Kzin
The Kzin civilization was at an iron-age technological level, when an alien race called the Jotoki landed, and made stealthy first contact with a tribe of primitive hunter/gatherer Kzinti: they were interstellar merchants, looking for a species they could use as mercenaries.
Once the Jotok had taught the Kzinti how to use high-tech weapons, and other devices (including spacecraft), the Kzin rebelled, and made their former masters into slaves -- as well as the occasional meal.
The crest of the Riit (Royal) family appears to be a bite mark -- though it is in fact a dentate leaf, with the words "From mercenary to master.
Kzintoshi) This was not always the case: archaic Kzinrretti were sapient, until the Kzin used Jotoki biotechnology to reduce them to their current state, and also boosted the martial prowess in the males.
The first contact with humanity ends the human golden era of peace -- where even history has been rewritten with a non-violent whitewash; organized violence was virtually eliminated, being reduced to roughly 1 in 1000 people, and interpersonal violence was unknown, except for occasional outbursts in the asteroid belt, where both medical and psychological care were thinly spread.
However, in the 2006 novel Destiny's Forge by author Paul Chafe, the heir apparent to the Riit throne, "Pouncer", does not receive a name until it is earned by deed.
There seem to be exceptions to this, such as the reference made to Kzaargh-Commodore's harem in the novella "Catspaws" by Hal Colebatch (appearing in Man-Kzin Wars XI, 2005) despite his not having yet earned a full name.
An example of a Kzin's naming transition would be: In several different stories by other authors writing in the universe, we see references to a total of five Man-Kzin wars taking place.
The net effect of these wars is summed up by a retrospective comment from Beowulf Schaeffer in the short story "Grendel": "The Kzinti aren't really a threat."
With decreasingly impressive logistical and technological advantages, each Man-Kzin War results in the confiscation or liberation of one or more Kzinti colony planets by the humans.
In this way, humanity contacts the Pierin and Kdatlyno, former slave species, and takes over worlds such as Canyon (formerly Warhead) and Fafnir (formerly Shasht).
Several of the stories of the Man-Kzin Wars depict the nearest human colony at Alpha Centauri, called Wunderland, which was occupied by the Kzinti for over 50 years.
Eventually (in Ringworld), we learn that the Kzin reverses were deliberately engineered by the Pierson's puppeteers, who lured the Outsiders to We Made It in the first place.
The puppeteers had hoped that the culling of a quarter to a third of the more aggressive members of the Kzinti with every war would result in a more peaceful race, or at least one that was capable of coexisting with other species without instantly trying to kill and eat them.
By the time the Kzinti attained the level of sophistication and foresight needed to win against humans, they no longer had the numbers or the drive to do so.
The Kzinti term for any particularly competent human female soldier is "Manrret" (singular) or "Manrretti" (plural), so named out of a sense of gallows humor regarding lethal encounters with the same.
From the Kzinti point of view a Manrret's stamina, speed, reflexes, pain tolerance, and reasoning capability (enhanced intuition by virtue of increased interconnectedness between the left and right halves of the human female brain) are far superior to a man's.
During the first Man-Kzin War, a fighter pilot named Kdapt-Captain was captured by the Catskinner, an artificial intelligence sent by the Terrans to the Alpha Centauri system.
Changing his name to Kdapt-Preacher, he settled on Wunderland and lived as a hermit, telling whomever he met that God made Man, not Kzin, in his own image.
The patriarch has a range of privileges, including a protected hunting reserve and the authority to assign full names to Kzin who have brought glory or honor to the Kzinti empire.
Star Trek: Enterprise producer Manny Coto wanted to include the Kzinti in an episode called "Kilkenny Cats", had the series continued beyond its fourth season.
The Kzinti are also represented in the lore of the Star Fleet Battles universe tabletop gaming system, with a number of scenarios and starship sheets devoted to them.
The Star Trek Log series, written by Alan Dean Foster, hints that the Caitians are an offshoot race of archaic Kzinti (where both genders are intelligent) who have renounced conquest.
The instruction manual for the PC game Star Trek: Starfleet Command clearly refers to the Kzinti by name in the background story for the rival race, the Lyrans.
A Kzin crewman appears in Star Trek: Lower Decks as a minor character in several episodes starting in Season 2.
In the episode "The Spy Humungous", he briefly assumes a pose similar in appearance to the Kzinti design seen in The Animated Series before straightening his back into a proper humanoid posture, which he explained as essential to maintaining a commanding presence.
