Hirogen

File:200px-Hirogen.jpg

A Hirogen with characterisitc armour and adorned with red markings for the hunt

The Hirogen are a fictional race in the Star Trek universe. The Hirogen were used as a long running plot device in the Star Trek: Voyager television series, appearing 9 times from series 4 to series 6 of the seven series long show.

Portrayed as a significant threat to the Voyager crew, the Hirogen are placed as an ancient and dominant species in the region, roaming vast distances, although for storyline purposes their technology is not overly superior to that on Voyager, although their tetryon based weapons are unfamiliar to Starfleet.

Initially a major threat to Voyager, the Starfleet crew eventually help the Hirogen to solve problems arising from a particular specie's way of life, leading to a de-facto truce.

Characteristics

Similar to the aliens of the Predator species from the science fiction franchise of the same name, the Hirogen are cast as a species driven by the hunt, who highly prize the unusual trophies derived from the carcasses of their prey. As such, they are not attributed as having a home planet, and their society is apparently organized around spacefaring nomadic hunting packs or tribes, with a heirarchical structure, in which an 'alpha' individual leads, with a 'beta' and 'gamma' as secondary subordinates. Contact is maintained over vast distances between tribes by an ancient communication network. The ritualistic hunt is reinforced through the depiction of the application of paint to the armour before a hunt. Hirogen are typically shown as being much taller than humans, usually over two metres in size with a muscular build evolved for combat, and are always shown wearing armour, with masks for inhospitable environments.

Plot

The U.S.S. Voyager encountered the Hirogen sometime around 2373, as Voyager uses an apparently abandoned ancient communications network belonging to the Hirogen (although it is not clear if the network was created by or merely appropriated by the Hirogen). The Voyager crew use it to send a message to the Alpha Quadrant. The Hirogen vigorously object to use of their technology by Voyager. Sensing Voyager to be worthy prey, the Hirogen attack in force. Voyager's weapon systems were initially unable to penetrate the hull armour of the Hirogen fighter craft. Many conflicts ensued between Hirogen and Voyager as the aliens continued their ritualistic hunt, but, under Captain Janeway's expert guidance, the Starfleet crew were able to survive each encounter.

The final confrontation between Voyager and a Hirogen war party in 2374 was so devastating to both sides that a cease-fire between the two was reached (an unprecedented event in the entirety of Hirogen history). The Alpha in charge of the Hirogen party had initially invaded Voyager in the hopes of obtaining holographic technology and, though he fell during the combat, Janeway delivered the technology to his successor. The Alpha acknowledged that, by chasing 'prey' across the entire Quadrant, the Hirogen people were losing all cultural and national unity and would eventually be overcome by other species in the Galaxy. By creating holographic hunts, with the safety systems off, they could continue to have lethal and challenging hunts while remaining united in a single portion of space. Unfortunately, the Hirogen programmed their holographic prey too well - the holograms were too intelligent, too deadly; they eventually turned on and began hunting the Hirogen themselves. Only the intervention of Voyager crewmembers prevented the Hirogen's utter extermination.

Other Media

The Hirogen were featured in the 2001 PC game Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. Several missions took place aboard their ship and their Tetryon Pulse Disruptor is obtained as a usable weapon.

See also

• Jem'Hadar, a similar Star Trek universe species
• Predator

External links

• Hirogen at Memory Alpha
• StarTrek.com article on Hirogen