A Humanoid species native to Cardassia Prime. Their nation, the Cardassian Union, ascended from poverty to become a leading power in known space.
Society[]
“The betterment of the Cardassian Union is the goal of all the nation’s sons” - Cardassian axiom.
“In Cardassian society, we are taught from an early age to mask all feelings and thoughts, to deflect all outside perception and observation. The objective of this education is to create a citizen who can work within the group to accomplish a group goal established by the leader, and at the same time work in such a way that none of the other members of the group knows what he or she is doing. As long as the goal is accomplished, it's nobody's business how you went about your work”.
Architecture[]
Cardassian architectural style can best be described as honest; in other words, the function of the individual elements is not concealed for aesthetic effect. As a result, supporting columns and beams are almost always visible. The Cardassians tend to show the inner workings of their systems; for example, circular doors often have extremely obvious ridged edges. These are used to roll them in and out of place. The approach also explains why Cardassian turbolifts typically lack doors.
Food and Drink[]
Technology[]
Cardassian equipment typically draws power from cells consisting of ampoules of isotolinium, a liquid that can retain large amounts of energy. These power cells store approximately 20% less charge than Federation sarium krelide cells. Isotolinium will explode if released in a single burst, although there are few recorded instances of this.
The pistol and rifle units issued to soldiers of the Cardassian Union operate much as Bajoran phasers do, relying on a set of tightened focusing beams to carry the total weapon discharge. The emitter crystal is reinforced in a rodinium collar, and is held by a split waveguide which performs the beam width and intensity adjustments commanded through the weapon controls. Aft of the emitter are the accelerator, beam generator, and power cell. The energy contained in the latter, which consists of an isotolinium ampoule, is rated at 3.2x107 megajoules in the pistol and 9.8x107 megajoules with added cells in the rifle.
Spacecraft[]
Cardassian starships are more robust in design than their Starfleet equivalents. The space-frame is simpler and more compact, requiring less power for structural integrity fields. The materials used to construct different ships of the same class can vary considerably, depending on the current availability of resources. All Cardassian ships use embedded warp nacelles; these reduce the efficiency of the warp field but allow a smaller deflector-shield radius, making the shields comparatively more efficient. Further, all Cardassian spacecraft use matter/anti-matter reactors and fusion engines for propulsion. These operate at a lower frequency than Federation equivalents, giving Cardassian weapons and other energy emissions a characteristic yellow/orange colour.