Read more about The Cardassian Union at: Wikipedia Official Site: Paramount The Cardassians are an extraterrestrial species in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. First introduced in the 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Wounded", the species originating on the fictional Alpha Quadrant planet Cardassia Prime. Cardassians were the dominant species in an interplanetary empire known as the Cardassian Union, ruling over other species, including the Bajorans, during the 24th century. The Cardassians later played a key role in the storyline of the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as allies of the Dominion in the Dominion War. Several Cardassian characters, including Elim Garak and Gul Dukat, are prominently featured. The Cardassians were developed by the writers to provide an enemy race with whom the protagonists could interact, unlike the Borg, where such drama is difficult due to their lack of personality and individualism. Cardassians are humanoid in form, but have distinctive ridged arches connecting their shoulders to the tops of their necks. They also have ridges on either side of their foreheads, ridges surrounding their eyes, and protrusions on their chins and below their noses. Moreover, they display spoon-shaped features starting in the centers of their foreheads and running down the lengths of their noses. This has earned them the derogatory name of "spoonheads." The spoon shape also appears on their chest. The non-canon "Star Trek: DS9-Millennium" novel trilogy revealed the spoon feature served as a type of umbilical membrane before birth. Star Trek canon has revealed that ancient humanoids genetically influenced the evolution of the Cardassians, Klingons, Romulans, and Humans, but each race still evolved from earlier life forms (apes for humans, crustaceans for Klingon, etc.) (cf. The Chase). Their skin is tan or gray in color and hair is dark brown or black. Their eye color is usually dark-brown. However, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as Gul Dukat and Elim Garak, who have blue eyes. Since scale patterns on Cardassian necks have been shown to change from appearance to appearance (Garak, for example), makeup artist Michael Westmore has theorized in a 2005 issue of Star Trek Insider that Cardassians continually shed and regrow scales. In the episode Profit and Loss, an intimate encounter between Quark and his starcrossed lover Natima Lang displayed that stroking the neck ridges of a Cardassian female produces an erogenous reaction. Whether this is true for males has not been explored. Female Cardassians have blue-tinted spots on their neck ridges and forehead.
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The Cardassian Union
