Why did the changelings all look similar?

[Feeglesnorp]

In the beginning we are introduced to Odo as the resident Goo Guy™ and his whole excuse for looking kinda like a burn victim (said affectionately!) is that he just 'couldnt get the face right' which worked fine for me UNTIL we got to see the OTHER goo people and suddenly they all have the same smooth appearance! Obviously I understand that there was a whole array of reasons for them to homogenize the appearance of the changelings for the viewers AND budgets sake, but I am wondering what other people thort about it. I postulated to myself that they actually do have a kind of ancestral default humanoid appearance that works as a low-power-mode method of getting to phonate and utilize phalanges, and Odo simply didn't understand why he naturally assumed this mildly homonculoid look, but another freak nerd I talked to about this had imagined instead that the other changelings were intentionally mimicking Odo's half baked form to make him feel more welcomed (a theory that doesn't really stick when applied to later episodes).

Was there a more in depth explanation of this that I missed? Or do you guys have any of your own theories/headcannons?!

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I just assumed that the second theory was right and they were mimicking Odo to make him feel like he'd really found his people. At first anyway. After that it became their default when dealing with people from the Alpha Quadrant because Odo had already established what they expected a Changeling to look like.

We at least know the hairstyle doesn't come naturally to them because Odo got that by mimicking his dad, Mora Pol.

 

[Feeglesnorp]

I just assumed that the second theory was right and they were mimicking Odo to make him feel like he'd really found his people. At first anyway. After that it became their default when dealing with people from the Alpha Quadrant because Odo had already established what they expected a Changeling to look like.

We at least know the hairstyle doesn't come naturally to them because Odo got that by mimicking his dad, Mora Pol.

I am intrigued to hear that you share the Odo mimicry theory! Maybe it was the normal conclusion to arrive at for most viewers. I found that Laas (that other non-dominion changeling) had an interesting appearance, I liked how he carried some of the traits (unique forehead wrinkles- as always) of the aliens he presumably 'grew up' with. He still had that trademark changeling smoothness though. Maybe it is a combination of both, where the dominion changelings were partially mimicking Odo but they also default to an overall smooth low detail look as a race, so they were borrowing Odo's take on a changelings version of a Bajoran.

Realistically I doubt the writers put this much thought into it, or they at least hoped that viewers would not!

 

[Tosk]

Yeah, I like to think that there's a certain amount of "default" humanoid going on. That when Odo thought he couldn't do faces, it was more a case of not being able to do a face that wasn't just a copy of someone else, and so unbeknownst to him his "Odo" face is actually leaning towards his genetics.

That doesn't mean the others didn't also echo his appearance purposefully, but Laas has a pseudo-Odo look too, and he does not seem like the kind of person to imitate someone that way the very first time they ever meet.

 

[Feeglesnorp]

Yeah, I like to think that there's a certain amount of "default" humanoid going on. That when Odo thought he couldn't do faces, it was more a case of not being able to do a face that wasn't just a copy of someone else, and so unbeknownst to him his "Odo" face is actually leaning towards his genetics.

That doesn't mean the others didn't also echo his appearance purposefully, but Laas has a pseudo-Odo look too, and he does not seem like the kind of person to imitate someone that way the very first time they ever meet.

I hadn't thought about the significance of mimicry! I like the concept of it being easy for them to recreate a form but very tedious to invent a new one. I also like the resulting paradox of being naturally inclined to copying, but the humanoids you wish to mimic having an innate sense of self and individuality- so to properly replicate them you'd have to be a unique individual too!

There certainly are many fun dimensions to Odo and his fish out of water trope, or should I say goo out of goo?

 

[CoveTom]

Here's what Ronald D. Moore had to say about the question in one of his AOL posts back in the day:

"Odo modeled his look after Dr. Mora and the Founders then modeled their look after Odo. They did this initially as a compliment and way of reaching out to their long-lost Changeling, and later they kept doing it as a dig and reminder to him of his own limitations."

 

[Feeglesnorp]

Here's what Ronald D. Moore had to say about the question in one of his AOL posts back in the day:

"Odo modeled his look after Dr. Mora and the Founders then modeled their look after Odo. They did this initially as a compliment and way of reaching out to their long-lost Changeling, and later they kept doing it as a dig and reminder to him of his own limitations."

Fascinating! I guess I shouldn't have doubted my fellow nerd acquaintance after all! It does still feel like a bit of a bandaid solution though, obviously it would have been unpleasant for viewers if these important characters were unrecognisable as their race while they weren't goo moding. There had to be a way to allow people to go "uguh? a founder!!" when being introduced to a character and the logical choice was to make a standardised goo person phenotype, which could be conveniently identical to the established resident gooman!

Thanks for scrounging up this neat quote, it is satisfying hearing the reasoning straight from the writer!

 

[kevinc]

Here's what Ronald D. Moore had to say about the question in one of his AOL posts back in the day:

"Odo modeled his look after Dr. Mora and the Founders then modeled their look after Odo. They did this initially as a compliment and way of reaching out to their long-lost Changeling, and later they kept doing it as a dig and reminder to him of his own limitations."

That explanation doesn't feel right, considering how the female changeling was trying to reach out to Odo during the Dominion occupation of Deep Space Nine.

Also, Laas took on a similar appearance to Odo, and he was another changeling returning to the Founders. He took the appearance almost immediately in the runabout.

I think the only reason is the showrunners thought Odo's appearance was iconic of his race and wanted to keep using it.

 

[CoveTom]

That explanation doesn't feel right, considering how the female changeling was trying to reach out to Odo during the Dominion occupation of Deep Space Nine.

Also, Laas took on a similar appearance to Odo, and he was another changeling returning to the Founders. He took the appearance almost immediately in the runabout.

I think the only reason is the showrunners thought Odo's appearance was iconic of his race and wanted to keep using it.

But Ron Moore was one of the writers and producers running the show and that Q&A with him was done while DS9 was in production.

 

[TheMoonIsMadeOfCheese]

Here's what Ronald D. Moore had to say about the question in one of his AOL posts back in the day:

"Odo modeled his look after Dr. Mora and the Founders then modeled their look after Odo. They did this initially as a compliment and way of reaching out to their long-lost Changeling, and later they kept doing it as a dig and reminder to him of his own limitations."

I agree that this is the most likely in-universe theory, but I read something else awhile back that I thought was also interesting.

Basically, the changelings all look similar because it’s a remnant of their ancient forms; their ancestors. We know from the show that the changelings used to be solid, but evolved into shapeshifters over time (which leads to another fan theory that the shapeshifters are the ancient progenitors from that TNG episode but I digress). So the reason all changelings prefer the smooth skinned humanoid form that we see in the show is genetic, a kind of leftover in their DNA hinting at their past, and it means they revert back to their original look when they choose to become solid.