From nobody Tue May 18 15:44:51 2004
From: Randall Raemon
Newsgroups: alt.fan.surak
Subject: (AFS) FAQ - Vulcan, last revised 2 Sep 2003
Date: Sat, 01 May 2004 23:18:01 -0500
Organization: vulcan-l mailing list
Message-ID:
Lines: 454
This FAQ posting was last revised 3 July 2003. Comments and
corrections are welcomed. Simply send your feedback to the list.
This FAQ borrows from the original work done by Rachel Thurston.
Thanks Rachel!!
The recent change to this FAQ is additional descriptions for
Soval and Tos as forwarded by Selek.
=================================================================
0. Canon? Canon? What is canon?
1. Vulcan - the world
2. Vulcan - the people
a. IDIC
b. naming
c. personalites
1. Spock
2. Sarek
3. Surak
4. Tuvok
5. others
d. biology
1. pon farr
2. a black Vulcan??
3. Vulcanoids
a. Romulans
b. Mintakans
c. Rigelians
=================================================================
Canon? Canon? What is canon?
The debate over what material should be considered canon, or at
the very least mutually acceptable as a starting point for debate,
has failed to produce a clear consensus. In general, if it's on
film it's canon, but any source (print or film) is fair game for
discussion. Where possible, give references for information. Not
only do the books frequently contradict each other and the episodes,
but occasionally episodes are contradictory, resulting in much
confusion.
=================================================================
Vulcan - the world
"Hot as Vulcan", as the saying goes. A hot, dry world. Those few
glimpses we've had of the Vulcan landscape show little vegatation,
and a lot of desert-like conditions.
Little has also been said of the star system where Vulcan is. From
ST:TMP, we know of a nearby planetoid, given the name in the books
as T'Khut.
Some material puts Vulcan in the star system 40 Eridani.
For far more astronomical information, see Marketa's web site.
The URL is in the resources FAQ that is posted periodically.
=================================================================
IDIC
It stands for "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations".
What precisely this means has been the subject of much debate
on the group/list. Some of the aspects that have been discussed
include celebration of the diversity of the universe, or at least
tolerance of other cultures and how far this tolerance should go.
Some schools of thought say that IDIC tolerates all differences
without necessarily adopting them, while others disagree.
Here's what The Star Trek Encyclopedia has to say:
IDIC: Acronym for Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations,
a cornerstone of the Vulcan philosophy. Spock wore an IDIC
medallion to the shipboard dinner in honor of Dr. Jones. ("Is
There in Truth no Beauty?" [TOS] ).
The triangle-circle IDIC pendant in this episode was designed by
Gene Roddenberry and has been used as a Vulcan national symbol.
That's all there is. Taken from _The Star Trek Encyclopedia_, ISBN
0-671-86905-1.
Steve Boozer has this additional item:
According to the unnamed Vulcan Master who tutored teenaged Tuvok,
it is called *kol-ut-shan* - "the cornerstone of our beliefs" [VOY
"Gravity"]. (In fandom IDIC is also called *t'triahve*, though I
don't know where this word comes from.)
* Aren't Vulcans pacifists? How can Tuvok be security officer,
a position which requires the use of force?
We don't have a good answer to this yet. It has been suggested
that Tuvok does not strictly adhere to the teachings of Surak,
particularly since his name does not begin with an S. Tuvok may
also avoid the use of force except where absolutely necessary,
such as in self-defense. Although Surak died rather than meet
aggression with aggression, Spock stated in "Journey to Babel"
that his father Sarek was capable of killing efficiently if he
found it logical to do so.
=================================================================
Vulcan names
The way in which Vulcan names seem to occur has been an often
discussed topic. Single names vs family names, the s-k combinations,
"you couldn't pronounce it", etc etc. The few Vulcan names in
TOS epsiodes seemed to show a pattern, but that was within Spock
and Sarek's family. TNG, DS9, and Voyager episodes have a somewhat
wider variety of Vulcan names that don't seem to follow any
particular pattern.
=================================================================
Spock
Our first introduction to Vulcan, its people, and its culture.
It is through Spock that many posters say what is, or isn't, Vulcan.
Spock has a long history. Far more than I can quote here. For details,
I'll refer you to any edition of the Star Trek Encyclopedia.
=================================================================
Sarek
Our second introduction to Vulcan. Sarek is Spock's father, and
was introduced in the TOS episode "Journey to Babel". Sarek was
a member of Vulcan's diplomatic corps. Sarek died in the TNG
episode "Unification".
An aside: Mark Lenard, the actor who portrayed Sarek, died
22 Nov 1996.
=================================================================
Surak
Surak is an historical figure from ancient Vulcan. Described by
Spock as the father of Vulcan civilization, he founded and popularized
the philosophies of peace, logic, mastery over one's emotions, and
IDIC. These philosophies form the basis for modern Vulcan culture.
Before Surak's Reformation, Vulcans were warlike and ruled by their
passions. The planet nearly had been destroyed by devastating
wars, and another war was on the verge of starting, when Surak and
his followers intervened. They sent emissaries of peace to their
enemies. These emissaries were killed at first, but they sent
more, and more, until eventually people began to listen and the
idea of peace took hold. There has been no war since then. It is
widely believed that the Reformation saved the Vulcans from
self-destruction.
=================================================================
Tuvok
Lieutenant Tuvok is the chief of security of the USS Voyager on
Star Trek: Voyager. He had been Captain Janeway's security officer
for some time prior to the beginning of the series, but his assignment
at the beginning of the pilot episode was to infiltrate the Maquis
as an undercover agent for Starfleet security. He also taught at
the Academy for 16 years. His first assignment in his present
Starfleet career was aboard the USS Wyoming.
* How old is Tuvok?
In "Flashback", Tuvok states that he is 29 in his flashback memory,
and the event is taking place 80 years before the current time,
which makes him 109 years old. In the memory 80 years ago, he was
in Starfleet, an ensign on his first deep space assignment. He had
been pressured into going to the Academy by his parents, and he
left Starfleet soon thereafter. He was out of Starfleet for over 50
years. After leaving, he spent several years in seclusion immersed
in the Kohlinar. Six years into his studies, he began the Pon Farr.
but left when he entered Pon Farr and took a mate, T'Pel. He has
been married for 67 years, so he must have been 42 when he entered
Pon Farr.
* So does he have any children?
Yes. Tuvok stated in "Elogium" that he has four children, three
sons and one daughter.
Tuvok was married in 2304. His fourth child was born coincident
with his eleventh pon farr. (VOY "Alice")
* Since Vulcans never lie, how could Tuvok have served as an
undercover security agent, which required pretending to be
something he is not?
Chakotay asked Tuvok about this in "State of Flux". Tuvok
responded by claiming that he was true to his own convictions
within the parameters of his mission. At another point Chakotay
was losing rather badly to Tuvok at gin, and asked how Tuvok could
bluff since bluffing was lying. Tuvok countered that since all
parties understood that a bluff was a ruse or misdirection, he
wasn't lying.
=================================================================
Other Vulcans
>From Selek, posting in article.10727, these entries for Soval and Tos:
Soval:
Vulcan ambassador to Earth. Soval has a somewhat stuffy, condescending
attitude toward humans, which causes problems for both Admiral
Forrest and Captain Archer. As a child, Archer referred to him as
"Ambassador Pointy." Soval objected giving Archer command of the
Enterprise NX-01, and also blamed Archer for the destruction of
the P'Jem monastery.
And Tos, his assistant is described:
Vulcan dignitary. Tos was a colleague of Ambassador Soval serving
on Earth circa 2151. He provided information on the Klingons to
Starfleet, and was against Archer's mission to return Klaang to
Kronos
>From Steve Boozer's posting in article.8302, this wonderful list:
In addition to Sarek and Sakonna, we've seen several other non-Starfleet
Vulcans in the TV episodes:
Sakkath Ambassador Sarek's personal assistant [TNG "Sarek"]
Satok Vulcan Security Minister [TNG "Gambit II"]
Stonn T'Pring's paramour [TOS "Amok Time"]
T'Paal "Romulan" agent Tallera's real Vulcan name [TNG "Gambit"]
T'Pan expert in subspace morphology, she was director of the
Vulcan Science Academy [TNG "Suspicions"]
T'Pau high-ranking dignitary and elder of Sarek's House, a
descendent from Surak. She was infamous as the only person ever
to turn down a seat on the Federation Council. [TOS "Amok Time"]
(And don't forget T'Pau's entire civilian entourage, which included a
couple of rather large masked goons/enforcers/bodyguards and assorted
bell-ringers.)
T'Pel honored "Vulcan" ambassador who was actually Subcommander
Selok, a Romulan deep cover agent [TNG "Data's Day"]
T'Pel Tuvok's wife [VOY "Persistence of Vision", "Bliss"]
T'Pring Spock's betrothed [TOS "Amok Time"]
T'Shanik one of three candidates who competed with Wesley Crusher
for a single opening to Starfleet Academy at Relva VII in 2364.
From Vulcana Regar, she was a runner-up in the competition. [TNG
"Coming of Age"]
(T'Shanik wanted to join Starfleet, but she was a teenaged civilian when we
saw her! I'd like to think she eventually made it in.) And there was that
unnamed Vulcan Master again in VOY "Gravity". Other civilians have been
mentioned in dialogue, though not seen on camera:
Sakar brilliant theoretical scientist, often compared to such
luminaries as Albert Einstein and Richard Daystrom [TOS "The
Ultimate Computer"]
Sek Tuvok's first son (profession unknown) [VOY "Hunters"]
Senva healer nominated for Carrington Award [DS9 "Prophet Motive"]
T'meni Tuvok's mother. [VOY "Hunters"]
T'meni Tuvok's granddaughter, daughter of Sek [VOY "Hunters"]
T'Para ancient Vulcan teacher in Raal according to "Falor's
Journey" [VOY "Innocence"]
Ambassadar Lojal, in DS9 "The Forsaken."
Soral and T'Penna, mentioned as having performed Terran opera in
VOY "The Swarm."
And more compilation work by Steven Boozer, in article 10231
Chu'lak
Lt. Chu'lak is a new science officer transferrd to DS9
after his ship was destroyed I the Dominion War, he went criminally
insane, becoming a murderer [DSN "Fields of Fire"]
Falor
a prosperous merchant who went on a journey to gain greater
awareness. The song Falor's Journey, a tale of enlightenment
consisting of 348 verses, was a particular favorite of Tuvok's
youngest son [VOY "Innocence]
Haadok
one of the founders of the P'Jem sanctuary. His mummified
remains are kept in the Reliquary in the catacombs beneath. [ENT
"The Andorian Incident"]
Kinis
assumed Vulcan identity of one Species 8472 at their training
base. He was a Starfleet lieutenant acting as an aide to "Admiral
Bullock". [VOY "In the Flesh"]
Koss
an architect on Vulcan and T'Pol's fianc=E9. They were
betrothed when they were children and have only met four times.
T'Pol postponed the wedding, and insulted Koss' family in the
process, when she chose to remain with humans aboard Enterprise
after returning of Klingon messenger Klaag to Kronos in 2151. Later
that year, T'Pol received an urgent, encrypted letter from Koss'
parents demanding she return to Vulcan for the re-scheduled wedding.
She declined. [ENT "Breaking the Ice"]
Kov
engineer on the Vahklas, an obsolete ship carrying V'tosh
ka'tur. He is the son of a high ranking minister on the Vulcan High
Command who broke with his family years ago. After receiving word
that his father was dying, he contacted his father and reconciled.
[ENT "Fusion"]
Lorot
a subaltern in the Vulcan High Command assimilated by the
Borg (at Wolf 359?). Seven of Nine was "possessed" by his personality
when a Borg vinculum--the device which connects and processes the
thousands of disparate minds on a Borg cube--was infected with a
virus and malfunctioned. When Tuvok mind-melded with her to control
the intrusive thoughts, we saw a middle-aged Vulcan male in a
TNG-era Starfleet red uniform in the crowd. [VOY "Infinite Regress"]
Tavin
captain of the Vahklas, an obsolete civilian transport ship
carrying V'tosh ka'tur (q.v.). He surprised T'Pol and Archer by
asking to eat some fried chicken. [ENT "Fusion"]
Tok
captain of the Vulcan starship Yarahla [ENT "Breaking the Ice"]
Tolaris
first officer (?) of the Vahklas, an obsolete civilian
ship carrying V'tosh ka'tur. Before joining the Vahklas eight years
prior, he taught literature at the prestigious Shirkar Academy on
Vulcan. He was interested in T'Pol, eventually assaulting her during
a mind-meld. [ENT "Fusion"]
Torek
ensign aboard the Enterprise-D serving in Engineering [TNG
"Lower Decks"]. Also spelled Taurik.
Tuvok
son of T'Meni. LCdr (later Cdr) Tuvok is the chief of
security on USS Voyager.
Vanik
captain of the Ti'Mur, a Suurok-class starship. By 2141
he had served in the Vulcan Space Program for 76 years, the last
15 of which in command of the Ti'Mur. [ENT "Breaking the Ice"]
Velik
Vulcan scientist on an exchange program to Earth. He was
Cdr. Tucker's 10th grade science teacher. [ENT "Strange New World"]
Vorik
ensign serving in the Engineering Department aboard Voyager.
Vorik endured his first pon farr in the Delta Quadrant, attempting
to establish a bond with B'Elanna. (VOY "Pon Farr") Also spelled
Vorick.
Xon
[He was to have been the Enterprise's new science officer in
Star Trek II, the aborted 1977 TV series.]
Notice the clusters of non-"traditional" male names beginning with
K, T and V. Is this significant?
Vulcan female names from the episodes and movies that do not begin with the
T' prefix:
Saavik
Starfleet Lt.(j.g.), science officer on the USS Grissom.
[ST2, ST3, ST4. The script for ST2 contained a line that suggested
Saavik was half-Vulcan, half-Romulan, but the line was cut, and
later films seemed to assume that she was pure Vulcan. A scene cut
from the final version of ST4 would have shown that Saavik remained
on Vulcan because she was pregnant with Spock's child. ("Because
the scene was cut, we don't consider this to be 'evidence' that it
'really' happened." [STE]) Saavik's backstory about her birth on
the Romulan world of Hellguard is given in The Pandora Principle.
[Some have suggested that "Saavik" may actually be a Romulan name.]
Sakonna
female Vulcan Maquis agent who wanted to buy weapons from
Quark on DS9 [DS9 "Maquis"]
Selar
female Vulcan doctor on the Enterprise-D [TNG "The Schizoid
Man" and occasionally referred to, but never seen, in subsequent
episodes]. She later served on the Excalibur [The New Frontier].
Senva
healer (gender unknown) nominated for Carrington Award [DS9
"Prophet Motive"]
=================================================================
pon farr
The Vulcan name for something that has to do with how Vulcans
reproduce. The subject of two episodes: TOS "Amok Time" and
Voyager "Blood Fever".
The details, characteristics, biology, psychology, etc etc of
pon farr have been a subject for discussion since the TOS episode
aired in 1967.
=================================================================
a black Vulcan???
This is a common question and list topic. "Voyager" has been showing
now for some years, so the existence of Vulcans with various
colorations can be considered well established. It is no longer
a "pro or con" discussion topic. So, unless the discussion is about
the biological nature of Vulcan skin coloration (and there are folks
on the list who can, and have, commented quite knowledgably on the
topic), the discussion of coloration from a politic view has been
little more than troll fodder.
As to the biology of Vulcans that would give a darker coloration,
no official explanation has been given, but there has been
extensive speculation. One possibility is that Tuvok is not
actually black but is merely portrayed by a black actor. Another
possibility that has been discussed here is that it is a natural
genetic variation resulting in a variety of skin tones and hair
colors, and we simply have not seen black Vulcans featured
prominently before. There have been a few minor appearances of
black Vulcanoids in the background: the Vulcan midwife in the
memory of Spock's birth in _Star Trek V: The Final Frontier_ was
black, and there have been black Romulans in TNG "The Pegasus" and
DS9 "The Die is Cast". However, Tuvok is the first instance of
a black Vulcan in a starring role.
=================================================================
Romulans
The Romulans are decendants of a group who left Vulcan thousands
of years ago, probably during Vulcan's aggressive colonizing days.
However, as Vulcan moved towards peace, the Romulans retained the
warlike ways of their ancestors. While the Vulcans were unaware
of the ancestry of the Romulans before the incidents in "Balance
of Terror", the Romulans apparently remembered their origins. In
"Unification", Spock was seen with an underground peace movement
on Romulus working to re-unify Romulus and Vulcan, but at last
report, he has made only small steps towards peace.
=================================================================
Mintakans
>From TNG "Who Watches the Watchers", the residents of Mintaka III
are a proto-Vulcan people.
=================================================================
Rigelians
There have been many references to the similarity of Rigelian
physiology to that of Vulcans. Beyond that, little is known
about the Rigelians.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the Vulcan-L list, send an email message
of "unsubscribe vulcan-l" to Vulcan-L-Request at shikahrsoho.com
back to articles
