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The Ferengi are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the ''Star Trek'' universe. They first appeared in "The Last Outpost", the fifth episode of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' in 1987, during which they made first contact with the United Federation of Planets in 2364 on the planet Delphi Ardu, though they had been mentioned in the series' pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint". They and their culture are characterized by a mercantile obsession with profit and trade, and their constant efforts to swindle unwary customers into unfair deals. They are also known for their business acumen and for rampant misogyny. They also sometimes force their women into the sex trade. Notable Ferengi characters include Quark, Rom, Nog, Ishka, Zek, and Brunt, all of whom were featured prominently in ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''. Their home planet, Ferenginar, is the center of the Ferengi Alliance and is governed by the Grand Nagus and a Commerce Authority made primarily of the Council of Economic Advisors (formerly Board of Liquidators). Like most of their culture, their religion is also based on the principles of capitalism: they offer prayers and monetary offerings to a "''Blessed Exchequer''" in hopes of entering the "''Divine Treasury''" upon death, and fear an afterlife spent in the "''Vault of Eternal Destitution''". ==Concept and creation== The Ferengi were originally meant to replace the Klingons on ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' as the Federation's arch-rival, but viewers could not see such comical looking creatures as posing any kind of serious threat. Thus, Paramount repurposed them as a one-dimensional nuisance, and plots involving them were usually comedic ones. Paramount instead revived the Romulans at the end of season one, introduced the Borg in season two, and later the Cardassians in season four to serve as the Federation's main rivals. In "Encounter at Farpoint" the Bandi leader Groppler Zorn is the first to mention the Ferengi when he threatens to sell Farpoint Station to them, to which Picard said he hoped the Ferengi found the Bandi as tasty as their last associates. References in ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' make it clear that the Klingons and the Cardassians had been interacting with the Ferengi for years before "Encounter at Farpoint", yet apparently the Federation never received information about the Ferengi in data exchanges with either race. In internal ''Star Trek'' chronology, however, the earliest known reference to the race occurs in the 2002 ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' episode "Dear Doctor", when, in 2151, a Valakian astronaut that encounters the crew of the ''Enterprise'' (NX-01) mentions the Ferengi in passing, but the ''Enterprise'' crew do not recognize the name. The crew would encounter the Ferengi themselves later that season in the episode "Acquisition", but would never learn the name of their race and thus not make the connection with the race mentioned by the Valakian astronaut. ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' first featured the three original Ferengi in the episode titled "The Last Outpost". The original three Ferengi names were Letek (played by Armin Shimerman), Mordoc, and Kayron. ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' is the series focusing the most on the Ferengi. ''Deep Space Nine'' heavily revises and expands upon the Ferengi, removing the "fierce threat" slant that ''Next Generation'' had pursued, and embracing the Ferengi as a race of whimsical and ruthlessly greedy merchants. Armin Shimerman joined the regular cast of the show as Ferengi bartender Quark. Other Ferengi also appeared on the show, most notably Quark's brother Rom (Max Grodénchik) and Rom's son Nog (Aron Eisenberg). Nog would later become the first ever Ferengi in Starfleet. ''Deep Space Nine'', therefore, featured many episodes that centered around the Ferengi and explored their culture in depth. It was on ''Deep Space Nine'' that Ferenginar was first seen. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ferengi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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