Tellarite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tellarites are a fictional species from the planet Tellar from the Star Trek television show. Notable Tellarites include the ambassador Gav (from the original Star Trek episode "Journey to Babel"), bounty hunter Skalaar, and his brother Gaavrin (both from Star Trek: Enterprise).
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[edit] Traits
Tellarites are a porcine-humanoid species whose facial features are somewhat pig-like. 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. In Star Trek: The Original Series they are portrayed as having three fingers, but in Star Trek: Enterprise, not only is their facial make-up updated, they also have five fingers. Overall the depiction in the original series is different from the Enterprise depiction, but this can easy be explained as simply due to the limitations of make-up in the sixties. Tellarites prefer temperatures slightly above human standards.
[edit] History
Tellarites were warp-capable at least since the 20th century, but they only made contact with humans on March 21, 2153 by the Starfleet 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).
[edit] Culture
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.
[edit] Technology
As of 2153, the Tellarites have more advanced ships than Earth; 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).
[edit] External link
- Tellarite article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
