Vulcan
| Related terms: | Ancient Vulcan, IDIC, Pon Farr, Spock (TOS), Surak, T'Pau, T'Pring, Vulcan language, Vulcan Genitalia | |
| See also: | Star Trek, Andorian, Cardassian, Ferengi, Gorn, Klingon, Medusan, Romulan, Tellarite | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | ||
| ||
This is the Vulcan heart. This is the Vulcan soul. This is... our way.
Vulcan is the name of a humanoid species and their home planet in the Star Trek universe. The primary characteristic of Vulcans is an adherence to logic and a rejection of emotional reasoning. Physically, they are humanoid, with pointed ears and slanted eyebrows the most visible features distinguishing them from humans. They are also known to have green blood and are touch telepaths.
In fandom, Vulcans are among the most well known of the Star Trek races, likely superseded only by Klingons in their popularity. Vulcans probably owe this popularity to the original series character most beloved by fans, Spock.
Some Brief Canon
Vulcans were first introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series with the character of Spock. TOS provided the basis for all subsequent development of Vulcan culture. Roddenberry conceived the character of Spock first and by his own report had to "work backward" on some of his characteristics -- what kind of world would a person like that have come from? He established that Vulcan was a hot, largely arid world, much larger than Earth, thus accounting for Spock's extreme physical strength. In Amok Time, Theodore Sturgeon added that the atmosphere there is thinner than Earth's, which (some fans pointed out at once) is not consistent with a large heavy-gravity world.
Other Vulcan Information from Canon:
- The non-canonical TAS (Star Trek: The Animated Series) also contained episodes that fleshed out the culture and people.
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock contains scenes on Vulcan and expands on "Vulcan mysticism".
- TNG and DS9 had no Vulcan main charcters, but Star Trek: Voyager introduced the first regular Vulcan character since TOS. Unlike Spock, Tuvok was a full Vulcan, but like Spock he was presented as being a close friend of the captain and was frequently used as a straight man in jokes.
- Star Trek: Enterprise also had a Vulcan main character, T'Pol. ENT also expanded a great deal on Vulcan culture and politics, though not all fans were pleased with these new developments.
- Finally, in the 2009 Star Trek movie Vulcan was destroyed and only few Vulcans survived.
Canon Resources
Vulcans in Pro Books
The Star Trek tie-in novels expanded greatly on Vulcan culture. The following are some Vulcan-centric novels.
- Spock Must Die!, Spock Messiah, The Vulcan Academy Murders by Jean Lorrah (1984), Spock's World by Diane Duane (1988), Vulcan's Glory by D.C. Fontana (1989), Sarek by A.C. Crispin (1994), Vulcan's Forge by Susan Shwartz and Josepha Sherman (1997), Vulcan's Heart by Susan Shwartz and Josepha Sherman (1999), and Vulcan's Soul trilogy by Susan Shwartz and Josepha Sherman (2004-2007).
Fan's Reaction to Pro Books:
- there's tons out there, we need some quotes and info
Fandom
At any Star Trek convention or event, you will see Vulcan cosplayers right there beside the Klingons. In fact, the image of a Star Trek fan wearing pointed ears and a Starfleet uniform is the iconic "Trekkie" to the outside world.
Beyond fan-focused events, Vulcans are part of popular culture. In 2010, the town of Vulcan, Alberta (a place named for the Roman God of fire) commissioned a bust of Leonard Nimoy as Spock and presented it to him.[1] During his campaign for President of the United States, Senator Al Gore's calm affect and slightly droning speech got him labeled "a gay Vulcan" by Bill Maher. The wisecrack was later picked up by Ann Coulter.
The very first fanzine, Spockanalia, was Vulcan- and Spock-centric. Contributors wrote articles of speculation on Vulcan culture and physiology. This was not sex-related, as today, but focused on things like the construction of the Vulcan heart and blood chemistry. Articles on Vulcan sexuality concerned the pon farr and speculations on Spock's conception and birth, in general staying within canon limits. The few relationship stories paired Spock with women, usually Vulcan or Vulcan/human women, or human telepaths who had studied on Vulcan.
There were many other early Vulcan-centric fanzines, including T-Negative, where the first Kraith stories were published, Eridani Triad, which focused on Surak and the reforms he brought to Ancient Vulcan, and the publications of fan clubs like Terra Vulcan and the Kraith-based Society for Earthbound Vulcans. There were Vulcan songs, poems, recipes and artwork. A Kentucky fan group planned in the early 1970s to create a small commune or co-op where they planned to live as close to the Vulcan way of life as possible.
Kraith
Some of the earliest fanfic stories to feature Vulcan (not just the planet but the culture) were those in the Kraith shared universe. The earliest were written by Jacqueline Lichtenberg beginning in 1969, in the T-Negative fanzine, and continued through the first few years after the cancellation of the original TV series. The stories are named after the "Kraith", a goblet or chalice used in the performance of certain Vulcan rituals, featuring prominently in several of the stories in the sequence. By the time interest in Kraith had waned, over 50 writers had written stories in the universe.
Vulcan Biology and Physiology
Fans have spent a huge amount of energy and time speculating about the biological aspects of Vulcans.
- Pon Farr
- Vulcan Genitalia
- an early article, A Proposed Model of the Vulcan Heart
- early in Star Trek fandom, many fans speculated that Vulcans evolved from a sort of feline source, see many issues of the Halkan Council for much discussion on this topic
- the Vulcan-Human hybrid and what it means in terms of pregnancy, lifespan, reactions to medicine...
- other?
Fanon Vulcan Languages and Vulcanisms
- Main article: Vulcan language
Only a few Vulcan words were ever used in aired canon, most of them in the episode "Amok Time." Of course, fans quickly filled that void and created their own Vulcan languages, or at least a few expressions that could be dropped into daily speech.
Vulcan-centric Zines
- The Vulcan Book Containing the Writings of Surak
- True Vulcan Confessions
- A Visit to Vulcan
- Vulcan Language Guide
- A Vulcan Odyssey
- Vulcan Reflections
- Vulcania
- Vulcan Irregulars
- Vulcanian_Chronicle
- Legends of ShiKahr
- Off the Beaten Trek #3 (1979)
- Terra-Vulcan Yearbook
Vulcan-centric Fanfiction
Vulcans in fanart
Young Spock with long hair, typical for Vulcan AU and fantasy settings (cover of Daring Attempt #6, featuring Spock, by Chris Soto)
a Vulcan woman by C. Lee Healy from T-Negative #14
cover of IDIC Log, Sarek in art by Zaquia Tarhuntassa
another long-haired pre-Reform Vulcan style, Spock from Charisma
Spock, also from Charisma
more pre-Reform Vulcans from Naked Times #3
T'Pring from T-Negative
Sarek from It Takes Time On Impulse, artist unknown
Spock and a Vulcan woman from the zine IDIC, v.1 no.4 (around 1975)
Vulcan-centric communities and blogs
- Vulcan Reforged, Star Trek (2009) Vulcan-centric comm on Dreamwidth.
- Vulcanology blog, photos and discussion of anything in canon having to do with Vulcan -- costumes, props, etc.
External Sources for Further Reading
References
- ↑ Nimoy beams 'home' to Vulcan, Alberta, accessed May 1, 2010
