Who Are El-Aurians In Star Trek And How Long Does Guinan’s Race Live For?

On Star Trek: The Next Generation, Whoopi Goldberg's Guinan introduced a new alien species called the El-Aurians. Guinan joined TNG at the start of the show's second season after Whoopi Goldberg reached out to producers requesting a role on the series. Guinan was an enigma upon her introduction, and TNG took its time revealing more about her, only dropping teases and hints about her past. Guinan had known Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) for some time, and she was one of the few people he trusted for honest advice.

After appearing in 29 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and two of the TNG films, Guinan returned in Star Trek: Picard season 2. In two different timelines, Guinan (portrayed in the past by Ito Aghayere) helped Admiral Picard and his motley crew restore Star Trek's proper Prime timeline after it was changed by Q (John de Lancie). Guinan remains Star Trek's most well-known El-Aurian, although much about the long-lived species is still a mystery. Only three other named El-Aurians have appeared on-screen, including the main antagonist of Star Trek Generations, Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell).

Who Are The El-Aurians In Star Trek?

The El-Aurians Are A Long-Lived Race Of Listeners

Since Star Trek: The Next Generation introduced the El-Aurians, the franchise has slowly revealed more about the mysterious species. They were a race of listeners who spread out across the galaxy. Because they appeared indistinguishable from humans, El-Aurians were able to blend in among humans, as Guinan did during Earth's 19th century. El-Aurians aged extremely slowly by human standards and could live for several centuries. They also possessed a limited form of telepathy and could sense disturbances in space and time, such as when Guinan felt the universe shift in TNG's "Yesterday's Enterprise."

Sometime in their history, the El-Aurians found conflict with the Q Continuum, resulting in a lengthy cold war that eventually led to a truce. Despite this, Guinan and Q remained adversaries at least through the 24th century, although the exact nature of their dealings remains unknown. During the 23rd century, the Borg attacked the El-Aurians, destroying many of their cities and decimating their population. Many of the surviving El-Aurians became refugees, and, in Star Trek Generations, the USS Enterprise-B rescued a group of these refugees that included Guinan and Dr. Soran.

How Long Do El-Aurians Live For?

El-Aurians Live For Several Centuries

Star Trek has never expressly stated the average lifespan of the El-Aurians, but they have been known to live for several centuries. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter, "Time's Arrow," Captain Picard met Guinan on Earth in the late 19th century, making her at least 500 years old by the 24th century. In TNG season 6, episode 7, "Rascals," Guinan mentioned that her father was around 700 years old, establishing that El-Aurians could live at least that long.

Introduced in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, Star Trek's most recent El-Aurian, Commander Kassia Nox, is also the youngest. When Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) questions if Nox is "like, 400 years old,"Nox replies that she's in her 30s. This prompts Mariner to respond that "a young El-Aurian is just a regular person." However, this may not be entirely true, as it's unclear whether age affects the El-Aurians' abilities to sense disturbances in the space-time continuum.

In Star Trek: Picard season 2, episode 1, "The Star Gazer," Guinan suggested that El-Aurians had some choice about when and how they aged. Despite their longevity, El-Aurians reached adulthood at about the same time as humans, explaining why Commander Nox looks and acts like a human in her 30s despite being practically an infant by El-Aurian standards. Since Guinan's introduction on Star Trek: The Next Generation, the El-Aurians have become one of Star Trek's most fascinating and mysterious alien species.