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The Torothan homeworld was an inhabited planet in the Alpha Quadrant. This was the homeworld to an unnamed species of humanoids. From orbit, it looked like the planet was nothing but sand, and indeed it had a desert larger than any on Earth. However, it did have a handful of lakes and small seas. It contained at least one continent, and had a number of cities, including Torothan City.

In the final draft script of "Desert Crossing", the various bodies of water on this planet were simply referred to as "a handful of small oceans."

Several clans existed on the planet, with government in the hands of the Torothan clan, which also controlled most land and resources.

During the 2150s, the planet was in conflict. A caste system that had been in place for centuries had been abandoned, but people expecting to finally be treated equally found that little had changed and Torothans were still dominant. After trying protests and the courts, the lower castes had turned to terrorism.

In 2152, Captain Jonathan Archer and Charles Tucker of Enterprise NX-01 were invited by Zobral for a meal and participation in a game of geskana at his encampment on this planet. The Starfleet officers agreed, but when Torothan forces began to bombard the rebel complex, they fled into the deserts of the planet.

At this time, the planet had an orbital detection grid. This system, however, had narrow gaps that could be penetrated, albeit with difficulty. (ENT: "Desert Crossing")

Further information[]

Geographical[]

Some notable sites of interest included the:

Biological[]

Aside from the Torothans and Zobral's people, this planet was home to:

Animals
Plants

Background information[]

This planet's quadrant of origin is inferred based on the position of its star system as seen in the star chart appearing in the Star Trek: Discovery episode "The Examples" and the Star Trek: Picard episode "Maps and Legends".

The final draft script of ENT: "Desert Crossing" referred to "a sloth-like animal" on the planet, though this lifeform doesn't appear on screen.

In the final draft script of "Desert Crossing", this planet was initially referred to as "a world that is mostly arid desert." In an ultimately omitted extension to a scene from that script, it was established that Enterprise had no problem finding this planet on its own, that Archer appreciated the planet's scenery (he commenting at one point, "The view flying in was spectacular"), and that the weather on the day they visited was "unusually mild," according to Zobral, though this was surprising to Tucker.

The planet was implied to be very close to Risa, which was ninety light years from Earth. In the final draft script of "The Catwalk", "the Torothan system" was referenced, though this allusion isn't in the final edit of that episode.

According to Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 60), the Enterprise visited this planet on February 12, 2152.

According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 2, p. 406, the Torothan homeworld was classified as a M-class planet. Furthermore, in the note to the entry "Torothan planet", it was stated, "The desert exterior scenes of the Torothan planet were filmed at Imperial Dunes in southeastern California, near the borders with Arizona and the Mexican state of Baja California."

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