Hirogen's History
The Hirogen were a nomadic species of hunters who roamed huge distances in the Delta Quadrant during the late-24th century. They viewed other lifeforms as prey and treated them as such, showing little evidence of compassion or empathy for other intelligent species.
Ancient Hirogen civilization was knowledgeable and possessed advanced technology. However, by the 24th century, there was no evidence of them identifying with a homeworld; their nomadic existence was driven by the pursuit of prey. This had caused Hirogen society to put nearly all of its energy into increasingly unproductive hunts in increasingly exhausted territories, bringing cultural and scientific advancement to a near standstill. The Hirogen way of life had not changed for a thousand years. They lived as nomads and had dispersed themselves throughout the quadrant, becoming a solitary and isolated race. It had even been stated by one Hirogen, Karr, that in another thousand years, no one would remember the name Hirogen, as they were hunting themselves to extinction.
In 2357, a Hirogen hunter was captured on his son's first hunt and forced to participate in Tsunkatse matches. He remained a forced participant in the blood sport until the Federation starship USS Voyager rescued him in 2376.
In 2374, Voyager had several rough encounters with members of the Hirogen species. The first of these incidents occurred while the starship was attempting to make contact with the Federation via a communications network claimed by the Hirogen. When ordered to stop, Seven of Nine initiated an electrical pulse, shocking a Hirogen male into submission through his interface. The Hirogen also captured and attempted to kill Lieutenant Commander Tuvok and Seven, and the Federation vessel forcefully disabled their relay network.
While hunting a particularly resilient prey, a member of Species 8472, a Hirogen hunter was forced to accept help from the Voyager crew when the prey boarded the Starfleet vessel. When other Hirogen ships arrived, the hunter and his prey were returned to the Hirogen people by Seven of Nine, despite the fact that she had specifically been ordered by Captain Janeway that the Starfleet crew would not sacrifice another sentient lifeform to save themselves.
Later, a pack of Hirogen ships successfully claimed the starship Voyager and forced the crew to participate in vast holodeck hunting simulations, brainwashing the crew to believe they were genuine characters in the holodecks while leaving a select minority outside to treat the crew and create additional holobuffers throughout the ship. The holodeck technology offered the Hirogen a better chance to study their prey, and the Alpha believed it represented the next stage of Hirogen social evolution. However, the Federation crew eventually fought back, The Doctor and Harry Kim managing to 'deprogram' Seven of Nine – as she was participating in a Nazi program – and give her the key to free other members of the crew. Eventually, the restored crew forced the Hirogen to a standoff resulting in the death of the Alpha, although the current Beta, resenting his Alpha's decisions and partly convinced by the Nazi vision of superiority, attempted to kill the crew anyway, until he was killed by Captain Janeway. She gave the new Alpha the data necessary to make holographic technology, in the hopes that it would calm Hirogen society and stop them from hunting sentient beings. On stardate 51762, Janeway negotiated a cease-fire with the Hirogen, suspending hostilities.
In 2377, the results of this attempt at cultural manipulation were discovered. The Hirogen had gone on to make holographic prey in huge space stations, fitted with holoemitters. In order to make the prey more challenging, they had programmed the holograms not only with the ability to feel pain, so that they would avoid the hunters with more desperation, but also to learn and to retain knowledge after being killed. When they were reactivated for another hunt, they would remember the last one. The result was truly worthy prey. Predictably, however, prey that adapts quickly becomes the hunter. Iden's Rebellion began; the holograms fought back, resulting in many Hirogen deaths. The holograms went on to liberate other holograms and kill members of other biological species, until they discovered a planet where they could create a colony and live in peace.
In the late 24th century, a group of Hirogen made direct contact with the Federation. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard played a crucial role in establishing diplomatic relations, though he was in fact hunted by the Hirogen Alpha during the initial encounter. Picard was able to turn the tables on the hunter, thanks to a deadfall trap that had been previous constructed by Lieutenant Commander Worf. In 2396, Picard was asked about the encounter by a group of Starfleet cadets at 10 Forward Avenue. By 2399, there was at least one Hirogen xB present on the Artifact.
