star trek romulan translator

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Romulan alphabet   

The Romulan alphabet developed from an alphabet called Kzhad created in about 1988 by Monte Thrasher ( [email protected] ), a designer and illustrator in Los Angeles, who also designed the Romulan Imperial Insignia. Monte based Kzhad on the shapes of LED displays.

The Romulan or Rihannsu language was created by Diane Duane for use in her novel about the Romulans, a race of alien beings related to the Vulcans. Both Romulans and Vulcans appear in the Star Trek movies and TV shows.

Useful phrases in Romulan/Rihannsu, from Eric Koenig

Aefvadh - Welcome Jolan'tru - Hello Veisa notht? - How are you? Veisa vihroi? - What's your name? Vikra nnea au? - Where are you from? Viduus au paeti - Pleased to meet you Brhon mnekha - Good morning Aihkhmiite mnekha - Good afternoon Draomn mnekha - Good evening Temar mnekha - Good night Bedah - Goodbye Glohhaasi' mnekha - Good luck (Good hunting - Romulans don't believe in luck) Mhiohs - Cheers/Good health (success) Phralae ru au krowert - Have a nice day (speak to you soon) Llea - Bon appetit (enjoy) Mnekha havrae - Bon voyage Rhanne na docgae - I don't understand Fhaen phralae rawn - Please speak more slowly Ekhesai - Excuse me Veherr - Sorry Hann'yyo - Thank you Vikra oiius? - Where's the toilet? Kaeha bontwe vr'qiuu'n - This gentleman/lady will pay for everything (this [person] gives for all) I-jol au - I love you Mnekha vihroi krowert - Get well soon (good health soon) Veisa phralae ... hrrau Rihannsu? - How do you say ... in [your language]? Haenither nnea rhanne! - Leave me alone! Mehre efveh! - Call the police! (summon the authorities) Oehl d-navassa'tel - Happy Birthday Tivh faerla Klivamsu - It's Greek to me (It reads like Klingon) Kholairlha mnietasi' stelama - It's raining cats and dogs (Elements throwing stars) Awevh 'le yyhle - As easy as falling off a log (Easy as play) Io stelam 'nil io cehlaer - A sandwich short of a picnic (a star short of a galaxy) Rhifv Areinnye daeohre - When pigs fly (when hell freezes)

The Romulan Way

by Diane Duane

They are a race of warriors, a noble people to whom honor is all. They are cousin to the Vulcan, ally to the Klingon, and Starfleet's most feared and cunning adversary. They are the Romulans, and for eight years, Federation Agent Terise LoBrutto has hidden in their midst.

Now the presence of a captured Starfleet officer forces her to make a fateful choice between exposure and the chance to escape: maintain her cover -- or save the life of Dr. Leonard McCoy?

Here, in a startlingly different adventure, is the truth behind one of the most fascinating alien races ever created in "Star Trek" -- the Romulans.

Buy "The Romulan Way" by Diane Duane from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Information about the Romulan language http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Romulan_language http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Romulan_language

Romulan <> English dictionary http://home.planet.nl/~mbedaff/romdict.htm

Romulan Universal Translator Assistant http://members.aol.com/JPKlingon/uta/utarjv.html

Free Romulan fonts http://star-trek-fonts.fanspace.com/

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welcome to startrek translator

Startrek fan? Then this app might amaze you! This app can translate your English into the famous fictional Startrek languages of Klingon, Vulcan and Romulan.

• The Klingon language is the language spoken by the fictional Klingons in the Star Trek universe. Within the fictional universe of Star Trek, klingon is derived from the original language spoken by the messianic figure Kahless the Unforgettable, who united the Klingon home-world of QoʼnoS under one empire more than 1500 years ago. Many dialects exist, but the standardized dialect of prestige is almost invariably that of the sitting emperor. Go to the Klingon Translator
• The Vulcan language is a fictional language in the Star Trek universe. Vulcan names as spoken and written among non-Vulcans were, at best, only approximations of actual Vulcan names. Correct pronunciations using Vulcan phonemes, and accurate type-setting was extremely difficult for non-natives. Linguist Marc Okrand is credited for creating the Vulcan spoken language for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In the actual movies, the dialogues were usually spoken in English and later dubbed to Vulcan. Go to the Vulcan Translator
• The Romulan language was used within the Romulan Star Empire. Its written form consists of square and rectangular letters. The spoken language had three dialects, and was difficult to distinguish from the Vulcan language to those not proficient in it. It was also known as Rihannsu. There was a joint project between the Romulan Reclamation Site and the Borg Reclamation Project, thus announcements, signage and crew conversations tended to be in both English and Romulan. Go to the Romulan Translator

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English to Romulan Translator

Started by Rayek trLhoell, February 17, 2019, 04:39:17 AM

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Rayek trLhoell

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https://funtranslations.com/romulan

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Interesting.

Thanks for sharing, Rayek!

For some reason I'm not able to pin it... can you Kirok?

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Quote from: Rayek trLhoell on February 20, 2019, 02:05:00 AM For some reason I'm not able to pin it... can you Kirok?

ShranLahr ch'Verret

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Quote from: Kirok on May 20, 2021, 11:12:38 PM Pinned and the link still works!

If you can find an Andorian translator next that would be amazing!

Think I found one ;-)

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Romulan language

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The  Romulan language  was used within the  Romulan Star Empire . Its written form consists of square and rectangular letters. (e.g.,  TNG : " The Mind's Eye ", " Face of the Enemy ";  DS9 : " Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges ";  Star Trek Nemesis ). The spoken language had three dialects, and was difficult to distinguish from the Vulcan language to those not proficient in xenolinguistics. It was also known as Rihannsu . ( Star Trek ).

• 4.1 Connections
• 4.2 Background
• 4.3 External links

Dialects [ ]

• Low Rihan ( TOS novel : Dwellers in the Crucible )
• High Rihan (also known as High Rihannsu) ( TOS novel : Dwellers in the Crucible , ENT novel : Beneath the Raptor's Wing )
• Old High Rihannsu ( ENT   novel :  The Good That Men Do )

Glossary [ ]

• A monster or ghost. ( TOS - Rihannsu novel : The Romulan Way )
• An illusory creature, cognate to "nightmare" in Terran tradition that "rides" the dreamer to its perdition.
• The image or illusion that one being has of another, as opposed to the true nature of the person in question.

( TOS - Boldly Go comic : " Issue 4 ")

Phrases [ ]

Appendices [ ], connections [ ].

• Romulan nomenclature

Background [ ]

The Romulan alphabet developed from an alphabet called Kzhad created in about 1988 by Monte Thrasher , a designer and illustrator in Los Angeles , who also designed the Romulan Star Empire insignia seen in TNG . Monte based Kzhad on the shapes of LED displays. [ citation needed ]

The Rihannsu Romulan language was created by Diane Duane for use in her novels .

External links [ ]

• Romulan language article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• Romulan alphabet
• Dictionary of Romulan Language
• 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 2 Odyssey class
• 3 William T. Riker

Romulan Dictionary

Romulan Language

• 1.1 Greetings
• 1.2 Adverbs & Adjectives & Others
• 1.3 Insults
• 1.4 The following insults can be used either alone, or in sentences, or following "hwiiy", which means "you are":
• 1.5 Terms of Endearment
• 1.6 Forms of Address; People; Organisations
• 1.7 Phrases
• 2.1 Galae - Grand Fleet
• 2.2 Tal'Shiar - Imperial Security Service
• 2.3 Kiith Mrevhoqq'ghi - Diplomatic Corps
• 2.4 Ilnetha'aihrifv - Economic Service
• 2.5 Rei'kara; Khhiu'draao - Imperial Legion; Land Army
• 3 H'treain ih'ssouhir - Alien Races
• 4 Mheiset Fvhachhuus Erh'illen - Periodic Chart of the Elements
• 5 Mnakhao ih'peraere - Number System
• 6.1 Sien - Time
• 6.2 Hveith - Calendar
• 7.1 Taekhosir - Nouns
• 7.2 Taekhosir Emael Dyyh'kraiin - Irregular Nouns
• 7.3 I'hhaemn'iut'hilledh Taekhosen - Derivation of Nouns
• 7.4 Ssiun'taekhosir - Pronouns

Edaihtir u'Rhirhalir Abhhilir - Useful Words and Phrases

jolan'tru: semiformal hello/goodbye; most common greeting.

y'hhau: informal hello/goodbye; generally used only between close friends and relatives of similar age.

aefvadh: formal greeting "be welcome".

shaoi ben: formal greeting, superior to inferior.

shaoi dan: formal greeting between equals.

shaoi kon: formal greeting, inferior to superior.

bedah: formal goodbye.

bed aoi: "goodbye forever".

Adverbs & Adjectives & Others

daie: yes (inferior to superior).

au'e: yes indeed! oh, yes! (emphatic affirmative).

patned pra krsh: never.

ssaer?: why?

fvah?: what?

khnai'ra: thank you (semi-formal; formal, between equals).

khnai'ru rhissiuy: thank you (formal, superior to inferior).

khlinae arhem: thank you (formal, inferior to superior).

iumnau: urgent.

mnekha: correct, right; excellent. (superior to inferior, or between equals).

mnek'nra: correct, right; excellent. (inferior to superior).

rha?: is that so? oh, really? (rather sarcastic).

ta'krenn!: look at that! look!.

hevam: human (derogatory).

klivam: Klingon (derogatory).

khoi-udt: drop dead.

vah-udt?: what rank? (are you to be ordering me).

fvadt: damn it! damn!.

The following insults can be used either alone, or in sentences, or following "hwiiy", which means "you are":

veruul: fool

hhakh: stupid

dyypan: incompetent

ryakna: garbage

nohtho: crazy

knvuk: ugly

kllhe: sh**-eater

fehill'curak: a**crack

hnaev: sh*t

susse-thrai: she-wolf, b**ch

amton'wi-kha: sl*t; promiscuous

Terms of Endearment

jol-ao au: I love you.

e'lev: my love, dear, darling.

sahe'lagge: passionflower.

h'levreinnye: love-devil, lust-devil.

Forms of Address; People; Organisations

rinam: sister

dinam: brother

ri'nanov: mother

di'ranov: father

rian: cousin

ke'rhin: fellow Rihanha

Rihan: Romulan (adjective, e.g. the Romulan language)

Rihanha: a Romulan person

Rihannsu: a group of Romulan people

Rihanh: the Romulan nation/race/people as a whole

rekkhai: sir/madam (in Galae)

lhhai: sir (outside Galae)

lhhei: madam (outside Galae)

Khe'lloann'mnhehorael: Klingon Empire (common; informal)

Klling'hann Nneikha: Klingon Empire (formal)

Klling'hann: Klingon (adjective or noun; polite/formal)

Khe'lloann'na: a citizen of the Klingon Empire

Lloann'mhrahel: UFP

Lloann'na: a citizen of the UFP

lloannen'galae: Starfleet

Galae s'Shiar: Imperial Fleet

Tal'Shiar: Imperial Police

Kiith Mevroqq'ghi: Diplomatic Corps

Ilnetha'aihrifv: Economic Corps/Merchant Marines

Rei'kara: Imperial Legion

Khhiu'draao s'Shiar: Imperial Land Army

Ssuaj-ha.: Understood. (formal/military use, inferior to superior)

Ssuaj.: I understand. (non-formal, common use)

Ssuaj-difv?: Do you understand?

H'ta-fvau.: Return at once (to last position).

Hteij'rhau.: Activate transporter.

Hallh'na.: Report to me at once.

Hnafirh'rau.: Let me see.

Ie'yyak-hnah!: Fire phaser!

Hyaa-aifv-hnah!: Fire disruptor!

Ihlla'nh.: That's just enough; That'll do; You'll do.

Qiuu mnekha?: Is everyone well? (superior to inferior)

Qiuu mnek'nra?: Is everyone well? (inferior to superior)

Qiuu mnekha.: Everyone is well. (superior to inferior)

Qiuu mnek'nra.: Everyone is well. (inferior to superior)

Military Ranks

Galae - grand fleet, tal'shiar - imperial security service, kiith mrevhoqq'ghi - diplomatic corps, ilnetha'aihrifv - economic service, rei'kara; khhiu'draao - imperial legion; land army, h'treain ih'ssouhir - alien races, mheiset fvhachhuus erh'illen - periodic chart of the elements, mnakhao ih'peraere - number system.

The following are the cardinal numerals in Rihan:

(0 - lliu ) (1 - hwi ) (2 - kre ) (3 - sei ) (4 - mne ) (5 - rhi ) (6 - fve ) (7 - lli ) (8 - the ) (9 - lhi ) (10 - dha ) (100 - khu )

The above are the basic cardinal numbers; all other cardinal numbers are derived from the above; tens and hundreds derived from the above bases by a vowel change, as listed following:

(20 - kra ) (30 - seha ) (40 - mnha ) (50 - rha ) (60 - fvha ) (70 - lla ) (80 - thha ) (90 - lha ) (200 - kru ) (300 - sehu ) (400 - mnhu ) (500 - rhu ) (600 - fvhu ) (700 - llu ) (800 - thhu ) (900 - lhu )

Numbers from eleven to ninety-nine are formed in a regular manner as illustrated by the following examples:

(32 - seha'kre ) (53 - rha'sei ) (69 - fvha'lhi )

Numbers from 101 to 999 are also formed regularly:

(367 - sehu-fvha'lli ) (442 - mnhu-mnha'kre ) (980 - lhu-thha )

The word for "thousand" is dhei . Its use is quite regular, too, however its regularity is quite different from English.

(1000 - hwi dhei ) (1111 - hwi dhei khu-dha'hwi ) (2000 - kre dhei ) (43 269 - mnha'sei dhei fvhu-kra'sei ) (365 201 - sehu-fvha'rhi dhei kru'hwi )

The illustration above may give the impression that dhei functions almost identically to English "thousand", however, this is not the case, as its function is to represent any group of three zeroes. Millions and numbers larger are also expressed using dhei , like this:

(1 million - hwi kre-dhei ) (2 million - kre kre-dhei )

It can be noted above that "one million" is formed as "two dheis" - meaning something akin to "one two-groups-of-three-zeroes", which is exactly what a million is - a one followed by three zeroes. Further examples follow:

(10 million - dha kre-dhei ) (1 billion - hwi sei-dhei ) (93 trillion - lha'sei mnhe-dhei )

Fractions are formed with the particle erh' , with the denominator first, for example seha erh'lli means "seven thirtieths."

The decimal point is represented by the word errah , with numbers after the decimal point pronounced separately. "3.1415" would be rendered as sei errah hwi mne hwi rhi .

Ordinal numbers are formed from cardinals as adjectives are formed from nouns, with the affix-set nu -...- r , e.g. nuhwir , "first", nudha'lhir , "nineteenth", and so on.

Adverbs indicating a number of occasions are formed regularly with the prefix caehh' -, with the exception of "once", which is joaie . The others are all, however, formed regularly: caehh'kre , "twice", caehh'kru-kra'kre , "222 times", etc.

Sien - Time / Hveith - Calendar

Sien - time.

The Rihannsu, as the records of The Arrival state, were extremely lucky when they stumbled upon the Eisn system. The ch'Rihan/ch'Havran pair revolve around Eisn in a very stable orbit, a few degrees off from the 'horizontal' plane. There is very little wobble in their path, and it is less elipsoidal than the Terra/Luna pair which results in less drastic season changes throughout the year.

The two bodies orbit Eisn once every 380 days, as per ch'Rihan's day cycle. Being a decimal (base-10) oriented culture, the day was broken into hours, minutes, and seconds based on factors of ten. In order to maintain some consistency with existing time standards carried from Vulcan (they wanted a 'second' to approximate what they were used to as much as possible), the day was broken up thusly:

For reference, the Rihan 'minute' is equal to 55 Terran seconds, and the Rihan Second is only a few micro-seconds off from the Vulcan Second. Following these comparisons, the Rihan day is approximately 27 Terran minutes longer than Terra's, and the Rihan year is just under 22 days longer than a terran year.

Empirical time is constant throughout the Empire, based on the offical clock as positioned in the Empire's capital, Ra'tleihfhi, on ch'Rihan. There are no timezones, however other occupied planets do maintain 'local times' based on the particular planet's orbital/time system. All clocks and time-display devices are synchronized to Empirical Time as well however, to assure consistency.

Hveith - Calendar

As with most cultures that divide their year into 'months' based on seasonal patterns or orbitting bodies, the Rihan Month system is based on the orbital path of the ch'Rihan/ch'Havran pair, which completes a full cycle every 20 days. Therefore, the Rihan year is divided into 19 months, each consisting of two ten-day 'weeks'. Since seasonal changes are minimal on the homeworlds throughout the year (a fluctuation of +/- 12° celsius on average between their 'winter' and 'summer'), months are determined by the orbital path of ch'Rihan's sister-moon, ch'Havran, and where it appears in the sky. The first week of the month, Eisn appears higher in the sky than ch'Havran, and lower in the second week (coincidently, using Eisn as reference from ch'Havran, the same holds true on ch'Havran: Eisn will appear 'higher' in the sky than ch'Rihan, and vice-versa). The first day of a new month is easily noticed on ch'Rihan's capital city, since it involves a partial eclipse that lasts a couple of hours during the day. The months and weeks are named thusly:

Dates are written in the format of: 'Nth day of [month]-[high/low]Eisn, year AS (After Shipfall)'; there are three ways to write the date -

formal, common, and short:

Formal Written

Shad nudha'lhir khaidoam nuseir s'Avilh, Eisn ihfv, fvheisn hwi dhei llu-thha'lli aihkh Khhiuhiera. Nineteenth day of the third month of

Earth, low Eisn, year one thousand seven hundred eighty-seven after Shipfall.

Common Written

Sh. nu19r kh. nu3r s'Avilh, Eisn ihfv, fvh. 1787 aK 19th d. of 3rd m. of Earth, low Eisn, y. 1787 AS

Short Written

13-3-Avilh, E.i., 1787 aK 13-3-Earth, l.E., 1787 AS

Fvullhanhir - Substantives

Taekhosir - nouns.

Rihan nouns decline for case and number. There are two numbers, singular and plural, and three cases: Nominative-Accusative (also sometimes called 'common'), Genitive (possessive) and Dative (indirect object).

The Nominative-Accusative is used for both subject and direct object; the difference can be easily discerned by context, as Rihannsu has a fixed Verb-Object-Subject or Subject-Verb-Object word order; if no subject is present, the order is Verb-Object, and if no object is present, the order is Subject-Verb. An exception is the imperative: the object of the imperative always immediately precedes the imperative verb.

There are four regular declensions of nouns in Rihan, one for proper nouns and three for common nouns.

Proper nouns decline thusly:

• e-  : Common prefix indicating departure from one's hfihar (used in second name). For example, if a certain Galan i-Mhiessan tr'Khellian were to marry a t'Lhoell woman, his name would change to Galan e-Khellian tr'Lhoell - the married name generally replaces the locative second name. Optionally, the locative can remain (often used on formal documents or formal situations), giving a name such as Galan i-Mhiessan e-Khellian tr'Lhoell. However, if the male in question is hru'Hfirh of his hfihar, he does not take this name, because as hru'Hfirh, he cannot leave his hfihar. The case of a male hru'Hfirh marrying is one of the few cases where a woman would leave her hfihar, and in such a case it would be the woman who takes the "e-" second name. Marriage is the most common way of leaving one's house, but there are other situations in which a name such as this would be used. If Galan tr'Khellian were adopted or fostered into s'Lhoell, his name would be as described above - Galan e'Khellian tr'Lhoell. Although becoming outcast from one's hfihar is another way of leaving it, in that case the use of this name would be unacceptable, as this form of name refers to an honourable departure from one's hfihar. The outcast individual becomes an unperson in Romulan society, and would simply be called Galan, or in the unlikely event that clarification would be necessary, Galan i-Mhiessan, however this is unlikely to happen, either, as most Romulans would commit suicide almost immediately upon becoming outcast.
• ei-  : If the person is from a specific part of a city, this is used; or, Common elder-name prefix (used in second name); also used when one changes names due to an important event. If Galan i-Mhiessan tr'Khellian was riov of a warship in a victorious battle in the Usubau system, for example, he may decide to change his name to Galan ei-Usubau tr'Khellian. In formal situations and on formal documents, his full name would be listed as Galan i-Mhiessan ei-Usubau tr'Khellian. One could have several "ei-" form names, in fact, but would generally use only the one most appropriate to a given situation.
• i-  : This is a very common locative-name prefix indicating that the person was born in the city (not town or village) named.
• ir-  : This is another very common locative-name prefix, differing from "i-" in that it indicates the person's origin as being from the district, province or planet indicated. If the person in question is from a town or village, he would use this prefix with the name of the district or province in which his town is located. If he is from an unincorporated area of a planet, he would use the planet name with this prefix.
• S'-  : Male honorific prefix, used very commonly in older (Vulcan) firstnames.
• t'-  : Female clan name prefix (used in third name).
• T'-  : Female honorific prefix, used very commonly in older (Vulcan) firstnames.
• tr'- : Male clan name prefix (used in third name)
• Group I nouns are those which end in -i or -e;
• Group II nouns are those which end in -a, -o or -u;
• Group III nouns are those ending in a consonant sound.

Taekhosir Emael Dyyh'kraiin - Irregular Nouns

There are a small number of nouns in common use that decline irregularly. These are:

I'hhaemn'iut'hilledh Taekhosen - Derivation of Nouns

Nouns can be derived from other words in several ways, notably

• from verbs, with the suffix -elh , to create a deverbal noun, e.g. plhere'elh , "entrance (place to enter)" from the verb plhere , "to enter";
• from verbs, with the suffix -sam , to create a deverbal noun, similar to -elh above;
• from verbs, with the suffix -(i)fv , to create a deverbal noun, similar to -elh and -sam above. The i is inserted if the verb-root ends in a consonant; from verbs, with the prefix tem- , to create an action noun, e.g. templhere , "entry, entrance (act of entering)";
• from verbs, with the suffix -lai , to create an action noun, similar to tem- above;
• from verbs, using the affix-set i- ... -edh , to create an "-tion"/"-sion" noun, e.g. ivuinedh , "permission" from the verb vhuin , "to permit, to allow";
• from verbs, using the suffix -nen , to create an agent - one who does the activity specified by the verb, e.g. kholhnen , "defender"; the same can be created with the suffix -asi (kholhasi) , this is a more poetic form, however. Further rarely-used or poetic ways of forming the agent include the prefixes ra'-, ro- and la- or the suffix -an ;
• from verbs, using the affix-set la- ... -(e)ri , to create a noun which is the object of the root verb, e.g. larhudheri , "employee", from the verb rhudh , "to employ, to use" (The e is dropped if the verb root ends in e or a. Meaning the same thing is the suffix -hai , but this is less-commonly encountered than the ra-...-eri affix set;
• from nouns, with the suffix -asi or -a , forming an agentive;
• from nouns, with the suffix -ma , which corresponds to the English suffix "-ship";
• from nouns, with the suffix -'dhenn , which corresponds to the English suffix "-y", as in "agent > agency";
• from nouns, with the prefix eir- , which corresponds to the English suffix "-ate";
• from adjectives, using the suffix -'le , corresponding to English "-ness", e.g. eiheu'le , "calm, calmness", from the adjective eiheu , "calm";
• from adjectives, using the suffix -sam , corresponding to English "-ance" and "-ism";
• from adjectives, using the suffix -no , corresponding to English "-ity", e.g. aledno , "ability", from the adjective aled , "able".
• al'- indicates an improvement in the root;
• d'- is an honorific, giving the meaning "grand, great" to the root;
• ehl'- indicates a loss, a lack, or a deficiency in the root;
• el'- indicates an increase in the root, or a more advanced or superior level of the root;
• ne- indicates a decrease in the root, or a less advanced or inferior level of the root;
• di'- indicates a male gender of the root (generally used only with nouns denoting living beings);
• ri'- indicates a female gender of the root;
• -al is a diminutive;
• -hwy indicates that the root is tamed, or in some way held or restrained.

Ssiun'taekhosir - Pronouns

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The Romulans were a humanoid race from the planet Romulus . The Romulans were biological cousins of Vulcans , descended from those who rejected Surak 's reforms during the Time of Awakening . By the 24th century , the Romulan Star Empire was one of the major powers in the galaxy . After a supernova destroyed the Romulan sun , the Romulan Free State became the official government. Eventually, the Romulans reunified with the Vulcans and settled on the planet Vulcan, which was renamed Ni'Var .

• 1.1 Origins
• 1.2 Relationship with Humans and the Federation
• 1.3 Relationships with other species
• 1.4 Catastrophe and betrayal
• 1.5 Reunification
• 1.6 Mirror universe
• 2 Physiology
• 3.1 See also
• 4.1 Foods and beverages
• 6 Technology
• 7.1 Appearances
• 7.2.1 First television appearances
• 7.2.2 Possibility of Star Trek III inclusion
• 7.2.3 Next Generation reappearances
• 7.2.4 Return to films
• 7.2.5 Further television appearances
• 7.2.6 Depiction in 2009 film
• 7.2.7 Discovery and Picard
• 7.2.8 Reception and trivia
• 7.3 Further reading
• 7.4 Apocrypha
• 7.5 External links

History [ ]

Origins [ ].

Spock once theorized that the Vulcans might be descendants of the Arretans . ( TOS : " Return to Tomorrow ") In 2369 , evidence was discovered that several species including the Romulans, and therefore also the Vulcans , trace back to DNA seeded on many planets by ancient humanoids billions of years ago . ( TNG : " The Chase ")

By the late 24th century , some Romulans believed that the story of Ganmadan predated the arrival of the ancestors of the Romulans and Vulcans on Vulcan. ( PIC : " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 ")

When Surak's reforms of embracing logical principles and rejecting emotion spread rapidly across Vulcan in the 4th century , a minority rejected Surak's ideals. They were described as " those who march beneath the Raptor's wings ", a symbol later to be used in the Romulan Star Empire, and eventually departed Vulcan after losing a nuclear war called the Time of Awakening . At some point, they settled on twin planets that became known as Romulus and Remus , thereby laying the foundation of the Romulan Star Empire. ( ENT : " Kir'Shara "; TNG : " Gambit, Part I ", " Gambit, Part II "; Star Trek Nemesis )

Relationship with Humans and the Federation [ ]

Romulans were aware of Humanity for some time before Earth knew of them. Infiltrating the highest levels of the Vulcan High Command , the Romulans were impressed and seemingly confused by Humans. Enterprise NX-01 inadvertently encountered a Romulan minefield at one point, officially the first time Humanity became aware of the Romulans. Even after fighting the Earth-Romulan War , it wasn't until the 23rd century that Humans actually made visual contact with Romulans. ( ENT : " Minefield "; TOS : " Balance of Terror ")

After the Treaty of Algeron went into effect, the Romulans retreated into political and social isolation from the Federation. In late 2364 , an unprovoked attack on a Romulan outpost near the Federation Neutral Zone occurred. The Romulans initially suspected the Federation had executed the attack but it was later learned that the Borg may have been responsible. This event marked the end of Romulan political isolationism with the Federation. ( TNG : " The Neutral Zone ")

Relationships with other species [ ]

In keeping with their xenophobic attitudes, the Romulans tend to conquer species rather than form alliances with them, and individual Romulans tend to treat other species with varying degrees of disdain.

That did not prevent them from employing diplomacy when it suited their purposes. Soon after their emergence from a century of isolation in the mid 2260s , they had established at least two embassies with the Federation. One such embassy was a three-way endeavor on the planet Nimbus III , along with the Klingon Empire , and the other was on Earth itself. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

The Romulans allied with the Federation and the Klingons against the Dominion

Klingons and Romulans once shared an alliance for a number of years, beginning in the 2260s . But over the years, a number of unfortunate incidents, including the Khitomer Massacre , led the Klingons to develop a deep-seated hatred for the Romulans, and the Romulans were arguably the species that Klingon society in general despised most of all. ( TOS : " The Enterprise Incident "; TNG : " The Neutral Zone ")

A Cardassian embassy existed on Romulus for a time, and Elim Garak was "employed" there as a " gardener ," suggesting that the two species maintained an active diplomatic relationship. ( DS9 : " Broken Link ") In 2371 , Romulan and Cardassian agents in the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order cooperated in an attempted attack on the Dominion . ( DS9 : " Improbable Cause ", " The Die is Cast ") The Romulans had cut ties with the Cardassians by the time they entered into the Dominion War , but precisely when their relationship ended prior to this was unclear.

One common saying among the Romulans was, " Never turn your back on a Breen . " While this statement could be taken as partially humorous and not in itself indicative of hostilities between the two species, the Breen Thot 's apparent condition that the Breen be given Romulus in exchange for their help in the Dominion War suggested there was some degree of unfriendly history between the two. ( DS9 : " By Inferno's Light ", " Strange Bedfellows ")

The species that Romulans seem to dislike most, however, were Vulcans, and this feud goes back many centuries. The two powers once fought in a war that lasted a hundred years which was ignited due to a misunderstanding created by one of Q 's self-destructive stunts . ( VOY : " Death Wish ")

The two species remained distrustful of one another for an incredibly long time, but some Romulans grew tired of this, and a grassroots movement for reunification of the two species was active for a time on Romulus. It was generally assumed that after the split, Romulans and Vulcans were unaware of their common ancestry until the 23rd century . ( ENT : " Kir'Shara "; TOS : " Balance of Terror ")

Catastrophe and betrayal [ ]

The destruction of Romulus

In 2387 , the Romulan sun went supernova . Ambassador Spock attempted to prevent the supernova from striking the planet using red matter , but he was unsuccessful and Romulus was destroyed. A mining vessel , the Narada , survived and was captained by Nero , who exploited the black hole 's creation of a time warp into the past to attack Spock's home planet of Vulcan in revenge and planned to destroy all planets of the Federation so that Romulus could be "free" and possibly conquer everywhere else. The first part of Nero's plan was mostly successful as Vulcan and most of the Vulcan species was destroyed. However, the Narada and its crew were destroyed in the Battle of Earth by the crew of the Enterprise led by the James T. Kirk of the alternate reality . ( Star Trek )

Just prior to the destruction of Romulus, the Romulans reached out to the Federation, which accepted their request for help. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard would lead a fleet of rescue ships to Romulus in an attempt to evacuate as many Romulans as possible but the rescue ships were attacked and destroyed by, what appeared to be at the time , a group of malfunctioning, rogue synthetic life forms during their attack on Mars . This action led Starfleet to withdraw the rescue mission, thus betraying the Romulans in their hour of need. Not wanting to be a spectator in what he viewed as a dereliction of duty and criminal action by Starfleet, Picard gave Starfleet a choice of either accepting his revised plan for the mission, or his resignation, in which Starfleet Command chose the latter. In disgust, he retreated to his vineyard on Earth . ( PIC : " Remembrance ", " The End is the Beginning ")

After the destruction of Romulus, some of the surviving Romulans were politically organized as the Romulan Free State . ( PIC : " Maps and Legends ")

The Zhat Vash were later exposed as the true culprits of the attack on Mars, ending the ban on synthetics . Federation and Romulan forces had a brief standoff over the planet Coppelius , but the Romulans backed down when Soji Asha was proven not to be the Destroyer as the Zhat Vash feared. ( PIC : " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 ")

Following this, tensions between the two powers abated again with Elnor being welcomed as the first fully-blooded Romulan Starfleet cadet . ( PIC : " The Star Gazer ")

Reunification [ ]

Centuries after Spock's death, the Romulans reunified with the Vulcans and returned to their former home of Vulcan, which was renamed Ni'Var . In the early days, the Qowat Milat were crucial in establishing trust between the two peoples, though their reconciliation remained difficult. After the Burn in the 31st century , the Romulans advocated for remaining in the Federation, though they were overruled. ( DIS : " Unification III ")

After Ni'Var rejoined the Federation, Romulans joined Starfleet in various roles. One was a member of Commander Nhan 's team from Federation Security . ( DIS : " Erigah ")

Mirror universe [ ]

In the mirror universe , the Romulans appeared to be uninvolved in the conflict between the Terran Rebellion and the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance .

Benjamin Sisko , posing as his mirror universe counterpart , indicated to Jennifer Sisko that he was going to visit the Romulans to see if he could get their support. This was, in reality, a ruse to explain his return to Deep Space 9 . ( DS9 : " Through the Looking Glass ")

Physiology [ ]

Romulans in 2266

Due to their shared ancestry, Vulcans and Romulans possessed very similar physiology . ( DS9 : " Image in the Sand ") In addition, much like being an offshoot from their Vulcan cousins themselves, a race known as the Debrune were an ancient offshoot of the Romulans. ( TNG : " Unification I ", " Gambit, Part I ")

Romulans had pointed ears , eyebrows that were arched and up-swept, varied skin color, and copper -based blood that appeared green when oxygenated in the arteries, or copper or rust-colored when deoxygenated in the veins. ( Star Trek Generations ; PIC : " Absolute Candor ")

Some Romulans had two brow ridges above the bridge of their nose, forming a V-shape on the forehead, while other Romulans lacked these ridges, making them outwardly indistinguishable from Vulcans. Ridges were a trait associated with Northerners . ( PIC : " The End is the Beginning ")

The Romulan heart was gray in color. According to Garak, this fact was " altogether appropriate for such an unimaginative race. " ( DS9 : " Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges ")

Despite their common ancestry, there were also many subtle internal physiological differences between Vulcans and Romulans. Their life signs registered distinctly enough on the scanners of the USS Enterprise in 2268 that officer Pavel Chekov was able to distinguish his crewmate Spock from the crew complement of a Romulan starship, though he did note the difficulty of the task. ( TOS : " The Enterprise Incident ")

The physical differences between Romulans and Vulcans were evidenced in Dr. Beverly Crusher 's failed attempt to treat a Romulan, Patahk , who had suffered advanced synaptic breakdown, with the methods used to treat Vulcans. Describing that, between the two, there were " subtle differences… too many of them. " In fact, it was later determined that the genetic similarities between Romulans and Klingons allowed for the two species to have a compatible ribosome match to effect treatment. ( TNG : " The Enemy ")

The Terothka virus was a disease unique to Romulan physiology. Romulans were also susceptible to Tuvan Syndrome . ( VOY : " Message in a Bottle "; DS9 : " Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges ")

Romulans were known to be inter-fertile with Humans , Klingons , and Vulcans . ( TNG : " The Drumhead ", " Redemption II ", " Birthright, Part II "; PIC : " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1 ", et al.)

Romulans lacked the rigorous mental disciplines developed by the followers of Surak. ( TOS : " The Enterprise Incident ")

Society [ ]

In Romulan society, military/political rank influences social standing. Because Romulans were members of a militaristic civilization, who considered defending the Romulan Empire and their own personal honor of foremost importance, military service and its accompanying rank were decisive factors in determining social eminence. ( TOS : " Balance of Terror ") However, while the military played an important role in Romulan society, it was the Romulan Senate that controlled the government. ( Star Trek Nemesis )

Human clone Shinzon, who briefly became Praetor in 2379 after a coup d'etat , on his throne

At one point in history, Romulus was a sovereign nation ruled by an Empress , as indicated by Q . ( VOY : " The Q and the Grey ") By the 23rd century, the highest position of power was held by the Praetor , who presided over the Romulan Senate . ( TOS : " Balance of Terror "; Star Trek Nemesis ) The Praetor headed the Continuing Committee , which was composed of the Empire's most elite individuals, who made decisions of the utmost importance. ( DS9 : " Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges ")

By the 24th century , the government of Romulus was dependent upon the Tal Shiar , the Romulan secret police, to maintain order and stability among both civilians and the military. The Tal Shiar was known for its brutal tactics, which included routine kidnapping, torture, and assassination. Many Romulans feared even expressing dissenting opinions in order to not bring the attention of the Tal Shiar. There were also indications that tension existed between the military and the Tal Shiar. ( TNG : " Face Of The Enemy ")

Ayel, a Romulan miner

Romulan society was based upon a highly structured caste system. Unlike most of the highly evolved species in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants , Romulans still practiced slavery , in this case of the Remans , which they used for slave labor and as shock troops. ( Star Trek Nemesis )

Romulans tended to be highly xenophobic , engaging in extended periods of isolationism , and could be perceived as outright racist to other species, believing themselves to be superior. At least some Romulans believed that, one day, the Romulan Empire would rule the entire galaxy and that Humans would be extinct. ( TNG : " The Neutral Zone ", " Data's Day ", " The Enemy ") According to Miles O'Brien , there was no piece of technology in existence that the Romulans didn't claim they invented before everyone else. ( DS9 : " Explorers ") According to Worf , Romulans tried to claim as territory all that was in their field of vision. ( TNG : " Tin Man ")

Both males and females could command warships, obtain high political positions, and could be members of the Tal Shiar. ( TOS : " The Enterprise Incident "; TNG : " Contagion ", " Face Of The Enemy "; DS9 : " Image in the Sand ")

See also [ ]

• Romulan language

Culture [ ]

A street in the Krocton Segment on Romulus

The Romulans lacked the rigorous mental disciplines developed by the followers of Surak. Like the Vulcans, the Romulans gave up unrestrained violence as a way of life. However, in the case of the Romulans, this was replaced with a controlled deviousness: as a species, the Romulans were generally thought of as duplicitous, a reputation reinforced by the actions of their government over time. ( TNG : " The Neutral Zone ")

The Romulans saw and valued themselves as a passionate people. They dealt with loss differently from Humans: they loved deeply, and if it ended they honored that love by loving again, more deeply still. ( TNG : " Unification I "; PIC : " The Star Gazer ")

During the 23rd century , Romulans practiced the death penalty on criminals by means both painful and unpleasant. Prior to the presenting of the charges, the Romulans allowed the accused a Right of Statement . ( TOS : " The Enterprise Incident ")

Reluctance to rely on overt hostility generally led the Romulans to play a waiting game with their opponents, attempting to manipulate an adversary into breaking – or appearing to break – an agreement so as to give them a solid justification for striking. ( TNG : " The Defector ", " The Pegasus ")

They were also well-known for fearing disgrace over death. ( TAS : " The Practical Joker ") With this frame of mind, Romulan parents disposed of any newborn carrying birth defects, as the alternative would mean a waste of resources. ( TNG : " The Enemy ")

Romulan custom was to promise males and females to each other from birth. ( PIC : " The Star Gazer ")

The totalitarian nature of Romulan society, in which dissent was often a crime and Romulan security officers masqueraded as citizens, led many Romulans to be extremely paranoid. ( TNG : " Unification I ")

Romulans had three names : one for outsiders, one for family , and a true name for the one they gave their hearts to. ( PIC : " The Impossible Box ")

Traditional Romulan homes had a false front door and their true entrance was located in the back. ( PIC : " The End is the Beginning ")

A common Romulan saying was " jolan tru ", which was used for both "hello" and "goodbye". ( ENT : " United "; TNG : " Unification I ", " Unification II "; PIC : " Absolute Candor ")

Another saying was: " Sab khut hafeth, frazhannempal was qailefeth " ("Seize today, for we know nothing of tomorrow"). ( PIC : " The Star Gazer ")

The path of Zhal Makh meditation is outlined on the floor

The Zhal Makh was a traditional form of meditation practiced by the Romulans and considered taboo to non-Romulans. ( PIC : " The Impossible Box ")

In the 24th century, a dissident movement began to gain momentum, based on the desire to learn about Vulcan and their ideals. The movement's ultimate goal was the reunification of Romulus and Vulcan . Ambassador Spock was deeply involved in this movement. ( TNG : " Unification I ", " Face Of The Enemy ")

Miles O'Brien once played a game of tongo with a Romulan mercenary ( DS9 : " Change of Heart "). In cases of anonymity, they were known for commonly using hired assassins , such as the Flaxians , to conduct their off-world "justice" ( DS9 : " Improbable Cause ").

The deviousness, xenophobia, and practiced duplicity were notably rejected by the Qowat Milat , an order of warrior nuns that were ideologically (and sometimes martially) opposed to the Tal Shiar and the Zhat Vash . They instead practiced the Way of Absolute Candor , i.e. the total communication of emotion without filter between thought and word. They were also open to non-Romulan women being inducted into their ranks. ( PIC : " Absolute Candor "; DIS : " Unification III ")

Foods and beverages [ ]

• Jumbo Romulan mollusk
• Romulan ale
• Romulan whiskey
• List of named Romulans
• List of unnamed Romulans

Technology [ ]

• See main article: Romulan technology

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " Minefield " (voice only) (Season 2)
• " Kir'Shara " (Season 4)
• " Babel One "
• " The Aenar "
• " Balance of Terror " (Season 1)
• " The Deadly Years " (mentioned only) (Season 2)
• " The Enterprise Incident " (Season 3)
• " The Survivor " (Season 1)
• " The Time Trap "
• " The Practical Joker " (Season 2)
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• " The Neutral Zone " (Season 1)
• " Contagion " (Season 2)
• " The Enemy " (Season 3)
• " The Defector "
• " Tin Man "
• " Future Imperfect " ( hologram only) (Season 4)
• " Data's Day "
• " The Drumhead "
• " The Mind's Eye "
• " Redemption "
• " Redemption II " (Season 5)
• " Unification I "
• " Unification II "
• " The Next Phase "
• " Face Of The Enemy " (Season 6)
• " Birthright, Part I "
• " Birthright, Part II "
• " The Chase "
• " Timescape "
• " The Pegasus " (Season 7)
• " All Good Things... "
• Star Trek Generations (corpse only)
• Star Trek Nemesis
• " The Search, Part I " (Season 3)
• " The Search, Part II "
• " Visionary "
• " Improbable Cause "
• " The Die is Cast "
• " Homefront " (Season 4)
• " In Purgatory's Shadow " (Season 5)
• " By Inferno's Light "
• " In the Pale Moonlight " (Season 6)
• " Tears of the Prophets "
• " Image in the Sand " (Season 7)
• " Shadows and Symbols "
• " Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges "
• " When It Rains... "
• " The Dogs of War "
• " What You Leave Behind "
• " Eye of the Needle " (Season 1)
• " Unity " (Season 3)
• " Message in a Bottle " (Season 4)
• " Infinite Regress " (flashback nightmare ) (Season 5)
• " Flesh and Blood " (hologram only) (Season 7)
• " Q2 " (hologram only)
• " Remembrance " (Season 1)
• " Maps and Legends "
• " The End is the Beginning "
• " Absolute Candor "
• " Stardust City Rag "
• " The Impossible Box "
• " Nepenthe "
• " Broken Pieces "
• " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1 "
• " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 "
• " The Star Gazer " (Season 2)
• " Penance "
• " Assimilation "
• " Watcher "
• " Fly Me to the Moon "
• " Two of One "
• " Monsters "
• " Hide and Seek "
• " Farewell "
• " The Next Generation " (Season 3)
• " Imposters " (photo only)
• " Veritas " (Season 1)
• " Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus " (hologram only) (Season 3)
• " I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee " (Season 4)
• " Empathological Fallacies "
• " The Inner Fight "
• " Old Friends, New Planets "
• " Unification III " (Season 3)
• " All Is Possible " (Season 4)
• " The Galactic Barrier "
• " A Quality of Mercy " (Season 1)
• " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow " (Season 2)
• " Crossroads " (Season 1)
• " Masquerade "

Background information [ ]

First television appearances [ ].

The Romulans were conceived by freelance writer Paul Schneider and introduced in the TOS Season 1 episode " Balance of Terror ". Despite Schneider alone being given on-screen credit for the writing of that particular episode, citation for the creator of the Romulans became somewhat muddied as the years went by. In an article from Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 11 (p. 20), Star Trek: The Original Series writing staffer John D.F. Black wrote, " It's been stated so often that the Romulans were created by producer Gene Coon that I find it difficult to keep from walking lockstep with the legend, nodding along with it, in spite of my having been there while the Romulans emerged from the imagination of Paul Schneider. " Another person who was there at the time was D.C. Fontana , who was present when Schneider pitched the episode to Gene Roddenberry . Regarding Schneider's work on the Romulans, Fontana later said, " He defined it; he very much laid out who the Romulans were. Paul doesn't get enough credit for it. " (" Balance of Terror " Starfleet Access , TOS Season 1 Blu-ray ) (Note that Gene Coon was not yet a member of the Star Trek creative staff when "Balance of Terror" was written and produced. Coon joined Norway Corporation (Roddenberry's production company) roughly a month later, starting with " Miri ".)

Paul Schneider modeled the Romulans on the ancient Romans , naming the species' homeworlds after the mythical founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus . " It was a matter of developing a good Romanesque set of admirable antagonists that were worthy of Kirk , " Schneider related. " I came up with the concept of the Romulans which was an extension of the Roman civilization to the point of space travel, and it turned out quite well. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 34) D.C. Fontana reckoned that Schneider basing the aliens on the pre-existing Roman civilization was the cause for the writer receiving insufficient credit for creating the Romulans. (" Balance of Terror " Starfleet Access , TOS Season 1 Blu-ray ) Gene Roddenberry, interested in ancient Rome himself, approved of the initial depiction of the Romulan species. " He loved Paul's having endowed the enemy-Romulans with the militaristic character of the ancient Romans, " wrote John D.F. Black and Mary Black . ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 11 , p. 19) Roddenberry's original concept of the Romulans, however, was that they represented 1960s' Chinese Communists. ( Star Trek Nemesis hardback ed., p. xx)

The script for "Balance of Terror" originally implied, by describing the Romulan Bird-of-Prey as an Enterprise saucer section attached to a pair of warp nacelles, that the Romulans had somehow stolen starship components from the Federation. (" Balance of Terror " Starfleet Access , TOS Season 1 Blu-ray ) When first introduced in the revised final draft script of "Balance of Terror", the Romulans were described " with ears pointed as Spock's ears are pointed… much like Spock, the Romulans. " A description of them from further in the script stated, " They are Spock-like men, dressed in military tunics with strange emblems. Like Spock, their almond-colored faces are coldly impassive. " The next paragraph in the teleplay referred to "the striking resemblance they have in common with Mister Spock – Vulcanite ears!"

In common with Gene Roddenberry, the Blacks and D.C. Fontana also appreciated Paul Schneider's invention of the Romulans, the Blacks describing them as, " Villains strong enough and clever enough that the audience would be compelled to believe they were capable of the first move that would lead to the destruction of the Federation. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 11 , p. 20) Fontana enthused, " They were a wonderful, wonderful enemy […] to have, because we could talk about them, people had seen them once, and we didn't know a lot about them. They were wonderfully mysterious. They've always been my favorites, actually – right up there, next to the Vulcans […] Paul did a very good job of, you know, creating this race, ultimately, in the script. " Fontana also cited the Romulans' exoticism, their pointed ears and relation to Vulcans as one element of why she liked the Romulans. (" Balance of Terror " Starfleet Access , TOS Season 1 Blu-ray )

Lots of experience with Vulcan ear and eyebrow prosthetics, as worn by Leonard Nimoy in the role of Spock, stood makeup artist Fred Phillips in good stead for dealing with the Romulans in Star Trek: The Original Series . ( Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook , p. 185) However, the makeup was too impractical for the Romulans to be brought back on a regular basis, with the pointed ears especially bringing about several problems. The cost of manufacturing the ears, which were made from latex, was too enormous for multiple actors in any episode and the manpower required to create the ears and apply them for each individual actor would have gone over the budget. The need for costly actor-specific ears was negated via reusable helmets that were worn by the background Romulans. ( Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts , pp. 41 & 42) " It took a long time for the ears to be put on […] And you have a large number of extras coming in, that have to have these ears put on. It's very expensive, it's time, " commented Denise Okuda . " And so they came up with this ingenious idea of putting helmets on, so you could hide the fact that these actors did not have pointed ears on. " (" Balance of Terror " Starfleet Access , TOS Season 1 Blu-ray ) The Romulan ears were manufactured by Wah Chang , as were the group's helmets. For both, he charged Desilu Productions US$748.80. (This would be more than US$7,000 in 2020s money.) Chang invoiced Desilu for this payment on 26 July 1966 and the price was paid in the following month (on either 10 or 13 August ). ( Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook , pp. 240-241)

Following their introduction in the first season, the Romulans indirectly appeared in the second season installment " The Deadly Years ", via recycled footage of the Romulan Bird-of-Prey , and were temporarily planned to appear themselves in the story that became Season 2's " A Piece of the Action ". As such, they were written into the first draft script for the latter of those two episodes, then entitled "Mission Into Chaos". [1]

The Romulans finally made a physical reappearance in the third season outing " The Enterprise Incident ", which had the working title "The Romulan Incident". titles.htm The same episode was an allegorical story that politically based the Romulans on North Koreans. ( Star Trek: The Original Series 365 , p. 277) Applying a pair of the Romulan ear prosthetics during production on "The Enterprise Incident" typically took forty-five minutes. Having portrayed one of the Romulans in that particular episode, Tal actor Jack Donner pronounced, " The Romulans are a great race of people. " ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 137 , p. 53)

Possibility of Star Trek III inclusion [ ]

The Romulans were originally meant to be the villains in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . In an early story outline that Harve Bennett wrote for the third film, the Romulans discovered that the Genesis Planet had extraordinarily rich dilithium deposits and found Spock's coffin on the planet's surface. Even though they initiated a mining operation, the Romulans encountered trouble with this upon discovering that someone was killing members of the mining team, a mysterious individual who was later discovered to be a regenerated Spock. The story also brought the Romulans in conflict with the Enterprise and its senior officers. Though Kirk realized that the Romulans would become unstoppable if they succeeded with their mining mission, the Romulans were ultimately thwarted by the Starfleet officers, who – having caused the Enterprise to self-destruct to prevent a Romulan boarding party from seizing it – proceeded to capture the Romulan ship for themselves. ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 3, Issue 8 , pp. 29-30)

As Harve Bennett subsequently discussed the story with Leonard Nimoy , the Romulans were at the forefront of their thinking. " Our first conversations were about the Romulans versus the Klingons, " Bennett later explained. " I was just looking for a heavy, and in the series – to me – the Romulans seemed to be more dastardly than the Klingons. So it was an error of ignorance. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 3, Issue 8 , p. 30) Bennett went on to say, " I could have chosen the Romulans, but from my experience seeing all the episodes, I'd never gotten that sense of determination and absolutism that the Klingon episodes have revealed. " ( audio commentary , Star Trek III: The Search for Spock  (Special Edition) DVD / Blu-ray ) Moreover, Nimoy persuaded Bennett that the Romulans were less theatrical than the Klingons, so the name of the species that would serve as the movie's villain was switched. The Klingon Bird-of-Prey was intended to have been stolen from the Romulans, but this information was left out of the film. ( The Art of Star Trek , pp. 215, 217 & 219)

Next Generation reappearances [ ]

In the first edition of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Writer'/Directors' Guide , Gene Roddenberry declared that no stories concerning warfare with Romulans would be accepted for the new series. ( The Art of Star Trek , p. 92) However, when Roddenberry was attempting to decide upon a new antagonist for regular use on Star Trek: The Next Generation (while considering that the Klingons would no longer appear as recurring villains), writer D.C. Fontana thought of the Romulans. Fontana later recalled, " I sent him a memo, suggesting 'How about the Romulans?' After all, they hadn't been developed all that much in The Original Series , and they were a glamorous, attractive enemy. " ( Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before paperback ed., p. 110) Secure in the knowledge that the TNG viewers had accepted the series as a new version of Star Trek rather than a retread, Roddenberry felt confident enough to bring back the Romulans at the end of the show's first season . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , p. 66) Roddenberry allowed the Romulans to occasionally feature on the new series from then on, but preferred not to use them as the series' primary villains. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 036)

The return of the Romulans in the first season TNG episode " The Neutral Zone " was originally discussed as the first of a multi-part story that would have united them with the Federation against the newly discovered Borg . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion , 3rd ed., p. 60) Writing staffer Maurice Hurley , who wrote "The Neutral Zone" and devised the multi-episode arc, intended for the Romulans to engage in a major battle against a Borg scout ship in the second of the three episodes, planned for the show's second season . The conflict would have culminated in the Romulans destroying the Borg vessel but being completely annihilated themselves. The extermination of the Romulan people would have left a mystery for Picard as to how they had managed to defeat the Borg ship before it had wiped them all out. ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 23 , pp. 15-16) A Writers Guild strike nixed this plan and the introduction of the Borg had to wait. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion , 3rd ed., p. 60) Nonetheless, the reappearance of the Romulans in "The Neutral Zone" proved the species had lost none of its appeal. ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 12 , p. 21)

Marc Alaimo in Romulan makeup and costuming

Patrick Stewart in Romulan makeup

Marina Sirtis in Romulan makeup and costuming

For their appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation , makeup artist Michael Westmore gave the Romulans V-shaped forehead ridges to "compete" with the Klingon redesign introduced in Star Trek: The Motion Picture . ( The Art of Star Trek , p. 92) The Romulan ridges also developed from efforts to make them look more menacing than how they had appeared before and physically differentiate them from Vulcans. " From the very first moment they appeared on-screen, " Westmore commented, " the viewer had to take them seriously, rather than seeing them as stereotyped villains with pointed ears […] I devised a forehead that had a dip in the center, and then I hollowed out the temple area. We wanted to stay close to their natural forehead, not making them look Neanderthal, but giving them a built-in sullen expression they couldn't get away from. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 068)

It was found that this facial feature complemented a change to the typical Romulan hairstyle that Michael Westmore wanted to introduce. He said of the restyled Romulans, " I gave them a little wedge to the center of the hair on their forehead instead of the Vulcans' straight-across bang. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 12 , p. 26)

Although the Romulan genealogical tie to Vulcans was unspecified by TNG's writers when the Romulans were brought back – with "Balance of Terror" having introduced the species merely as a likely Vulcan offshoot – the opinion of the show's writers regarding the nature of this relationship had changed by the series' fifth season , as had personnel in the TNG writers' room. Writer Ronald D. Moore , who joined the show in its third season , expressed, " I hated the foreheads on the Romulans. The backstory [established in ' Unification [!] '] was that they were basically the same race, yet somehow the Romulans got these different foreheads at some point. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 068) However, the redesigned Romulan makeup remained for subsequent Star Trek productions, not only those set in the 24th century but also for when Romulans were featured on Star Trek: Enterprise . The makeup was so extensive that it required the actor's head to be measured during pre-production (at least, it did in the case of Vaughn Armstrong , when preparing to play Telek R'Mor in VOY : " Eye of the Needle "). [2]

Initially, the alternate timeline in " Yesterday's Enterprise " incorporated a Romulan alliance with the Vulcans. Together, they destroyed the Klingons and almost wiped out the Federation. ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 24 , p. 28)

In " Tin Man ", the Romulans were at first deliberately written about somewhat sympathetically by the episode's writers, Dennis Putman Bailey and David Bischoff . " We knew it wasn't allowed to use the Romulans as the 'bad guys,' so we found different way to use them, " explained Bailey. " We presented their point of view very clearly and why they felt threatened by the Federation. Interestingly enough, the dialogue about that was cut from the final cut and I think they decided it was okay to use the Romulans as bad guys without justifying it. " ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 102 , p. 16)

Naren Shankar , who wrote the teleplay for " Face Of The Enemy ", thoroughly approved of how the Romulans are shown in that installment, saying, " The Romulans are not demonised […] which I think is very important. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 17 , p. 22)

Return to films [ ]

For Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , Romulan makeup was designed and fabricated by Richard Snell , though applied by Makeup Supervisor Michael J. Mills . Even though the Romulan facial features on TNG had significantly evolved from those on The Original Series , the Romulans were returned to their earlier form for Star Trek VI . " Basically, this time they had larger, bushier eyebrows and bigger ears, " noted Mills. " We stayed away from the forehead pieces and the radically different ears the new TV series has featured and just went with the original look. " ( Cinefex , no. 49, pp. 42 & 45)

Romulans were one alien race which, prior to the advent of Star Trek: Voyager , had become extremely familiar elements of the Star Trek universe. Deliberately, much less attention was paid to them in Voyager . ( Star Trek: Voyager - A Vision of the Future , pp. 155 & 162)

Romulans were initially intended to show up in a battle sequence near the start of Star Trek Generations . In this conflict, a group of Romulans would have attacked a couple of ensigns aboard the Amargosa observatory but then been ambushed themselves by an away team from the USS Enterprise -D , particularly Worf. Following comments from Jeri Taylor , this was changed to become a scene aboard a holographic simulation of the brig USS Enterprise , with only the aftermath of the battle being shown. ( The Making of the Trek Films , UK ed., p. 150)

The Romulans were originally to have filled the conspiratorial role that the Son'a play in Star Trek: Insurrection . According to writer Michael Piller in his unpublished reference book Fade In: From Idea to Final Draft , the idea of using the Romulans as major villains in the film was inspired by the fact that the species had been a long-standing enemy of the Federation but had never been featured in a Star Trek movie before. Additionally, Piller and Rick Berman imagined that the story might be set against the threat of a new outbreak of hostilities between the two governments. The Romulans went on to be written into the first version of the film's story. ( AOL chat , 1998 )

As told in Fade In: From Idea to Final Draft , Patrick Stewart criticized even the thought of using the Romulans in Insurrection , believing that they wouldn't make a suitable rival for the follow-up to Star Trek: First Contact . On 1 June 1997 , he wrote a letter to Rick Berman in which Stewart stated, " I think what dismays me most about the story is the dredging up of the Romulans – a race already unexciting in TNG – as the bad guys. It is revisionist and backward looking in a most disappointing way. After the Borg – the Romulans? Oh, my. " On 30 June , Michael Piller responded to this letter with one in which he explained, " We have, from the start, intended to re-invent the Romulans because we agree with you. We’ve been talking about a complete overhaul of their look as well as their character. If it means a great deal to you, I’d personally be willing to change it to another race. Do you have any suggestions? " Stewart responded with another letter, which he sent on 7 July and which confirmed that "the Romulan question" was highly important to him. Stewart continued, " I think it is a deadly idea to have even an 'overhauled' Romulan villain. After the Borg Queen it will look as if we just couldn’t come up with any new bad guys. But we must. "

The change to the newly invented Son'a was made "because nobody liked the idea of using the Romulans, ever," said Michael Piller. ( The Secrets of Star Trek: Insurrection , p. 14) Regarding the prospect of including the Romulans, Piller clarified, " No-one here felt a great deal of enthusiasm for that decision. " ( AOL chat , 1998 ) However, Eric A. Stillwell , who contributed to the making of Insurrection as a production associate and script coordinator, believed that the Romulans should have been used, saying, " I think this would have had a greater dramatic impact than introducing an entirely new group of bad guys. " He also noted about the exclusion of the Romulans, " I think that was a mistake. " [3] (X)

One of the first concepts in the writing of Star Trek Nemesis was to centrally feature the Romulans. A primary advocate for this choice of villain was writer John Logan – a big fan of the species and "the lethal machinations" characteristic of the group. " For a writer, the malicious subtlety of the Romulans, " remarked Logan, " offers great opportunities; the cleverness and formality of their language must suggest that they are simultaneously a deadly political foe and a noble, ancient race. Besides, I had just finished working on Gladiator and was in a classical frame of mind. The serpentine rhythms of the language we created for the Roman Empire in that movie were good practice for writing the august and treacherous Romulans. " ( Star Trek Nemesis hardback ed., pp. xvii-xviii) Logan also enthused, " I was delighted with the chance to get to play with the Romulans, and I don't think they've quite been explored enough […] For me the Communist Chinese is a really interesting world that was never fully explored, certainly in the movies, and not even as much as I would have liked in the series, except for individual episodes. I've always found that sort of Byzantine structure of Chinese Communism very interesting and very provocative, and lethal in a way I never found the Klingons. There is so much duplicity and mendacity and cleverness in the way the Romulans move through their world with very strategic chess moves. And also they are an old and ancient race, like the Vulcans, so they have gravitas to them, which I find very interesting. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 2 , pp. 11-12)

John Logan doubting that the Romulans would mine dilithium for themselves was a strong influence on the creation of the Remans . " It seemed obvious to me, " he said, " that the Romulans would subjugate some other race to dig dilithium for them. Much too messy for our pristine and elegant Romulans. " As an homage to Gene Roddenberry's original conception of the Romulans as Chinese Communists, Logan and the other writers of Nemesis made all the Romulan and Reman names in the film of ancient Chinese descent. ( Star Trek Nemesis hardback ed., p. xx)

Although the Remans are clearly the main villainous species in Nemesis , Rick Berman was repeatedly reported as stating, in an interview on a UPN station local to Los Angeles, that the Romulans would be the major villain in the film. [4] (X) [5] (X) In Star Trek: Communicator  issue 131 , he clarified, " What I said was that we would be seeing the Romulans in this movie, which we are, but I did not necessarily say that they were going to be our main villains. " [6] (X) In Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 23 (p. 10), he further hinted about the Romulans, " They are part of the villainy, but not in the way that some might think! "

Eric Stillwell was puzzled upon hearing a rumor that the Romulans might be involved in Nemesis at all. He later commented, " I thought [that] was odd after we were asked to remove the Romulans from the original story in Insurrection . " [7] (X)

Before the release of Nemesis , Rick Berman additionally remarked, " I'm sure you can expect a fresh, updated look for the Romulans […] I think there will be some surprises as to what the Romulans will look like. " [8] (X) As it was, the Romulan designs used in the film were much as they had been in the preceding series. These similarities not only included their makeup but also stemmed to the production design of their ships, with Production Designer Herman Zimmerman saying, " The Romulans have been kind of an art deco culture and that's what you see [in Nemesis ], echoes of 1930s geometry in architecture, just turned sideways. " [9] (X)

Applying the Romulan prosthetics for Nemesis regularly took four hours. " I had a forehead prosthetic that they stuck to my head, " reported Donatra actress Dina Meyer . " The morning make-up routine consisted of me going into hair and getting my head wrapped – they make your hair all pin-curled and they put your head in a wig cap, so all your hair is pulled off your face. Then you go to the make-up trailer, where they attach the prosthetic forehead and prosthetic ear tips and then they pile on the make-up. They need a spatula to put it on, it's so thick. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 100 , p. 23)

Further television appearances [ ]

Because "Balance of Terror" had established Starfleet's first confirmed visual contact with the Romulans as being in 2266 , it was somewhat difficult for them to appear on Enterprise , that prequel series primarily being set in the 2150s . The show's producers wanted to include Romulans in the series, despite the risk of contaminating Star Trek canon, ever since the series began. ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 135 , p. 23)

Some initial consideration was given to making unnamed aliens in ENT : " Silent Enemy " actually be Romulans. André Bormanis , a writing staffer who wrote that episode, explained, " I wondered whether they might be Romulans until we decided to do a CGI alien effect [for the aliens themselves]. I think the technology of their ship, though, was too sophisticated for Romulans in this era, so that argued against making them Romulans too. " [10] (X)

The interest in seeing the Romulans on the series of Enterprise continued, however. " We have major continuity issues with them, " observed Executive Producer Brannon Braga , at the end of the show's first season . " We would very much like to do Romulans, but a) we don't know quite how yet, and b) since the new movie [ Star Trek Nemesis ] deals with Romulans, we want to give them some breathing room. We'll do them eventually, but not right away. " ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 139 , p. 29) Intense speculation regarding whether the Romulans would appear in the series was stirred up at the end of Season 1. ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 145 , p. 24)

In fact, just prior to the release of Star Trek Nemesis , the Romulans seemed to have disappeared. At the time, John Logan rhetorically asked, " Why isn't anyone using them? " Reflected Jack Donner, " To a great deal they have been ignored. They haven't paid that much attention to them [in recent series]. There have certainly been episodes that dealt with Romulans, but nothing like the Klingons, Cardassians , and Ferengi . " ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 137 , pp. 46 & 53)

In Star Trek: Communicator  issue 137 (p. 85), Rick Berman predicted, " I would […] not be surprised that, within the next six to twelve months, we will have our first run-in with Romulans […] I […] think we will undoubtedly be running into Romulans at some point. " However, Berman made these statements without the writing staff of Enterprise having discussed the species appearing on the series nor the art department doing any design work related to the Romulans. [11] (X) [12] (X) Responding to the news, André Bormanis remarked, " If that's the case, I'm looking forward to it. " [13] (X)

One possibility, considered at around the end of the first season, was whether John Logan would be able to write the script for the Romulans' appearance on Enterprise , which then began to be a likely option for the show's second season . " Yeah, he would love to do that, and we would love to give him that chance, " announced Rick Berman. " It's all going to have to do with his time – he has three huge movies that he is working on now. We'll see what happens. " In the same interview, Berman went on to outrightly dismiss the chance that Romulans could show up in the first season. ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 138 , p. 20)

Despite the second season installment " Minefield " initially excluding the Romulans and its premise being a story set entirely on the hull of Enterprise , the plot evolved to include the Romulans. " The idea that the attacking aliens would be Romulans came out a little later, during the story break process, " Brannon Braga recollected. " We needed to be true to continuity and this was a way to do it. " ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 145 , p. 24) Braga was happy that this portrayal of the Romulans seemed to come at an appropriate time, commenting, " I think it's cool that on Star Trek Nemesis you can see the Romulans of Picard's time, and at the same time you're seeing the early encounters with them on Enterprise ; there's great synergy there. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 99 , p. 8)

At a convention in Minneapolis held on the second weekend of July 2002 , Connor Trinneer conceded that, although he did not know any specifics about the Romulans making a return appearance on Enterprise , such an appearance was very possible, saying he "wouldn't be surprised" by it, at all. [14] (X) It was merely days later, on Tuesday 16 July 2002 , that Brannon Braga finally announced the upcoming Season 2 Romulan episode, hinting, " I think I can say without getting into too much trouble that very early in the season we will have our first brush with the Romulans. … Capt. Archer will have a very lethal brush with the Romulans early on. " [15] (X) On several occasions, Braga also tried to give assurances that the continuity with the Romulans was "airtight." [16] (X) [17] (X)

Despite featuring heavily in "Minefield", Malcolm Reed actor Dominic Keating revealed to fans, " I have NO idea who they are! " [18] (X)

Prior to the initial airing of Enterprise 's season 2 finale " The Expanse ", many fans at first incorrectly speculated that the Romulans were responsible for the attack on Earth depicted in that episode – thought to be the initial volley in the Romulans' previously established war with Earth – and would be the focus of the series' third season , rather than the multi-species Xindi . Brannon Braga was of the opinion that, had the Romulans indeed been used, they would have become "old" and less satisfying during the relatively lengthy course of the third season arc. He also stated that this did not exempt the species from appearing in that season, in which they nevertheless ultimately did not feature. ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 145 , p. 32)

The Earth-Romulan War was, however, intended to be explored in the fifth season of Star Trek: Enterprise and the film Star Trek: The Beginning , neither of which were produced. Brannon Braga and Manny Coto considered making " Future Guy " a Romulan, while Michael Sussman intended on revealing T'Pol's father was a Romulan agent. ( Information provided by Michael Sussman )

The Romulans would have had a grander future had the animated series Star Trek: Final Frontier been produced instead of the film Star Trek : set in the 2460s , a war caused by Omega particle detonations (which was not actually the Romulans' fault) permitted them to conquer Qo'noS , destroy Andoria , and force the Vulcans to leave the Federation to negotiate reunification .

Depiction in 2009 film [ ]

During development of the 2009 film Star Trek , the writers of the movie's script, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci , chose the Romulans as the villains because the film was a continuation of Spock's story from "Unification". [19] J.J. Abrams said, " What was interesting to me was that it wasn't the Klingons. That's what you expect and it was fun to use the Romulans the way we did, " referring to their premature appearance in Kirk's life being a clear marker of divergence from the prime reality. " Part of the fact is that they hadn't seen them for so many years, so that it immediately breaks, for anyone who knows, the rules of Trek to start the movie and have Romulans crossing paths with Starfleet. " [20] Orci and Kurtzman focused more on writing the Romulans in later drafts of the screenplay. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 146 , p. 27)

Romulan prosthetics for the film Star Trek were at first arranged to be the purview of Proteus FX Makeup Effects Supervisor Barney Burman . " I did some early designs for the Romulans in my shop, but when my workload became too heavy, I hired Joel Harlow to come in and handle them. We all decided it would be best if Joel took over the task of creating the Romulans on set close to [Director] J.J. [Abrams] so he could see and direct their progress each day. We set up a makeup trailer for the Romulans, and Joel hired a crew of people to work on that and just did a fantastic job. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 155 , p. 57) This makeup crew, called Joel Harlow Designs , sculpted and designed Romulan ear and forehead prosthetics. A total of forty main Romulan characters were created to appear in the movie, a process that started with lifecasts for each actor. ( Star Trek - The Art of the Film , p. 37) Harlow himself remembered, " J.J. did not want to see any hair lace in the wig applications, so we made the entire forehead and eyebrows as one piece, with hair punched into the silicone before application. I wanted to give the Romulans an animal look, so we widened their nose bridge and did some interesting stuff with their brows – but nothing so extreme that you couldn't believe they were real. " ( Cinefex , No. 118, pp. 46 & 47) After the individual prosthetic pieces were crafted and prepared for filming, Harlow's team also applied the prosthetics. The Romulan makeup designs from the same film incorporated tattoos that were made to look tribal. ( Star Trek - The Art of the Film , p. 37)

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci admitted that, even in the alternate reality , not all Romulans are necessarily bald. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 149 , p. 13) In reality, baldness of Nero and his crew was used to set the Romulans apart, physically, from the Vulcans in the movie, due to both species having slanted eyebrows and pointed ears. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 155 , p. 57)

Casting Director April Webster was at first very puzzled as to how to cast the Romulans in the film. " I had no idea what we were going to do with the Romulans, " she conceded. However, an influence on overcoming this challenge was the fact that the rest of the movie's cast incorporated a wide variety of people, with different skin colors and ages. Webster continued about the Romulans, " We just made a list of the most interesting actors we could think of who could match up and hold their own in a scene with [ Nero actor] Eric Bana . " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 144 , p. 30)

There were subtle alterations made to the Romulan prosthetics (at least for the Nero character) before filming, making it easier to perform on long shooting days. Eric Bana stated, " The prosthetics only underwent very minor changes, just for comfort and actability. Sometimes you make a really tiny change with the prosthetic, or the glue, or where it's attached, and it can really make a difference to your ability to convey expression. We had a few goes at that in pre-production to get that right. " By the time a week of filming had gone by, Bana found the new Romulan facial appearance "began to look completely normal to me, and regular Humans started to look weird!" ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 146 , p. 24) On the other hand, according to Star Trek Magazine  issue 146 (p. 24), the Romulans on set seemed distinctly intimidating.

Discovery and Picard [ ]

The Romulans have been purposely excluded from featuring in Star Trek: Discovery . Showrunner Aaron Harberts explained, " 'Romulan' is a dirty word in our writers' room right now, because of where we are in the timeline. We don't talk about the Romulans […] The sparks fly when the writers bring up the Romulans. " ( AT : " O Discovery, Where Art Thou? ")

When Neville Page designed the Romulan makeup for Star Trek: Picard , he decided to use a variety of forehead appliances, some with more prominent ridges and others with a more Human appearance, closer to the look of the Romulans in Star Trek: The Original Series . ( TRR : " Maps and Legends ")

After Picard season 1 aired, showrunner Michael Chabon published a blog post on Medium, outlining the history and culture for the Romulan people he devised for the show. [21]

Reception and trivia [ ]

The Romulans proved extremely popular among Star Trek fans . " When my episode first aired, " remarked Jack Donner, regarding " The Enterprise Incident ", " I got a letter from a fan named Lori Carlson in Denver, Colo. She was the president of the Leonard Nimoy/Vulcan club there, but she wrote to me and said that the club was switching their interests around. And now there are Romulan fan clubs all over the place – in Michigan, and Bakersfield, California, to name just a few. " ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 137 , p. 53) The Romulans had become fan favorites by the end of TNG's first season. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , p. 66)

Star Trek novels scribe Susan Schwartz also approved of the Romulans. " I personally like the combination of raw intellect and harnessed ferocity, with all that history underlying it, " she explained. " With the Romulans, I like the plotting, too, and the honor and the irony. I've always liked them, from the time I saw Marc Lenard's face in 'Balance of Terror' and realized what they were swiping from. " [22] (X)

A group of Romulans appeared in a 1995 television commercial for a Christmas ornament of the Romulan Warbird, made by Hallmark . Makeup for these Romulans was provided by Michael Westmore 's makeup team. ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 9 , p. 50)

Further reading [ ]

• "The Romulans" by Robert Greenberger , The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 12 , pp. 54-55

Apocrypha [ ]

Much of the Romulans' origins are explored in the Rihannsu pentalogy by Diane Duane , and the later Vulcan's Soul trilogy by Josepha Sherman and Susan Schwartz . Duane's novels established that the exodus from Vulcan was led by S'task, a former disciple of Surak , a detail which Sherman and Schwartz followed.

In Duane's novel The Romulan Way , Vulcan society becomes polarized by their first encounter with an alien species – Orion pirates attempting to invade their world. S'task, a Vulcan poet and former disciple of Surak, argues in favor of strength, while Surak's increasingly popular beliefs favor pacifism and logic. To avert civil war between the two factions, S'task leads his followers on a mass migration. As part of their exodus, they intentionally invent a new culture and a new language. They refer to themselves as the Rihannsu , which means "the Declared," in their new language. Likewise, they named their new homeworlds ch'Rihan ("of the Declared") and ch'Havran ("of the Travelers"); the names Romulus and Remus were pinned on their worlds by the Federation exploration vessel that first entered their star system – according to Duane, those Rihannsu who learned about the names used for them by the Federation were puzzled, more than anything else, by the myth from which the names originated (twin brothers being raised and suckled by a wolf ).

In the Vulcan's Soul trilogy, the Romulans' ancestors left Vulcan as a contingency plan approved by Surak, should the wars on Vulcan have completely destroyed their civilization. The eagle emblem was inspired by a huge bird native to Romulus that clutched eggs in its talons.

Duane also depicted the Romulans as being extinct in the mirror universe novel Dark Mirror , as they chose to commit mass suicide rather than become subjects of the Terran Empire following the Battle of Cheron .

According to the novel Uncertain Logic , the Rihannsu called themselves Rom'ielln during the Romulan-Vulcan War to conceal their true identity from the Vulcans. It is implied that this name became the source of the word "Romulan".

The comic book Star Trek: Countdown and the video game Star Trek Online depict the lead up and the aftermath of Romulus' destruction, primarily caused by the Romulan Senate ignoring Spock's warnings about the supernova , which originated from the star of the Hobus system, and the Vulcan Science Council 's refusal to lend them red matter . In spite of this, Federation-Romulan relations had been improving and Romulan citizens had become less xenophobic, as indicated in the ending of Star Trek Nemesis . After the supernova, Federation aid is either welcomed or met with suspicion and even hostility, while the Klingon Empire seizes the opportunity to conquer Romulan territory. Despite continuing in-fighting between the survivors, a new capital called Rihan is established on Rator III . The Romulans are playable characters in the 2013 Online expansion pack Legacy of Romulus . The playable Romulans and Remans are members of a splinter Republican faction on New Romulus led by D'Tan . It is eventually revealed that the supernova was not a natural occurrence, but was a deliberate act of genocide by rogue elements of the Tal Shiar at the behest of the Iconians , the game's primary villains until the conclusion of Season 10.

Romulan religious beliefs vary in non-canon sources.

• The Way of D'era sourcebook states the Romulans believe in the Way of D'era. Tellus, an enemy of Surak, taught that the inhabitants of Vorta Vor – the mythological world mentioned in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier – had visited the Vulcans and inspired them to become the supreme rulers of the galaxy. This explains the superiority complex and their hatred for Vulcans, whom they see as traitors.
• In Duane's Rihannsu series, the Romulan religion is animistic, born out of the apparently innocuous comment, made by one philosopher aboard the ships outbound from Vulcan, that "things notice" – i.e., that lost objects remain lost as long as you are looking for them, then reappear as soon as you stop looking. From this observation grew an entire theological colloquy, and eventually a religion based on worship of the classical elements of fire, air, water, earth and the "Archelement" which oversees the others.
• In Killing Time , they worship a demon called Bettatan'ru.
• The Countdown / Nero story portrays the Romulans as polytheistic.

There are also various, conflicting explanations for the Romulans' lack of telepathic ability:

• In Duane's My Enemy, My Ally , Spock explains that the Romulans left Vulcan before the mental disciplines of Vulcan were fully developed, and genetic drift has caused them to lose any latent ability they might have;
• This is contradicted in Duane's sequel The Romulan Way , which explains that a number of trained telepaths accompanied the Rihannsu ships leaving Vulcan, but eventually died as a result of having to use their psionic abilities to propel the ships from one star system to another; because it required a group of telepaths to train new adepts, the Rihannsu's telepaths died at a faster rate than they could be replaced; according to this novel, Vulcans in the 23rd century believe that the Romulans still possess the raw potential to produce telepaths, but will never do so without hands-on instruction from Vulcan adepts;
• In the novel Sarek by A.C. Crispin , the Romulans kidnap a group of Vulcans, several decades before the Khitomer Conference , and interbreed with them, producing telepathically sensitive hybrids .
• According to the Vulcan's Soul trilogy, the Romulans rejected the telepathy of the Vulcans and slaughtered or enslaved the telepaths among themselves during their exodus from Vulcan: these telepaths became the Remans . This explains why no Romulan displays telepathic skills in canon, while some Remans, such as Shinzon 's Reman Viceroy , do.
• In Nero , the titular character takes a drug that enables him to meditate, and to develop the skills to communicate telepathically, without mind melding.

The Way of D'era explains that the Romulans lack the physical strength of the Vulcans because they no longer live on a harsh environment. Killing Time shows Romulans slightly adverse to the effects of pon farr .

The alternate reality Romulans themselves debut in the two-part "Vulcan's Vengeance" story from IDW Publishing 's Star Trek: Ongoing comic book series. It is stated the Senate approved of Nero's actions. A group of Vulcans led by Sarek infiltrate Romulus and attempt to avenge their homeworld by detonating red matter recovered from Vulcan. Spock convinces his father the plot is a mistake, and prevents the detonation. He and his fellow crew members are allowed to return as a "fair exchange" while the Senate keeps the red matter. They also gain the Narada 's schematics. Later in the series, Section 31 allies with the Romulans to start a war with the Klingons, in a successful ploy to regain the last piece of red matter.

External links [ ]

• Romulan at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Romulan at Wikipedia
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 Jamaharon

F U N Translations

Fun translations.

Translations for fun! 100+ to choose from.

Yoda Speak translator

Convert from English to Yoda speak. Yoda often orders sentences as Object-Subject-Verb, split verbs, switches entire phrases and sometimes uses sentences that are different from his normal syntax! Because of this it is difficult to accurately ...

Pirate Speak translator

Convert from English to Pirate speak. Shiver me timbers! I be needin' t' send 'em all to Davy Jones' locker. Arrrrr! Anyway go ahead and translate and have some fun!

Valley Speak translator

Convert from English to Valley speak /Valspeak. Valleyspeak or Valspeak is an American sociolect, originally of the San Fernando Valley in Southern California, in particular Valley girls. This stereotype, which originated in the 1970s, became an ...

Minion Speak translator

Convert from English to Minion speak. This language is spoken by the minions in Despicable Me. The language is actually lots of languages. Yi kai yai yai bananna! Minion is a registered trademark of Universal Studios.

Ferb Latin Converter

Convert from English to Ferb Latin. During their routine summer fun, the two brothers Phineas and Ferb(in a Dinsney series) create their own language, Ferb Latin which quickly catches on. To speak it you must take the first letter of every word, ...

Pig Latin Converter

Convert from English to Pig Latin. Pig Latin is a constructed language game in which words in English are altered according to a simple set of rules. Pig Latin takes the first consonant (or consonant cluster) of an English word, moves it to the ...

Dothraki translator

Convert from English to Dothraki. The Dothraki language is a constructed fictional language in George R. R. Martin's fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and its television adaptation Game of Thrones, where it is spoken by the Dothraki, ...

Valyrian translator

Convert from English to Valyrian. The Valyrian languages are a fictional language family in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, and in their television adaptation Game of Thrones. For the TV series, ...

Hodor translator

Convert from English to Hodor. Hodor, originally named Wylis, was a simpleminded servant of House Stark at Winterfell working in the stables. He speaks nothing but hodor.

Sindarin translator

Convert from English to Sindarin. Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by immortal Elves. J.R.R. Tolkien created this fictional Elvish language (which uses Tengwar writing system) for the novel Lord of The Rings.

Quenya translator

Convert from English to Quenya. Quenya is one of the many languages spoken by immortal Elves. J.R.R. Tolkien created this fictional Elvish language (which uses Tengwar writing system) for the novel Lord of The Rings.

Orcish translator

Convert from English to Orcish. Orcs are fictional humanoids based on many pre-existing mythology. Their popularity is partly because of the references from The Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer and Warcraft. Our Orcish translator ...

Sith translator

Convert from English to Starwars Sith language. The Sith language was the native language of the people of the pureblood Sith from the movie Star Wars. Even after the extinction of the Sith species, the language was preserved in Sith holocrons, ...

Cheunh / Chiss translator

Convert from English to Starwars Cheunh language. Cheunh was the official language of the Chiss. Cheunh was a complex, dense tongue that used comparatively few core words and an involved syntax to express ideas; more complicated ideas were ...

Gungan / Jar Jar Binks Translator

Convert from English to Starwars Gungan language. Star Wars is a Disney Movie and the related characters including Yoda , Sith , Jar jar binks are trademarks of Disney.

Mandalorian Translator

Convert from English to Starwars Mando'a language. Mando'a was the language of the people native to the planet Mandalore. Mandalorians also lived on the moon of Mandalore, Concordia, Kalevala and the planet Concord Dawn. Star Wars is a Disney ...

Huttese Translator

Convert from English to Starwars Huttese language. Huttese was the language spoken by the Hutts, a slug-like species who called Nal Hutta their homeworld. It was also commonly spoken on Hutt-controlled planets like Tatooine. Star Wars is a Disney ...

The Swedish chef Speak

Convert from English to Swedish chef Speak. The Swedish Chef is a Muppet character that appeared on The Muppet Show. The Swedish Chef does not speak any known language, but his nonsense words are so widley interpreted as Swedish-sounding. So try ...

Catalan translator

Catalan is a Western Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin and named after the medieval Principality of Catalonia, in northeastern modern Spain. Our English to Catalan translator translates English text to Catalan.

Old English Translator

Convert from Modern English to Old English. Old English is the language of the Anglo-Saxons (up to about 1150), a highly inflected language with a largely Germanic vocabulary, very different from modern English. As this is a really old language ...

Shakespeare translator

Convert from English to Shakespeare. Shakespeare invented many words and his style of narration in many ways was unique to his time. His ever popular works ( dramas and poems ) makes his language style live even today. This translator takes ...

Vulcan translator

Convert from English to Vulcan. The Vulcan language was spoken by the Vulcans of the planet Vulcan. Vulcans are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Star Trek franchise who originate from the planet Vulcan. In the various Star ...

Klingon translator

Convert from English to Klingon. The Klingons are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid warrior species in the science fiction franchise Star Trek. For the Star Trek: The Motion Picture(1979) the Klingons got a complete step up on the make up, ...

Romulan translator

The Romulans are an extraterrestrial humanoid species from the planet Romulus in the science fiction franchise Star Trek. The Romulans were biological cousins of Vulcans, descended from those who rejected Surak's reforms during the Time of ...

Dovahzul translator

Dovahzul is a fictional language featured in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, spoken by the ancient dragons of legend. Its sounds were inspired by languages like Old English and Old Norse. The alphabet draws inspiration from the ancient Cuneiform ...

Thuum translator

The Thu'um, also referred to as Storm Voice or simply the Voice, is a form of magic that most Nords and some others possess which utilizes the Dragon Language to form Dragon Shouts of immense power. The word itself directly translates to the word ...

Aldmeris translator

The Aldmeri Language, known as Aldmeris is one of Tamriel's oldest languages and is spoken by the Altmer in the fictional universe in Elder Scrolls line of games. It is structurally similar to Ehlnofex but more consistent in grammatical syntax ...

Groot translator

Groot is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, the character was a hit in Guardians of the galaxy and Avengers movies. We went to Asguard to learn ...

Wakandan Translator

Wakanda is a fictional country located in Sub-Saharan Africa created by Marvel Comics. It is home to the superhero Black Panther. This Wankandan translator translates the alphabet to Wakandan looking alphabets. Images and other items may be ...

Jive Speak translator

Convert from English to Jive Speak. Jive talk ( or Harlem Jive) was the distinctive slang which developed in Harlem, NY and subsequently adopted more widely in US. Its use peaked in 1940s. Our translator learned to speak jive. So yo' gate, get ...

Ebonics translator

Convert from English to Ebonics. Ebnoics (or African American Vernacular English) is a variety (dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of American English, most commonly spoken today by urban working-class and largely bi-dialectal middle-class African ...

Dolan Translator

Convert from English to Dolan. Dolan is a sociopathic duck in a series called "The Uncle Dolan Show". The language used by the characters in the Dolan show is very similar to LOLCat, but misspelling are much more severe.

Convert from English to Fudd Speak. Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He speaks in an unusual way, replacing his Rs and Ls with Ws, ...

Kraut Speak

Convert from English to Kraut Speak. Kraut is an offensive slang used as a disparaging term for a person of German birth or decent. Our converter can talk kraut but he doesn't mean to hurt anyone. So have some fun with our Kraut bot!

Smurf Translator

Convert from English to Smurf Speak. A characteristic of the Smurf language is the frequent use of the undefinable word "smurf" and its derivatives in a variety of meanings. The Smurfs frequently replace both nouns and verbs in everyday speech ...

WOW Translator

Convert from English to World of Warcraft (WOW) slang. WOW is a massive online role playing game. So it has developed its own slang overtime. WOW slang usually shortens the word in abbreviation. WOW is a registered trademark of Blizzard ...

B1FF Translator

Convert from English to B1FF of USENET yore. BIFF, later sometimes B1FF, was a pseudonym on, and the prototypical newbie of, Usenet. BIFF was created as and taken up as a satire of a partly amusing, partly annoying, mostly unwelcome intrusion ...

Cockney Dialect / Londoner Accent

Convert from English to Cockney aka. Londoner Accent. The term cockney has had several distinct geographical, social, and linguistic associations. Originally a pejorative term applied to all city-dwellers, it was eventually restricted to ...

Norfolk Dialect

Convert from English to Norfolk dialect. The Norfolk dialect, also known as Broad Norfolk, is a dialect that was once, and to a great extent still is, spoken by those living in the county of Norfolk in England. It employs distinctively unique ...

Paper Tape Translator

Convert from English to Paper Tape. Punched tape or perforated paper tape is a form of data storage, consisting of a long strip of paper in which holes are punched to store data. Now effectively obsolete, it was widely used during much of the ...

BCD / Punched Card Translator

Convert from English to BCD / Punched Card. A punched card, punch card, IBM card, or Hollerith card is a piece of stiff paper that contained either commands for controlling automated machinery or data for data processing applications. Both ...

Morse Code Translator

Convert from English to Morse Code. Morse code is a method of transmitting text information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment. The ...

Morse Code to English Translator

Convert from Morse Code to English. Morse code is a method of transmitting text information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment. The ...

Jethro Translator

Convert from English to Jethro Speak from The Beverly Hillbillies .

US English to UK English converter

Convert from US English to UK (British) English spelling. Very useful for converting US English documents to UK English documents.

UK English to US English converter

Convert from UK / British English to US English spelling. Very useful for converting UK English documents to US English documents.

Leet / H4X0R Slang Translator

Convert from English to Leet. H4X0R is "Hacker". Leet (or "1337"), also known as eleet or leetspeak, is an alternative alphabet for the English language that is used primarily on the Internet. It uses various combinations of ASCII characters to ...

Brooklyn Translator

Convert from English to Brooklyn Accent. Brooklyn accent is a regional dialect of the English language spoken by many people in New York City , Brooklyn and much of its surrounding metropolitan area.

Upside down Converter

Convert normal characters to upside down. It is exactly what the name says. It uses unicode table to find code point that are similar to latin alpha numeric chracters and substitute them for the regular ones. qǝ ʍɐɹuǝp¡ ⅄ou ɯɐʎ uoʇ ʃıʞǝ ʇɥǝ ...

Donald Trump Translator

The 45th President of United States has his own way of expressing certain things. Good or bad he has lot of people following and commenting his language style, choice of words, spelling etc. Our translator is huuuuge and the biggest Donald Trump ...

ERMAHGERD Translator

Ermahgerd (also known as “Gersberms” and “Berks”), a rhotacized pronunciation of “oh my god,” is an image macro series featuring a photo of a young woman holding several books from the children’s horror fiction series Goosebumps. The phonetically ...

Circled Text Converter

Convert normal characters to circled or enclosed or bubble ball text. It uses unicode table to find code point that are enclosed chracters and substitute them for the regular ones. Ⓗⓐⓟⓟⓨ ⓒⓘⓡⓒⓛⓘⓝⓖ!

Australian translator

Convert from US English to Australian. Australian slang in an easy and entertaining format. Our translator has gotten little sassy and went Aussie!

Boston translator

Convert from English to Boston slang. Boston slang consists of words and phrases of slang originating from and commonly used in Boston, Massachusetts. Though most often used in Boston, the slang can also be heard in other cities of Massachusetts ...

Austrian translator

Convert from US English to Austrian. Austria is a central European country bordering Germany. As a result Austrian sounds very similar to German. Our Austrian translator tries to convert English to Autrian sounding phrases.

LOLCat translator

Convert from English to LOLCat. Blessinz of teh Ceiling Cat be apwn yu, srsly.

Article Rewriter

In the SEO world and in certain academic environments, there is a need to take a chunck of text and rewrite it in a slightly different form. This practice is called Article spinning. Our article rewriter uses the synonym lookup to rewrite the ...

Braille Translator

Translate from English to Braille. Braille is a tactile writing system used by people who are blind or visually impaired. It is traditionally written with embossed paper. Braille-users can read computer screens and other electronic supports ...

Sign Language Translator

Translate from English to Finger spelling using Sign Language alphabet. American Sign Language (ASL) is the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of anglophone Canada. Besides North America, dialects of ASL ...

Binary translator

Convert from Strings to Binary representation of 1s and 0s. A binary number is a number expressed in the binary numeral system or base-2 numeral system which represents numeric values using two different symbols: typically 0 (zero) and 1 (one). ...

Numbers translator

Convert from numbers to text. Input a number and this will convert them to the spelled out text.

Emoji translator

Convert from text to text filled with relevant emojis. For each relevant keywords there are many possible emojis, so the result though may be correct, it may not always to your expectation. Emojis are now a sensation with full unicode support, ...

Binary to Text translator

Convert from Binary string to text. Input a string with zeros and ones and this will convert them back to the original text.

Wingdings Translator

Wingdings are a series of dingbat fonts which render letters as a variety of symbols. They were originally developed in 1990 by Microsoft by combining glyphs from Lucida Icons, Arrows, and Stars licensed from Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes. ...

AOL Translator

Translates a text into a text like an aoler typed it. Rember AOL? Yes we miss it too! AIM was an instant messaging and presence computer program created by AOL, which used the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to ...

Reverse Text Translator

Translates a text backwards so that some text like "hello" will be displayed as "olleh".

Tengwar Translator

Tengwar was a writing system used to write the angelic toungue Valarin and the Elven tongues Quenya and Telerin. Later great number of middle earth languages were written using the tengwar, including Sindarin. Tolkien used tengwar to write ...

Doge translator

Convert from English to Doge. Your perfect companion to Doge memes.

Hieroglyphics Translator

Egyptian hieroglyphs were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt. It combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with a total of some 1,000 distinct characters.The later hieratic and demotic Egyptian scripts were derived from ...

Aurebesh Translator

Aurebesh was a writing system used to transcribe Galactic Basic, the most used language in the galaxy, in the movie Star wars. This written form can be seen in many imperial displays. Here you can find a translator which converts the Galactic ...

Navi translator

Convert from English to Navi. Na'vi is a constructed language spoken by the Na'vi people in the fictional world Pandora in James Cameron's blockbuster movie Avatar.

Babylonian Cuneiform Translator

The Babylonians, one of the first civilizations, existed about 4000 to 2500 years ago. They were very skilled in the arts, science and mathematics. Their standardized writing system is called Cuneiform. This the earliest standardized writing ...

Southern accent translator

Convert from English to Southern accent. Southern American English or Southern U.S. English (informally Southern Drawl) is a regional dialect or collection of dialects of American English spoken throughout the Southern United States, though ...

Ubbi Dubbi Converter

Ubbi dubbi is a language game spoken with the English language, and is a close relative of the language game Obbish. Ubbi dubbi works by adding -ub- before each vowel sound in a syllable. It was popularized by the 1970s PBS television show Zoom.

Doop Translator

Doop is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character appears in the Marvel Universe, making debut in X-Force vol. 1 #116. He is a green, floating reniform creature of unknown origins who speaks ...

Inflationary English Translator

The musician/comedian Victor Borge invented the language game "Inflationary English". The premise supposedly is that because prices are always going up, our language should also keep pace. Thus, each spoken number (including homonyms) should ...

George Bush (Dubya) Translator

Convert from English to Dubya Speak. Dubya is a nickname for the 43rd president of the United States (2001–2009), George W. Bush. We pre-emptively solve the translation through our diplomatic dubya translator. Well we tried our best.

Postmordern Translator

Convert from plain English to Postmordern Speak. If you have the need to sound semiotic-ally and subliminally cool in party conversations we can help you! Our post-modern translator will make you the sophisticated conversationalist.

Ayleidoon translator

Ayleidoon is the ancient language of the Ayleids who is part of the fictional world in video game Elder Scrolls. The language of the Ayleids, like other Elven languages, shares a common ancestry with the Aldmeris language. Because of this, ...

Redneck Translator

Convert from English to Redneck / Hillbilly Speak. Redneck is a derogatory term chiefly but not exclusively applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the Southern United States. ...

Roman Numerals translator

Convert from metric numbers to Roman numerals. Input a number and this will convert them to their Roman numeral equivalent.

Asian accent translator

Convert from English to Asian accent. Asian accent (sometimes derogatorily referred as funetalk) is very thick and is very frequently used by comedians in many contexts. This converter translates plain English to Asian accent.

Russian Accent translator

Convert from English to Russian Accent. Russiant accent takes a lower tone and has pronunciations like rolling 'r' sound. Try ours just for fun and see it for yourself.

UPPER Case Translator

Translate to upper case. This translator converts all the texts to upper case.

Lower Case Translator

Translate to lower case. This translator converts all the texts to lower case.

Sentence Case Translator

Translate to sentence case. This translator capitalizes the very first letter in each sentence, and will then go on to transform the rest of the text into lowercase.

Title Case Translator

Translate to title case. This translator makes sure the correct letters are capitalized within the context of a title text.

Snake Case Translator

Translate to snake case. This translator capitalizes the initial letters and also replaces spaces by underscores.

Screaming Snake Case Translator

Translate to SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE. This translator capitalizes all the letters and also replaces spaces by underscores.

Camel Case Translator

Translate to camel case. This translator capitalizes the initial letters and also strips spaces.

Kebab Case Translator

Translate to kebab case. This translator changes the text to lowercase and also replaces spaces by hyphens. The resulting style of text is often used as slugs in url like this "this-is-a-url-text".

Path Case Translator

Translate to path case. This translator changes the special characters by forward slashes "/". The resulting style of text is often used as filesystem paths "directory/top/god".

Alternate Case Translator

Translate to alternate case. This translator capitalizes the initial letter and alternates rest between uppercase and lowercase.

Invert Case Translator

Translate to invert case. This translator capitalizes the lower case letters and lower cases the upper case letters.

StudlyCaps Translator

Translate to Studly Caps. This translator changes the text to StudlyCaps.

Chicken Language Translator

Translate to German chicken language. German chicken language is a language game where the vowels of a word are replaced by certain others following a rule. After a vowel, the letter h and again the vowel, followed by the syllable 'def' followed ...

B-Language Translator

Translate to German B-Language. German B-language is a language game where the vowels of a word are replaced by other characters following a rule. After a vowel, the letter b and again the same vowel is duplicated. This translator converts all ...

English Contraction Translator

Translate the English contraction forms (can't, I'm etc) to the expanded forms. A contraction is a shortened form of one or two words (one of which is usually a verb). In a contraction, an apostrophe takes the place of the missing letter or ...

Daedric translator

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Alternian translator

The Alternian Alphabet refers to character sets used in Homestuck and Hiveswap to represent the Troll language. This Alternian translator translates the alphabets to Alternian alphabets.

Irish Translator

Convert from English to Irish speak. Work on your Irish accent, practicing the inflection and sound of consonants and vowels. Impress your friends with your new accent. So "have sohme fun with ooehr Oirish accent translator bot!"

British Accent Translator

Convert from English to British Accent. This translator takes an American English and translates to British Accent.

German Accent Translator

Convert from English to German Accent. To speak in German Accent you’ll need to modify some core consonant and vowel sounds to make your speech sound more authentically Geman.

Draconic translator

The draconic was the language of the dragons. It used Iokharic as its own draconic alphabet or draconic script. Use our Draconic translator to translate English to Draconic.

Minecraft Enderman Translator

Convert to Roblox Minecraft Enderman speak! Enderman is ....Another thing off of minecraft...

Wheel of Time Old Tongue translator

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Ned Flanders Translator

Convert from English to Ned Flanders speak. Nedward "Ned" Flanders Jr. is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer and first appearing in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an ...

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Published Jul 21, 2023

RECAP | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 206 - 'Lost in Translation'

It helps to have friends.

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains story details and plot points for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

StarTrek.com

Previously on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , the U.S.S. Enterprise suffered a tragic loss when their landing party is stranded on the barren planet of Valeo Beta V. Hemmer, the ship's chief engineer, sacrificed himself after being infected with Gorn eggs, in order to give his friends and colleagues an opportunity to escape. Following Hemmer's sacrifice, Spock was unable to control his emotions, allowing his anger and pain to spill out. Acknowledging his human half, Spock begins to explore the feelings he was trying to suppress.

Meanwhile, La'An Noonien-Singh, the ship's head of security, lands in another timeline with events that were never supposed to play out. Worse yet, an agent from the Department of Temporal Investigations strongly requests she not share any details of what she experienced with anyone else.

Uhura reminds us that "the people you love the most can cause you the most pain, but it's the people you love that can mend your heart when you feel broken."

In " Lost in Translation ," Uhura seems to be the only one who can hear a strange sound. When the noise triggers terrifying hallucinations, she enlists an unlikely assistant to help her track down the source.

• Christopher Pike
• Nyota Uhura
• Una Chin-Riley (Number One)
• Erica Ortegas
• Dr. Joseph M'Benga
• James T. Kirk
• Christine Chapel
• La’An Noonien-Singh

• U.S.S. Enterprise
• Bannon's Nebula
• Bavali Station

At Bannon's Nebula on the edge of explored space, the U.S.S. Enterprise enters a stellar nursery rich in deuterium — starship fuel — where the Federation is building an outpost to collect and refine the invaluable resource. Captain Christopher Pike stares out at the sprawling facility and its surrounding beauty from the Bridge, waxing poetic until he notices Ensign Nyota Uhura’s fatigue is distracting her from his speech. He jovially advises her not to burn the candle at both ends.

Commander Una Chin-Riley enters and congratulates Pike on his temporary promotion to Fleet Captain, as he now commands the Enterprise , U.S.S. Farragut , and the Bavali Station until the refinery is brought online. Lt. Erica Ortegas turns from the helm and remarks that it is the shiniest gas station she’s ever seen. Ever the explorer, Pike emphasizes that the facility will unlock half the quadrant and be the jumping off point for the next great age of exploration. Lt. Spock notes the nursery’s proximity to Gorn Space, and the captain sadly acknowledges the Gorn’s growing presence factored into Starfleet’s plans. At Spock’s suggestion, Pike orders Ortegas to find a dense pocket of deuterium. The helm officer prepares to “rip some donuts” and begins refueling the Enterprise by activating the Bussard collectors on the ship’s nacelles.

"Lost in Translation"

A sharp metallic distortion reverberates in Uhura’s ear, but no signal has been recorded. Pike attributes it to a glitch, but the dedicated officer resolves to run a full diagnostic. She heads to a compartment within a nacelle, where she replays a video of Chief Engineer Hemmer demonstrating how to recalibrate the communications array. Commander Pelia, Hemmer’s successor, stumbles upon Uhura and listens as she recollects that, since the antenna assembly goes through the nacelles and she often requested recalibrations, Hemmer provided her with instructions on how to perform the procedure herself. Pelia nods, stating that the Aenar had been one of her best students — well, actually he was “just okay,” but he made something of himself nonetheless. The awkwardness intensifies when Pelia asks why Uhura has never spoken to her before, but the engineer leaves once Uhura welcomes her to the Enterprise . Uhura resumes Hemmer’s file, smiling wistfully as she watches him play a practical joke on her.*

Wearing his Fleet Captain delta badge, Pike patrols the corridors with Number One and comments on the refinery being two months behind schedule. Starfleet attributed the trouble to “organization difficulties,” so Pike believes the facility requires Una’s signature brand of managerial fervor to get it back on track. Elsewhere in the hallways, Uhura boards a turbolift and hears the strange, metallic ringing again. Out of nowhere, she spots a grotesque, zombie-like version of Hemmer and staggers back in fear.

In Sickbay, Doctor M’Benga runs a neurological analysis on Uhura and determines she was hallucinating. While working in the nacelle, she had been exposed to a small amount of refined deuterium. Coupled with her rewatch of Hemmer’s file, the mild case of deuterium poisoning seems to explain why she hallucinated. M’Benga gives her medicine to deal with the symptoms, but quickly notices that her serotonin and cortisone levels indicate she has not been sleeping. The doctor prescribes that Uhura get much-needed rest before going back on duty.

On the Federation outpost, Una oversees repairs in the dimly lit facility. Pelia approaches, diagnosing the situation as even worse than it appears. According to the maintenance logs, the refinery has been breaking down faster than anyone can fix it. Pelia suspects an underlying issue, but Number One resists her input.

Attempting to follow M’Benga’s orders, Uhura struggles to fall asleep in her quarters aboard the Enterprise . As she sits up in bed, she immediately finds herself standing outdoors in an open field with thick smoke billowing in the distance. The auditory distortion returns until she awakes back in her room.

Lt. James T. Kirk beams over from the Farragut and is greeted by his brother, Lt. George Samuel Kirk. Sam welcomes “Jimmy,” and the two proceed to the bar in the Enterprise ’s forward lounge. Sharing a drink, James asks about Sam’s work in xenoanthropology, but Sam senses the question is merely a polite prelude for James’ own news. Newly promoted, James will become the Farragut ’s first officer in a few months.

Clearly displeased, Sam notes that the previous person to hold the record for being the youngest first officer in Starfleet history was their father, George Kirk, aboard the U.S.S. Kelvin .** Irritated by Sam’s demeanor, James points out that their father gave Sam his first name — though Sam chooses not to use it — so he had to do something to keep up. Frustrated by James’ ambition, Sam believes his father isn’t proud of him. Sam downs his drink and walks off.

Back on the station, Una rejoices as life support is stabilized and power is restored — at least temporarily. The lights brighten only to cut out once again, and Pelia’s team has found something in the fuel distribution system. The engineer had disobeyed Number One’s orders, opting to dig around the functioning systems and discovering evidence of sabotage.

Nurse Christine Chapel contemplates a chess move in the Enterprise ’s lounge. Across from her, Spock raises a concern — he wishes to inform Starfleet about their fraternization. Chapel pauses in thought then describes human relationships as being like Schrödinger's cat. They exist or they don’t depending on who is observing them. Spock interrupts, intending to state that is not how quantum superposition actually works. Chapel admits it is a messy metaphor, theorizing that if they told anyone about their relationship, their “quantum cat” might disappear. Uhura approaches and confides in the duo. She first heard the disturbing sound on the Bridge, before her deuterium exposure, yet Spock and Chapel doubt anything is amiss.

Feeling defeated, Uhura departs their table and takes a seat at the bar, where James T. Kirk voices his opinion that her Vulcan buddy should protect his queen. Kirk introduces himself, but Uhura has heard of James’ reputation from Sam and believes he is hitting on her. James assures her he merely thinks she looks like she needs a friend. Uhura respectfully declines the friendship and withdraws from the conversation. Strolling through the corridors, the metallic ringing reemerges, and Uhura turns to find a darkened hallway littered with bloody corpses. She sees a disturbing doppelgänger of herself gripping a knife and reacts with a defensive punch. The hallucination ends, and she looks down to the floor to find that she has actually punched James T. Kirk.***

His nose bloodied, Kirk gets to his feet. Uhura is apologetic, but James refuses her offer to bring him to Sickbay. Having witnessed her experiencing the hallucination, he knows she has bigger things to worry about than being written up for striking a superior officer. The two travel to Uhura’s quarters, where she employs a dermal regenerator to repair his nose. Despite their rough start, Kirk believes Uhura’s assessment of her condition. He wishes to help, and the first step is checking with the Farragut ’s doctor to see if any similar cases have been reported there.

With the refinery’s lighting grid and internal sensors offline, Una and Pelia maneuver through the facility’s shadowy depths. They locate their saboteur — a terrified Starfleet officer who frantically questions whether his new visitors are real. Una places a hand on his shoulder, asking the lieutenant, who relays his name to be Saul Ramon, why he sabotaged the station. Ramon is still seeking to discern hallucinations from reality, so Number One flips open her communicator and notifies the Enterprise of the medical emergency.

Curled up on the floor of her quarters, Uhura is startled by the sounds of explosions and the ship’s Red Alert klaxons. She hurries to the Bridge as Pike bellows that they are under attack. The viewscreen cracks and buckles, the change in atmosphere sucking the crew into space. Uhura comes to her senses, now sitting at her station, the bridge intact and free of any alarms. Pike observes that she is supposed to be on medical leave, but the ensign is speechless. The conversation between the two resumes in the Ready Room, where they are soon joined by James Kirk. The Farragut ’s first officer expresses his appreciation for finally meeting Pike.**** Apparently, his vessel’s doctor received a call the previous day about Lt. Saul Ramon seeing things that weren’t there.

The three visit Ramon in Sickbay, and M’Benga highlights the damage to the speech and language centers of the lieutenant’s brain. Ramon experiences an intense auditory episode, prompting him to grab one of the doctor’s medical instruments. He slashes M’Benga’s chest, causing a minor wound, and speeds out of the room. Kirk reassures Uhura that this is a real event and follows Pike out the door in pursuit of Ramon. Phasers drawn, Pike and a security officer proceed down a corridor as the lights lose power. Rounding a corner, they find an unconscious crew member with a severe gash outside of Astrometrics. Pike calls for M’Benga, while Lt. La’An Noonien-Singh marches to the scene and indicates Ramon cut the power conduits. The captain and La’An continue toward Engineering.

Meanwhile, Uhura and James Kirk search another darkened hallway. The ensign endures a brief hallucination, momentarily unable to find Kirk. He reappears, but Uhura is shaken and chooses to return to Sickbay. Kirk proceeds on his own, eventually running into Pike and La’An. The security chief calls him by his first name, a fact which does not go unnoticed by Pike. Ramon must have found a place to hide, so the two parties double back. La’An watches Kirk retreat for a moment before joining her captain.

Alone in the halls, Uhura spots blood on the access tunnel to the port nacelle and reports the update. James isn’t far, but the ensign opts not to wait. Entering the nacelle compartment, Uhura notices Ramon jostling with circuitry and details that she has been dealing with similar hallucinations. She lowers her phaser and tries grounding him in reality by mentioning her name and rank, her home in Kenya, her cat Kamili, and the memory of her dad playing the piano. Ramon initially stares at her unresponsively, then suddenly moves to a console and initiates the fuel pod ejection sequence. The two fight hand-to-hand as explosions ripple through the nacelle. James appears behind Uhura, holding on to her and calling for an emergency transport. Kirk and Uhura are beamed out, but an expanding eruption tears through the hull and pulls Ramon to his death in the cold of space.

Standing in Sickbay, Captain Pike is contemplative as Chapel covers up the crew member who was injured outside of Astrometrics — she did not survive. The captain sits next to Uhura on a biobed, promising that they will come up with a solution for her hallucinations. After displaying his confidence in Uhura, Pike leaves to confer with Chin-Riley about the repairs to the refinery and decrypt Ramon’s files.

James Kirk leans against the wall in the hallway near Sickbay, perusing a PADD until La’An says hello. Remembering La’An from her recent transmission about Sam’s personnel file, Kirk divulges that he’s been waiting there to help Uhura. He then recounts how his family chased his father around from one Starfleet posting to another, yet he still barely saw his dad during his childhood. James’ mother explained that George Kirk was helping people that really needed it. La’An understands that, as a kid, James interpreted this as his father caring more for strangers than he did his son. This gave young James the impression that helping total strangers must be important. As someone aided by Starfleet, La’An agrees. With a smirk, Kirk reminds her that he hasn’t forgotten that she owes him a drink.

Chin-Riley and Pelia assess the routing system aboard the outpost, and the chief engineer interrogates Number One as to why she has a problem with her. Describing Una’s dismissal of the notion as malarkey, Pelia presses the issue. The first officer slams down her PADD and opines that Pelia is sloppy, doesn’t respect protocols, is too loose with discipline, doesn’t follow orders unless she agrees with them, and has crumbs on her uniform! In Una’s eyes, Pelia is a space hippie. The engineer accuses Number One of hiding behind order and discipline because it kills her when someone has the nerve to question her decisions. Una retaliates, stating she outranks Pelia despite the engineer having joined Starfleet before she had been born. Pelia shakes her head and reports she will have the station online soon.

In the ensign’s quarters, Uhura and James Kirk review a log in which Ramon recalls having the same kind of visual and auditory hallucinations as the communications officer. Based on the dates of the logs, Uhura estimates she has a day and a half until she loses her mind. Kirk encourages her to take a break, reminding her that the mess is serving real cookies which have not been prepared in the matter synthesizer. Unamused, the ensign shares that this isn’t the first time she has imagined someone who wasn’t there.

After her parents and brother died in a shuttle accident, Uhura thought she could see the crash site whenever she closed her eyes, despite not being present at the time. Hemmer’s death reopened the old wound for Uhura, who can’t comprehend how other people are able to face death. Rather than tell her a comforting fairytale, Kirk maintains that their Starfleet jobs put them up against death often. They may not like it, but they must face it. Kirk urges Uhura not to let death win, encouraging her to fight back and not let it prevent her from holding onto the memories of Hemmer and her family. Tears stream down Uhura’s cheeks, and James breaks the tension by offering to go get her a cookie from the mess.

Emboldened, Uhura retrieves her PADD and watches Hemmer’s pre-recorded lesson, a smile emerging through the pain. On-screen, Hemmer warns her not to burn out the receiver, and the comment catches her attention in the present. Uhura crosses paths with James on his voyage back from the mess — cookie in hand — and presents a startling theory. Ramon and Uhura experienced increased activity in their brains’ language center, so what if someone had been trying to communicate with them? If their signal was too strong, it might have burned out his brain entirely.

Uhura goes with James to visit Sam in his lab. Sam recalls a fringe theory which proposes that extra-dimensional lifeforms could poke into our space and attach themselves to atoms from our dimension. James puts the information into his own terms, wryly asking Uhura if invisible aliens are using her brain as a universal translator. Uhura believes her mind interprets the simple messages through her thoughts and memories. The visions are essentially a vocabulary, and the ensign reflects on their potential meanings. The walls closing in on her symbolized feeling trapped, and she attacked herself with a knife because the Enterprise ’s crew is responsible. Factoring in her visions about the Bridge’s destruction, the dead bodies in the hall, and a zombie-like Hemmer, Uhura realizes that the unknown beings are trying to escape and that the Enterprise is somehow killing the ones they love. The Kirk brothers add that, if the lifeforms live in the nebula and — in a way — are the deuterium, refining the substance is basically torturing them. Uhura immediately contacts Pike to prevent the outpost from going online, but the captain responds that it became functional five minutes ago.

Chin-Riley and Pelia tackle the problem from the station itself, but none of its automated systems will respond. Uhura and James sprint into the turbolift, and the ensign finds herself in the middle of an open field once again. This time around, she spots a crashed shuttle and stands inside of it, summoning the courage to walk forward... and she reappears on the Bridge alongside James. Uhura briefs Pike, expressing that they’re killing the creatures living in the nebula’s deuterium by pulling them into their fuel pods. Ramon died trying to save the beings. The refinery can’t be shut down, so Uhura declares they need to destroy it.

Uhura and James assure Pike that they are certain they are correct. The captain orders an emergency evacuation of the station, and the Enterprise and Farragut vent the deuterium from their fuel pods. Shuttles and escape craft flee the facility until no lifesigns remain. At Uhura’s command, La’An launches a volley of photon torpedoes that rip apart the refinery. The ensign hallucinates a healthy, smiling, and nodding image of Hemmer. Uhura confirms that the beings are safe, and the vision slowly fades. She laments the facility’s destruction, but Pike promises to take any blowback from Starfleet. He admits he could also say someone’s brash influence — he gives James T. Kirk a good-humored glance — had rubbed off on Uhura. Pike outlines the next steps — recover the escape pods, get out of the nebula, contact Admiral Nagawa, and then take a nap.

En route back to the Enterprise , Una confronts Pelia with the truth — the engineer had been her professor when she took the Starship Maintenance 307 course at Starfleet Academy and gave her a “C” in the course. Pelia already knows and insists Number One deserved that “C” grade due to her sloppy final paper. She sees through Una’s facade, arguing that the underlying reason for the first officer’s unease with her is Hemmer. Pelia replaced him, so the sadness returns every time Una glimpses her. Given her lifetimes of experience, Pelia empathizes and smiles, offering not to contradict Una if she wishes to continue believing the “C” is the root cause.

A live band entertains the audience in the Enterprise ’s lounge, and Uhura shows pictures of her family to James Kirk. Pondering why the beings communicated with her, James announces they found the perfect person — a good listener. Sam approaches, mending fences by sharing that he is proud of his brother’s promotion. Expecting a similar apology from James, Sam lingers until he realizes James is not taking the bait. Annoyed, Sam tells his brother to have fun on his stupid little ship while he remains assigned to the Federation’s flagship.

James eyes Sam as he walks off, declaring his brother to be — a voice completes the sentence for him — “frustrating.” The Enterprise ’s science officer stands next to their table, and Uhura introduces James T. Kirk to Spock. Uhura grins as the two shake hands. James invites the Vulcan to join them, so Spock takes a seat. The three begin to engage in quiet conversation as the band’s music fills the lounge.

* " All Who Wander " - While on Valeo Beta V, the Enterprise 's landing party resolves to recover the U.S.S. Peregrine and its crew after receiving their distress call. The Peregrine had rescued survivors from a Gorn breeding planet, but unfortunately, some of them had already been infected with Gorn eggs. As the landing party fights for survival against their ravenous enemy, Hemmer too becomes infected. Remarking on a life well lived, the chief engineer lures another Gorn youngling into a trap, in order to protect his friends. The loss of Hemmer deeply affects the crew.

** Star Trek (2009) - Aboard the U.S.S. Kelvin , George Samuel Kirk, Sr. served as the first officer under the command of Captain Robau. After an incident with the Romulan Nero and the Narada , the timeline split, deviating from the Prime Universe timeline. Following Nero's attack and the death of Robau, George Kirk became captain of the Kelvin , just as his wife was giving birth to James T. Kirk elsewhere on the ship. In his 12 minutes of command, George sacrificed himself and saved 800 lives aboard the Kelvin .

*** " Night Terrors " - In this Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, the Enterprise-D 's crew discovers the U.S.S. Brattain , adrift in space, with its entire crew, except for the ship's Betazoid officer, dead. Stuck in the Tyken's Rift, as the Brattain was, the Enterprise 's crew is unable to dream, and experience waking hallucinations. Like the Brattain 's Betazoid officer, Counselor Deanna Troi is dreaming; unfortunately, all she sees are nightmares. However, Troi discovers these nightmares are attempts at communication from another ship trapped on the other side of the rift.

**** " The Menagerie, Part I " - Established in this Star Trek : The Original Series episode, James T. Kirk and Christopher Pike met when the latter was "promoted to Fleet Captain."

• Written by Onitra Johnson & David Reed
• Directed by Dan Liu

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Jay Stobie (he/him) is a freelance writer, author, and consultant who has contributed articles to StarTrek.com, Star Trek Explorer, and Star Trek Magazine, as well as to Star Wars Insider and StarWars.com. Learn more about Jay by visiting JayStobie.com or finding him on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms at @StobiesGalaxy.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, South Korea, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In addition, the series airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave in Canada and on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.