Andorian
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| Andorian | |
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| Four Letter Code | ANDR |
| Federation Status | Member |
| Planet of Origin | Andoria (Epsilon Indii) |
| Encountered | ENT: The Andorian Incident |
| T/E Rating | T0/E0 |
| Current Tech Level | N |
| List of Named Andorians | |
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Full ILI Gallery • Permitted Species Gallery | |
The Andorians are a humanoid species from the moon Andoria, homeworld of the Andorian Empire, and one of the founding members of the United Federation of Planets.
Home World
- See also: Andoria
History
- See also: Andorian History
Andorian history is characterized by periods of extreme turbulence, which reflects the people's tendencies towards violence. Records from before 1692 (Earth-Gregorian) may be of limited value, as nearly all of Andoria's historical documents were destroyed during periods of global civil war.
In 2104, the Andorians discovered the existance of the Aenar, whom then decided to remain in seclusion.
Government
All Andorians are members of clans, or keth, which specialise in different professional skills. These keth all have different views, which need to be represented in some way in the global government. As such, the Kethni council, made up of a number of members from different keth is the global government of Andoria, and it comprises around 300 members. Legislation, as well as the election of a Chancellor, is decided democratically. The Council is directly responsible for the Andorian Defence Force, which does not fall under the jurisdiction of Starfleet.
Description
- See also: Andorian races
The Andorian people have white hair, blue skin and 3 to 4 inch antenna sticking up out of their heads. On the average they tend to be a very tall, slim race. They tend to be 1.7 to 2.1 meters tall.
Physiology
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- See also: Gender and reproduction
Andorians have a very dense bone and muscle tissue that gives them incredible physical strength. In fact the average Andorian can easily lift twice their body weight with little effort. While they have a normal skeleton like any other humanoid race they also have cartilage plates under their skin that act as a partial exoskeleton. This gives added protection to their vital organs, but it also provides addition strength to their muscles. The Andorian digestive system cannot tolerate chocolate.
They generally have heightened senses, and their visual ability is astounding - well above that of what is considered as generally accepted levels for Terrans. Thanks to their antennae, they have increases senses of smell and hearing, as they process additional information in conjunction to their nose and ears. Antennae are linked to the sinus cavity, and can detect (among other things) temperature changes, changes in air pressure, subtle variations in airflow and sub-sonic sounds.
An Andorian's antennae aid in balance as well as the sensory enhancements mentioned above. If one is lost an Andorian's balance is temporarily disrupted, rendering them unable to fight, but they could adapt to its loss within a day. Antennae take up to nine months to grow back, though electrical stimulation and cranial massage therapy can cut regeneration time in half. While it is true that if they lose their antenna they will grow back in about 9 months, most Andorians prefer not to survive the loss. The loss of an antenna is similar to losing an ear, and Andorians suffer from a wide-spread fear of this loss. There is also the fact that while waiting for their antenna to regenerate that they are at a severe disadvantage in situations that require their balance to be unimpaired such as physical combat. Antennae are moved by muscles that can be controlled separately from one another.
Andorians, with a higher metabolic rate than Terrans, are especially vulnerable to phase pulse infection; even minor phase injuries could prove fatal. 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. It is also due to this increased metabolism that they tire quicker during periods of physical exertion.
Neither nocturnal nor diurnal, Andorians can function just as well at any time of the day or night. In fact, they can easily survive on 3 to 4 hours of sleep during a standard 32 hour Andorian day.
The blue skin associated with Andorians is due to a protein dye called HZB-41. This protein dye is produced by almost every form of animal life on Andoria - though the dye has a very short life span, and as such, Andorians continously replace this protein through their diet. When an Andorian becomes ill, their skin coloration tends to fade, as their immune system is fighting off illness and cannot produce enough dye to maintain their skin colour.[1]
Psychology
- See also: Andorian psychology
The Andorians are a passionate people who are well known for their military prowess. Deploring dishonesty and never fighting without reason, Andorians are nonetheless capable of duplicity. They consider themselves deeply emotional, passionate, even violent; not known for their charity or sympathy, they place a high value on family.
Religion
- See also: Religion and spirituality
While Andorians do not appear outwardly to be religious, there are tenets and beliefs that they hold dear. Perhaps the most important axiom of the Andorian people is: “With the bond we are whole, without the bond we are nothing”
Mythology
Society
- See also: Andorian society, clans
As a race and a culture the Andorians can not stand disabilities among their people, and while obesity is not unknown among them, it is culturally condemned by the majority of them.
Code of Honour
A strict code of honour is adhered to for settling disputes in order to prevent a return to the Time of Lament, an age of planet-wide civil war which almost resulted in the extinction of the Andorian species. In order to limit disputes to small numbers of individuals rather than entire clans, Andorians follow a strict code of honour that governs duelling as a means of resolving differences.
A crucial part of Andorian tradition is 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 with around 12,000 amendments binds this code. Such a fight can be called off if one combatant disabled the other enough to prevent its continuance. Though Ushaan can be called by someone to avenge a personal loss, there exists a right of substitution wherein each combatant can offer up a replacement, and married combatants could postpone duels indefinitely if they had no children to continue their clans.
Invoked for personal grievances, the Ushaan can be settled by first strike, first blood, or in the cases of extreme actions such as murder, to the death. Most Andorians reserve these customs for other Andorians only, but traditionalists may hold other species to the same values.
Imperial Guard members who died far from home could count on their companions to transport a body part back to the Andorian ices.
Culture
- See also: Graalen, food and beverages, weaponry
Andorians speak Graalen (their native tongue) and Federation standard.
Andorian names are comprised of a given name, which may be considerably longer than the name as to which they are referred. This is followed by an abbreviation of their gender, which prefixes their clan name. For example, and Andorian zhen referred to as Indra may have the full given name KalIndra, and her surname would be prefixed by zh' to represent her gender. Assuming she is a member of the Idrani clan, her full name would be KalIndra zh'Idrani. Federation practice often allows Andorians to be referred to by a section of their given name with their rank attached.
Andorian dress varies as much as would be expected of any member-race of the Federation. However, there are some traditions that have been upheld since the Federation was founded. Members of the Andorian Imperial Guard have short hair cuts. Civilians often wear their hair long, and often braided. The Federation underwent an Andorian fad in the early 23rd Century, as Andorian clothing and cuisine became fashionable on Earth. Many humans purchased Andorian Hrisal (ceremonial blades) as well as fake antennae. Andorian silk is prized for its softness, and Andorian jewellery is highly collectable. Andorian Ale remains a well-loved beverage throughout the Federation to this day.
Andorian tiles are exported to many different worlds as they are regarded as being extremely well crafted. Their high quality lends itself well to hand painting.
Andorians make prodigious artists - Andor's Art Academy is widley considered the best art school in the Federation, and Andorians excel at many performance arts such as poetry, literature and especially music. They have also been known to create impressive forms of two and three dimensional art. There are many different Andorian musical instruments but they have no problem learning and using off-world instruments as well. One of their best known native instruments is the hyperblat, another is the flabbjellah which is a combination musical instrument and combat weapon.
Andorians do not have very many forms of recreation as this is seen as a waste of time, however thay do play one sport, elan'tina, which seems to have developed out of their strong militaristic background. It is very similar to various military simulations like capture the flag.
Customs
Andorian weddings require four people, and is called "bonding". While sexual union outside of the bond is frowned upon it is also understood that young adults will experiment. However once the bond has become formalized it is generally uncommon. Once a bonding has occurred between a compatible set of four Andorians, only the clan's ruling Zhavey (oldest zhen) can give permission for one of them to be released from their bond.
Technology
Military
Andorians are 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. The Andorian Imperial Guard continues to act as a defense for Andoria, and operates outside of Starfleet's command structure. Although relations with the Vulcan people were once strained, they have now settled onto more friendly terms.
As members of the United Federation of Planets, the Andorians have access to many different types of Starfleet Vessel. However, Andorian Battle-Cruisers are used as the mainstay of the Andorian Imperial Guard.
The Andorian Merchant Fleet is the largest in Federation space.
Starfleet Intelligence Files
It is said that Andorian renegades, in the Triangula system, once embarrassed a Starfleet admiral's supposed search when they hid their ship by dismantling it.
References
- ↑ Xenostudies Andorian Manual, Martin Leonardo Pablotsky
- Star Trek: Enterprise ("The Andorian Incident", "Shadows of P'Jem", "Cease Fire", "Twilight", "Proving Ground", "Countdown", "Zero Hour", "Kir'Shara", "Babel One", "United", "The Aenar", "In a Mirror, Darkly", "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II", "Demons", "Terra Prime", "These Are the Voyages...")
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ("Prodigal Daughter")
- Memory Beta (various pages)
- http://www.geocities.com/therinofandor/fish.html
- http://www.70disco.com/andorian.htm
- http://www.StarTrek.com
- Andor: Paradigm – Jarman, H.(Worlds of Deep Space Nine, Book 1, Pocket, 2004)
- Avatar, Book 2 – Perry, S.D. (Pocket, 2001)
- Section 31: Abyss – Weddle, D. & Lang, J. (Pocket, 2001)
- Gateways: Demons of Air and Darkness, DeCandido, K.R.A. (Pocket 2001)
- Star Trek Roleplaying Game: Aliens (Decipher, 2003)
- Invasion!: Time’s Enemy – Graf, L.A. (Pocket 1996)
- STARFLEET Star Trek Fan Club, Andorian Orientation College documentation.
