Jem'Hadar

Template:Sidebar species/temp

For the DS9 episode with a similar title, please see "The Jem'Hadar".

"As of this moment, we are all dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This we do gladly, for we are Jem'Hadar. Remember: victory is life."

– First Omet'iklan, 2372 ("To the Death")

A genetically-engineered humanoid race from the Gamma Quadrant, the Jem'Hadar were the military arm of the Dominion and one of the most powerful military forces in the galaxy during their time.

Physiology

Jem'Hadar were generated in "birthing chambers." Their growth cycle was accelerated, such that they reached full maturity only three days after emergence. They did not mate, and so their species had no females. (DS9: "To the Death")

A Jem'Hadar birthing facility was referred to in DS9: "Penumbra" as a "hatchery." This, combined with their reptilian appearance, suggests that they were hatched from eggs. Alternately, the word is simply an appropriate metaphor for a series of birthing chambers.

As infants, Jem'Hadar strongly resembled mammalian species, with a complexion resembling that of Humans; within a day of maturation, Jem'Hadar children already had advanced language skills and cognitive reasoning; as they aged, their skin paled to a bluish-white, and became scaly and reptilian in appearance. (DS9: "The Abandoned")

In "The Abandoned", Makeup Supervisor Michael Westmore and his team of professional makeup artists were tasked with showing the maturation of a Jem'Hadar from an infant to an adult, starting with a basically human-looking baby and ending up with the full adult Jem'Hadar makeup. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 113) For portraying the Jem'Hadar infant, DS9's make-up artists had to observe severe restrictions dictating that there could be no make-up, paint or glue applied to a baby. Hence, Westmore limited the infant's look to a tiny prosthetic appliance. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 182) The make-up team had to make the small piece. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 113) It was fastened to the baby's forehead with a little KY jelly. The make-up team had to adhere to fewer regulations with the boy the infant grew into. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 182) "We [...] made a bigger piece and started changing his skin coloring," Westmore recalled. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 113) No makeup-restricting policies whatsoever had to be complied with by the time the group created, for the same episode, the appearance of a teenage Jem'Hadar. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 182) "We [...] had several changes on him," noted Westmore. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 113)

Adolescent Jem'Hadar required food for nourishment. (DS9: "The Abandoned") Adult Jem'Hadar did not require sleep, and their sole source of nourishment was the drug ketracel-white, which provided the Jem'Hadar with all necessary nutrients, as well as an isogenic enzyme that had been deliberately omitted from their metabolism. As a result, all Jem'Hadar were addicted to "the white," which was regularly distributed to them by Vorta overseers. This was the Founders' means of ensuring the Jem'Hadar's loyalty to them. (DS9: "To the Death")

Without a steady supply of white, Jem'Hadar suffered withdrawal symptoms: their circulatory systems began to shut down, beginning with muscle spasms. Psychologically, they became uncontrollably violent, attacking their enemies, then their Vorta overseers, and finally each other. (DS9: "The Abandoned", "Hippocratic Oath", "To the Death", "Rocks and Shoals")

Jem'Hadar were designed to have excellent vision and strength several times greater than Humans. (DS9: "Favor the Bold") They also had the ability to "shroud" themselves, a form of camouflage that acted as a personal cloaking field, effectively hiding them and their weapons from both sensors and the naked eye. (DS9: "The Jem'Hadar", "The Abandoned") However, they had to drop this effect when attacking. (DS9: "To the Death") Also, Jem'Hadar lost the ability to shroud when they were suffering withdrawal from the white. (DS9: "Rocks and Shoals")

Jem'Hadar had extremely resilient bodies, such that phaser beams on "stun" intensity had no effect on them. During the Dominion War, Federation fighters quickly learned that only lethal settings could be used to stop them. (DS9: "Rocks and Shoals")

Ronald D. Moore stated "The [phaser] stun setting has no effect on the Jem'Hadar." (AOL chat, 1997)

After an enormous Jem'Hadar fleet was eliminated inside the Bajoran wormhole during Operation Return, the Gamma Quadrant was effectively sealed off from the Dominion forces in the Alpha Quadrant. The Dominion began to breed Jem'Hadar soldiers in the Alpha Quadrant known as "Alphas" in 2374. The Alphas' genetic and psychological profiles were designed specifically for combat in that Quadrant, and so the Alphas were regarded – largely by themselves – as being superior to original "Gamma" Jem'Hadar, so their introduction led to considerable friction with their Gamma Quadrant counterparts. The Founders believed this made them better leaders than the Gammas, though this opinion may have been revised after one of the Alphas' first missions, led by Kudak'Etan, became a disastrous failure. (DS9: "One Little Ship")

JemHadarInfant.jpg

A Jem'Hadar infant

JemHadarChild.jpg

A pre-pubescent Jem'Hadar

JemHadar teenager.jpg

A Jem'Hadar adolescent

JemHadarAdult.jpg

A young adult Jem'Hadar

Ixtana'Rax, a Gamma "honored elder" Jem'Hadar (2374)

Psychology and lifestyle

Jem'Hadar were engineered to be soldiers and ship crews, and nothing more. Their culture shunned all forms of relaxation and recreation, on the belief that such things made them weak. (DS9: "To the Death") For the same reason, Jem'Hadar fighters, and probably other classes of Jem'Hadar starships, were not equipped with chairs. (DS9: "A Time to Stand", "One Little Ship")

Like the Vorta, the Jem'Hadar were genetically engineered to revere the Founders as gods and to be unquestioningly loyal to them. However, this engineering was not flawless, which is why it was necessary to make them dependent on the white. When a Jem'Hadar company assigned to a Dominion science team on Vandros IV rebelled, Dominion experts nervously predicted that they could gather support from other Jem'Hadar units in the Gamma Quadrant, and effect a complete takeover of the Dominion in less than a year. (DS9: "To the Death")

Most Jem'Hadar died young in battle; as such, it was rare for them to live past 15 years of age. Few ever lived to the age of 20, and those who did were awarded the title "Honored Elders." To date, no Jem'Hadar has ever lived to the age of 30. (DS9: "To the Death")

Culture and tradition

Although the Jem'Hadar worshipped the Founders as gods, the vast majority of the Jem'Hadar had never actually seen a Founder, and some doubted that they even existed. (DS9: "Hippocratic Oath") Yet they built their service to the shapeshifters into a religion, literally regarding the Founders as living gods, to the extent that the Jem'Hadar ritualistically committed suicide if they failed to protect a shapeshifter from harm. (DS9: "The Ship")

The Vorta, as the representatives of the Founders, were also given immense loyalty by most Jem'Hadar – even when such loyalty seemed unwarranted. Absolute obedience from the Jem'Hadar was further guaranteed by the Vortas' control of the ketracel-white. (DS9: "The Abandoned", "Hippocratic Oath", "Rocks and Shoals")

Although the glory of the Founders meant everything to the Jem'Hadar, they also showed a strong sense of honor for themselves. Ikat'ika, First of Dominion Internment Camp 371 showed this when he refused to kill Worf, even after he was ordered to by his superior Vorta. He chose rather to yield the fight than to kill Worf, saying "I cannot defeat this Klingon. All I can do is kill him, and that no longer holds my interest." He was ordered to be shot for this insubordination. This indicated that at least some Jem'Hadar might have preferred insubordination and therefore death to doing something he considered to be dishonorable (DS9: "By Inferno's Light").

Jem'Hadar combat units followed a very specific hierarchy. Normally, a Vorta commanded one or several units. Every unit contained a Jem'Hadar First, who was in command. Each Jem'Hadar after the First was also given a number rank (Second, Third, Fourth, etc.). In the event the First was killed, the Second took over for the First, the Third took over for the Second, and so forth. Although the succeeding Jem'Hadar assumed the duties of his superior, he only received the higher number rank if his Vorta commander granted it. (DS9: "Hippocratic Oath", "Rocks and Shoals")

Ritual practices

Before each battle, the following ritual was observed by the Jem'Hadar:

First: "I am [Rank] [Name], and I am dead. As of this moment, we are all dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This, we do gladly, for we are Jem'Hadar. Remember - victory is life."

Jem'Hadar: "Victory is life." (DS9: "To the Death")

A similar exchange stated: "Obedience brings victory, and victory is life." (DS9: "Rocks and Shoals", "One Little Ship")

When ketracel-white is dispensed, the following ritual exchange usually took place between the Vorta overseer and the ranking Jem'Hadar:

Vorta: "[Rank] [Name], can you vouch for the loyalty of your men?"

First (or ranking 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." (DS9: "To the Death", "Rocks and Shoals", "Favor the Bold")

Jem'Hadar Firsts were also capable of distributing the white among those under their command. By 2374, Alpha Jem'Hadar no longer recited the ritual dispersal statement, as they believed they demonstrated their loyalty by their actions, not their words. (DS9: "One Little Ship")

See also:

• Jem'Hadar ranks
• Dominion history
• Dominion philosophy

Technology and equipment

• Uniforms: Jem'Hadar uniforms allowed their wearers to be almost completely unaffected by many forms of anti-personnel force field. (DS9: "The Jem'Hadar")

Actor Scott MacDonald, who played Goran'Agar in DS9: "Hippocratic Oath", admired the costumes used as Jem'Hadar uniforms. He remarked, "Those particular suits are stiff in and around the neck area, so there's a sort of militaristic feeling to [performing in one] [...] anyway, almost like you're always at attention, which is good for the Jem'Hadar because they're lifetime soldiers." Once the tubes delivering ketracel-white to most of the Jem'Hadar were motorized, each of the Jem'Hadar costumes additionally contained a motor for showing the drug being delivered to the uniform's wearer. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 3)

• Weaponry: Jem'Hadar carried plasma weapons in both rifle and pistol variants, capable of firing lethal disruptor bursts with anti-coagulants that were designed to slowly kill their enemies if the burst itself did not. The weapons had at least two other settings: they were able to stun, and to fire a more powerful burst capable of vaporizing a humanoid target. (DS9: "Tacking Into the Wind", "The Search, Part I", "The Ship", "Change of Heart", "By Inferno's Light")

According to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual (p. 90), the Jem'Hadar pistol and rifle weapons were not plasma weapons, as the prop was identified in "Tacking Into the Wind"; instead, they fired phased polaron beams. Also according to the book, they had only a single setting, the lethal pulse. This would be inconsistent with "The Search, Part I", in which Major Kira takes a direct hit to the chest from a Jem'Hadar rifle set on a stun. Lethal to semi-lethal disruptor bursts that leave behind anti-coagulants have been seen in episodes such as "The Ship", "Change of Heart", and "The Siege of AR-558". Both pistol and rifle were seen to have the higher setting to vaporize humanoid targets, such as Jem'Hadar and Breen, in "By Inferno's Light".

• Melee Weapons: In close quarters, Jem'Hadar preferred the kar'takin. (DS9: "To the Death", "Sons and Daughters") They also carried combat knives. (DS9: "To the Death", "The Siege of AR-558")

See also

• Jem'Hadar fighter
• Jem'Hadar battle cruiser
• Jem'Hadar battleship

Upon being designed, Jem'Hadar technology was intended to be unique, though based on already established Star Trek technology. Explained Glenn Neufeld, "The producers wanted the technology of the Jem'Hadar to be noticeably different from anything we've seen before, but not incomprehensibly so." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 25/26, No. 6/1, p. 108)

Individuals

• List of Jem'Hadar

Appendices

Appearances

• DS9:
  • "The Jem'Hadar" (Season 2)
  • "The Search, Part I" (Season 3)
  • "The Search, Part II"
  • "The Abandoned"
  • "Hippocratic Oath" (Season 4)
  • "To the Death"
  • "Broken Link"
  • "The Ship" (Season 5)
  • "In Purgatory's Shadow"
  • "By Inferno's Light"
  • "Ties of Blood and Water"
  • "Blaze of Glory"
  • "In the Cards"
  • "Call to Arms"
  • "A Time to Stand" (Season 6)
  • "Rocks and Shoals"
  • "Sons and Daughters"
  • "Behind the Lines"
  • "Favor the Bold"
  • "Sacrifice of Angels"
  • "Statistical Probabilities"
  • "The Magnificent Ferengi"
  • "One Little Ship"
  • "Change of Heart"
  • "Tears of the Prophets"
  • "Image in the Sand" (Season 7)
  • "Shadows and Symbols"
  • "The Siege of AR-558"
  • "Penumbra"
  • "'Til Death Do Us Part"
  • "Strange Bedfellows"
  • "The Changing Face of Evil"
  • "When It Rains..."
  • "Tacking Into the Wind"
  • "Extreme Measures"
  • "The Dogs of War"
  • "What You Leave Behind"
• VOY: "Flesh and Blood" (hologram)

Background information

Conceptual origins and name

Robert Hewitt Wolfe originated the notion of the Jem'Hadar as a fierce and vicious race of warriors with skins like rhinos. The species, used to carry out the threats of the Dominion in cases of disobedience among those who opened trade with the Vorta, was always imagined as being part of the Dominion. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, pp. 153 & 154) However, the concept of the Jem'Hadar was that the producers wanted to create something more than merely a fearsome alien, already having plenty of those. (Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts, p. 140)

Robert Wolfe wrote about the Jem'Hadar in a memo which defined the Dominion. Even as early a time as when he was writing the memo, Wolfe was fairly certain about the origins of the Jem'Hadar, including the idea that they (and the Vorta) had been genetically engineered by the Founders. Wolfe was even aware of some backstory explaining what had happened to the Jem'Hadar prior to this. "I think we all agreed that the Jem'Hadar were originally like the Mongols," he remembered. "They were some incredibly nasty, conquering subculture on a world of their own, but without all the genetic engineering; they didn't grow up in three days and all that stuff. The Founders got a hold of them and said, 'We'll make you the ultimate killing machines, what do you think?' And they said 'YEAH!' They just volunteered." In the memo, Wolfe declared that the Jem'Hadar had rebelled several times during the history of the Dominion but that all the Jem'Hadar rebellions had been defeated. Regarding the depiction of the Jem'Hadar in the memo, Wolfe related, "It was pretty close to what actually made it to the screen." (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 13, pp. 57 & 58)

The writing staff of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine realized the Jem'Hadar might be too similar to the Klingons. As a result, the team of writers was determined to ensure the Jem'Hadar had their own unique identity. To make them as different as possible from the Klingons, the Jem'Hadar deliberately had no honor nor any concern for glory, instead caring only about winning and killing. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 13, pp. 57-58)

The Jem'Hadar's strong sense of loyalty was based on historical examples. "We used the model of the Roman legionnaire. We also thought about the British soldiers in India, who were really just doing it for the Empire or the U.S. Green Berets. That was sort of our model," recalled Robert Wolfe. "We wanted to go for something we hadn't seen before in Star Trek, which was the consummate professional soldier." (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 13, p. 58)

Another way the writers tried to differentiate the Jem'Hadar from most of the other major races in Star Trek was by deciding to make them drug addicts. The writers did so primarily to demonstrate that the Jem'Hadar were fundamentally violent and were only just obedient to the Founders. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 13, p. 58) Ira Steven Behr remembered, "From the very beginning, when we first sat around and talked about the Jem'Hadar–even before we had a name for them–we talked about them being mercenary drug addicts." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 95) Behr continued, "We came to view them as junkies. We came to view them as slaves, as people who were almost not worthy of a name because there wasn't much personality difference between them." Consequently, Behr believed the Jem'Hadar were more like the Borg than the Klingons. He commented, "They were stripped of their humanity. Not because they were machines, but because the drug was their raison d'etre." (Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, issue 29, pp. 10 & 11)

Though all Jem'Hadar were envisioned as basically the same, the writers felt it was important for the aliens not to lose their ability of evoke fear. (Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, issue 29, p. 11) At least in Robert Wolfe's opinion, the indomitableness of the Jem'Hadar helped make them different from such races as the Klingons, Romulans, and Borg. Said Wolfe, "We wanted people to understand that the more you got to know the Jem'Hadar the scarier they were, and the less you'd want to be around them." Whereas the typical science fiction attitude would have been to make the Jem'Hadar much less aggressive and no longer villainous or loyal to the Dominion if their addiction was broken, the DS9 creative team opted for a more unusual idea. "What we wanted to say was: 'If you break them of the addiction to the white, then you take away what little control anyone has over them, and they'll do what they always wanted to do, which is run around and kill everybody they can get to.' I'm not entirely sure that's just because of the genetic engineering," Wolfe mused. "I think the loyalty to the Founders was probably programmed in there, but I suspect they'd be difficult to reason with in any case." Wolfe additionally theorized that the Jem'Hadar were "very carefully" selected by the Founders, as the ideal candidates for what the Founders planned to use them for. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 13, p. 58) He contemplated, "The Jem'Hadar are basically killing machines and it's not their fault. It's the reality of who they are. They are another alien race I'm fond of because we worked really hard in creating them [....] With the Jem'Hadar, we sat down and tried to design from the ground up this race so they were fully formed from the first time we saw them. Usually that doesn't work, but this time it did." Ira Behr found achieving the challenge of creating the Jem'Hadar resulted in them having a "complicated" backstory. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 86 & 106) He noted, "You can understand your enemy to death and this time we did not want to do that." (Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, issue 29, p. 11)

According to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 153), it was Robert Hewitt Wolfe who invented the name for the species. Wolfe himself, however, stated, "We [the DS9 writing staff] named the Jem'Hadar together. We sat there with a 'Roget's Thesaurus' and looked under soldier. Jem'Hadar is a rank in the Indian army; it's first lieutenant or something like that." (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 13, p. 57) In fact, the name of this species comes from Jemadar, an Urdu term for armed officials of the zamindars (lords) later adopted by the British as a military rank. Fellow writing staffer Peter Allan Fields disapproved of the name, commenting it "sounds like 'mah-jongg,' or some kind of card game!" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 153)

The Jem'Hadar were scripted, in the teleplay for DS9: "The Jem'Hadar", to be bred by "the same people who breed the Tosks as gifts to the hunters." The script also says, "The Jem'Hadar are genetically engineered soldiers. Unlike the Klingons they have no interest in honor or glory. And unlike the Cardassians and Romulans, they have no love of intrigue or politics. The closest twentieth century analogy would be the professional mercenary, but unlike mercenaries, Jem'Hadar don't fight for material gain and can't be bribed or negotiated with. They are the ultimate professionals. And they look scary, too." [1]

Physical design

At first, the Jem'Hadar were described by Robert Wolfe as having quite a different appearance than the lizard-skinned creatures they became. "In the original memo," he said, "what I actually envisaged – I overstepped my bounds a little bit – were creatures that would wear no clothing, because they would have armor plating over their entire bodies." Wolfe imagined the protective plating was organic and would, due to having a kind of internal crystalline structure, absorb or reflect phaser fire. As thought up by Wolfe, members of the species would meld items of equipment, such as holsters, onto their bodies. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 13, p. 58)

Rick Berman was initially concerned that the Jem'Hadar, with their rhino-like appearance described as such from the get-go, might look too "comic-booky." That was never a considerable danger, however. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 154)

Before designing the look of the Jem'Hadar, Makeup Supervisor Michael Westmore was told to "design something that was tough, that they could shoot at but they couldn't hurt, they were indestructible, as an army they were unstoppable, and they would have thick skin." (Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season 5, DS9 Season 5 DVD special features) Therefore, DS9's makeup department sought to give the Jem'Hadar a look which portrayed toughness and resiliency. (Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts, p. 140) The writing staff and Westmore didn't go through many experimental design stages, since the writers knew they wanted "a very tough character that had hide like a rhinoceros," as worded by Westmore. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 3) The rhino was an appropriate source of inspiration, as it is one of the toughest-looking animals in the jungle (if not the toughest). (Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts, p. 140)

From the writers' simple description of how they wanted the Jem'Hadar to look, Michael Westmore started his work on the species. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 3) The original concepts for the Jem'Hadar were based on the premise that they were all clones and were, therefore, identical in appearance. (Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts, p. 140)

Beginning with the notion of giving the aliens "a rhinoceros hide that had folds in it," Westmore also gave the Jem'Hadar a nose like a rhino's, though without a horn. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 154; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 3) He remembered, "By taking the rhinoceros skin and using that, especially with the type of nose, then the wrinkles, the heaviness, the folding of the skin, all this became part of the Jem'Hadar and I was still fascinated; I had to get the horn in, somewhere." (Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season 5, DS9 Season 5 DVD special features) Westmore feared that, if he put a horn on the end of the Jem'Hadar's nose, he would make each of the aliens look too recognizably similar to a rhino with its large horn, which is really an enormous outgrowth of hair from the nose. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 154; Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season 5, DS9 Season 5 DVD special features; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 3) Westmore therefore included the horn in a different way. "I took what would be the horn and turned it into a hairstyle!" he exclaimed. In essence, the hair at the back of the head was made to be horn-shaped and extended down to a horn at the back of the head. "I pulled all those little elements together using the rhinoceros as reference," Westmore noted. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 3)

Michael Westmore additionally incorporated elements from dinosaur skin, due to it – like the rhinoceros hide – looking heavy. (Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season 5, DS9 Season 5 DVD special features) The combination of rhino skin together with dinosaur-like aspects was motivated by Westmore wanting to give the aliens a sense of visual "toughness and ruggedness." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 3) The aspects of the Jem'Hadar that stemmed from a combination of the two influences included not only the scaly structure of the body but also the rolls of scaly skin that run down the neck. (Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts, p. 140)

The ring of small horns encircling the Jem'Hadar face and on the crown of the head likewise had multiple sources of inspiration. Michael Westmore arrived at that design by studying the faces of various reptiles, including both long-extinct dinosaurs and present-day lizards. "I used a horny toad as reference for that," he explained. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 3) Again, the rhinoceros served as an influence, too. "What makes Star Trek so interesting is that you give the [Jem'Hadar] creature the same feel and meanness [as the rhino] by putting little horns all around his face," Westmore related. "It makes them dangerous–if you bump into one, you're going to bleed. So you know automatically that you never get close to the Jem'Hadar." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 154) The horns atop the head were also inspired by a triceratops. (Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, issue 29, p. 18) Thus, the top of the Jem'Hadar head in general was based on a triceratops or a similar type of dinosaur, having a bony head reinforced with hard plates. (Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts, p. 140)

Michael Westmore observed that, though the horny toad and rhino are animals familiar to many humans, they were merged to become a new-looking design. Westmore felt the result seemed realistic, as if it could be created via mutation on Earth or another planet. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 3)

The sculptures for the Jem'Hadar were created by makeup artists Kevin Haney and Mark Shostrom. ^{(citation needed • edit)}

The full-facial prosthetic masks used for the Jem'Hadar involved a lot of latex. Wearing the masks was considerably difficult for the required actors. "Some actors just get lost in the makeup, while others pop right through it [with their performances]," said Ronald D. Moore. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 268)

Episodic introduction

During the development of "The Jem'Hadar", the DS9 writing staff tried to depict the Jem'Hadar as "these guys [who] are not to be taken lightly," as expressed by Ira Steven Behr. Robert Hewitt Wolfe related, "We wanted to show the long-term fans how dangerous these guys were." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 154) Wolfe and Behr realized the Jem'Hadar were indeed being portrayed as "tough", upon the pair of staff writers viewing dailies from the episode. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 79)

In "The Jem'Hadar", although the simplest and most effective way to create the effect of the Jem'Hadar shroud would have involved blue screen for the Jem'Hadar foot soldiers, this wasn't doable within the seven-day filming schedule. "I also considered dressing doubles for the actors in blue or green suits," stated Glenn Neufeld, "but there was no time for that either because we would have had to stop everything to place the doubles in exactly the same position as the actors." The live-action footage of the actors playing the soldiers was filmed normally, then rotoscoped out by Patrick Clancey at Digital Magic. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 25/26, No. 6/1, p. 108)

Even when "The Jem'Hadar" had been the only episode to have featured the species, it was probable that the Jem'Hadar would reappear many more times. "The Jem'Hadar are very antisocial lizards," Glenn Neufeld laughed, "Which probably means we'll see quite a lot of them!" (Cinefantastique, Vol. 25/26, No. 6/1, p. 108) Ira Behr noted, "We were very nervous at the time, because we were really gambling with the Jem'Hadar. We were saying this is going to become a big part of the show." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 90)

Reappearances

In "The Abandoned", the DS9 writing staff wanted to continue developing the Jem'Hadar, such as establishing their drug addiction, without once again featuring them merely as combatants against Starfleet. Ira Behr recollected, "What we wanted to do is keep the Jem'Hadar alive [....] We wanted to do a Jem'Hadar show that didn't live or die on whether we could beat the Jem'Hadar in a fight. That's one of the problems of keeping the Jem'Hadar alive; once you beat them in combat–once you really nail them–are they the same villains they were?" (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 95) Behr answered, "They lose their ability to strike fear in your heart if you're able to kick their ass too quickly." Regarding the idea of portraying the Jem'Hadar as "drug-addicted villains", Behr stated, "We really wanted to play that out, so we gave the Jem'Hadar some backstory." Robert Wolfe offered, "They started off as nice makeup, and we wanted to use them again." Agreed Ronald D. Moore, "['The Abandoned' was] an important [episode] to tell things about the Jem'Hadar that were different than we had dealt with before." René Echevarria felt the Jem'Hadar are shown as tragic in "The Abandoned", because "we see that there is no turning this type of creature." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 85 & 86)

Avery Brooks found analogies between the Jem'Hadar and contemporary teenagers, which Brooks found useful while directing "The Abandoned". He commented, "For me, it was [...] to some extent, a story about a society that is responsible for the creation of a generation of young men who are feared, who are addicted, who are potential killers." However, the similarity between the alien species and young men of the 20th century was merely metaphorical, Brooks admitted; the Jem'Hadar were conceived as the intentional creation of a species with calculated plans, whereas the then-modern male youths were the product of an uncaring society. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 180) Ira Behr and Rene Auberjonois nevertheless agreed with viewing the Jem'Hadar in the same analogous way as Brooks. (Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, issue 29, p. 12; Starlog, issue #222, p. 30) Auberjonois offered, "It really feeds into a very contemporary problem that we're facing in our society and our culture, with kids on crack, and what that does to them. That's the way Avery approached it, and I thought that was very moving." (Starlog, issue #222, p. 30)

The use of actors wasn't the only method involved in depicting Jem'Hadar on-screen. In "The Abandoned", a shot portraying a Jem'Hadar teenager leaping through Odo's morphed body was rehearsed with a stunt person playing the part of the teen, who was then portrayed by a stand-in for the actual live-action footage. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 182)

At the conclusion of DS9's third season, Ira Steven Behr felt "deepening the Jem'Hadar" was an important goal for the staff writers to keep in mind for the next season. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 115)

In the development of fourth season episode "Hippocratic Oath", the idea of reusing the Jem'Hadar originated in a story pitch by freelance writer Nicholas Corea. "He had been working on a story about the Jem'Hadar and their drug addiction," explained Lisa Klink. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 102) Corea's pitch specifically dealt with a group of Jem'Hadar who wanted to free themselves from the addictive ketracel-white. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 266) When Corea's plot idea was merged with a story Klink had suggested about an alien race imprisoning Dr. Bashir, the Jem'Hadar were instead reused. "So that became the alien race Bashir was dealing with and we took it from there," said Klink. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 102) Remembered René Echevarria, "Somehow we realized that it could be about the Jem'Hadar and freeing [...] them of their drug addiction." Even after the idea of including the Jem'Hadar was decided on, the species became even more central to the installment. Ronald D. Moore remembered, "We [...] decided to make it more of a Jem'Hadar-specific episode with the drugs and this and that." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 106 & 107)

From the perspective of appearing as Goran'Agar in "Hippocratic Oath", Scott MacDonald found the Jem'Hadar to be notable villains. "These guys are the ultimate warriors," he observed. "They're sharks. They just swim through the galaxy and destroy." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 3)

Ira Behr and Ron Moore were slightly disappointed with how the Jem'Hadar were written into "Hippocratic Oath", though Behr liked the performances of the actors playing the Jem'Hadar in that installment. "The Jem'Hadar themselves did not quite make it for me," he complained. "I thought the potential was there; it just wasn't really achieved. It left me wishing that the Jem'Hadar had been a little more clear in terms of who they are, how they are and how they reacted." Moore expressed, "The Jem'Hadar blended out between themselves. Part of that was the makeup, part of it was maybe the final polish on the script. They didn't come off quite alien enough, yet it was hard to tell them apart." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 106 & 107)

The spotlight on the Jem'Hadar in "Hippocratic Oath" was a contributing factor (along with an intense focus on the Klingons in season four opener "The Way of the Warrior") in the design of the Breen in "Indiscretion", the fifth episode of DS9 Season 4. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 277) Morever, as they were dissatisfied with how the Jem'Hadar are portrayed in "Hippocratic Oath", the DS9 staff writers altered the species for future appearances. "Since then we've done some adjustments to their makeup; we've gone a little bit into their backstory. I think we might eventually do even more adjustments to their look," Ira Behr reckoned. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 106)

Although Goran'Agar says (in "Hippocratic Oath") that his crew has "eaten the same food" that he has consumed, later season four episode "To the Death" established that Jem'Hadar don't eat, sleep, or have sex. This apparent continuity error was simply due to the writers forgetting about Goran'Agar's remark when they were working on the subsequent episode, though Ira Behr preferred to regard the earlier line as an example of Goran'Agar being "metaphorically stupid, as the Jem'Hadar so often are." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 268)

Ira Behr was regretful about how the Jem'Hadar were depicted in DS9's fourth season. "I think that it wasn't until later in the [fourth] season [than 'Hippocratic Oath'] that [we had] enough backstory to understand where the Jem'Hadar are coming from," he reasoned. "We probably should have done 'To the Death' first and then 'Hippocratic Oath'. It would have helped." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 3)

Plans to further develop the Jem'Hadar in DS9 Season 5 were made. Ira Behr announced, "I think we're going to be doing stuff in the fifth season, both with make-up and costumes, that will help define the Jem'Hadar, make them a little more individual." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 3)

Throughout the series, the Jem'Hadar remained extremely aggressive. They were also deliberately portrayed as consistently lacking individuality, so the audience was never really given an opportunity to become very familiar with any individual members of the species. (Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, issue 29, pp. 11 & 10) In fact, Ikat'ika is the only Jem'Hadar to appear in more than one episode of Deep Space Nine.

The ultimate fate of the Jem'Hadar was left unclear on the DS9 television series. As Ira Behr liked leaving some things for the audience to figure out, what happened to the Jem'Hadar following the Dominion War was left as one of these unresolved plot points. (Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, issue 29, p. 13)

Reception and aftermath

Director Kim Friedman noted, "I like the Jem'Hadar, although they're only the foot soldiers of the Dominion. They weren't the Borg, but they were good." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 76)

Two special effects face make-up lots for a Jem'Hadar were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [2] [3]. Other Jem'Hadar-related artifacts sold at the auction included a special effects gloves lot, [4] a prop pistol, [5] and a knife. [6]

Apocrypha

In the Deep Space Nine relaunch novels, Odo sends Taran'atar, a Jem'Hadar free of the addiction to ketracel-white, to live on Deep Space 9 to foster understanding of the Dominion.

External links

• Template:NCwiki
• Jem'Hadar at Wikipedia