Jem'Hadar
Player Race: Do you really need to ask?
Relation to UFP: Peace
signed after war with UFP.
ACTDNoteworthy:
- They're the
foot soldiers for the Dominion. Nuff said.
Description
Genetically
engineered warrior species from the Gamme Quadrant. The Jem'Hadar functioned as the
army of the Dominion, controlled by the Founders through the Vorta. They were first
encountered in 2370, by personnel from station Deep Space 9 (The Jem'Hadar -DS9).
Jem'Hadar live for combat. Before going into battle, Jem'Hadar conduct a ritual
ceremony in which they proclaim, "I am dead. As of this moment we are all
dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This we do glady because we are
Jem'Hadar. Remember, victory is life." (To the Death -DS9, By Inferno's
Light -DS9).
Genetically engineered by the Founders, Jem'Hadar lack a vital isogenic
enzyme (known as ketracel-white, or simple white) needed for survival. The Founders
use this chemical dependence to maintain control over the powerful Jem'Hadar (The
Abandoned -DS9). The Jem'Hadar receive this drug through special supply tubes
implanted in their necks. Since the Jem'Hadar were directly controlled by the Vorta,
most Jem'Hadar spent their entire lives without seeing a Founder. To them, the
Founders were almost a myth of god-like stature (Hippocratic Oath -DS9). A Founder
was aboard a Jem'Hadar warship that crash-landed on Torga IV on stardate 50049.3.
The Jem'Hadar that came to rescue him failed, and later committed suicide for having
allowed the Founder's death (The Ship -DS9).
Jem'Hadar do not eat, because white is the only thing they need for
nutrition. Relaxation would only make them weak, so they don't sleep.
Jem'Hadar are bred in birthing chambers, so there is no need for females of sexual
reproduction. They mature at a rapid rate and are able to fight within three days of
emergence. Few live 15 years, and no Jem'Hadar has ever reached 30 years of
age. If they manage to reach 20, they achieve the status of 'Honored Elder' (To the
Death -DS9).
If the Jem'Hadar are ruthless to their own, they are even more so to
those who they oppose. When the inhabitants of a planet in the Teplan system
resisted Dominion rule in 2172, the Jem'Hadar made an example of them by infecting the
planet with a deadly disease known as the blight (The Quickening -DS9).
Standard Jem'Hadar occupation tactics require at least 27 soldiers to
be stationed inside a base camp at all times, with nine patrolling the perimeter (To the
Death -DS9).
In 2371, Starfleet learned more about the Jem'Hadar from a member of
that species found as an infant on Deep Space 9. This young individual grew at an
accelerated rate, advancing in years both physically and intellectually (The Abandoned
-DS9).
In late 2371, the Jem'Hadar demonstrated their awesome destructive
power when a fleet of 150 Jem'Hadar fighter craft ambushed some 20 Romulan and Cardassian
ships attacked the Founders' homeworld in the Omarion Nebula (The Die is Cast -DS9).
In 2372, two Jem'Hadar ships disrupted a trade conference among Federation, Ferengi, and
Karemma delegates held aboard the Starship Defiant. The Jem'Hadar ships were
destroyed, and the crew of the Defiant rescued the Karemman ship's crew (Starship Down
-DS9).
Star Trek: The
Encyclopedia (1999 edition).
Civilization, part of
the Dominion. In 2374, the Dominion began breeding Jem'Hadar soldiers in the Alpha
Quadrant. The move was prompted by a shortage of Jem'Hadar caused by the Starfleet
blockade of the Bajoran wormhole during the early days of the Dominion war. These
Jem'Hadar, sometimes called 'Alphas', were headstrong and arrogant, specifically
engineered for effectiveness in battle in the Alpha Quadrant (One Little Ship -DS9).
A major Jem'Hadar Alpha Quadrant victory occurred in early 2374 when a Jem'Hadar fleet
inflicted 87 percent casualities on a massive Starfleet task force at the Tyra system (A
Time to Stand -DS9). The Vorta feared that the Jem'Hadar would become uncontrollable
without the use of the white, but the Vorta underestimated the loyalty and obedience of
the Jem'Hadar. For example, in 2374, when Keevan, a Vorta supervisor, betrayed all
the Jem'Hadar under his command, the Jem'Hadar soldiers knowingly and willingly went to
their deaths because they believed that 'Obedience brings victory' and that 'Victory is
Life' (Rocks and Shoals -DS9).
Star Trek: The Encyclopedia
(1999 edition) -Supplement