- This page features the Rigellians. You may also be looking for the species known as the Rigelians.
The Rigellians were a sentient species of turtles known to the Federation by the late-23rd century. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
Appendices
Background
Rigellian Lord (right) and attendant (left).
The Rigellians were designed by Fred Phillips and Robert Fletcher for The Motion Picture.
In an interview appearing in the March 1980 edition of Fantastic Films, entitled, "The Star Trek Costumes", Fletcher revealed information about the Rigellians and the design of their costumes:
- This is the Rigellian Lord. They are a race of spacegoing turtles who no longer have shells to support their bodies. The material in his costume is a knit. The draping and coloration of the armor plating makes him a very elegant fellow. The armor plating was sculpted in the studio craft shop and is really fiberglass that has been chrome plated."
- "The Rigellian Lord is a very tall creature and his attendant is a smaller creature but physically the same. His costume is very similar to the first Regellian but a little less regal in appearance. The standard he is carrying was done by Tom and Maggie Browne and it's a carving representing his master's household crest and position in the community. The first Rigellian is not really the master. You see, the large turtles are the egg carriers and the smaller ones are the real power in the community. I guess you would call the Lord a figurehead."
When Mego produced a 3 3/4" Saurian action figure for its' second series in 1980, the company inadvertently called it a "Rigellian". [1]
In an article appearing in the January 2002 edition of Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 9, entitled "Who is that Alien?", the following information about the Rigellians, which included information taken from Fletcher's original background notes, added:
- "Believe it or not, the Rigellians were supposedly descended from a race of saber-toothed turtles. They only had one gender and reproduced by laying eggs. Their armor was principally ceremonial, and the real power lay with their attendants who gave them food."
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In some novels these Rigellians are presumed to come from the same solar system - Rigel - as the Rigelians; their specific species being "Chelon," or "Rigellian Chelon."
In the Last Unicorn Games and Decipher role-playing games, they are called "Chelarians" and hail from Rigel III (Chelar).