Cardassian

The Cardassian race is a humanoid species from the Alpha Quadrant. The Cardassians are native to the planet Cardassia Prime, capital world of the Cardassian Union.

Cardassians are humanoid in form, but have distinctive ridged arches connecting their shoulders to the top of their necks. They also have ridges on either side of their forehead, ridges surrounding their eyes, and protrusions on their chin and below their nose. They also have a spoon-shaped feature starting in the center of their forehead and running down the length of their nose. This has earned them the derogatory name of "spoonheads." The spoon shape is also on their chest. This odd feature has also been described in gynecological terms and inspired a Saturday Night Live skit making the satirical point that the facial features of some Star Trek aliens resemble non-facial human body parts.

Their skin is tan or gray in color and hair is dark brown or black. However this trait may not be common to all Cardassians, just as some humans have blonde hair. Their eye color is usually dark-brown, however there are some exceptions to this rule, such as Gul Dukat and Garak, who have blue eyes. Since scale patterns on Cardassian necks have been shown to change from appearance to appearance.

Compared to humans, Bajorans, and many other humanoid races, Cardassians prefer warmer and darker climates. Elim Garak once noted that Deep Space Nine's environment was very cold and very bright by Cardassian standards.