with no thought of profit, and Brunt is a nice guy. Meanwhile, Rom is a traitor, and Nog is a prick.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ MU Rom wasn't a traitor. He was just a badass warrior.

 

[captcalhoun]

the mirror vulcans became badass mofos after Regent T'pol allied herself with Empress Hoshi I

 

[The Wormhole]

^ MU Rom wasn't a traitor. He was just a badass warrior.

Sorry, my memory was faulty there. I thought he actually did sell Sisko and Smiley O'Brien out to the Alliance, but after checking out Memory Alpha I am reminded that it was part of the plan for him to pretend to sell them out.

Still, a badass warrior is the complete oppisite of Prime Universe Rom.

the mirror vulcans became badass mofos after Regent T'pol allied herself with Empress Hoshi I

That is not canon. As far as canon is concerned, T'Pol was Hoshi's prisoner when Hoshi made her play for the throne.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

the mirror vulcans became badass mofos after Regent T'pol allied herself with Empress Hoshi I

That is not canon.

Two things:

- It might as well be, since we will never see any of these characters onscreen again.

- In any case, who cares?

 

[DevilEyes]

the mirror vulcans became badass mofos after Regent T'pol allied herself with Empress Hoshi I

That is not canon.

Two things:

- It might as well be, since we will never see any of these characters onscreen again.

- In any case, who cares?

- There's always fanfiction, or the fantasy scenarios you play in your head.

- Those who hated Age of the Empress and prefer not to recognize that as the continuation of the story. (For instance... me.)

That's one of the great things about Trek Lit, you can consider a story 'real' if you like it, or invoke 'not canon' and disregard it if you dislike it.

 

[I am not Spock]

In Mirror Mirror and In A Mirror Darkly, the implication is that the MU does have a general tendency to cause people to be evil and violent, and sadistic, and into S&M, etc. In the DS9 MU, it seems to be more of an environmental, 'nature vs. nuture' thing.

And in the Trek universe, there are an infinite number of multiverses. 'Parallels' anyone?