Another thread inspired this thought I actually had while DS9 first aired, but only now I remembered it. If you take the cunning and chess game mentality of the Romulans with the aggressive nature of the Klingons, you essentially get the Cardassians. And I think it was a successful fusion. Does anyone else agree with this? If not, I'd definitely love to hear your thoughts.
The Cardassians are cultured and orderly, in a sinisterly way. I can see the similarities between them and the Romulans. I thought it made a lot of sense when the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shiar conspired to wipe out the Founders. These two cunning peoples seem like natural conspirators. Outwardly the Cardassians behave differently than the Klingons. The Klingons act more like barbarians. They openly glorify combat and warfare, and they blather on and on about honor and the warrior's way. They brawl with one another, claim the right to vengeance, etc. There seems to be plenty of physical violence in their lives. Unlike the Klingons, the Cardassians don't generally act like brutes. They put up a civilized façade to their authoritarian brutal ways. And if Garak and Dukat are representative of Cardassians, they can often be witty, which is also unlike the humorless Klingons.
Valid points about the Klingon comparison. And I agree. But their brutality can equal, if not surpass the Klingons because they use the illusion of civility. I suppose I was thinking more along those lines than outright aggression, though the Cardassians can be very quick to anger. Definitely agree about the Tal Shiar and Obsidian Order. I felt it was one of the most natural alliances to happen in the STAR TREK universe.
I think it is an apt comparison, even if of course it can never be entirely accurate. The Cardassians are much like the Romulans, except that they 'run hot' where the Romulans 'run cold'. They have some of the organisational skills and "sinister sophistication" of the Romulans, but some of the temperament of the Klingons.
Cardassians are a little more like Romulans in decline. Other half is more Centauri than Klingon. Cardassias are more aggressive than Romulans, but they don’t play games and use counterpunch tactics. They invade directly. Nor are they secretive. They want to put on a show for everyone. Their similarities are in attitude toward the state. The aggression is frankly closer to human than Klingon. They don’t fight to fight or for honor, they fight for duty and glory to the empire.
The Cardassians actually seem a bit more like the original Klingons of TOS, before TNG turned them into a cartoonish fusion of Viking and Samurai tropes.