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Well, first, there's a very practical reason they discourage pure breeding...It can result in Ardat-Yakshi. Only purebloods can become that.
Second, it baffles me that you think somehow this would drive any species to extinction. Or even to a minor population dip. Unless large swathes of your population (a large majority of them, not just a significant percentage) mate with Asari (and ONLY with an Asari, mind you, since many of them are "party girls" in their younger phase, and even when growing up may not take their mate as a husband, merely as good genetic stock, leaving the mate free to hook up with someone of their own species), that isn't going to happen.
Considering the Turians are still around, and have ALREADY coexisted with Asari for several thousand years, this theory doesn't hold much water.
What Rynjin said.
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I find the fact that nobody actually knows what the asari actually look like far more frightening. That multi-species bachelor party in ME2 (Is that where it was? I think that's right.) suggests that each person sees the asari as an extremely attractive and extremely bluish-purplish offshoot of their own species. Moreover, this extends to video conferencing, so asari are somehow able to fool our perceptions across vast distances of space. If their telepathic abilities are this long reaching and pernicious, then just what else are they hiding from us?
I find the fact that nobody actually knows what the asari actually look like far more frightening. That multi-species bachelor party in ME2 (Is that where it was? I think that's right.) suggests that each person sees the asari as an extremely attractive and extremely bluish-purplish offshoot of their own species. Moreover, this extends to video conferencing, so asari are somehow able to fool our perceptions across vast distances of space. If their telepathic abilities are this long reaching and pernicious, then just what else are they hiding from us?
No idea where you get this from. The Asari pick up physical characteristics from their parents, which is why you have the Krogan-Asari barkeeper in ME2 who looks obviously Krogan.
There's a bar in ME2 with a Turian, a Salarian, a Human, and a uhh...whatever the ones with the pressure suits are.
They get into an argument over what the Asari table dancer looks like. They all think she looks like an attractive member of their species.
It may be that it only looks that way when they have their sex appeal "turned on", which most Asari do all the time, but that bartender did not? I don't remember her anyway.
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There's a bar in ME2 with a Turian, a Salarian, a Human, and a uhh...whatever the ones with the pressure suits are.
They get into an argument over what the Asari table dancer looks like. They all think she looks like an attractive member of their species.
It may be that it only looks that way when they have their sex appeal "turned on", which most Asari do all the time, but that bartender did not? I don't remember her anyway.
Or its just that they all project their opinions on what an attractive mate is onto the Asari, especially while drunk.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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There's a bar in ME2 with a Turian, a Salarian, a Human, and a uhh...whatever the ones with the pressure suits are.
They get into an argument over what the Asari table dancer looks like. They all think she looks like an attractive member of their species.
It may be that it only looks that way when they have their sex appeal "turned on", which most Asari do all the time, but that bartender did not? I don't remember her anyway.
I don't think they're all seeing a blue version of their own species, it's that they all fixate on aspects of the Asari physiology that match their own. Frex, the turian points out the head fringe. Maybe there's some telepathy at work causing them to focus on these details to increase the asari's sex appeal, but it's not full-on illusion. Otherwise, how would Asari statues work (there's at least one place where you see statues).
It's sort of a riff on the old story of the blind men and the elephant. One feels the leg and says it must be a tree, one feels the trunk and says it must be a snake, one feels the tail and says it must be a rope, and so on.
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A disaster waiting to happen? Perhaps. Given mass interspecies relationships. Perhaps the doom of humanity. But oh, what a sweet way to go. :-)
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Ardat Yakshi are rare, whoever heard of looking down on purebloods? Even humans can give birth to a kid with genetic defects, yet no one would suggest tabooing human birth because of those rare conditions.
Turians may have coexisted with Asari for thousands of years (though I doubt the realism of them still being around), but at the very least if mating with your own kind is seen as ugly a taboo as inbreeding then those thousands of years have seen the birth of Turian-Asari, Salarian-Asari and Krogan-Asari (and probably every other race). If things turned dark peacefully, you'd find everyone being asked to vote as equals and Asari outnumbering the other races, if things turned dark DARKLY then they logically outnumber everyone else AND have the best of all intergalactic species.
The 'merely good genetic stock' isn't helping either, because the mate in question won't necessarily pursue a relationship that leads to kids whereas Asari birthing culture is RARELY purebreeding. If the mate DOES seek to have kids, we're breaking even on numbers generated here (Asari kids born vs human kids born), if they DON'T, the Asari still got kids.
Also? Nepotism WITHIN YOUR OWN RACE leads to members of your own people gaining power (whether they deserve it or not), Nepotism when your kid is half-Asari puts an Asari in charge.
The numbers don't look good.
Oh, and I chose to let the reaper have at it with the council in the first game, guess what alignment they painted that patriotic decision with. Call it renegade, but humanity was in charge in the second game and I'm not looking back.
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Cmastah, you may be making an appearance in a certain game...
Am I the only one getting a creepy almost white supremacy crossover here? Like almost all his arguments fit into a racial dialogue with a few noun changes?
Those Asari breeding with our people! It isn't natural and they are up to no good. Asari should stick with their own kind!
There's a bar in ME2 with a Turian, a Salarian, a Human, and a uhh...whatever the ones with the pressure suits are.
They get into an argument over what the Asari table dancer looks like. They all think she looks like an attractive member of their species.
It may be that it only looks that way when they have their sex appeal "turned on", which most Asari do all the time, but that bartender did not? I don't remember her anyway.
there was no Volus at the party
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there was no Volus at the partyThere's a bar in ME2 with a Turian, a Salarian, a Human, and a uhh...whatever the ones with the pressure suits are.
They get into an argument over what the Asari table dancer looks like. They all think she looks like an attractive member of their species.
It may be that it only looks that way when they have their sex appeal "turned on", which most Asari do all the time, but that bartender did not? I don't remember her anyway.
Might've been a Quarian. I don't remember the scene all that well, though.
I think he means a quarian.
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Ardat Yakshi are rare, whoever heard of looking down on purebloods? Even humans can give birth to a kid with genetic defects, yet no one would suggest tabooing human birth because of those rare conditions.
Turians may have coexisted with Asari for thousands of years (though I doubt the realism of them still being around), but at the very least if mating with your own kind is seen as ugly a taboo as inbreeding then those thousands of years have seen the birth of Turian-Asari, Salarian-Asari and Krogan-Asari (and probably every other race). If things turned dark peacefully, you'd find everyone being asked to vote as equals and Asari outnumbering the other races, if things turned dark DARKLY then they logically outnumber everyone else AND have the best of all intergalactic species.
The 'merely good genetic stock' isn't helping either, because the mate in question won't necessarily pursue a relationship that leads to kids whereas Asari birthing culture is RARELY purebreeding. If the mate DOES seek to have kids, we're breaking even on numbers generated here (Asari kids born vs human kids born), if they DON'T, the Asari still got kids.
Also? Nepotism WITHIN YOUR OWN RACE leads to members of your own people gaining power (whether they deserve it or not), Nepotism when your kid is half-Asari puts an Asari in charge.
The numbers don't look good.
Oh, and I chose to let the reaper have at it with the council in the first game, guess what alignment they painted that patriotic decision with. Call it renegade, but humanity was in charge in the second game and I'm not looking back.
Asari look down on purebloods all the time.
Also. Asari don't take DNA from other species. They just rearrange their own. The child born is pure Asari.
Also, Asari aren't as numerous as other races, plus they don't really pop out too many children during their 1500 year lifespans. For instance Benezia and Atheyta had ONE child. Liara.
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Still. It is stated in the game itself. At least once per game that Asari do not take any DNA from their partners.
The offspring resulting from such interspecies pairings are always asari as no DNA is taken from the partner. Instead, the asari uses the meld to explore her partner's genetic heritage and pass desirable traits on to any offspring and as a "map" to randomize the genes of the offspring. Additionally, pairings with krogan are not affected by the Genophage. As such, pairings with asari are sometimes seen as a way for a krogan to circumvent the Genophage and have children of their own.
The drawback to the asari means of reproduction are the Ardat-Yakshi. These individuals possess a rare genetic defect that causes an asari’s mind to overwhelm and destroy her partner’s mind when joining. The condition seems to appear only amongst pureblood asari, those whose parents are both asari.
This neatly answers both your conundrums.
And that is the reason that Asari hate purebloods.
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The main thing that confuses me about the pureblooded hate is this: what did the asari do before they started travelling around the galaxy? I mean, at some point, they were stuck on their own homeworld, and the only thing to breed with was more asari. Were there thousands of Ardok Yakshi then? How did they introduce diversity into their DNA if they only had other asari to breed with?
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Humans ... are poised to take control, especially if you chose to get the council out of the way and set up a human leader. Mankind is in for some good times :-)
So... just like almost every other fictional universe that isn't grim-and-gritty-grimdark?
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He can no longer sit back and allow Asari infiltration, Asari indoctrination, Asari subversion and the interstellar Asari conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids!Am I the only one getting a creepy almost white supremacy crossover here? Like almost all his arguments fit into a racial dialogue with a few noun changes?
Those Asari breeding with our people! It isn't natural and they are up to no good. Asari should stick with their own kind!
I will be using this too.
Thanks guys!
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The 'desirable trait' part is a SLIGHT worry, but true, both conundrums are dealt with, especially given that Asari live long lives but don't overpopulate, whereas other races would continue to grow much faster.
Humans having the advantage of being the most numerous race in the galaxy (every other race also bring something to the table, but in the numbers game humans are the winners) and are poised to take control, especially if you chose to get the council out of the way and set up a human leader. Mankind is in for some good times :-)
I don't see the worry in that. After all everyone would like for their children to have desireable traits. Asari can just do that.
Might've been a Quarian. I don't remember the scene all that well, though.there was no Volus at the partyThere's a bar in ME2 with a Turian, a Salarian, a Human, and a uhh...whatever the ones with the pressure suits are.
They get into an argument over what the Asari table dancer looks like. They all think she looks like an attractive member of their species.
It may be that it only looks that way when they have their sex appeal "turned on", which most Asari do all the time, but that bartender did not? I don't remember her anyway.
the only Quarians in the bar were on the other side of the club, one was talking to a Turian about her relationship problems and the other only shows up so you can help her get sold to the Synthetic Insights rep
I'm a Cylon.
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The main thing that confuses me about the pureblooded hate is this: what did the asari do before they started travelling around the galaxy? I mean, at some point, they were stuck on their own homeworld, and the only thing to breed with was more asari. Were there thousands of Ardok Yakshi then? How did they introduce diversity into their DNA if they only had other asari to breed with?
Before space travel they hunted all Ardok Yakshi without mercy, keeping their numbers low.
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Also, where did you get the data that humans are the most numerous race in the galaxy?
Humans probably are after the introduction of the Genophage. Krogans were more fecund than humans. Outside of Krogans though, humans were basically the most abundant race available. Maybe Vorcha are up there to.
Humans probably aren't the most numerous race, but are definitely one of the most numerous races. The number of worlds that humanity is expanding to in game definitely demonstrates humanity is growing and trying to grab as much territory as they can to support a burgeoning population.
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40k was exactly the one I was thinking when I said grim-and-gritty-grimdark, yeah.
Grim settings like that tend to make humans low men on the totem pole explicitly for the point of making the setting feel grimmer and crueler. It's just that the majority of other settings tend to make us the best thing ever, and there seems to be very, very little that puts us somewhere in the middle - neither really awesome nor really underdoggish, just sort of normal and average and on-par with other species.
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40k was exactly the one I was thinking when I said grim-and-gritty-grimdark, yeah.
Grim settings like that tend to make humans low men on the totem pole explicitly for the point of making the setting feel grimmer and crueler. It's just that the majority of other settings tend to make us the best thing ever, and there seems to be very, very little that puts us somewhere in the middle - neither really awesome nor really underdoggish, just sort of normal and average and on-par with other species.
Farscape is about the closest I can think of, and there we are lightyears behind in tech.
Star Trek doesn't place humanity above other races. The Federation is roughly on par with the Klingons and Romulans. The Vulcans were much more advanced upon initial contact, though sharing of technology and the eventual formation of the Federation would change that. The Borg are arguably more advanced most of the time. And don't get me started on the various god level like entities encountered. The Q continuum for instance.
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Well, it places humanity as MORALLY above other race if nothing else.
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Star Trek doesn't place humanity above other races. The Federation is roughly on par with the Klingons and Romulans. The Vulcans were much more advanced upon initial contact, though sharing of technology and the eventual formation of the Federation would change that. The Borg are arguably more advanced most of the time. And don't get me started on the various god level like entities encountered. The Q continuum for instance.
The Federation is like the definition of the cliche that is being described.
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Well, it places humanity as MORALLY above other race if nothing else.
Disagree, it places the Federation morally above other groups.
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CONSUME. REPRODUCE. OBEY.
humans in the Federation are a "special" race. Unlike all the previous races to ascend to the stars, humans are consensus builders and made a huge alliance of space faring races while the other races built empires around their own race.
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humans in the Federation are a "special" race. Unlike all the previous races to ascend to the stars, humans are consensus builders and made a huge alliance of space faring races while the other races built empires around their own race.
Babylon 5 takes this same rout and explicitly called it out as what makes humans special
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humans in the Federation are a "special" race. Unlike all the previous races to ascend to the stars, humans are consensus builders and made a huge alliance of space faring races while the other races built empires around their own race.Babylon 5 takes this same rout and explicitly called it out as what makes humans special
Hence the United Federation of Planet. Their greatest strength is the wide vision and concern brought upon by having many different races, cultures, and views that enable them to think differently and innovate where the Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, etc do not. Or rather not to the same level.
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40k was exactly the one I was thinking when I said grim-and-gritty-grimdark, yeah.
Grim settings like that tend to make humans low men on the totem pole explicitly for the point of making the setting feel grimmer and crueler. It's just that the majority of other settings tend to make us the best thing ever, and there seems to be very, very little that puts us somewhere in the middle - neither really awesome nor really underdoggish, just sort of normal and average and on-par with other species.
The reason for this, I think, (and you probably already know this, I'm just putting it out there) is that when humans are the underdogs then there's urgency to the protagonist because he's fighting from an inherent position of weakness. When humans are the immoral guys at the top, then you know the protagonist has this powerful force he has to win against and it makes him the underdog in the fight (and everyone always roots for the underdog), or that strength is instead rendered moot by a force that can disregard it (like say if a few necron hive worlds were to wake up). Middle ground sort of removes that agency (am I using that word right?), makes it so that the human aspect is irrelevant and unimportant.
Besides, humans were HARDLY middle ground in mass effect. In the first game they were in a low position trying to work themselves to middle ground and have someone in the council, Shep becoming a spectre (the first human to do so) was a big deal. On a second playthrough I begrudgingly allowed the council to live (and my how grateful they showed themselves to be in ME2) but don't remember if a human made it into the council (though I distinctly remember that IF ONE DID, he was particularly useless).
The star wars prequels could PROBABLY be considered middle ground for humans.
In ME, Humans are somehow a relatively new space faring species that quickly comes to dominate much of the galaxy. They come to exceed the tech level of races that have been in the stars longer in a relatively short time frame, despite one of those races being literally a species of super-geniuses. Then we get on to the fact that only a human can bring together all the factions.
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To be fair, most everyone is relying on tech stolen from ancient civilizations or was deliberately planted by
And Humanity also started working closely with Asari, Turian, and Salarians. I always presumed technology was bought and shared between them, so humans get to take a giant leap forward.
Humanity also literally discovered the data cache on Mars which is what allows them to access the mass relays in the first place, as well as containing other unspecified data.
So I don't think it's fair to say the exceed the tech level of other races. Especially not the Quarians or Geth or the Collectors.
And it's not that "only a human" can do it. It's literally only John Shepard can do it. Not because he's human, but because he's Shepard. Because he's the hero of the story and that's the point. He does happen to human though, and I think it's because it's harder for us as human beings to really imagine being a completely alien species that is more than "different looking human".
Which is part of the problem I have with a lot of D&D races, especially the less common ones. They end up just being played as "bird-man" (Tengu) or something else without feeling particularly different in any significant way from humans.
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Who is this "John Shepard" you keep talking about?
#femshep