The History Of The Romulans, And Their Place In The Star Trek Universe

"Star Trek" is home to countless alien races, but few have as enduring a presence in the franchise as the Romulans. They're the most persistent adversaries of the Federation, so much so that blue-tinted Romulan Ale remains under trade embargo. This hostility makes it all the more ironic that they resemble humanity's first alien allies, the Vulcans, sharing their pointed ears and arched eyebrows.

The in-universe origin of the Romulans is that they were Vulcans, millennia ago. In that distant past, the Vulcans were a warlike people, far from the cold logicians that fans know. That changed when (in Earth's 4th century), the philosopher Surak taught his people to embrace logic and master their emotions. Not all Vulcans accepted Surak's teachings; "Those Who March Beneath The Raptor's Wings" were eventually exiled from Vulcan. These dissident Vulcans settled on the twin planets Romulus and Remus, evolving into the Romulans and personifying a violent path not taken by their Vulcan cousins.

"Star Trek" is big on allegory — the interstellar powers represent the geopolitics of the 20th century. The Federation is the United States of America, a democracy of many member states. As the Federation's most pressing rival, the Klingon Empire is the Soviet Union. The Romulan Star Empire is China, a "sleeping dragon" superpower.

So, why have the Romulans endured as a crucial part of "Star Trek" history — and what does their role in that history look like?

"Balance of Terror" is one of the most acclaimed episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series." It was even semi-remade for the season 1 finale of "Strange New Worlds," titled "A Quality of Mercy." The unnamed Romulan Commander (played by Mark Lenard, who would go on to play Spock's father, Sarek) is an especially well-remembered villain, predating Khan Noonien Singh as the first worthy adversary of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the Enterprise. Even with his last words, he retains dignity and honor: "I regret that we meet in this way. You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend."

Despite this dynamite debut, the Romulans made only two more appearances in "The Original Series." They are the antagonists of the season 2 episode "The Deadly Years," about the Enterprise crew succumbing to premature aging. However, only their ships are seen, not the Romulans themselves. They make a second and final onscreen appearance in season 3's "The Enterprise Incident" (written by the legendary D.C. Fontana). In this episode, Spock seduces a Romulan commander (Joanne Linville) while Kirk poses as a Romulan officer to steal her ship's cloaking device.

According to "The Art of Star Trek" by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, "Romulans were originally intended to be more of an ongoing threat to the crew of the Enterprise, but the make-up requirements proved too expensive. Klingons were cheaper." Note how, in "Balance of Terror" and "The Enterprise Incident," Romulan extras often wear ear-concealing helmets — an easy way to bypass make-up expenses.

The Romulans had only minor roles in the six theatrical "Star Trek" films featuring the original cast. They were rejected as villains of the third film, "The Search for Spock," again in favor of the Klingons (this is why the Klingons in that film have a cloaked ship called a Bird of Prey).

In "Star Trek: The Next Generation," the Klingons were now good guys (mostly). They also became the go-to warrior race of "Star Trek"; Klingon society took on Viking and Samurai characteristics, where war, personal honor, and feudal affiliation were everything.

The Romulans became less and less the noble Roman-esque adversaries that Schneider had conceived of, with "TNG" instead highlighting their duplicity (with the cloaking devices) and isolationism. Thus, the stereotypical traits of Romulans became paranoia, deception, and xenophobia.

The Romulans were reintroduced in "TNG" season 1 finale, "The Neutral Zone," where it's said they had stayed out of galactic affairs for much of the 24th century. The episode (where several of their colonies are destroyed by the to-be-revealed Borg) awakens them. Creator Gene Roddenberry had initially not wanted to use the Romulans, but poor reception to the Ferengi meant the Federation needed a new adversary. Thus, the Romulans became the most frequent alien antagonist in the series; the Federation and Klingons were united as their enemies. Recurring Romulan villains included Tomalak (Andreas Katsulas) and Sela (Denise Crosby).

The most notable additions to the Romulans in "TNG" included V-shaped forehead ridges (dimorphic evolution from their Vulcan cousins), the D'deridex Class (enormous green warships descended from the Birds-of-Prey from "The Original Series"), and the Tal Shiar, Romulus' secret police.

Romulan highlights in "TNG" include "The Defector" (a Romulan military officer defects to the Federation) and "Reunification" (where Ambassador Spock has begun a push on Romulus for the two peoples to be one again).

"Star Trek: Enterprise" was a prequel set in the 22nd century, beginning before first contact between humans and Romulans. That event was depicted in the season 2 episode "Minefield," when the Enterprise stumbles into Romulan territory and is disabled by a cloaked minefield. True to canon, only the Romulans' ships are seen in the episode.

The Romulans finally took a larger role in season 4. The three-parter, "The Forge/Awakening/Kir'Shara" was about a Vulcan conspiracy to invade the Andorians. The ending revealed that Vulcan Administrator V'Las (Robert Foxworth) was in league with the Romulans and secretly working towards reunification. A subsequent three-parter, "Babel One/United/The Aenar," featured the Romulans as the explicit villains. A Romulan drone-ship, equipped with a holographic projector and controlled by Admiral Valore (Brian Thompson), attacked ships throughout the Alpha Quadrant to ferment dissent (the story begins with it destroying an Andorian ship while disguised as a Tellarite one, it later destroys a Rigellian freighter while disguised as Enterprise, etc.). However, the attacks only wind up bringing the targeted races together.

"Enterprise" established a firm timeframe for the Earth-Romulan War: 2156 to 2160. Moreover, the war was revealed as the event that brought the Federation together; Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites united in a military alliance against Romulan expansionism and never broke apart. The Romulans' increased presence in season 4 was building up to the war, but unfortunately, "Enterprise" was canceled before subsequent seasons could depict it. Thus, the Earth-Romulan War remains undepicted onscreen, confined to novels "Beneath The Raptor's Wings" and "To Brave The Storm" (both by Michael A. Martin).

Michael Chabon, showrunner of "Picard" season 1, also shared (via Medium) worldbuilding notes on the Romulans. These presumably influenced his onscreen depiction of them. Chabon writes that the Romulans are such secretive people that there is nothing more intimate to them than the truth; marriages have three participants because there must be third-party verification in everything.

The Romulan government is organized like an espionage network, with multiple competing cells, while Romulans all have four names: the common name (used for familiarity), imperial name (the state-recognized name), open name (for outsiders), and their true name (used only for close intimacy). Chabon suggests that a rumored reason for the Romulans' secrecy is the abundance of camouflaged predators on their adopted homeworld; their cloaked warbirds are modeled on a raptor whose plumage blends into the horizon.

Not all depictions of the Romulans totally align — compare Duane's Rihannsu to Chabon's Romulans. However, they all draw upon "The Original Series" and make inferences from there. "Star Trek" writers and fans aren't much different; they both take canon material and expand on it with some imagination.

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