This is the real reason that Starfleet moved to phasers. The idea of photon directed energy being useless never sat well with me but this explains everything.
Imagine if a First Contact style Borg beamed on to a Caitian war ship. Do you think the crew would be attacking the Borg or the red dot on the wall? Hmmmm!!!!?????
@@GhostBear3067 You forgot one more thing. A ball of yarn throw it at them and they will play with it like a little kitten. or, a laser pointer when you aim the beam of light at the floor they playfully paw at it.
9:43; "Hey you, you're finally awake. You were trying to cross the multiversal border right? Got trapped in that Gallifreyan ambush, same as us, and the Terran over there."
Later in game, you find a follower who is the only one of his species on this side of the border: A Protoss Templar. Following a Caitian. Fighting Gallifreyans... 🤔 Needs lightsabers...
"Check out this new alien I designed, it's called a Cat" "You're going to need to come up with a better name than that, we can't just call them cats" "Okay how about.... Cat..ians" "How is that better?" "Okay okay... Ca-i-tians" "*sigh* Whatever"
@@eldermillennial8330 Scotty and M'ress actually kissed once. Granted they were both under the influence of an alien love potion Harry Mudd was peddling at the time, and neither was particularly amused when it wore off...
I like to imagine that when Doctor T'ana first joined Starfleet medical, she was as personable and friendly as any other Caitian. Then her career carried her through Wolf 359, The Battle of sector 001, and the Dominion War. She may even have served in the Cardassian Wars and Tzenkethi conflicts. She's certainly very, very, VERY good at her job and has decades of experience. In short, the poor old cat's seen too much.
Which is probably why she's so close with Shax, the scarred old former Bajoran resistance fighter, who spent most of his adult life fighting the Cardassians
When Caitians and Humans first met each other. They smiled then looked at the Vulcans and commenced Operation Epic Troll. And thus Caitians and Humans became best friends.
Dr. T'Ana is lovely. Yes, she can sometimes a littel grumpy, but i think of her as the Bones of the show. I mean, lock at waht she has to deal with in the Lower Decks series.
"You want me to clean up those disgusting scars?" "Uh, no way. No. These are my trophies." "Congratulations, you look like a f***ing scratching post." Love Grumpy Caitian Doctor. Also proof that Caitians possibly use scratching posts.
I always wanted to see more of the Admiral Caitian from the movies, as he’d obviously been a member of Starfleet for a long time, so he must have been involved in a lot of interesting stuff.
No, the current writers and showrunners would make a complete mess of it. Best wait until there's a new Trek idea with people running it who actually care about the franchise.
@@shadowhenge7118 Yes, but also anyone who actually wants to see alien races, rather than just generic human #64682 with pointy ears and green skin who really is an alien, we promise.
We stan M'Ress! These characters need more exposure here's to the hope that they get a full time character in the main cast the next time we get a good Star Trek.
House cats can be pretty social and cooperative, as long as they have other cats with compatible personalities with to socialise with, especially in their first couple of years.
Caitians! Also known as: The only reason most furries would gravitate towards the Star Trek franchise in the first place lol But no seriously, I love the Caitians as a species, I hope they get more airtime in live action ST continuity
Caitians won't be regulars on tv because they are to easily mocked. And fur make-up is really hard to get to look good. And fur make-up masks face expressions.
little bit of trivia: Kzinti spaceships and uniforms were pink in the animated series because the show's art director was colorblind and nobody else thought to question his decisions.
The Klingons went around wearing pink during TAS. It could be argued the Klingon uniform underwent an evolution during the TAS to pre-TMP Era for a short time before the shift towards the Movie Era uniform.
A common myth, but one that's been fully debunked. The Kzinti and Klingons uniforms were pink because color director Irvin Kaplan decided to make them so.
A brief nod to the works of Larry Niven would have been appropriate here, as the K'Zinti (and the Caitians from which they were derived) are the only Trek aliens to appear in more than one universe. Larry Niven borrowed them from his own works and inserted them into Star Trek lore, which is largely why they immediately became such a beloved species. 🙂
I absolutely concur with you! I heard of this in a animated Star Trek 1970's series documentary also in the Text Commentary of Star Trek IV The Voyage Home too!
I recall reading a few old Trek novels, with K'Zinti and other aliens that were also appearing in their own settings. It seems some authors back then were not overly concerned with IP issues.
@@themercer4972 Makes ya wonder what kinda deal Niven and Desilu/Paramount had, or if they had any deal at all. It's certainly an unusual arrangement. 🙂
Dr. T'Ana is one of my favorite characters on the lower decks. she does not act like a typical Caitian for a few reasons like. 1 probably because most of the characters are subversions of their respective races like an Orion who isn't a pirate or a buff Bajoran etc. 2 an homage to Dr. McCoy
There's some indication that the Vulcan fleet dumps their misfits onto Starfleet. It's possible that the Humans are the only species whose Starfleet representatives reflect them.
@@jy3n2 Tbf given humans are involved. Its only logical to give their more deviant members some place they can belong. Besides while rare to exists I'm guess vulcan human hybrids when they happen are shown to be quite effective ie spock.
Honestly so happy that they made Dr. T'Ana. Getting another Caitian main character is a nice way to pay tribute to the previous animated Star Trek series.
Massive shame we haven’t seen more of them. I suspect in the past, it would have mainly been due to the near impossibility of showing them convincingly solely through practical effects, so there was only animation in TAS, the glimpses in the TOS movies, but never in TNG, DS9, Voyager, or even Enterprise. Hoping this can finally change, with trek productions having access to far greater budgets and the assistance of modern technology, it’s no longer the hurdle it once was. Plus there’s zero excuse not to see them more prominently in future animation. So who knows, perhaps one day they’ll get the screen time they deserve.
Interesting how the Caitians are the only Federation members to actually use railguns on their ships (and in fact almost the only ones in the whole Star Trek universe)...
In FASA Canon early-to-mid-23rd century Starfleet ship-based Accelerator Cannons, (replaced by Photon Torpedo technology), were described as 'large mass-drivers'. This would make them analogous to EM-accelerated railguns.
I want to see a briefing room seen with a caitian officer just tapping and nudging and moving the PADD just like a cat and then getting irritated and just hissing and knocking it off the table. Mid briefing to which the captain stops and says what you doing... and then later on a shot goes to the officer talking next to caitian and you just see this paw hand come from off screen and start nudging at the padd in front of the officer. And it just becomes a running gag that the caitian officer will just knock things off- like visiting someone elses quarters and then turn around and see a glass on the floor... “ Did you knock that off”- “ No” was grav plat issue... And it becomes a big sign of trust and respect if you hear them purr it means they trust/love/respect you. They also can be found sleeping in the Jefferies tubes near engineering as they like the warmth and the hum of the warp core
You're nearing 100k subs - Congrats BTW. I love those videos, but until recently I didn't watch your STO series. Thought it wouldn't be to my taste. Oh how wrong I was - it is SUPERB. I binge watched all of them - about 2-3 weeks ago (You were around episode 91-92). I still watch the new ones and even re-watched whole series again. Now I'm watching it for the 3rd time - Vaaduar and stuff. That being said - what probably turned me off from it was that first couple of episodes weren't that polished as later ones - understandable of course. But to those who watch for the first time - I either suggest soldiering on - if it seems like it will be boring, or just starting somewhere in the middle and quickly finding out that it is great - it's how I fell in love with the series - it deserves far more Views than it has.
I always wondered what Caitians thought of "primitive" Earth felines. We do know that lions and tigers were apparently extinct by Star Trek time (sadly) but domestic cats, mountain lions, bobcats, jaguars and a few others survive. I wonder if a Caitian would have a pet cat, like Data had Spot.
I imagine it’s gotta be uncanny to see like a skinny newborn jumping onto a table would be weird as hell to see and weirder still when you find out it’s not a weirdly skinny baby but is some guy’s pet
I miss my StarFire. Her mother abandoned her when she was about 2 weeks old, and I bottle raised her. I considered her to be my darling daughter. She was born in my storage shed. She was 3 when some nasty neighbors took her to train their fighting dogs. Yes, I did report them to the police, and they moved away shortly after that. It may be that the reason they took StarFire was my report. I don't know if they were ever punished for their animal abuse. My room mate at the time asked my why StarFire was so mean. I told him, she's not mean. She just acts the way you taught her to act. He did not get it. The next time we had kittens, they were born in my room (Sparkles was the mother) and he had nothing to do with them until they started go wander the house. He asked me why Galaxy and Nebula were so nice when StarFire and Sparkles were mean. As I say, he really did not get it. Anyhow, my point is, we could get along with a cat species of human intelligence, given the right circumstances. @ 7:32 we have societies right now where a person's given name comes last, and the family name comes first. I once knew a guy (An MD from India) who was called Khan, but when you would see it written out, Khan came last. He was a lot of fun to be around, not like Khan from the original series. @ 9:25 I loved Grumpy Cat. Especially the poster I saw where the caption said "I had fun once, it was awful!"
There's gotta be a scene made where two Catian guards are outside a door, and a laser dot appears on the wall opposite them and slowly makes its way down the hall. One guard looks to the other and says, :C'mon. " then Paris and Torres come out from hiding and say, "The coast is clear. Let's go. " 😆
I kind of wonder if the Caitians lore could crossover with Thundercat lore? Both left their home worlds and we never were given a reason for the Thundarian homeworld blowing up. Could a similar species like the Ferasians also been on Thundara? Seems like Lion O, Panthro and Cheetarah would fit well with the Caitians and would make for an excellent crossover candidate for Star Trek.
Given the incredible prosthetic & CGI effects they did for Saru, I'd love to see a live-action Catian on Strange New Worlds or one of the other series.
They’d probably look good in Prodigy, but maybe the Kzinti would be better to adapt if they want to do the whole “I can’t believe it’s not Klingon” space warrior race thing that Voyager tried.
At 2:15 you state that in the film Into Darkness that the twins Jim Kirk was bedding were unknown if they were Caitains. In the credits the actresses Katie & Kelly Cockrell are listed as Caitian Twins. Just thought you'd like to know.
Love these videos and thanks for doin the Caitians, one of my favourite member species. My concern is the Star Trek universe has forgotten the basic elements of its own founding lore. I've noticed this in the shows and movies, but can easily ignore this fault as industry BS. But it's also creeping into the wider fandom sphere as well. I'm hoping you can help explain and allay my concerns. The Federation is supposed to be a free association of member governments and Starfleet is a branch of that cooperative and commonwealth government. But increasingly shows and now even fans speak in terms of the Federation/Star fleet/Earth/Human as interchangeable on the one hand; and member worlds/member species on the other. (I remember and early TNG flub when Deanna Troi describes here heritage: "My mother is Betazoid, my father a Starfleet officer"). This sounds less like an idealised future cooperative union and more like an empire or a pseudo-empire a la the USA, the UK or Russia. I understood Rodenberry's original intent was portrayal of a United Earth akin to the equal union of unequal members that compensate for one another, more along the lines of the EU or even the UN (at the time); and that this was then reflected in an interstellar government of worlds, as well. Why would the Caitians need an admiral to "lobby" to get his people into Star Fleet? They are just as, if not more advanced than other members. And why would we talk about Caitians "serving on Star Fleet vessels" as if this was a rarity for anyone but Humans? Are there not Starfleet vessles full of Caitians? We CONSTANTLY only hear Starfleet vessels with Earth names. But I always assumed there were just as many Caitian, Vulcan, Andorian, Tellarite, Rigielian, Saurian, Sulamidian, Betazoid, etc Starfleet vessels. It is either that, or our concept of a "federation" supposedly based on equality and cooperation is actually an organisation where good neighbours have to realise they have to take a back seat to Earth and Humans who will take over all their space exploration, interplanetary relations, defence and leadership roles. I hope the latter is not what we are expected to believe because that would seem like American-style exceptionalism and not a Federation I'd want to be a member of. And I certainly cannot imagine a Jean Luc Picard, a Spock or even a Kirk being so passionate about such an unequal and imperial ideal. As a person of a few minorities myself and not being from one of the imperial of our real world, it seems like the ego-driven, neo-colonialist attitudes we are struggling with today (and which Rodenberry's utopian vision had eliminated), is just being transferred off-planet. In current Star Trek portrayals, Earth is to the Federation what America has become to today's Earth. The Earth is ruled by Americans and the Earth rules the Federation. I think this blindspot is at the core of Star Trek's struggles and if not addressed, will destroy the franchise. Imagine what (the disastrous) ST Discovery could have been had it made substantive changes (improvement) rather than silly superficial ones? In this day and age, it could have had an international cast of internationally unknown, but locally known actors from all over the world; an international writing and production crew; and anthropology and sociology consultants. This could have infused the show with a deep sense of the universe it is trying to create and make us believe in, rather than recreating once again the American-centred tunnel vision constantly trying to portray itself as "universal."
Romulans: Bans stealth technology with the Feds under an agreement Federation: "you know, Klingons, Romulans, and Cardassians have a lot of carriers and they are winning." Caitians who already have stealth technology joins the Feds and is more than happy to let them use their carriers with Stealth fighters (literally their ability is active cloak): got you fam, here it comes with with cloaked fighters Romulans: confused screaming As a proud owner of both the Atrox and the Aspero, I am fking satisfied. Surprise Tetryon delivery b!tch!
@@aiosquadron oh boy then there's the Lukari, where their solutions to problems is: "can it work with our plant batteries?" And if that doesn't work can we use more plants? And honestly, who cares about the agreement anymore after Romulus went kaboom. I bet any present Romulan Republic no longer bats an eye if a Federation ship starts to cloak, And I'm one of those who violate said agreement multiple times a day. (I have 1 cloaking consoles installed and 2 cloaking traits)
Caitian amusement parks have rides that involve shopping bags and jumping into random cardboard boxes. Their equivalent of UA-cam is mostly devoted to primate videos.
Holy smokes! How have I been missing them all this time? They have been right there in front of us the whole time and this is the first time I really thought about them. These guys are awesome! Wait till I tell my wife. She will go nuts and try to assimilate them into her house cat collective.
Hello CI. You seem to have missed a 'difference' between Humans and Caitians. Humans were Hunter-Gatherers that developed agriculture and then animal husbandry, rather than follow herds through their yearly migrations. Caitians were also Hunter-Gatherers, but went into 'Ranching' and were thus led into agriculture to feed their herds of food animals. Although both species are 'Omnivores', Humans are far more likely to eat plant based foods, supplemented with meats. Caitians, however, are the exact reverse. They eat far more meats, and only consume plant food items to supplement their diet nutritionally. When the Caitians discovered Humans as part of the Federation, they quickly realized that Humans were their 'mirror image' species. Both species have long histories of violence, although the Caitians have been 'civilized' longer, and their social systems tend to reflect this. Another dichotomy between the species is that of Mating and Births. Humans, for the most part, tend to have only a single Mate, and bear single offspring. Caitians have multiple Mates, and bear 'litters' of up to four per birth per female. Humans 'mate' at any season, at any time. Caitians have 'seasons' where their females are fertile, and are only interested in offspring during such a 'seasonal heat'. Caitians DO however, 'mate' outside of the Female's 'heat' cycle, since like Humans, they do enjoy the act of reproduction. But such 'out of season' matings never produce offspring. Another non-mirror aspect of Human-Caitian social systems is the Birth Ratios. Humans tend to be nearly equal in the male to female ratio, with females being only slightly more prevalent. Caitians however, have a 'imbalance' of males to females of about 1 to 4. Meaning they birth 4 times as many females as males. This has led in Caitian society to the accepted 'pride' system, where a single male may have up to 6 female mates in one family grouping. Over thousands of years the Caitians have developed a complex 'ritual' system for pair bondings and group marriages. More can be said about the similarities and differences between Humans and Caitians, but in most respects the Caitians are a mirror of Humanity. Oh, and Caitians may think Humans are a bit rude, crude, and uncultured in some respects, but 'on the other paw', they respect Humanity's ability to brace themselves and push ahead against any foe or problem, usually with success. On average, Caitians are shorter than humans, and Humans are more muscular (both male and female) than Caitians. Caitians have faster reflexes, better hearing, and greater leaping ability. But Humans have more mass, more power, denser bones, and are endlessly inventive and adaptive. Just a few thoughts, speaking Frank-ly
My first officer in Star Trek Online was a Caitian called simply "Blade." As the name suggests, he liked to carry a sword around, using it often in combat on away missions. The roleplay explanation I'd like to give was that his real name was something convoluted and difficult to pronounce by humans.
I don't know, Xindi Primates would be a good topic to cover, but on the other hand, Primate Xindi have an intricate lore and it would be a shame for them to not have a spotlight
THANK YOU for making this i always loved M'ress she made a great communications officer and one reason I always liked the caitians I love learning about them more hope too see a cyanqua colored oneascaptain one day hopefullyon Discovery thank youagain so much.
I'd love to see a Cultural Index on the Kzinti, considering they're both canon Star Trek species, *and* in another prominent science fiction universe (Larry Niven's Known Space books). There aren't any other "crossover" species I can think of, so they'd be quite interesting to examine.
“Welcome, cadets. As you know, Starfleet’s traditions are long, proud and in influenced by Naval themes and histories. Keeping to that, you are expected to wear sailor uniforms. All Catian cadets have the option of wearing their tails under the skirts or through the conveniently-placed hold in the skirt’s backside.”
Star Trek Online should really do something with this anime in-game; even if it is just a ship called the 'Eris'-class...make it a Science-Destroyer just for kicks
for the hind legs thing I just imagine it just probably depends on the environment they grew up in, i.e a more jungle or generally non-flat environment compared to, say, most cities on earth
Looking at their designs, they make me wanna pet them like real house cats. I wonder if they do face-rubs. :3 And I suspect the way they prefer to address their names is kinda similar as to how Japanese people address one another. Gotta love how one of their Caitian-designed starships looks like a Starfleet emblem.
1:45 No, not really. Cats have better night vision because of the tapetum lucidum, which is a layer of tissue in their eyes. Laying immediately behind the retina, it is a retroreflector. It reflects visible light back through the retina, increasing the light available to the photoreceptors.
@@Brocklebury without sentient caitians we wouldn't have a great comm officer aboard the Enterprise. That and Kirk wouldn't have been able to bang the one at the academy ( in a book. Hell Memory and Beta Alpha should have a section on just the women Kirk banged.)
I wonder if these science-fiction shows send scouts to the huge cosplays to find new alien ideas like sports scouts go to high school games? if not, they should. I have seen some amazing body and clothing artwork.
A couple things. 1: Those anime girls in JJ Trek are NOT Caitians. Like anything JJ Abrams, it is a bastardisation and murder of anything Star Trek. 2: Those plantigrade legs you see in Star Trek Online or Elder Scrolls is because of laziness. Simply re-use the human body model, glue on a tail, and call it good. 3: Caitians having evolved from alpha-predators means they also make great tactical officers. 4: Fun Fact, if real-world Earth cat species are any indication, male Caitians are almost all left-handed, and females are almost all right-handed.
Once TV and movie Trek can get rid of the curse that are the people in charge today, I want to see a Caitian on a non-animated show. Back in ENT they did an excellent job of making the Andorians not look stupid and cheesy despite them being blue-skinned aliens with antennas ;)
Shortly after their official membership in Starfleet, laser pointers were banned. :-p
🤣🤣
Fire phasers.
This is the real reason that Starfleet moved to phasers.
The idea of photon directed energy being useless never sat well with me but this explains everything.
@@aiosquadron TMP Decker "NOOOOOOO!" lol
Imagine if a First Contact style Borg beamed on to a Caitian war ship. Do you think the crew would be attacking the Borg or the red dot on the wall? Hmmmm!!!!?????
They propably where that fast in the Federation because Humans took one look at them and were like "KITTIES!!! You guys are IN!"
And they were especially interested in joining when humans introduced them to the wonders of cat nip!
I wonder if some Caitians happen to suffer from temperature based albinism, giving them pointed colouration and blue/green eyes.
I both agree and Support this Theory 100% And Now I'm wondering if Caitian Meme are a thing In there universe
@@GhostBear3067 You forgot one more thing. A ball of yarn throw it at them and they will play with it like a little kitten. or, a laser pointer when you aim the beam of light at the floor they playfully paw at it.
However when they joined Laser pointers were banned while on duty...
9:43; "Hey you, you're finally awake. You were trying to cross the multiversal border right? Got trapped in that Gallifreyan ambush, same as us, and the Terran over there."
I see what you did there
😂😂😂
Now that’s a game i would play
A GTU pfp! wasup!
Later in game, you find a follower who is the only one of his species on this side of the border:
A Protoss Templar.
Following a Caitian.
Fighting Gallifreyans...
🤔
Needs lightsabers...
"Check out this new alien I designed, it's called a Cat"
"You're going to need to come up with a better name than that, we can't just call them cats"
"Okay how about.... Cat..ians"
"How is that better?"
"Okay okay... Ca-i-tians"
"*sigh* Whatever"
In fairness it was for a 1973 children show
@@Mxyzptlksac Also "cait" (pronounced "cat") is the word for "cat" in Gaelic.
@@benrompen7100
That must have particularly bemused Scotty.
@@eldermillennial8330 Scotty and M'ress actually kissed once. Granted they were both under the influence of an alien love potion Harry Mudd was peddling at the time, and neither was particularly amused when it wore off...
The Chad Kzinti and the Virgin Caitian.
“Organic but cutting curves... like a big cat...”
“Like a puma?”
Sarge: "What in Sam Hill is a 'puma?'"
Caitian phasers have three settings: stun, kill, and play.
Their favorite holoprograms is just a laser point dancing around.
And play hard
T'Ana's has a fourth setting: Pleasure.
It's got a higher fatality rating than kill.
I like to imagine that when Doctor T'ana first joined Starfleet medical, she was as personable and friendly as any other Caitian.
Then her career carried her through Wolf 359, The Battle of sector 001, and the Dominion War. She may even have served in the Cardassian Wars and Tzenkethi conflicts. She's certainly very, very, VERY good at her job and has decades of experience.
In short, the poor old cat's seen too much.
She can now settle in with some Bajoran beef to get her coital hooks into. Maybe she got the taste for the men during the Dominion war.
Worse than all of those.
*Seven years on an Oberth class*. A Cali was so many steps up.
Seven years on an Oberth-class?...😫
Which is probably why she's so close with Shax, the scarred old former Bajoran resistance fighter, who spent most of his adult life fighting the Cardassians
@@kendrakiraidamn, she must literally have lived up most of her cat lives by that mission :D
When Caitians and Humans first met each other. They smiled then looked at the Vulcans and commenced Operation Epic Troll. And thus Caitians and Humans became best friends.
They are cats. Any friendship is a ruse.
@@thatrealba That is a lie spread by dogs.
@@drahcir8402 at least dogs pretend to love me whereas cats don’t hide their hatred
@@QixTheDS meanwhile my cats love me and if given the chance want to cuddle all day
@@litchtheshinigami8936 they're plotting something. stay vigilant
I like how the successive species designs can be handwaved as individual Caitians with various genetic augments.
Like the 3 Klingon types
@@sherwoodsmallidge9186 The augment virus made sense, but H.R. Giger Klingons in Edwardian costumes chanting MAGA are just dumb.
@@TheZapan99 Early attempt at curing the augment virus? (And out-of-universe, they wanted to keep the reveal secret, so they piled on the makeup)
Humans come in slight variations too.
Dr. T'Ana is lovely. Yes, she can sometimes a littel grumpy, but i think of her as the Bones of the show. I mean, lock at waht she has to deal with in the Lower Decks series.
I agree. She's rough round the edges, but she still understands the importance of bedside manner.
Love that she has a human boyfriend
@@Johnlindsey289 I don't watch the show, but I think Shax is Bajoran.
@@thejarredhog3936He is
"You want me to clean up those disgusting scars?"
"Uh, no way. No. These are my trophies."
"Congratulations, you look like a f***ing scratching post."
Love Grumpy Caitian Doctor.
Also proof that Caitians possibly use scratching posts.
Scratching totems. And yeah. They have claws. So they’d need to scratch
Federation: We found cat people!
Earth: That federation stuff actually paid off...
I always wanted to see more of the Admiral Caitian from the movies, as he’d obviously been a member of Starfleet for a long time, so he must have been involved in a lot of interesting stuff.
He napped for most of his career
yeah,but I wonder what he would think of Data's pet Spot??
Yay! Space Kitties! Alas, we need a Live Action Caitian with dialogue in one of the new shows.
Hear hear.
No, the current writers and showrunners would make a complete mess of it. Best wait until there's a new Trek idea with people running it who actually care about the franchise.
@@ClarinoI yeah.. like lower decks :troll face:
Furry community would love it.
@@shadowhenge7118 Yes, but also anyone who actually wants to see alien races, rather than just generic human #64682 with pointy ears and green skin who really is an alien, we promise.
"I'm not a furry but...": the species.
its all fun and games until one vomits a furball on you
@@arthurmorgan2861 I'm sure there is someone out there that would enjoy that
@@kertagin1 oh yes, some people have weird fetishes.
Yeah I'm pretty sure a furry made them
I am a furry, and hell yeah!
We stan M'Ress! These characters need more exposure here's to the hope that they get a full time character in the main cast the next time we get a good Star Trek.
Good news, there is a full time Catian in Lower Decks!
Rick: does a vid on kitty people
Me: "involuntary squeal of delight"
They are mostly good kitties... LMFAO
There's no such thing as a good kitty. There are only kitties that are good at not getting caught.
Oh great! More paperwork!
@@daveh7720 Sure there is. Meow Chow Mein. Very good kitty. Very filling.
That’s untill they find the skooma.. uh i mean catnip..
I laughed far too hard at that.
House cats can be pretty social and cooperative, as long as they have other cats with compatible personalities with to socialise with, especially in their first couple of years.
True. I've just rescued a kitten, and he make friend with our cat within a day.
Caitians! Also known as: The only reason most furries would gravitate towards the Star Trek franchise in the first place lol
But no seriously, I love the Caitians as a species, I hope they get more airtime in live action ST continuity
Furry did spring out of scifi. You could argue that because of Caitians and other anthro animals in scifi furry exists.
I mean the Gorn are just scalies... change my mind.
Caitians won't be regulars on tv because they are to easily mocked. And fur make-up is really hard to get to look good. And fur make-up masks face expressions.
@@ernestlam5632 What about star trek lower decks?
I liked the andorians because they are blue
little bit of trivia: Kzinti spaceships and uniforms were pink in the animated series because the show's art director was colorblind and nobody else thought to question his decisions.
The Klingons went around wearing pink during TAS. It could be argued the Klingon uniform underwent an evolution during the TAS to pre-TMP Era for a short time before the shift towards the Movie Era uniform.
A common myth, but one that's been fully debunked. The Kzinti and Klingons uniforms were pink because color director Irvin Kaplan decided to make them so.
@@GSBarlev either way I find that funny
I love how the old science officer Caitian is missing a piece of his ear like he's an old alley cat..
And a large section of her tail as well. Likely we'll never know why, since she doesn't like to talk about it. ^_^
Maybe she saw action in the Dominion War.
She's also missing most of her tail.
A brief nod to the works of Larry Niven would have been appropriate here, as the K'Zinti (and the Caitians from which they were derived) are the only Trek aliens to appear in more than one universe. Larry Niven borrowed them from his own works and inserted them into Star Trek lore, which is largely why they immediately became such a beloved species. 🙂
I absolutely concur with you! I heard of this in a animated Star Trek 1970's series documentary also in the Text Commentary of Star Trek IV The Voyage Home too!
I recall reading a few old Trek novels, with K'Zinti and other aliens that were also appearing in their own settings. It seems some authors back then were not overly concerned with IP issues.
@@themercer4972 Makes ya wonder what kinda deal Niven and Desilu/Paramount had, or if they had any deal at all. It's certainly an unusual arrangement. 🙂
Niven’s Slavers appeared in Star Trek the Animated Series.
Scream and leap!
"... Generally they are good kitties."
Dr. T'Ana is one of my favorite characters on the lower decks. she does not act like a typical Caitian for a few reasons like.
1 probably because most of the characters are subversions of their respective races like an Orion who isn't a pirate or a buff Bajoran etc.
2 an homage to Dr. McCoy
The other Caitians are similar to big cats. T'ana reminds me of a scruffy, house cat.
There's some indication that the Vulcan fleet dumps their misfits onto Starfleet. It's possible that the Humans are the only species whose Starfleet representatives reflect them.
@@jy3n2 Tbf given humans are involved. Its only logical to give their more deviant members some place they can belong. Besides while rare to exists I'm guess vulcan human hybrids when they happen are shown to be quite effective ie spock.
"The space is cold, but Kahjiit feels warmth in your presence."
Starfleet bathrooms must have a variety of equipment...including litter boxes!
Lt. M'ress has a litter box, and scratching post in her quarters, not to mention catnip, and balls of yarn to chase around.
Gritty Kitty
No wonder Quark calls waste extraction.
Do you HAVE to say this?
@@johnbockelie3899 nope they use synthnip cat nip is a.banned substance like.Romuluam ale
Honestly so happy that they made Dr. T'Ana. Getting another Caitian main character is a nice way to pay tribute to the previous animated Star Trek series.
Love this guy's i wish they would use them on the other Trek shows! 👍🏻👍🏻
They get on with most species in less your a dog of course and well just imagine the size of the litter try
Im guessing quality convincing masks will prevent them from ever being main characters on a live action TV show due to budget
Massive shame we haven’t seen more of them. I suspect in the past, it would have mainly been due to the near impossibility of showing them convincingly solely through practical effects, so there was only animation in TAS, the glimpses in the TOS movies, but never in TNG, DS9, Voyager, or even Enterprise.
Hoping this can finally change, with trek productions having access to far greater budgets and the assistance of modern technology, it’s no longer the hurdle it once was. Plus there’s zero excuse not to see them more prominently in future animation. So who knows, perhaps one day they’ll get the screen time they deserve.
Lt. M'Ress can attack my ankles any time.
lmao same
And you'll evenzually wake up next to T'ana...
Interesting how the Caitians are the only Federation members to actually use railguns on their ships (and in fact almost the only ones in the whole Star Trek universe)...
It’s because a laser gun would distract them
In FASA Canon early-to-mid-23rd century Starfleet ship-based Accelerator Cannons, (replaced by Photon Torpedo technology), were described as 'large mass-drivers'. This would make them analogous to EM-accelerated railguns.
so.. are you saying,
they like to sneak
Maneuvers silken and sleek
The darkest corners they seek
In the night..?
I get this reference.
Miracle of Sound reference! You win the day, well played!
Dosent this also describe Kajits from Elderscrolls?
@@Rubix003 M'aiq thinks so yes
Getting together with a Caitian sounds fun until you realize they've got an extended family a mile long.
And then there's the hooks.
@@jy3n2 ... that is a form of suffering I can live with.
i diagnose you with furry
@@joda7697 really, why what ever gave you that idea?
*Hides body pillow of Loona*
I want to see a briefing room seen with a caitian officer just tapping and nudging and moving the PADD just like a cat and then getting irritated and just hissing and knocking it off the table. Mid briefing to which the captain stops and says what you doing... and then later on a shot goes to the officer talking next to caitian and you just see this paw hand come from off screen and start nudging at the padd in front of the officer.
And it just becomes a running gag that the caitian officer will just knock things off- like visiting someone elses quarters and then turn around and see a glass on the floor... “ Did you knock that off”- “ No” was grav plat issue...
And it becomes a big sign of trust and respect if you hear them purr it means they trust/love/respect you. They also can be found sleeping in the Jefferies tubes near engineering as they like the warmth and the hum of the warp core
You're nearing 100k subs - Congrats BTW. I love those videos, but until recently I didn't watch your STO series. Thought it wouldn't be to my taste. Oh how wrong I was - it is SUPERB. I binge watched all of them - about 2-3 weeks ago (You were around episode 91-92). I still watch the new ones and even re-watched whole series again. Now I'm watching it for the 3rd time - Vaaduar and stuff.
That being said - what probably turned me off from it was that first couple of episodes weren't that polished as later ones - understandable of course. But to those who watch for the first time - I either suggest soldiering on - if it seems like it will be boring, or just starting somewhere in the middle and quickly finding out that it is great - it's how I fell in love with the series - it deserves far more Views than it has.
I was listening to this, occasionally glancing over, while doing my nightly stretches. Glancing over and seeing Keyboard Cat nearly caused me injury.
Would head straight to that home world and never look back
Love the Caitians! Thanks for this.
I always wondered what Caitians thought of "primitive" Earth felines. We do know that lions and tigers were apparently extinct by Star Trek time (sadly) but domestic cats, mountain lions, bobcats, jaguars and a few others survive. I wonder if a Caitian would have a pet cat, like Data had Spot.
well, i mean, humans with pet monkeys is a thing that happens, so maybe? it might be kinda weird tho
I imagine it’s gotta be uncanny to see like a skinny newborn jumping onto a table would be weird as hell to see and weirder still when you find out it’s not a weirdly skinny baby but is some guy’s pet
I miss my StarFire. Her mother abandoned her when she was about 2 weeks old, and I bottle raised her. I considered her to be my darling daughter. She was born in my storage shed. She was 3 when some nasty neighbors took her to train their fighting dogs. Yes, I did report them to the police, and they moved away shortly after that. It may be that the reason they took StarFire was my report. I don't know if they were ever punished for their animal abuse. My room mate at the time asked my why StarFire was so mean. I told him, she's not mean. She just acts the way you taught her to act. He did not get it. The next time we had kittens, they were born in my room (Sparkles was the mother) and he had nothing to do with them until they started go wander the house. He asked me why Galaxy and Nebula were so nice when StarFire and Sparkles were mean. As I say, he really did not get it. Anyhow, my point is, we could get along with a cat species of human intelligence, given the right circumstances.
@ 7:32 we have societies right now where a person's given name comes last, and the family name comes first. I once knew a guy (An MD from India) who was called Khan, but when you would see it written out, Khan came last. He was a lot of fun to be around, not like Khan from the original series.
@ 9:25 I loved Grumpy Cat. Especially the poster I saw where the caption said "I had fun once, it was awful!"
There's gotta be a scene made where two Catian guards are outside a door, and a laser dot appears on the wall opposite them and slowly makes its way down the hall. One guard looks to the other and says, :C'mon. " then Paris and Torres come out from hiding and say, "The coast is clear. Let's go. "
😆
I would like the cat people to become a main stay in Picard or Discovery... or perhaps in a brand new series
Picard was supposed to have a Caitian but she was made human
I kind of wonder if the Caitians lore could crossover with Thundercat lore? Both left their home worlds and we never were given a reason for the Thundarian homeworld blowing up. Could a similar species like the Ferasians also been on Thundara? Seems like Lion O, Panthro and Cheetarah would fit well with the Caitians and would make for an excellent crossover candidate for Star Trek.
Given the incredible prosthetic & CGI effects they did for Saru, I'd love to see a live-action Catian on Strange New Worlds or one of the other series.
Theyd just wind up sitting around talking about their feelings.
They’d probably look good in Prodigy, but maybe the Kzinti would be better to adapt if they want to do the whole “I can’t believe it’s not Klingon” space warrior race thing that Voyager tried.
I would like to add, a Caitian child was featured in Prodigy season 1 and she had white fur
At 2:15 you state that in the film Into Darkness that the twins Jim Kirk was bedding were unknown if they were Caitains. In the credits the actresses Katie & Kelly Cockrell are listed as Caitian Twins. Just thought you'd like to know.
When my uncle played the table top game, this was his species.
Love these videos and thanks for doin the Caitians, one of my favourite member species.
My concern is the Star Trek universe has forgotten the basic elements of its own founding lore. I've noticed this in the shows and movies, but can easily ignore this fault as industry BS. But it's also creeping into the wider fandom sphere as well. I'm hoping you can help explain and allay my concerns.
The Federation is supposed to be a free association of member governments and Starfleet is a branch of that cooperative and commonwealth government. But increasingly shows and now even fans speak in terms of the Federation/Star fleet/Earth/Human as interchangeable on the one hand; and member worlds/member species on the other. (I remember and early TNG flub when Deanna Troi describes here heritage: "My mother is Betazoid, my father a Starfleet officer"). This sounds less like an idealised future cooperative union and more like an empire or a pseudo-empire a la the USA, the UK or Russia. I understood Rodenberry's original intent was portrayal of a United Earth akin to the equal union of unequal members that compensate for one another, more along the lines of the EU or even the UN (at the time); and that this was then reflected in an interstellar government of worlds, as well.
Why would the Caitians need an admiral to "lobby" to get his people into Star Fleet? They are just as, if not more advanced than other members. And why would we talk about Caitians "serving on Star Fleet vessels" as if this was a rarity for anyone but Humans? Are there not Starfleet vessles full of Caitians? We CONSTANTLY only hear Starfleet vessels with Earth names. But I always assumed there were just as many Caitian, Vulcan, Andorian, Tellarite, Rigielian, Saurian, Sulamidian, Betazoid, etc Starfleet vessels. It is either that, or our concept of a "federation" supposedly based on equality and cooperation is actually an organisation where good neighbours have to realise they have to take a back seat to Earth and Humans who will take over all their space exploration, interplanetary relations, defence and leadership roles. I hope the latter is not what we are expected to believe because that would seem like American-style exceptionalism and not a Federation I'd want to be a member of. And I certainly cannot imagine a Jean Luc Picard, a Spock or even a Kirk being so passionate about such an unequal and imperial ideal.
As a person of a few minorities myself and not being from one of the imperial of our real world, it seems like the ego-driven, neo-colonialist attitudes we are struggling with today (and which Rodenberry's utopian vision had eliminated), is just being transferred off-planet. In current Star Trek portrayals, Earth is to the Federation what America has become to today's Earth. The Earth is ruled by Americans and the Earth rules the Federation. I think this blindspot is at the core of Star Trek's struggles and if not addressed, will destroy the franchise. Imagine what (the disastrous) ST Discovery could have been had it made substantive changes (improvement) rather than silly superficial ones? In this day and age, it could have had an international cast of internationally unknown, but locally known actors from all over the world; an international writing and production crew; and anthropology and sociology consultants. This could have infused the show with a deep sense of the universe it is trying to create and make us believe in, rather than recreating once again the American-centred tunnel vision constantly trying to portray itself as "universal."
thanks for the video. I have always been curios about this species.Good job!!
I heard you can take out an entire Caitian crew with just a laserpointer
That started a major barfight in Club 47. Drunken Starfleeters...
Tactical arm phasers at target painting setting only
Oh man i had a thing for M'ress when i was a kid seeing Star Trek TAS on reruns in Nick back in 86
The Federation are definitely cat people
I imagine historical documents filed as "lolcats" convinced the Caitians that Humans already worshipped felines.
Archer noises
Wait, this is the first time I recall that you mentioned Lower Decks
I wanted to see something about the Kilrathi from Wing Commander.
how about the Zygerians from Star Wars :p
Thanks for featuring me! Purrfect! 🐱😊
I like this species. I would like to see more of them in a live action show
You Know I didn't realize they already existed in the lore. So is Thundera their true home of origin.
Thunder. ☁
Thunder! 🌩
THUNDER! ⚡
THUNDER CATS! 💥
HOOOOOOOOOO... ❗🙀
CHEERS! 🍻 😼✌
My favourite vat people in Trek... yet notoriously underrepresented.
Cats not vats 😂
We definetly need to see more of this species in new trek shows.
Mrrroow.
Moaar space kitties! Moar Ferasan!
"Dark vision of 120 feet...wait no, wrong franchise" 😂 - The Tabaxi approves this message
I wonder what the Catians think about domesticated cats on Earth? Do they even have anything to do with them ...?
Romulans: Bans stealth technology with the Feds under an agreement
Federation: "you know, Klingons, Romulans, and Cardassians have a lot of carriers and they are winning."
Caitians who already have stealth technology joins the Feds and is more than happy to let them use their carriers with Stealth fighters (literally their ability is active cloak): got you fam, here it comes with with cloaked fighters
Romulans: confused screaming
As a proud owner of both the Atrox and the Aspero, I am fking satisfied. Surprise Tetryon delivery b!tch!
Other races: we put exotic particles through induction coils and run the phased conduit to the weapons emitter.
Caitians: MAC. We throw rocks at em.
@@aiosquadron oh boy then there's the Lukari, where their solutions to problems is: "can it work with our plant batteries?" And if that doesn't work can we use more plants?
And honestly, who cares about the agreement anymore after Romulus went kaboom. I bet any present Romulan Republic no longer bats an eye if a Federation ship starts to cloak, And I'm one of those who violate said agreement multiple times a day. (I have 1 cloaking consoles installed and 2 cloaking traits)
Caitian amusement parks have rides that involve shopping bags and jumping into random cardboard boxes. Their equivalent of UA-cam is mostly devoted to primate videos.
That last bit at the end… you made me spit out my tea.. 😂
Holy smokes!
How have I been missing them all this time? They have been right there in front of us the whole time and this is the first time I really thought about them.
These guys are awesome!
Wait till I tell my wife. She will go nuts and try to assimilate them into her house cat collective.
You missed covering their war with the dog species during data's first years in Starfleet on the enterprise.
really?
"For fuck's sake! Just because I resemble a domestic feline from your planet doesn't mean I fit its stereotypes"- Lt (j.g) M'Ress
Hello CI.
You seem to have missed a 'difference' between Humans and Caitians.
Humans were Hunter-Gatherers that developed agriculture and then animal husbandry, rather than follow herds through their yearly migrations.
Caitians were also Hunter-Gatherers, but went into 'Ranching' and were thus led into agriculture to feed their herds of food animals.
Although both species are 'Omnivores', Humans are far more likely to eat plant based foods, supplemented with meats. Caitians, however, are the exact reverse. They eat far more meats, and only consume plant food items to supplement their diet nutritionally.
When the Caitians discovered Humans as part of the Federation, they quickly realized that Humans were their 'mirror image' species. Both species have long histories of violence, although the Caitians have been 'civilized' longer, and their social systems tend to reflect this.
Another dichotomy between the species is that of Mating and Births. Humans, for the most part, tend to have only a single Mate, and bear single offspring. Caitians have multiple Mates, and bear 'litters' of up to four per birth per female. Humans 'mate' at any season, at any time. Caitians have 'seasons' where their females are fertile, and are only interested in offspring during such a 'seasonal heat'. Caitians DO however, 'mate' outside of the Female's 'heat' cycle, since like Humans, they do enjoy the act of reproduction. But such 'out of season' matings never produce offspring.
Another non-mirror aspect of Human-Caitian social systems is the Birth Ratios. Humans tend to be nearly equal in the male to female ratio, with females being only slightly more prevalent. Caitians however, have a 'imbalance' of males to females of about 1 to 4. Meaning they birth 4 times as many females as males.
This has led in Caitian society to the accepted 'pride' system, where a single male may have up to 6 female mates in one family grouping. Over thousands of years the Caitians have developed a complex 'ritual' system for pair bondings and group marriages.
More can be said about the similarities and differences between Humans and Caitians, but in most respects the Caitians are a mirror of Humanity. Oh, and Caitians may think Humans are a bit rude, crude, and uncultured in some respects, but 'on the other paw', they respect Humanity's ability to brace themselves and push ahead against any foe or problem, usually with success.
On average, Caitians are shorter than humans, and Humans are more muscular (both male and female) than Caitians. Caitians have faster reflexes, better hearing, and greater leaping ability. But Humans have more mass, more power, denser bones, and are endlessly inventive and adaptive.
Just a few thoughts,
speaking Frank-ly
My first officer in Star Trek Online was a Caitian called simply "Blade." As the name suggests, he liked to carry a sword around, using it often in combat on away missions. The roleplay explanation I'd like to give was that his real name was something convoluted and difficult to pronounce by humans.
I found this video to be most educational.
~May your road lead you to warm sand -'J
I don't know, Xindi Primates would be a good topic to cover, but on the other hand, Primate Xindi have an intricate lore and it would be a shame for them to not have a spotlight
THANK YOU for making this i always loved M'ress she made a great communications officer and one reason I always liked the caitians I love learning about them more hope too see a cyanqua colored oneascaptain one day hopefullyon Discovery thank youagain so much.
Humans: hello
Catians: meow, meow, meow
I'd love to see a Cultural Index on the Kzinti, considering they're both canon Star Trek species, *and* in another prominent science fiction universe (Larry Niven's Known Space books). There aren't any other "crossover" species I can think of, so they'd be quite interesting to examine.
We need the Caitians in one of the new series.
Fun fact majel barrett has been in the first six star trek series and most films
She was the first number 1 in the pilot "The Cage" which was used to make the episode "The Menagerie"
Easy to see why they haven't been prominently seen in anything but the animated shows, the makeup work would have made Klingons look simple
Ah, Cat Planet Cuties but with more fur.
I understood that reference ...
“Welcome, cadets. As you know, Starfleet’s traditions are long, proud and in influenced by Naval themes and histories. Keeping to that, you are expected to wear sailor uniforms. All Catian cadets have the option of wearing their tails under the skirts or through the conveniently-placed hold in the skirt’s backside.”
Star Trek Online should really do something with this anime in-game; even if it is just a ship called the 'Eris'-class...make it a Science-Destroyer just for kicks
The most dangerous (and highly illegal), drug on Cait...Earth catnip. 😉
Do they have a history of war with a canine species?
for the hind legs thing I just imagine it just probably depends on the environment they grew up in, i.e a more jungle or generally non-flat environment compared to, say, most cities on earth
In my head canon, the Caitian the Farasan split happened because of a Holy War over the Color of the Sacred Hats
But from a sincere belief in Cloister the Stupid?
@@danielyeshe and the Caitians exodus of Farasa was in search of their Promis Land, Fiji
Looking at their designs, they make me wanna pet them like real house cats. I wonder if they do face-rubs. :3 And I suspect the way they prefer to address their names is kinda similar as to how Japanese people address one another. Gotta love how one of their Caitian-designed starships looks like a Starfleet emblem.
We all love ❤️ 🐈 cats & caitians-we duzz!!
A cat like race..... They are an amzing species !!!! Just, be careful with your rocking chairs ..... Lol
1:45 No, not really. Cats have better night vision because of the tapetum lucidum, which is a layer of tissue in their eyes. Laying immediately behind the retina, it is a retroreflector. It reflects visible light back through the retina, increasing the light available to the photoreceptors.
LMAO @ the bit at the end! XD
Ferasans are Caitian augments!!! Oh shi-
Yeah, there's a war coming someday in Star Trek Online...
Rather Caitians are non-augment Ferasans.
And all based gen code of kazinti, lucky for us the caitian females are sentient.
@@scottlyons8130 Female cats are sentient, too.
How is that lucky for us?
@@Brocklebury without sentient caitians we wouldn't have a great comm officer aboard the Enterprise. That and Kirk wouldn't have been able to bang the one at the academy ( in a book. Hell Memory and Beta Alpha should have a section on just the women Kirk banged.)
Thank you! Excellent presentation and very humorous 🤣😂😅
They're such good kitties...
I wonder if these science-fiction shows send scouts to the huge cosplays to find new alien ideas like sports scouts go to high school games? if not, they should. I have seen some amazing body and clothing artwork.
I'm gonna get my friends into star trek by telling them it has catgirls but not them that they'll never see them
Looking forward to next weeks episode
Weren’t the Ferasans created for STO because the Kzinti were owned by someone else?
A couple things.
1: Those anime girls in JJ Trek are NOT Caitians. Like anything JJ Abrams, it is a bastardisation and murder of anything Star Trek.
2: Those plantigrade legs you see in Star Trek Online or Elder Scrolls is because of laziness. Simply re-use the human body model, glue on a tail, and call it good.
3: Caitians having evolved from alpha-predators means they also make great tactical officers.
4: Fun Fact, if real-world Earth cat species are any indication, male Caitians are almost all left-handed, and females are almost all right-handed.
Star Trek had cat girls before it was cool.
I never knew there were cat people race until I found one of them in Star Trek Online.
Cat girls have literally been cool since we had anything like culture.
Google 'lion man of the hohlenstein stadel"
Great video, good amount of research. Thanks for sharing. :)
Once TV and movie Trek can get rid of the curse that are the people in charge today, I want to see a Caitian on a non-animated show. Back in ENT they did an excellent job of making the Andorians not look stupid and cheesy despite them being blue-skinned aliens with antennas ;)
Apparently Seven’s ex, Bjayzl, was supposed to be Caitian who had a aviary of birds to eat. But it we’d changed
Huh! So *that's* what they're called. 🙂