Spathi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Spathi | |
|---|---|
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| Ship | Eluder (Discriminator in Star Control I) |
| Homeworld | Spathiwa |
| Contacts | Humans, Ilwrath, Umgah, Ur-Quan, VUX, Androsynth, Chenjesu, Mmrnmhrm, Melnorme |
| Quotes | "Oh God... please don't let me die today! Tomorrow would be so much better!" |
The Spathi are a fictional race of beings featured in the sci-fi Star Control computer game series.
Contents |
[edit] Physiology and psychology
Of all creatures familiar to humans, the Spathi are most similar to Earth mollusks. Although many compare them to squid, most notably the Captain in Star Control II, they are much closer to shellfish. According to the Spathi themselves, they combine the best features of a clam and a Dravatz, but considering no one else but the Spathi knows what a Dravatz is, this is of limited use.
Spathi familial units are large, often numbering in the ten thousands, with only one female parent. They receive only a small amount of attention from their parent, and it is rare to be referred to directly by name. Such a reproductive strategy (quantity over quality) is typical of animals with an extremely high rate of predation, which may explain much of the Spathi psyche.
The Spathi are cowards. Their entire culture is based upon fear. However, not only aren't they ashamed of it, they are actually very proud of it, happily notifying anyone who asks that it is a system that prevailed their race for millennia. A fine example is their normal morning prayer which every Spathi says after waking up: "Oh God... please don't let me die today! Tomorrow would be so much better!". As a result of their cowardice they are easily bullied into doing things against their will. They fear everything, and are said to be more afraid of what they can't see than what they can. Dialogue with Spathi is often rife with references to "monsters" and a supposed "Ultimate Evil," which is rather mysterious. The Ultimate Evil remains largely unknown as it lurks just outside the range of the most sensitive sensors, a thing which the Spathi feel is a proof of its nefarious intent. This rampant neuroses makes them a favourite target for the pranks of the Umgah. One such prank has been the time when the Umgah used a very powerful hyperwave broadcaster to declare the coming of the "Grand Master Planet Eaters". The Spathi went into a feat of hysteria and the ensuing chaos has cost thousands of Spathi lives.
Occasionally, Spathi will overcome their cowardice and turn back to fight if they cannot not run away from enemies or the enemies are easier to deal with at current stage. For instance, if the protagonist decided to fight Fwiffo, a Spathi captain who is stationed on Pluto, for killing the crews of landing party, Fwiffo would reply: "Your arrogance has whipped me into a violent frenzy and I am compelled to engage you in preemptive-defensive action". If the protagonist was hostile against the Spathi space patrol, the Spathi captain would say: "I fear to face you in combat, but I know if I do not, you will just grow stronger with each passing week. Therefore I must face you now." Maybe this explains the rapid rate of their technology progress. It took less than 100 earth years for Spathi to advance from bronze to atomic technology. Complete cowards are not capable of advancing technology because they might be afraid to perform dangerous scientific experiments and fear to face the consequence of failed projects.
The Spathi are notorious for their somewhat backwards language skills (as shown when their Ultra-secret-cypher turns out to be "Huffi-Muffi-Guffi"). They tend to mispronounce names, such as those of star systems or the correct name of humans (which they refer to as "hunams."). A fine example is how Fwiffo hints to the Syreen homeworld at Betelgeuse by mispronouncing it as "Bug-squirt system".
[edit] History
All Spathi technology was developed as a response to fear. For example, the Spathi went from stone age technology to primitive nuclear space rockets in under a century, purely to get off their planet and away from creatures who desired their flesh. They resided for a time on Spathiwa's moon because they feared these "Evil Ones". The Evil Ones are voracious carnivores that crave the sweet, soft Spathi flesh. Human flesh is not appetizing to them, so they remain immobile when humans land on Spathiwa. However, close encounters with these "Evil Ones" prove that they indeed are very deadly. The Evil Ones were not native to Spathiwa. While it is uncertain, several fans believe the Evil Ones were brought to Spathiwa by the Umgah as another one of their cruel practical jokes. It is also possible to permanently earn the hostility of the Spathi in Star Control II by promising to clear out the Evil Ones but not doing so and repeatedly telling the Spathi otherwise. They land on the planet only to be eaten by the Evil Ones.
The Spathi were defeated by the Ur-Quan and before the first war broke. They were offered the usual terms of slavery: Become Battle Thralls or be forever encased beneath an impenetrable shield. When the Spathi heard the terms "Forever encased" and "Impenetrable Shield" they were ecstatic - A life of safety beckoned them. However, due to an Umgah trick, they accidentally became battle thralls, much to their chagrin, and were forced to fight against the Alliance of Free Stars. After studying the shield around Earth during the early stages of the second war, they encased themselves in an Ur-Quan slave shield on their own. This was done after the humans exterminated the "Evil Ones" for them.
[edit] Notable Spathi
In the Star Control games, Spathi captain Fwiffo residing in Pluto in the Sol system plays a small but significant role, also being one of the few significant individual personnel mentioned in the games. Notably, Fwiffo is the only Spathi seen in Star Control II to pronounce correctly the word "Human" (the rest mispronounce it by saying "Hunam").
Additionally, Earth Starbase Commander Hayes divulges a tale about the Black Spathi Squadron:
- "I once heard a rumor, though I don't believe it myself, that a rogue band of courageous Spathi broke away from the main starfleet, painted their ships black with bright red stripes... and formed the 'Black Spathi Squadron', dedicated to performing brave and hostile deeds."
While there is no evidence of any sort to the existence of this Black Spathi Squadron, the idea has captured the hearts of many minds who still hold dearly to the hope that some day they will get to see the Black Spathi Squadron for real.
[edit] Spathi Eluder
General Description: Debates still rage whether the Spathi ship should be called Discriminator (as it was called in SC1) or should stick to Eluder (which replaced the Discriminator in SC2). The Eluder is a ship that fits the cowardly Spathi very neatly. Quite fast and quick-turning, the Eluder can be a pesky enemy to fight.
- Speed: Good
- Acceleration: Very Good
- Turning: Very Good
- Crew Complement: Large (30)
- Battery Size: Mediocre (10)
- Battery Regeneration Rate: Fair
Primary Weapon: Pellet Gun: A rapid-firing short ranged pellet gun is located in the Spathi's forward section. Often lashed by their masters, Spathi sometimes need to pursue escaping enemies, such as Chenjesu Broodhomes, which tend to keep distance from their foes. Because of this, the pellet gun comes in handy. This weapon can also be used to destroy the Chmmr Avatar. Most of the attacks will be intecepted by zap-sats, but the Spathi ship will eventually prevail with accuracy, caution, and patience.
- Damage: 1 per shot
- Battery cost: 2 per shot
- Firing Rate: Very fast
- Range: Medium
Secondary Weapon: Backwards Utilized Tracking Torpedo (B.U.T.T.): A rear-fired homing missile, doing two points of damage. Most Spathi pilots favor this weapon due to it fit their charastic: run away from enemies, still be able to attack them and finish the jobs that their Ur-Quan masters assigned. However, this weapon is sometimes overrated, the actual range of this weapon is not as far as generally preceived. For example, against Ur-Quan controlled by another player, a Spathi will find it hard to approach a stationary Ur-Quan Dreadnought because the BUTT is out-ranged by Ur-Quan fusion blast. In Star Control Universe, the weapon of pursuer appeared to be short because the relative speed between the ship and the projectiles is lower than normal speed of the projectiles. Similariy, the weapon of pursuee appear to be long. Due to this low speed it is possible for an Eluder to run into its own missiles thereby causing itself damage.
- Damage: 2
- Battery Cost: 3 per shot
- Firing Rate: Fair
- Range: Medium (but usually appears to be long when the Spathi is pursued)
- Tracking Quality: Fair
Eluder principles: The Eluder is a cowardly ship built by cowards to be flown by cowards. When flown as one, it can give wonderful results. Seeing how the B.U.T.T. Missiles are the better weapon it has, the Eluder is at its best when running away from the enemy, firing B.U.T.T.s as it does so. Even against such powerhouses like the Ur-Quan Dreadnought or Kohr-Ah Marauder, a skilled (or very scared) Eluder pilot can safely dodge the weapons and fighters while raining B.U.T.T. torpedos on the enemy. The Eluder's large crew compliment allows the Eluder to take some damage and in a prolonged fight, the Eluder often prevails by slowly wearing down the enemy while evading enemy fire, fighters, etc. The Eluder principle is very simple: "The only brave Spathi is a dead Spathi. RUN YOU FOOLS!".
