Why were the bolians never developed?

[Therin of Andor]

And you're right, the Bolians were never firmly established as one of the founding races but heavily implied.

In fact, there was a short, comedy scene cut from the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode script, "The Chase", in which it was revealed by Mot that Bolarus IX was not yet a member of the United Federation of Planets. The scene was dropped for time, therefore not canon - and later writers did not press ahead with that factoid. When DS9 featured a Bolian as Commandant of Starfleet Academy ("Paradise Lost") that pretty much confirmed that it was in, and probably had been for quite a while.

"The Genesis Wave" trilogy of hardcovers put Mr Mot's family as members of a colony world, perhaps acknowledging the original intention.

* A Bolian crewman (portrayed by Leonard Jones) was seen in Time's Arrow and a Bolian bar patron in Birthright Part I.

* Lysia Arlin, a Bolian shopkeeper who sells jumja sticks on The Promenade, may find Odo attractive. [Deep Space Nine: Shadowplay and Defiant]

* A Bolian (Jeff Austin) appeared in the Deep Space Nine episode, The Adversary.

* A traditional feature of Bolian cuisine is that much use is made of meat that has been allowed to partially decay. [Deep Space Nine: Crossfire]

* Bolian tonic water is a refreshing beverage. [Deep Space Nine: Paradise Lost]

* The human name "Frederick" translates as a Bolian obscenity. [Voyager: Dreadnought]

* When power to the USS Voyager's lavatories is compromised, Neelix warns to be wary of the Bolians. Obviously, he knows something about Bolians which we don't.

* A group of Bolians help Jadzia Dax celebrate her forthcoming wedding to Worf at a party in her quarters. Although one brawls with Morn, the Bolian and the Lurien end up as dancing partners. [Deep Space Nine: You Are Cordially Invited.]

* A Bolian is present at Quark's when Captain Sisko is awarded the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor. [Deep Space Nine: Tears of the Prophets]

* Morn deposits the proceeds of the Lissepian Mother's Day Heist in an account at the Bank of Bolarus. [Deep Space Nine: Who Mourns for Morn?]

* One of the guests at Ezri Dax's welcoming party is a Bolian Starfleet officer. [Deep Space Nine: Afterimage.]

* One of the Borg victims' memories experienced by Seven of Nine is a Bolian manicurist. [Voyager: Infinite Regress]

* Reference is made of the late Zim Brott's "wife and co-husband". [Deep Space Nine: Field of Fire].

My old Bolian page has not been updated since Geocities folded, but it has lots of other early Bolian appearances listed:
http://www.reocities.com/therinofandor/Bolians.html

 

[Pavonis]

If Worf were commandant of the Academy, would that mean all Klingons are Federation citizens?

I'm inclined to think the Bolians are Federation Members, but I'm not convinced. I'm not even certain Bolians come from Bolarus.

 

[sbk1234]

While we're talking about Bolians, has any mention/explaination ever been given to the only Bolian seen to have hair from the episode Allegiance?
Was she unusual to grow hair, or do Bolians (or Bolian women) shave their heads?
Just wondering.

 

[Sci]

In the novels, the Federation President from 2373 to 2379 (serving basically between DS9 Season Five to Star Trek: Nemesis, leading the Federation through the Dominion War) is established to be a male Bolian named Min Zife.

 

[Therin of Andor]

If Worf were commandant of the Academy, would that mean all Klingons are Federation citizens?

But he's not. It is very unlikely that a Bolian would be overseeing the induction of future members of Starfleet if his own people were not UFP members.

I'm not even certain Bolians come from Bolarus.

Sigh.

In the novels, the Federation President... is established to be a male Bolian named Min Zife.

If they don't accept script notations and screenwriter's intent, they won't even contemplate tie-in novels.

While we're talking about Bolians, has any mention/explaination ever been given to the only Bolian seen to have hair from the episode Allegiance?
Was she unusual to grow hair, or do Bolians (or Bolian women) shave their heads?

Maybe it's just fashion? In any case, Mitena Haru is shown to be two aliens in disguise.

In "The Muse" (DS9), we have Jake Sisko pointing out a male Bolian wearing a toupe. Nobody else seems to notice.

 

[The Wormhole]

Maybe it's common for Bolians who have frequent interactions with other species to wear wigs. Clearly they don't all do it, but enough do so that no one raises an eyebrow when they see a Bolian with hair.

 

[Tosk]

I don't see why anyone would care either way. No aliens ever raised an eyebrow over a bald human either. "But I thought all humans had hair!"

 

[sbk1234]

Not that I have a problem with a variety of types within a species, but when we've clearly seen a LOT of Bolians, and only ONE has hair, it just struck me as odd.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Not that I have a problem with a variety of types within a species, but when we've clearly seen a LOT of Bolians, and only ONE has hair, it just struck me as odd.

It was expensive and time consuming fitting a wig over a bifurcated head appliance. So they went without it.

 

[T'Girl]

One possibility, Bolians are all born with hair, but typically go bald at a very early age with a few exceptions. I can't remember seeing any Bolian children.

 

[The Wormhole]

I can't remember seeing any Bolian children.

DS9 Field of Fire. They were bald.

 

[Pavonis]

If Worf were commandant of the Academy, would that mean all Klingons are Federation citizens?

But he's not. It is very unlikely that a Bolian would be overseeing the induction of future members of Starfleet if his own people were not UFP members.

Why? Is Starfleet speciesist?

I'm not even certain Bolians come from Bolarus.

Sigh.

What? Is it Bolias? Or Bolarus? We don't all read all the "novels". No home world was explicitly named for the Bolians. Humans are from Earth, Klingons from Kronos, so why mightn't the Bolians be from, say, Krypton V?

In the novels, the Federation President... is established to be a male Bolian named Min Zife.

If they don't accept script notations and screenwriter's intent, they won't even contemplate tie-in novels.

Why should I? The only material we might both have been exposed to are the TV episodes and movies. Most fans can't even agree on interpretations of facts and tidbits from those sources. Why would I trust your interpretation of a factoid from a novel based on an author's intent that you might have misconstrued?

 

[Sci]

In the novels, the Federation President... is established to be a male Bolian named Min Zife.

If they don't accept script notations and screenwriter's intent, they won't even contemplate tie-in novels.

Why should I?

You don't have to. But I for one see no reason not to. They're good books, for one thing.

Why would I trust your interpretation of a factoid from a novel based on an author's intent that you might have misconstrued?

I'm not sure to what you're referring. The novels -- including A Time to Kill by David Mack and Articles of the Federation by Keith R.A. DeCandido -- are very explicit in referring to Min Zife as the President of the United Federation during the Dominion War and just before NEM, and in establishing that Bolarus is a Federation Member (and that Zife was the Federation Councillor from Bolarus before being elected President). These aren't matters of interpretation; this is just what the books say.

ETA:

But, hey, don't just take my word for it. Go ahead and read the books!

• A Time to Kill by David Mack
• A Time to Heal by David Mack
• A Time for War, A Time for Peace by Keith R.A. DeCandido
• Articles of the Federation by Keith R.A. DeCandido

 

[Pavonis]

But is Bolarus the home world of the Bolians, or just a world which some Bolians are from? Did any character ever state outright that "Bolias" or whatever was the world on which Bolians evolved? Some humans are from Mars, but Mars isn't the human home world.

This kind of connecting of actually unrelated facts reminds me of the alleged "Daedalus-class" model that was in Sisko's office. Everyone accepted that that model was Daedalus-class, despite no dialogue ever connecting the class to the model. That's how fanon spreads, and fanon is interesting, but too many fans latch onto fanon "facts" as if they were incontrovertible.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I could have sworn in DS9, 'Bolias' is referred to in the same breath as other core planets of the Federation. After the Dominion conquered Betazed, didn't they say 'This puts them in striking distance of Bolias'? Or was that also Berengaria?

If a first year medical student would ask the question 'Have you recently had sex with a bolian', doesn't that imply it's a common problem to do so? If they're not members of the Federation, they're clearly firmly within Federation space and very friendly with the Federation.

 

[Sci]

But is Bolarus the home world of the Bolians, or just a world which some Bolians are from? Did any character ever state outright that "Bolias" or whatever was the world on which Bolians evolved? Some humans are from Mars, but Mars isn't the human home world.

I mean, you could hypothesize that Bolarus is a world that most Bolians are from but which is not the world on which they evolved, but there's no evidence indicating this in either the canon or in the novels. The most I can tell you is that Koll Azernal's (Zife's chief of staff) internal monologue in A Time to Kill refers to Bolarus IX as "home" for Zife.

We do, however, know from A Singular Destiny by DeCandido that the legislature on Bolarus is known as the Quorum of Bole.

 

[Pavonis]

But is Bolarus the home world of the Bolians, or just a world which some Bolians are from? Did any character ever state outright that "Bolias" or whatever was the world on which Bolians evolved? Some humans are from Mars, but Mars isn't the human home world.

I mean, you could hypothesize that Bolarus is a world that most Bolians are from but which is not the world on which they evolved, but there's no evidence indicating this in either the canon or in the novels. The most I can tell you is that Koll Azernal's (Zife's chief of staff) internal monologue in A Time to Kill refers to Bolarus IX as "home" for Zife.

We do, however, know from A Singular Destiny by DeCandido that the legislature on Bolarus is known as the Quorum of Bole.

If there's no evidence, then all we can confidently say is "we don't know", not "Bolarus must be the Bolian home world because no one said it wasn't".

We know there's a Bank of Bolias, and there is a species called Bolian, and there's a planet called Bolarus. From all the evidence, I couldn't say whether the Bolians were Federation members, or whether they held a relationship with the UFP akin to the US-Canada relationship.

 

[Sci]

But is Bolarus the home world of the Bolians, or just a world which some Bolians are from? Did any character ever state outright that "Bolias" or whatever was the world on which Bolians evolved? Some humans are from Mars, but Mars isn't the human home world.

I mean, you could hypothesize that Bolarus is a world that most Bolians are from but which is not the world on which they evolved, but there's no evidence indicating this in either the canon or in the novels. The most I can tell you is that Koll Azernal's (Zife's chief of staff) internal monologue in A Time to Kill refers to Bolarus IX as "home" for Zife.

We do, however, know from A Singular Destiny by DeCandido that the legislature on Bolarus is known as the Quorum of Bole.

If there's no evidence, then all we can confidently say is "we don't know", not "Bolarus must be the Bolian home world because no one said it wasn't".

Well, "world they evolved on" is a different concept than "world they are from." The continent of Australia may not be where the ancestors of most of its inhabitants were descended from, but it's still where they're from today.

Hypothetically-speaking, Bolarus may not be where the Bolian species evolved, but the preponderance of evidence is that it's where most Bolians are from now. And meanwhile, I think it's more rational to assume that any given species evolved on the planet it's established to be from unless new evidence is introduced that says otherwise.

(I mean, canonically-speaking, it hasn't been explicitly stated that Vulcans, Andorians, Tellarites, Klingons, Tholians, Tzenkethi, Cardassians, Bajorans, Trill, or Ferengi evolved on Vulcan, Andor, Tellar, Qo'noS, Tholia, Ab-Tzenketh, Cardassia, Trill, or Ferenginar. But at a certain point, it becomes silly to not be willing to assume such in lieu of contradictory evidence.)

We know there's a Bank of Bolias, and there is a species called Bolian, and there's a planet called Bolarus. From all the evidence, I couldn't say whether the Bolians were Federation members, or whether they held a relationship with the UFP akin to the US-Canada relationship.

If you restrict yourself to the canon, sure. But I see no reason not to expand our pallet to include the novels.

 

[Pavonis]

All I'm seeking to do is sort the facts (fictional facts to be sure) from the fanon (connections that fans have assumed that may not be well-reasoned).

If Bolarus and Bolians are Federation members, that's cool, if it's been established in a reasonable way and not just decreed by some fans and foisted upon the rest.

 

[The Wormhole]

I could have sworn in DS9, 'Bolias' is referred to in the same breath as other core planets of the Federation. After the Dominion conquered Betazed, didn't they say 'This puts them in striking distance of Bolias'? Or was that also Berengaria?

A search of Bolius on Memory Alpha only turns up the Bank of Bolias, which is located on Bolarus IX.

Conquering Betazed put the Dominion in striking distance of Alpha Cenauri, Andor, Tellar, and Vulcan.