Ferengi
In the fictional Star Trek universe, Borg designation: species 180, the Ferengi are natives of the planet Ferenginar. Ferenginar is the center of the Ferengi Alliance located in the Alpha quadrant. The Ferengi are noted for their single-minded devotion to profit-making. Their name likely comes from the Arabic word Faranj or Ifranj, "Franks", which the Arabs used to describe the European merchants in the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean.
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2 Ferengi culture 3 Ferengi history 4 Ferengi leadership 5 Other notable Ferengi 6 Trivia 7 External links 8 Reference |
Ferengi biology
Ferengi are small compared to humans, have orange-colored skin, unusually large ears (more so in males than in females), sharp teeth, double foreheads, ascending ribs, upper and lower lungs, and a four-lobed brain that cannot be read by the telepathic powers of Betazoids or Vulcanss.
Ferengi culture
The traditional laws of the Ferengi are highly sexist by contemporary human standards, forbidding females from, for example, making profit, wearing clothes, talking to strangers and travelling (specifically, this last seems to forbid leaving Ferenginar, see Family Business).
The Ferengi have a code of ethics laid out in a set of 285 rules called the Rules of Acquisition. Each gives a titbit of advice that all good Ferengi should follow in order to lead a profitable life. "Profitable" is to be interpreted here in the sense of "making money", for this is the principal virtue in the eyes of the traditional Ferengi. Some examples of these rules are:
Rule #1: Once you have their money, never give it back.
Rule #17: A contract is a contract is a contract - but only between Ferengi.
Rule #39: Friendship is temporary; profit is forever.
In addition to the Rules, the Ferengi also recognize the Five Stages of Acquisition: infatuation, justification, appropriation, obsession, and resale.
It is fairly likely that a Ferengi would sell his mother if it would bring him latinum, the principal form of Ferengi currency.
The quest for profit even reaches into Ferengi religion. It is common for Ferengi to pray for financial success. The Ferengi also believe in an afterlife, which is, as could be expected, based on the profit earned in life. The Ferengi believe in two possible eternal fates. For the successful, the Divine Treasury lies ahead, provided you can bribe your way in. The financial failures spend the afterlife in the Vault of Eternal Destitution.
The Barter Age -- Before uniting under a Nagus, Ferenginar was divided into warring Commerce Zones.
In about the 9th Millennium B.C.E Gint started writing the Rules of Acquisition laying the basis for Ferengi society.
In 1947, a Ferengi craft from the 2370s crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. This was Humanity's first contact with the Ferengi.
At some point between 1947 and 2151, the Ferengi purchased warp drive from the Breen.
In 2151, Ferengi raided the starship Enterprise, but were quickly defeated. Their racial identity remained unknown.
In 2355, the (still unknown) Ferengi fought Jean-Luc Picard at the Battle of Maxia.
In 2364, official first contact was made between the Ferengi Alliance and the United Federation of Planets at the planet Delphi Ardu.
The leader of the Ferengi government holds the title "Grand Nagus".
The Ferengi were initially intended to replace the Klingon empire as the "enemy" race of the Federation in . However, in their debut ("The Last Outpost"), their comic behavior and appearance underwhelmed audiences as the proposed new main bad guys. As a result, Paramount negated these plans and the Ferengi have since been relegated to being tolerably annoying but endearing characters.
Ferengi history
According to legend, in ancient times the Ferengi and the Gree vied for control of their planet.Ferengi leadership
Other notable Ferengi
Trivia
External links
Reference