Culluh

Jal Culluh was the First Maje of the Kazon-Nistrim sect in the years 2371 to 2373. He attempted to obtain advanced technology from the during its voyage through Kazon space during this time.
== A priceless opportunity ==
A respected figure, Culluh's grandfather was First Maje of the Nistrim. However, the sect's power of those days was gone due to Culluh's poor leadership, which had seen the Nistrim's strength and numbers squander away. ()
Nevertheless, he remained ambitious and seized upon the opportunity to gain Starfleet technology when the USS Voyager was stranded in the Delta Quadrant. He was first encountered by Voyager in 2371, when Captain Kathryn Janeway allowed him aboard her ship to visit an ailing Kazon whom Voyager had previously rescued. The Kazon in question was in fact part of a failed Nistrim attempt to copy Voyagers replicator technology and later killed by Culluh. The information and material necessary for this experiment had come from Seska, a Cardassian operative posing as a Bajoran member of the Voyager crew who got very dissatisfied with Cpt. Janeway's leadership. Culluh embraced her covert assistance, but when her deception was discovered, she was forced to escape from Voyager aboard Culluh's ship. ()
Culluh allowed Seska to stay aboard, despite Kazon men's chauvinistic attitude towards women, and took her as his consort. Culluh was stern with her in public, but privately allowed her to advise him to a degree of manipulation and plan tactics in an attempt to capture Voyager. He sought to use Voyager as the catalyst to bring all of the Kazon sects together, and personally become the most powerful Kazon in the quadrant. In 2372, Culluh executed a daring raid on Voyager that was conceived by Seska and thereby successfully obtained a transporter module. Culluh and Seska used the newly gained transporter ability to coerce First Maje Haron of the powerful Kazon-Relora to a meeting. As Haron patronized the Nistrim and wanted to claim the technology for himself, Culluh and Seska killed him by beaming him and his bodyguard into space. Meanwhile, Cmdr. Chakotay of Voyager, who considered Seska's betrayal a personal responsibility, had intercepted Culluh's ship with a shuttlecraft but was unable to retrieve the transporter module and instead was taken prisoner. In order to initiate a subsequent meeting with First Majes Loran, Surat, and Valek or the Kazon-Hobii, Mostral, and Oglamar, respectively, Culluh now claimed to have obtained Voyagers command codes from Chakotay. This proved to be but a ruse, however, and as Voyager intercepted, all the First Majes were beamed aboard and held captive until Chakotay and the transporter module would be returned, thereby severely souring Culluh's reputation with the other Majes. ()
== Continuing his quest ==
Although Seska had earlier impregnated herself with DNA she had taken from Chakotay, she told Culluh it was his child – a circumstance she also exploited to protect herself against Culluh's growing impatience. When Captain Janeway proposed an alliance between Voyager and the Nistrim some months after their last encounter, he refused to have the terms dictated to him by a woman, and ended the discussions abruptly. He did, however, agree to attend a meeting on Sobras between representatives of Voyager, the leaders of other Kazon sects, and the Trabe, who had enslaved the Kazon in the past. Seska convinced him that this could be the first step to destroying the Trabe and eventually capturing Voyager, especially since the Nistrim just gained an informant among Voyagers crew. The meeting was ended prematurely, however, when the Trabe unsuccessfully attempted to kill the gathered Kazon Majes. ()
Seska gave birth to her son in late 2372 and now exploited her previous claim that the child was Chakotay's by luring in Voyager under a guise of mistreatment by Culluh. The ploy worked, Voyager was captured, and the crew, save for The Doctor, Lon Suder and Tom Paris was stranded on Hanon IV, Culluh exulted in his triumph and challenged the crew to survive without the technology they had kept from him. Now, much to Seska's surprise, The Doctor discovered that her child was indeed Culluh's, and not Chakotay's son. The Doctor and Lon Suder also managed to restore control over the ship and Seska was killed during Paris' divert attack on Voyager with the help of Talaxian ships. Out of options as Talaxians began to board the ship, Culluh was overcome with grief and took his son with him as he and his troops abandoned Voyager for unknown whereabouts. ()
An image of Culluh was present in the database of the Federation timeship representing Voyagers timeline in 2372 and an encounter with the Kazon. ( )
== Appendices ==
=== Appearances ===
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=== Background information ===
Culluh was played by actor Anthony De Longis.
Recalling his audition, De Longis noted "Very often when you read for a part you end up standing in a room that is filled with six or seven people and it feels much too small. At this point I was reading for the producers as well as the head staff writer and Rick Berman, who is the keeper of the flame for Roddenberry." (TV Zone #94 p.41) He continued, "I did my reading and they liked it. By the time I got home my agent had called, which is something that never happens in this business, to tell me I got the job. Everyone has this fantasy that they're going to hand you this contract across the desk before you've even finished your reading which, of course, never happens, but this is as close as I've gotten, so, it was very exciting." (TV Zone #94 p.42)
Recalling his debut episode, he noted "The character turned out to be very different from what I'd first envisioned. I had read only the few pages that had my character on them for my audition, so, at one point I actually thought I might somehow be romancing the Captain. When I read the rest of the script it became very clear that this wasn't really an option, especially after I saw the way they'd designed my make-up and hair. After that I figured chances were she was not going to be interested anyway." (TV Zone #94 p.42)
On his next appearance, he observed "I really enjoy Maneuvers because it provides me with the opportunity to show the audience that Culluh's a dangerous fellow. Seska is less in control of him in that episode than she's ever been before. I think we have a better sense of who he is and who these Kazon guys might actually be, so, I had a grand time with that episode." (TV Zone #94 p.43)
On getting the script for his third appearance in "Alliances", he recalled "When I got to the end of the script, the last scene was like something out of The Godfather, Part III, where all the mobsters are in one room and the helicopter attacks, killing everyone. I went in to see Jeri Taylor the next day and begged her to let Culluh at least be seen twitching at the end. She told me that the script had already been changed and said, 'We've decided not to kill you.' I recently got a call telling me they've lined me up to do two more episodes this season, so, Culluh lives." (TV Zone #94 p.43)
Speaking prior to filming the second season finale, he noted "I'd love to get the opportunity to indicate why he's a leader other than that he just happens to be one of the more vocal and aggressive Kazons that we've seen. Although he's a tremendous misogynist, he's also smart enough to realise that he can learn something from Seska. She's certainly romancing the guy in power to draw power to herself but at the same time I hope it becomes apparent that Culluh is both listening and, sometimes, learning from her, and, perhaps, he'll throw a few surprises at everybody." (TV Zone #94. p.43)
Culluh's name was misspelled "Cullah" on an diagram of the Kazon defense net in .
Culluh is referenced in Star Trek Online as telling stories to his son, , about Voyager. ("Alliances")
=== External links ===
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de:Culluh
Category:Kazon