Tholian

• Appearance: Silicon-based, crystalline
  • Faceted form, six arachnid-like legs
  • Body filled with swirling gasses
  • Different individuals have differing hues of outer body shell (SCE Short Story: "Interphase Book 1")
    • Used for individual identification in addition to body features (SCE Short Story: "Interphase Book 1"; VAN Novel: Harbinger)
      • By Interphase Book 1, hue indicates caste, but this seems to be contradicted by later portrayals of Tholians in novels
        • Nobility indicated by reddish hue by that work
• Homeworld: Tholia
• Biological notes
  • Tholian minds interconnected in an interstellar subspace telepathic network known as the Lattice (VAN Novel: Harbinger)
    • Provides for dissemination of memories and knowledge as well as constant communication without subsuming individuality or personal sapience
    • Further subdivided into SubLinks organized by caste according to individual duties, social subgroupings (VAN Novel: Harbinger)
  • Individual Tholians have an estimated lifespan of 6 to 8 months, but full totality of memories are passed to the Lattice upon death, providing for continuation of projects and tasks as well as preservation of thoughts and, rarely, remanifestation of specific individuals (TLE Novel: The Sundered; TNG Novel: Vendetta)
• Cultural notes
  • Tholian language
    • Described as "the screech of a tritanium blade on glass" (SCE Short Story: "Interphase Book 1")
  • Tholian calendar
    • Time measured in "cycles" (SCE Short Story: "Interphase Book 1")
• Foods and drinks