Ferengi

Player Race: Yes
Relation to UFP: Friendly.

ACTDNoteworthy:
- We've had a few Ferengi in ACTD.  They're fun to play.

Description
Technologically sophisticated humanoid civilization that was long a complete mystery to the Federation prior to first contact at planet Delphi Ardu in 2364 (The Last Outpost -TNG).  Originally from the planet Ferenginar, by the 24th century, the Ferengi were an interstellar culture (Family Business -DS9).  It took the Ferengi 10,000 years from the time they first started using currency to establish the Ferengi Alliance.  The Ferengi extended their culture on an interstellar scale by buying warp drive technology (Little Green Men -DS9).  Possessing a strict code of honor, Ferengi philosophy ruthlessly embraces the principles of capitalism.  Ferengi culture finds the concept of organized labor to an abhorrent, since such things can interfere with the exploitation of workers.  Similarly, Ferengi labor contracts never provide for sick leave, vacations, or paid overtime for employees (Bar Association -DS9).  Ferengi consider the sanctity of a contract to be a cornerstone of their civilization.  Breaking a contract is unthinkable, and will generally result in the offender having his Ferengi business license revoked and all of his assets seized and him becoming a pariah in Ferengi society (Body Parts -DS9).  The Ferengi are sexist in the extreme, and do not allow their females the honor of clothing (The Last Outpost -TNG).  In addition, Ferengi females are kept house-bound, uneducated, and wholly dependant on their male counterparts.  It is illegal for Ferengi females to earn profit, or to quote from the Rules of Acquisition (Rules of Acquisition -DS9).  They are also forbidden to travel or to talk to strangers.  Ferengi tradition requires the females of the family to prepare and serve meals, and to soften the food for the males by chewing it for them (Family Business -DS9).  Interestingly, Ferengi males often fine human females very attractive (The Last Outpost -TNG).  Ferengi consider pregnancy to be a rental, with the father being termed the lessee (Nor the Battle to the Strong -DS9).  When a young Ferengi reaches adulthood and prepares to leave home, he traditionally raises capital by auctioning his boyhood treasures (Little Green Men -DS9).  Betazoids are incapable of empathically reading Ferengi minds.  This may be due to the unusual four-lobed design of Ferengi brains (Menage a Troi -TNG, The Loss -TNG).  Dopterians, whose brains are structurally similar to those of the Ferengi, are similarly unreadable by Betazoids (The Forsaken -DS9).  Ferengi have ascending ribs and upper and lower lung (Bar Association -DS9).  Shortly after first contact with the Federation, Ferengi entrepreneurs saw new opportunities and quickly assimilated themselves into Federation commerce, such as Quark, a Ferengi who established a bar at Deep Space 9 (Emissary -DS9).  The Ferengi are not members of the Federation (False Profits -VGR).  Ferengi entrepreneurs served as intermediaries for the Karemma in commerce with the Federation.  The Karemma sought this arrangement because the Dominion would not have tolerated direct trade with the Federation. (Starship Down -DS9).  One Ferengi quotation says, "Never ask when you can take." (Babel -DS9).  Another Ferengi saying is, "Good things come in small packages." (Move Along Home -DS9).
Star Trek: The Encyclopedia (1999 edition)

Civilization.  Ferengi have deciduous childhood lobes that they lose as they grow older.  A Ferengi's first set of ears are lost at a young age.  The Ferengi believe that the universe is held together by the Great material Continuum, also known as the Great River.  They believe that each part of the universe has too much of one thing, but not enough of another, and it is through the continual flow of the Great River that wants and needs can be fulfilled, if one navigates the River with sufficient entrepreneurial skill (Treachery, Faith, and the Great River -DS9).  The seeds of a profound revolution in Ferengi society were sown in 2373 when Grand Nagus Zek came to accept the guidance of a female, Ishka.  While Ishka gave Zek sound financial advice that benefitted the entire Ferengi Alliance, she also made no secret of her personal agenda to reform Ferengi law to grant equal rights to females (Ferengi Love Songs -DS9).  Zek acted on this radical reform a year later when he amended the Ferengi Bill of Opportunities to grant females the right to wear clothes.  Announcement of the amendment initially caused financial chaos throughout Ferengi society, nearly deposing Zek in the process.  Stability and profitability returned when it became evident that equal economic opportunity for females resulted in the opneing of exciting new markets for consumer goods (Profits and Lace -DS9).
Star Trek: The Encyclopedia (1999 edition) -Supplement.