Characteristics
Taelons appear as short humanoids of a slender build. They have pale, mottled skin, and are hairless. They are androgynous and once reproduced asexually. Now they are infertile. Their voices are pitched between those of men and women. Most if not all Taelons are portrayed by actresses.
They are in reality energy-based beings, composed of what they refer to as "core energy": their skin being an artificial façade that they can generate after sampling the DNA of other species. In their natural state, blue-purple energy can be seen coursing through their transparent humanoid form. There are some individual differences: Zo'or appeared more pink-gold in the first season, while Da'an was often more blue-white. The energy state of Taelons is modified slightly for the second season and is gradually seen less and less over the course of the series.
It is said that no Taelon has killed another through violence in millions of years. The only Taelon to have acted directly to kill another is Zo'or, who murdered another of his kind and absorbed their energy. "Killing by proxy" is nevertheless allowed. This is accomplished by playing a Taelon game called foovlasha in which opponents move markers around a three-dimensional playing board composed of three connected spherical wireframes. In such a game, each Taelon channels their energy and consciousness into their moves whilst the commonality sits in judgment. Eventually, one player must channel all their remaining energy into a move and cease to exist. A foovlasha game played in this way is called p'raj'rath and is the equivalent of a duel to the death.
Taelons have long lifespans. Anecdotal evidence suggests that 2,500-3,000 years is about average for the Taelons by the time they arrive on Earth. In spite of this, the season 4 episode "Summit" states that when the Taelons and Jaridians split into two species, Jaridian lifespans were shortened by two thirds, while Taelon lifespans were extended by a factor of 200. An earlier episode states that the Jaridians have lifespans of approximately 20 years, which suggests that, at least at the time of the split, Taelon lifespans were on the order of at least 12,000 years, or possibly more.
The Taelon language is called Eunoia.
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