Vulcans are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Star Trek media franchise. They are noted for their strict adherence to logic and reason and suppression of emotion. Known for their pronounced eyebrows and pointed ears, they originate from the fictional planet Vulcan.
In the Star Trek universe, they were the first extraterrestrial species to make contact with humans. Vulcan and Earth are longstanding allies, both being founding members of the United Federation of Planets.
Star Trek's first, and most notable, Vulcan character is Spock, first played by actor Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek: The Original Series (1966–1969). Further Vulcans have appeared across the franchise including main characters Tuvok (Star Trek: Voyager) and T'Pol (Star Trek: Enterprise).
Some aspects of this fictional alien race that have entered popular culture are their pointy ears, the Vulcan salute, the Vulcan nerve pinch, and their adherence to logical thinking and disdain for emotion.
Development
The Vulcan Mister Spock first appeared in the original 1965 Star Trek pilot, "The Cage", shown to studio executives. Show creator Gene Roddenberry revealed in 1964 that he wanted an alien as part of the ship's crew, but knew that budget restraints would limit make-up choices. He chose actor Leonard Nimoy because of his "high Slavic cheekbones and interesting face" and "with those cheekbones some sort of pointed ear might go well." Nimoy later commented that Roddenberry felt the presence of an alien would "establish that we were in the 23rd century and that interplanetary travel was an established fact."
Biology Physical characteristics Vulcans are depicted as similar in appearance to humans, as budget constraints in The Original Series did not allow for elaborate make-up. All Vulcans have arched and upswept eyebrows and pointy ears. White actors portraying Vulcans are given a yellowish hue to their skin. A Vulcan's on-screen blood is green due to copper-based hemocyanin. Vulcans are said to possess an inner eyelid, or nictitating membrane, which protects their vision from bright light, an evolutionary trait developed due to the fictional planet Vulcan being so close to its sun. In addition, their heart is located on the right side of the torso, between the ribs and pelvis; as Dr. McCoy once says about Spock after the Vulcan has been shot through the chest: "Lucky his heart's where his liver should be, or he'd be dead now."
Diet Vulcans are vegetarians by choice and were omnivores in ages past.In the Star Trek original series (TOS) episode "All Our Yesterdays", Spock willingly consumes meat; partly as a result of the effects of time travel 5,000 years into the past. Vulcans are repeatedly stated to be herbivorous in the TAS episode "The Slaver Weapon", by the carnivorous Kzinti. It is a Vulcan custom for guests in the home to prepare meals for their hosts.Star Trek: Enterprise episode: "Home"
Vulcans are said to not drink alcohol, though they are often depicted as doing so.Star Trek: Voyager episode "Repression", humans and Vulcans are shown drinking a Vulcan alcoholic drink called "Vulcan Brandy". In the TOS episode "The Enterprise Incident", as part of his diversionary role during an espionage mission against the Romulans, Spock shares a drink known as Romulan ale with the female Romulan commander. In a later TOS episode "Requiem for Methuselah", Spock specifically requests a Saurian brandy after Dr. McCoy, while serving himself and Captain Kirk, observes that he had no expectation that Spock would be joining them in a drink for fear that the alcohol would affect his logic faculties. Spock claims that he wants a brandy because he is experiencing an unaccustomed envy for his host's artwork. In Star Trek: First Contact, when the Vulcans first meet Zefram Cochrane, Cochrane serves them alcoholic beverages, which they take in lieu of dancing.
In an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Quark alludes to Vulcans becoming inebriated by ingesting chocolate.The Maquis (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) offers a Vulcan client some Vulcan Port or chocolate This is confirmed in the novelisation of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Kirk buys some candy to get change for the bus. When he gives one to Spock, Spock asks if it contains sucrose. When Kirk asks why, Spock tells him that sucrose has the same effect on Vulcans as alcohol has on humans.
The first draft of an episode of Star Trek: Voyager mentions that Vulcan coffee is poisonous to humans.
Mating drive Every seven years, Vulcan males and females experience an overpowering hormone imbalance known as pon farr. Once triggered, a Vulcan must have sexual intercourse with someone or the chemical imbalance may cause insanity, loss of self-control, and death.Star Trek:TOS "Amok Time"
Despite popular opinion, TOS writer and story editor, D. C. Fontana, insists that pon farr is not the only time that Vulcans feel sexual desire or engage in sexual activity:
Vulcans mate normally any time they want to. However, every seven years you do the ritual, the ceremony, the whole thing. The biological urge. You must, but any other time is any other emotion—humanoid emotion—when you're in love. When you want to, you know when the urge is there, you do it. This every-seven-years business was taken too literally by too many people who don't stop and understand. We didn't mean it only every seven years. I mean, every seven years would be a little bad, and it would not explain the Vulcans of many different ages that are not seven years apart.Edward Gross, Mark E. Altman, Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, Little Brown & Co, 1995. p. 53
If a mate is not available, there are other ways to relieve the effects of the pon farr, including meditation, violence,Voyager episode "Blood Fever", when B'Elanna Torres and Ensign Vorik fight in the traditional Vulcan manner. The violence ends the pon farr "shock",in the TOS episode "Amok Time", Spock believed he had killed James T. Kirk, his "best friend", thus providing sufficient shock to nullify the effects of pon farr and simulation.When he experienced pon farr, Tuvok of the USS Voyager made use of a holodeck simulation of a temporary mate that resembled his wife
Other characteristics Vulcans are typically depicted as stronger, faster, and longer-lived than humans. This is hypothesized to be due to the increased gravity on Vulcan (1.4 g). However, Vulcans are less cold-tolerant than humans. There are instances of them living over 220 years. Having evolved on a fictional desert planet, Vulcans can survive without water for longer periods than humans. Vulcans can also go without sleep for as long as two weeks.
Psychology Emotion Vulcans are known as logical beings who have removed emotions from their daily lives. The Vulcan character, Spock, struggles with this throughout the original series as he is half-human. T'Pol states that paranoia and homicidal rage were common on Vulcan before the adoption of Surak's code of emotional control.
Surak's ideas were that all Vulcans should suppress emotions, for the safety of the species. Before him, Vulcans were dangerously raging, emotional, war-like and religiously fanatical, to the point that it could have threatened the continuation of their society and species. Then, around the 4th century BC, he created a system revolving around these ideas, intended to create a peaceful society. Some Vulcans disagreed, causing a war to break out. The two sides separated, causing the emotional ones to become Romulans and the logical ones to become what is referred to as modern-day Vulcans. Vulcans still possess and experience emotions, but make great efforts to keep them from being expressed or controlling their behavior. They occasionally have mental breakdowns. Only those who follow the discipline of kolinahr have completely purged all emotions from their minds. Spock, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, attempts to achieve kolinahr, but ultimately fails to do so.
Other Vulcans who did not believe in war but still wanted to embrace emotions made different choices. A group of renegade Vulcans who believed in this was encountered in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Fusion", while Spock's half-brother Sybok, seen in the film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, was also fully emotional. An episode of Enterprise titled "E²" featured an elderly T'Pol in an alternative timeline who had embraced emotion and allowed her half-human son, Lorian, to do likewise.
In the 1st pilot episode, "The Cage", Spock showed much more emotion. For the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Number OneSpock's superior officer, who showed little emotionwas removed, and it was decided that Spock would take on those traits.Roddenberry "The Making of Star Trek" 1967
Vulcan emotions are seemingly more intense than those of humans. In the TNG episode Sarek, Ambassador Sarek warns Captain Picard that "Vulcan emotions are extremely intense; we have learned to suppress them", and that Picard would be overwhelmed by Sarek's unrestrained emotions due to the effects of Bendii syndrome while the two are linked during a Vulcan mind-meld. Picard does, in fact, have tremendous difficulty controlling himself while experiencing Sarek's emotions during the meld, including the ambassador's suppressed loves and hidden regrets.
Telepathy Vulcans are telepaths. Beginning in the original series, the character Spock was able to "mind meld" (see below) by touching another being and to share thoughts."Dagger of the Mind" and "Devil in the dark" Vulcans have also displayed telepathy at great distance and through walls."The Immunity Syndrome", "A Taste of Armageddon", and "By Any Other Name"
Mind melds
A mind meld is a technique for sharing thoughts, experiences, memories, and knowledge with another individual, essentially a limited form of telepathy. It usually requires physical contact with a subject, though instances of mind melds without contact have been seen. When first depicted in the TOS episode "Dagger of the Mind", the procedure was said to require several moments of intense concentration and preparation. However, subsequent episodes show contact between minds occurring almost immediately. Although most often seen done with humanoids, mind melds can be performed with members of other species. Spock even once successfully mind melded with a machine and was able to establish telepathic contact with the space probe V'ger, with a silicon-based lifeform, the Horta, and, in another instance, with a humpback whale.
Mind melds can be used both to erase and restore memories; Spock performs each of these on Captain Kirk during TOSs third season. A mind meld was even used to rejoin Spock's katra (see below) with his physical body in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Mind melds can also allow more than one mind to experience memories and sensations, and sometimes even interact with the memories. Some species are able to resist mind melds.
The quad-lobed brain structure of Ferengi make them unable to be telepathically read by other species, and with sufficient training and mental discipline, high-level Cardassian military personnel and/or agents of the Obsidian Order are able to resist mind melds used to extract information. For example, when Gul Dukat was captured by the Maquis, he successfully resisted a prolonged mind meld attempt from a female Vulcan Maquis member, much to the latter's frustration.
Katra