Vulcan (Star Trek)
In the fictional Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry, the Vulcan race originates on planet Vulcan which orbits either 40 Eridani or Epsilon Eridani (cites differ). The surface of Vulcan is much warmer of that of Earth as the planet is located around a red giant star. The planet's atmosphere is thinner than that of Earth's, as a result humans tend to tire out more quickly. The Vulcans are most noted for their attempt to live by reason and logic and to suppress all emotional influence by living lives of rigid emotional self-control through meditative techniques and training of mental discipline. The main external characteristics that distinguish Vulcans from humans are arched eyebrows and pointed ears, along with a slight greenish skin tint due to their copper-based blood.
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2 History 3 Language 4 Famous Vulcans 5 External Links |
Vulcans are contact telepaths. By means of a procedure known as mind-meld, which involves physical contact with a subject, it is possible for them to share all their thoughts, experience, memories and knowledge with another individual. Vulcans can perform a mind-meld with members of most other races, most notably humans; one well-known example of a race impervious to the mind-meld are the Ferengi.
Many Vulcans are skilled in a self-defense move known as the Vulcan nerve pinch or neck pinch, which targets a precise location overlying the baroreceptors of the carotid sinus at the base of the humanoid neck, instantly rendering the victim unconscious. While practiced mainly by Vulcans, it is not exclusive to their race; for example, Data and Jean-Luc Picard have also mastered the technique, the latter probably acquiring it during his mind-meld with Sarek.
In addition, Vulcans tend to be stronger and longer-lived than humans—Sarek lived just over two centuries.
The former of these qualities is often attributed to Vulcan's gravity being significantly greater than Earth's. Due to the strong sunlight on the planet, Vulcans also evolved an inner eyelid which can come down to protect the eyes from particularly strong flashes of light. Vulcans can also tolerate higher temperatures than humans can. In the original series episode "The Deadly Years" when Spock was affected by rapid aging he noted how cold the ship seemed, and he responded by turning the temperature in his room up to well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Vulcans are vegetarians.
The Vulcan race discovered space travel long before humans did.
The Vulcan race used to be a race of violent warriors and fought many wars among themselves. The end of this time was marked by an event in Vulcan history known as the Great Awakening. Surak, a Vulcan philosopher of that time, spread the idea of living by the rules of logic and reasoning. Most Vulcans, in hopes of a better future with less violence and fewer wars, adopted his teachings and attempted to suppress all their emotions. Almost all of present-day Vulcan philosophy emerged from this period.
A small proportion of the Vulcan population, who did not agree to following the new philosophy and thus, in the view of the majority of the population, proved to be obstacles for the future development of the Vulcan race, were expelled from the Vulcan home planet. These people travelled through space in the search of a new home, eventually settling on Romulus and forming the Romulan race.
First contact between Vulcans and humans occurred on April 5, 2063 shortly after Zefram Cochrane's first warp (faster-than-light) flight.
On August 12, 2161, the two races collaborated to found the basis of the United Federation of Planets.
The Vulcans appear to have two written languages which can be used separately or in combination with each other. The most common script on Vulcan is a vertically-written script, having a central staff line on which vertical spirals and horizontal dashes are written, along with dots in various combinations. While no official translations for these symbols exist, it is assumed that the dots and dashes represent consonants and the spirals are the vowels. The script is written in vertical columns from top to bottom, left to right (like Mongolian). The second script written in the same direction consists of swirly curved symbols (like Japanese hiragana). It is assumed that these symbols are also phonetic, perhaps syllabic or consonantal.
Abilities
History
Language
Famous Vulcans
External Links