Ketracel-white

"I guess that's one way to ensure loyalty."
"Loyalty bought at such a price is no loyalty at all."

—Miles O'Brien &Worf,2372^[src]

Ketracel-white, or simplywhite, was anisogenic enzyme, the ingredients of which includedyridium bicantizine. TheJem'Hadar soldiers of theDominion weregenetically engineered to lack theenzyme which white provided, and require frequent doses of thedrug to survive. The white also provides all the nutrients they require, alleviating them of the need to eat ordrink. (DS9episodes: "The Abandoned", "Hippocratic Oath", "Statistical Probabilities")

History[]

Without white, Jem'Hadar soldiers would suffer withdrawal symptoms including pain, anxiety, loss of mental control, and inability toshroud; eventually the Jem'Hadar would become insane and kill everything they could, including each other, before their entire genetic structure collapsed. (DS9episodes: "Rocks and Shoals", "Behind the Lines")

The addiction to white also ensured the Jem'Hadars' loyalty to theFounders. (However, for most Jem'Hadar this is unnecessary, as their loyalty was already absolute.) Distribution of the white was controlled by theVorta, and was dispensed to the Jem'HadarFirst in a formal ceremony. (DS9episode: "To the Death")

Vorta: "First, can you vouch for the loyalty of your men?"

Jem'Hadar: "We pledge our loyalty to the Founders, from now until death."

Vorta: "Then receive this reward from the Founders, may it keep you strong."

Early in theDominion War, the Dominion in theAlpha Quadrant suffered of a white shortage, due to theminefield blocking supplies from theGamma Quadrant, and because it was not easy to set on new production lines. TheCardassians proposed exterminating some or all of the Jem'Hadar by poisoning the last white supplies. Later, theSon'a used facilities onDevos II to produce large quantities of ketracel-white. (DS9episodes: "Rocks and Shoals", "Behind the Lines", "Penumbra",Star Trek: Insurrection)

On rare occasions, a Jem'Hadar was born with a genetic mutation which allowed his body to produce the white he needs, though such an instance could go unnoticed. The firstJem'Hadar with this condition known to the Federation wasGoran'agar. Following the Dominion WarOdo searched for Jem'Hadar with the mutation, eventually finding the Jem'Hadar elder,Taran'atar, whom he sent as an envoy to the Alpha Quadrant. (DS9episode: "Hippocratic Oath";DS9 -Avatarnovels:Book One,Book Two)

Starfleetautopsies also led them to believe that some older Jem'Hadar, over ten years old, sometimes developed the mutation to produce white, in small quantities, themselves, as they aged. (DS9 -Avatarnovel:Book Two)

In themirror universe, theJem'Hadar were likewise dependent on the white. (ST -Mirror Universenovel:Rise Like Lions)

Appendices[]

References[]

• DS9episode: "The Jem'Hadar"
• DS9episode: "The Abandoned"
• DS9episode: "Hippocratic Oath"
• DS9episode: "To the Death"
• DS9episode: "A Time to Stand"
• DS9episode: "Rocks and Shoals"
• DS9episode: "Statistical Probabilities"
• DS9episode: "Penumbra"
• DS9 -S31novel:Abyss
• DS9novel:Warpath
• TNGmovie:Star Trek: Insurrection
• TNGnovel:The Battle of Betazed

External link[]

• Ketracel-white article atMemory Alpha, the wiki for canonStar Trek.