The actual star Rigel, also known as Beta Orionis, is a bright supergiant
star, visible from Earth as one
of the "legs" in
the constellation Orion (the hunter). From this name -"Orionis" it is
commonly
assumed that the Orion pirates and any
reference to Orion, e.g. the 'Orion syndicate' is referring to
the Rigellians. Also the DS9 tech manual refers
to Starbase 134 being there so this seems the most
likely place for the Rigel cup contest.
[ See Also: Orion ]
The Rigel System:
"One of the most densely populated areas" of known space
"The Doomsday Machine [TOS]
Dr. Phlox has it on good authority that the
Rigelians are a multi-gender species with four or possibly
five
sexes.
"Cogenitor" [ENT]
Rigel II: A resort world noted for its casinos and
gambling facilities. Leonard McCoy met two scantily
clad women in a chorus line at a
cabaret there. The pair was recreated from McCoy's imagination in
2267 on the amusement park planet
in the Omicron Delta region.
"Shore Leave" [TOS]
Rigel
III:
"All Good Things..." [TNG]
Rigel IV: Site of
serial killings of women in 2266. These murders were attributed to an
unknown
individual called
Beratis, which was later learned to be a malevolent energy creature who left
Rigel IV
in the body of Mr.
Hengist, who traveled to the planet Argelius II, where he committed more murders
using a knife from the Argus
River region of Rigel IV.
"Wolf in the Fold" [TOS]
A
brilliant astronomer with a fondness for Lwaxana Troi resided on Rigel IV.
He named a star after
Lwaxana, or
so she claimed.
"Half a Life" [TNG]
The Class M
Federation world of this large system, populated by native humanoids, hosts a
hydroponics
conference attended
by Keiko O'Brien, who was gone from Deep Space Nine over a week. There is
also
a pergium ore processing
facility there. Shipment destroyed by Jem'Hadar enroute to Rigel IV.
"Prodigal Daughter" [DS9]
Keiko
was attending a hydroponics conference there.
"The Wire" [DS9]
Rigel V: The race inhabiting
this world are physiologically similar to Vulcans. An experimental drug
was
tested here to see if the
production of blood elements in a humanoid body could be
accelerated. Spock
suggested this drug might be useful for Ambassador Sarek during a critical heart
operation.
"Journey to Babel" [TOS]
Rigel VI: It is
the site of the annual Rigel Cup flight formation competition, which draws the
premier
flight teams from the
Alpha and Beta Quadrants.
"The First Duty" [TNG]
Rigel VII: The site of a
violent conflict in 2254 involving Enterprise crew personnel under the
command of Captain Christopher
Pike and the humanoid inhabitants of that planet, a warrior class
known as the Kaylar. In 2254 a
landing party of three Enterprise crew members, including Pike's
yeoman, were killed, and seven
Starfleet guests were assaulted and injured in a terrorist attack
while on shore leave at an
abandoned Kaylar fortress. The incident, which Pike later blamed on
his own carelessness, took place
just prior to the Enterprise's first mission to planet Talos IV.
The matte painting of the
Rigel VII fortress seen in Pike's Talosian illusion was later reused as
Flint's castle in "Requiem for
Methuselah" (TOS)
"The Cage" [TOS]; "The Menagerie, part 2" [TOS]
A double planet amid the
well-populated Rigel system whose primary planet's culture has
reached the computer era in only
the last century since it was home to a medieval people in just
the mid-2250s. In the
2360's Kobliad criminal Rao Vantika caused computer systems on
Rigel VII to crash, by erasing
the planetary computer's active memory using a subspace shunt,
similar to the one he used in
2369 on station Deep Space 9.
"The Passenger" [DS9]
It is also
the origin of some of the galaxy's deadliest diseases such as:
Rigellian fever
-
"Requiem for Methuselah" [TOS]
Cwn.Fisher contracted "Rigellian fever" while on "Tessik Prime" a month
earlier. Phlox innoculated
the
entire crew, using genetically-altered microbes that should survive for several
weeks, and thrive
on
"isolytic
energy".
"Dead Stop" [ENT]
Kassaba fever (this may not
be an actual disease but only have been made up by McCoy)
"By Any Other Name" [TOS]
Rigel X: An icy planet
that was Klaang's last stop before crashing on Earth. The Enterprise visited
this
planet in search of Klaang
and received information from a Suliban named Sarin. When it was
first
mentioned Archer did
not seem to be familiar with the name Rigel.
"Broken Bow" [ENT]
Rigel XII: Barely habitable
class-M planet, racked by fierce storms. Site of a small lithium mining
operation headed by Ben
Childress. The Enterprise visited the mining station in 2266 to obtain
needed lithium crystals to
restore operation of the ship's engines. (Because this planet was
supposed
to be remote...
it is possible that this one is not in the same system as the others. Its
home star may
be a
completely different "Rigel.")
"Mudd's Women" [TOS]
History:
2154: Two
Rigellians are attacked on Earth -- a result of the xenophobia caused by the
Xindi incident.
"Home" [ENT]
Individuals of Note:
Lora (Majel
Barrett) - Name of a Rigelian hypnoid, a quadruped reptile that took on
the form of this
attractive humanoid female to convince
potential customers of the effect of his love crystals. Spock
exposed the charade with a phaser burst at the being.
"Mudd’s Passion" [TAS]
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