Exactly, TNG made them one dimensional and unintentionally laughable. DS9 took that foundation and let their civilization be a joke, while still allowing characters to be properly fleshed out.
I would have personally preferred a more grounded and nuanced society for them, but that’s true of a lot of Star Trek’s world building. They’ve always had a preference for making everything a planet of hats.
The overhead on a war with Starfleet is overshadowed by the potential profits of simply cheating them out of their resources. Plus, they can call on their assistance as muscle… if they have a good enough excuse.
I still find it odd that in TNG they were known to the federation only by rumor. Yet by DS9 they’re a long running cornerstone of finance and commerce in the alpha quadrant.
They were already too goofy to be taken as a serious enemy. They were meant to be the big bad instead of the Borg, originally.
Exactly, TNG made them one dimensional and unintentionally laughable. DS9 took that foundation and let their civilization be a joke, while still allowing characters to be properly fleshed out.
I would have personally preferred a more grounded and nuanced society for them, but that’s true of a lot of Star Trek’s world building. They’ve always had a preference for making everything a planet of hats.
The first TNG episode with them ends with them literally jumping around on all fours while wearing furs and howling like cavemen.
The overhead on a war with Starfleet is overshadowed by the potential profits of simply cheating them out of their resources. Plus, they can call on their assistance as muscle… if they have a good enough excuse.
I still find it odd that in TNG they were known to the federation only by rumor. Yet by DS9 they’re a long running cornerstone of finance and commerce in the alpha quadrant.