Vulcan

The Vulcans (also known as "Vulcanians") are a humanoid civilization responsible in a large part for the founding of the United Federation of Planets and are widely known for their logical minds and stoical natures. The Vulcan homeworld is the planet Vulcan.

History and Politics

Culturally one of the most fascinating species in the Beta Quadrant, the Vulcans were once an extremely violent and emotional people who waged almost constant warfare on one another. They believed in a variety of gods, such as war, peace and death. As their level of technology improved, the Vulcans eventually reached a point where their violent nature threatened species extinction. In an effort to avoid this fate, a Vulcan named Surak developed a new philosophy thereby igniting the Time of Awakening; Surak maintained that the root cause of all the problems on Vulcan lay in the uncontrolled outpouring of the people's emotions. His followers swore to live their lives by an ethical system devised by Surak and based purely on logical principles. All expression of emotions, negative or positive, was completely forbidden. Although this new philosophy spread rapidly across Vulcan, a minority rejected Surak's ideals. A destructive war began including the use of atomic bombs and among the victims was Surak himself. Eventually, however, those who opposed logic left Vulcan and founded colonies elsewhere - most notably on the planet Romulus, where they founded what eventually became the Romulan Star Empire.

The Vulcans were one of the first of the current powers to develop Warp Drive, though a century would pass between the first warp flight and the breaking of the Warp 2 barrier. The Vulcans conducted a series of survey missions to the Sol system, as early as 1957. The official First Contact between Vulcans and Humans came on April 5, 2063 when a Vulcan survey ship detected the warp flight of Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix. The Vulcans met with Cochrane at his launch site on the day following the flight. The Vulcans eventually became Earth's "big brother" in a way, advising Earth officials on how to proceed into the galaxy. The Vulcan High Command considered humans volatile and similar to Vulcans before the Time of Awakening, and so attempted to slow down humanity's move into the galaxy until the time was right.

Quark, while in 1947 said he intended to give warp technology to the Ferengi so that they would have it before the Vulcans, though numerous other sources suggest the Vulcans had warp drive centuries before that. Most likely Quark was simply unaware of this. The Vulcans might have had warp drive at least a hundred years prior to the 9th Century when the P'Jem monastary was built on a planet presumably several light years from Vulcan, however this trip could theoretically have been made using only impulse drives, possibly in sleeper ships.

By the 21st and 22nd centuries, the Vulcans would have also had made contact with the Cardassians, Trill, Tholians, Klingons, and scores of other races.

In contrast to their tradition of peaceful exploration, the Vulcans have also had a long history of border skirmishes with the neighboring Andorians. The humans helped negotiate a peace between the two over the disputed Class D planetoid, known to the Vulcans as Paan Mokar.

In the 22nd century, the Vulcan High Command, once in charge only of space exploration and planetary defense, gained much more control over civilian affairs. Under the High Command's leadership, Vulcan policy toward other planets became more aggressive and interventionist, using the ancient monastery at P'Jem to spy on Andorian activities. Vulcan also became less tolerant of political and philosophical challenges towards the High Command's operations, notably engaging in purges of the Syrrannite group, who claimed that Vulcan society was no longer following the teachings of Surak. These tensions came to a head in the crisis called the Vulcan Reformation, which resulted in the overthrow of the High Command (and its leader, V'Las) and a restructuring of the Vulcan government under the leadership of Kuvak and T'Pau. (Although it was not known at the time, V'Las was secretly allied with the Romulans.) One of the first acts of the new government was to end the policy of holding back human expansion into the galaxy.)

As of the 23rd century, Vulcan had never been conquered in its collective memory. That memory goes so far back that Vulcans can't conceive of a conqueror.

Today, Vulcan remains one of the principal Federation members, and is deeply involved in all levels of that society. Their tradition of exploration has continued; in the late 24th Century, a Vulcan ship was the first to make formal contact with a Gamma Quadrant civilization, upon encountering the Wadi. They were at the forefront of exploration in the Gamma Quadrant, encountering the Rakhari and finding the remains of the Hur'q civilization.

After the seizure of the Federation Government, Vulcan was one of the first worlds to withdraw from the Federation Council and secede from the UFP.

Physiology

Externally, Vulcans are generally similar to humans, the chief exceptions being the Vulcans' notably pointed ears and arched eyebrows. Most Vulcans have pale skin with a slightly greenish tinge, and straight, glossy black hair.

Some Vulcans, including Tuvok, have darker 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 Asian descent. However, most Vulcans have a vaguely Eurasian appearance.

Vulcans have body hair similar to humans, and some males can be very hirsute. Vulcan males are also capable of growing facial hair (as evidenced by Soval in the mirror universe), but rarely do so.

In contrast to their external similarities, Vulcan internal anatomy differs radically from that of humans. For instance, their heart is where a Human's liver would normally be, and beats several hundred times per minute. Vulcan blood is copper-based and is green when oxygenated in the arteries and is copper or rust colored when deoxygenated in the veins. Bruises and dermal abrasions also take on a green color.

The Vulcan digestive tract is highly adaptable. Although alien foods, notable Human food, will occasionally disagree with a Vulcan, given time, their body will evenually adapt to the alien food.

Vulcan hearing is very sensitive. Having evolved on a planet which is mostly desert, Vulcans have developed ways of surviving in desert conditions. For example, they can survive for several days without water and have inner eyelids which protect their eyes.

Vulcan females possess a heightened sense of smell. Vulcans also have superior metabolism to humans. Caffeine has little effect on Vulcans. They are also capable of surviving for long durations without food or sleep. Under stress, Vulcans can do without sleep for weeks. Vulcans are on average three times physically stronger than humans and are noticably more agile.

One weakness of the Vulcans is their inability to metabolize nitrous oxide. After only a few minutes of exposure to the gas, a Vulcan will pass out.

Vulcans typically have a lifespan of 200 years or more.

The Brain

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Vulcan physiology is the brain. The Vulcan brain has been described as "a puzzle, wrapped inside an enigma, housed inside a cranium"; This has some basis in fact, as the Vulcan brain is composed of many layers. It is in direct control of most of the bodily functions, acting as a control unit for many organs. Unlike most humanoid brains, traumatic memories are not only psychologically disturbing to Vulcans, but have physical consequences as well. The Vulcan brain, in reordering neural pathways, can literally lobotomize itself.

Vulcans have learned to gain conscious control of many of these functions, allowing them to regulate their bodies to a high degree by simple will power. When injured a Vulcan can go into a trance-like state, using this ability to concentrate all of his or her energy onto repairing the injury. This trance can be self-induced and give the physical appearance of near-death. It is similar, in principle, to Vulcan neuropressure techniques which can be used to relax the mind and body.

The substance trellium-D acts as a neurotoxin to Vulcans, destroying the neural pathways which control their emotions. Treatment must be provided quickly after exposure, otherwise the damage is irreversible.

Of course, the most famous aspect of the Vulcan brain is the inherent telepathic abilities, such as the Vulcan mind meld. Many Vulcans are natural touch-telepaths, though considerable training is required to utilize this ability fully. Stronger minds are capable of non-contact telepathy, usually over short distances and in a limited fashion. Although, typically, Vulcans do not experience uncontrolled strong emotions they may sense them in others. Some Vulcans have telepathic abilities which are far stronger than those of most members of their race. The rigorous mental training all Vulcans are given often allows such individuals to develop such abilities as emotional compulsion and psychic image projection. Besides Rao Vantika (who achieved it through technology) and the Trill (who achieve it when performing the Zhian'tara ritual on joined Trill) , Vulcans are the only other race capable of performing a synaptic pattern displacement, or the transfer of one individual's consciousness into another.

The psycho-suppression system responsible for the Vulcan supression of emotions is located in the mesiofrontal cortex.

Approximately every seven years, adult Vulcans must endure pon farr, the Vulcan mating period. It is marked by intense emotions and primal urges (known as plak tow, or "blood fever") that can kill the Vulcan if not satisfied. For such an orderly society of quiet sobriety, the madness which accompanies the outbreak of pon farr is an unavoidable evil.

Society

Vulcans generally abhor violence, but logic dictates that defense of Vulcan and the Federation is necessary. The government on Vulcan is a representative democracy, which tends towards laissez faire, and the law system is designed to make laws easier to rescind than implement. Individual political advancement is based on meritocratic principles. For an intensely logical race, the Vulcans do have a very firm spiritual belief. Though they do not seem to have a unifying religion, they believe in the katra, the soul and consciousness of a person, which can be transferred psionically prior to death.

Development of a Vulcan's life of logic begins at a young age. Vulcan parents will utilize learning tools, such as pleenoks, to train their infants in primary logic. Vulcan children will then learn to detach themselves from their emotions at an early age. As parents, Vulcans never shield their children from the truth. Doing so would only hinder their ability to cope with inevitable difficulties. A Vulcan parent's attachment to their children cannot be described as an emotion. They are part of the parent's identity and the parent is incomplete without them.

Despite this early training in logic, Vulcan children in nursery school are allowed to dance. These dances are reminiscent of the dances of the Orion slave girl, just not as well coordinated.

Vulcans have chosen mates by the age of seven, selected by their parents. The mates are joined in a ceremony that links them telepathically. When the two come of age, the link compels them to follow through with full marital rituals, which cement their relationship.

The essence of their logical society is in arriving at the truth through logical process. Emotion is illogical, thus making them impure, and deterrent to truth. However, Vulcans are born with the same emotions that afflicted their violent ancestors, but the continual mind conditioning gives them the impassivity sought after by all Vulcans. Though not all can arrive at the ultimate pure logical state, the exacting process of mental control gives Vulcans enough to conform to the ideals of Vulcan society. The ultimate level of logical thought is achieved through the attainment of kolinahr.

Vulcans believe knowledge to be the only defense against unknown dangers, and pursue them with the intellect and logic that makes them some of the finest scholars in the Federation. Their pursuit of knowledge and impassivity of emotion are the driving forces in a Vulcan's life. Vulcans consider death to be the completion of a journey. Therefore, they do not fear it happening, however the loss of one's Katra is to be avoided if possible, since the Katra lives on beyonf the physical death.

Culture and Tradition

• Vulcans were fermenting wines, notably Vulcan port, during the 21st century.

• Although it has not always been so, most Vulcans are vegetarians, and do not touch food with their hands. Guests in a Vulcan household are expected to arise before sunrise to prepare the morning meal.Plomeek broth is considered a traditional Vulcan breakfast.

• For recreation, Vulcans "play" a game known as kal-toh.

• Although there is no indication of a Vulcan religion ("faith" would be regarded as illogical, except to the half-human Spock) ("Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country") a Vulcan Prayer is sometimes offered for the deceased (Such as Tuvok offered for Lon Suder in VOY: "Basics, Part II"). When asked if Vulcans were a "spiritual" people, T'pol responded that Vulcan beliefs are based on logic and the pursuit of clarity. Others have referred to Vulcan "mysticism", so it seems that, at least to outsiders, Vulcans have something approaching a mystical belief system, but perhaps Vulcans do not consider it to be a religious or spiritual belief system in the sense most other species' use the terms. It would not be beyond reason, though, to suggest that the Vulcan belief system may share similar concepts with the non-theistic human religion of Zen Buddhism. Of course, this comparison may be imperfect as the idea of the Vulcan Katra, which some consider analogous to the "soul" concepts found in the after-life doctrines of many other religions, is a notable diversion from the Buddhism analogy. Of course, the true nature of the Katra is known only to Vulcan theologians and those Vulcans who have shed or lost their physical bodies. So, while imperfect, the analogy of Vulcan beliefs to Buddhism stands as the best.