El - Aurian El - Aurians were a humanoid species of " listeners " originating from the El - Aurian system . ( ; ; , " et al . " ) History . The El - Aurians were a widely traveled people who spread themselves across many parts of the galaxy , and beyond . At least one El - Aurian , Guinan , visited Earth in 1893 , before Human s had any official knowledge of alien species . ( ) Around 2265 , while Guinan wasn ' t present , this species was the victim of a major attack by the Borg , with all but a handful of El - Aurians being assimilated or killed by the Borg , and all El - Aurian cities being destroyed by them . ( ) By resisting when the Borg came to assimilate them , the El - Aurians defied their attackers ' motto that " resistance is futile . " ( ) When Guinan ' s homeworld was destroyed by the Borg , the El - Aurian species was scattered throughout the universe but nevertheless prevailed . ( ) One of the areas the El - Aurians visited was near System J - 25 . ( ) In 2293 , a group of 415 El - Aurian refugee s were coming to Earth , following their escape from the Borg , and two ship s were transporting the refugees , the and the , when they were caught in and subsequently destroyed by the Nexus energy ribbon , near the Sol system . The was able to rescue 47 of the 415 refugees , including Guinan and Dr . Tolian Soran ( at the cost of one James T . Kirk ' s life , or so it was thought ) . ( ) By 2368 , there were still very few El - Aurians left , due to the Borg , and those who were still alive remained scattered throughout the galaxy , with no collective home any more . ( ) While Guinan became the bartender aboard the in 2365 , Soran , following the " Enterprise " - B rescue , dedicated the next seventy - eight years ( until his apparent death in 2371 ) to finding a way to return to the Nexus . ( ; ) Martus Mazur , another El - Aurian refugee , visited Deep Space 9 in 2370 . ( ) Physiology . Externally , the El - Aurians were physically identical to Humans , in structure and even the range of racial phenotypes . ( ; , " et al . " ) El - Aurians had rybo - viroxic - nucleic sequences in their gene s ( similar to other humanoids , including Humans and Bajoran s ) . ( ) A significant physical difference between Humans and El - Aurians was in the aging process , as the extremely long El - Aurian lifespan covered many centuries . One particular El - Aurian male was known to be a father of an adult when he was around two hundred years old in the 19th century , and to be in virtually perfect health at the age of around seven hundred years old as of the 24th century . ( ) A Devidian temporal vortex suddenly being opened could potentially injure an El - Aurian more than a Human , however , knocking the El - Aurian unconscious and wounding him or her in such a way that the El - Aurian couldn ' t walk thereafter unless they received medical treatment . ( ) El - Aurians might also suffer from more common physical sensations , such as thirst and tennis elbow . ( ) Culture . El - Aurians prided themselves on being a race of listeners , and appeared to have a form of limited empathic ability . Some used this to help others , acting as advisers or confidants . A few turned their talent to more dubious pursuits , becoming con artist s and tricksters , such as Martus Mazur , while Dr . Soran used his abilities to help bring his genocidal plan to re - enter the Nexus to fruition . ( ; ) El - Aurians usually didn ' t experience difficulties with parents relating to their children , as El - Aurian children were usually good at listening to their parents . ( ) Alternate timelines . As Data once speculated in an alternate timeline ( basing his hypothesis on appearances ) , El - Aurians possibly had an awareness which superseded the normal flow of time and space , allowing them to be extraordinarily sensitive to the space - time continuum itself . ( ) Guinan was able to perceive the change from the regular timeline to the aforementioned alternate one and back again , switches that occurred in 2366 , due to a disruption in the history of the starship ; the changes were felt by both the Guinan of the alternate timeline and that of the regular timeline . ( ) After Data postulated his theory about El - Aurians being able to intuitively detect such alterations , the Jean - Luc Picard of that timeline admitted there were many things about El - Aurians which they couldn ' t easily explain . However , the faith he had in Guinan ' s " special wisdom " , as he called it , was instrumental in resetting the timeline . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Descriptive text about Guinan in the internal reference work " " stated that several El - Aurians met Jean - Luc Picard while he was serving as a lieutenant on board the and that they fascinated him at that point . The description also explained that the fact they were often described as a group of listeners was because something about the species " encourages others to be honest when they speak . " ( ; " " , p . 012 ) The first canon ical evidence of this species were references to Guinan not being Human . Wesley Crusher mentions in TNG Season 2 opener that the crew of the " Enterprise " - D are curious as to where she has come from ( Crusher saying he has heard that a rumored answer to that mystery is Nova Kron ) , and in later second season installment , Guinan makes a joke in which she refers to herself as a humanoid . Her " people " were first referred to in , later in the same season , which also introduced the Borg . The first time Guinan ' s people were referred to as a species of " listeners " was in TNG Season 3 opener . In the writer ' s first draft of the script for ( which had the working title " Maker of Dreams " ) , Guinan ' s people were referred to as having encountered a shapeshifter who , in the story , called himself " Caliban " , in reference to a character from Shakespeare ' s " " . The script established that Guinan ' s people commonly referred to him as a " Maker of Dreams " . According to the reference book " " ( 3rd ed . , p . 319 ) , the El - Aurians were named after an " angel of flame " from ancient Hebrew lore . Though many people think the name of the species was first established in , it actually originated in . However , the name was likely taken from early drafts of " Generations " , which were definitely in circulation around the " Star Trek " office at Paramount by the time " Rivals " entered production . ( " " , p . 109 ) The name wasn ' t included in the first draft script of " Rivals " ( dated ) , which instead referred to Martus Mazur as being from one of numerous races of Listeners ( the script didn ' t specify how many there were , nor what any of them were called ) . At one point in the same first draft script , Odo commented , " " You Listener - types are the worst , " " to which Mazur replied , " " I beg to differ , Constable . Listeners – my race included – are the finest diplomats , counselors , advisors – " " but Odo interrupted , ending the sentence with " " – And con - artists in the galaxy . " " The references to Martus as an El - Aurian were added into the script by the time the final draft was submitted ( on ) , by which point the name had already been featured in the first draft screenplay of " Generations " ( dated 1 October 1993 ) . Although early reports regarding Soran claimed he was a Vulcan , Rick Berman confirmed he would be an El - Aurian ( in , dated June / ) . El - Aurian hairstyles in " Star Trek Generations " were designed by Key Hair Stylist Joy Zapata . ( " Star Trek Generations " production notes ) For the same film , Costume Designer Robert Blackman was assigned the task of designing individual costumes for thirty El - Aurians . This challenge was welcomed by Blackman , as working on had involved him encountering tight budgets and schedules that usually didn ' t allow for more than seven alien individuals to be shown per episode . ( " " , p . 231 ) In " Generations " , however , El - Aurians other than Guinan and Tolian Soran are shown in only one scene . The master version of this scene , used in the first edit of the film , spotlighted all of these individuals .