AT: "xx"
A graphic of tribbles
Tribbles (Polygeminus grex) are small, non-intelligent lifeforms originating from Iota Geminorum IV. Known for their prodigious reproductive rate, these round, furry creatures emit cooing sounds while touched, which have a tranquilizing effect on the Human nervous system. Born pregnant, a single tribble with sufficient food can quickly increase its number exponentially through presumably asexual reproduction, bearing an average litter of ten every twelve hours. On their homeworld, tribble populations are kept in check by a large number of reptilian predators. (DS9: "The Nagus"; TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles"; ENT: "The Breach")
History
Doctor Phlox shows Hoshi Sato a tribble in 2153
Tribbles were first encountered by Humans in the early 2150s when Denobulan doctor Phlox brought a small number aboard Enterprise NX-01 as food for his pets. (ENT: "The Breach")
Kirk gets buried in tribbles in 2268
The tribble was later encountered by the Federation aboard Deep Space K-7 in 2268, when Cyrano Jones brought a small number aboard to trade. However, a single tribble brought aboard the USS Enterprise quickly multiplied. The tribbles were instrumental in foiling a Klingon plan to poison a shipment of quadrotriticale intended for Sherman's Planet, when those that had fed on the grain were found dead. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles")
At the same time, the crew of USS Defiant, transported through time by Arne Darvin, prevented him from using a tricobalt device hidden inside a tribble to kill James T. Kirk. (DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations")
Tribbles were an ecological menace for the Klingons, to whom a tribble would react violently. The Klingons first attempted to breed a predator to eliminate the threat. The glommer was used only once, in 2269, aboard the USS Enterprise, and proved unable to deal with the large number of tribbles aboard. (TAS: "More Tribbles, More Troubles")
Kirk's captain's chair overtaken by a tribble colony.
During this time, Cyrano Jones attempted to genetically engineer the tribbles to that they would not reproduce. As a result of his dabbling, he deemed them to be "safe" so as to be compatible with humanoid ecologies, making them "great pets and profitable, too." Unknown to Jones, at the time, and as was later discovered by Doctor Leonard McCoy, Jones' genetic engineering was described as being "very slipshod," as the resulting tribbles appeared to grow in immense size, instead of rapid breeding. McCoy later discovered that the so-called "giant tribbles" really were not as they appeared, but rather colonies of tribbles. McCoy was able to remedy the situation by giving them "a simple shot" of neo-ethylene, which caused the tribble colonies to break down into their individual units with a slower metabolic rate, and finally becoming "safe tribbles." (TAS: "More Tribbles, More Troubles")
The Klingons' final solution to the tribble menace was to wipe the species out entirely. Klingon warriors were sent to hunt them down throughout the galaxy, and the tribble homeworld was obliterated in the late 23rd century. When told of this, Odo dryly remarked, "Another glorious chapter in Klingon history. Tell me, do they still sing songs of the Great Tribble Hunt?" (DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations")
In spite of the destruction of their homeworld, many humans continued to have the small creatures as pets from late century, well into the late 24th century, as several children aboard the USS Enterprise-D appeared to have them as pets in 2364 and 2371. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek Generations)
Information about tribbles was displayed by the computer in Keiko O'Brien's schoolroom on Deep Space 9 in 2369. (DS9: "A Man Alone", "The Nagus") Tribbles were displayed in an LCARS graphic in one of the USS Enterprise-D's science laboratories when the ship crash-landed on Veridian III in 2371. (Star Trek Generations)
Tribbles were reintroduced into the 24th century when Captain Benjamin Sisko and his crew brought at least one of the creatures back to 2373, following a time-traveling visit to the tribble-infested space station K-7 of 2268. The promenade and Quark's bar on Deep Space 9 were subsequently overrun with the creatures. According to Captain Sisko, the Federation's Department of Temporal Investigations was not told about the reintroduction of the tribbles because "they didn't ask." (DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations")
Miles O'Brien later recalled seeing the tribbles on the Enterprise with Julian Bashir when he was leaving Deep Space 9 at the end of the Dominion War. (DS9: "What You Leave Behind")
Alternate reality
Tribble on Delta Vega.
In an alternate reality, Montgomery Scott had tribbles at his station on the Delta Vega outpost. (Star Trek)
Appendices
Background
- In the audio commentary for "More Tribbles, More Troubles", David Gerrold explains that the idea for tribbles came from the fuzz-ball keychain of a college girlfriend of his, named Holly Sherman, for whom Sherman's Planet is named. He also mentions that Wah Chang hired a woman named Jacqueline Cumere to make 500 tribbles for "The Trouble with Tribbles," and explains the procedure for making them.
- Tribbles are made from a piece of "figure-eight shaped" fake fur, sewn up to make a ball about five inches in diameter. The ball is filled with foam rubber; some tribbles were made by sewing a decapitated walking toy dog inside the fur skin, and the toy activated to make the tribble crawl, as revealed in the DVD commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda for "The Trouble with Tribbles."
- In "More Tribbles, More Troubles," the tribbles appeared pink in color. Unknown to the rest of the production staff, the director, Hal Sutherland, was color blind, so to him, pink was light gray.
- In the audio commentary for "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth", David Wise mentions that Kukulkan's zoo was to have had tribbles.
- Two tribble fur balls were sold together as Lot #776 in the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection for $4,800. The lot had been estimated to bring in only between $800 and $1,200. These tribbles were made for the Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations."
- According to the Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual, the mutual dislike between Klingons and tribbles has to do with the fact that both species have keen senses of smell, and apparently, each found the "stench" of the other extremely unpleasant. Tribbles also found food using their sense of smell.
Apocrypha
In the novelization of The Wrath Of Khan, when McCoy gives Kirk his birthday present, Kirk (under the influence of Romulan Ale), asks "...is it a tribble?!"
In the TNG novel "Q-in-Law," Q, taunts Worf by offering him a tribble as a present. Worf shares most Klingons' instinctive loathing of the creatures, a fact later confirmed in "Trials and Tribble-ations (episode)."
In Star Trek Online, the Tribble's tranquilizing effect on the nervous system is used as a healing factor during gameplay. They can also be bred by introducing them to various foodstuffs, giving the player access to different subspecies of Tribbles that bestow different benefits.