Andorian

Star Trek race
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Name=Andorians
other_names=Aenar "(sub-species)"


Caption=Captain Shran and crew from the 2004 "" episode "".
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Leader=
Planet=Andoria
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Affiliation=United Federation of Planets, Andorian Empire

Andorians are a fictional race of humanoid extraterrestrials in the "Star Trek" universe. They are native to the icy M-class planet Andoria (also called AndorThe home planet was first referred to as "Andoria" in Act 1 of "Prophet Motive", and as "Andor" in Act 3 of "In the Cards".] ), which is in orbit of a blue, ringed gas giant. Definitive traits include their blue skin, a pair of cranial antennae, and white hair. [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/library/places/article/69392.html Startrek.com] ] [The holographic Andorian female seen in ' looks green. The Andorian Thelin, depicted in ', was greenish-gray] Andorians first appeared in the 1968 ' 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 ' episode "In the Cards", but did not gain considerable exposure until the 2001-2005 series "", on which they were utilized as recurring characters, most notably in the person of Shran, a starship commander who maintained a sometimes adversarial and begruding 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.

Andorian biology

Andorian biology varies, as shown in the , the theatrical releases, the live action footage in the videogame, and in the prequel . Originally, Andorians were pale blue, thin and tall, and lispingly soft-spoken. They sported white hair and bony antennae on the crown of the skull. Changes in theatrical makeup technique in the films introduced variations in antennae size and placement -- and also added ears.

This point was returned to in Enterprise, whose Andorians possessed visible ears and small moving antennae protruding from the forehead. Noncanon sources assert that eared Andorians were a separate species called the Threllvians, a subservient and conquered race the antennaed Andorians had subsumed centuries ago.

Though hailing from an iceworld, Andorians are extraordinarily tolerant of warmer climes, losing only ten percent of body weight over a few days of surviving environments near the boiling point of water, for instance. Their cities are underground, exploiting geothermal vents in the planet's crust. Andorian military officers carry an icecutting blade like those used by iceminers and routinely use it in combat; vulnerable to infections caused by beam weapons, Andorians disdain them.

There are at least two Andorian subspecies: those with blue skin, the majority of the population; and the more reclusive, bluewhite-skinned Aenar (long considered a myth until contact was remade with blueskins circa 2154). The Aenar are blind, but exhibit telepathic and telemetric abilities.

Andorians have blue blood. Their antennae are used for gesturing and balancing. If cut off, an antenna will grow back after several months. Aenar appear to use antennae as telepathic receptors.

Andorian females are taller on average than males, and more sexually aggressive than human females.

Andorian culture

Andorians forthrightly and unapologetically describe themselves as violent and warlike. Tellingly, by the 2150s their hand weapons lack 'stun' settings.

Andorians have contributed greatly to Alpha Quadrant culture: the Andorian Academy of Art is considered the best in the Federation; Andorian ale is a potent blue alcoholic beverage; and Andorian blues is a genre of jazz music apparently inspired by the race.

Andorian extras in the background of wore jewelry with large geode stones. Women wore kimono-like garb. Men wore a geode breastplate and carried a flabbjellah, a combined weapon-musical instrument.

In the "" episode "Data's Day", Lt Cmdr Data says that "Andorian marriages require four people, unless...." It is unknown what Data intended to say, as he was interrupted before he could complete the statement.

Aenar culture is cooperative, with no formal rulers. Leaders are appointed as needed.

Andorian history

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 threat of mutual annihilation existed as early as the 1950s. 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 Terrans, 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.)

Andorian empire

Shortly after being founded, Andor's empire began colonizing nearby worlds, and in due course discovered Vulcans. The two races fought repeatedly for the next century, prompting Vulcan to annex the Andorian planet Weytahn. By the 2100s, the two had entered a cold war of sorts.

In 2161, Andorians and Vulcans put their differences aside and formed the United Federation of Planets with Terrans and Tellarites. This effectively ended the Andorian Empire, which had lasted for around 250 years.

Home world

Andoria is an icy moon orbiting a ringed gas giant. It has also been referred to as Andor. 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. [This was established in the episode "The Aenar".]

Before the birth of the Federation, Andoria was the capital homeworld of the Andorian Empire. The non-canonical "" 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.

The planet boasts the Andorian Academy of Art, said to be the finest such school in the Federation.

Native life includes the horselike zabathu; the Andorian bull, which stomps when angry; the Andorian amoeba, which reproduces through symbiogenesis; and ice-burrowing worms, known for generating heat.

Noncanonical information

This material comes from licensed but noncanon sources.

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. Although these points were repeated in the 1980s book "Worlds of the Federation", none were ever cited in a Trek film or series; "Enterprise"'s insectoids included one of the Xindi's races as well as the Tholians (depicted in more detail than in the original series).

In the "Deep Space Nine" relaunch novels, four-person Andorian marriages were extrapolated into four sexes -- the two roughly male "thaan" and "chan", and the two female-like "shen" and "zhen". The novels imply 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 shortlived Marvel comic "" refers to complex yet flexible marital structures, involving one or more fathers, and describes Andorians as passionate, with a violent history.

Appearances

{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
+ ""
- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"! # || Episode || Appearance
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107 || "The Andorian Incident" || Four Andorian Imperial Guard commandos
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115 || "Shadows of P'Jem" || More Andorian Imperial Guard commandos
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215 || "Cease Fire" || Numerous Andorian Imperial Guard soldiers; first appearance of Andorian starships
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313 || "Proving Ground" || Andorian Imperial Guard starship and crew
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324 || "Zero Hour" || Commander Shran, Andorian Imperial Guard starship
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409 || "Kir'Shara" || Numerous Andorian Imperial Guard starships
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412 || "Babel One" || Survivors of the wreck of the "Kumari"
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413 || "United" || Survivors of the wreck of the "Kumari"
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414 || "The Aenar" || Commander Shran, several members of the Aenar subspecies
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418 || "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part I" || Crewman aboard the I.S.S. "Enterprise"
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419 || "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" || Crewman aboard the I.S.S. "Avenger"
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420 || "Demons" || Andorian delegates at Coalition of Planets conference
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421 || "Terra Prime" || Andorian Ambassador, plus delegates at Coalition of Planets conference
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422 || "These Are the Voyages..." || Holographic representations of Shran and daughter circa 2161

Notes

References

[http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/library/places/article/69392.html Startrek.com article on Andoria]

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/therinofandor/Rogues.html A Rogues' Gallery of Andorians] - compiled by * [http://therinofandor.blogspot.com/ Ian McLean]