The Cardassians are an extraterrestrial species in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. First introduced in the 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Wounded", the species originated on the fictional Alpha Quadrant planet, Cardassia Prime. Cardassians were the dominant species in an interstellar empire known as the Cardassian Union during the 24th century, although they are not confirmed to have ruled any other species aside from, for fifty years, the Bajorans.