Why does Quark have no dispositions in his demeanor?

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BridgeConsoleMasher
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Why does Quark have no dispositions in his demeanor?

Post by BridgeConsoleMasher »

He's the only Ferengi I've seen that speaks and acts like a human whose speech and mannerisms aren't really sniveling or fretting.

There's only one instance I know of where he's explicitly depicted as a failed profiteer in which his operation on the station is indicative of this. I feel like that goes hand and hand with it.
..What mirror universe?
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clearspira
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Re: Why does Quark have no dispositions in his demeanor?

Post by clearspira »

BridgeConsoleMasher wrote: Mon May 27, 2019 5:30 am He's the only Ferengi I've seen that speaks and acts like a human whose speech and mannerisms aren't really sniveling or fretting.

There's only one instance I know of where he's explicitly depicted as a failed profiteer in which his operation on the station is indicative of this. I feel like that goes hand and hand with it.
I would say that Quark is one of the only Ferengi we have ever seen that has lived for decades around other races. He has learned to adapt.
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Re: Why does Quark have no dispositions in his demeanor?

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clearspira wrote: Mon May 27, 2019 11:20 am
BridgeConsoleMasher wrote: Mon May 27, 2019 5:30 am He's the only Ferengi I've seen that speaks and acts like a human whose speech and mannerisms aren't really sniveling or fretting.

There's only one instance I know of where he's explicitly depicted as a failed profiteer in which his operation on the station is indicative of this. I feel like that goes hand and hand with it.
I would say that Quark is one of the only Ferengi we have ever seen that has lived for decades around other races. He has learned to adapt.
I would think that plenty of Ferengi haggle species all over. Also, Rom has been with him probably the whole time, except for when he boned that chick and she left him with Nog. Nog was born on DS9 and he's still at Ferengi disposition level.
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Re: Why does Quark have no dispositions in his demeanor?

Post by clearspira »

BridgeConsoleMasher wrote: Mon May 27, 2019 11:26 am
clearspira wrote: Mon May 27, 2019 11:20 am
BridgeConsoleMasher wrote: Mon May 27, 2019 5:30 am He's the only Ferengi I've seen that speaks and acts like a human whose speech and mannerisms aren't really sniveling or fretting.

There's only one instance I know of where he's explicitly depicted as a failed profiteer in which his operation on the station is indicative of this. I feel like that goes hand and hand with it.
I would say that Quark is one of the only Ferengi we have ever seen that has lived for decades around other races. He has learned to adapt.
I would think that plenty of Ferengi haggle species all over. Also, Rom has been with him probably the whole time, except for when he boned that chick and she left him with Nog. Nog was born on DS9 and he's still at Ferengi disposition level.
True but Rom is an idiot. He can fix things, but he is still an idiot. Making him Nagus is one of those things that only happens on TV.
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Re: Why does Quark have no dispositions in his demeanor?

Post by Riedquat »

Whilst nearly all Ferengi seem to be about money they're still all individuals, so some will be better suited to getting it in different ways to others. Most of the ones we've seen go for the business deal approach, Quark on the other hand runs a bar, and to be any good at that needs a different personality. So I'd chalk it down to observation bias and a culture that means that means some types of people are more likely to be visible than others.
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Re: Why does Quark have no dispositions in his demeanor?

Post by Mecha82 »

It's possible that Quark has picked more human like traits when being in contact with humans and other species with similar traits as part of him being in service focused business and dealing with those species on daily basis.
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Re: Why does Quark have no dispositions in his demeanor?

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BridgeConsoleMasher wrote: Mon May 27, 2019 5:30 am He's the only Ferengi I've seen that speaks and acts like a human whose speech and mannerisms aren't really sniveling or fretting.

There's only one instance I know of where he's explicitly depicted as a failed profiteer in which his operation on the station is indicative of this. I feel like that goes hand and hand with it.
Remember Bok? That wasn't a man who was sniveling or fretting. But then, this was also a man obsessed with revenge on Picard for the death of his son.
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Re: Why does Quark have no dispositions in his demeanor?

Post by BridgeConsoleMasher »

I kinda do remember him.

Good responses btw.

Also something worth noting, in the episode with old man Jake Sisko, we see Nog as a captain with completely refined enunciation and conversing skills. So I think that what's being said about Quark running a bar and having observation bias makes sense. It's just a matter of practice.

In the case of Bok, he is obviously not entertaining greed through acquisition and has a pretty cold chip on his shoulder, so he is an interesting case in himself, maybe more so than Nog or Quark.
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Re: Why does Quark have no dispositions in his demeanor?

Post by Actarus »

There is a pre-Quark and an after-Quark. Ferengi were supposed to be TNG's new Klingons. Armin Schimmerman was the first Ferengi we saw. It was a disaster, and the Ferengi were reduced to nuisances and comic relief. Not that it was Schimmerman's fault. Somehow, Gene Roddenberry thought that hissing and jumping greedy goblins with big cocks (he wanted them to wear huge codpieces) would make good villains. When he was given the role of Quark, Schimmerman wanted to "repair" the Ferengis. In TNG, the Ferengi were mostly annoying and cowardly petty crooks, pirates and marauders. In DS9, they are businessmen, capitalists and we don't even see their "militaries". We learn about their government, their institutions, their beliefs and they even have a code of ethics (Rules of Acquisition). Quark is a businessman (with some criminal activities to close the month). You can't be a businessman by being sniveling, fretting and annoying, with wandering hands with alien ladies, especially if they are Bajoran... These are left to his subordinates (Rom, Nog). With Quark, we are told "you think you know who are the Ferengi? Think again." Even Grand Nagus Zek does not feel like TNG's ferengi.
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Re: Why does Quark have no dispositions in his demeanor?

Post by Mecha82 »

Actarus wrote: Wed May 29, 2019 5:21 pm There is a pre-Quark and an after-Quark. Ferengi were supposed to be TNG's new Klingons. Armin Schimmerman was the first Ferengi we saw. It was a disaster, and the Ferengi were reduced to nuisances and comic relief. Not that it was Schimmerman's fault. Somehow, Gene Roddenberry thought that hissing and jumping greedy goblins with big cocks (he wanted them to wear huge codpieces) would make good villains. When he was given the role of Quark, Schimmerman wanted to "repair" the Ferengis. In TNG, the Ferengi were mostly annoying and cowardly petty crooks, pirates and marauders. In DS9, they are businessmen, capitalists and we don't even see their "militaries". We learn about their government, their institutions, their beliefs and they even have a code of ethics (Rules of Acquisition). Quark is a businessman (with some criminal activities to close the month). You can't be a businessman by being sniveling, fretting and annoying, with wandering hands with alien ladies, especially if they are Bajoran... These are left to his subordinates (Rom, Nog). With Quark, we are told "you think you know who are the Ferengi? Think again." Even Grand Nagus Zek does not feel like TNG's ferengi.
You make good points. After all Klingons also did change between one series to another as did also Romulans. Neither of those two races were no longer in TNG way they had been in TOS. So it does make sense that Ferengi would also change way they were in TNG to way they become to be in DS9. It's another reason why to me DS9 is best ST series ever and why I think it's better than TNG.
"In the embrace of the great Nurgle, I am no longer afraid, for with His pestilential favour I have become that which I once most feared: Death.."
- Kulvain Hestarius of the Death Guard
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