Most underutilized alien race?
- Thread starter GalaxyClass1701
- Start date
I thought that they used them a lot in the last two seasons of DS9.
^You can never have too much Romulans 
Back when the first rumors appeared that there would be another series (that was to be VOY), I fantasized about a Federation ship somehow getting lost in a distant part of the galaxy, far away from home.
Keep in mind that at that time, nothing was known about the series' concept...
Now, in my version, the Feds had to team up with a Romulan crew that had also gotten displaced by the same (unspecified) phenomenon. In my mind, the Federation ship was so heavily damaged that they were forced to join the Romulans on their ship and together find a way back into known space.
I even had a character named Torres
some things must have floated in the ether with flashing lights and sirens ...
Imagine my disappointment when VOY came out, so close to my vision - yet without Romulans! I never got over it and I think it was the reason I never got into watching the show, it had nothing to do with the quality of the show itself.
Back when the first rumors appeared that there would be another series (that was to be VOY), I fantasized about a Federation ship somehow getting lost in a distant part of the galaxy, far away from home.
Keep in mind that at that time, nothing was known about the series' concept...
Now, in my version, the Feds had to team up with a Romulan crew that had also gotten displaced by the same (unspecified) phenomenon. In my mind, the Federation ship was so heavily damaged that they were forced to join the Romulans on their ship and together find a way back into known space.
I even had a character named Torres
some things must have floated in the ether with flashing lights and sirens ...Imagine my disappointment when VOY came out, so close to my vision - yet without Romulans! I never got over it and I think it was the reason I never got into watching the show, it had nothing to do with the quality of the show itself.
Not really. In season 6 we only see Romulans in In The Pale Moonlight and Tears Of The Prophets. In season 7 we see Romulans in Image In The Sand, Shadows And Symbols, Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges, When It Rains, The Dogs Of War, and What You Leave Behind. Romulans ships are seen in The Changing Face Of Evil.
So out of the 52 episodes of season 6 and 7, only 9 of them feature Romulans, and of those 9 only 2 are actually about Romulans, In The Pale Moonlight and Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges. The Romulans are part of the sub-plot of Image In The Sand and Shadows And Symbols. The rest just feature Romulans.
There should have been at least one DS9 ep where the only dialogue spoken is by the Breen. Captivating television I tell you.
Even In The Pale Moonlight is not about Romulan culture or society, it is really about Sisko and Garak, and the Romulans are just an empire they need to get into the war.
I'd say that TNG did more to develop the Romulans, with The Enemy, The Defector, Unification, The Face of the Enemy, Birthright part 2 ...
... but again... not enough!
Romulans, for sure.
I'd have liked to have seen enough of the Breen to at least figure out why they joined the Dominion's losing war effort.
We did see a lot of the Jem'Hadar and Vorta, but they were tons of fun, and I wouldn't have minded seeing more, especially if they did more with a recurring Jem'Hadar character than their somewhat sketchy "Klingons, but sober" characterization (I admit this is a little unfair).
Then again, I suppose we kinda did see a lot more of the Vorta and Jem'Hadar. Just not in Star Trek. Moore adapted the concepts behind them to make the humanoid Cylons, who are virtually the very same concept as the Vorta with a sprinkling of Changeling thrown in, and the Centurions, who are pretty close in concept to the Jemmies (they're even religious!). The Cylon culture was probably better fleshed-out and more compelling, even if it was ultimately ruined--and that's a whole other topic.
As for non-DS9 antagonists, the First Federation, Gorn, Sheliak and Tholians were cool. I'd have liked to have seen the Gorn in the Dominion War. There's actually a comic that has the Gorn joining the Allies, and that would've been neat to see onscreen. As for Federation members, I always wanted to see another Medusan and more Deltans.
I'd have liked to have seen enough of the Breen to at least figure out why they joined the Dominion's losing war effort.
We did see a lot of the Jem'Hadar and Vorta, but they were tons of fun, and I wouldn't have minded seeing more, especially if they did more with a recurring Jem'Hadar character than their somewhat sketchy "Klingons, but sober" characterization (I admit this is a little unfair).
Then again, I suppose we kinda did see a lot more of the Vorta and Jem'Hadar. Just not in Star Trek. Moore adapted the concepts behind them to make the humanoid Cylons, who are virtually the very same concept as the Vorta with a sprinkling of Changeling thrown in, and the Centurions, who are pretty close in concept to the Jemmies (they're even religious!). The Cylon culture was probably better fleshed-out and more compelling, even if it was ultimately ruined--and that's a whole other topic.
As for non-DS9 antagonists, the First Federation, Gorn, Sheliak and Tholians were cool. I'd have liked to have seen the Gorn in the Dominion War. There's actually a comic that has the Gorn joining the Allies, and that would've been neat to see onscreen. As for Federation members, I always wanted to see another Medusan and more Deltans.
As others have mentioned, more of the Tholians, Vaadwuar, and Sheliak would be nice. I'm also a bit disappointed by how Species 8472 were never seen after "In the Flesh" or the Caretakers after "Cold Fire".
I thought the Jarada sounded interesting, and I would've liked them to make an appearance. Ooh, and the Caitians too.
I thought the Jarada sounded interesting, and I would've liked them to make an appearance. Ooh, and the Caitians too.
Virtually all alien races were underutilized, because of the "alien of the week"-syndrome. We were lucky to see at least some of them in more than just one episode. I always thought it would be much more satisfying to limit yourself to just a few races that you could then explore in depth.
The exceptions to that rule were the Klingons and the Borg, obviously because they met some coolness-criteria of whoever was in charge.
I wish they'd have made good use of the Romulans like they did with the Cardassians in DS9And I was really disappointed that ENT missed the opportunity to show us some of the underutilized races of the Federation. Yes, they made some effort with the Vulcans and Andorians, but why drag yet another race into the mix? That Xindi stuff just made me completely lose interest in the show.
I agree absolutely about alien of the week syndrome. Sadly, NuTrek is following this pattern of behaviour. Kudos on featuring an Orion (albeit for some cheap sex jokes), boo hiss for pretending that the Edoan on the Kelvin isn't an Edoan, and if the make-up artists want free reign to make aliens look more alien then re-image some of the classics. I can cope if previously seen races are given a few extra bumps.
Oh, and I wish they'd blown up Betazed instead of Vulcan - those mind readers are appallingly one-diemensional, flavourless plot devices with 'gasp' contact lenses. Babylon 5, TOS, and even Blakes 7 handled telepaths much better than TNG.
Besides the Romulans, the least utilized of the major Trek races, I'd like to see more of the non-humanoid aliens like Medusans, 8472, Tholians... Too many Trek races are humanoid and almost indistinguishable from humans. Then again, there is a real danger that those aliens would be turned into virtual humans through some lame plot, like 8472 were in "In The Flesh". I hate the way Trek has to turn even the most alien of aliens into virtual humans. It is possible - and way more interesting and challenging - to make aliens look sentient, intelligent and relatable even though they look very non-human, like the aliens in "District 9".
Also, the Vidiians were very interesting. I'd rather have seen more of them in VOY than Kazon, Borg or all those countless aliens of the week.
Also, the Vidiians were very interesting. I'd rather have seen more of them in VOY than Kazon, Borg or all those countless aliens of the week.
I think that was the point, they needed to blow up a planet that fans actually do give a fuck about. (Besides the fact that Spock is Vulcan, not Betazoid.)
Romulans - I'd have liked to see less "ooo, I'm decloaking and now I'm gonna threaten you." As shit as Nem was, at least it gave them outfits that didn't look like ass and moral objections to commiting genocide.
Kazon, Vidiians, Hirogen, Vaadwaur - I wish these guys could have been featured in more episodes to flesh out their potential more.
Sheliak - hey were kinda mysterious and cool, despite looking slightly hokey. Would have liked to have seen more.
Tholians - Ur in mah web, losin' yur main pwr
Kazon, Vidiians, Hirogen, Vaadwaur - I wish these guys could have been featured in more episodes to flesh out their potential more.
Sheliak - hey were kinda mysterious and cool, despite looking slightly hokey. Would have liked to have seen more.
Tholians - Ur in mah web, losin' yur main pwr
Breen, so creepy and mysterious I would loved to know more about them.
Romulans have been given the crap end of the stick somewhat in comparison to the Klingons, but we've still been to their homeworld and been onboard their ships, and seen enough of their agents and soldiers in action. And their homeworld was only destroyed in the future and were the primary antagonists in the relatively recent movie.
I don't know where the First Federation went - they could've been the biggest superpower in the Alpha Quandrant like the Dominion and Borg were in theirs.
I don't know where the First Federation went - they could've been the biggest superpower in the Alpha Quandrant like the Dominion and Borg were in theirs.
Nausicaans
i totally loathed VOY, but have to admit i really liked the basic idea behind the vidiians. they were certainmly more interesting than the klingon-wannabe kazon, and had much more dramatic potential.
The Caretakers race (the Nacene)
The Breen
The Vaadwuar
The Hirogen
The Romulans (totally agree with the above posters. Still waiting for their definitive movie moment. In Nemesis, they were upstaged by a Picard clone and their Nosferatu-like never seen before slave race. In XI, Nero and his mates weren't your typical Romulans, but miners)
8472 (They were great until 'In The Flesh' ruined their potential as villains. Then we never heard from them again)
The Gorn
The Tholians
The Tzenkethi
The Sheliak
The Selay
The Anticans
The Vorta (I'm serious. They never received as much attention as the Founders or Jem'Hadar)
The list goes on and on. I agree that they ought to just have a couple of dozen interesting races and stick with them, rather than just keep having bland aliens-of-the-week. I'm glad ENT gave some development to the Andorians and Tellarites at long last, however.
The Breen
The Vaadwuar
The Hirogen
The Romulans (totally agree with the above posters. Still waiting for their definitive movie moment. In Nemesis, they were upstaged by a Picard clone and their Nosferatu-like never seen before slave race. In XI, Nero and his mates weren't your typical Romulans, but miners)
8472 (They were great until 'In The Flesh' ruined their potential as villains. Then we never heard from them again)
The Gorn
The Tholians
The Tzenkethi
The Sheliak
The Selay
The Anticans
The Vorta (I'm serious. They never received as much attention as the Founders or Jem'Hadar)
The list goes on and on. I agree that they ought to just have a couple of dozen interesting races and stick with them, rather than just keep having bland aliens-of-the-week. I'm glad ENT gave some development to the Andorians and Tellarites at long last, however.
Similar threads
