Trekipedia

Talosians

The Talosians were a humanoid species native to Talos IV and possessed enormous brains “three times the size” of average humanoids, according to U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Science Officer Spock. Veins in their heads would throb when using their telepathic abilities. According to Dr. Philip Boyce, “Their power of illusion is so great, we can’t be sure of anything we do, or anything we see.” The Talosians lived underground, and according to Vina, over the centuries following the near-destruction of their world in a nuclear war, the Talosians forgot how to repair the machines left behind by their ancestors, while concentrating on developing their mental abilities. They couldn’t read through “primitive” emotional states, such as anger. The Talosians also kept a zoo full of “descendants of life brought back long ago from all over [their] part of the galaxy.” These specimens included a primate-like creature and a avian-humanoid creature when Captain Christopher Pike was held by the Talosians in the 2250s. It was unclear if these creatures were sentient.^[1]