Romulan Appearance

[ddillard 2]

I have been debating this with a friend and wanted to open it up for speculation from others on the forum. We all know that the Romulans are an off shoot of the Vulcan race. So therefore should look similar in appearence.

 

So with that being said I am trying to determine what caused the romulan race to go from looking like this

 

 

to looking like this

 

 

I have proposed a theory but will hold it back to see what others believe.

[Kor37 9]

Bad nutrition?...........

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Budget cuts - same as the Klingons.

[ddillard 2]

I am not really looking for a real world reason for it, we all know what that would be. I am looking more for speculation on what could have caused it in the Trek universe. Such as the virus that caused the Klingon's appearance to be changed for several generations.

[Kor37 9]

Perhaps genetic manipulation in an attempt to make the species stronger?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

You mean they don't all look like Corina?

[VaBeachGuy 12]

I have been debating this with a friend and wanted to open it up for speculation from others on the forum. We all know that the Romulans are an off shoot of the Vulcan race. So therefore should look similar in appearence.

 

So with that being said I am trying to determine what caused the romulan race to go from looking like this

 

 

to looking like this

 

 

I have proposed a theory but will hold it back to see what others believe.

 

Well actually the reason is because when they left Vulcan and settled on Romulus they didn't realize that there were higher levels of methane in the atmosphere than they were used to on Vulcan.

 

These higher levels caused their nasal passages to have to expand greatly in order to allow enough oxygen to get to their brains. It took many centuries for those changes to become visible but if you look at their foreheads now you can see where the nasal passages are much more pronounced now.

[rob39874 0]

But we have seen a people that may be a offshoot of the romulans/ Vulcans in the Mentakens (Sorry if this is spelled wrong. SO do they resemble the romulans or vulcans more.

Edited June 17, 2008 by rob39874

[DaboGirl 7]

And they worship "The Picard". :P

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Even so, not all modern Romulans have the forehead ridge. Senator Pardac, for example, did not.

[Wishfire 2]

Well actually the reason is because when they left Vulcan and settled on Romulus they didn't realize that there were higher levels of methane in the atmosphere than they were used to on Vulcan.

 

These higher levels caused their nasal passages to have to expand greatly in order to allow enough oxygen to get to their brains. It took many centuries for those changes to become visible but if you look at their foreheads now you can see where the nasal passages are much more pronounced now.

 

That's an interesting theory, but unless the Romulans also developed alveoli inside their nasal passages, then it's unlikely. Either that, or their tracheas have also increased in size, but there is no evidence of this.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Well actually the reason is because when they left Vulcan and settled on Romulus they didn't realize that there were higher levels of methane in the atmosphere than they were used to on Vulcan.

 

These higher levels caused their nasal passages to have to expand greatly in order to allow enough oxygen to get to their brains. It took many centuries for those changes to become visible but if you look at their foreheads now you can see where the nasal passages are much more pronounced now.

 

That's an interesting theory, but unless the Romulans also developed alveoli inside their nasal passages, then it's unlikely. Either that, or their tracheas have also increased in size, but there is no evidence of this.

The nasal passages of course bring the oxygen into their lungs for processing, as for their tracheas, that's not clear at this point. It's also believed that their increased nasal passages act as a filtering system of sorts so that only oxygen makes it to the lungs.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

That's an interesting theory, but unless the Romulans also developed alveoli inside their nasal passages, then it's unlikely. Either that, or their tracheas have also increased in size, but there is no evidence of this.

There is no evidence they didn't develop (or increase) alveoli. either.

 

The only way we are going to know for sure is to capture a 24th century Romulan, hold him down, take a magnifying glass, and look up his nose.

[Itchygomba69 0]

incest maybe?

[Wishfire 2]

Well actually the reason is because when they left Vulcan and settled on Romulus they didn't realize that there were higher levels of methane in the atmosphere than they were used to on Vulcan.

 

These higher levels caused their nasal passages to have to expand greatly in order to allow enough oxygen to get to their brains. It took many centuries for those changes to become visible but if you look at their foreheads now you can see where the nasal passages are much more pronounced now.

 

That's an interesting theory, but unless the Romulans also developed alveoli inside their nasal passages, then it's unlikely. Either that, or their tracheas have also increased in size, but there is no evidence of this.

The nasal passages of course bring the oxygen into their lungs for processing, as for their tracheas, that's not clear at this point. It's also believed that their increased nasal passages act as a filtering system of sorts so that only oxygen makes it to the lungs.

 

You know, I've been thinking... It seems to me that the whole Vulcans with flat foreheads to Romulans with ridges thing is a bit backwards. It's Vulcan that has a thinner atmosphere, so larger nasal passages makes more sense on Vulcan.

 

My theory is that it was Vulcans who originally had the enlarge nasal passages, but some eventually began evolving to the point that they didn't need as much oxygen, so their nasal passages began shrinking, resulting in Vulcans with smooth foreheads. But existing simultaneously were Vulcans with ridges, similar in the way a single common ancestor gave Earth humans and Neanderthals co-existing. Such a difference caused tension between the two group, eventually leading to war. And, as we know, the Romulans left Vulcan.

 

Of course, just because those Vulcans still had ridges doesn't mean they wouldn't eventually evolve away from the need for them, which is why we have seen some Romulans with smooth foreheads.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Maybe it was Botox treatments gone really bad.

[Corina Arazius 1]

You mean they don't all look like Corina?

 

 

Awww, lol no Roy they don't all look like me. But they should have smooth foreheads I think, I mean they just look better. I guess ddillard and I have a theory but it's just a joke lol. We think they just got too drunk on Romulan Ale and fell face first on a rock.

Edited June 22, 2008 by Corina Arazius

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

A few, sure, but the entire empire?

[Corina Arazius 1]

That's why it's just a joke

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Maybe it is really bad acne.

[Corina Arazius 1]

Ewwwww!! lol that would be gross

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

I found this on startrek.com. It is speculation, but it is probably as close to canon as we are going to get.

 

There has been much speculation about why Klingons of the mid-23rd century look so radically different from those of earlier and later periods, but far less discussion has been devoted to the more subtle disparity of the Romulan appearance between the Captain Kirk era and the Captain Picard era. But the question is just as significant: When did Romulans develop those protrusions in their foreheads, and how?

 

The first visual contact with Romulans by the Federation in 2266 revealed them to look identical to Vulcans, and it was learned they were actually offshoots of the Vulcan race. Yet by the time the Enterprise-D encountered the Romulans almost a hundred years later, there were differences. Is it possible there was some sudden evolutionary spurt due to a genetic advantage of having forehead bulges on planet Romulus that finally caught up with the ex-Vulcans during that century?

 

Not likely, because — aside from the biological improbability — it wasn't even a century. During the post-Praxis peace initiatives between the Federation and the Klingons, there was a Romulan ambassador on Earth named Nanclus who had a smooth forehead (not to mention a receding hairline). That was 2293. And the U.S.S. Voyager was visited by a protruding-forehead Romulan named Telek R'Mor from the past, i.e. the year 2351. So that's a period of only 58 years. Assuming Romulans have the same relatively long lifespan as Vulcans, that's not even close to one generation. So what happened?

 

Well, how do we know something did happen? How do we know the protruding-forehead Romulans weren't around in the Captain Kirk era, but we just didn't happen to see them? In fact, they were around — because we know that Pardek, the bulgy-headed Romulan whom Spock had a long friendship with, became a senator in 2278, so unless he was less than 12 years old at time, he would have been alive at the time Kirk's Enterprise first encountered his people.

 

And how do we know the smooth-headed Romulans aren't still around in the 24th century? Take this into account: In 2368, we saw Spock dressed in Romulan clothes walking openly through the capital city on Romulus ... and no one batted an eye. Apparently Vulcan-like Romulans are still a common sight a hundred years later.

 

We know there are several different races of the species called human, and if an alien didn't know better he might think they all came from different worlds. We know at least part of the population of Vulcan is dark-skinned, as evidenced by Tuvok and his family. Perhaps there is more than one race of Romulan as well, and one of those races is distinguished by a protruding forehead.

 

It stands to reason that Romulan blood, while originating on Vulcan, has not remained purely Vulcan. The Romulans are known to be imperialistic, and any time one race conquers another there tends to be a certain degree of cross-breeding. While Vulcans are generally averse to mixing chromosomes with other species, there's no evidence that Romulans are the same way. And let's not forget about the Remans, the Romulans' closest neighbors — could those forehead protrusions have something to do with them? We also know that in ancient times Romulans or "Romulan offshoots" settled on planets such as Barradas III, Calder II, Yadalla Prime and Draken IV, and who knows what genetic mutations might have developed among isolated groups that eventually merged with others on Romulus.

 

So it is entirely possible, and in fact probable, that the Romulan Star Empire encompasses several "nations" whose histories are as varied and complex as those on Earth. We've also been reminded several times that political machinations and power shifts are the norm in this multi-world government. So it's not a stretch to conjecture that the smooth-headed race of Romulans happened to be those that held more prominent positions of power in the 23rd century (or at least, they were the ones who occupied the ships roaming the Neutral Zone near Federation space), and the race with protruding foreheads gained greater political status by the 24th century. But no doubt diversity is a fact of life among Romulans — even if they're not always comfortable with it — as with any significant population.

[Voyager recruit 0]

I have been debating this with a friend and wanted to open it up for speculation from others on the forum. We all know that the Romulans are an off shoot of the Vulcan race. So therefore should look similar in appearence.

 

So with that being said I am trying to determine what caused the romulan race to go from looking like this

 

 

to looking like this

 

 

I have proposed a theory but will hold it back to see what others believe.

[Voyager recruit 0]

Ouch! Didn't check to see I doubled a topic!REGRETS AND APOLOGIES TO THE POSTER!(Please try to refrain from using your disruptor on me..or turning me in to the Tal Shiar on some 'charge')

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

I hope for their sake the expanded nasal cavities aren't because of more methane in the atmosphere. That would also increase methane intake. Methane is a key component of fart gas.

[prometheus 0]

I think that TNG just wanted to make its mark and get away from plain old Vulacans and Romulans. Very little Vulcans were on TNG ...

[Bethlehem 8]

I think that TNG just wanted to make its mark and get away from plain old Vulacans and Romulans. Very little Vulcans were on TNG ...

 

I never thought about it untill now, makes perfect sense.