Hello everyone! Ric here with a Cultural Index on a species that rounds out the
Xindi from Star Trek, the Primates. It may be a little late… but I got round to it eventually.
In prior videos we have already covered the great Xindi Diaspora where a series
of explosion detonated under the crust by the Reptilian and Insectoid Xindi resulted in the
destruction of their homeworld, Xindus and led to the deaths of the Avian species and many
others who failed to evacuate. The species then drifted unguided throughout space for a time until
the Sphere Builders aided them to find refuge and quell the strife among them for a new future.
Of course this was all so that they could gain their own puppet species to act on their behalf.
Biologically, the Primate Xindi are the closest to humans, in being that they’re evolved from
primates. They share 99.5% of their DNA with their neighbouring Xinidi however
and share the same cranial patterns seen on the others and the cheekbone ridges. Their hairline
began much higher up than a human’s and as a result was often swept back with no fringe.
They lack the more pronounced facial features of the arboreal Xindi and substantially less
facial hair. It is unknown if Xindi primates can actually grow beards as even when Degra’s hair was
artificially aged in the Stratagem episode, he did not end up with even a day’s growth of stubble.
Their skin tones shared the same diversity as human and Vulcans,
ranging from pale pinks to deep browns but the majority seem to have darkened hair.
To best understand the Primates, it’s beneficial to compare their temperament
to the other Xindi species, as we only have a few first hand examples of the primates.
Whereas the Insectoid and Reptilian were often more aggressive and argumentative,
the Primates were often more diplomatic and measured. They had a similar slow deliberating
way of thinking as the Arboreal, to whom they were closest in biology as well as thought,
but whereas the Arboreal were far more ‘chill’ about things,
the Primates were best described as simply more restrained with their emotions.
Although they too often found the Aquatic tendencies to ponder things for too long an
irritating trait and the Primates themselves could occasionally seem as stubborn as a Reptilian.
Because of their closeness, the Primate and Arboreal Xindi were often found on the same
side of arguments among the council, and even before, during the Xindi Civil War.
The Primates were regarded as talented engineers and tinkerers, and if they are the ones who built
the majority of Xindi society, then they show a proficiency in nation building too. Whereas the
Arboreal Xindi respected higher thoughts of scientific endeavours and philosophy,
the Primate’s application of knowledge was seemingly more focused on the practical.
This earned them a reputation for being honest and generally their arguments were well thought out.
The Primates are described as being the second species of Xindi to have gained true intelligence,
the first being the Aquatics. Quite what this defines is unknown as this would have been over
the course of untold epochs, but one can imagine they established the earliest societies on Xindus.
Because of this early superiority and the fact the only other truly quotes “intelligent” life
was water bound, the Primate Xindi had unmatched superiority of the land
and even after the emergence of the other species, the Primates retained majority control.
This led to a long period of Xindus’ history where the Primates were the ruling caste, often to the
point of ruthless oppression which sparked generations of loathing from the other Xindi.
To this day, the Reptilian Xindi in particular despise the Primates for this time of sovereignty
and now view the Primates as being arrogant as a show of strength to cover their otherwise
weak physical stature. By the 22nd century, many Xindi Primates retain positions of power over the
other races, but are more cooperative since the Diaspora and the unification that their resettling
required. Despite this, there is reputedly a train of thought shared by many Primates that the other
Xindi species were more limited in their thinking and that the cooperation established would not
last should species like the Insectoids or Reptilians rise to dominance. Sounds like
they wanted equality, without actually wanting equality. That being said, they are also the
ones who built the human destroying superweapon, so that seems a rather hypocritical opinion to me.
Despite having such a hierarchical past, the Xindi Primates now tend to leave the military matters to
the Reptilian while they operate the bureaucracy and political aspects of the Xindi Council.
Also, it may be due to their history coupled with their pragmatic application of innovation,
but they were among the first to begin to doubt the sincerity of the Guardians who
had supposedly watched over them. It’s revealed by Temporal Agent Daniels, that by the 26th century,
the Xindi are members of the United Federation of Planets and this joining is expanded on in other
works to have occurred around 2311, but remained rather isolationists as they were still attempting
to sort out their own differences and locate a suitable new homeworld. By 2409, they had emerged
properly into the UFP community and there was an increase in Xindi serving within Starfleet.
When it came to the outfits and design of Primate clothing, the image was to create a more official
look to them, that suggested at strength and a sort of proud standing, hence the slightly
European 17th-19th century, militaristic look to reflect this past. Each high collared suit
was accompanied by a harness, belt and pips on the shoulders that may have depicted rank.
One of the only primate ships that we see, is the Ateleth Cruiser class. All Xindi vessels could
utilise the subspace tunnel network within the Delphic expanse, which was a by-product of the
Sphere Builders, and this was no exception. It was rather manoeuvrable but packed a lot of firepower
making it a strong defensive craft patrolling Xindi systems while the Reptilian vessels were
more likely to be sent away on military missions. The large central dome contained most of the
ship’s functions while the prongs on the vessel are unknown. Purse speculation, but as many of the
Xindi ships have these features, perhaps they’re some array that opens the Subspace vortices?
There is also a much smaller Xindi vessel, slightly larger than a runabout called a
Nusuti class one of which was operated by Degra. This ship was used to observe weapons testing
and including a small crew of around a dozen but could be run by only three.
This centre actually resembled a sort of office space, complete with individual desks lined up
a row, with the overseer’s position at the rear; from here the captain would be able to
see everyone’s screens, including the one playing ‘Gallagher’. Personally I think this reflects the
stuffy and bureaucratic nature often associated with the Primates.
They also shared in the use of bioplasmatic weaponry developed by the Reptilians and utilised
it in their ship’s offensive capabilities. As respected engineers, it’s likely however that
Xindi Primates had a hand in the construction of multiple other Xindi vessels operated by
their brethren species and they in theirs. The common Xindi language spoken is in fact
the original language of the Primates, spread due to their historical dominance of the others,
although many learn Aquatic and Insectoid as these Xindi lack the ability to converse in the common
tongue. The naming structure of Xindi Primates seems to poses only one name, Hurra, Degra,
Thalen, Depac and Kessick are male names while Naara, Jaina, Trenia and Piral are female names.
So that rounds out all the Xindi species. Because of the variation brought in by the
five distinct races of Xindi, we only get a relatively small sample size of
each of their vastly different species so many observations are likely tainted
by the observation of only a few people. And this Xindi Primates perhaps personify this
most accurately in their closeness to humans; that they are just that,
people. All the information I’ve drawn up here is from both the show and apocryphal content,
but there are always going to be those who buck the trends, perhaps the Primates most of all.
Thanks for watching this cultural index on the Primate Xindi, kind of sorry it took so
long to get to but hey, look at all the other amazing species we got to cover! Like the, say,
Bajorans from Star Trek! Or maybe the from the infamous Tusken Raiders of Tattoine from Star
Wars! Wait I haven’t done those? Well then… Votes should be over on the community tab
already so let me know what you’d like to see and feel free to suggest more in the comments below!
Thanks again for watching, I’ve been Ric and I’ll see you again later! Goodbye!