What is "romulan"

The Romulans are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the science fiction franchise Star Trek. First appearing in the original Star Trek series in the 1966 episode " Balance of Terror", they have since made appearances in all the main later Star Trek series: The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise. In addition, they have appeared in various spin-off media, and prominently in the two films Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and Star Trek (2009).

Throughout the series, they are generally depicted as antagonists, and are usually at war with or in a tenuous truce with the United Federation of Planets. On extremely rare occasions, they have allied with the Federation.

The Romulans also act as a counterpoint to the logical Vulcan race, whom they resemble and with whom they share a common ancestry. As such, the Romulans are characterized as passionate, cunning, and opportunistic — in every way the opposite of the logical and "cold" Vulcans. The Romulans are the dominant race of the Romulan Star Empire. Although Star Trek Star Charts place the Romulan Empire's territory in the Beta Quadrant of the galaxy in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, they are referred to as an Alpha Quadrant power.

The Romulans were created by Paul Schneider, who said "it was a matter of developing a good Romanesque set of admirable antagonists ... an extension of the Roman civilization to the point of space travel". There are some differences in their history and the way they are portrayed on television, in the motion pictures and in several books by Diane Duane, called the Rihannsu series, after the term they use to refer to themselves in their Romulan native language.