Species of the week: Ferengi

[Teaos]

Another "of the week thread" and yet again we start with my favorite.

I honestly think the Ferengi are the single best species encountered by the Federation.

They are (mostly) non violent barring a limited group of their population such as the ones encountered by Enterprise D.

I loved Quarks speech to Sisko about how the Ferengi are more superior to Humans. How they never killed each other in mass numbers, they don't murder or commit violent crimes as there is no profit in it.

They only care about profit and thus do things that tend to be good for profit. Killing is not and nor is having a unhappy population.

While you could argue their morals aren't up to our standards I think they are just different.

Even during the Dominion war they managed to stay totally neutral.

[Monroe]

My only complaint about them is they should have been known since Enterprise the series. In ENT you have a partial retcon with that episode but still.. two hundred years go by and the Federation never know about the Ferengi who live oh so close and are a trading race? A little weird for TNG writers to make up a new race and have them be a trading commericial race.

Besides, the Bentusi are the best trading race ever. (Homeworld)

[Teaos]

Yeah while it was annoying to see Enterprise screw up continuity again it makes far more sense for them to be known way before TNG. If not in everyday contact then at least reports of their trading with other species.

[Enkidu]

They where retconned in DS9 to a certain extent IMO. As the main enemy in TNG they never cut the mustard. Cowardly beings only concerned with profit are not really going to trouble the mighty Federation on a grand strategic level. In DS9, along with giving them a more outlined culture, they became something similar to TOS's Harry Mudd, but not as irritating....

[Sionnach Glic]

My largest complaint is that they were turned into a comedy relief race, and they were never given their full potential.
Look at TNG era Ferengi. They destroyed Picard's first ship and took over the Enterprise. They were clearly a force to be reckoned with, yet we saw none of these features in DS9.

Overall though, I do like them.

[Captain Seafort]

Not so long ago I put together a little essay as a thought-exercise on the Ferengi and how they could be altered to become a major opponent to the Federation.

The Ferengi have always been something of a conundrum, sometimes a dangerous enemy, sometimes an irritant, sometimes just comic relief. In part this is due to their development, originally developed as the "new" enemy for TNG, to set the new series apart from it predecessor by avoiding overuse of the "old" enemies - the Klingons and Romulans. Their obsession with money was part of Roddenberry's "capitalism is bad, communism is good" agenda.

The biggest flaw was their over-the-top depiction. By depicting them as opportunistic space pirates the series was able to use them as one-episode baddies from time to time, but was unable to create the sense of being a perpetual danger to the entire Federation in the same way as the Klingons and Romulans had been and the Cardassians were to become. This lack of genuine menace was further reinforced by the impression that each Ferengi ship was effectively the property of its Captain, rather than of a centralised Ferengi Starfleet.

The depiction of a more centralised Ferengi political/religious structure in DS9, however, allows the possibility of partially re-imagining the Ferengi, if not as a military threat then as an ideological one. The Ferengi focus on individual autonomy and the acquisition of personal wealth is a stark contrast to the group mentality and Marxist economics of the Federation. By toning down the extremes of Ferengi avarice, turning them from stereotypical used-car salesmen into a more reasonable depiction of a capitalist race, perhaps explaining it in-universe as a continuation of Zek's reforms, they could become a rallying point for those who prefer the individualist approach of the Ferengi to the collectivist Federation.

This could lead to them becoming the centre of gravity, and military core, of an alliance of entrepreneurs, independent traders, smugglers and pirates, covering them against Federation interference in ventures ranging from large-scale profit-driven enterprises throughout the Alpha Quadrant, to violations of the Prime Directive. This later issue would range from the sort of exploitation of pre-warp societies the PD was initially sent up to prevent, such as selling high technology at exorbitant prices, to much less morally certain issues, such as intervening without the society's knowledge to protect it, as the Enterprise's crew did in "Pen Pals" and "Homeward" - in both cases violations of the PD, but hardly immoral.

[Teaos]

I always see the Ferangi as powerful but it is a very passive power.

They are pretty much untouchable by anyone unless they want valueable trade cut off but they can't swing that power much. I see them like Switzerland. Independant, neutral, respected some what but not really a major player.

As for the different versions we see I easily explain this as just different groups going about getting profit in different ways.

[Mikey]

I also thought the Ferengi had potential as an adversary, if not the prennial "big bad," but the over-the-top representation took much away from them.

I believe that a race as interested and involved in commerce and profit, especially if they don't care about the ethics of how it is conducted, should be depicted as wielding (or being able to wield) far greater, if subtle, influence than the Ferengi were depicted. Remeber, the Federation may not use money, but everyone else still seems to...

[Granitehewer]

I concur,with mikey, the ferengis' business acumen, would yield great influence, overtly and even covertly, even with races,that may not blatently acknowledge it

[Granitehewer]

I concur,with mikey, the ferengis' business acumen, would yield great influence, overtly and even covertly, even with races,that may not blatently acknowledge it, that may have knock-on repercussions with the federation and its relationship with a plethora of races.
Damn you 'cannot find server!'

[sunnyside]

Actually as I understand it they were downgraded from a threat race because focus groups simply couldn't take them seriously.

Had they been taller than humans instead of shorter things could have been oh so different.

Still I think the Ferengi we very well done. They were comic relief. But they did it without being silly or Jar Jar Binxy. And they were still effective. After all the comic relief was said and done typically they wound up with their platinum.

[Granitehewer]

don't pillory, me, for saying this, but i tend to think of the ferengi, as akin to the saudis and gulf states

[sunnyside]

don't pillory, me, for saying this, but i tend to think of the ferengi, as akin to the saudis and gulf states

I'll give you saudis. I don't know about the others. Though again they're really moreso. I think Saudis would favor dignity over money much more than the Ferengi.

[Captain Peabody]

I've always had a soft spot for the Ferengi...sure, they could be annoying, especially in TNG (such as in "The Price" and "The Perfect Mate") and some DS9 episodes....but so what? I've always been a big fan of all things Quark at DS9; his character was most of the time interesting, and almost always funny.

So.....Ferengi? Two thumbs up!

[Teaos]

DS9 Ferengi are great but I tend to dislike TNG ones. Almost a different species.