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Andorian

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Thy'lek Shran, an Andorian male (2151)
Shras, an Andorian male (2268)
A female Andorian (2270s)
Lal, featured as a young Andorian female (2366)

The Andorians were a humanoid species from the moon Andoria, homeworld of the Andorian Empire, and one of the founding members of the United Federation of Planets.

Contents

[edit] History

Main articles: Andorian history and Federation history

[edit] Physiology

Most Andorians were blue-skinned with white or silver hair. An Andorian subspecies called the Aenar had white skin and, unlike blue Andorians, were blind and telepathic. Andorians and Aenar were genetically compatible and could produce offspring. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")

Andorians, with a higher metabolic rate than Terrans, were especially vulnerable to phase pulse infection; even minor phase injuries could prove fatal. (ENT: "United") However, they have demonstrated resistance to a wide range of environmental conditions. In a climate where the temperature is near the boiling point of water, an Andorian could still thrive, despite losing 10% of their body weight in two days. (ENT: "The Aenar")

Since Andorian physiology made intravenous injection impossible, physicians administered medication through intermuscular injection instead. (TOS: "Whom Gods Destroy")

Andorian women may be taller than men, if Tarah and Talas, seen next to their male companions, are any indication.

[edit] Antennae

Andorians had two supercranial antennae that aided in balance. If one was lost -- a humiliating experience -- an Andorian became partially disabled in the short term, and unable to fight, but could adapt to its loss within a day. Antennae took up to nine months to regrow, though electrical stimulation and cranial massage therapy could cut regeneration time in half. (ENT: "United")

The twenty-second century Andorian Shran, reflecting on his own stub, demonstrated that antennae were moved by voluntary muscles that could be controlled separately from one another. (ENT: "United") Such movement could express feelings as well; Andorians could point their antennae at potential mates to signify attraction. (DS9: "The Sound of Her Voice")

The placement of Andorian antennae had at least four different variations. Shran and others of the 22nd century sprouted antennae from their frontal skullbones. (ENT: "The Andorian Incident") Ambassador Shras and his delegation sported antennae which sprung further back, off their parietal bones. (TOS: "Journey to Babel") Yet others had longer and thinner antennae. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture; TNG: "Captain's Holiday", "The Offspring")

Such variations are seen in the right page sidebar.
A pair of Andorian antennae, seen in Enterprise, was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [1]

[edit] Blood

Andorians were true bluebloods: Talas' blood displayed nonviscous, translucent qualities, and were as dark blue as Shran's abrasions. Andorian tongues and gums alternated from dark blue to pink. (ENT: "United")

Andorians had increased perfusion in colder environs. On breathing the freezing air of Andoria, Shran remarked how it 'really gets the blood running!' (ENT: "The Aenar")

Dr. Phlox once asserted, 'Andorian metabolism is higher than humans'; keep moving, you'll exhaust him.' (ENT: "United")

[edit] Society

Shran and his Andorian-Aenar hybrid daughter, Talla

Andorians were a militaristic race, exemplified in small part by weaponry without stun settings. They consider it an honor to serve in their Imperial Guard, and military rank greatly influenced social reputation. Deploring dishonesty -- and never fighting without reason -- Andorians were nonetheless capable of duplicity. They considered themselves deeply emotional, passionate, even violent; not known for their charity or sympathy, they placed a high value on family. (TOS: "Journey to Babel"; TAS: "Yesteryear") Imperial Guard members who died far from home could count on their companions to transport a body part back to the Andorian ices. (ENT: "United")

[edit] Culture and tradition

Shran and Archer fight the Ushaan

A crucial part of Andorian tradition was Ushaan, a code of honor demanding a duel to the death, with combatants pitted against one another using an ushaan-tor iceminer's tool. A vast body of regulations -- up to 12,000 amendments -- bound this code. Such a fight could be called off if one combatant disabled the other enough to prevent its continuance. Though Ushaan could be called by someone to avenge a personal loss, there existed a right of substitution wherein each combatant could offer up a replacement; and married combatants could postpone duels indefinitely if they had no children to continue their claims. (ENT: "United")

Example of Andorian script

Andorian weddings commonly required four people. Females enjoyed an equal position in society, and as soldiers were as capable as males. (ENT: "Proving Ground"; TNG: "Data's Day")

Andorians make prodigious artists; Ezri Dax's mother Yanas Tigan bought handpainted Andorian tiles for her solarium in 2375, and Andor's Academy was widely considered the best art school in the Federation. (DS9: "Prodigal Daughter")

[edit] Mirror universe

Andorians were among the mirror universe races conquered by the Terran Empire, and a few took part in its rebellion; in 2155 a possibly-conscripted Andorian male worked the helm of ISS Avenger. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II")

[edit] Cultural products

[edit] Food and Beverages

[edit] People

[edit] Appendices

[edit] Appearances

[edit] References

[edit] Background

Since Andorians first appeared in "Journey to Babel", their look has changed considerably, for budgetary reasons and improvement in makeup technique. (In Babel, ambassador Shras had antennae at back of head to cover their joins to his white wig.)

The first change came in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, where Andorians were given forehead ridges with thin spindly antennae coming off the top of the forehead. In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, makeup evolution allowed an Andorian to be seen as balding, with antennae bases joined seamlessly to the actor's skin. TNG Season 3 offered up two Andorians, one of which was an appearance for Lal, with skin more greenish-blue, larger bulbous heads, and taller spindly antennae attached to the wig.

Star Trek: Enterprise's Andorian antennae were both attached to the forehead, and movable. These antennae reverted to the thicker, segmented look of the original series aliens.

Make-up test for an Andorian God

Denise and Michael Okuda offer an explanation for these differing appearances: in DVD commentary for TAS: "Yesteryear" they write, 'It may be that Andorians have different ethnic groups, with different skin colors just like humans; after all, in ENT: "The Aenar" we saw some Andorians have white skin.' This aligns with both Vulcans and Bajorans being shown with different pigmentation — making diversity more than just a Terran trait.

An Andorian God in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier made it into makeup screentests, but like many ideas for the film didn't survive its final cut.

[edit] Apocrypha

In noncanonical novels by Pocket Books, Andorians have the four sexes; zhen, shen, chan, and thaan. In function and appearance, zhens and shens are largely female, and chans and thaans approximate males, with shens and chans the more androgynous of the pairings. In the postfinale novels of Deep Space Nine this quadrigender paradigm is cited as the reason for Andorian difficulty in maintaining adequate population growth in the face of near extinction. Andorian names in these works consist of two parts in the native tongue Andorii: a longish personal name shortened to the size of established series' names, and a clan name with a gender-denoting prefix -- for instance, TharinJar ch'Thas, a chan from Thas clan commonly known as Jar. Though this information is noncanon it is supported by Data's comment in TNG: "Data's Day" that "Andorian marriages require four people unless...."

Roleplaying author S. John Ross wrote an Andorian sourcebook for Last Unicorn Games' Trek RPG book Among the Clans: The Andorians. It expands the Andorian background in an interesting noncanon way, and details like the Andorian ushaan duel were adopted by Enterprise writers.

Several issues of DC's first Star Trek comic series featured Andorians with feather-like hair rather than the fine white hair other Andorians have always had. These included Thimon and Melchior.

[edit] External link

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