T'Pring
| Name: | T'Pring | |
| Occupation: | ||
| Title/Rank: | ||
| Location: | planet Vulcan | |
| Status: | alive | |
| Relationships: | was betrothed to Spock, presumably marries Stonn | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: The Original Series | |
| Other: | played by actor Arlene Martel | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | ||
| ||
T'Pring is a Vulcan character who appears in one Star Trek: The Original Series episode.
Original Series Canon
T'Pring and Spock were betrothed as children. When Spock returns to Vulcan for his Pon Farr in the episode, Amok Time, T'Pring challenges this agreement, in an attempt to break the engagement and marry Stonn (played by Lawrence Montaigne) instead.
Arlene Martel, who played T'Pring, was often cast as a BOTW on 1960s genre shows such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Wild Wild West. She was also known as Arline Sax. [1]
The young T'Pring displayed on Spock's personal viewscreen was Mary Elizabeth Rice. When the photograph was taken she was very ill, but was told this would contribute to her portrayal as she was supposed to be a serious Vulcan child.
Reboot Canon
T'Pring does not appear in the Star Trek reboot movie, Star Trek (2009).
Extended Canon
T'Pring often does not come off well in tie-in books and comics. In Diane Duane's novel Spock's World, she is dissatisfied after the events portrayed in "Amok Time" because things did not go exactly as she had planned. Stonn worries that she still desires Spock, and dies during an attempt to artificially induce pon farr with drugs. She blames Spock for everything. She devotes all her energy and finances into setting up a massive planet-wide movement to get Vulcan to shun the Federation, in order to make Spock choose between them. It almost works.
Dorothy Fontana's novel Vulcan's Glory takes place during Christopher Pike's time as Captain of the Enterprise, and Spock is described as having difficulties reconciling his chosen career in Starfleet with his eventual marriage to T'Pring. He has delayed announcing and going through with their marriage for a number of other reasons as well, not the least of which is that "even when they were children, she had had a shrewd aloofness, a calculating coldness about her." When he proposes to announce the marriage but delay the actual ceremony until pon farr, she insists that he pay "the bride price" until then. On Vulcan, after a marriage is announced, the man must send monthly payments to to the woman's family even if she is of independent means or has her own career. "The bride price varied according to the husband's wealth. By every standard on Vulcan, Spock was personally wealthy, and the price extracted for T'Pring would be very high." T'Pring goes through this conversation with Spock in the luxurious garden of her home at In-Yar, with Stonn waiting in the shadows nearby.
Since then, there has been some attempt among fans to rehabilitate her character, retelling the story from her perspective, and using the "reboot" film to portray her as having less selfish qualities.
Fanon
Original Series
Reboot
One objection to the reboot Spock/Uhura canon ship was "But what about T'Pring?" A common fanon assumption is that Spock and T'Pring were never bonded in the reboot universe.
Whatever the status of her engagement to Spock, it is usually assumed that she (and Stonn) died when the planet Vulcan is destroyed.
Fanfiction
Original series
- And Yonder All Before Us Lie by silvr_dagger
- Dissolution by Uozumi
Reboot
- Having, Wanting by Doyle
- Kaiidth by Laura JV
- Of Twin Stars and Other Eccentric Satellites by misswinterhill
- On Restless Pinions [1] by what_alchemy
- riyeht-o'noi by Medie [2]
- strive seek find yield by waldorph
- The Girl's Alright by StarTrekFanWriter [3]
Vids/Fan Films
In 2007, Arlene Martel played a Vulcan priestess in the final scene of fan film Star Trek: Of Gods and Men; the priestess is unnamed, but may have been T'Pring. [4] Ironically, this fan film featured the wedding of Uhura and a Vulcan -- in this case, Stonn (again played by Lawrence Montaigne) -- two years before the Reboot film came out.
Fanart
Zine art examples in chronological order:
art from Spockanalia #4, Mary Ann Cappa (1969)
cover of T-Negative #2, Tim Courtney (1969)
front cover of Off the Beaten Trek #3, Monica Miller (1976)
inside page from Off the Beaten Trek #3, Monica Miller (1976)
cover art for The Halkan Council #18, Joni Wagner (1976)
inside art from Vault of Tomorrow #5, Christine Myers (1984)
cover of Enterprise Log Entries #61, Ann Humphrey (1984)
T'Pring and Spock, part of Princess of Swords Triple Trek Goddess series with T'Pring as the Maiden (2010)
DeviantART examples:
- Wait For Thy Husband by Kerinaty [adult]
External links
- T'Pring televised canon at Memory Alpha
- T'Pring extended canon at Memory Beta
References
- ↑ Wikipedia, Arlene Martel
- ↑ Rec: Lilbreck, Non Pairing-Centric Star Trek Rec Master List This is a version of T'Pring I could love beyond words. She's strong, capable, and very real. She's not the wicked witch, she's not the cheating shrew, she's a woman trying to be true to herself and refusing to be what others would make her into. She is definitely HBIC! Posted Oct 8, 2010. Last accessed Oct 20, 2011.
- ↑ Rec: Haikitteh, Best Star Trek fanfiction of 2010 I love T'Pring and think she's (mostly) horribly wronged in fandom. This writer shows us all the reasons T'Pring may have chosen to reject Spock without vilifying her. Posted Dec 26, 2010. Last accessed Oct 20, 2011.
- ↑ RenegadeStudios2006, Of Gods and Men part 1 (official Youtube link)
