Thoughts and observations on the Kzinti from "The Slaver Weapon”

[Lord Other]

After rewatching "The Slaver Weapon", and being fresh off a marathon run of The Expanse, something struck me. The Kzinti from the episode sure don't look very much like Larry Niven's man-eating cats in space from his Known Space works. They look very like something from The Expanse, which I will get to shortly. A fair description of what Kzin normally look like could be summed up as 8' tall feline-like furry, well-muscled death, replete with sharp fangs, retractable claws on their three-fingered one thumb hands, bald tails, segmented Chinese parasol-like ears and a plantigrade stature. Instead we got this.

To be fair it could be argued that the artists working on TAS may not have had material to render an accurate-to-the-books version of the Kzin. That may have been an issue, but since Niven adapted his own story, "The Soft Weapon" for TAS, I don't see why someone couldn't have asked the author what his creations looked like. To make matters all the more confusing a more "true to the word" accurate version of the Kzin did appear in a preceding TAS episode, "The Time Trap".

So it would appear there are two kinds of Kzin in the Star Trek universe. One fairly reminiscent of their literary brethren, and one that has spindly arms and legs, with a digitgrade stature. But why? Thinking back to the human belters raised in low or no-G environments on The Expanse, an idea came to mind. What if these Kzin were Belters too?

Belters on The Expanse often appear lanky, with similarly spindly arms and legs and a more massive (proportionately speaking) upper body. It fits the look of these Kzinti and would make sense if some of the cat-folk went out into space and settled their in-system low-G worlds and asteroids without the benefit of having their normal gravity control technology. Then using gene therapy these Kzin accelerated the pace of some of these adaptations/changes (such as the digitgrade stature), while likewise improving their skeletal growth and structure made poor in a low-G environment. While they would not look exactly like their Homeworld counterparts, and I'm sure there would likely be some prejudice toward them, these "space borne" Heroes would still be Kzin, and in the end that's all that would matter.

Anyone have some thoughts or input on this?

 

[Dukhat]

Interesting post. However, I’m pretty sure what you’re comparing here is just a coincidence. I don’t think much thought was put into the Kzinti designs other than the basic description Niven gave in his books. And I’m sure if they had appeared in the aborted 5th season of ENT, they would have looked nothing like they did in TAS, just like the Gorn and the Tholians looked nothing like how they looked in TOS.

 

[Lord Other]

Interesting post. However, I’m pretty sure what you’re comparing here is just a coincidence. I don’t think much thought was put into the Kzinti designs other than the basic description Niven gave in his books.

Its very likely only coincidence, but sometimes those coincidences can make for wonderful storytelling. Given that TAS production staff and artists didn't adhere too closely to already established visual depictions of craft, interiors, costumes and the like except in a very general fashion, expecting them to adhere to their own internal design work is a bridge too far. Regardless, I do think that the extrapolation makes sense, even if that never was the intention of the artists or production staff.

And I’m sure if they had appeared in the aborted 5th season of ENT, they would have looked nothing like they did in TAS, just like the Gorn and the Tholians looked nothing like how they looked in TOS.

No argument there. I can understand that television production is often an art of compromise between what is wanted (by the producer, director, or writer), what is within budget or authorized by the production company, lawyers, or the studio, and what time constraints are imposed/that you have to work within. That the Gorn and Tholians ended up looking different in Enterprise comes as no surprise to me, but fortunately/unfortunately (depending on your feelings) we didn't get season 5 of Enterprise and a new Kzinti design to add to the mix. In respect to Jimmy Diggs version of Kzinti that would have been on Enterprise, they have the only a passing resemblance to the their brethren in TAS. But unless something changes in regards to Discovery or the upcoming Picard-centered series, I don't think the Kzinti are likely to make an appearance, so that point and design is probably moot.

As an aside I find it interesting that Larry Niven authorized Jimmy Diggs to make use of the Kzinti in this form, even though it's quiet different from the description in the literature.

 

[Maurice]

A fair description of what Kzin normally look like could be summed up as:

8' tall feline-like = check
furry = check
well-muscled death = I assume in a human bulk sort of way?
sharp fangs = check
retractable claws = they're wearing spacesuit gloves so who can say?
three-fingered one thumb hands = nope
bald tails = again, spacesuits
segmented Chinese parasol-like ears
plantigrade stature = nope

To make matters all the more confusing a more "true to the word" accurate version of the Kzin did appear in a preceding TAS episode, "The Time Trap".

I don't recall if we ever see it standing up or just seated, but in that image you can't see enough to tell if all the features are there, like the tail.

 

[Lord Other]

8' tall feline-like = check
furry = check
well-muscled death = I assume in a human bulk sort of way?

Kind of. The following two images probably will summarize it better than I can. One is a picture that's a fairly accurate sketch depiction of a Kzinti male, the second is a screenshot from the Ringworld RPG where it describes the Kzin from Known Space.

don't recall if we ever see it standing up or just seated, but in that image you can't see enough to tell if all the features are there, like the tail.

We never see it stand, however the body physiology, even seated is more bulky and filled out, like the "fat, orange tabby cat" description from the Ringworld RPG.

 

[Marsden]

This is very interesting for me, being a big fan of Star Fleet Battles where the Kzinti are a major space faring empire.
The depiction of Kzinti in artwork for that game are more like the literary description than the TAS depiction even though their inclusion in TAS is why they are in the game. Basically there were three major and one minor types of cat people (although later additions could have added more lately), The Kzinti, Lyrans, and Caitians. The Kzinti were huge and agressive, lost several wars to the Federation but were not conquered and being that they were also enemies of the Klingons so eventually became allies of the Federation. The Lyrans were created by the game as a further expansion beyond the Klingons and Kzinti as an ally to the Klingons and enemy of the Kzinti and another race beyond the Klingons. The depicted Kzinti in TAS more resemble the portrayal of the Lyrans, smaller and thinner. The Caitians are as they were in TAS, not a power themselves but part of the Federation. There was also a cat people component of another nation, the Interstellar Concordium that had five major races allied together. I don't know anymore about them.

 

[Noname Given]

IDK - Spock doesn't look like a Pierson's Puppeteer either, but that's the role Niven gave him in the adaptation to make the short story a "Star Trek" script.

 

[Lord Other]

IDK - Spock doesn't look like a Pierson's Puppeteer either, but that's the role Niven gave him in the adaptation to make the short story a "Star Trek" script.

So are you insinuating the Kzinti are not Kzinti? If Spock isn't a Pierson's Puppeteer, who or what else is not what they appear to be? Hark, I hear a fourth wall breaking!

Now you're making me think about a stage production of "The Soft Weapon" with all the characters from the "The Slaver Weapon" posing as characters from the original story, as a performance for the crew of the Enterprise in TAS. A bit of a play, within the play, ala Hamlet. After all, "the play's the thing!"

 

[Lord Other]

This is very interesting for me, being a big fan of Star Fleet Battles where the Kzinti are a major space faring empire.
The depiction of Kzinti in artwork for that game are more like the literary description than the TAS depiction even though their inclusion in TAS is why they are in the game. Basically there were three major and one minor types of cat people (although later additions could have added more lately), The Kzinti, Lyrans, and Caitians.

I can't say that I'm an avid Starfleet Battles player, or super knowledgeable about the content and backstory developed for that universe, however I did do some research online to what pertained to the Kzinti and their purported offshoots. Here is a write up I came up with that combined source materials from SFB, Starfleet Command, and Star Trek Online that you might enjoy. Let me know what you think.

Caitian / Kshinn
Cait – Mirak sector (adopted homeworld)
Ptah / Regulus V - Celes sector (colony)
Members of this species are descendants of the First Kzinti Diaspora. Their ancestors disagreed with the dominant male Patriarchy in power that wanted not only genetic modification of their race (via eugenics and genetic alteration), but to keep all females as chattel. The Caitian migrants are the original baseline stock of the Kzinti species, in a non-native environment (Kshinn homeworld).


Lyran - Lyran Star Empire
Ferasa – Ferasa sector (adopted homeworld)
M’Char – M’Char sector (colony)
Oranth – Narendra Sector (colony)
Members of this species are descendants of the First Kzinti Diaspora. As with their brethren, the Caitians, Lyrans disagreed with the dominant male Patriarchy that wanted to keep female members of the species subordinate to males (with them going so far as to take away their rights, and to treat them as chattel). Unlike Caitians, Lyrans had no issues with genetic modifications as long as the species as a whole benefited. While Lyrans are generally as physically capable as their Kzin brethren, they are somewhat shorter, and the female members members of their species are intelligent. Lyrans are openly hostile to, and have not had normalized relations with the Kzinti (or their M’Dok offshoot) space powers at any time since leaving Kzin. Relations with the Caitians are cordial but cool, as neither group actively pursues any relationship with the other, they simply acknowledge each other’s respective existence.


M'Dok - M'Dok (Mirak) Star Empire
M'Dok - near the Selcundi Drema sector
Members of this stellar power are identical in all respects to the Kzinti of the Kzin Homeworld and most are descendants of the Second Kzinti Diaspora of 2192, when the Treaty of Sirius was enacted. While UESPA and Federation forces prevailed in the last Earth-Kzin conflict, several Kzinti fleets withdrew from Kzinti Patriarchy space at the bidding of the Kzin Patriarch to establish a refuge for their species outside of direct Federation influence or control. Over several decades these Kzinti would establish colonies near Izar, a prominent Federation member world. Eventually the M’Dok Star Empire would re-establish ties with their ancestral homeworld in 2269, again swearing fealty and allegiance to the Rriit bloodline and the Kzin Patriarchy and informally establishing the Kzinti Hegemony.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I don't find the depiction of TAS kzinti that much of a departure.


LA Times Syndicate kzinti, in "The Slaver Weapon" sequel, "The Wristwatch Plantation" by Ian McLean, on Flickr


Kzinti in "Far Frontiers" by Ian McLean, on Flickr


"Man-Kzin Wars" anthology by Ian McLean, on Flickr


Kzinti in "Ringworld" graphic novel by Ian McLean, on Flickr

The more bear-like, (prototype?) Kzin member on the Elysian Council was identified as a Berikazin in "The Time Trap" novelization in "Star Trek Log Four". This one member was cleverly not mentioned by name or species in the "S.C.E.: Where Time Stands Still" eBook.

 

[Nerroth]

The Star Fleet Universe Kzintis are quite distinct from the Kzinti shown in other properties. They are "Kzinti" singular and "Kzintis" plural; they walk upright, have cat ears, no tails, few (if any) telepaths, and sapient females (who yet remain socially inferior to males); they have ships which, in a sense, look like giant space cats - with sensor "ears" on the prow, drone racks on the "front paws", and a "tail" and "hind paws" made up of three (or sometimes four) warp engines.

As noted above, they are distantly related to the lynx-like Lyrans, whose empire lies on the far side of the Federation from the Klingon Empire (as shown here). Both species hate each other intensely, though groups of Kzintis and Lyrans somehow manage to live together in the confines of the WYN Cluster, to the embarrassment of both empires. Many of their ships are "cat-"amarans, though they develop trimaran variants of many of these hulls later in the SFU timeline.

The wolf-like Carnivons are, or were, distantly related to both the Kzintis and Lyrans; unsurprisingly, they hated both species, who hated them in turn. Unlike the feline empires, which managed to form unified realms (albeit highly fractious ones), the Carnivons historically remained divided into rival hordes - which spelled doom for the species at large once the Kzintis and Lyrans started picking off each Horde one at a time. The Carnivon species are believed to have been driven to extinction in the Alpha Octant, though there are rumours that a "last command" made it as far as the Sargasso Storm Zone elsewhere in the Milky Way. (The SFU does not use Franchise Trek's "quadrant" system; the Milky Way in this universe is divided into 24 sectors, each divided by large Void zones into five octants in which "life as we know it" may thrive.)

The Korlivilar are one of the five species of the Inter-Stellar Concordium, which is over the far side of Gorn and Romulan space from the Federation (as shown here); they are felinoid, yet unrelated biologically to the Kzintis or Lyrans. There are early "warp-driven" Korlivilar ships published in Star Fleet Battles Module Y2 and Module Y3, though these have long since been supplanted by the "unified" hull designs used by the ISC as a whole.

There don't seem to be any Caitians in the SFU, though there is a feline species known as the Bis'en, who may (or may not) be distantly related to the Korlivilar. The Bis'en home world chooses to remain independent of, yet closely allied to, the Federation; Bis'en individuals may be found in Star Fleet and in the Federation Marines. (The UFP in the SFU uses Marines as "boarding parties".) The Bis'en were first described in the Federation sourcebook for the Prime Directive RPG, and were described in more detail in a Captain's Log article which has since been added to the Away Team Log compilation volume.

 

[Lord Other]

I don't find the depiction of TAS kzinti that much of a departure.

I guess YMMV. After having read the Man-Kzin Wars books, and "The Soft Weapon" that inspired the "the Slaver Weapon" adaption, I don't find the Kzin from the latter work conform to the mental image that former sparked for me personally.

The more bear-like, (prototype?) Kzin member on the Elysian Council was identified as a Berikazin in "The Time Trap" novelization in "Star Trek Log Four". This one member was cleverly not mentioned by name or species in the "S.C.E.: Where Time Stands Still" eBook.

Interesting, I have never heard of the Kzin in the "The Time Trap" being identified as a "Berikazin" or some such, but neither am I all that surprised. I am curious- did the source material in question identify it as some kind of offshoot of the Kzin, or some other race altogether?

The Star Fleet Universe Kzintis are quite distinct from the Kzinti shown in other properties. They are "Kzinti" singular and "Kzintis" plural; they walk upright, have cat ears, no tails, few (if any) telepaths, and sapient females (who yet remain socially inferior to males); they have ships which, in a sense, look like giant space cats - with sensor "ears" on the prow, drone racks on the "front paws", and a "tail" and "hind paws" made up of three (or sometimes four) warp engines.

Nerroth, thank you! Your description of the SFB Kzinti ships helped to jog my memory of something that the SFB ships kept reminding me of (a little hazily I must admit). I kept thinking I had seen something like what you described from when I was a kid, produced by Filmation, but I knew it wasn't part of the Star Trek Animated Series. Well, with a little work I found that back in the mid-70s Filmation produced a TV show called, "The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty" and one of the various lives that Waldo experienced was that of Captain Herc of the Starship Secondprize. I have been trying to find this show for years and your comment served to help me find it.

Not to be insulting in any way, but I wonder if the Secondprize served as the inspiration for the design of SFB Kzinti & Lyran vessels, as the design features are unmistakably there. What is your take?

 

[Maurice]

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Waldo Kitty Cat Trek episode (link). It's pretty terrible.

 

[Christopher]

Waldo Kitty Cat Trek episode (link). It's pretty terrible.

The first of two Cat Trek episodes, the other one being called "Ping or Pongo" and IIRC being a bit of a Flash Gordon parody as well.

Ahh, I remember watching these a lot when I was a kid. It's pretty corny in retrospect, but there are still a few gags I enjoy, like "Stardate 4995, marked down from 5000" and the Waldo Kitty running gag, "Seize him!" "We sees him, we sees him! What about it?" And it's amusing to see Filmation's artists and composer parodying their own work on TAS. "The starship Secondprize" is a terrific parody name. (Although as a kid I never figured out that the captain's name was "Herc" as in "Hercules." I always figured it was "Hurk" or something.) Plus Howard Morris did a surprisingly good William Shatner impression -- not in the sense of the pause-laden Shatner caricatures we're used to today, but in the sense of capturing Kirk's general manner and tone.

The name "Sergeant O'Hoo-ha" sounds like a sexual innuendo today, but I don't think that slang usage was around yet in 1975; the writers were probably thinking only of the original, possibly Yiddish-derived word "hoo-ha" meaning a fuss or commotion.

By the way, of the five series parodied in the course of the show, Robin Hood was the only one that Filmation never did a straight version of. They'd already done Batman and Star Trek cartoons before Waldo Kitty and would do Tarzan and the Lone Ranger a few years later.

 

[FormerLurker]

I always figured it was "Hurk" or something.

Because cats have been known to do that? Possibly in someone's shoes?

 

[Christopher]

No. I was not familiar with that slang term at the time. I'm not particularly familiar with it now.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Interesting, I have never heard of the Kzin in the "The Time Trap" being identified as a "Berikazin" or some such, but neither am I all that surprised. I am curious- did the source material in question identify it as some kind of offshoot of the Kzin, or some other race altogether?

I assume the kzin of "The Time Trap" was based on an early sketch, which may have been shown to Larry Niven and the art was slimmed down for "The Slaver Weapon". Although the Elysian Councilors needed sentience, I wonder if this individual would serve as a female kzin, with the distinctive batwing ears, since we only see sentient males in "The Slaver Weapon"?

It seems Alan Dean Foster was trying to be a bit sensitive to Niven. "Star Trek Log Ten", the final volume, was the adaptation of "The Slaver Weapon", and the book was so late in coming that it missed having a Filmation cel cover, and only came out with the revamped cover art style, presumably after the rerelease of the first nine books. Niven wanted to novelize the episode himself, but it was already contracted to ADF. Niven was annoyed that "Star Trek Log Ten" was selling in bookshops at the same time that "The Soft Weapon" was in a volume of "Known Space".

Although ADF had used kzinti in his additional material (in one story, M'Ress has to pass herself off as a male kzin), he was very careful to use his own species names for the "The Time Trap" council members.

The episode itself shows members of these races to be the twelve Councilors: Andorian, Gorn, human, Klingon, kzin, Orion, Phylosian, Romulan, Tellarite, Vulcan, plus a female alien (with a water-filled helmet) and an ant-like insectoid, which some of fandom later decided was a Kaferian.

Some of these alien races were strangely renamed (and therefore re-identified as completely different races, with no attempt to acknowledge what was seen on TV) in the novelization in "Star Trek Log Four", ie. Berikazin (for the onscreen zin), Edoan (for the onscreen Andorian), Gorin (for the onscreen Gorn) and Tallerine (for the onscreen Tellarite). Strange that the spellings are so close, like a last-minute change during editing? The Edoan/Edosian, of course, was Arex's species.

Eleven of the twelve onscreen Councilors are also mentioned/featured in the "S.C.E.: Where Time Stands Still" eBook, a sequel to "The Time Trap". Glind the Gorn is given a prominent role in the story, but the supposed human female has been replaced by a Valzhan named Saraven. By process of elimination, the kzin/Berikazin representative is the one that goes unidentified and undescribed.

 

[Lord Other]

I assume the kzin of "The Time Trap" was based on an early sketch, which may have been shown to Larry Niven and the art was slimmed down for "The Slaver Weapon".

That's a dangerous assumption to make, unless you have some kind of source material that specifically cites that Larry Niven was asked for advice or input regarding the production team / animators work regarding the Kzinti. I say dangerous because it draws an intent for the animators to change the look of the Kzinti based upon some kind of interaction with the script writer we otherwise have no record of.

Although the Elysian Councilors needed sentience, I wonder if this individual would serve as a female kzin, with the distinctive batwing ears, since we only see sentient males in "The Slaver Weapon"?

I can tell you at this point regardless of ADF's point of view, the creature in the Elysium Council Chamber was definitely a Kzin, and as a result, also a male per what was discussed in The Mighty Monkey of Mim's quote from another thread below..

I do not think that "the Kzinti government" and "a Kzinti spacecraft" should be construed as indicating that the singular term for one individual is "a Kzinti" in strict onscreen canon, even wholly ignoring the clear counter-indications in the production materials. (Not only in this script, but also in that of "The Time Trap" and its related storyboards, where the Kzinti member of the Elysian Council is referred to as a Kzin in clear context of other species names given in the singular form: "...twelve men and women are seated on a dais. Each is a member of a different race: Klingon, Tellarite, Kzin, Orion, Andorian, Vulcan, Human, Gorn and three other alien types we have never seen before. See attached sheet for reference. Their spokesman is XERIUS, a tall Romulan with piercing eyes.")

That said, despite what ADF wrote about it being a Berikazin, I'm going to stick with the scripted material as it is closer to the original intent of the work- that's a Kzinti in the Elysium council chamber. ADF novelizations certainly can help us garner some insight into the episodes in question, but in this case they definitely have led us astray.

Although ADF had used kzinti in his additional material (in one story, M'Ress has to pass herself off as a male kzin), he was very careful to use his own species names for the "The Time Trap" council members.

And that may have been the crux of the problem right there. If you're having to tip-toe your way around novelizing a script for a television serial because you're concerned you will upset or offend the original author / screenwriter I can see changes being made to those novelizations that will affect the finished product. Not only will it change story elements (who or what the character was, or what their motivations are for instance) it creates a dissonance in the storyline that may or may not cause problems for folks trying to get to the bottom of things (as in this case).

We are in essence back to my original point- if these are both Kzinti, then how might you explain the differences evident between the two examples provided (in universe), to which my supposition is the difference could be explained away by having some Kzinti be descendants of individuals who lived at one time in a low-G environment.

 

[Therin of Andor]

That's a dangerous assumption to make, unless you have some kind of source material that specifically cites that Larry Niven was asked for advice or input regarding the production team / animators work regarding the Kzinti. I say dangerous because it draws an intent for the animators to change the look of the Kzinti based upon some kind of interaction with the script writer we otherwise have no record of.

We do know that Larry was miffed that the kzinti ships and spacesuits ended up pink.

I have discussed TAS kzinti with Larry Niven in person, but I never thought to mention the very different look of "The Time Trap" individual. The batwing ears tell us it is kzinti. As I said, the Elysian Councilor needs to be sentient, but there has definitely been a purposeful artistic change between the two episodes. Or, it's an obese male kzin, no longer needing to keep himself predator-lean?

Here's Larry holding my zine, open at the kzin page.


Larry Niven at Galaxy Bookshop, 1985 by Ian McLean, on Flickr

I'm going to stick with the scripted material as it is closer to the original intent of the work- that's a Kzinti in the Elysium council chamber.

Does the script specify that a kzin is there? The "Yesteryear" script says that Thelin has blue skin and Aleek-Om is blue/green.

If you're having to tip-toe your way around novelizing a script for a television serial because you're concerned you will upset or offend the original author / screenwriter I can see changes being made to those novelizations that will affect the finished product.

Exactly. And there was tension, according to Niven.

The Logs have plenty of bloopers. In one scene, Arex is described as having three eyes, and in another scene, he glances over a feathered shoulder.

 

[alchemist]

Some of these alien races were strangely renamed (and therefore re-identified as completely different races, with no attempt to acknowledge what was seen on TV) in the novelization in "Star Trek Log Four", ie. Berikazin (for the onscreen zin), Edoan (for the onscreen Andorian), Gorin (for the onscreen Gorn) and Tallerine (for the onscreen Tellarite). Strange that the spellings are so close, like a last-minute change during editing? The Edoan/Edosian, of course, was Arex's species.

I have Alan Dean Foster's outline, notes, script, and rough draft manuscript for "Slaver Weapon" and none of the names of the alien races are spelled correctly or consistently in them (with the exception of the script, of course). He also didn't spell many of the items in the Star Trek universe correctly, either. For example, he consistently spelled "phaser" as "faser."