Star Trek: 11 Things You Didn’t Know About The Kzinti
Star Trek fans have been repeatedly robbed of any chance of getting to know the iconic Kzinti.
Since the Original Series’ debuted in 1966, Star Trek has had several iconic alien antagonists such as the Klingons, the Romulans, and the Borg. These aliens have featured in multiple television episodes, movies, comics, novels, and games.
However, one iconic alien species has had only a handful of TV appearances and a few appearances in Star Trek books and games. The Kzinti made their first and most substantial appearance in The Star Trek: The Animated Series episode The Slaver Weapon way back in 1973. That episode depicted the cat-like aliens as violent schemers plotting to steal the contents of a stasis box, an ancient storage device created by the slavers, a race that had ruled the galaxy a billion years ago.
Later plans to bring the Kzinti back into Star Trek in a major way have failed, robbing the audience of any chance to learn more about this fascinating race of killer cats. With that in mind here are 11 things you didn’t know about the Kzinti.
11. Star Fleet Universe
The Kzinti appeared as a faction in games using the Star Fleet Universe setting published by Task Force Games and Amarillo Design Bureau. This setting was also used in computer games developed by Taldren and published by Interplay .
The setting was partly based on Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual written by Franz Joseph in 1975. It also incorporated some information from Star Trek: The Animated Series. While these games were officially licensed products, the license was only partial and they weren't allowed to use any details from the Star Trek movies or the Star Trek: The Next Generation era TV series.
While Star Trek's Kzinti walked hunched over and had tails and bat wing shaped ears, Star Fleet Universe's Kzinti resembled bipedal, tailless tigers. Although the name of the Kzinti territory was never mentioned in canonical Star Trek, in Star Fleet Universe their territory was a monarchy called The Kzinti Hegemony ruled by the Patriarch.
In Star Fleet Universe, the Kzinti have waged war with the Federation, the Klingon Empire, and their nemesis, the Lyran Star Empire. They have also been depicted as allies with the Hydran Kingdoms.