History Characters / StarTrekSpeciesEToM

* BizarreAlienBiology: For a start, they've got different rib arrangements from humans. They also have telepaths, and the females of their species aren't even sentient.

* PeopleFarm: Kelpiens are periodically harvested by the Ba'ul, supposedly for food. The Kelpiens generally accept this as a necessary part of preserving the "Balance of Kaminar".
** Its gets played with slightly in Season 2, where its revealed that the Kelpiens were originally the predators to the Ba'ul, and they came dangerously close to wiping the latter out. The Ba'ul managed to turn the tide with their superior technology, and prevent their extinction, and began the process of culling any Keplien that went through ''vahar'ai''.

* MartyrdomCulture: The greatest glory for a Klingon solider is to die in battle. Ritual suicide is often preferred over living life as a cripple, especially if you're a veteran. Even if you aren't a cripple, to allow oneself die of natural causes is a profound disgrace for a military family. No wonder Klingons are constantly hungry for the next big war. A key point, however, is that [[SuicideByCop a Klingon must die by the hand of (or with the assistance of) another]]. ''Unassisted'' suicide [[ShamefulSuicide is considered completely honorless]], and a one-way ticket to ''Gre'thor'' (hell).

* MartyrdomCulture: The greatest glory for a Klingon solider is to die in battle. Ritual suicide is often preferred over living life as a cripple, especially if you're a veteran. Even if you aren't a cripple, to allow oneself die of natural causes is a profound disgrace for a military family. No wonder Klingons are constantly hungry for the next big war. A key point, however, is that a Klingon must die by the hand of (or with the assistance of) another. ''Unassisted'' suicide is considered completely honorless, and a one-way ticket to ''Gre'thor'' (hell).

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Originally portrayed this way on [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Next Generation]], but this ceased to be the case later in that series and on [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]].

* GagPenis: Averted. Gene Roddenberry's initial concept for the Ferengi gave them gigantic penises and wore bulging codpieces to depict that but was eventually dropped.

* PoorCommunicationKills: In ''Strange New Worlds'', their refusal to establish proper first contact with the Federation to at least ascertain their respective agendas and instead blindly attack outlying colonies for breeding and blood sport causes tensions to rise drastically between the two factions. This is somewhat downplayed only in the fact that the Gorn at the time see the Federation as an unknown aggressor engaging in "territorial violations" with their rapid expansion and would be understandably hesitant to make a more respectable opening stance to a another civilization but their extremely ''hostile'' reaction is still widely considered a bit of an overcorrection.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jemadar "Jemadar"]] was a title used by low-ranking Indian officers in UsefulNotes/TheRaj, and the dynamic the Founders have with the Jem'Hadar is similar to the one the British had with Indian ethnic groups they pigeonholed as "martial races" and used as a source of military manpower.

* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: They reproduce by spraying other sapient beings with some kind of venom that infects them with Gorn eggs> Within a few days, depending on the host species, these eggs produce hatchlings that chew their way out Chestburster-style.

* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Slar was able to traverse parts of the ''Defiant'' that were exposed to vacuum without needing any protective equipment.

* CerebusRetcon: In TOS, the Gorn were depicted as {{Anti Villain}}s who, while unfriendly to the Federation, are otherwise a civilized race with a government, diplomatic relations, etc. In ''[[Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds Strange New Worlds]]'', they're a race of AlwaysChaoticEvil [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] who raid ships and colonies for prisoners to use for [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong reproduction]] or kill for sport. "All Those Who Wander" is a blatant WholePlotReference to ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', with a trio of Gorn hatchlings standing in for the xenomorphs. Admittedly, ''Strange New Worlds'' is set eight years earlier in the timeline, where formal first contact hasn't occurred and the Gorn are still InscrutableAliens, but it's still hard to reconcile these two depictions of the species.

* XenomorphXerox: The Gorn as seen in ''[[Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds Strange New Worlds]]'' take quite a few cues from the classic xenomorphs. They reproduce by infesting others with their offspring, who then explode out of the host in classic ChestBurster fashion. The hatchlings then go through a period of molting and rapid growth, during which they hunt each other and potential prey by traveling through vents and skittering along walls and ceilings. They also have prehensile tails, MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily, and can spit acid that infests the unfortunate target with more eggs.

* SpareBodyParts: There is a good deal of multiple redundancy in their organs, a novelty they call ''brak'lul''. This allows Klingons to survive severe injuries in battle. They have twenty-three ribs, two livers, an eight-chambered heart, three lungs, multiple stomachs, and even redundant ''neural function''. It's best not to wound a Klingon unless it kills him outright, although the episode that introduced this concept also noted that [[SurprisinglyRealisiticOutcome having so many biological redundancies has the drawback that it also means extra chances for something inside the body to go wrong]]. Funnily, Klingons are comparatively ignorant about their own biology as their medicine is poorly developed. This was largely due to warrior tradition: a wounded Klingon is expected to use the last of his strength to slay the enemy, or to kill themselves honorably.

* SpaceJews: In TNG, capitalism is treated into a kind of pathology, espoused by a race that would be easy to mistake for a bunch of stock Jewish stereotypes (even down to ballbusting mothers). Gene Roddenbery, who scripted TNG's first season while [[invoked]][[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs high as a kite]] wanted them to have prodigious penises as well, but he was reigned in by Brannon Braga and Herb Wright. The stuff about Ferengi always trying to steal our Earth women is ripped straight from ''Literature/TheProtocolsOfTheEldersOfZion''.

* SpareBodyParts: There is a good deal of multiple redundancy in their organs, a novelty they call ''brak'lul''. This allows Klingons to survive severe injuries in battle. They have twenty-three ribs, two livers, an eight-chambered heart, three lungs, multiple stomachs, and even redundant ''neural function''. It's best not to wound a Klingon unless it kills him outright. Funnily, Klingons are comparatively ignorant about their own biology as their medicine is poorly developed. This was largely due to warrior tradition: a wounded Klingon is expected to use the last of his strength to slay the enemy, or to kill themselves honorably.