The Talosians

The Talosians were a telepathic, sentient, aged humanoid species native to the planet Talos IV in the Alpha Quadrant's Talos star cluster.

Such extraterrestrial species appeared in The Cage the pilot episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Original Series, and the resulting franchise.

It was completed in early 1965 (with a copyright date of 1964), but was not broadcast on television in its full form until 1988.

The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler.

It was rejected by NBC in February 1965, but they ordered a second pilot, "A Place Never Visited by Man."

Most of the original footage from "The Cage " was later incorporated into the two-part first season episode "The Menagerie".

The Talosians featured in the Star Trek pilot , were once a technologically advanced culture , but a nuclear holocaust left their planet virtually uninhabitable and killed off most species.

The survivors of the nuclear war congregated in subway dwellings, where they became dependent on their own mental powers , which they used to create startlingly real illusions, an ability their ancestors had developed.

As their mental powers grew, they lost the ability to use the technology left behind by their ancestors.

The Talosians discovered that life using the illusion was addictive, almost as if a human developed a physical and psychological dependence on narcotics . They became bored with the content of the illusions they had. Their dependence on these illusions for mental stimulation caused the Talosians to begin capturing space travelers to use as a living basis for their illusions.