The Kzin are a felinoid race noted for being highly aggressive and warlike. Some claim there is a similarity between them and Caitians, but Kzin are larger and stronger, and have a more rugged appearance. They have sharp teeth and claws, and their voices are more rasping than purring. They have keen senses of taste, hearing, and smell, and can see quite well in the dark. They walk fully upright, but develop a noticeable slouch when they get older.
Kzin are highly militaristic, fighting with a ferocity that makes other races quick to label them as barbarians. Kzin simply state it's their way of fighting, "We are not beserk maniacs. Now go away or I will rip your arms off!" Numerous accounts of them eating the bodies of dead enemies further add to their often savage reputation. Kzin freely admit this happened in the past, "Our supply officers kept screwing up food shipments, and we had to 'live off the land.' " They are less vocal about it happening today, "You guys were fat from fast food then. Now with all the health foods, your are considerably less interesting."
Kzin consider their women second-class citizens, swapping females much like humans swap trading cards. This chauvinistic attitude sometimes carries over when they deal with females of other races, and on numerous occasions females have played important roles in rescue missions (and others) from Kzin space due to Kzin underestimating their abilities. The males' attitude is due to Kzinrettes being sub-sentient. Needless to say, this has caused all attempts at a women's liberation campaign to come to an early end due to the illiterate females inability to write anything on protest signs.
They also consider vegetarians as less than fully sentient and tend to discount them as of no value in combat or other dealings, not unlike they do females. Kzin telepaths are normally shunned by others unless their services are needed. They need a drug made from a plant for their abilities, which makes this shameful if the eyes of other Kzin. Naturally this affects how they see telepaths of other races. A favorite Kzin curse to start a fight is "You smell like a grass eater!" and an old joke is "How much intelligence does it take to sneak up on a leaf?"
The Kzin encountered several pre-spacefaring races as they spread outward. As a result of their cooperation (and the Kzin tendency to consider the affairs of the lesser races beneath their notice), the Kzin did not develop a "pure" empire like the Klingons and Romulans. But neither would they allow them to participate in their leadership like the Federation. The result was the Hegemony. Other races within Kzin territory are allowed to govern themselves, but are not permitted to build space-capable military forces and all trade and negotiations between them and other races are controlled by the Kzin. There have been no attempted violations since this arrangement began, "We're perfectly happy with our position. We're protected by the fiercest fighters in the galaxy ... whom have all the big guns ... who supposedly ... eat ... their ... enemies ... why wouldn't we be happy?" "Then why are you sweating, Your Eminence?"
The Kzin fought four wars with Humanity, losing all of them. It is said that the favorite Kzin battle strategy then was the "scream and leap" (perhaps they should have learned not to trip and fall on their faces while doing so). They were so soundly beaten in the last war, they were forced to agree to a partially demilitarized border. They are not permitted to have any military bases or warships larger than police craft within so many parsecs of it. This treaty has been a sore spot with many Kzin, and there have been a number of violations reported over the years. Many of these are pirate "Raider" ships that the Kzin military claim their smaller ships are unable to stop. Why many of these defeated "pirate" vessels had crews in official Kzin uniforms is officially unknown to them, claimed by some to be a "monkey trick" to discredit them.
Besides the police ships and raiders familiar to Starfleet, the Kzin have a number of other vessels deployed in the interior and on other borders. Among them the "carrier," which carries dozens of missile-armed shuttlecraft. The Kzin consider the shuttle fighters an excellent way to display their courage and battle prowess by engaging in glorious single combat against a starship. The other races consider the shuttle fighters a Kzin trick to use natural selection to improve the Kzin race. How? By disposing of the stupid and rash when they engaging in ridiculous single combat against a starship. Regardless of size or design, all Kzin ships are painted pink. Needless to say, starbases where Kzin freighters stop have extra doctors on hand for the spacers who laugh before finding out who the ships belong to.
It should be noted not all male Kzin dismiss females of other races as stupid (Perhaps the shuttle fighter program is paying off?). Some reportedly have a fascination with intelligent women, especially if they look anything close to a Kzin, such as Caitians. This fascination is considered highly perverse by most of the older Kzin (the ones too old to fly a fighter shuttle), rating it right up there with vegetarianism. It is believed a number of kidnappings near the border are related to this. A few years back, some Kzin semifamiliar with the Federation and its culture got together with some people in the Federation media and attempted to set up a Terran-style circa 2000 dating service. But after several instances of the Kzin up and grabbing his date upon first meeting, slinging her over his shoulder, and heading back to his spaceship, the Federals called it off. This confused the Kzin cosponsoring the production, whom insisted the multiple superficial (mostly) scrapes and bruises were simply a sign of affection.
The Kzin have fought several wars with the Klingons and other races over the years, but have avoided anything more than small border skirmishes with the Federation since its beginning. This has allowed them to be somewhat ignored by Federation media. Recent developments, however, may change that. There are reports of eugenics programs to bring females to full sentience, as well as secret technology deals much like that the Klingons and Romulans once had. If these are true, Federation-Kzin relations could once again be in the spotlight.