Vulcan (Star Trek)
Vulcans are a humanoid alien race in the the fictional Star Trek universe who reside on the planet Vulcan and are noted for their attempt to live by reason and logic.
Biology
Physical Attributes
The main external characteristics that distinguish Vulcans from humans are arched eyebrows and pointed ears, along with a slight greenish skin tint due to their copper-based green blood. Vulcans exhibit racial traits, with Vulcans resembling human Caucasians, Negroes, and Hispanics being known.
Vulcans tend to be stronger and longer-lived than humans—Sarek lived just over two centuries and it has been suggested that Vulcans have a life-expectency of at least 250 Earth years. A Vulcan of less than a century in age is still considered young. The strength of Vulcans is often attributed to Vulcan's gravity being significantly greater than Earth's. Due to the strong sunlight on the planet, Vulcans also evolved an inner eyelid which can come down to protect the eyes from particularly strong flashes of light. Vulcans can also tolerate higher temperatures than humans can. In the original series episode "The Deadly Years" when Spock was affected by rapid aging he noted how cold the ship seemed, and he responded by turning the temperature in his room up to well above 100 °F (38 °C).
Vulcan females have a strong sense of smell, and Vulcans serving on Earth vessels initially required medication to lessen the odor of humans.
Pon farr
Periodically (every seven years for males, an undisclosed interval for females), Vulcans experience an overpowering mating drive known as pon farr. Once triggered, Vulcans must have sexual contact with someone, preferably their mate, or else face insanity and death. When he experienced pon farr in the Delta Quadrant, Tuvok of Voyager made use of a holodeck simulation of his wife to relieve his condition. Pon farr can be also triggered by infection.
It was originally thought that Vulcans could only mate with Vulcans, but Vorik of Voyager pursued B'Elanna Torres during his pon farr, and T'Pol said she simply needed to mate with someone - anyone. The birth of Mr. Spock to a Vulcan father and a human mother, as well as an offspring of T'Pol and Trip Tucker in an alternate timeline, proved that it is possible.
When Vulcans first experience pon farr has not been revealed; T'Pol, who was in her 60s when she experienced her premature pon farr, told Dr. Phlox that "it wasn't time", but it is not known if this means she had never experienced it previously. It has been suggested that bonding triggers the pon farr cycle.
Vulcan males and females are capable of engaging in sexual relations outside of pon farr.
Mental Abilities
Vulcans are contact telepaths. By means of a procedure known as mind-meld, which involves physical contact with a subject (though instances of mind-melds without contact have been seen), it is possible for them to share all their thoughts, experience, memories and knowledge with another individual. Vulcans can perform a mind-meld with members of most other species, most notably humans. Ferengi are one of the few races known to be impervious to the mind meld.
The use of the mind meld was taboo for a period of time, perhaps because by the time of Surak, Vulcans were using their telepathic abilities to kill, or because of the apparent transmission of the incurable condition Pan'aar Syndrome between mind-melders. By the mid 23rd century, the mind meld was an accepted part of Vulcan society, and was even used once to rejoin Spock's katra with his healed physical body. Not all Vulcans are genetically capable of initiating a mind-meld. (A trilogy of episodes currently underway on Star Trek: Enterprise may explain how mind melding became an accepted practice.)
Some Vulcans practice a form of acupressure known as neuropressure, which involves massaging and manipulating muscles and nerve centres on the body in order to relieve stress. Neuropressure is considered an intimate act, as some of the postures involved are pseudo-sexual in nature and can elicit responses similar to sexual arousal and even climax (as demonstrated by T'Pol in the episode "The Xindi" when Trip Tucker inadvertently triggers such a response). Specialized training is required in order to properly administer neuropressure, otherwise injury to the recipient can result.
Culture
View of Emotion
Vulcans suppress all emotional influence by living lives of rigid emotional self-control through meditative techniques and training of mental discipline. It is incorrect to say that Vulcans have no emotions; although they themselves make this claim, Vulcans are in fact a very emotional people and have learned to suppress these emotions because of the damage they can cause if unchecked. Some Vulcans, such as T'Pol, Sarek, and Ambassador Soval, carry their emotions close to the surface and are prone to emotional outbursts, even without outside influences or illness.
Family & Rituals
Traditionally, Vulcans place high importance on family, placing the will of their family above their own.
Vulcans practice arranged marriage, in which a male and a female are usually matched as children, only to officially marry at a later date. Following the marriage, it is customary for the female to remain on Vulcan for at least one Vulcan year before conducting off-world travel (presumably in order to sire offspring), though it is possible for the female to defer this requirement until a later date, upon negotiation with the male's family. The state of pon farr is not required for marriage to occur.
A Vulcan female can challenge the proposed bonding by calling for koon-ut-kalifee (spellings vary), in which a challenger for marriage engages the bonded male in a fight to the death. Alternately, the bonded male has the option of rejecting his intended bride and choosing another.
It is customary for Vulcan children to undertake the kahs-wan ritual (sometimes spelled kaswahn), in which they are left to fend for themselves in the desert. Not all children survive the ordeal. T'Pol of the Enterprise NX-01 underwent the ritual, while Tuvok of Voyager experienced a variation known as the tal'oth.
Cuisine
Vulcans are vegetarians. They do not like to touch their food with their hands, preferring to use utensils whenever possible. It is a Vulcan custom for guests in the home to prepare meals for their hosts. Vulcans generally do not drink alcoholic beverages, though they will "indulge" on special occasions.
Other
Many Vulcans are skilled in a self-defense move known as the Vulcan nerve pinch or neck pinch, which targets a precise location overlying the baroreceptors of the carotid sinus at the base of the humanoid neck, instantly rendering the victim unconscious. While practiced mainly by Vulcans, it is not exclusive to their race; for example, Data and Jean-Luc Picard have also mastered the technique, the latter probably acquiring it during his mind-meld with Sarek.
Vulcan males often have names which begin with 'S' and end with 'k'. Vulcan females usually have names which begin with 'T' and an apostrophe, followed by three letters. There are many exceptions to this custom, including Koss, Mestral, Saavik, Valeris, and Xon to name just a few. It has been suggested that the S-k and T' form of naming might reflect class distinctions.
Views by Non-Vulcans
- Tom Paris once said that Vulcans are "all a bunch of hypochondriacs".
- Vulcans are the subject of a popular holosuite program called Vulcan Love Slave.
- In the 22nd century, Humans resented Vulcans for being reluctant to share their superior technology.
History
Antiquity
The Vulcan race are thought to be the descendents of a colony from Sargon's planet, with settlement of Vulcan occurring in approximately 500,000 BCE At some point, the settlers seem to have lost their technology and reverted to barbarism.
It is speculated that a species that was known on Earth as the gods of ancient Rome traveled to ancient Vulcan in antiquity, thus influencing those that would later become Romulans.
In about 850 BCE, Vulcans established a monastery on the planet P'Jem.
In about the second century BCE, Vulcans emerged under a philsopher named Surak from their violent tendencies and civil wars. Surak advocated the suppressing of emotion in favor of logic. This period was known as the Great Awakening and almost all of present-day Vulcan philosophy emerged from this period. This lifestyle was not universally accepted, and a portion of society left Vulcan for the stars. These would eventually become known as the Romulans. (Dates for the Great Awakening vary, but Romulans existed as a distinct race as early as 200 CE, so it would have to have been prior to this.)
Pre-Federation interstellar activity
Vulcans did not recover from the effects of barbarism and turn much of their attention to space travel for 1500 years. What would later become known as the Vulcan High Command was formed to orchestrate space exploration, but it ended up seizing control of Vulcan government. The Vulcans fought a hundred-year war with the Romulans at some point, and it was possibly at this time that the High Command assumed sovereignty over Vulcan affairs. (The date for the war is unrevealed, but it was over by 2044.)
In 1930, Spock of Vulcan was one of three Starfleet officers from the 23rd Century who travelled back in time to Chicago, Illinois. To date, this is the earliest confirmed contact between humans and Vulcans, although in the Vulcan timeline it occurred long after First Contact. Spock would also briefly travel to earth c.1968-69 on a mission. (Technically speaking, these two events occurred after the founding of the Federation, but are included here as they constitute pre-First Contact encounters with contemporary humans.)(Episodes: "City on the Edge of Forever" and "Assignment: Earth")
Vulcan first contact with the Andorian race was promising, but relations soured in time. The threat of mutual annihilation existed as early as the 1950s.
In 1957, the launch of Sputnik I, Earth's first artificial satellite, was observed by a Vulcan vessel that subsequently crashed on the planet, marooning several crewmembers for a number of months; this constituted the first true contact between humans and Vulcans; however it was never recorded as such as the humans were unaware of the alien nature of their guests. One Vulcan, Mestral, chose to stay on Earth; his fate has yet to be revealed.
In 2053 the Vulcans made first contact with the Arkonians.
On April 5, 2063 Vulcans and Humans made official first contact following the successful test of Earth's first warp-powered starship.
In 2097 the Vulcans annexed the Andorian planetoid Weytahn and renamed it Pan Mokar.
In 2105 The Vulcans and Andorians agreed to a compromise over the planet Weytahn/Pan Mokar. Still, tensions continued due to the threat of mutual annihilation.
In 2151, Subcommander T'Pol joined the crew of the Earth Starfleet vessel Enterprise, within a couple of weeks setting a Vulcan endurance record for serving aboard a human vessel. In 2154, T'Pol became a commissioned officer with Starfleet.
In 2154, the Vulcan High Command considered a proposal for Vulcans and humans to conduct joint space exploration missions.
On August 12, 2161, Vulcan became one of the founding members of the United Federation of Planets.
Vulcans in Starfleet
The first Vulcan to serve in Starfleet was former Subcommander T'Pol, who received the rank of Commander and served aboard Enterprise NX-01 during the mid-22nd Century, following her resignation from the Vulcan High Command.
The best known Vulcan to serve in Starfleet was Mr. Spock, who served aboard the Enterprise NCC-1701 and NCC-1701-A under Captain Christopher Pike and Captain James T. Kirk. Spock eventually rose to the rank of Captain, briefly commanding the NCC-1701 when it was used as a training vessel.
There is a misconception that Spock was the first Vulcan to serve in Starfleet (a fact seemingly contradicted by T'Pol's appointment). In fact, an examination of all Star Trek: The Original Series episodes and films failed to uncover any such reference, though Spock may have been the first to attend Starfleet Academy. During the time of The Original Series, an entire Federation starship of Vulcans, the Intrepid, was destroyed.
Language
The Vulcan spoken language has been heard intermittently throughout the various Star Trek series. Most of the official spoken Vulcan occurred in Spock's kolinahr ceremony in Star Trek The Motion Picture, and a short fourteen word conversation between Spock and Saavik in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Other words and short phrases have also been heard elsewhere, most notably in Star Trek: Enterprise.
The Vulcans appear to have three written languages; two of which which can be used separately or in combination with each other. The most common script on Vulcan is a vertically-written script, having a central staff line on which vertical spirals and horizontal dashes are written, along with dots in various combinations. While no official translations for these symbols exist, it is assumed that the dots and dashes represent consonants and the spirals are the vowels. The script is written in vertical columns from top to bottom, left to right (like Mongolian). The second script written in the same direction consists of swirly curved symbols (like Japanese hiragana). It is assumed that these symbols are also phonetic, perhaps syllabic or consonantal. The first two scripts can be used seperately or in combination with each other. When this is the case, the swirl symbols accompany the staff writing symbols as annotation written to the right of the staff. A third script consists of rectangular blocks cut into geometric shapes. They have only ever been seen on the hulls of some Vulcan ships and bear no relation to the first two scripts.
Vulcans are also fluent in English, usually speaking it with a American-like accent, though occasionally British and Slavic accents have been heard.
Trivia
- Leonard Nimoy felt that the Vulcans represented the Jewish people (to which he belonged), and he invented the famous "live long and prosper" Vulcan hand gesture (palm forward, fingers pointing up, separate the middle finger and the ring finger) based on the hand symbol which rabbis use for "God" instead of the spoken word.
- Notable Vulcans include Saavik, Sarek, Soval, Spock, Surak, Sybok, T'Pau, T'Pol, Tuvok, Valeris, and Vorik.
- Green Lantern - In an issue of DC Comics' Green Lantern series, an obviously Vulcan character appeared as a member of the Green Lantern Corps. He had pointed ears, spoke 'logically', and he had a brief conversation with Hal Jordan (Main character of the series) which ended with a "live long and prosper" and the famous hand gesture.
Bibliography
- Star Trek: The Magazine v3 #10 (February 2003 - "Romulan Propulsion Historical Overview" by Rick Sternbach & Tim Earls)
Digital
- All of Vulcan (http://allofvulcan.netfirms.com/)
- The Vulcan Language Institute (http://home.teleport.com/~vli/vlif.htm)
- Memory Alpha entry (http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/index.php/Vulcan)
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Star Trek - A guide to writing Star Trek articles
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