The Dominion was a major galactic political power, whose influence was exerted over thousands of planets in the Gamma Quadrant. The Dominion was founded somewhere between ten to two thousand years ago by the Changelings, a species of shapeshifters who henceforth called themselves the Founders.
History
- See: Dominion history & Dominion War
Government
Absolute rule of the Dominion remained in the hands of the Founders and their Great Link, whose decisions could not be disputed under any circumstances. However, the Founders were largely content to leave the administration of the Dominion's daily affairs to the Vorta. The loyalty of the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar is genetically engineered, which in most cases ensured absolute obedience to the Founders. The Founders themselves were rarely seen, even by their servant races, and were treated as gods or myth. (DS9: "Hippocratic Oath", "Treachery, Faith and the Great River")
Language
Dominionese was at least one common language used by the Dominion. It is unknown if the Dominion member races maintained or used race-specific or world-specific tongues.
Economy
Little is known about the Dominion's economy; it is however presumed to have a massive one considering the size of its territory. The Karemma have been known to be involved in commerce, but the extent to which their activities affect the economy as a whole is a mystery. Presumably, the commodities required to build and maintain the Dominion's gargantuan shipbuilding and cloning operations are sourced from subjugate planets and shuffled as necessary, with shortfalls addressed with Jem'Hadar shock troops.
Members
A Female Changeling, one of the Founders of the Dominion.
Kudak'etan, a Jem'Hadar - the Dominion's main fighting force.
The Dominion is comprised of several "member races", as the Founders claim to control the destinies of hundreds of species. (DS9: "The Search, Part II")
The Dominion was founded on the principle of control, with the intent being to neutralize any potential threat to the Founders by whatever means necessary. In cases involving cooperative species such as the Karemma, the extent of Dominion interference is fairly minimal and restricted to material support. However, if the target species is or becomes less cooperative, the Jem'Hadar are dispatched to wipe out any opposition. The fear of massive Jem'Hadar reprisals is enough to keep most planets in line. For a prospective member, at first contact the Dominion may appear helpful, or even benevolent. A typical Dominion strategy is to make concessions in the short term for an advantage in the longer term, which may be centuries in advance. (DS9: "The Search, Part I", "Statistical Probabilities")
The more notable member races include:
- Breen (2375)
- Cardassians (2373-2375)
- Dosi
- Jem'Hadar (military servant race)
- Karemma
- T-Rogorans (conquered 2370)
- Vorta (servant race)
- Yaderans (conquered 2340)
Technology
A typical Jem'Hadar attack ship armed with the phased polaron beam.
By the time of the Dominion War, Dominion technology appeared to have significantly outpaced that of most Alpha Quadrant species.
Instead of phased energy or disruptor beams, Jem'Hadar rifles emitted powerful polaron beams which had the side-effect of acting as an anticoagulant in some humanoids, thereby impeding the natural wound-healing process. (DS9: "The Ship")
Similarly, Dominion and Breen warships displayed more impressive firepower than their Alpha Quadrant counterparts. Phased polaron beams were mounted on all Jem'Hadar attack ships. These initially cut through Federation shielding without effort; (DS9: "The Jem'Hadar") however, the DS9 crew subsequently managed to adapt their shields to withstand Dominion weapons for short periods (DS9: "Call to Arms"). The Breen also wielded a huge advantage on the battlefield with an energy dissipating weapon capable of disabling Federation and Romulan vessels with a single shot. Countermeasures for these technologies do exist and have proven to be effective.
Dominion transporters utilized transponders which enabled them to teleport individuals across distances as far as three light years (DS9: "Covenant").
Dominion warp capability isn't very efficient as most Alpha Quadrant species. A fighter could go up to Warp 7 and a battlecruiser is only capable of Warp 4.7. (citation needed • edit)
Background Information
The Dominion was first mentioned in DS9: "DS9: "Rules of Acquisition"", "DS9: "Sanctuary"" and "DS9: "Shadowplay"", before being finally encountered in "DS9: "The Jem'Hadar"". The idea the DS9 writers had was to make the Dominion a kind of anti-Federation, similar in structure but with very different ideologies. The idea was for the Dominion to represent a wide array of alien races, like the Federation and unlike the Klingon, Romulan, and Cardassian Empires, but fascist-like with control and domination making the Dominion in contrast to the cooperation and freedom of the Federation. The idea was for many species to be seen on Dominion vessels and involved in various parts of the Dominion's activities, eventually though, only three "main" species were firmly established: The Founders, the Jem'Hadar, and the Vorta.
One idea that the writers had that was never actively utilized was that the Dominion knew about the Federation long before the Bajoran wormhole was discovered, due to the 100 infant Founders sent out into the galaxy. However, Odo's return and the war occurred two centuries prematurely.
See Also
External links
- Template:NCwiki
- Dominion (Star Trek) at Wikipedia