pon farr

pon farr

Spock in the plak tow during pon farr (TOS 34)

First Appearance	TOS 34 (15 Sep 1967)
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Pon farr was the Vulcan term for the time of mating. Once every seven years of a Vulcan's adult life, they must return to their homeworld and take a mate, a phenomenon likened to Earth's salmon and Regulus V's eelbirds. During the pon farr, a Vulcan's ability to suppress their emotions is significantly impaired, and during the plak tow, Vulcans find it nearly impossible to control their emotions, and were subject to an intense urge to take a mate. Spock, who was a Vulcan-Human hybrid, had hoped that his unique biology would spare him from pon farr, nevertheless found himself in its throes for the first time in 2267. While "the mating drive outweigh[ed] all other motivations" once every seven years, Vulcans were able to mate at any time outside of the cycle as well. When pressed for anything that could disturb the cycle, Spock noted that "extreme feminine beauty [was] always disturbing."