Romulans and Their Ridges
- Thread starter Photon
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"They do not speak of it with outsiders."
I kinda wish ENT just left it at that. It acknowledged it without making it seem dumb.
I've always assumed--without any kind of canon to back me up--that it was a recessive trait some Vulcans, probably in the polar region, had. You'll notice that Romulans are overall shorter and stockier than Vulcans, too, and I think that as part of altering their genome to fit the cooler climate of their new planet, where it was more to their advantage to have that shorter, stockier, "polar climate" physique (by Vulcan standards), the ridges indigenous to the people of that polar region also showed up and then got so widespread as to go through the whole population.
Of course, then Trek XI came along...
Of course, then Trek XI came along...
I don't think there needs to be an explanation. Spock in TNG's Unification 2 parter was able to walk the streets of Romulus without anyone noticing his lack of ridges. A lot of people take that to mean that Romulans without ridges are a common sight or common enough not to rouse suspicions. So I think Trek writers really have felt the need to come up with any kind of explanation.
Of course, then Trek XI came along...
...And showed that only the elite gets to wear ridges?
It might well be that the original Vulcan/Romulan divide was along racial lines, with most Romulans being of the ridged races, but with several staunch supporters from the various smooth races choosing to follow the ridgeheads to exile. But it might also be that the ridges are purely decorative, merely something of a fad with modern (read: 22nd through 24th century) Romulan upper classes. The lower classes make do with cheaper tattoos...
Timo Saloniemi
That's why I go with the idea that it was some kind of recessive gene that became much more widespread due to genetic alterations--but not something universal.
For as old as the Romulans are, they are amazingly underdeveloped by Trek standards, all we can really say about their culture on the whole is that they're scheming bastards.
Spock walked the streets of Romulus ridge-less and was never questioned. Nero didn't have ridges, and his crew had various odd lumps and bumps.
Many of the TOS Romulans wore helmets, perhaps covering their forehead ridges? (okay, it was really because helmets were cheaper than ears back then, but still...)
Many of the TOS Romulans wore helmets, perhaps covering their forehead ridges? (okay, it was really because helmets were cheaper than ears back then, but still...)
Unless you read the novels, in which case they're probably Trek's most well developed alien race.
I agree.
...And showed that only the elite gets to wear ridges?Of course, then Trek XI came along...
It might well be that the original Vulcan/Romulan divide was along racial lines, with most Romulans being of the ridged races, but with several staunch supporters from the various smooth races choosing to follow the ridgeheads to exile. But it might also be that the ridges are purely decorative, merely something of a fad with modern (read: 22nd through 24th century) Romulan upper classes. The lower classes make do with cheaper tattoos...
Timo Saloniemi
The tattoos were meant to be symbols of mourning for their lost homeworld.
My fanwank why we don't see ridged Vulcansis that all the Vulcans who had ridges left Vulcan and became Romulans. And some of the smooth versions went with them. Yeah, ridges on the Rommies was dumb with a capital D.
The Mintakans had the ridges too right? Like Nerys said, maybe it was a recessive trait that somehow got brought out in the Romulans, possibly even due to environment.
Like, Romulus had some kind of background radiation that spurred the change.
That or they spent so much time being grumpy, that they just got stuck that way.
Like, Romulus had some kind of background radiation that spurred the change.
That or they spent so much time being grumpy, that they just got stuck that way.
Eh, I look on it as human eyes. Some have the epicanthic fold and some don't. All are human. Same with Romulan ridges.
But never indicated to be such - very much to the contrary, the mind meld scene shows Nero already sporting the tattoo when first contacting Spock Prime, supposedly mere minutes and perhaps just seconds after the loss of Romulus.
For all we know, all Romulans who feel less than endowed in that department resort to tattooing themselves...
To beat a dead hobby-horse, let me once again flaunt my theory of the forehead bulges being erectile tissue that expands when the Vulcanoid in question is emotionally excited. Surakian Vulcans would rather die than have their foreheads expand in public; Romulans in turn take pride in maintaining eternal erections, all the more so when seeing how much this disgusts the Surakists (thus the thing becomes more fashionable after Romulans re-establish contact with Vulcans in the post-TOS timeframe).
Timo Saloniemi
The episode Sarek would have been the perfect opportunity to show us that this was the case, if it were so.
Maybe it had to do with the alliance that the Romulans had with the Klingons in the past at one point. In exchange for Klingon human augments, the Klingons gave the Romulans some of their DNA to distinguish themselves from Vulcans and to make the Romulans bigger and stronger. I know what I just typed is nothing but BS, but hey...I gave it a shot. 
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