Tori

The Tori are a species of sentient humanoid plants from the planet of Landare, a planet home to few animals, all of which are species of insect. This allowed the Tori to evolve without any major interference from predators; although most the insect species are herbivores, their populations never increased to such an extent that this hindered the natural development of the Tori.

Due to their plant origins, Tori do not exhibit body hair; however many do have leaves, flowers or vines growing from their scalps. These hair equivalents vary greatly depending on the particular genus that a Tori is descended from. Regardless, all Tori are covered in chloroplasts, and produce most of their energy from photosynthesis. Although they can extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, this is insufficient to sustain a Tori and allow them to perform most day-to-day tasks, as a result they can digest normal food stuffs to supplement their carbon requirements.

As with all sentient plant species in the galaxy, the Tori have a very close connection to nature, and a large number serve as botanists aboard science vessels. Starship Captains are always happy to have Tori on board due to the positive effect they have on their non-plant crew members. As Tori photosynthesis removes carbon dioxide from atmosphere and expels oxygen, this reduces the demand on ships life support systems. It also improves the performance of many crew members when working within close proximity to a Tori crew member due to the reduced carbon dioxide and increased oxygen present in the vicinity.