| Ferengi | |
|---|---|
| Star Trek race | |
 Three Ferengi in theStar Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Price". | |
| Created by | Gene Roddenberry Herbert Wright |
| In-universe information | |
| Quadrant | Alpha |
| Home world | Ferenginar |
TheFerengi (/fəˈrɛŋɡi/) are a fictionalextraterrestrial species in the Americanscience fiction franchiseStar Trek. They were devised in 1987 for the seriesStar Trek: The Next Generation, played a prominent role in the following seriesStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, and have made brief appearances in subsequent series such asStar Trek: Voyager,Star Trek: Enterprise,Star Trek: Discovery,Star Trek: Lower Decks andStar Trek: Picard.
When launchingStar Trek: The Next Generation in 1987,Gene Roddenberry and the show's writers decided to introduce a new alien species to serve as antagonists for the crew of theUSSEnterprise-D. The Ferengi first appeared in "The Last Outpost", the show's fourth episode, which was set in the year 2364. The writers decided that the Ferengi ultimately failed to appear sufficiently menacing, instead replacing them with theRomulans andBorg as primary antagonists. Throughout the rest of the series, Ferengi characters were primarily used for comedic effect.
When creatingStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, the show's writers decided to introduce the Ferengi bartenderQuark (Armin Shimerman) as a major character, and subsequently his brotherRom (Max Grodénchik) and nephewNog (Aron Eisenberg) as recurring characters, again frequently using them for comedic purposes.
Ferengi culture, especially as portrayed onDeep Space Nine, is depicted as hyper-capitalistic, focused on the acquisition of profit as the highest goal.Deep Space Nine writers have described how they saw the Ferengi as a satirical presentation of 20th century humans. The Ferengi have repeatedly drawn comparisons tostereotypes of Jews.
The nameFerengi was coined based on the originally PersianFarangi, a term used in various languages throughout Asia and Ethiopia meaning "foreigners" or "Europeans", itself descending from the wordfarang which referred specifically toFranks and gradually expanded in meaning.[1] The variant "firangi" has entered English throughHindi
While preparing scripts for the first season ofStar Trek: The Next Generation, the idea of the Ferengi was devised byGene Roddenberry andHerbert Wright.[2] The new alien species initially appeared in the first season's fourth episode, "The Last Outpost", which was based on a story by Richard Krzemien and a teleplay by Wright.[3] In this story, theUSSEnterprise-D—whose crew are the main protagonists of the series—makes first contact with the Ferengi while pursuing one of their vessels, which has stolen a T-9 energy converter. Both ships are immobilized over an unknown planet, leading both to send away parties to investigate, where they encounter each other.[4] One of the actors who played a Ferengi in "The Last Outpost",Armin Shimerman, would go on to play a Ferengi again in the later episode "Peak Performance" before being cast as the Ferengi bartender Quark inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine.[2]
The Ferengi outfits designed for "The Last Outpost" featured fur wrap-arounds.[2] As weapons, they were given bluewhips that fired energy bolts when cracked; these were subsequently dropped from the series and not used in later depictions of the species.[2]Mike Okuda designed the Ferengi insignia to present the idea of "dog eat dog". It was colored green because of that color's associations with greed, envy, and money.[2] The Ferengi ship featured in the episode was designed byAndy Probert, who used ahorseshoe crab on Wright's desk as inspiration, with the model then being constructed byGreg Jein.[2]
The Ferengi were reused for the season's ninth episode, "The Battle", based on a story by Larry Forrester that Wright converted into a teleplay.[5] This episode was first aired in November 1987.[6] In it, a Ferengi called DaiMon Bok gives theEnterprise CaptainJean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) the derelict ship that the latter once captained, theStargazer. Over the course of the episode, it is revealed that this is part of Bok's plan for vengeance, for he holds Picard responsible for the death of his son many years before.[7] Forrester's first plot outline had featured various scenes aboard the Ferengi spaceship, but these did not make it into the episode.[7] Series writerRick Berman later noted that because of their "silliness quotient", the Ferengi became "a disappointment as a major adversary".[7]
For the second-season episode "Peak Performance", written by David Kemper and directed by Robert Scheerer, theEnterprise is depicted encountering a hostile Ferengi ship while engaging in a practice exercise.[8] The Ferengi uniform was revised for this episode, and new collar pips were added to designate their differing ranks.[9] The season three episode "The Price", which was written by Hannah Louise Shearer, directed by Robert Scheerer, and first aired in November 1989, also included Ferengi characters. In it, two Ferengi delegates compete against their Federation counterparts to gain access to a newly discovered stablewormhole; later in the episode, it is revealed that the wormhole was not really stable and the Ferengi get stuck on the other side of it, in a distant part of the galaxy.[10] "The Price" is the first episode in which a Ferengi starship was referred to as a "marauder".[11]
When the writers were putting together the premise ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, they decided to introduce a recurring Ferengi character who would inhabit the space stationDeep Space Nine that was the main setting for the show. The show's co-creator,Michael Piller, later noted that: "It was clear to me that having a Ferengi aboard Deep Space 9 would provide the show with instant humor and built-in conflict with the Federation guy in charge of the station".[12] The show's creators developed the character of Quark, a Ferengi bartender who would, according to Piller, be "a constant thorn in the side of law and order, but who has a sense of humor about it. He'd be someone who could obviously throw lots of story dynamics into play."[12] Piller and the others consciously wanted to play the Quark character off against the station constable,Odo (René Auberjonois); according to Piller, "the idea of Odo and Quark being at loggerheads was there from day one".[12]
Through the character of Quark and his family,Deep Space Nine developed the culture and politics of the Ferengi in some detail. Episodes of the series portray the Ferengi's hyper-capitalistic emphasis on profit andsexist social norms (at the beginning of the series, Ferengi females are not permitted to earn profit or even wear clothing), and the society's gradual evolution away from those norms as, for example, Quark's mother becomes a respected businesswoman and Quark comes to tolerate his employees forming aunion.
In the third season ofDeep Space Nine, Quark's nephew Nog becomes the first Ferengi to joinStarfleet, the military and exploration arm of theUnited Federation of Planets. This development prompted discussions on electronic mailing lists devoted toStar Trek. Various commentators suggested that, given how Nog had behaved in previous episodes, it was surprising that Starfleet would take him on. They suggested that this might indicate that Starfleet had some form ofaffirmative action policy to benefit species not presently represented in Starfleet. Other online commentators argued that this viewpoint wasracist, and that Nog would have been accepted as a Starfleet cadet because he was qualified, not because of his racial identity.[13]
While trapped in the Delta Quadrant, theUSSVoyager encounters the two Ferengi from "The Price" who have been conning a primitive culture that they encountered. WhenVoyager attempts to use the Barzan wormhole to return home, the Ferengi escape, but accidentally destabilize the wormhole on both ends in the process. The Ferengi shuttle is sucked in and becomes lost in space again whileVoyager remains trapped in the Delta Quadrant.
By 2381, the progressive reforms of Grand Nagus Rom and his wife First Clerk Leeta had taken root in Ferengi society with the arms trade being discouraged with the greater longer-term economic benefits of more benign industries, such as hospitality, being encouraged. As such, Ferenginar is in the process of joining theUnited Federation of Planets.
Dal R'El was raised by a Ferengi named Nandi who used the young alien in her cons before selling him off. Nandi cons theProtostar crew into helping her steal a valuable crystal, although they manage to get it back, and she steals their chimerium in order to power her cloaking device.
The Ferengi are amongst those who come to Starfleet's aid during the living construct crisis. This event takes place in 2384, and the Ferengi have not yet fully joined the Federation despite having begun the process as they are still described as only non-Federation allies.
The Ferengi are amongst the races serving in Starfleet in the 32nd century. In addition, the USSNog is named after the young Ferengi officer Nog fromDeep Space Nine.
Ferengi culture is depicted, especially onDeep Space Nine, as focused on the acquisition of profit as the highest goal. Many episodes portray this as taken to a comical extreme, as, for example, Ferengi prayer involves paying bribes to the gods, and Ferengi funeral rites involve auctioning off the deceased's remains. Ferengi characters frequently quote the "Rules of Acquisition", a collection of proverbs that are said to govern Ferengi business practices (such as "Never place friendship above profit"[14]); a compilation of these Rules was published byDeep Space Nine showrunnerIra Steven Behr. Violations of economic norms such as abrogating contracts between fellow Ferengi or fraudulently taking advantage of business discounts are considered serious offences and subject to harsh punishments.
The extremesexism of Ferengi society is shown in early seasons ofDeep Space Nine where Ferengi females are not permitted to earn profit, travel, or even wear clothing. A long-running plot thread onDS9 features Ferengi society's gradual evolution away from these practices, especially as Quark's motherIshka establishes herself as a respected businesswoman and financial advisor. Evidently, the fact that granting full societal and economic rights to females would mean a dramatic expansion of business and investment opportunities proved persuasive to the Ferengi government. By 2380, Grand Nagus' reforms had taken effect, as seen in the acceptance of clothing for females.
Despite their greed and sexism, in their own way the Ferengi are actually quite a peaceful and tolerant race. Ferengi history contains nothing comparable to the racism and world wars found in human history. Given that one customer's money is as valuable as the next's, it makes no sense to Ferengi to refuse to interact with those different from them: even Quark of all people feels the discrimination Odo faces for being a changeling is repugnant. While they have hired mercenaries for private contracts, the Ferengi Alliance as a whole has never fought a major interstellar war - instead preferring to apply economic pressure on their rivals until they're willing to negotiate.
The Ferengi were first designed byAndrew Probert and later refined and produced byMichael Westmore.[15]
The most prominent feature in Ferengi design is their large ear lobes. Ferengi experience sexual stimulation when their lobes are rubbed – an act called "oo-mox".[15] Ferengi females allegedly have smaller lobes, but the only female Ferengi characters shown in the series were Pel andIshka.Betazoids are incapable of reading Ferengi emotions.[15] The focus on ears extends to figures of speech (i.e. "not having the lobes" to indicate a lack of courage) and to health problems (i.e. an ear infection proving fatal).
The Ferengi home planet, Ferenginar, is introduced in theStar Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Family Business".[16] Ferenginar experiences near-constant torrential rain; consequently, the Ferengi language has 178 different words for rain (and none for "crisp").
A Ferengishuttlecraft was introduced in the episode "The Price".[17] It was also seen in "Little Green Men" as a spacecraft used by Quark.[18] The studio model forVFX was auctioned byChristie's for over US$8,000 in 2006.[18] There is a larger Ferengi spaceship called the Marauder.[19] The Marauder was designed byAndrew Probert, and the model was built byGreg Jein; the studio model was constructed of resin, fiberglass, and aluminum.[19]
In 2017,Syfy rated the Ferengi one of the top eleven most bizarre aliens ofStar Trek: The Next Generation.[20]
In 2017,Den of Geek ranked the Ferengi the eighth best aliens of theStar Trek franchise, in betweenAndorians andRomulans.[21]
Examples of well-received Ferengi-focused episodes inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine include "Little Green Men", in which Ferengi characters travel back in time to the 1940s and become the alien invaders in theRoswell UFO incident,[22][23] and "The Magnificent Ferengi", in which a group of Ferengi characters team up to rescue Quark's mother when she is captured by an enemy empire.[24]
Various critics have argued that the depiction of the Ferengi and their culture mirrors anti-Semiticstereotypes of Jews, namely the love of profit and the oversized facial features – in the case of the Ferengi, the ears.[25][26] During the 1990s, this issue was discussed on electronic mailing lists devoted to the franchise, with some commentators arguing that there were parallels and others objecting to the comparison.[27] In his 2007 critique ofThe Next Generation for theNational Review, the commentatorJonah Goldberg described the Ferengi as "runawaycapitalists withbullwhips who looked like a mix betweenNazi caricatures of Jews and the originalNosferatu."[28]Thescholar of religion Ross S. Kraemer wrote that "Ferengi religion seems almost a parody, perhaps of traditionalJudaism."[25] He wrote that the 285 Rules of Acquisition bore similarities with the Torah's613 Commandments, and that the Ferengi social restrictions on women mirroredOrthodox Judaism's restrictions on women studying theTorah.[25] Historian Paul Sturtevant wrote in 2018 that not only are the Ferengi "extremely legalistic" and "defined by their greed", echoing common stereotypes of Jews, but the major Ferengi characters onDeep Space Nine were all played by Jewish actors.[29]
Shimerman addressed the issue when asked at a question-and-answer session at aStar Trek convention. He stated that:
In America, people ask "Do the Ferengi represent Jews?" In England, they ask "Do the Ferengi represent the Irish?" In Australia, they ask if the Ferengi represent the Chinese ... The Ferengi represent the outcast ... it's the person who lives among us that we don't fully understand.[30]
Robert Hewitt Wolfe, writer forDeep Space Nine, has stated that the creative team (several of whom were Jewish) were aware at the time that many already saw the Ferengi as Jewish stereotypes, but that they attempted to mitigate this, both through characterization of Ferengi characters as individuals, and through incorporating aspects of multiple human cultures into Ferengi culture.[31][better source needed]
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