Betazoid analogue in TOS

[Therin of Andor]

Just one of those early episode oddities that we have to write off, like when Harry Mudd recognizes Spock as a "Vulcanian" in "Mudd's Women." Apparently the implication was supposed to be that the half-human Spock looked somewhat different from a full-blooded Vulcan.

No, the term "Vulcanian" was like how we have Earthling, human, Terran, Earther, etc to describe people from Sol III.

 

[Mytran]

No, the term "Vulcanian" was like how we have Earthling, human, Terran, Earther, etc to describe people from Sol III.

Maybe, but that doesn't explain how Harry was able to identify Spock as PART Vulcanian instead of a full blooded one

 

[drt]

Maybe, but that doesn't explain how Harry was able to identify Spock as PART Vulcanian instead of a full blooded one

I wonder if originally they were thinking a full Vulcan would have more extreme features so that Spock was more obviously a mix. However, I guess that idea needed to go out the window for “Balance of Terror” to work, as Styles wouldn’t have been nearly as suspicious of Spock if the Romulans didn’t look exactly like him.

 

[Kor]

Remember spock said of Balok, "In some manner he was reminiscent of my father." What if that was supposed to refer to physical type? It would have been amusing if Sarek showed up looking somewhat like Gwyllm in the Outer Limits episode "The Sixth Finger." Imagine Spock as a mid-point between full humans and this:

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Kor

 

[JonnyQuest037]

No, the term "Vulcanian" was like how we have Earthling, human, Terran, Earther, etc to describe people from Sol III.

I wasn't objecting to the term "Vulcanian."

Maybe, but that doesn't explain how Harry was able to identify Spock as PART Vulcanian instead of a full blooded one

^^ This is what I was saying. If a half-blooded Vulcan looks exactly like a full-blooded one, there is no way that Harry Mudd should've been able to tell that Spock was half-Vulcan just by looking at him.

And yeah, I think that what Kor is saying may well have been the original intent of what full Vulcans were supposed to look like.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I wonder if originally they were thinking a full Vulcan would have more extreme features so that Spock was more obviously a mix. However, I guess that idea needed to go out the window for “Balance of Terror” to work, as Styles wouldn’t have been nearly as suspicious of Spock if the Romulans didn’t look exactly like him.

I am reminded of Soward and/or Peeples' description of the half-Romulan Saavik in ST II. Someone obviously didn't realise that Romulans looked exactly like Vulcans.

LT. SAAVIK is young and beautiful.
She is half Vulcan and half Romulan.
In appearance she is Vulcan with pointed ears, but her
skin is fair and she has none of the expressionless
facial immobility of a Vulcan.

 

[Timo]

If a half-blooded Vulcan looks exactly like a full-blooded one, there is no way that Harry Mudd should've been able to tell that Spock was half-Vulcan just by looking at him.

Looking? Surely it is the smell that tells him away!

And yeah, I think that what Kor is saying may well have been the original intent of what full Vulcans were supposed to look like.

Agreed. Although Trek going for closely humanlike aliens was rather crucial to the show in general, not just for the plot of "Balance of Terror" in specific. It kept the costs down, and it added to the shock value of truly alien aliens. And it put an emphasis on how the not-so-alien-looking aliens were different in mindset (that is, had a very recognizable human mindset exaggerated for preachi... I mean dramatic purposes).

Timo Saloniemi

 

[johnnybear]

Balok's appearance was I believe similar to how the writers and staff on the show wanted the people of the planet Vulcan to originally appear! Spock having hair was the result of his mother being human! It was only later that they thought of the 'new' Romulan enemy being similar in looks to the Vulcans!

 

[Pauln6]

Balok's appearance was I believe similar to how the writers and staff on the show wanted the people of the planet Vulcan to originally appear! Spock having hair was the result of his mother being human! It was only later that they thought of the 'new' Romulan enemy being similar in looks to the Vulcans!

So, Romulans should look more like Remans?

 

[johnnybear]

Perhaps so, although the Remans were only invented for Nemesis despite their planet Remus being mentioned way back in Balance of Terror! Or was it RomII?
JB