The Jarada were a reclusive, insect-like species from the Jaradan sector. The Jarada were known for their idiosyncratic attitude toward protocol and especially for their peculiar language. The slightest mispronunciation of their language by an outsider was regarded as an insult.
The year 2344 marked a fraught encounter with the Federation, who considered the Jaradans strategically vital. A mispronunciation of the greeting by their representative—a starship captain—sparked a diplomatic incident that ignited a twenty-year rift between the two governments. The only documentation of the contact survived on record tapes, vividly capturing the fallout when the captain inadvertently insulted the Jaradan envoy.
In 2364, the USS Enterprise-D undertook a delicate diplomatic mission to establish peaceful relations with the Jarada. Captain Jean-Luc Picard was tasked with initiating formal contact, a crucial step aimed at resolving tensions between the Jarada and the Federation. The success of this mission hinged on the Federation's emissary delivering a highly specific and traditional greeting, as the Jarada were known to be extremely particular about ceremonial protocol.
Upon approach of the Jaradan sector, one of their long-range probes disrupted the holodeck systems on the ship. Following their probe, they sent a subspace message to the Enterprise, requesting to speak with Picard, who was, unfortunately, trapped in the now-malfunctioning holodeck. His first officer Commander Riker attempted to explain the delay to the Jarada, but they refused to speak to a mere subordinate.
Fortunately, by the time the Enterprise achieved orbit of the Jaradan homeworld, Picard was able to overcome the delay and successfully make the delivery. In doing so, he honored the Jarada with his words of greeting, and allowed a new day to dawn between the two governments. (TNG: "The Big Goodbye")
By 2365, the Pakleds had made contact with the Jarada, as the Pakled ship Mondor appeared to possess Jaradan technology. (TNG: "Samaritan Snare")
Appendices[]
Background information[]
The Jaradan voice heard in "The Big Goodbye" was provided by an unknown performer and technically altered. The "J" in Jarada was pronounced as an "H" (as in Spanish), and the species name was pronounced "Ha-RA-da". In the script for "The Big Goodbye", the Jarada were intended to appear, but budget restrictions prevented this. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 45) The script described them as "wasp-like; black and yellow, with pointed insectile features and waving black antennae." [1] "The Big Goodbye" author Tracy Tormé described the Jarada as "a species which was living in large beehives. When they're talking the voice of a man, a woman, and a child sounds. But the final episode had them sounding like Alvin and the Chipmunks". (Creating the Next Generation, p. 50)
A revised final draft of the script of the "The Big Goodbye", StarTrek.com, and the Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 1, p. 384, in the entry for Jarada, identified Torona IV as the homeworld of the Jarada, but the finished script just said the species was from the Jaradan sector. [2](X) Still, in the final episode the destination of the USS Enterprise-D appeared to be a planet, and this planet might be intended to represent Torona IV.
Apocrypha[]
The Jarada played a large role in the Pocket TNG novel Imbalance. According to the novel, Jarada were divided into a number of hives - with one of the more prominent ones being the hive Zel. Jarada had four legs and four arms with three-clawed hands. They had triangular faces with large compound eyes, sharp teeth and long antennae. Jarada have at least 3 sexes: male, female and neuter. However, sterile males and females are traditionally considered separate genders from their fertile counterparts. Jarada have a genetic caste system with 543 different castes. Their names are made of four syllables: the hive name, the caste name, the function name and the individual name.
Jarada also appeared in the DS9 novels Demons of Air and Darkness and Twilight.
External link[]
- Jarada at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works