Author's Notes
Author's Note
As you explore the different species and civilizations you will undoubtedly see comparisons to real life and real human history, some of this is on purpose and some of this is coincidence.
Fictional influences include Starship Troopers (the novel), Babylon 5 (the TV series), and even Mass Effect (the video game).
That being said though, my knowledge of history and specifically World War I has made the greatest impact on my thinking and design. The six major powers for instance, are my exploration of a "global" political environment that is multi-polar, unlike our recent past which has been bi-polar or even uni-polar in nature. Multi-polar systems can become far more complicated and this helps explain how war can breakout even when numerous major powers are actively avoiding it, such as World War I.
Obviously conflict makes for great storytelling so I wanted a less stable political environment and that is easier to justify in a multi-polar environment. Or so I think anyways!
Civilizations and their Ideas
Each of the major powers represents numerous ideas, some creatively my own, and others a rehash of something else (typically history). Here I will discuss each in turn.
Who are the Ukaros Dynasties?
Well they are clearly an amalgam of Chinese and Japanese empires... if you sense the Chinese Emperors of the Ming Dynasty, or the Bushido code and samurai... well that isn't unintentional. Unfortunately the Ukaros are essentially cast as the "bad guy" and that could be construed as commentary on the real-world equivalents. This is somewhat unintentional. My intent is for there to be no clear "bad guys" or at least no true "good guys"... simplified moralistic stories are boring and unrealistic.
I did say "somewhat" though. These societies are reflective of an earlier age with very different morals than we typically espouse today. Ancient (and not-so ancient) cultures were eager and capable of casual brutality, and the Ukaros reflect this. I could have equally made the Ukaros similar to ancient Mesopotamian or South American cultures and made the same point (I do with the Veygar, who are essentially space vikings or space mongols). I suppose what attracted me to China and Japan was their reputation for quality craftsmanship and perfectionism. That spoke to me, so here we are.
Who are the Terran Sovereignty?
This one is tricky, since they of course are human and represent our own future, but in some ways I'm also exploring the past. What is the Sovereignty? Well... it's arguably a defeated WWI Germany preparing for WWII. Is it evil though? Genocidal? Well... no... not yet anyways... and that isn't predetermined one way or the other. The Sovereignty isn't Germany from the 19th and 20th centuries... it's too modern and unromantic for that... that is why there are these tidbits about cybernetics thrown into their story. The Sovereignty are meant to represent what becomes of humanity when we are faced with upholding our principles in the face of overwhelming danger and disgrace. I guess my "statement" with the Sovereignty, is that when we are overwhelmed our idealism fails us, and also that the optimism and idealism of entities like the Terran Republic can be dangerous too. Pragmatism, real-politik, and rationality are the correct values according to the Sovereignty... and if you think those things have a dark under-current that could lead us to become "less" or perhaps "more" than truly human... I agree with you. THAT is what the Terran Sovereignty is... a path to hell paved with reason and logic and yet the only path forward unto salvation... a terrible or perhaps tyrannical paradox.
Who are the Tothk?
The Tothk are some sort of strange mixture of the Narn from Babylon 5, the Sontarans from Doctor Who, and even a little bit of Russian history. Maybe they represent what could have been if the Tsarist regime had reformed sometime before or during World War I and avoided the Bolsheviks, or perhaps they represent Sparta. I'm not entirely certain and I think that is okay, I think it is perfectly fine to let an idea "breathe" as you build and step into its own lovely identity. That doesn't always produce the most consistent ideas and backstory for a species, but that isn't always the most important thing.
Who are the Aquilarans?
Smart fish people are cool... everyone does them! Seriously... why are the aquatic races always considered the super intelligent ones? Dolphins are smart... so are Octopus... but no moreso than primates, and notably ravens show serious promise too... so why fish people yet again? Well at least I get some credit for making them fish people who are event people shaped and capable of breathing air right? Eh, probably not. I just fell into the same tropes as others really... but I will say, I've decided to look more closely at cuttle fish and piranha behavior to develop the backstory of Aquilarans and I aspire to making them rise above the deep oceans of tropes they were born in.
Who are the Fulgar?
Jawas. I thought that was obvious... Jawas with their hoods down. Look I think they're cute and funny and we all need a little comic relief sometime. Furthermore, I knew I wanted at least one major power that would be as adaptable and diverse as humans... the galaxy needs riff-raff afterall and the other major powers don't easily fit that mould so the Fulgar fill in the gaps. Additionally, while its tempting to play with the trope of "humans unite the galaxy through our ubiquity" and I do make it clear that humans are pretty common, I decided it would be more interesting to give that role to another race, hence the Fulgar. As very competitive but distinctly non-violent (at least at any large scale) the Fulgar give us a good look at the best and worst unbridled capitalism has to offer the universe. Fulgar are the glue that binds the galaxy together and keep the semi-ubiquitous infrastructure going... they are slowly but surely chipping away at the xenophobic galaxy and creating a "globalized" economy.
Who are the Zrenrakka?
For the Zrenrakka I will claim the mantle of originality. Obviously insect or "hive" races have been done to death, but I hope that the Zrenrakka bring something new to the table. Firstly, they are NOT a hive mind and there is no queen, yet, they are clearly a colonial/social organism. In someways they are "under-developed" ants... ants couldn't have started with queens based on our best theories of evolution (to my knowledge) so at some point there was likely a communal ant-like species that cooperated but wasn't single threaded on breeding. Some good studies are showing similar possibilities might be going on with mole rats... look them up!
So the Zrenrakka are instinctively colonial, territorial, and hierarchical, but haven't fallen into the pattern of having a singular queen... instead they developed intelligence, and this acted as a coping mechanism for their incredibly unstable geological environment, the penultimate adaptation for which was the genetic memory capability. This mixture of insect individuals with genetic memories is something really special to explore in my opinion. They are individuals but that individuality is both enhanced and subsumed by the fact that they can remember so much about their ancestor's lives and personalities... further reinforcing their hive-like nature, but perhaps opening them up for a sentimentality not often portrayed in alien insectoids.
Anywho... I had a lot of fun coming up with the Zrenrakka and I still haven't found a perfect image to represent them... but hey... close enough for government work I guess!