Other Federation Members

[Arpy]

I was thinking about Christopher L. Bennett’s book Ex Machina recently and the wonderful job he did fleshing out some of the background aliens in TMP. I thought about some of his more interesting non-humanoids from the Titan series as well, and thinking about my head canon’s Federation and what it looks like...

What do some of yours? Aside from the more popular species we’ve seen in the canon, what kinds of aliens inhabit your head canon fleets?

I think for me my Starfleet, my Federation is a mix of a lot of the less often seen aliens, especially from the movies, as well as weirder looking ones that could have come out of Farscape or Men in Black or even Star Wars. Anywhere where they had the budget to splurge.

Along with Deltans, Denobulans, Betazoids and Bynars, there’s more Saurians, Aurelians, Aaamazzarites, Triexians, Caitians, Xindi Aquatics, Selkies, Pak’shrees, Syraths, Nasats, Medusans, and Horta, among many others.

What kind of aliens that we’ve not even scene would you populate the Federation with?

 

[darrenjl]

Gallamites with their transparent skulls although they are not Federation members.

Rhaandarites seem an interesting bunch, if only seen in TMP.

 

[Cyfa]

What a great topic!
I really like a lot of the ST IV aliens - Bzzit Khaht, Caitians, Xelatians, Arcadians, Kasheeta, Zaranites. The TOS Movie era - and into "The Lost Era" - is where a lot of my Trek interest lies, so my Starfleet/Federation is populated by many of these races. I find the Trill, Andorians, Chandir ("Tailheads"), Gallamites, "Buck-toothed aliens" (all five feature in much of my fan art), and Betazoids fascinating - the Betazoids particularly so because, despite having a Betazoid main character for seven seasons and various movies, we seem to know so little about them.

 

[Arpy]

What a great topic!
I really like a lot of the ST IV aliens - Bzzit Khaht, Caitians, Xelatians, Arcadians, Kasheeta, Zaranites. The TOS Movie era - and into "The Lost Era" - is where a lot of my Trek interest lies, so my Starfleet/Federation is populated by many of these races. I find the Trill, Andorians, Chandir ("Tailheads"), Gallamites, "Buck-toothed aliens" (all five feature in much of my fan art), and Betazoids fascinating - the Betazoids particularly so because, despite having a Betazoid main character for seven seasons and various movies, we seem to know so little about them.

I’m so terrible with names but if it’s the fan art I’m thinking of in the Trek Art thread, I LOVE it. So creative! And, dare I say, logical!

I’m not sure what I think about the Tailheads and Bucktooth aliens. If they’re Federation members doing commerce with the Bajorans or former Cardassian allies maintaining the status quo, business-wise. I think the first time we saw the Tailheads Sisko was talking overhead about new traffic coming to the station since the discovery of the wormhole, so I’d buy they’re Federation easily enough. The first time I saw a Bucktooth I thought he was a random dreg who could be anyone from anywhere. A nameless species unknown to most, just passing through. But that species popped up a lot so I dunno.

I love the background aliens in different series, and DS9’s were among my favorite.

 

[Cyfa]

DS9 had some fantastic background aliens, didn't it. As well as the Tailheads and Bucktooths (which both appeared in TNG: Tapestry, too - the Bonestell rec facility scenes set in 2327?), I like the Kressari and the Lissepians. Oh, and that race with the fork-shaped imprint in their forehead and magenta hair - I can't remember their name or the character's name (she was a ship captain and "business associate" of Quark's as I recall?). Anyway, I shouldn't think any of them were Federation members during the time of DS9.

I'd really like to see an amphibious/aquatic species crewed Federation starship - Bzzit Khaht, Xelatians, and Arcadians (if you accept the FASA ST IV Sourcebook descriptions for them), along with dolphins, Takaya's whales (from the Enterprise-D Blueprints), and Alonis from the novels. And maybe even a humpback whale

P.S. Thanks for the nice comments about my art - if it was my art you're remembering

 

[Tim Thomason]

I’m so terrible with names but if it’s the fan art I’m thinking of in the Trek Art thread, I LOVE it. So creative! And, dare I say, logical!

I’m not sure what I think about the Tailheads and Bucktooth aliens. If they’re Federation members doing commerce with the Bajorans or former Cardassian allies maintaining the status quo, business-wise. I think the first time we saw the Tailheads Sisko was talking overhead about new traffic coming to the station since the discovery of the wormhole, so I’d buy they’re Federation easily enough. The first time I saw a Bucktooth I thought he was a random dreg who could be anyone from anywhere. A nameless species unknown to most, just passing through. But that species popped up a lot so I dunno.

I love the background aliens in different series, and DS9’s were among my favorite.

My fan assumption is that the DS9 races for the most part lie beyond the Cardassian/Bajoran realm into deep, unexplored space, in the same vicinity as the newly contacted Ferengi Alliance. All these species were there own little interstellar trading partners, but did not contact the Federation (much) because they were so far out and perhaps Cardassian imperialism prevented the Federation from exploring (and vice versa), and it's possible that other hostile forces (Breen, Talarians) made it unpalatable for the Federation to explore strange new worlds in that area.

 

[Arpy]

DS9 had some fantastic background aliens, didn't it. As well as the Tailheads and Bucktooths (which both appeared in TNG: Tapestry, too - the Bonestell rec facility scenes set in 2327?), I like the Kressari and the Lissepians. Oh, and that race with the fork-shaped imprint in their forehead and magenta hair - I can't remember their name or the character's name (she was a ship captain and "business associate" of Quark's as I recall?). Anyway, I shouldn't think any of them were Federation members during the time of DS9.

I'd really like to see an amphibious/aquatic species crewed Federation starship - Bzzit Khaht, Xelatians, and Arcadians (if you accept the FASA ST IV Sourcebook descriptions for them), along with dolphins, Takaya's whales (from the Enterprise-D Blueprints), and Alonis from the novels. And maybe even a humpback whale

P.S. Thanks for the nice comments about my art - if it was my art you're remembering

Yeah, definitely your art! I went looking for the picture of the humpback whale to confirm it was you right after I posted! Your Vilix’pran is delightful!

 

[Arpy]

I’d also throw in the Benzites as amphibious aliens. To me they’re cousins to the Creature from the Black Lagoon, walking in and out of their oceans at will. The Antedians I think of as primarily aquatic but amphibious, especially with medical intervention.

I’d love to see an Alonis if the spirit ever moves you.

A while back I came up with an alien race called maybe the Shwaab Amalgam who were each a colonial organism, like a Portuguese man o’ war, made up of smaller organisms. I don’t remember if my thinking was that they were aquatic or not.

And although kinda cheesy and right out of Galaxy Quest, an intelligent octopus species would be pretty cool given how intelligent and sophisticated we’re finding them to be.

I have the feeling that as we’re better able to analyze and understand animal brains some of them will wow us with how intelligent they may actually be. As in we’re be able to domesticate and talk with more of them.

 

[The Wormhole]

My imagination's been diluted by the Berman era, so I just imagine a bunch of Forehead Guys.

 

[Henoch]

Just a thought. To become a space traveling race, species must be tool users. Some species, though extremely intelligent, just aren't cut out for tool use and eventually space travel. I don't see sea creatures ever doing this. How do they make the advanced materials and tools swimming underwater with fins?

 

[Arpy]

Just a thought. To become a space traveling race, species must be tool users. Some species, though extremely intelligent, just aren't cut out for tool use and eventually space travel. I don't see sea creatures ever doing this. How do they make the advanced materials and tools swimming underwater with fins?

Ahem. Dogs are land-dwellers too but they don’t make tools. Underwater technologies can probably do a lot of what we do. I mean, a hammer wielded by an octopus can hurt plenty.

Plus, forced to develop in other ways, maybe some aquatic aliens develop unusual technologies (you know, like aliens are supposed to, but I digress). Maybe they’re advanced breeders who develop organic technologies through mating (their own and that of lower life forms) like the bugs in Starship Troopers. ...or the humans in Dune. Maybe instead of warp they develop stargates.

 

[dupersuper]

I was thinking about Christopher L. Bennett’s book Ex Machina recently and the wonderful job he did fleshing out some of the background aliens in TMP. I thought about some of his more interesting non-humanoids from the Titan series as well, and thinking about my head canon’s Federation and what it looks like...

What do some of yours? Aside from the more popular species we’ve seen in the canon, what kinds of aliens inhabit your head canon fleets?

I think for me my Starfleet, my Federation is a mix of a lot of the less often seen aliens, especially from the movies, as well as weirder looking ones that could have come out of Farscape or Men in Black or even Star Wars. Anywhere where they had the budget to splurge.

Along with Deltans, Denobulans, Betazoids and Bynars, there’s more Saurians, Aurelians, Aaamazzarites, Triexians, Caitians, Xindi Aquatics, Selkies, Pak’shrees, Syraths, Nasats, Medusans, and Horta, among many others.

What kind of aliens that we’ve not even seen would you populate the Federation with?

Yeah, in my mind Starfleet is teeming with the species from Titan (haven't got to the novels yet, but I've seen cool fan art of the characters in question), Horta, Vulcans, Phylosions, all six Xindi species (I don't buy the Avians are extinct: Sphere Builder lies), Tellerites, Bynars, Melkotians, Medusans, Denoblians, Ithanites, Caitians, Edosians/Triexians, Bzzit Khaht, Pak’shree, Saurians, Kelpians, Ba'ul, Zakdorn, Betazoids, Andorians, Bolians, Benzites, Benzanites, Trill (mostly unjoined, per their population ratio), Grazerites, Deltans, Bajorans, Corridanites, Gnalish, Hamalki, Betelgeusians, Eeiauoans, Chalchaj'qmey, Aurelians, Skor, Ariolo , Brikar, Hermats, Xelatian, Osnullus, Evorans, Elaysians, Koas, Ontalians, Rigellian, Tiburon, Sulamid, S'ti'ach, Pahkwathanh, Selkie, Monchezkin, Kasheeta, Megarites, Anticans, Selay, Antedians, Nasat, Exocomps, and all the other Federation species - featured on screen, seen in the background and featured in comics/novels/video games - we know of or have heard mentioned, including many non-humanoids (some of whom may serve on ships tailored to their physiology). Also, in my mind many of the apparently human crew members we see walking around in the background - especially in TOS and TNG where most of the crew seem to be human - are in fact one of the human looking alien members (Ardanans, Alpha Centaurions, Risians, and later on Fabrini, Iotions, Magna Romans, Ekosian, Angosians, maybe Zaldans if we don't see their hands...).

 

[Arpy]

(From this thread)

More of some of these non-humanoids too. I have a soft-spot for the more alien aliens definitely. Love me some Sheliak and Tholians too. If there is intelligent life in the universe, or any, it likely won’t be humanoid, after all.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Arcturians. The idea of a species of clones that made up the Federation's infantry and could spawn an army of 3 billion overnight is pretty damn cool. And a million miles away from the Federation of later Treks.

Imagine the Dominion war if they had those guys.

 

[Cyfa]

A while back I came up with an alien race called maybe the Shwaab Amalgam who were each a colonial organism, like a Portuguese man o’ war, made up of smaller organisms. I don’t remember if my thinking was that they were aquatic or not.

- Oh, that's a cool idea! There was an alien in the DS9 novel "Rising Son" that was made up of five or six different individual intelligent organisms, as I recall. They could separate for a while, each one autonomous, but they had to recombine to survive. I imagine your Shwaab Amalgam to have many more constituant organisms though?

And although kinda cheesy and right out of Galaxy Quest, an intelligent octopus species would be pretty cool given how intelligent and sophisticated we’re finding them to be.

- I'd love to see an octopus-like alien in Trek - the Thermians real form was just so fascinating. The Vendorians (from TAS and LDS, as seen in your collage above) have tentacles, as do the Sulamid from the novels, but I don't think they're particularly cephalopod-like.

I have the feeling that as we’re better able to analyze and understand animal brains some of them will wow us with how intelligent they may actually be. As in we’re be able to domesticate and talk with more of them.

- I hope that day comes soon as it might dissuade certain people from the thoughtless and barbaric way they treat animals and their (and our) environment.

I’d love to see an Alonis if the spirit ever moves you.

- I have a vague idea that's been floating around since they first turned up in a novel (TLE: "Serpents Among the Ruins", I think?). When time permits, I'll have a go at transferring it to paper.

 

[Arpy]

I posted an Intelligent Aquatic Aliens Collage (Study 1) in the Fan Art Forum.