Founder

The Founders or Changlings are a race of shape changers native to the Gamma Quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy in Star Trek.

Organization

The Founders are the creators and rulers of the Dominion, political entity that controls much of the Gamma Quadrant. A large-but-unspecified number of Founders join to form the Great Link, which is effectively the ruling body for the Dominion. The Founders are xenophobes who seek to control all "solid" species that they contact to prevent the repetition of anti-Changling atrocities alleged to have occurred in their past.

The Founders handle little of the day-to-day operations of the Dominion. The Great Link sets policy for the Dominion, and individual Founders conduct covert operations in foreign territory, where they gather intelligence and attempt to destablize enemy governments.

Attributes

Changlings they can change their shape and density with ease to imitate objects or living creatures, but the natural state of the Founders is liquid, and they must resume a liquid state periodically to remain healthy. In their liquid state, individual Founders are able to merge into the single, vast ocean of Founders that they call the Great Link. The Founders can relocate the Great Link to any hospitable planet, as they did after they lead the Tal'Shiar and Obsidian Order into a trap by leaking the location of the Great Link to the two spy organizations. The current location of the Great Link is unknown.