Syrranites

The Syrranites are a fictional creation of the Star Trek universe. They are a faction of Vulcans who believe in a different interpretation of the fundamental teachings of their culture. An alternate spelling for this group is Syrrannites.

Background

Approximately 1,800 years before the events of the recent series Star Trek: Enterprise, during the 4th century A.D., a Vulcan man named Surak devised and spread the teachings of a new philosophy to the Vulcan people. This philosophy embodied qualities of logic and reasoning and a training in the suppression of emotion. During this time, Vulcans were still warlike and hostile toward each other, and they soon broke out in nuclear war. Surak later died as a result of radiation poisoning from this war that eventually devastated the planet.

The Vulcans believe in a living spirit of every Vulcan, called a katra, that can be transferred from person to person through a mind meld. The katra of Surak was placed in the mind of a man named Syrran, who began to think that the teachings of Surak had been corrupted and misused over the centuries. He began the faction of Vulcans called Syrranites, after his name.

Culture and Beliefs

The Syrranites are a group of pacifists who believe that all war and violence should cease. However, the Vulcan High Command believes that the Syrranites are a radical group of terrorists that want all other Vulcans to succumb to their "corrupted" beliefs. Syrranites were also falsely blamed for the terrorist bombing of the Earth Embassy on Vulcan in the episode "The Forge".

The Vulcans that we see during the series of Enterprise are relatively emotional beings. They do not seem to suppress their emotions as well as the Syrranites do, and they are non-pacifist, shown plainly by their attacks on the Enterprise in the episode "Awakening" and the assault on the Syrranite hideout in the same episode. Many say that instead of acting apathetic, the Vulcans of this series merely act only annoyed.

The Syrranites, however, have trained themselves to show no emotion, unlike the other Vulcans whose emotions are somewhat closer to the surface. They also believe in a strict code of non-violence. Some speculate that the Syrranites actually take control of the planet of Vulcan, and the main faction that is present during Enterprise actually diminishes and gives way to their beliefs, leaving the only culture on the planet to be that of the Syrranites.