Hello all, Ric here and welcome to another Index video, this time looking into a mysterious species
from Star Trek lore, one never actually seen on screen; the Tzenkethi. The fact that they
are mentioned, but never shown has led to several depictions of them in official apocryphal content,
which does not count as canon to the shows. Normally, I wouldn’t mind and issue my normal
disclaimer, incorporating beta content where it doesn’t conflict to flesh out the alien culture,
tech and so on, but in this case, the portrayals of the Tzenkethi are radically different,
primarily in the post-Dominion War books and the focus of this video,
their appearance in Star Trek Online. Nevertheless, I will mention a bit of
lore from the other version of the Tzenkethi towards the end. For now though, let’s look at
what is depicted about them in the canon of the shows. The Tzenkethi are from the planet named
Tzenketh, an alpha quadrant world which shares a border with the Federation. This has been the
site for numerous skirmishes with the Tzenkethi and at least one war in the mid-24th century.
Sufficed to say, they are not the biggest fans of the United Federation of Planets.
Its government is probably an autocracy, with all the power residing with a single individual, the
Autarch. In 2371, there was a coup that overthrew the prior Autarch and that is the last we hear of
the Tzenkethi. Like, that is about it. We have no descriptions, no exact date for the war and
no idea of the level of technology they have. They do have a presence outside of their homeworld on
colonies such as M’kemas III, so their territory is defiantly greater than a single system.
So, this is all true for the STO depiction of them, but we have more to go on, including
samples of their tech, culture and appearance, which apparently is pretty close to how Robert
Hewitt Wolfe originally envisaged their look. Biologically, the Tzenkethi are most similar to
lizards, but not quite as their skin lacks scales and they have six limbs. They stand around 10 foot
tall, and are heavy, slow and hunched. Their skin is frequently compared in texture to Earth rhinos,
and it has tougher patches on the head, shoulders, back and limbs. Their skintones seem to vary
between purples, violets, cyan and pinkish hues. They have a soft blueish bioluminescence
that shows most visibly around their eyes, neck and belly, which clothing keeps exposed.
Some Tzenkethi also have horns and tusks, although this seems to be a rarity,
however many suits of armour are styled to resemble such features.
Their upper arms are bulky and powerful, capable of flinging enemies around with a passing swipe,
while two smaller arms jut from below these. These secondary arms are less muscled and much shorter.
Each limb has three digits, two fingers and a thumb. If I had to guess (and I do, because we
don’t know), their build is probably the result of a high gravity world. The larger forearms are long
enough to reach the ground, which would provide support in a high gravity environment, their slow
movements deliberate to avoid a fall. Their smaller arms would therefore be the ones used
in the manipulation of finer devices. The only thing that stands in opposition to this however,
is that several times, we step aboard a Tzenkethi vessel, and find the gravity tolerable for humans.
And Garak has apparently been to Tzenketh. Their government is referred to as the Tzenkethi
Coalition and still headed by an Autarch in 2410. This Autarch’s power within the Coalition is
unlimited and their orders are absolute. This adherence to hierarchy runs hand in hand with
their militaristic culture where subordinates do not question their orders, and everything done, no
matter how questionable is for the greater good. There is a class system in play on Tzenketh,
however we do not know the specifics. Those of noble descent have the term Tzen added to their
family name, and this caste system is reflected in their alternate portrayal in the books, so it may
be a nod to this. The Tzenkethi sort of embody the philosophy of commitment to a course of action or
ideal. They observe their life as a series of “Paths” that they embark upon and journey down
which gives them rigidity and forces an unwavering resolve. Their actions and orders choose what path
they begin, but once they have metaphorically started on this journey, it provides guidelines
and a clear destination or goal, something to fix their eyes on at its conclusion. This adherence
to “paths” means that they seldom deal in half-measures. This can be an admirable quality in
some aspects, but it often creates a culture that is unwilling to question their actions, and those
that do end up being shunned as straying from their “path” and walking a new “Path of Exile”.
The Tzenkethi have rather powerful technology, but it is not as advanced as Starfleet’s, or at least,
lacks the finesse that UFP tech tends to require. The Tzenkethi themselves are powerfully built
and brutish in stature, so their gear and space ships tend to follow the same forceful
approach. Starting with their battle suits, the Tzenkethi frame can support much heavier equipment
than humanoid species because they can quite simply carry more. For example, a portable
force field generator, while a cumbersome piece of equipment that has to be set up for a human,
can be attached to the back of the hulking Tzenkethi, and then it can project a
powerful shield over the back of the wearer, covering their rear with a powered shield.
Their armour too also supports weaponry that would again be considered cumbersome for smaller aliens,
such as back mounted cannons and mortars. Their larger arms are usually equipped with powerful
cannons too, and all these devices are connected to numerous relays and controls on their forearms
and an eye covering heads-up-display. It is all powered by a backpack,
again one too big for general humanoids to haul around, and this energy source can be tapped
into by nearby Tzenkethi forces, sharing the resource. Their primary energy supply seems to be
Tetryon based, although they begin incorporating protomatter during the Star Trek Online storyline.
Most do not carry melee weapons into battle, because their incredible strength is sufficient
enough to shatter most unfortunate victims with a blow. Although they do appear to
be slow and lumbering, their brawn does mean that they are capable of unexpected, explosive
feats of strength, such as sudden charges, wild swings and impressive leaps of distance.
Again, maybe because their world is of higher gravity, so in lower grave environments
they can jump further? Because of their generally slower pace,
and lack of dexterity, they employ numerous drones to support themselves on the ground. Such drones
are carried on the armour before being deployed as support and carry out numerous functions.
Their ships follow similarly brutish tactics. The vessels are domed; presenting similarly
armoured fronts which actually share design philosophies with the Klingons, in that most
of their weaponry is forwards-facing. Just as with their ground forces using back-shielding emitters,
their vessels are also reinforced at the back, with the weakest point of their shield
being right in front of them. Naturally this means that if you want hit their weakest point,
you have to enter their kill-box, or attack from the rear at a disadvantage,
giving the slow vessel time to turn to face you. Subterfuge, as you may get the impression,
is not their strong suit, although it’s not like they will ignore a tactical advantage.
They may set up an ambush or target weaker and remote location to spread out an enemy fleet, but
once the effluence strikes the rotary wind-displacement device, well, they
tend to knuckle down and go full rhino charge. One thing that stands out on their armour is the
inclusion of these crystalline objects adorning it. However, what they are is kind of unknown,
but the number of them increases with the rank of the Tzenkethi wearing them.
They are probably not a component necessary for the operation of their armour,
as lower ranks lack them and a suit of reverse engineered armour also doesn’t have them.
In some of the interconnected books, they Tzenkethi joined the Typhon Pact,
a unification of generally anti-Federation powers such as the Romulans, Tholians and Breen.
This depicts the Tzenkethi radically different from the STO version. Here they are described
as humanoid, graceful and attractive. Like notably attractive, to many species.
Think Asari, if you are familiar with Mass Effect, in that many species tend to find them pleasing,
despite the differences among the various humanoids. Internally they basically run on
organic hydraulics rather than musculature and they have a bioluminescent glow to their skin,
which is a trait seen in the STO version. This is about as far from the lumbering, hulking,
lizard-tanks we see in Star Trek Online, but again, with not even a hint as to their appearance
in canon, who knows what version Star Trek will go with, if they ever make an appearance?
Although, I bet they’d simply create a new design. They are intelligent, capable and powerful, and
do engage in diplomacy. It just seems that their adherence to their strict paths makes
them stubborn, relentless and slow to change their minds, which is probably why the Federation
has had ongoing issues with them. Looking at the Tzenkethi from STO, reminds me very much of the
Elcor from Mass Effect, which are similarly built and talk about their martial prowess
as similar “living tanks”. So, speaking of species from other science fiction franchises,
let’s look at the options for the next index video! Option one, are the similarly autocratic,
state minded Batarians of Mass Effect lore, or from the Star Wars universe,
the Quarren, as they lost a vote while ago, but not by much! Thanks again for watching
this video and I hope to see you again for another lore one, I’ve been Ric, goodbye!