| Aenar (sub-species) | |
|---|---|
Commander Shran and crew from the 2004 Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Proving Ground". |
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| Home world | Andoria |
| Affiliation | United Federation of Planets, Andorian Empire |
| Quadrant(s) | Beta |
Andorians are a fictional race of humanoid extraterrestrials created by D. C. Fontana for the Star Trek universe. They are native to the icy M-class moon Andoria (also called Andor[1]), which orbits a blue, ringed gas giant. Definitive traits include their blue skin, a pair of cranial antennae, and white hair.[2][3] Andorians first appeared in the 1968 Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Journey to Babel", and have been seen or mentioned in episodes of subsequent series in the Star Trek franchise. They were indicated to be a vital, important member of the United Federation of Planets in the 1997 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "In the Cards", but did not gain considerable exposure until the 2001-2005 series Star Trek: Enterprise, on which they were utilized as recurring characters, most notably in the person of Shran, a starship commander who maintained a sometimes adversarial and begrudging friendship with Enterprise Captain Jonathan Archer. On that series, viewers learned more about Andorian ships, the home planet Andoria, and the culture and history of Andorians and their subspecies, the Aenar, than had previously been established to date. The 2004 episode "Zero Hour" established that Andorians were one of the four founding members of the United Federation of Planets.
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Andorians have blue blood, blue skin, white hair, and antennae on the crown of the skull. By the time of Star Trek: Enterprise, the antennae were depicted as protruding from the forehead, and capable of movement, used for gesturing and balancing. If cut off, an antenna will grow back after several months.
There are at least two Andorian subspecies: those with blue skin, the majority of the population; and the more reclusive, blue-white-skinned Aenar, long considered a myth until contact was remade with blueskins circa 2154 in the episode "The Aenar". The Aenar are blind, but exhibit telepathic and telemetric abilities. Aenar appear to use their antennae as telepathic receptors.
Andorian ale is a blue alcoholic beverage,[4] and Andorian blues is a genre of music.[5]
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Data's Day", Lt Cmdr Data says that "Andorian marriages typically require groups of four people, unless...." It is unknown what Data intended to say, as he was interrupted before he could complete the statement. Subsequent Trek novels have elaborated on this, describing the Andorian race as having four genders: thaan and chen (roughly equivalent to male), plus shen and zhen (female). The Andorian marriage rite is called a shelthreth and requires all four genders to procreate.
Andorians have an intense dislike and mistrust of other races, particularly humans and Vulcans, and frequently refer to humans using the pejorative "pink-skin." Their mistrust of Vulcans is illustrated in the Enterprise episode "The Andorian Incident", in which a long-range surveillance post is discovered hidden within a Vulcan monastery on the planet P'Jem. It is also in this episode that the Andorian captain, Shran, first comes to see Enterprise captain Jonathan Archer as an objective, honorable man, after Archer turns over scans of the outpost to Shran, in order to provide his people with proof of the outpost.
The first seagoing ship to circumnavigate Andoria was the icecutter Kumari. Centuries later, its venerated name would grace a starship of the Andorian imperial guard.
Their first encounter with the Vulcans was promising, but relations soured in time. The two species held territorial negotiations for eight years in the 2060s.
About 2104, Andorians made contact with the Aenar, dispelling their mythological status.
Andorians terraformed the planet Weytahn, only to have it annexed by the Vulcans. In 2151, the Andorian Imperial Guard discovered a Vulcan spy station hidden on the monastery world P'Jem.
In 2153, the Guard sent a ship into the Delphic Expanse in vain, to capture a Xindi weapon to use against Vulcan. The next year, Andorian commander Shran helped counter the Xindi threat to Earth.
In 2161, Andorians—along with humans, Tellarites, and Vulcans—founded the United Federation of Planets.
At the 2260s conference at Babel which took up the admission of Coridan, the Andorians were represented, in part, by ambassador Shras.
In the 2270s, a number of Andorians served aboard the refitted starship Enterprise. In 2291, a painting of a notable Andorian graced the conference room of the Enterprise-A.
In 2371, the gerontological doctor Ghee P'Trell of Andor was nominated for the Carrington Award. (The script referred to the character as 'Chirurgeon', a title derived from Greek, meaning surgeon.)
Andor experienced conflict with the Vulcans. The Vulcans annex the Andorian planet Weytahn, which the Vulcans call Paan Mokar. By the 2100s, the two had entered a cold war of sorts.[6]
In 2161, Andorians and Vulcans put their differences aside and formed the United Federation of Planets with Terrans and Tellarites.[7] It is stated in part II of the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly" that Jonathan Archer was Ambassador to Andoria from 2169 to 2175.
Andoria is an icy moon orbiting a ringed gas giant. It has also been referred to as Andor.[1] In a DVD bonus feature for the 4th season of Enterprise, episode writers Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens stated that Andor was the gas giant, Andoria the moon, and that this was a conscious effort to address the discrepancy. Most of its cities are built underground to take advantage of geothermal warmth. Temperatures have been known to reach 28 degrees below zero Celsius in the summer. Andoria has at least one moon or neighboring planet. Andorians share their homeworld with an obscure telepathic subspecies, Aenar, which have either light blue or white skin.[8]
The non-canonical Star Trek: Star Charts cites Andor as the seventh planet in orbit about the star Procyon (Alpha Canis Minoris) in the Alpha quadrant. Andor is near Betazed, Earth, Tellar, and Vulcan.
A 1970s technical fiction book, The Starfleet Medical Manual, held that Andorians were the only known semi-insectoid race in Federation territory, with a limited exoskeleton and antennae used for both quadriscopic vision reception and focused hearing. These points were repeated in the 1980s book Worlds of the Federation. Fully insectoid races seen onscreen include the unseen Jarada in the Next Generation episode "The Big Goodbye", and the Xindi, which were introduced in Star Trek: Enterprise's third season.
In the Deep Space Nine relaunch novels, four-person Andorian marriages were extrapolated into four sexes (the aforementioned thaan, chen, shen and zhen). A recurring plot point in the novels is that the rarity of compatible foursomes produced extremely low reproduction rates which, in tandem with genetic weaknesses, led to the species' near extinction.
Similarly, the Marvel comic book Star Trek: Starfleet Academy refers to complex yet flexible marital structures, involving one or more fathers, and describes Andorians as passionate, with a violent history.
In the 2010 book Star Trek: Typhon Pact: Paths of Disharmony by Dayton Ward, Andor withdraws from the Federation in 2384. However, the Andorian government still maintains diplomatic relations with the Federation, and Andorian officers are allowed to remain in Starfleet if they so choose. Despite Andor's withdrawal, a sizable minority of the population (represented by the "New Progressive Party", as opposed to the secessionist "Visionist Party") favored continuing membership in the Federation, opening the possibility of a later reunification.
| # | Episode | Appearance |
|---|---|---|
| 210 | "Journey to Babel" | Andorian Ambassador, plus an Orion spy, posing as the Ambassador's aide, who frames Sarek for murder |
| 216 | "The Gamesters of Triskelion" | One of the slaves of Triskelion |
| 314 | "Whom Gods Destroy" | One of the mental patients was Andorian |
| 318 | "The Lights of Zetar" | Two Andorian scholars were present at Memory Alpha at the time of its destruction |
| # | Episode | Appearance |
|---|---|---|
| 102 | "Yesteryear" | Spock replaced by Andorian first officer, Thelin, in alternate timeline |
| 112 | "The Time Trap" | Andorian on the Elysian Council, plus a member of his old crew in background |
| Episode | Appearance |
|---|---|
| "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" | Three ambassadors in crowd at Starfleet Headquarters; two crew on Enterprise Rec Deck |
| "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" | Two members of Starfleet on the Federation Council |
| "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" | Script suggests one "face of God" was Andorian; see bonus scenes of two-disk DVD |
| # | Episode | Appearance |
|---|---|---|
| 316 | "The Offspring" | A young Andorian female is shown as one possible choice of appearance for Data's new child, Lal. |
| 319 | "Captain's Holiday" | Andorian tourist on Risa |
| 508 | "Unification" | An alien pianist plays "Andorian blues" for Riker |
| # | Episode | Appearance |
|---|---|---|
| 107 | "The Andorian Incident" | Four Andorian Imperial Guard commandos |
| 115 | "Shadows of P'Jem" | More Andorian Imperial Guard commandos |
| 215 | "Cease Fire" | Numerous Andorian Imperial Guard soldiers; first appearance of Andorian starships |
| 313 | "Proving Ground" | Andorian Imperial Guard starship and crew |
| 324 | "Zero Hour" | Commander Shran, Andorian Imperial Guard starship |
| 409 | "Kir'Shara" | Numerous Andorian Imperial Guard starships |
| 412 | "Babel One" | Survivors of the wreck of the Kumari |
| 413 | "United" | Survivors of the wreck of the Kumari |
| 414 | "The Aenar" | Commander Shran, several members of the Aenar subspecies |
| 418 | "In a Mirror, Darkly" | Crewman aboard the I.S.S. Enterprise |
| 419 | "In a Mirror, Darkly (Part II)" | Crewman aboard the I.S.S. Avenger |
| 420 | "Demons" | Andorian delegates at Coalition of Planets conference |
| 421 | "Terra Prime" | Andorian Ambassador, plus delegates at Coalition of Planets conference |
| 422 | "These Are the Voyages..." | Holographic representations of Shran and daughter circa 2161 |
Startrek.com article on Andoria
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