When watching Star Trek: The Original Series as a kid, I was scared of many of the alien antagonists that were on the show; however, the ones who frightened me the most were the Romulans. There seemed to be something in their faces – a stark unyielding belief in their superiority – and that felt chilling.
Looking at the show as an adult, I can appreciate the purity of the Romulan character. While I would not describe them as outwardly evil, they are set on getting things done their way. If the innocent should be harmed on their unrelenting path toward victory, they would not think twice as they trampled them as they moved forward.
TOS Romulans
Writer Paul Schneider created the Romulans – alluding to the legendary tale of the twins Romulus and Remus – creating them to be a Roman type of empire in space. They would have centurions and a senate.
Romulus and Remus, whose father ordered them drowned in the Tiber River, were saved and nurtured by a she-wolf until humans found them. They would later overthrow their father and founded a town on the site where they had been saved by the she-wolf, but Romulus subsequently killed his brother and named the place after himself. This would epitomize the seemingly ruthless way Romulans operate.
Vulcan Connection
Romulans are related to the Vulcans – perhaps you can call them distant cousins – and that is a very intriguing aspect of these people. While Vulcans almost destroyed themselves by fighting amongst themselves, the Romulans broke away from the planet and found their own way, discarding the teachings of the Vulcan philosopher Surak.
Vulcans saved themselves by following the philosopher Surak. He advocated for a complete repression of emotions. The Vulcans abandoned the savagery of their warlike culture and embraced Surak's philosophy to the extreme.
Romulans took emotion and steered it into a militaristic society that made them succeed with conquests that increase their power. This success can be attributed to harnessing emotion to make them a devious and unflinching opponent. Their ability to cloak their warships makes them a formidable enemy as well.
Being that the series aired during the height of the Cold War, the idea of a neutral zone was already in the viewing public's minds with the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the Koreas and the Iron Curtain that separated Eastern and Western Europe.
Romulan Biology/Technology
Since they are related to the Vulcans, Romulans have pointy ears, skewed eyebrows, and they have green, copper based blood. They also have smooth foreheads like the Vulcans seen in TOS.
Romulans are genetically humanoid and are able to interbreed with humans, Klingons, and Vulcans. Despite sharing a common ancestor, they are different enough from the Vulcans and are not compatible to be blood or organ donors.
The Romulans are a formidable enemy because their warbirds are at a similar level of technology as Federation starships. The game changer for them is that they have a cloaking device which allows their ships to become invisible. This would be an advantage in a battle with the U.S.S. Enterprise or any other Federation starship.
Emotions/Abilities
Unlike like their Vulcan cousins, Romulans do not adhere to the teachings of Surak and do not suppress their emotions. Because of this, Romulan males do not experience pon farr – a seven year urge to mate due to the suppression of emotions.
Unlike the Vulcans who have the mind meld technique, Romulans do not have telepathic ability to use that technique the way Spock does in TOS.
Romulan Episodes
It's amazing that despite the resonance of the Romulans in the overall story of TOS, there were only three episodes in which the Romulans appeared.
1. "Balance of Terror" (Season 1, Episode 14) This first appearance of Romulans is one of the best episodes of the series. It features a cat and mouse game between Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the Romulan Commander (played by the great Mark Lenard who would go on to play Spock's father Sarek). The Romulans are testing their cloaking device at the Neutral Zone, and Kirk is up to the challenge.
2. "The Deadly Years" (Season 2, Episode 12) This episode disappointingly uses some footage from "Balance Of Terror" for a space battle, but no Romulan characters appear on screen.
3. "The Enterprise Incident" (Season 3, Episode 2) The Romulans are involved in another incursion into the Neutral Zone testing their cloaking technology. It seems that the Romulans are possibly preparing for an attack on the Federation. Kirk and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) must deal with a deadly female Romulan commander (Joanne Linville), who matches wits with them.
Romulan Impact on TOS
While the Klingons were created to be based on a Soviet Union style society, the Romulans – besides their obvious Roman connections – were meant to be more like Communist China as a closed, deceptive, and intelligent opponent.
The fact that there were hints of the Klingons and Romulans forming an alliance – something reminiscent of the Soviets and Chinese collaborating – also resonated strongly throughout the TOS.
Still, is there no more sympathetic character than the Romulan commander is in "Balance of Terror," who, while wanting to defeat Kirk, thinks of him as a worthy opponent and that they were two "of a kind." He ponders what another time would be like when they could be friends.
I think that is the lasting impact of the Romulans – they are scary, but they are also relatable in their methodology. Perhaps that helps us see something of ourselves in the enemy, which is the start of perhaps coming to something better for both parties.
What's Next?
Now that I have completed looking at aliens and opponents, my next post will start looking at the crew of the Enterprise. Until next time, Live Long and Prosper!
Please watch this video about one of the greatest TOS episodes "Balance of Terror"
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