The ruling caste of the Gamma Quadrant's Dominion are the Changelings that spawned Odo; they intentionally kept their planet secret after a history of persecution by "Solids" that fueled their all-powerful drive to control the chaos around them.
Beginning some 2,000 years ago, they sought to maintain "order" out of this chaos with a rule based on strict obedience, enforced by the Jem'Hadar troops they genetically bred into chemical addiction for control, and administered by the Vorta they cloned — both of whom worship the Founders as gods.
In natural form, the Founders exist as a gelatinous liquid and can unite is whatis described as the Great Link — which they can leave and reform into any any shape whenever possible. Until Odo's torn loyalties led him to defend the U.S.S Defiant by accidentally killing a Changeling spy in 2371, no Founder had ever harmed another.
The foundation of the Changeling Founders' society, which provides meaning to their existence: the sharing of idea and sensation, the merging of form and thought — and basically each other, living together in their natural state in what otherwise resembles a large gelatinous lake on their homeworld.
His people imply that before he can join the link Constable Odo must first be taught their philosophy of shapeshifting by assuming the shapes of those things around him because "to become a thing is to know a thing; to assume its form is to begin to understand its existence." It also provides a collective memory and history, telling of their once-peaceful ways before subjugation and later revenge as the Dominion Founders.
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