I don't mean due to advanced medical technology, cryogenics, stasis, time travel, etc.
I don't mean due to being a Q or a Borg or some other non-corporeal lifeform or a totally alien biology.
asked Feb 11, 2016 at 17:28
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3Suspected answer: El-Aurians?– ThePopMachineCommented Feb 11, 2016 at 17:28
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By excluding "totally alien biology" aren't you simply limiting it to humans? Otherwise it might be Trill.– dvaegCommented Feb 11, 2016 at 17:36
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Good question. :-)– PraxisCommented Feb 11, 2016 at 18:06
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@dvaeg: No, I'm differentiating between totally alien biology as contrasts to ordinary biological humanoid. I.e. totally alien: Vorta, Q, 8472; ordinary humanoid: human, Klingon, Cardassian, El-Aurian, Kazon, etc.– ThePopMachineCommented Feb 11, 2016 at 21:48
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2@dvaeg: Regarding the Trill: The humanoid part of them is definitely not particularly long-lived, and the symbiont part counts as 'totally alien'. So no.– ThePopMachineCommented Feb 11, 2016 at 21:52
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3 Answers
The Gideons are humanoid and have become immortal as a result of the germ-free state of their homeworld (e.g. through natural evolution).
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3This is a nice answer, but I don't think it fits because it sounds like it's not really that they have an unusually long lifespan; they just have an extraordinary environment. Within the confines of the story, it is to be understood that other humanoids placed in that environment would also be immortal? Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 21:50
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@ThePopMachine - They appear to have evolved in such a way as to take advantage of the germ-free planet. Their plan is to import a germ-ridden human and thus return the ecosphere to something resembling normality.– ValorumCommented Feb 11, 2016 at 21:54
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Okay, but it's still not clear to me if we're talking about an ecosystem that evolved or whether the humanoids really have evolved to be unique. Again, Within the confines of the story, it is to be understood that other humanoids placed in that environment would also be immortal? Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 22:43
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1@thepopmachine - I read it that that don't die unless they get injured, and only then if they're already very old.– ValorumCommented Feb 12, 2016 at 7:03
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1I honestly don't see how "[Death] occur[s] only when the body [can] no longer regenerate and that happens ...only to the very old" means that. It seems to say that when you are very old, the body can't regenerate anymore and you die of old age. I think the more likely interpretation is that 'regenerate' doesn't mean 'regenerate from an injury' but 'continually regenerate from slow degradation due to aging'. Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 15:40
EL-Aurians have a natural lifespan of at least 700 years (the canonical age of one minor character belonging to said species).
Changelings seem to be biologically immortal, but I doubt that they qualify for the "standard humanoid" category.
The Ba'ku might count, although their longevity is apparently not due to anything inherent about their biology per se, but because
They live on a planet that constantly regenerates them and reverses their aging. This process is shown to also work on Klingons (Worf) and Humans (Geordi), and so presumably would work on many, if not most, other humanoid species.
answered Jan 16, 2021 at 14:17
