Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Cardassians
There's far more to the Spoonheads than meets the eye - who are Star Trek's greatest neck-tie-wearing soldiers?
The Cardassians were introduced to Star Trek in The Next Generation, first appearing in the fourth season episode The Wounded. There, they would make a striking debut - who were these scaly new aliens, and was Benjamin Maxwell actually wrong to do what he did?
As the years passed, The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine in particular would help to transform these one-off foes into one of the most complex, fleshed-out races in the franchise. There are many people to thank for this - Michael Westmore, Marc Alaimo, Andrew Robinson - but no one Cardassian is any one thing, so this must be true of their journey as well.
Militaristic order may have been the code for the Cardassians, yet there was far more than met the eye, just under those sharp, rubber suits. For a species that doesn't love the light, they're about to go under an intense one as we sift through their secrets.
Little known fact: their maths tutors are second to none. They're always out there, helping those humans learn how to count. How many lights do you see?
10. Aligning With Alaimo
Academy Award-winning make-up artist Michael Westmore created the look of the Cardassians for The Next Generation episode The Wounded. For their reptilian-inspired design, Westmore looked to returning guest actor Marc Alaimo.
Alaimo had already received the nickname 'the neck' for his prominent neck muscles. Westmore decided that accentuating these would help to give the Cardassians a distinctive, threatening appearance.
...ridges went down the sides of the neck and flared out to the shoulder tips, giving the Cardassians a strange, menacing appearance, like a praying mantis, or a king cobra.
This, Westmore noted, worked perfectly on any actor with a long head. It helped the casting directors seek out those actors for whom the make-up would suit best - Alaimo got the ball rolling, while Andrew Robinson and Casey Biggs kept it up in the air.
One element that was unique to Alaimo's appearance in The Wounded was Gul Macet's beard. From their second appearance in Ensign Ro, no Cardassian was seen with facial hair again.