Pkunk
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| Pkunk | |
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 The Pkunk, toucan-like beings in Star Control II.
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| Ship | Fury |
| Homeworld | Gamma Krueger |
| Contacts | Humans, Ilwrath, Yehat |
| Quote(s) | "The stars are in auspicious alignment, the various significant moons are in the correct houses, and ambient psychic energies are in balance. All is well, and the universe is at peace. Well, actually 2/3 of our civilization has been decimated by the Ilwrath, but besides that, all is well." |
The Pkunk are a fictional race of beings featured in the Star Control computer game series, introduced in the second game.
The Pkunk are a race of toucan or dodo like bird creatures that are an offshoot of the Yehat. They ally with the protagonist in Star Control II as soon as he meets them.
Psychologically the Pkunk resemble a stereotypical phony psychic, constantly agreeing with anything mystical the player says and basing all their decisions on universal harmony and similar grand sounding concepts. However, the Pkunk really are powerful psychics who are able to provide various hints to the player, even going so far as actual clairvoyance. Perhaps the Pkunk's greatest achievement was to convince the Yehat to turn away from their violent honour based culture, in the Yehat's own words "we only thought we were being happy birds of prey"
The Pkunk believe that their psychotic neighbours, the Ilwrath, were initially wonderful and peaceful beings who became a tiny smidgen too good and wrapped all the way around to evil. To avoid such a fate, the Pkunk, as well as being harmonious and pacifistic, always make sure to be slightly annoying to all they meet.
When flying their ships in battle, they constantly taunt and insult their opponents, and this practice powers their ships. They state that, as they are so inherently happy and carefree, they must work themselves up by screaming insults.
[edit] Pkunk Fury
Small but an extremely fast ship, the Pkunk Fury is exceedingly difficult to outrun in the course of a melee, nearly equal to the speed of a Thraddash Torch on full afterburners. It is capable of outrunning Slylandro Probes, missiles and unguided munitions, and the player's flagship is as fast as the Fury only after the speed has been fully upgraded. It is also one of the most maneuverable ships in the game, rendering it a favourite against the Sa-Matra.
The Fury's attack consists of liquid metal "pellets" sprayed on three sides of the ship, which can also halt and crush incoming ammunition. A favorite tactic of a Pkunk pilot is to boost up to full thrust, release the thrust, and spin along with the inertia while firing, creating a "Death Blossom" that is likely to even hit the smaller ships like the Shofixti Scout or Umgah Drone. Unfortunately, the ship runs out of energy quickly and can take very little damage. The Fury recharges energy using its secondary attack; the pilot opens a com-link to the opposing ship and spouts a stream of insults.
When a Pkunk Fury is destroyed, it may spontaneously "reincarnate" with a resounding "Hallelujah!", bringing back all dead crew members. There is no limit to the number of returns, which can lead to frustration for the opponent (and great joy for the controller of the Fury). The reincarnation algorithm and various button-mashing techniques used to seemingly increase the chances of reincarnation were a popular subject of debate among avid players until the programmer of Star Control II revealed it to be a pure 50-50 coinflip.[1]
