Vulcan (Star Trek)

Vulcans are a humanoid species in the fictional Star Trek universe who reside on the planet Vulcan and are noted for their attempt to live by reason and logic.

Biology

Physical and mental attributes

The main external characteristics that distinguish Vulcans from humans are arched eyebrows and pointed ears. Vulcans, like humans, display different racial phenotypes; of which are comparable to several human phenotypes. Although most Vulcans have pale skin with a subtly greenish hue, and straight, glossy black or occasionally brown hair, some Vulcans have dark brown skin, tightly coiled black hair, and physiognomic features similar to those found in humans of African descent. Others share physiognomic features similar to those found in humans of East Asian descent. However, most Vulcans have a vaguely Eurasian appearance.

Related Topics:
Human - Ear - Racial - Phenotype - African - East Asian - Eurasian

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Vulcan blood is copper-based and is green when oxygenated in the arteries and is copper or rust colored when deoxygenated in the veins. Vulcans tend to be stronger and longer-lived than humans—Sarek lived just over two centuries and it has been suggested that Vulcans have a life expectancy of at least 250 Earth years. A Vulcan of less than a century in age is still considered young. The strength of Vulcans is often attributed to Vulcan's gravity being significantly greater than Earth's. It has also been attributed to their superior mental discipline. Vulcans prefer higher temperatures than humans do. In the 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 °F (38 °C). They are also able to breathe a much thinner atmosphere than humans, due to the atmospheric conditions on the planet Vulcan.

Related Topics:
Copper - Sarek

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Vulcan females have a strong sense of smell, and Vulcans serving on Earth vessels initially required medication to lessen the odor of humans. (It has not yet been established whether Vulcan males have the same sense of smell.)

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Vulcans possess an inner eyelid, possibly analogous to a nictitating membrane, which protects their vision from bright lights, a physical adaptation that evolved due to the race's long-term exposure to desert conditions. In some circumstances the activation of the eyelid causes temporary blindness. Spock's inner eyelid was activated in the Original Series episode "Operation: Annihilate!". It is also mentioned in the Enterprise episode "The Forge"; during a journey across desert terrain, T'Pol says her inner eyelid protects her eyes in lieu of wearing sunglasses.

Related Topics:
Nictitating membrane - T'Pol - Sunglasses

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The internal layout of Vulcan organs differs somewhat from that of humans, with the Vulcan heart located roughly where the human liver is situated.

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A small minority of Vulcans have a small V-shaped ridge above the bridge of their nose, similar to Romulans (among whom this attribute is common).

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Pon farr

Periodically (every seven years for males, an undisclosed interval for females), Vulcans experience an overpowering mating drive known as pon farr. Once triggered, Vulcans must have sexual contact with someone, preferably their mate, or else face insanity and death. If a mate is not available, there are two other options that will relieve the effects of the pon farr, the first being meditation, where the Vulcan must overcome the urge to mate through mental discipline. The other option is a ritual combat, usually fought over a potential mate, that can calm the rages of pon farr. However, both these methods are only used as a last resort. When he experienced pon farr in the Delta Quadrant, Tuvok of ' made use of a holodeck simulation of his wife to relieve his condition. Pon farr can be also triggered by infection.

Related Topics:
Tuvok - Holodeck

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It was originally thought that Vulcans could only mate with Vulcans, but Vorik of Voyager pursued B'Elanna Torres during his pon farr, and T'Pol said she simply needed to mate with someone - anyone. The birth of Mr. Spock to a Vulcan father and a human mother, as well as the existence of an offspring of T'Pol and Trip Tucker in an alternate timeline, indicates that it is possible for Vulcans to conceive children with non-Vulcans, although this was initially thought to be impossible.

Related Topics:
Vorik - B'Elanna Torres - T'Pol - Mr. Spock - Trip Tucker

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When Vulcans first experience pon farr has not been revealed; T'Pol, who was in her 60s when she experienced her premature pon farr, told Dr. Phlox that "it wasn't time", but it is not known if this means she had never experienced it previously. It has been suggested that bonding triggers the pon farr cycle.

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When Spock experienced pon farr, it was made clear that only contact with his mate, T'Pring, would be sufficient for him to survive the condition. It's possible that some bondings are more powerful than others, allowing for no substitution. In Spock's case, however, his pon farr condition evaporated after he supposedly killed James Kirk and T'Pring announced her intention to wed another man (in the ' episode "Amok Time"). There is little canon reference to Vulcans having siblings, with the exception of Spock, who has a half-brother, Sybok, (introduced in '), and Tuvok from Voyager, who has four children, each seven years apart. Canon has never firmly established whether pon farr is a prerequisite for conceiving children. Until T'Pol underwent a virus-induced pon farr in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode, "Bounty", it was not known for certain that Vulcan females actually experienced it; T'Pring showed no apparent signs of the condition in "Amok Time".

Related Topics:
T'Pring - James Kirk - Canon - Sybok - Tuvok

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Although it has been mentioned several times in the canon that pon farr occurs every seven years, it has never been established if this is truly a recurring event or only happens a limited number of times. There is, for example, no canonical reference to Spock ever experiencing pon farr again after the events of "Amok Time".

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Vulcan males and females are capable of engaging in sexual relations outside of pon farr.

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Mental abilities

Many Vulcans are contact telepaths and have been observed taking part in a number of telepathy-related actions and rituals.

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Mind Melds

A procedure known as a mind-meld involves physical contact with a subject (though instances of mind-melds without contact have been seen), making it possible to share thoughts, experience, memories, and knowledge with another individual. Vulcans can perform mind melds with members of most other species, most notably humans, with Captain Jonathan Archer being the first known human participant in such a ritual, in 2154. The Ferengi are one of the few races known to be impervious to the mind meld; mentally disciplined Cardassians may also be resistant to mind melds if properly trained (it is unknown if this potential ability is inherent to Cardassians, or if members of any race could be trained to resist a mind meld).

Related Topics:
Jonathan Archer - Ferengi - Cardassians

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Mind melds have been used to erase memories (as Spock performed on Captain Kirk in the TOS episode "Requiem for Methuselah"). Mind melds can also allow more than one mind to experience memories and sensations and sometimes even interact with the memories (as seen in the Voyager episode "Flashback").

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The use of the mind meld was taboo for a period of time, perhaps because by the time of Surak, Vulcans were using their telepathic abilities to kill, or because of the apparent transmission of the incurable condition Pan'aar Syndrome between mind-melders. However, it was later learned that Pan'aar is a condition passed on by melders who are improperly trained, and although the Vulcan government of the mid-22nd Century claimed it was incurable, in fact the condition can be remedied by an experienced melder. Within a week of the Kir'shara incident in 2154, the stigma against mind-melders was evaporating and sufferers of Pan'aar were being cured in large numbers. By the mid 23rd century, the mind meld had become a fully accepted part of Vulcan society, and was even used once to rejoin Spock's katra with his healed physical body (see below).

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As originally depicted (in TOS), mind-melds were considered dangerous and potentially lethal. Over the course of the original series, however, this detail was quickly forgotten, although it was revived on Enterprise with the revelation that Pan'aar Syndrome can be transmitted this way.

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For a number of years it was held that not all Vulcans are genetically capable of initiating a mind-meld, such as T'Pol of Enterprise. However, the overthrow of the Vulcan High Command in 2154 revealed that this is not the case, and T'Pol conducted her first mind meld soon after.

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It is also not known if all Vulcans possess contact telepathy. However, it has been stated (most recently in the Enterprise episode, "The Aenar") that Vulcans, on the whole, have some degree of telepathic ability.

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Some Vulcans appear to have advanced mental abilities. Mr. Spock was once able to briefly control the mind of a prison guard, for example. He was also able to perform a limited mind meld with a Horta without actually making physical contact with the being (TOS episode "The Devil in the Dark").

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Bonding

When Vulcans mate, a form of psychic bond is created between the partners. The specifics of this have yet to be fully explained in canon.

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In the fourth season of Enterprise, as she began to explore her newfound mental powers, T'Pol discovered that she was experiencing a psychic link with Charles Tucker, sometimes over a range of many light-years during Tucker's brief posting aboard Columbia. This link was so strong that it rendered Tucker the only male aboard Enterprise rendered immune to the mind-control powers of a group of Orion slave girls who tried to take over the ship. (Episode: "Bound") T'Pol deduced that she and Tucker established the link when they mated (as seen in "Harbinger"), however it is not known if the actual act of sexual coupling formed this link or if other factors (such as T'Pol's Trellium D-affected mental state at the time) came into play.

Related Topics:
Columbia - Orion slave girls

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Katra

Some Vulcans appear able to "cheat the grave" by implanting their katra -- essentially their living essence or spirit -- into an object or another person, via a form of mind-meld, just prior to death. The history and mechanics of the katra have never been discussed in great detail in canon. It was known at the time of Surak, and Surak successfully transferred his essence into a "katric ark" which remained hidden for 1,800 years until it was recovered by a Vulcan named Syrran in the 22nd century (Earth time). Syrran melded with the ark and received Surak's katra, which guided him into creating the Syrrannite movement which fought to restore Surak's teachings to Vulcan but was labelled a terrorist group by the Vulcan High Command.

Related Topics:
Surak - Syrran - 22nd century

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Syrran was fatally wounded by a lightning strike while escorting Jonathan Archer and T'Pol of the Earth Starfleet vessel Enterprise across a desert region called The Forge in 2154 prior to a short-lived conflict between Vulcan and Andoria. Syrran conducted a forced mind-meld on Archer and implanted the katra of Surak into Archer's mind before he died.

Related Topics:
Jonathan Archer - T'Pol - Starfleet

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For a brief time, Archer found himself communicating with the long-dead Surak, and Surak began controlling - or at least strongly influencing - Archer's actions. Surak's katra was so strong that it resisted efforts to be transferred into T'Pau, but once the Syrrannites overthrew the Vulcan High Command, the katra allowed itself to be transferred into a Vulcan elder. The ultimate fate of Surak's katra remains unknown.

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Katras have been referenced several other times in Star Trek lore, and it is indicated that even by the 24th Century not all Vulcans believe in them. It appears that only Vulcans of strong mental abilities are able to transfer their katra.

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Katras can, on rare occasions, be returned to the body, effectively bringing an individual back from the dead. Such was the case with Mr. Spock who (in ') implanted his katra into the mind of Leonard McCoy prior to sacrificing his life to save the U.S.S. Enterprise. (Such was the strength of Spock's mental abilities that he was in fact able to function normally for several minutes despite depositing his "soul" elsewhere. This is actually very similar to a base premise of the later TV series Dead Like Me which shows people acting normally for a time despite their souls already having been removed.) Following Spock's death, McCoy began exhibiting Vulcan-like behavior and was briefly institutionalized. It was later discovered that Spock's body came to rest on the Genesis Planet after his burial in space, and was regenerated. He was recovered and was taken with McCoy to Mount Seleya on Vulcan where a Vulcan elder performed a ritual which removed the katra from McCoy and implanted it into Spock's regenerated body.

Related Topics:
Mr. Spock - Leonard McCoy - Dead Like Me - Genesis Planet

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Subsequently, Spock recovered, although it took some time to retrain his mind to the point where it was prior to his death. Eventually Spock's original memories apparently reasserted themselves and he resumed his duties in Starfleet.

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According to the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy comic book (which isn't considered canon), if a katra stays in a foreign mind for too long, the personality of the host can start to merge with that of the katra, potentially causing insanity. When the two personalities become intertwined, the katra cannot be removed, as happened to T'Prell, who died and gave her katra to her Romulan friend Selke, who was then captured and used as a spy for the Tal Shiar before she could return T'Prell's katra to Vulcan. There is some canonical support to this notion, however, as both McCoy and Archer experienced negative reactions to carrying katras, and McCoy's sanity was at issue during his experience.

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Fullara

When Vulcans experience extreme emotional trauma, a ritual known as the Fullara can be performed by elders. The mechanics of the Fullara have yet to be fully explored in canon. T'Pol of Enterprise underwent the procedure at the P'Jem sanctuary c.2136 following a mission for Vulcan Intelligence in which she was forced to shoot and kill a fleeing prisoner. The act of killing face-to-face caused T'Pol to experience a nervous breakdown and the only way for her to remedy this was to undergo the Fullara, which restored her emotional balance, but left her with no memory of the killing or her emotional state thereafter. Years later, the effects of the Fullara were undone when T'Pol was reminded of these events (in the episode "The Seventh"), resulting in a near-emotional collapse that was prevented in part by the presence of a trusted friend (Jonathan Archer). It has been noted that T'Pol's increased emotional state, noted in many later episodes of the series, began in earnest from this point. The ritual is considered to be obsolete, but it has not been made clear what, if anything, took its place. The fact that the benefits of a Fullara can be compromised as illustrated with T'Pol suggests a possible reason why the ritual is no longer practiced.

Related Topics:
T'Pol - Nervous breakdown - Jonathan Archer

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It has been speculated that Spock might be shown performing a form of Fullara on Captain Kirk at the end of the TOS episode "Requiem for Methuslah" when his friend is in a state of emotional devastation and Spock conducts some form of mind-meld (the results of which are not revealed).

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Neuropressure

Vulcans practice a form of acupressure known as neuropressure, which involves massaging and manipulating muscles and nerve centres on the body in order to relieve stress. Neuropressure is considered an intimate act, as some of the postures involved are pseudo-sexual in nature and can elicit responses similar to sexual arousal and even climax (as demonstrated by T'Pol in the episode "The Xindi" when Trip Tucker inadvertently triggers such a response). Specialized training is required in order to properly administer neuropressure, otherwise injury to the recipient can result.

Related Topics:
Acupressure - Trip Tucker

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