Location: Tholian Assembly

Moon(s): None

Dominant Species: Tholian

Population: Unknown

Gravity: 0.75g

Diameter: 10,000 kilometres

Length of day: 20 hours

A highly advanced sentient apparently crystalline species, non-humanoid in appearance and extremely territorial in disposition. They hail from a hot planet by human standards, probably not Class-M. Together, two Tholian ships can literally spin a web of energy in space in order to trap an enemy vessel, after which the web is then drawn together, constricting and finally destroying the vessel inside. On stardate 5693.2, the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 made first contact with this species.

Tholians are a hive-mind and known for their punctuality. They are one of the independent border races that could have been dragged into a Klingon civil war, due to their proximity.

Non-humanoid in form, Tholians have crystalline bodies, two arms, and six legs. They dwell in an environment of extreme heat by human standards, their comfortable living environment being 480 kelvins (207 C). Temperatures below 380 K (107 C) will kill Tholians, causing them to shatter into tiny crystalline shards. Each Tholian has both male and female sexual organs.

Natural Tholian speech is a series of shrill squeals and clicks, similar to the sounds of a dolphin. Their speech is difficult to parse through the universal translator. Tholians have little tolerance for deception, and are insistent on punctuality.

Tholian silk is highly prized and difficult to obtain. It is an urban legend that Tholian silk is actually made from Tholians, not by them, although there is no actual evidence.

Tholian technology
Besides utilizing standard offensive weaponry, Tholian ships can also work in concert to emit an energy field shaped much like a web, which will trap any space vessel inside and drain its energy. When more ships are available, a web takes much less time to construct; several Tholian vessels working in concert can spin such a web in under a minute, while two vessels might take hours.

The Tholians appear to actively explore the science of inter-spatial rifts and time travel. Tholians from both the regular Trek universe and the Mirror universe are depicted as engaging in missions to capture future technology, ostensibly to use the advanced technology to further their own agenda.

Tholian history
In 2152, Tholians made their first contact with humans. As players in the Temporal Cold War, they opposed the Suliban in pursuit of an artifact from the future, disabling a powerful Vulcan ship in the process.

In 2268, a Tholian commander named Loskene attacked the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) for violating Tholian territory while on a rescue mission to investigate the disappearance of the USS Defiant.

In 2353, Tholians attacked a Federation starbase and killed its entire complement, except for a civilian named Kyle Riker, father of William Riker.

In 2355, simulated Tholian battles were part of Starfleet Academy training.

In 2367, there was concern that the Tholians might get involved in the Klingon Civil War.

In 2371, a Tholian ambassador visited Deep Space 9.

In 2372, a Tholian observer was present at a conference in Antwerp, Earth, when a bomb destroyed the conference hall. Shortly after, the Tholians signed a non-aggression treaty with the Dominion.

In 2379, the Romulans had diplomatic relations with the Tholians.