Trills - from bumpy foreheads to spots?

[olysounder89]

Hey all! First off, with this being my first post on here. Have to say feels great to be on a trek board again (minus not missing the ikonBoard errors from back in the day). Anyways, I've lost a lot of my trek knowledge and just don't keep up with it much anymore these last handful of years, so it is a tad embarrassing to ask this, but just randomly picked a TNG episode The Host, where the Trill characters have different facial features than in DS9 where spots were the thing. Am I completely off on this and they're two separate (albeit very similar) aliens? Or worse, is it like the whole Klingon forehead thing that took a whole other series to explain that?


Oh by the way.... Extra kudos to those that got the ikonBoard reference. lol

 

[DigificWriter]

The Trill seen in The Host and the Trill seen in DS9 and beyond are meant to be the same race; apocryphal novels later establish that the 'ridged Trill' are a 'subspecies' of Trill and that the inability to be transported is a distinguishing feature of some Trill ethnicities and not a trait shared by the entire species as a whole.

Regarding the switch from the ridged makeup used in The Host to the spotted, Kriosian-inspired makeup that was used in DS9 and beyond, I've heard two slightly conflicting reasons given for the change:
1) The producers didn't want to cover up Terry Farrell's facial features and hide her beauty
2) She had an adverse reaction to the makeup

The closest we've come to an actual Canonical in-universe explanation for the change, BTW, is a comment from Terry Farrell saying that the 'ridged Trill' were from the Southern regions of Trill whereas the spotted Trill were from the Northern regions of Trill.

 

[φ of π]

I'd also heard another explanation being the Klingon augment virus - but I don't remember if that was in a fanfic, published fiction, or some third thing.

 

[olysounder89]

Well that pretty much answers that! Thanks DigificWriter.

 

[DigificWriter]

I'd also heard another explanation being the Klingon augment virus - but I don't remember if that was in a fanfic, published fiction, or some third thing.

This is the first time I've heard of the Augment Virus being an explanation for the difference in Trill between The Host and the rest of the species' appearances in DS9 and beyond, but it's an interesting thought exercise.

Well that pretty much answers that! Thanks DigificWriter.

You're welcome.

As an aside, I would've liked to have seen the 'ridged Trill' makeup come back for some of the Trill we saw who weren't Jadzia or Ezri, but it is what it is.

 

[Tosk]

Sometimes a make-up change is just that. The Bajoran noses changed too, but no one tries to rationlize that.

 

[DigificWriter]

Sometimes a make-up change is just that. The Bajoran noses changed too, but no one tries to rationlize that.

Care to elaborate? Because this is the first time I've ever heard of the Bajoran makeup being changed.

 

[φ of π]

As an aside, I would've liked to have seen the 'ridged Trill' makeup come back for some of the Trill we saw who weren't Jadzia or Ezri, but it is what it is.

What they could have done was have male Trill with bumps and female Trill with spots. Sexual dimorphism is common in nature.

It could have been a running joke that Trills always have trouble telling males and females from other races apart.

 

[DigificWriter]

^ That would've been neat; the only problem is that we saw Odan as a female in The Host.

 

[Tosk]

Care to elaborate? Because this is the first time I've ever heard of the Bajoran makeup being changed.

Their noses originally had a small brow piece which sat above part of the eyebrows. This was done away with after a while. The difference can be seen easily by comparing Ro in the episode Ensign Ro to how she looked in Preemptive Strike. Nerys also has the old style ridges in Emissary, but moves on to the new style in the very next episode.

Similarly, Quark's nose changes style between Emissary and the next ep too. (His nose wasn't ready yet, so he's wearing a Rom style nose instead.)

 

[DigificWriter]

^ Thanks for the answer; I was genuinely unaware of that.

 

[Tosk]

No worries. From what I recall, Westmore did away with the brow piece due to it being a pain to deal with. I prefer the updated style anyway.

 

[retroenzo]

The Trill symbiont of The Host also seems to be much more dominating of the host's body too. Consider Odan in Riker's body. Riker's personality is completely suppressed by Odan's. This goes completely against what we'll learn later on with Dax and the merged personalities of both symbiont and host.

Also, the episode 'Dax' shows that Jadzia Dax should not be convicted for the crimes of Curzon Dax as she is a different person now. Also, the personality of Joran Dax is completely different from all other Dax personalities we've seen.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

^Yes, but remember that Will is Human. His biology and neurology might explain all that.

 

[Lance]

There are 'test photos' somewhere of Terry Farrell wearing "Host"-style bumpy forehead makeup as Jadzia. The story I heard was they decided it would be better to revamp the makeup because it was hiding too much of Farrell's beauty, although I've also heard she may have had some kind of adverse skin reaction to the makeup, necessitating the minimalist approach they eventually settled with.

 

[Long Syntax]

It would have been interesting to see offspring from Jadzia and Worf - unfortunately it was not to be. I'd imagine they'd have spotted bumpy children

 

[DigificWriter]

I would love to see Ezri and Julian's children myself, just to see which side of their genome manifests itself most prominently.

 

[Nyotarules]

In Star Trek the alien phenotype dominates so the audience can see the child is of mixed parentage (where one of the parent is a human). Re DS9 episode 'Children of Time'.

 

[Timo]

Absent rationalization and backstage mumblings, the simplest interpretation would seem to be that Trills are the ugly slugs. Whatever shape the host takes does not matter, as the combination, too, is nevertheless called a Trill.

"The Host" already showed that at least two distinct humanoid species are compatible hosts for the Trill - humans and the ridgeheads. That Dax preferred spotted Kriosians over bland humans can easily be excused, considering the generally phenomenal looks of Kriosians. Obviously, there would be plenty of them living on planet Trill, too, knowing that they are hot hot hot and counting on getting "slugged" ahead of the long queue.

There is no "inability to be transported". There's just the knowledge that the Trill secret would be out if a Trill agreed to being transported. Nor is there a difference in the host-slug relationship, beyond there being different sorts of slug: some let their slave bodies speak and have first names, others do not see the point. I.e. Odan didn't just live in a certain anatomical feature, but happened to be one.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Timo]

In Star Trek the alien phenotype (dominates?) so the audience can see the child is of mixed parentage (where on of the parent is a human). Re DS9 episode 'Children of Time'.

Hmm. Seska seemed to be counting heavily on her Cardassian (or perhaps Bajoran) phenotype not showing in the child much - but also on Chakotay's human phenotype not manifesting at all. Little did she know, apparently.

Timo Saloniemi