Xindi
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| Xindi | |
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| Homeworld: | Xindus |
| Official Language: | Various native languages |
| Affiliation: | None |
The Xindi are a fictional race in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise. They are native to the planet Xindus in a region of space known as the Delphic Expanse. They consist of five separate sub-species resembling familiar Earth animals (a rarity for alien races in Star Trek). These five sub-species are represented by and governed by the Xindi Council.
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[edit] First appearance
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The Xindi's presence were first established in the second season finale, "The Expanse", in which they launched a probe that attacked Earth in April of 2153, killing 7 million people in a narrow strip of land stretching from Florida to Venezuela. They did not appear, however, until the third season premiere, "The Xindi".
[edit] Xindi history
Various Xindi were involved in a war lasting about 200 years and ending in the 2030s. Alliances between the Xindi species were forged and changed continuously throughout the war, so much that 50-60 years into the war, most Xindi forgot what started it. However, everyone remembered how it ended. In an act of desperation, the Insectoids and Reptilians detonated several charges beneath the 8 largest seismic fissures of the geologically-unstable planet Xindus, leading to its destruction and ultimately the extinction of the Xindi-Avian race.
After the war, the Xindi scattered throughout the Expanse into several colonies. As a whole, they have a passionate desire to establish a new homeworld and unify all Xindi, but differ greatly on how to accomplish this and on who should hold the ultimate reins of power.
The Xindi appear to be pawns in the Temporal Cold War, as they were informed at least as early as 2152 by a trans-dimensional race known as Sphere Builders from the future that they would be victims of a genocidal attack from humanity in the 26th century. The Xindi came to revere these creatures, whom they called the 'Guardians,' and following their guidance, launched a preemptive strike on Earth as a precursor to a genocidal second attack.
The Xindi spent the early part of 2153 deciding how to confront the threat of humanity and planned a biological weapon based on the Human genetic profile. This was ultimately rejected by the Xindi Council (the Reptilians went along with the bio weapon but were eventually foiled) and so they worked on a weapon to blow up Earth. (In one future timeline, glimpsed in ENT "Twilight," a final version of this weapon succeeds in destroying Earth.)
However, with the help of Captain Archer's knowledge of the future cooperation between humans and Xindi against the Sphere Builders, the Xindi Council began to split over the issue of whether the "Guardians" were the real enemy or not. This was helped along especially when Reptilian Council Member Dolim killed Primate Council Member Degra.
With the help of the Sphere Builders, the Reptilians and Insectoids took control of the finished Xindi weapon and set on a course for Earth, thus beginning a new civil war between the Xindi species. A single vessel of Arboreals, Primates, and Humans pursued the weapon.
En route to Earth, a rift appeared in the Reptilian-Insectoid alliance when the Insectoids proposed delaying the destruction of Earth in light of Archer's revelation about the true nature of the Sphere Builders. The Reptilians, determined to see the task completed and thus unwilling to risk any obstruction to that end, eliminated the accompanying Insectoid vessel.
The pursuing vessel caught up with the Xindi weapon near Earth. An Andorian vessel, commanded by Shran, unexpectedly entered the fray and engaged the Reptilian vessel, which provided enough cover for the Humans to board the Xindi weapon and destroy it.
Following the destruction of their weapon, the Xindi council reconvened (the Reptilians were reluctant, but were eventually convinced to return). The Xindi abandoned their hostile intent toward Humans.
In Daniels' timeline, Xindi crewmen serve in the Federation in the 26th century. Otherwise, the future of the Xindi race between the mid 22nd and 26th century has been left largely unrevealed. Some fans have speculated that in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Battle", that Data said a tug would tow the USS Stargazer back to Xindi Starbase 9. Unfortunately, according to the spelling in the script, Data actually said "Xendi" Starbase 9, dispelling this rumor.
[edit] Xindi Species
[edit] Xindi-Aquatics
Xindi-Aquatics resemble Earth Cetaceans. Not much is known about this species other than that they swim underwater and speak through echolocation. The name of the aquatic serving on the council is pronounced Kiaphet Amman'sor in the Xindi primate language. She is always shown in a tank in the council chamber. Aquatics have a reputation for taking a very long time to make a decision, but are more readily convinced by visual evidence.
Even though the Aquatics are peaceful, they have a strong military. Their warships resemble large Earth manta rays and are filled with water. However, there is at least one section of the ship that is sealed and filled with air for land-based races. This room also has an acrylic glass window so the visitors can communicate with the Aquatic crew. Aquatic ships carry extremely powerful weapons and are more than a match for Insectoid and Reptilian ships. Aquatic warships are huge and one of them was depicted carrying the Enterprise (NX-01) to Earth inside a chamber within the vessel after the Xindi weapon was destroyed. The size of the chamber was like a shuttle bay compared to the Aquatic vessel. Aquatic vessels can also emit a field that disrupts targeting scanners. This can also be applied to protect other ships. However, their ships are very slow and cannot travel much faster than Warp 2.
The appearance of the Aquatics was inspired by the Mesosaurus.
[edit] Xindi-Arboreals
Xindi-Arboreals are covered with hair, and resemble Earth sloths. They run kemocite-production facilities throughout the Delphic Expanse. Gralik, a Xindi-Arboreal, gave Degra a shipment of impure kemocite, to sabotage production of the Council's weapon prototype. They have shown the least interest in destroying humanity. Janar is the name of the main arboreal on the council. Arboreals are also afraid of the water.
[edit] Xindi-Avians
Xindi-Avians were bird-like Xindi with the ability to fly like birds. They once darkened the skies of Xindus, the Xindi homeworld. They are thought to be extinct since the Reptilians and Insectoids planted explosives that destroyed the Xindi Homeworld after the Hundred-Year War. The Avians, having primitive technology, couldn't leave the planet and were wiped out.
Curiously, the Avians had a presence on a planet other than Xindus at least as far back as the 2nd millennium BC. This location would later be used as the site of the Xindi Council.
[edit] Xindi-Insectoids
Xindi-Insectoids resemble a cross between six-foot Earth praying mantises, flies, ants, and several other types of insects. They speak in a clicking language unique to all Xindi, of which there are 67 dialects. Insectoid iconography is radically different from that of other Xindi. They exist in an alliance with the Reptilians and with them destroyed the Xindi Homeworld after the Hundred-Year War. Insectoid personal names get longer with age. (According to novelizations, the insectoid serving on the council is pronounced Shresht in the primate language.) Insectoids have a reputation for rushing into decisions.
Insectoids have an average life span of 10-12 years. They are hermaphrodites, and reproduce by laying eggs, which take about a week to mature. Egg sacs are suspended from ceilings, and tubules connected to them spray chemicals that cause passers-by to reverse-imprint on the hatchlings, protecting them as a parent would. Hatchlings are so important to Insectoids that hatcheries are aboard starships, and are heavily shielded. In the event of a problem with the ship, the Insectoid crew will sacrifice themselves to preserve their unborn offspring.
Insectoid starships are designed differently from other vessels. They don't have one area designated for bridge duties; command functions are distributed throughout the ship. Assault vehicles are designed for Insectoid anatomy and not humanoids. Also, insectoid chairs are not built for humanoids, since their bodies couldn't sit in a regular chair.
[edit] Xindi-Primates
Xindi-Primates resemble Earth humans and have a similar brain structure to the Xindi-Reptilians. They were one of the first Xindi species (including the Reptilians) to be informed of the "threat" posed by humanity. Degra, a Xindi-Primate, was assigned to develop the weapon which was to destroy Earth. In late 2153, the crew of the Enterprise boarded and studied a Primate vessel and interrogated the crew. As was learned in the ENT episode: "Stratagem" from Degra, a colony of Primates resides on Azati Prime, where the weapon was being constructed. Degra and Mallora are the two primates serving on the council. Like humans, Primates have differences in skin tone.
[edit] Xindi-Reptilians
Xindi-Reptillians resemble a cross between several Earth lizards. This species is responsible for a preemptive attack on Earth in 2153. They use weapons with regenerative biological power cells that overload if caught by other species. Reptillians prefer to be low to the ground, as opposed to high-rise buildings. They use thermal chambers on board their ships to keep their energy. They are the most aggressive race of Xindi and seem to be more interested than the other races in destroying Earth, probably in an attempt to maintain political superiority at the Xindi Council. Along with the Insectoids, they are responsible for the destruction of the Xindi Homeworld. The military leadership of the Reptilians appear to be obsessed with eugenics.
Aided by trans-dimensional beings, the Reptilians traveled to 2004 to collect blood samples for their bio-weapon in the future but were foiled by Jonathan Archer and T'Pol. Commander Dolim, a seasoned military officer, serves on the council as the Reptilian representative.
The Xindi-Insectoids are the only race that the Reptilians trust and are willing to divide their military with. A typical attack squadron, at least those at Azati Prime, consists of two Reptilian ships and two Insectoid ships.
The names of the Insectoid and primate Representatives are from "The Expanse" by J.M. Dillard, the novelization of Star Trek: Enterprise episodes "The Expanse" and "The Xindi" .
[edit] Xindi-related quotes
- Cmdr. Tucker: "They may know how to build a weapons system, but these people could sure use a tip in designing a comfortable chair."
Ensign Mayweather: "For an insectoid, maybe they are comfortable." - Arboreal saying: "Dealing with Reptilians is like bargaining with the sun; you make no progress, and you come away burned."
- Janar: "Better their world than ours."
Degra: "That's what I keep telling myself. But the reality is a good number of the dead will be innocents... and children." - Degra: "He said he saw Reptilians on Earth, in a place called "Detroit", over a hundred years in the past."
Janar: "The past?"
Mallora: "So now he's a time traveler!" - Dolim: "I want four ships to accompany the weapon!"
Degra: "We'll have to generate an extremely large vortex to accommodate that many vessels."
Dolim: "Even after Earth is destroyed, there will be residual presence in this system. I intend...to hunt down...and eradicate...every refugee caravan, every colony, every last outpost they have." - Degra: "If we left you with the Reptilians, they would have killed you."
Janar: "Degra arranged for the Aquatics to return you to your ship."
Capt. Archer: "Then you also called off the attack on Enterprise".
Degra: "The Reptilians weren't very pleased about that either."
[edit] Fan Criticism
The introduction of the Xindi Attack On Earth-storyarc which spanned season 3 was stated by the production team as an attempt to revamp the series because of its failing ratings. However, many fans who enjoyed the bright tone of the first two seasons and previous Star Trek series were dismayed by the shift to a darker tone. Many fans did feel that the Xindi did make the show more engrossing, as well as socially relevant again by making a storyline to serve as an allegory for many past pre-emptive attacks in history. Also, many fans felt that it completely turned Enterprise away from its original prequel-series orientation, as the Xindi were an entirely new race never seen in other series (executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga repeatedly refused to introduce the Romulans as a major enemy).
Another complaint fans had about the Xindi was that the relative benevolence or malevolence of a Xindi sub-species was seemingly proportional to how "human" they appeared. The Xindi-Primates and Xindi-Arboreals sided with the humans fairly easily after being presented with rational evidence to challenge their beliefs, while the decidedly unhumanlike Xindi-Insectoids and Xindi-Reptillians were the "bad guys" who still aggressively wanted to destroy Earth. Many fans felt this was predictable, as well as going against Star Trek's usual theme of finding common ground with other life forms no matter how "alien" they may at first appear; a classic example would be during the Original Series when Kirk and Spock make peace with the Horta alien, a silicon-based blob. It was felt that making the near-human Xindi "good" and the more alien-appearing Xindi "bad" made a moralistic implication that "those who appear different from us are bad". However, it might also be argued that the Xindi-Primates would be more likely to feel a superficial kinship with humans than the Reptilians would, and that, unfortunate or not, this behavior is consistent with thousands of years of Earth history. An argument to the contrary would be that each Xindi sub-species resembles one or more Earth species to some extent, and that therefore all Xindi ought to have a "superficial kinship" with some life on Earth. (It should be noted that executive producer Brannon Braga would have liked the Xindi Aquatics to have sided with the Enterprise crew, but this was made impossible due to budget issues. And giving that statement and the cost to create CG aliens, such as the Insectoids and Aquatics, and the extensive make up for the Reptillains, the whole paragraph's basis could be void if budget issues were the only cause for the Insectoids and Reptillains to become the "primary" enemies.)
Another criticism of the Xindi was that all five (originally six) sub-species of Xindi are supposed to have evolved from a common ancestor. It was clearly stated in the series that they were not merely multiple sentient races that developed independently on the same planet but that they had branched off on the evolutionary tree only recently. This is also evidenced by the same facial ridge appearing on the cheekbones of all Xindi sub-species. Many fans criticized the implausible science behind this: according to one episode Xindi-Primates and Xindi-Reptillians are genetically more closely related than a human and a chimpanzee, and are presented as being about as different as humans and Neanderthals. However, mammals and reptiles have far more different genetic relationships than humans and chimps and this is implausible, much less the implication that a mammal and an arthropod Xindi-Insectoid could share a similar relationship, unless their ancestors had deliberately genetically altered an original race into different specialized lifeforms, or the differences between species are actually superficial and conflated by earth-archetypes from an entirely different biological history.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Xindi article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
- Xindi entry on Star Trek Official Site
- Xindi Ships Xindi Ships, Images, Info, History. (Spanish)
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