Star Trek Question - The Breen... (1 Viewer)

[Moe Maishlish]

Ok Trekkies/Trekkers,

Someone explain the Breen to me...

I've been catching up on some episodes of DS9, and this alien species has started to get some relatively wide exposure.

All I know about them so far is:

1) They have voices like the local McDonalds drivethu speaker.
2) They look suspiciously similar to Princess Leia dressed in the bounty-hunter costume she disguises herself in, to save Han from Jabba's palace at the beginning of ROTJ.
3) Apparently, they don't bleed.

So what's the deal? Anyone?

Moe.

 

[Lee Jamilkowski]

We don't know much. They reside near the Black Cluster and were suspects in the Vico's destruction ("Hero Worship" (TNG)) and use type three disruptors (GENERATIONS). They keep slaves, apparently live on an ice planet (though Weyoun claims otherwise) and made an alliance with the Dominion. No one apparently has seen them, though this leads to a nitpick as Dukat and Kira took out some Breen and stole their uniforms ("INDISCRETION").
That's about all.
http://www.startrek.com/library/xeno.asp?ID=70562

 

[David Williams]

2) They look suspiciously similar to Princess Leia dressed in the bounty-hunter costume she disguises herself in, to save Han from Jabba's palace at the beginning of ROTJ.

Very clever eye! It is rather startling to see it, first in "Indiscretion" and then later on during the Dominion War. It is an intentional homage to Star Wars and, if memory serves, they started with an actual copy of the Bounty Hunter helmet and then modified it slightly.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I wonder if they're something Ron Moore was planning on expanding on when he thought he was going to be running Series 5, the same way Bajor was introduced in TNG and the Maquis were set up in TNG and DS9 (and then more or less ignored in "Voyager" by the (@*#&$^$@! stupid excuses for writers...).

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Quite possible

I like how the Breen are so mysterious, but I know that if Braga/Berman are still in charge that after Enterprise they'll get around to ruining that

 

[Anthony Hom]

The Breen were neat, but not much for character development. At least the Borg could talk, these guys sound like Charlie Brown talking to an adult
They looked like they were created as easy to figure out characters with mysterious qualities that are appealing becuase they extend into your imagination. I'm afraid if they really tried to develop them as lead antagonists, they would lose their appeal by giving them rigid defined character. I think the same thing happened to the Borg by the end of Voyager.
PS. I'm sure B&B will somehow manage to work the Borg into Enterprise, they seem to be putting everything else in!

 

[Jack Briggs]

Breen there, done that.

 

[Lew Crippen]

ouch!

 

[Patrick Cate]

I always wondered, what happened to the Breen after the Dominion lost the war? Since they were allies of the Dominion I would have thought they would have suffered some repercussions. Were they just allowed to return to their own territory?

 

[Sean Bryan]

There have been NO further stories told (books don't count) in that era of Star Trek since the final episode of DS9. At least in the Alpha quadrant, Voyager doesn't really count since it was way over in the Delta Quadrant.

So who knows? The Breen would certainly suffer repercussions. As would Cardassia. The fate of Cardassia would be interesting, since their own people and military eventually rebelled against their Dominon Masters and helped turn the tide of the war. In turn the Dominion devastated Cardassia. It would be nice to see more of the alpha quadrant of this era on a consistent basis, but all we'll get are the self contained stories of the movies (and maybe only one more of the NG/DS9 era).

I think Enterprise has been OK and has potential for being better than it is, but I still wish they had gone in a different direction with the new show. If they took the timeline, say, 100-200 years into the future they could have done anything they wanted. They would have had NO restrictions, and they could have had an opportunity to completely reinvent the franchise. There could have been Romulans/Cardassians in the Federation! An alliance with the Borg! Or maybe a severely weakened Federation (half conquered by the Borg or something worse). Or maybe No Federation. Or a Federation that spans the entire Alpha quadrant with the story taking place throughout all four quadrants! Maybe even the beginnings of exploration outside of the galaxy. You get my point, they could have done ANYTHING. Going back to a time before an established story is a neat idea (tell the origin), but it leaves the writers in a position where they are limited by the already established future.

Maybe if there is eventually a 6th series, they'll do something radically different.

As for the Breen: I think it was suggested that they live in an environment much colder than typical Class-M planets (maybe not even class-M), thus the environmental suits. I don't remember if it has been suggested that this wasn't really true, and they just preferred not to reveal their true appearance to aliens. Certainly mysterious.