Tholian
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Tholians are a starfaring and extremely territorial race in the Star Trek fictional universe. The Tholian home nation is the Tholian Assembly, which inhabits an area of space in the Alpha Quadrant, in close proximity to the Klingon Empire and the Badlands.
The Tholian Assembly is located rimward of the Cardassian Union and the Breen Confederacy, and the homeworld of Tholia is a Class Y planet, similar to the planet Venus.
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[edit] Tholian biology and culture
Non-humanoid in form, Tholians have crystalline bodies, two arms, and six legs. They dwell in an environment of extreme heat, their comfortable living environment being 480 kelvins (404 °F/207 °C). Temperatures below 380 K (224 °F/107 °C) will kill Tholians, causing them to shatter into tiny crystalline shards. Each Tholian has both male and female sexual organs.
Natural Tholian speech is a series of shrill squeals and clicks, similar to the sounds of a dolphin. Their speech is difficult to parse through the universal translator.
Tholians have little tolerance for deception, and are insistent on punctuality.
Tholian silk is highly prized and difficult to obtain. It is an urban legend that Tholian silk is actually made from Tholians, not by them, although there is no actual evidence of such a thing.
[edit] Tholian technology
Besides utilizing standard offensive weaponry, Tholian ships can also work in concert to emit an energy field shaped much like a web that will trap any space vessel inside and drain its energy. Six Tholian vessels working in concert can spin such a web in under a minute, while only two vessels might take up to two hours.
[edit] Tholian history
In 2152, Tholians made their first contact with humans. As players in the Temporal Cold War, they opposed the Suliban in pursuit of an artifact from the future, disabling a powerful Vulcan ship in the process.
In 2268, a Tholian commander named Loskene attacked the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) for violating Tholian territory while on a rescue mission to investigate the disappearance of the USS Defiant. (Star Trek: The Original Series episode The Tholian Web).
In 2353, Tholians attacked a Federation starbase and killed its entire complement, except for a civilian named Kyle Riker, father of William Riker.
In 2355, simulated Tholian battles were part of Starfleet Academy training.
In 2367, there was concern that the Tholians might get involved in the Klingon Civil War.
In 2371, a Tholian ambassador visited Deep Space 9.
In 2372, a Tholian observer was present at a conference in Antwerp, Earth, when a bomb destroyed the conference hall. Shortly after, the Tholians signed a non-aggression treaty with the Dominion.
In 2379, the Romulans had diplomatic relations with the Tholians.
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[edit] The Mirror Universe
In the Mirror Universe, the Tholians appear to be more cunning and treacherous: in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly", the Mirror Tholians are said to have intentionally caused the 'interphase', the rift in space (and, as it turns out, in time) depicted in the original Star Trek episode "The Tholian Web". The Mirror Tholians detonated a high-yield explosive device, which caused the interphase to form. They then planted a false distress signal in the hopes of luring a ship from the other universe into their own (presumably with the intention of capturing the ship and using it as the vanguard of an invasion force). The USS Defiant answered the fake distress call, becoming trapped in the interphase and eventually winding up in the Mirror Universe. The Tholians captured the Defiant and attempted to steal its technology before it was commandeered by agents of the Terran Empire.
[edit] Non canon references
[edit] Star Fleet Universe
The Tholian Holdfast (the Tholian Assembly in the SFU is the Holdfast's governing body) comprises a small number of worlds in former Klingon space, bordering the Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, and Federation. The race originated in another galaxy entirely, where they were once masters but were overthrown by the Seltorians, their erstwhile subordinates.
In this continuity, the Tholians were invaded by the Coalition (but primarily by forces from the Klingon Empire, who wished to recover three lost colony worlds in the Tholian home sector) in Y177 as part of Operation Nutcracker, the arrival of the Neo-Tholian 312th Battle Squadron in the Spring of Y178 saving a devastated Tholia from Klingon conquest and driving the Coalition forces from their space. During this time, and for a time afterwards, the Tholians were a partner of the Alliance but refused to allow Federation ships to fight within their territory. Their role in the General War came to an end when the Seltorian Tribunal Fleet arrived from the Tholian home galaxy to campaign against them in Y182. They remained neutral during the ISC's campaign of pacification and joined the octant-wide resistance to the subsequent Andromedan onslaught.
Standard Tholian vessels are akin to those seen in Star Trek. There are also a range of Neo-Tholian vessels, reinforcements from their home galaxy, with more advanced and larger ship classes and web casters.
[edit] Star Trek: The Next Generation comics
Tholians were depicted as orange crystals with arms and legs.
[edit] Novels
- In the Peter David novel Vendetta, Commander Loskene encounters the Enterprise-D some 90 years after encountering the original Enterprise.
- The 2003 novel The Sundered suggests that Tholians have a short lifespan.
- In J.M. Dillard's novel Star Trek: Recovery, Admiral Kirk and Dr. Mc Coy oversee the test of the rescue ship "Recovery" at Zotos IV before the Klingons, Romulans, and Tholians. Both the fully automated ship and its designer, Myron Shulman, go mad under the influence of the vengeful Tholian Lokara, who makes the Recovery attack the other ships. Commander Lokara of the Skotha seeks revenge on Kirk and Starfleet, because Lokara's breeding partner Lanra was crippled aboard Loskene's ship during the battle against the Enterprise four years earlier (Star Trek: The Original Series episode The Tholian Web). Lokara is later killed by the Klingons.
- The 2005 novel Star Trek Vanguard: Harbinger is focussed on a region of space - the Taurus Reach - close to the Tholian and Klingon frontiers, and includes several postulations on Tholian technology and society.
- The 2006 novel Star Trek Vanguard: Summon the Thunder continues the story of the Taurus Reach. Taking place in 2265, there is more insight into Tholian society, including its possible linkages to ancient technological ruins found on several planets in this region of space. They were also responsible for the destruction of the U.S.S. Bombay. Their appointment of Ambassador Sesrene.
[edit] External links
- Tholian article at Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki.
- Tholians are also a featured enemy in the fan-produced series, Star Trek: Hidden Frontier
