Most Fascinating Trek Culture

JME2 · Post by **JME2** » 2004-01-30 01:02pm

Part of Star Trek's appeal has always been in the cultures that they have presented on-screen over the course of five television series and ten movies, from the Federation and Klingons to the Cardassians and the Borg - the list goes on an on. Which one do you find most fascinating?

Robert Walper · Post by **Robert Walper** » 2004-01-30 01:41pm

JME2 wrote:Part of Star Trek's appeal has always been in the cultures that they have presented on-screen over the course of five television series and ten movies, from the Federation and Klingons to the Cardassians and the Borg - the list goes on an on. Which one do you find most fascinating?

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Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-01-30 01:46pm

I actually kind of liked the Bajorans. Not that I'd ever want to be one but I found it interesting that they were a religious society that really did have a "god" looking out for them (although they seem to take a break during the occupation).

The super capitalist society of the Ferengi was interesting but pushed too far into the comedy realm. It was interesting when Quark was on Ferenginar he had to place "bribes" or gratuities everywhere just to get people to do their jobs. It was just the way things worked.

I think the Klingons could be interesting if someone cleaned everything up and made the different eras work together. Explain how the TOS Klingons could also be the head butting morons that only wanted to be warriors. Kang in ST VI is a good mix of these two sides. Someone intelligent and cleaver but also a warrior.

Bertie Wooster · Post by **Bertie Wooster** » 2004-01-30 02:35pm

I've always found the Romulans to be very interesting. Some parts of their culture reminds me of the Roman Republic, and they have that whole history as an off-shoot of the Vulcans. Kind of like the Americans being an off-shoot of the British. And there's also the fact that they were originally intended by Rodenbury as a metaphor for the isolationist Chinese.

TOS Romulans had that respectable and honorable mystique about them that I thought was conveyed very well in The Fist of the Empire fan-fiction. Unfortunately, they turned into the generic arrogant fall-guys in TNG, DS9, and VOY.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2004-01-30 02:50pm

As a child I have always been fascinated by the Andorians. I loved their look and the mystery that seemed to surround them on TOS. At first I was thrilled when it looked like the Andorians might play a large role on Enterprise but then that show went straight to hell so....

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-01-30 02:52pm

Stravo wrote:As a child I have always been fascinated by the Andorians. I loved their look and the mystery that seemed to surround them on TOS. At first I was thrilled when it looked like the Andorians might play a large role on Enterprise but then that show went straight to hell so....

The Andorians have been showing up a bit in the post series DS9 books. They do seem interesting. They have very complex family and mating groups .

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-01-30 03:08pm

Robert Walper wrote:<snip>

Since when do the Borg have a culture?

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2004-01-30 03:16pm

I like the Vuclans when they are played right. Spock was just about the best Star Trek example of a Vulcan ever.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-01-30 03:38pm

i've always liked the klingons with the whole warrior culture personally. although the way they've turned them into rather mindless 'let's kill it for the glory of the empire' types has been rather disappointing. i much preferred TOS era ones.

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2004-01-30 04:12pm

Bertie Wooster wrote:I've always found the Romulans to be very interesting. Some parts of their culture reminds me of the Roman Republic, and they have that whole history as an off-shoot of the Vulcans. Kind of like the Americans being an off-shoot of the British. And there's also the fact that they were originally intended by Rodenbury as a metaphor for the isolationist Chinese.

TOS Romulans had that respectable and honorable mystique about them that I thought was conveyed very well in The Fist of the Empire fan-fiction. Unfortunately, they turned into the generic arrogant fall-guys in TNG, DS9, and VOY.

The Romulan political instability also brings in some interesting elements, as it offers them much more roles than they would have as a static enemy or ally. It also keeps the Federation alert, and is probably why the Fed didn't go totally pacifist/wussie/idiot (not implying a connection between the three) and get completely reamed in any of the battles they fought.

JME2 · Post by **JME2** » 2004-01-30 04:54pm

Tsyroc wrote:I found it interesting that they were a religious society that really did have a "god" looking out for them (although they seem to take a break during the occupation).

I have a explanation for that which will show up in my Trek/Wars story.

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2004-01-30 05:54pm

JME2 wrote:
Tsyroc wrote:I found it interesting that they were a religious society that really did have a "god" looking out for them (although they seem to take a break during the occupation).
I have a explanation for that which will show up in my Trek/Wars story.

The Prophets have pledged non-interference similar to the Fed's Prime Directive. The only way Sisko was able to get them to intervene in anything not prophecised (such as the Dominion invasion) was to put his own life at stake, thus forcing the Prophet's hands.

Johonebesus · Post by **Johonebesus** » 2004-01-30 07:22pm

My problem (and it's been brought up by others before) is that the cultures are too one dimensional. The comical Ferengi, the Bajorans with their one religion with no sects ore denominations and no secularists, the Viking Klingons, the purely humanistic Terrans with no religion at all, the trend seems to be to find one trait that characterizes a civilization and use it to define totally the entire species. It makes all the Star Trek cultures pretty boring, in my opinion. To me, it would be more interesting to try to re-imagine the cultures to make them more realistic.

Admiral_K · Post by **Admiral_K** » 2004-01-30 09:39pm

Stravo wrote:As a child I have always been fascinated by the Andorians. I loved their look and the mystery that seemed to surround them on TOS. At first I was thrilled when it looked like the Andorians might play a large role on Enterprise but then that show went straight to hell so....

Actually, I've found the Enterprise episodes featuring the Andorans to be among the most interesting. They've been in like 5 of them now. The most recent one I think was one of the best episodes of ENT yet. Really, it would be a shame if they cancel the series now that it is finally starting to find a rythym and putting out decent stories.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-01-30 11:27pm

The TNG Romulans, Ferengi, and Cardassians were both fascinating. So were the TOS Klingons.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2004-01-30 11:34pm

Bertie Wooster wrote:I've always found the Romulans to be very interesting. Some parts of their culture reminds me of the Roman Republic, and they have that whole history as an off-shoot of the Vulcans. Kind of like the Americans being an off-shoot of the British. And there's also the fact that they were originally intended by Rodenbury as a metaphor for the isolationist Chinese.

TOS Romulans had that respectable and honorable mystique about them that I thought was conveyed very well in The Fist of the Empire fan-fiction. Unfortunately, they turned into the generic arrogant fall-guys in TNG, DS9, and VOY.

The Romulans are too obviously modeled after the Roman Empire. Their homeworlds are named Romulus and Remus, for Christ's sake. It doesn't get much more blatant than that. (In case you don't know, Romulus and Remus were the legendary founders of Rome.)

Agent R · Post by **Agent R** » 2004-01-31 01:24am

Breen and Tholians.

What do they really look like

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2004-01-31 05:47am

Admiral_K wrote:
Actually, I've found the Enterprise episodes featuring the Andorans to be among the most interesting. They've been in like 5 of them now. The most recent one I think was one of the best episodes of ENT yet. Really, it would be a shame if they cancel the series now that it is finally starting to find a rythym and putting out decent stories.

*Nods to waitress*

I'll have what he's having. No seriously, tell me what it is that makes you think Enterprise is turning into a good show, because it's making beer googgles look like tinted windows.

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » 2004-01-31 08:24am

I have always like the Romulans. That is until Nemesis fucked them up completely, Reman slave race? What the hell? I am still angry at that movie for ruining the Romulans.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2004-01-31 09:54am

Johonebesus wrote:My problem (and it's been brought up by others before) is that the cultures are too one dimensional. The comical Ferengi, the Bajorans with their one religion with no sects ore denominations and no secularists, the Viking Klingons, the purely humanistic Terrans with no religion at all, the trend seems to be to find one trait that characterizes a civilization and use it to define totally the entire species. It makes all the Star Trek cultures pretty boring, in my opinion. To me, it would be more interesting to try to re-imagine the cultures to make them more realistic.

You could say that about more things than Trek actually, several of the easy reading fantasy books I've read, *cough*Eddings*cough* make the same mistake of giving one race a defining characteristic and noone in the books ever seems to step outside that role, it's not just Star Trek sadly.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-01-31 10:05am

The Cardassians are a fascinating culture. Their uniforms, ships, looks set them apart from the rest. There something enigmatic about the Cardassians that I like.

Admiral_K · Post by **Admiral_K** » 2004-01-31 08:45pm

Darth Fanboy wrote:
Admiral_K wrote:
Actually, I've found the Enterprise episodes featuring the Andorans to be among the most interesting. They've been in like 5 of them now. The most recent one I think was one of the best episodes of ENT yet. Really, it would be a shame if they cancel the series now that it is finally starting to find a rythym and putting out decent stories.
*Nods to waitress*

I'll have what he's having. No seriously, tell me what it is that makes you think Enterprise is turning into a good show, because it's making beer googgles look like tinted windows.

Have you seen many of the episodes from season 3? I'd doubt it. Most of the people here who criticize it have only seen a few episodes. and most of those were in season 1 to boot. Like I said, the end of Season 2 onward has been a much better series.

I'll elaborate: The show in general just seems more "Grown up". The episodes seem to make much better sense than in previous ones. The behavior of the people is much more what you would expect of "real" people. The episodes themselves have had a nice flow to them.

It's been short on the technobable and long on the action.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2004-01-31 11:21pm

http://www.firsttvdrama.com/enterprise/index.php3

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2004-02-01 12:09am

The_Lumberjack wrote:
Johonebesus wrote:My problem (and it's been brought up by others before) is that the cultures are too one dimensional. The comical Ferengi, the Bajorans with their one religion with no sects ore denominations and no secularists, the Viking Klingons, the purely humanistic Terrans with no religion at all, the trend seems to be to find one trait that characterizes a civilization and use it to define totally the entire species. It makes all the Star Trek cultures pretty boring, in my opinion. To me, it would be more interesting to try to re-imagine the cultures to make them more realistic.
You could say that about more things than Trek actually, several of the easy reading fantasy books I've read, *cough*Eddings*cough* make the same mistake of giving one race a defining characteristic and noone in the books ever seems to step outside that role, it's not just Star Trek sadly.

Several episodes show that not all members of a trek race have those traits, but the culture promotes a certain personality-type that then becomes dominant in orginizations like starfleet.

JME2 · Post by **JME2** » 2004-02-01 01:39am

Matt Huang wrote:
JME2 wrote:
Tsyroc wrote:I found it interesting that they were a religious society that really did have a "god" looking out for them (although they seem to take a break during the occupation).
I have a explanation for that which will show up in my Trek/Wars story.
The Prophets have pledged non-interference similar to the Fed's Prime Directive. The only way Sisko was able to get them to intervene in anything not prophecised (such as the Dominion invasion) was to put his own life at stake, thus forcing the Prophet's hands.

Ah, true, but I have another reason up my sleeve, one that will directly tie into why the Merging is occuring.

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