The Lutani were a spacefaring humanoid species native to the planet Lutani VII.

History

During the mid-23rd century, the Lutani sometimes raided Federation cargo, causing suspicion that they were helping the Klingons.

On stardate 2177.9, Lutani VII was attacked by its sister planet Kasar. By stardate 2191.4, the Lutani had suffered nine million casualties, compared to only 119,000 for Kasar. Desperate to turn the tide of war in their favor, the Lutani Institute of Science began on Tychus B the Metamorphosis Program, a project to transform the indigenous Jikaru into weapons. After years of work, in 2261 the first modified Jikaru was ready for deployment.

For classified reasons, Starfleet Command assigned the USS Enterprise to transport the Jikaru from Tychus B to Lutani VII. However, an attempted intervention by Doctor Gyud damaged the neural dampener meant to keep the lifeform under control. The Enterprise crew then found a means to communicate with the being telepathically, whereupon they learned that she was sentient and in suffering from the Lutani experimentation. Despite Lutani objections and threats, Captain Christopher Pike elected to honor the Jikaru's wish to commit suicide. Starfleet subsequently authorized a quarantine of Tychus B, though they promised to continue assisting the Lutani in other ways. (SNW: "What Is Starfleet?")

Biology

The Lutani were characterized by gray hairless skin, prominent ridges around the face, and two short projections on the back of the head. The drug quadroline was fatal for them. (SNW: "What Is Starfleet?")

Individuals

Named

• Gyud
• Trunn Voor

Unnamed

• Unnamed Lutani