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Ferengi

In the Star Trek universe, the Ferengi are natives of the planet Ferenginar and are noted for their single-minded devotion to capitalism. Their name likely comes from the Arabic word Faranj or Ifranj, "Franks", which the Arabs used to describe the European merchants in the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean.

Table of contents
1 Ferengi biology
2 Ferengi culture
3 Ferengi history
4 Ferengi leadership
5 External links

Ferengi biology

Ferengi are small compared to humans, have orange-colored skin, unusually large ears (more so in males than in females), sharp teeth, double foreheads, ascending ribs, upper and lower lungs, and a four-lobed brain that cannot be read by the telepathic powers of Betazoids or Vulcanss.

Ferengi culture

The traditional laws of the Ferengi are highly sexist by human standards, forbidding females from making profit or indeed wearing clothes.

The Ferengi have a code of ethics laid out in a set of 285 rules called the Rules of Acquisition. Each gives a titbit of advice that all good Ferengi should follow in order to lead a profitable life. "Profitable" is to be interpreted here in the sense of "making money", for this is the principal virtue in the eyes of the traditional Ferengi. For example, the first Rule of Acquisition is, "Once you have their money, you never give it back."

In addition to the Rules, the Ferengi also recognize the Five Stages of Acquisition: infatuation, justification, appropriation, obsession, and resale.

It is fairly likely that a Ferengi would sell his mother if it would bring him latinum, the principal form of Ferengi currency.

Ferengi history

According to legend, in ancient times the Ferengi and the Gree vied for control of their planet.

The Barter Age -- Before uniting under a Nagus, Ferenginar was divided into warring Commerce Zones.

In about the 9th Millennium B.C.E Gint started writing the Rules of Acquisition laying the basis for Ferengi society.

In 1947, a Ferengi craft from the 2370s crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. This was Humanity's first contact with the Ferengi.

At some point between 1947 and 2151, the Ferengi purchased warp drive from the Breen.

In 2151, Ferengi raided the starship Enterprise, but were quickly defeated. Their racial identity remained unknown.

In 2355, the (still unknown) Ferengi fought Jean-Luc Picard at the Battle of Maxia.

In 2364, official first contact was made between the Ferengi Alliance and the United Federation of Planets at the planet Delphi Ardu.

Ferengi leadership

External links


Please note: This article contains information gleaned from "Legends of the Ferengi" (1997) ISBN 0671007289 by Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe. These gentlemen worked on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for several years and established most of what is known about the Ferengi. This book was intended to be, at the very least, semi-canon and contained valueable(sic) exclusive insights into the Ferengi.