I would not mind Orions being added to the TOS Starfleet only. As far as I care, they were in the original series and there really wasn't much if any reason why they couldn't or wouldn't have Orions in Starfleet.
That was my thought, too. And then I remembered a couple of things.
We saw two and a half-ish Orions in TOS, along with a couple of other references, so let's see what we can make of them.
In "The Cage" Captain Pike refers to becoming a merchant in the Orion colonies. Dr. Boyce scoffs at the idea of Pike becoming a dealer in "green animal-women slaves". Later we see Vina as an Orion. Now Vina is simply embodying (via the Talosian's illusions) Pike's idea of an Orion, which may or may not be accurate (see below). So I'm counting her as the 1/2 example.
In Pike's vision of the Orion colonies, it's Orion women being sold by humans, not by other Orions. While his views of Orion women may not be accurate, I'd expect a Starfleet captain to understand the basics of interstellar politics and geography. This Orion colony (at least) is not a colony OF Orions, merely on a planet orbiting an Orion star. While that doesn't reflect well on the Federation, it's possible that it's a Federation colony "gone wrong". The first, but not the last we'd see on Trek. In PIke's time, parts (at least) of Orion WERE in the Federation. Not law abiding member worlds, but Federation colonies, nonetheless. Think of some of the shadier examples of colonialism on earth, and you'll see where I'm going with this. Because of this, I could see a sort of justification for Fed-side Orions at that point in history, but that's not the end of the story.
Dr. Korby in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" was stated to have done archaeological work in Orion ruins.
The first "full" Orion we see in TOS...is MALE! Yes, and he's not a hulking ogre either, but about middling human height and build. You don't remember him? Possibly that's because he was disguised as an Andorian. In "Journey to Babel". He stabbed Kirk, and was revealed at the end of the episode to be an Orion, surgically altered to appear Andorian. I'll buy the surgery adding fake antennae with communicator hardware in them, and the skin colour and so on, but NOT shrinking an 8' 400 lb. hulk to 5'6" and 150 lbs.! That wouldn't be (even advanced) surgery, but some serious transporter shenanigans. So maybe not ALL Orion men are Lou Ferrigno wannabes. Perhaps even most are normal size, and the giants are simply more representative of the Syndicate thugs.
By that point, Orion is clearly established as neutral. "Journey to Babel" refers to Orion neutrality, clearly indicating it is NOT a part of the Federation. Whether the colonies failed, were kicked out, conquered in a slave revolt or what have you, by Kirk's day Orions are aliens in the political sense of the word, not just the extraterrestrial sense. At that point, a Starfleet Orion character is untenable.
And TOS references a male Orion poet (of all things) in "The City on the Edge of Forever", when Kirk quotes a 21st century Orion poet to Edith Keeler. "From a planet, orbiting the far left star in Orion's Belt." He recommends "Let me help" even over the words "I love you". So there has been some positive cultural exchange, (possibly during the colonial days).
And then our last TOS Orion (the only unaltered and non-illusionary one we meet) is Marta. She's delusional and homicidally insane, and an inmate in a Federation mental rehabilitation facility in "Whom Gods Destroy". She does, however, TALK intelligibly, if not always coherently, giving the lie to Boyce's crack (and Pike's image) in "The Cage". Does the fact that she's in a Federation institution mean that she's a Fed citizen? Does it indicate that Orion finally lost it's neutrality and joined the UFP? Or just that she was a charity case, caring for a little lost alien whom no one back home wanted. Too bad she accepted that exploding necklace, we can't ask her.
So that's what TOS has to say about the Orions. So on the whole, I had to vote no on TOS Fed Orions.
Well... yes and no. If you watch TAS, there's an episode where Kirk has to deal with Orions who raided a Federation Freighter. The Orion captain is emphatic that the Federation not discover that his raid WAS authorized by their government. Apparently the Orions have a generally positive diplomatic relationship with the Feds, even though their government is secretly endorsing and equipping pirates.
Word of God is that Gaila escaped the slave trade. I guess Bad Robot chose to ignore "Bounty" on grounds of it's a stupid episode. Or, more charitably, perhaps while the women rule Orion culture, not all women are in fact rulers or even have any authority.
It's possible some Orions get sold as slaves by other Orions. Maybe Gaila's parents owed debts they couldn't pay? It happens IRL in particularly crappy countries...
That was my thought, too. And then I remembered a couple of things.
We saw two and a half-ish Orions in TOS, along with a couple of other references, so let's see what we can make of them.
In "The Cage" Captain Pike refers to becoming a merchant in the Orion colonies. Dr. Boyce scoffs at the idea of Pike becoming a dealer in "green animal-women slaves". Later we see Vina as an Orion. Now Vina is simply embodying (via the Talosian's illusions) Pike's idea of an Orion, which may or may not be accurate (see below). So I'm counting her as the 1/2 example.
In Pike's vision of the Orion colonies, it's Orion women being sold by humans, not by other Orions. While his views of Orion women may not be accurate, I'd expect a Starfleet captain to understand the basics of interstellar politics and geography. This Orion colony (at least) is not a colony OF Orions, merely on a planet orbiting an Orion star. While that doesn't reflect well on the Federation, it's possible that it's a Federation colony "gone wrong". The first, but not the last we'd see on Trek. In PIke's time, parts (at least) of Orion WERE in the Federation. Not law abiding member worlds, but Federation colonies, nonetheless. Think of some of the shadier examples of colonialism on earth, and you'll see where I'm going with this. Because of this, I could see a sort of justification for Fed-side Orions at that point in history, but that's not the end of the story.
Dr. Korby in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" was stated to have done archaeological work in Orion ruins.
The first "full" Orion we see in TOS...is MALE! Yes, and he's not a hulking ogre either, but about middling human height and build. You don't remember him? Possibly that's because he was disguised as an Andorian. In "Journey to Babel". He stabbed Kirk, and was revealed at the end of the episode to be an Orion, surgically altered to appear Andorian. I'll buy the surgery adding fake antennae with communicator hardware in them, and the skin colour and so on, but NOT shrinking an 8' 400 lb. hulk to 5'6" and 150 lbs.! That wouldn't be (even advanced) surgery, but some serious transporter shenanigans. So maybe not ALL Orion men are Lou Ferrigno wannabes. Perhaps even most are normal size, and the giants are simply more representative of the Syndicate thugs.
By that point, Orion is clearly established as neutral. "Journey to Babel" refers to Orion neutrality, clearly indicating it is NOT a part of the Federation. Whether the colonies failed, were kicked out, conquered in a slave revolt or what have you, by Kirk's day Orions are aliens in the political sense of the word, not just the extraterrestrial sense. At that point, a Starfleet Orion character is untenable.
And TOS references a male Orion poet (of all things) in "The City on the Edge of Forever", when Kirk quotes a 21st century Orion poet to Edith Keeler. "From a planet, orbiting the far left star in Orion's Belt." He recommends "Let me help" even over the words "I love you". So there has been some positive cultural exchange, (possibly during the colonial days).
And then our last TOS Orion (the only unaltered and non-illusionary one we meet) is Marta. She's delusional and homicidally insane, and an inmate in a Federation mental rehabilitation facility in "Whom Gods Destroy". She does, however, TALK intelligibly, if not always coherently, giving the lie to Boyce's crack (and Pike's image) in "The Cage". Does the fact that she's in a Federation institution mean that she's a Fed citizen? Does it indicate that Orion finally lost it's neutrality and joined the UFP? Or just that she was a charity case, caring for a little lost alien whom no one back home wanted. Too bad she accepted that exploding necklace, we can't ask her.
So that's what TOS has to say about the Orions. So on the whole, I had to vote no on TOS Fed Orions.
Well... yes and no. If you watch TAS, there's an episode where Kirk has to deal with Orions who raided a Federation Freighter. The Orion captain is emphatic that the Federation not discover that his raid WAS authorized by their government. Apparently the Orions have a generally positive diplomatic relationship with the Feds, even though their government is secretly endorsing and equipping pirates.
True. Thanks for reminding me, Mark, I knew I forgot something! Yeah, I remember "The Pirates of Orion", now that you mention it. That reinforces what "Journey to Babel" showed, that by Kirk's time Orion was neutral, and definitely not part of the UFP.
I think a 25c Orion in Starfleet would be more likely. We know that at least as far back as DS9-era, there are procedures that allow people from non-member worlds to join Starfleet.
TOS-era Starfleet may also have that policy, though it never showed up (since non-Enterprise officers were not the focus).
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My character Tsin'xing
True. Thanks for reminding me, Mark, I knew I forgot something! Yeah, I remember "The Pirates of Orion", now that you mention it. That reinforces what "Journey to Babel" showed, that by Kirk's time Orion was neutral, and definitely not part of the UFP.
TOS-era Starfleet may also have that policy, though it never showed up (since non-Enterprise officers were not the focus).