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"They're a kind of subspecies, blind ice-dwellers. For most of our history, they were considered a myth, stories we told our children. But fifty years ago, they were discovered living in the Northern Wastes."

The Aenar were a subspecies of Andorians native to the Northern Wastes of Andoria. Their population during the mid-22nd century consisted of only a few thousand.

Physiology[]

The Aenar were physiologically very similar to the Andorians. Like Andorians, they had two antennae, although those of the Aenar had small indentations in the funnel-shaped tips. They had no skin or hair pigmentation, resulting in a pale ice-blue/white appearance similar to an albino. (ENT: "The Aenar")

Aenar brain

A diagram of an Aenar brain

Many, if not all, Aenar were completely blind, yet had the ability to see via telepathy. (ENT: "The Aenar") Their other senses not only compensate for their blindness, but are actually notably superior compared to those of most other humanoids. (SNW: "Children of the Comet")

The most distinctive trait of the Aenar were their highly evolved telepathic abilities. An Aenar was capable of reading minds and of psychically projecting itself to other humanoids. They used telepathy to communicate amongst themselves. Their telepathic abilities also allow them to resist telepathy-based mind control to some degree. Aenar also possessed a limited form of precognition. (ENT: "The Aenar"; SNW: "Children of the Comet", "The Elysian Kingdom")

Talla

A hologram of Talla, an Aenar/Andorian hybrid (2161)

They were genetically compatible with Andorians; Aenar Jhamel and Andorian Shran had a child, Talla. She appeared to have fully functional eyesight, but it is unknown whether she inherited the Aenar superior senses and telepathy. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")

Society and culture[]

Aenar underground city

The Aenar compound

The Aenar of the 22nd century lived in an underground compound on Andoria shielded by a dampening field. They had no leader but would appoint an authorized delegate known as a Speaker if a situation warranted it. The Aenar had a strict law against reading the minds of other people without prior consent. They had a strictly pacifist ideology and deplored violence.

The Aenar believed that death only came after one had fulfilled their life's meaning. (SNW: "Memento Mori")

History[]

The Aenar were considered a myth in Andorian society until 2104, when the Andorians rediscovered the Aenar living in the Northern Wastes of Andoria. Afterwards, the Aenar maintained diplomatic contact with the Andorian government, though they remained extremely secretive. Shran claimed he could count on one hand the number of Andorians who had seen one face-to-face.

In 2154, the Aenar became involved in interstellar affairs when one individual, Gareb, was kidnapped by the Romulan Star Empire. Using telepresence, the Romulans used Gareb to remotely pilot an experimental drone ship.

With the help of Gareb's sister Jhamel, Enterprise NX-01 was able to disrupt and destroy the drone ship. (ENT: "The Aenar")

By 2259, at least one Aenar, Hemmer, served in Starfleet. (SNW: "Strange New Worlds")

People[]

Named
Unnamed

Appendices[]

Appearances[]

Background information[]

Thelin

Commander Thelin

Though the appearance and existence of the Aenar was not revealed on-screen until the final scene of "United", the final draft script of immediately previous episode "Babel One" described them as "a new Andorian sub-species" whose "skin tone resembles that of an albino." The final draft script of "United" elaborated on this, establishing the Aenar as not only "albino Andorian[s]" with "dead white skin" but also referring to them as having "milky eyes". The episode which focuses on the Aenar the most is the next episode, "The Aenar". In that episode's final draft script, the pronunciation of the group's name was phonetically notated "EE-nar".

It was not specified that the Aenar became members of the Federation as the Andorians had done, although this seems likely given that they were native to the same moon as a founding member. In TNG: "Attached", Captain Jean-Luc Picard explained that every member of the Federation (as of 2370) had "entered as a unified world."

TAS: "Yesteryear" featured a character with similar skin coloration, Thelin. This was the result of an animation choice.

Apocrypha[]

In the Star Trek: Myriad Universes story "The Chimes at Midnight", which explores the timeline from TAS: "Yesteryear", Thelin is confirmed to have an Aenar parent.

As depicted in the Star Trek: Enterprise novel The Good That Men Do, the Aenar became extinct by the early 25th century.

According to the Star Trek: Typhon Pact novel Paths of Disharmony, the Aenar were extinct by the late 23rd century.

According to the novel The Higher Frontier, Aenar are not a naturally psychic race, as they lack a paracortex or similar structure in their brains. Instead, every Aenar is bonded with a Spectre, a non-corporeal entity that provides its host with psychic ability. These Spectres are refugees from their own dimension and are being hunted by the Spectre Lords for the crime of traveling to other dimensions and trying to contact corporeal beings. In the novel, the population of the last Aenar city is massacred by the Naazh, a faction working for the Lords. Eventually, the surviving Aenar and telepathic humans choose to live with their Spectres in a subspace domain where they would be safe from the Lords, leaving the Aenar effectively extinct in the prime universe.

In Star Trek Online, the Aenar are available as paid-for Federation bridge officers, as well as randomly available duty officers.

External link[]

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