The Trill government attempted to blame the failure on Joran's unsuitability as a host, but the truth was that Joran had passed the host screening tests and was technically a stable host - as was almost half of the Trill humanoid population. Joran's joining with Dax was covered up and all records of it were erased. This is because the joining of the Dax symbiont with the host Joran (Curzon's predecessor) was a disaster - Joran was insane and a murderer. It was originally assumed that only a small fraction (0.01%) of the Trill population was capable of being joined, a myth that the Trill government continues to perpetuate. The Trill naming style, of using their host name as a first name and their symbiont name as a surname, differs from their first appearance, in which the Trill Odan was only known by that one name.
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Other differences included the change in makeup style from a prosthetic forehead to a series of spots, although some makeup tests and sketches were made in the preproduction of Deep Space Nine using the earlier makeup style, but the actress who would play Jadzia Dax, Terry Farrell, proved allergic to the extensive prostheses, and so the new style was created. The crew's general unfamiliarity with the race is a minor contradiction with later episodes, which stated that the Trill (such as Curzon Dax) had been working with the Federation regularly long before their first appearance in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine " Trials and Tribble-ations" implied that a host of Dax was romantically involved with Leonard McCoy when the original Star Trek series character was still a college student. It is also revealed in this episode that humans can also serve as temporary hosts to the symbionts when Commander William Riker hosted Odan's symbiont. No explanation of the differences is ever given onscreen, but according to an article on, humanoid Trills are actually composed of at least two races that can be used as hosts for the symbiont. Also, they were unable to be safely transported via transporter, a weakness not shown in later appearances when Trill became a regularly used race. In the first appearance of Trill in the TNG episode " The Host", Trill were depicted physically quite differently than their later appearances. Odan, a Trill as seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation While this effort saved Odan's life, it nearly caused Riker's death.ĭevelopment of appearance and characterization Commander William Riker was briefly joined to the Odan symbiont so that Odan could complete peace negotiations, and to keep Odan alive until a new Trill host could arrive. In rare cases, Trill symbionts can be joined with non-Trill humanoids, but the differences in biology means the results are often unstable (" The Host", TNG). A symbiont who is neither implanted into a new host nor returned to their habitat (pools of nutrient-rich liquid on the Trill homeworld) will quickly die, as will a joined Trill host within one to two days of the symbiont being removed. Ninety-three hours after the joining, the host and symbiont are completely interdependent, but up to then, the joining may be reversed without killing the host. When a host dies, the symbiont is transplanted into a new host. When a host and a symbiont are joined, the resulting individual is considered a new being. The symbionts are helpless, worm-shaped lifeforms who contain the memories of their previous hosts, and who inhabit the abdomens of the humanoid hosts. Trill are strongly allergic to insect bites, because the toxins interfere with the biochemical connections between host and symbiont (" The Siege", DS9 Season 2). Their hands are noted for being unusually cold to the touch (" A Man Alone", DS9 Season 1).
The hosts, as they are called, are humanoids that appear much like humans, except with distinctive black or brown spots visible from the top of the head, down each side of the face and neck, and down across the shoulders and the sides of the chest, thighs, legs to their feet. 2 Development of appearance and characterization.