The Babylon Project
Register
Advertisement

"They are better than they think and nobler than they know. They carry within them the capacity to walk among the stars like giants. They are the future, and we have much to learn from them."

Delenn, speaking before the Grey Council, 2258.

Humans are a sentient species, humanoid in shape, native to the planet Earth, and one of the Younger Races. They are the majority of the Earth Alliance populace. They achieved interstellar flight in 2156, through contact with the Centauri. They established themselves as an interstellar power by defeating the Dilgar, coming to the aid of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds.

Biology[]

Humans are bipedal mammalian primates.

Humans and Minbari are not biologically similar enough to produce viable offspring under normal circumstances, but this has been overcome through the use of the Chrysalis device. Humans and Narns are compatible for sexual relations, but again genetic engineering techniques would be required to integrate their DNA. Humans and Centauri greatly resemble each other, but have markedly different internal anatomy and sexual organs.

Evolution[]

Humanencounter

A Human Encounter suit ca. 1002262.

HumanEnergy

A Human ca. 1002262.

By the year 1,000,000, the human race has evolved into a species of pure energy, similar to some of the First Ones. No longer bound to a single form, they are able to transform back and forth between a physical body and an energy form. By this time, humans have taken to wearing encounter suits, much like the Vorlons before them.[1]

Culture[]

"I have studied your race quite a bit, and there are still aspects of your psychology I don't understand."
"A place called Winchester Mansion with stairs that go nowhere? Something called "country and western"? And the less said about the comedy team of Rebo and Zooty, the better."

Ambassador Mollari to Captain Sheridan, 2261


Human civilization and culture is thought to date back to around 7000 years before the Third Age and though little of that earlier time survived the millennia, 23rd Century human culture carries with it a rich and diverse history of mythology, art, literature, trinkets, philosophy and story telling to rival that of any known world. Like many other races, humans have a multitude of different languages as befitting their diverse nature, however the one most non-human races are more likely to encounter is English, the human language of commerce.[2] Human culture itself is considered to be very strange and extremely eccentric by the standards of many other races. Those that have studied human culture have often found the experience perplexing, confusing and ofttimes seemingly beyond comprehension, though paradoxically, not without the occasional common ground.[3][4][5][6]

Religion[]

Like their culture and language, human religion is extremely diverse with some faiths dating back millennia, while others such as Adamism and Foundationism arose much more recently, following their first contact with the Centauri in 2156.[7][8] As there is no one dominant religion and no restrictions on faith placed by the Earth Alliance, an individual human's personal belief system can vary greatly from atheism to agnosticism to the many diverse and diasporic faiths and denominations of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and more still including Zen Buddhism, Oglala Sioux, Ebo, Yupik, Jivaro, Bantu, Taoism, Aborigine, Shintoism, Maori, Hinduism and many many more.[9]

Earthers & Marsies[]

Earth has had a long history of division along ethnic lines, where a person's place of birth on the planet was often seen as significant. This trend continued after humanity began colonising other planets, though the lines of division tended to be stronger depending on which planet the person was born on, regardless of their terrestrial ethnic origins.

The most notable rivalry was between those born on Earth - referred to as "Earth Naturals" or "'Earthers'" (derogatory) - and those born on the Mars Colony - referred to as "Martian Born" or "'Marsies'" (derogatory). The ethnic division and mutual resentment was in fact an extension of the political situation that existed between the Earth Alliance government and the Martian colonists, with Earth often treating the Martian born as second class citizens in their own homes, dictating local policy and taxes without any official representation in the Earth Senate. For the average Earth citizen's part, there was often a feeling of resentment that their tax credits were used to provide the colonists with all the best atmosphere reprocessors and they were often perceived as ungrateful upstarts, forever fighting Earth rule. As time went on a number of incidents only served to widen the gap between the homeworld and its first colony; some of the most notable being the Mars declaration of neutrality during the Earth-Minbari War, the subsequent Martian Food Riots, the Mars Rebellion of 2258 and the oppression under EA President Clark, which included a Martial Law Decree, the subsequent bombing of civilian targets and a planetary embargo lasting almost 19 months.[10][11][12][13][14]

Though it would be unfair to say that all or even most humans on Earth and Mars were this prejudiced towards one another, the general sense of mutual antagonism and resentment was nonetheless very present. With the ratification of the Mars colony's declaration of independence in early 2262, as a condition for the Earth Alliance's membership in the Interstellar Alliance, the situation did not greatly improve. Since many Earth-based mega corporations had been exploiting and strip-mining Mars for years, often under government contract, all of them were running for cover and destroying as much evidence as possible within mere days of Martian independence. On top of that, although the new treaty with Earth authorized the Mars Provisional Government to produce its own passports, Identicards and currency, in practice factions within Earthdome held off entering the new data into their system as a form of bureaucratic harassment. Though the political situation was somewhat alleviated by the intervention of ISA President Sheridan, the underlying resentment was clearly there to stay.[15]

Food and Drink[]

Glossary of Human Slang & Terminology[]

Blip

Earth Slang (primarily Psi Corps). A general term used by security officers for fugitives from the law, though has become synonymous with rogue telepaths.[16][17]

Boney

Earth Slang. Derogatory term for Minbari.[18]

Earther(s)

Mars Slang. Derogatory term for Earth born humans.[10]

Frag
  1. Earth Slang. Colourful explicative used to express frustration, disbelief, or even strong approval, depending on context. (also: "fragging", "Abso-fragging-Iutely.")[6][19][20][21][22][23]
  2. Earth Slang. To kill, wound, or assault.[18][24]
GROPOS

Earth Slang. Abbreviation of "ground pounders". (See:Earthforce Marine Corps)

Lizzie
  1. Short form of Earth female name "Elizabeth.".[25][26]
  2. Earth Slang. derogatory term for Dilgar. (Plural: Lizzies.)[18]
Marsie(s)

Earth Slang. Derogatory term for Mars born humans.[10]

Mundanes

Earth Slang (primarily Psi Corps). A somewhat derogatory term used by telepaths to refer to Non-telepaths, literally meaning "normals".[17]

'Sicky

Mars Slang. Derogatory term used to refer to telepaths in general and rogues specifically. (Plural: "'sickies".)[27]

Snake head

Earth Slang. General derogatory term for non-humans. Particularly Reptillian Based humans. Sometimes used as a synonym of Lizzie[28][29]

Spacing

Earth Slang. Term used to describe a type of Execution - as in taking a spacewalk without a space suit. (death by exposure to vacuum). (See:Spacing.)[25]

Stims

Medical terminology. Short for stimulant. (See:Stims.)[30]

Stroke

Earth Slang. Explicative used to express anger, disgust, etc. (also: "stroke off", "stroking H.")[18][28][30]

Synthetics

Medical term. Refers to artificial blood and plasma. Replaced the need for voluntary donations.[30]

Teek

Earth Slang (primarily Psi Corps). A term referring to any telekinetic.[20]

Teep

Earth Slang (primarily Psi Corps). A term referring to any telepath.[20]


Vid

Earth slang for Video. Refers to Videographic content such as Television or movies. Not to be confused with Vicker which is the act of making a Vid. (See:Vid)

Vicker

Earth Slang. Derived from old Earth tech "VCR". Refers  to cyber-organic recorders, used by several alien races.and also recording in general. (See:Vicker)

References[]


Advertisement