Tellarite
Encyclopedia
Tellarites are a fictional species from the planet Tellar from the Star Trek
television
show.
Though not used in a great number of episodes, they are one of the founding races of the show's United Federation of Planets
, to which Earth
belongs.
Notable Tellarites include Ambassador Gav (from the original Star Trek episode "Journey to Babel"), bounty hunter
Skalaar, and his brother Gaavrin (both from Star Trek: Enterprise
).
species. They have black pupils set in deep eye sockets and large snouts. Tellarites are very hairy; besides having beards and large bushy hair, they also have coarse pinkish-brown skin. Tellarites prefer temperatures slightly above human standards. In Star Trek: The Original Series
they are portrayed as having three fingers, but in Star Trek: Enterprise
, not only is their facial makeup updated, they also have five fingers. Overall the depiction in the original series is different from the Enterprise depiction, but this can easily be explained as simply due to the limitations of makeup in the 1960's. In Star Trek: The Original Series
there was also one small inconsistency of the Tellarite hands. One Tellarite seen in the episode "The Lights of Zetar" had hands with 4 fingers and a thumb, while all other Tellarites seen throughout the entire series had hands with only 2 fingers and a thumb. There is still some debate among fans as to whether or not the alien seen in the episode was even a Tellarite at all, also some others may think that the anthropomorphic beast was half-human. Regardless, the producers of Star Trek: Enterprise probably simply forgot to give the Tellarites back their original hands.
ship Enterprise NX-01
. Although this encounter was rather hostile (a Tellarite bounty hunter kidnapped Captain Archer), the relations between humans and Tellarites apparently improved in the next few years until both species became founding members of the United Federation of Planets
in 2161. A key moment in this process was an incident in 2154, when humans forced them to work together with their enemies the Andorians to prevent a Romulan
attempt to destabilize the region. For the next several hundred years, Tellarites continued to be an important species in the Federation (although they were only rarely seen onscreen). By 2267, in the TOS episode "Journey to Babel", the Babel Conference, which included many Federation worlds including Tellar, was considering the fate of the disputed world Coridan, with its rich mining resources.
Gav, leader of the Tellarite delegation, made heated charges that other ambassadors were either hindering or actively seeking the Tellarites' removal of any say in the negotiations. He accused Vulcan ambassador Sarek of the most serious charges. Gav suddenly turned up in one of the Enterprise's Jefferies tube
s, dead of an apparent Vulcan killing technique, snapping his neck. The subsequent investigation uncovered a plot by the notorious Orion species to break up the conference, frame Sarek for the killing of Gav, and claim Coridan by deception.
In combat, however, despite local success, the Klingons of Deep Space Nine
found them easy prey. During the 2373 Klingon-Federation conflict, one Klingon captain boasted of decapitating a Tellarite helmsman, saying of the victim "The pig barely had time to raise his weapon."
Tellarites are renowned for being rather direct and forceful in conversation, and are known to be so quarrelsome that arguing is a sport
on their home planet, Tellar. They consider normal polite conversation to be a grave insult; it is recommended to be insulting and crude when speaking to a Tellarite. Because of their ability to argue, Tellarites make excellent politicians. They like taking muddy baths. However, Tellarites take great umbrage if compared to the habits of Terran swine, saying they in particular are not food.
The non-canon fan-produced webcast series Star Trek: Hidden Frontier
has featured Tellarite culture prominently. A Tellarite medical officer, Henglaar, features a variation of the TOS look of the species. Henglaar is described at the http://en.hiddenfrontier.com website as being "curmudgeonly", and "an expert on how not to be married" and a Tellarite Starfleet engineer, Barc, is a major character in the novel Avenger
.
A Tellarite individual can be seen in the first level of the 1992 PC Game Star Trek: 25th Anniversary.
; even their smaller shuttlecraft can attain speeds of warp
4 (around 64 times the speed of light
on the old warp scale, 101 times on the new one). During the Babel Crisis episodes on Enterprise
, it was stated by Ambassador Gral that the Tellarites were less advanced than the Andorians.
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show.
Though not used in a great number of episodes, they are one of the founding races of the show's United Federation of Planets
United Federation of Planets
The United Federation of Planets, also known as "The Federation" is a fictional interplanetary federal republic depicted in the Star Trek television series and motion pictures...
, to which Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
belongs.
Notable Tellarites include Ambassador Gav (from the original Star Trek episode "Journey to Babel"), bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
Skalaar, and his brother Gaavrin (both from Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
).
Traits
Tellarites are a suidian (pig)-humanoidHumanoid
A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
species. They have black pupils set in deep eye sockets and large snouts. Tellarites are very hairy; besides having beards and large bushy hair, they also have coarse pinkish-brown skin. Tellarites prefer temperatures slightly above human standards. In Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
they are portrayed as having three fingers, but in Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
, not only is their facial makeup updated, they also have five fingers. Overall the depiction in the original series is different from the Enterprise depiction, but this can easily be explained as simply due to the limitations of makeup in the 1960's. In Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
there was also one small inconsistency of the Tellarite hands. One Tellarite seen in the episode "The Lights of Zetar" had hands with 4 fingers and a thumb, while all other Tellarites seen throughout the entire series had hands with only 2 fingers and a thumb. There is still some debate among fans as to whether or not the alien seen in the episode was even a Tellarite at all, also some others may think that the anthropomorphic beast was half-human. Regardless, the producers of Star Trek: Enterprise probably simply forgot to give the Tellarites back their original hands.
History
Tellarites were warp-capable at least since the 20th century, but they only made contact with humans on March 21, 2153, by the StarfleetStarfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
ship Enterprise NX-01
Starship Enterprise
The Enterprise or USS Enterprise is the name of several fictional starships, some of which are the focal point for various television series and films in the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. It is considered a name of legacy in the fleet...
. Although this encounter was rather hostile (a Tellarite bounty hunter kidnapped Captain Archer), the relations between humans and Tellarites apparently improved in the next few years until both species became founding members of the United Federation of Planets
United Federation of Planets
The United Federation of Planets, also known as "The Federation" is a fictional interplanetary federal republic depicted in the Star Trek television series and motion pictures...
in 2161. A key moment in this process was an incident in 2154, when humans forced them to work together with their enemies the Andorians to prevent a Romulan
Romulan
The Romulans are a fictional alien race in the Star Trek universe. First appearing in the original Star Trek series in the 1966 episode "Balance of Terror", they have since made appearances in all the main later Star Trek series: The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager...
attempt to destabilize the region. For the next several hundred years, Tellarites continued to be an important species in the Federation (although they were only rarely seen onscreen). By 2267, in the TOS episode "Journey to Babel", the Babel Conference, which included many Federation worlds including Tellar, was considering the fate of the disputed world Coridan, with its rich mining resources.
Gav, leader of the Tellarite delegation, made heated charges that other ambassadors were either hindering or actively seeking the Tellarites' removal of any say in the negotiations. He accused Vulcan ambassador Sarek of the most serious charges. Gav suddenly turned up in one of the Enterprise's Jefferies tube
Jefferies tube
Jefferies tubes, in the Star Trek fictional universe, are narrow tunnels or corridors that provide access to critical starship systems. They can be vertically or horizontally oriented, and form a network that allows travel throughout large volumes of a starship even when the turbolifts are not...
s, dead of an apparent Vulcan killing technique, snapping his neck. The subsequent investigation uncovered a plot by the notorious Orion species to break up the conference, frame Sarek for the killing of Gav, and claim Coridan by deception.
Culture
The Tellarites were described by Sarek in "Journey to Babel", as being argumentative, not to make a point, but simply to argue. Hailing from Tellar Prime, they built a trade empire for dozens of light-years around their homeworld, by both hard negotiation and combat. Despite a reputation for being tough and ruthless, the Tellarites were honor-bound in their business dealings.In combat, however, despite local success, the Klingons of Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
found them easy prey. During the 2373 Klingon-Federation conflict, one Klingon captain boasted of decapitating a Tellarite helmsman, saying of the victim "The pig barely had time to raise his weapon."
Tellarites are renowned for being rather direct and forceful in conversation, and are known to be so quarrelsome that arguing is a sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
on their home planet, Tellar. They consider normal polite conversation to be a grave insult; it is recommended to be insulting and crude when speaking to a Tellarite. Because of their ability to argue, Tellarites make excellent politicians. They like taking muddy baths. However, Tellarites take great umbrage if compared to the habits of Terran swine, saying they in particular are not food.
The non-canon fan-produced webcast series Star Trek: Hidden Frontier
Star Trek: Hidden Frontier
Star Trek: Hidden Frontier was a Star Trek fan film project. Produced on digital video, the show's sets are almost completely virtual, using a green-screen chroma keyed process to place performers into virtual settings....
has featured Tellarite culture prominently. A Tellarite medical officer, Henglaar, features a variation of the TOS look of the species. Henglaar is described at the http://en.hiddenfrontier.com website as being "curmudgeonly", and "an expert on how not to be married" and a Tellarite Starfleet engineer, Barc, is a major character in the novel Avenger
Avenger (Star Trek)
Avenger is a Star Trek novel by William Shatner , depicting the events shortly after the feature film Star Trek:Generations and the previous "Shatnerverse" novel The Return...
.
A Tellarite individual can be seen in the first level of the 1992 PC Game Star Trek: 25th Anniversary.
Technology
As of 2153, the Tellarites have more advanced ships than EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
; even their smaller shuttlecraft can attain speeds of warp
Warp drive (Star Trek)
Warp drive is a faster-than-light propulsion system in the setting of many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at velocities greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude, while circumventing the relativistic problem of time...
4 (around 64 times the speed of light
Speed of light
The speed of light in vacuum, usually denoted by c, is a physical constant important in many areas of physics. Its value is 299,792,458 metres per second, a figure that is exact since the length of the metre is defined from this constant and the international standard for time...
on the old warp scale, 101 times on the new one). During the Babel Crisis episodes on Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
, it was stated by Ambassador Gral that the Tellarites were less advanced than the Andorians.