Influences and references

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The Star Control 1 manual mentions "Inspired by the Works of Fiction of: Orson Scott Card, Larry Niven, Andre Norton, David Brin, Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Jack Vance, Alan Dean Foster, Keith Laumer, A.E. Van Vogt, E.E. "Doc" Smith, Joe Haldeman, Dan Simmons, Fred Saberhagen and 100 worthy others."


Alien design

The names of certain races introduced in Star Control II are taken from the so-called "Professor Zorg's Guide to Alien Etiquette" (the copy-protection of Star Control): Orz, Pkunk, Slylandro, Supox, Thraddash (as "Thrddash"), Utwig, and Zoq-Fot-Pik.

The name Androsynth is taken from the Greek "andros" ("man") and "synthetic" from Greek "syn" ("together") and "thesis" ("put"), or as the Star Control II manual says it "fake men". Their appearance is inspired by the visual style of the band Devo.1

The pink triangle on the suits of the Androsynth in SuperMelee is a gay symbol.2

The Star Control 2 manual describes the Chenjesu as being "a bit more equal" than the other Alliance races, which is a reference to a similar statement found in Animal Farm by George Orwell.

The Dnyarri's toad-like appearance and psychic compulsion ability are reminiscent of mind-controlling "V-frogs" from the Isaac Asimov story Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus.

The name Druuge is pronounced almost exactly like the ancient Persian word "druj" - a term of Zoroastrian religion that is very roughly translated as "daeva (demon) of lies". Since the Druuge are proven liars and resemble the daevas, which are described as "beings with combined human and animal characteristics," this may have been an influence.

The Ilwrath were named after a friend of the creators named McIlwraith.

The name Melnorme is a reference to jazz singer Mel Tormé.

The Mycon is taken from the Greek prefix "myc-" or "myco-", which means Fungus.

The Orz and the disappearance of the Androsynth were influenced by H. P. Lovecraft's writings, specifically Lovecraft's "From Beyond" which describes malignant entities in an alternate dimension that perceive those who peer into their dimension and that leave no bodies of those they attack.

Utricularia, as in Supox Utricularia, is a genus of carnivorous plants more commonly known as Bladderwort.

The Shofixti are inspired by the historical Japanese culture. "Kyabetsu", the name of the former Shofixti homeworld, is the transliteration of "cabbage" into Japanese writing. The tiny main gun of their Scout ships is called the Mendokusai Energy Dart; "Mendoukusai" in Japanese means "irritating; bothersome."

Spathi is "Sword" in Greek. It is possible that the name is meant to be very ironical, because the Spathi are so cowardly. Also, the rumours of the Black Spathi Squadron might be a reference to the Black Sheep Squadron from World War 2.

The Syreen are based on the Sirens from classical mythology. They were sea nymphs who would use enchanting song to lure ships onto the cliffs. The name for their original homeworld, Syra may also be a reference to Cleopatra I Syra, an Egyptian queen.

The Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah's Eternal Doctrine might be inspired by the objective of the githyanki (from Dungeons & Dragons) to exterminate every other race who could possibly enslave them again. Also similar to the bifurcation the Ur-Quan race, a faction (the githzerai) opposed such a course of action and split with the githyanki.

The Yehat are inspired in part by the Scottish clans; the uplift of the Shofixti is inspired by David Brin's Uplift series.

The split between the Pkunk and the Yehat may be based in the split between the Vulcanians and the Romulans in Star Trek, with the Pkunk fleeing like the Romulans did (however, for opposite reasons).

Larry Niven influences

A number of aliens draw some of their inspiration from Niven's Known Space novels. Fred and Paul have openly admitted in a 1998 IRC chat to being influenced by these novels.2

  • The Dnyarri are very similar in description, powers, and history to the Thrintun race, "a long-extinct species which ruled the galaxy through telepathic mind control." Like the Grogs, the Talking Pets are devolved forms of a once-great race.
  • The Precursors are also slightly similar to the Thrintun who likewise left behind relics to be used by the modern-day characters in Niven's novels and who were given a vague moniker, "Slavers", by later races since their real name was unknown.
  • Though not physiologically, the Spathi resemble less advanced versions of the cowardly Pierson's Puppeteers.
  • The Arilou, in their speculated capacity as genetic manipulators of humanity, are also similar to the Puppeteers.
  • The Melnorme, like the Outsiders, are traveling merchants who trade in information and will answer any question for the right price.
  • The Shofixti are similar in appearance and warlike tendencies to the kzin.

Starflight influences

The creators of Star Control and Star Control II worked in the making of the Starflight games as well, and numerous SC elements are inspired from the SF universe:

  • Gameplay elements
    • Exploration in the Starflight games also had three parts: planet (with a landing vehicle that could stun lifeforms and collect minerals), interplanetary and hyperspace (with portals leading to planetary systems).
    • A starbase fulfilled a similar role to the Earth Starbase in Star Control II — elements appearing in both SC2 and SF are hiring crew, installing modules, receiving notices and analyzing artifacts.
    • In the Starflight games there were also a number of artifacts (though some of them were bought instead of found), including an "Uhl weapon" performing a function similar to the Utwig Bomb — the neutralization of the final boss in the game; even more resembling the Utwig Bomb, in the first Starflight there existed artifacts of the Phlegmak, a long-disappeared species, named "Black Egg Bombs", capable of destroying entire planets.
    • The useless Wimbli's Trident and Glowing Rod resemble some similar, useless "alien curiosities" from the Starflight games.
  • Several lines in Star Control II are clear puns on lines from Starflight and Starflight II. Notably, the quirky speech patterns of the Orz seem based on those of Starflight's Veloxi (Greg Johnson, one of the Starflight developers, was the one who fleshed out the Orz dialogue).
  • Starflight's Crystal Planet, built by the Ancients to cleanse the galaxy of Endurium-using life-forms by flaring their suns, seems an influence for both the Sa-Matra and the Eternal Doctrine (or the Path of Now and Forever).
  • The name Arilou Lalee'lay may originate from the Starflight II race name Aeoruiiaeo.
  • In terms of external morphology, the Umgah resemble the Spemin (both SF games).
    • The cowardly Spemin might have also been an influence for the design of the Spathi.
  • Psychologically and in terms of general appearance, the Utwig resemble the Dweenle (SF2).
  • The VUX appear to be influenced by the Lieu Vadish.
  • The ceremonious religion of the Tandelou (SF2), the belief that their rituals are of essential importance for the Universe, and their worship of the Most Valuable Thing, might have been an influence for the design of the Utwig. Also, it is necessary to return the Most Valuable Thing to the Tandelou to convince them to cooperate, similar to returning the Ultron to the Utwig.
    • Some elements of the Tandelou religion (cosmic alignments, portents and omens) are similar to parts of Pkunk culture.
  • The Tandelou's appearance is somewhat similar to the Ur-Quan too, three big eyes (although the Tandelou lack the three additional small eyes), four tentacles and a worm-like body. The Ur-Quan also somewhat resemble the Ng-Kher-Arla in appearance.
  • In terms of external morphology and psychology (empathy), the Supox greatly resemble the Elowan (SF1).
  • Hayes' theory about the Mmrnmhrm being colonizing robots resembles the fact that the Mechan of SF1 were robots built with the purpose of colonizing planets in advance for the Noah project.
  • Physically, the Mycon resemble the Nathracch (SF2). In terms of behavior, they resemble the Gazurtoid (both SF games), which also could be said perhaps for the Kohr-Ah (whereas the Gazurtoids wish to exterminate every race except fellow waterbreathers, the Kohr-Ah wish to exterminate any race but fellow Ur-Quan)
  • Psychologically and culturally the Thraddash resemble the G'Nunk (SF2); in addition, in order to make friends with both species it is necessary to kill many of them.
    • Another similarity between the G'Nunk and the Thraddash is the worship of an artifact, the Most Valuable Thing and the Aqua Helix respectively, which is kept in a temple on one of the race's worlds and can be stolen by the player over the course of the game.
  • The Zoq-Fot-Pik also were likely influenced by the G'Nunk, as the G'Nunk are also a collective of three species.
  • The Melnorme are possibly also inspired from the Humna Humna, the merchant race in Starflight II.
  • "Interstar" in "Interstar Credits" is probably inspired from the name of the space organization of the people of Arth, Interstel.
  • The G'Nunk's deity G'Naen Sh'Gar (She/It who hunts) has some similarities to the Ilwraths Dogar and Kazon.
  • The Orz and the Uhl also have some similarities, as the Uhl is also an extradimensional lifeform. Uhl also has some similarities with the Dnyarri as it is capable of mental compulsion.

Dialogue

The default name of The Captain, Zelnick, may come from Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Crystal Dynamics at the time when 3DO version of Star Control II was being made. The producer of the 3DO version of Star Control II was Crystal Dynamics.

Arilou

The Arilou's final line "Be seeing you..." may be a reference to the TV series The Prisoner.

Druuge

The 'Dribble-Down' effect through which the Crimson Corporation seeks to improve the Druuge quality of life is a play on Trickle-down economics.

Ilwrath

One of the gods that the Ilwrath used to worship was called "Awk of Seds", a reference to the text processing programs awk and sed.

Captain Satellite, which the Ilwrath confess to have watched on Channel 44 prior to Dogar and Kazon's transmissions, was a show on KTVU-2 in Oakland, California.

Dogar is at one point refered to as "The Dark Beast With A Thousand Young". This is a play on Lovecraft's ancient deity Shub-Niggurath, who is known as "The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young".

Melnorme

The Melnorme line "This very morning, I was just saying to subordinate Ochre `Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum! I smell the feet of a Hu-Hu-Man!'" refers to the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk, where an ogre (a flesh-eating giant) speaks the line "Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman.". The similarity between the subordinate's name "Ochre" and "ogre" is probably not a coincidence either.

The phrase "itchy pods" from the Melnorme line "I had itchy pods this morning, Captain, and here you are!" may come from the wives' tale of "itchy palms" that predict wealth. It may have also been influenced, consciously or unconsciously, by Dr. Seuss' book "On Beyond Zebra", which introduces the letter "ITCH" with the line "And 'way, 'way past Z is a letter called ITCH. And the ITCH is for Itch-a-pods, animals which [...]".

Mycon

The Mycon phrase "The Juffo-Wup is strong in this place." (without the definite article in the DOS version) is a variation on the Star Wars phrase "The Force is strong in this place."

Pkunk

The Captain's remark to the Pkunk "Hey! Bird-brains! Got any fruit loops? Har-har-har!" refers to a brand of breakfast cereal called Froot Loops, which features a toucan resembling the Pkunk as its mascot.

Another Captain's remark, "We are on a five year mission, to seek out new life and new civilizations to boldly go where no... (...)" refers to the mission of the Enterprise in Star Trek.

The Pkunk say that they insult their foes to keep from "wrapping around" to evil; this is a programmer's joke about the nature of integers under the C programming language (and many others.) If you increase a number past its maximum (for example, 127 in an 8-bit integer) it suddenly becomes negative (-128, in this example).

The Pkunk mention channeling a ancient warrior called Rumdumdaddy, which is likely a reference to Ramtha, an ancient Lemurian warrior that JZ Knight claims to channel.

Many Pkunk dialog is a play on Far East/New Age philosophies. The Pkunk's observation that everyone in their past lives were famous, rich or interesting, and that hence other people don't reincarnate makes fun of the readings of so-called psychic mediums, who generally try to inspire faith by telling people what they want to hear. Along these same lines, The Captain mentions a Ouija Board, another common element of some New Age philosophies, when dissuading the Pkunk from returning to the Yehat.

A Pkunk greeting, "Auspicious portents and serendipitous omens have foretold your arrival", resembles a Tandelou greeting from Starflight 2, "Mysterious signs and ambiguous portents have foretold your arrival".

Shofixti

Tanaka's opening comments, "you killed my father, my mother, my many brothers, all six of my sisters - in fact, my entire race! Prepare to die," may pay homage to the movie The Princess Bride, in which the character Inigo Montoya has prepared a similar comment for when he confronts his father's murderer, Count Rugen.

Slylandro

When you choose the aggressive lines to speak towards the Slylandro Probes, the third time you get the response "ENACTING THIRD LAW." before combat is initiated. This refers to Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. The third law says "A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.".

The Slylandro explain that the Probes were programmed "to seek out new life and new civilizations... to boldly go where no catalog item 2418-B... Remote Self-Replicating Robot Explorer Probe had gone before", a reference to Star Trek.

Spathi

When the Spathi Safe Ones ask the player for the Secret Spathi Cypher, one of the incorrect options is "Wagh-nagl Fthagn", which spelled a little bit differently ("Wgah'nagl Fhtagn") comes from "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!", a liturgical phrase in H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos.

One of the other options for the Spathi Cypher, "Gort, merenga!" comes from the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still".

Starbase

When The Captain gets to choose the name for the new alliance, one of his options is "The United Federation of Worlds", a reference to the United Federation of Planets from Star Trek. Starbase Commander Hayes will reply to this choice by saying "we will make it so", another reference to Star Trek, where captain Jean-Luc Picard would frequently order to "make it so".

Commander Hayes mentions early on that the Ur-Quan annihilated Buenos Aires. This is most likely a reference to Robert Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers, where the alien race humanity is fighting against similarly destroy Argentina's capital.

Commander Hayes also mentions that when the Ur-Quan destroyed much of mankind's history, they also destroyed several places without any known value. These places likely correspond to locations in popular fiction and mythology. They are:

  • "kilometer of land in central Iraq" - possibly the biblical Babel, The Nameless City from the works of H. P. Lovecraft, or Iram of the Pillars
  • "several targets in the Amazon rain forest" - possibly El Dorado or simply just other undiscovered city centers in the Amazon jungle
  • "something deep under the surface [of the Antarctic icecap]" - possibly a reference to the alien city discovered in H. P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness
  • "broad swath of the ocean floor in the south-eastern Atlantic" - possibly Atlantis, or possibly the south Pacific, underwater city of R'lyeh where Cthulhu rests.

The idea of a "psychon" present in Commander Hayes' statement that when an electric current is fed into the Taalo Shield "all evidence of psychon interaction is flatlined" possibly originates from Sir John Eccles' theory, presented in his book "How the Self Controls Its Brain".

The Roadside Picnic might be the inspiration for the 'Empties'. In the novel they are one of the common alien artifacts found in the Zones. In the game they are a Precursor artifact that Commander Hayes mentions in relation to the Ultron.

The 'Singing Hoops', another Precursor artifact that Hayes mentions in relation to the Ultron, may have been inspired by the "talking rings" from the 1960 film, The Time Machine, that when spun retold the "last recorded voice of civilized man".

Utwig

When the Utwig are trying to tell you what to do with the Precursor Bomb, at one point they say that the "Bomb must be...Hugged?" This is likely a reference to the movie Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

One of the ways that the Utwig determined that the Ultron could have been saved was by cushioning the fall with a fuzzy wumpus. A Wumpus is a mysterious monster from the famous, early computer game Hunt the Wumpus.

When describing the Kohr-Ah, the Utwig say that their stated purpose is "to seek out new life and new civilizations...and then annihilate them," a clear play on the mission statement of the Starship Enterprise of Star Trek fame.

The Utwig parting phrase "May the Ultron be with you!" is a variation on the Star Wars phrase "May the Force be with you."

The Chief Groo's name may originate from Groo the Wanderer's name.

VUX

The description of the constellation that is described as "the snake-like creature who has swallowed the elephantine beast" in the DOS version ("the long, thin creature who has swallowed the huge beast." in the 3DO version and UQM) is a reference to the children's book Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, which describes and shows an image of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant.

The VUX say that Captain Rand's Insult fixed their attitude setting at "ABHOR", which may be a reference to Professor Zorg's Guide to Alien Etiquette from Star Control 1, where the player was to select the correct attitude for a given situation; one of the answers was "ABHOR", again in all caps.

Yehat

"Cheep-Guava", the name of the head of the Yehat revolution, is a pun on "Che Guevara", the Cuban revolutionary leader.

Zoq-Fot-Pik

When first meeting the Zoq-Fot-Pik at their homeworld, they warn you not to try stealing their atmosphere, a reference to Spaceballs.

The coordinates "...ziggerfau-gerrrnuf, Ah-ah, Pahoy-hoy" of the Zoq-Fot-Pik homeworld given in their initial encounter refers to Hawaiian words for two types of lava flows, "Aa" and "Pahoehoe".

At one point, the Zoq claims its species has psychic powers. The Pik scoffs at this claim, mentioning several apparently failed attempts at psychic demonstrations such as fixing broken chronometers and bending dorfs, eventually calling the Zoq a faker. This conversation is likely a reference to Uri Geller, who also claimed to use mental powers to make stopped watches start and to bend spoons.

Other

The Mosquito Mange is mentioned in the Androsynth computer records immediately prior to their disappearance. It is a reference to the term found in Roadside Picnic referring to graviconcentrates - areas of heightened and directed gravity.

Deep radar or deep-radar, mentioned by Commander Hayes and the Star Control II manual, p. 39 (PC), is likely a reference to the homologous device from Larry Niven's Known Space universe. In addition, the deep-radar from Star Control can apparently penetrate massive bodies (just like Niven's one), as it is used to detect mineral deposits.

Ship Captains

Numerous ship captain names are actually references.

Androsynth

  • 1040-EZ is a common tax return form in the United States.
  • 976-KILL is probably meant as an American phone number. It may also refer to the movie 976-EVIL. The "976" prefix is reserved for pay services.
  • AK-47 is the famous Avtomat Kalashnikova assault rifle
  • BHS-79 (just a wild guess here- is this the initials of one of the high schools they attended, and their graduation date?)
  • BIM-XT is an anagram for the IBM XT personal computer from the early 1980s
  • BOOJI-1 is a possible reference to the character Booji Boy from the band Devo.
  • CRC-16 is a 16 bits "Cyclic redundancy check (an error-detecting checksum).
  • DORN-3 may be a reference to artist John Alfred Dorn III, who did several illustrations for the novels of Stanisław Lem. It could also be a reference to actor Michael Dorn, who played Lt. Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • DOS-1.0 is a reference to one or all of the various early disk operating systems (PC-DOS, MS-DOS, Apple DOS, etc).
  • HAL-2001 is a reference to the HAL 9000 computer from Arthur C. Clarke's and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
  • JOR-15 might be a reference to Jor-El, superman's biological father in the DC comics universe.
  • KORB-7B might refer to Lawrence Korb, a former US Secretary of Defense heavily involved in military security. May also refer to Roger Corby, an android from the original Star Trek episode What Are Little Girls Made Of?
  • ME-262 is a reference to the Messerschmitt Me-262, the first operational jet powered aircraft.
  • NECRO-99 may be a reference to the robot NECRON-99 from the movie Wizards.
  • SR-71 is a reference to the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, an advanced reconnaissance aircraft.
  • XR4-TI was a car model manufactured by the short-lived Merkur brand.

Druuge

  • Moola is a play on "moolah", an English slang word for money.
  • Duulard could be a play on "dullard," which is slang for a boring person.
  • All Druuge names have doubled vowels.

Human

Ilwrath

  • Gorgon is a famous Greek mythological creature, of which Medusa was one.
  • Kalgon might refer to Calgon, a cleansing product. It may also refer to the villain of the notoriously bad 1988 film Space Mutiny.
  • Taragon likely refers to the spice tarragon
  • Baylor is a university in Waco, Texas. It may instead refer to Balor, a giant king with an evil eye from Irish mythology.

Kohr-Ah

  • All of the captain names are Death followed by a prime number.

Mycon

  • Znuff could be a reference to the 1984 rock group Enuff Z'nuff.
  • Spork is an eating utensil, a hybrid of a spoon and a fork.

Pkunk

Shofixti

  • Bonsai! is actually the Japanese art of pruning trees, but is most likely a reference to the cry Banzai.
  • Busu is a Japanese word for ugly
  • Chimchim most likely refers to the pet chimpanzee in Speed Racer.
  • Daikon is a giant, white radish popular in Japanese cooking.
  • Gaijin is a disparaging Japanese term for foreigner.
  • Genjiro is possibly a reference to the character Genjiro Tani, a mentor to Skyrider and Kamen Rider Super-1 in the Japanese Kamen Rider series.
  • Ginzu is probably the Ginsu knife.
  • Hiyata is a reference to the title character of the Japanese show Ultraman, where it can also be spelled "Hayata".
  • Ichiban is the Japanese word for the number 1, or first
  • Kimba refers to the main character in the Japanese animation Kimba, the White Lion.
  • Katana is a Japanese sword.
  • Kudzu is an Asian plant that can be found in southern Japan.
  • Naninani is Japanese for "such and such"
  • Sushi is Japanese for seasoned rice, usually associated with raw fish.
  • Tanaka is a fairly common Japanese surname and may also be a reference to the creator of the Godzilla series, Tomoyuki Tanaka.
  • Tofu is bean curd, popular in Japanese cooking.
  • Tora-3 refers to the radio call announcing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Tora! Tora! Tora!
  • Wasabe is a Japanese condiment, usually spelled wasabi.

Spathi

  • Jinkeze is a reference to the catchphrase of Velma Dinkley, a main character in the Scooby-Doo cartoons, which she says when she is scared or surprised.

Supox

  • Crinoid is a reference to the Krynoids, hostile sentient plants in the Doctor Who episode The Seeds of Doom. In real life crinoids are animals of the phylum Echinodermata whose name literally means "lily-like".
  • Trifid is a reference to the carnivorous, mobile (and possibly intelligent) plants in The Day of the Triffids.
  • All of the other captain names are parts or types of plants.

Syreen

Umgah

Ur-Quan

  • While all captain's names are Lord followed by a number, Lord 666 is notable as a reference to the Number of the Beast. There is no known pattern to their numbers, unlike the Kohr-Ah.
  • It may be that the name of the Ur-Quan is related to a medical test "Ur Quant" or "Urine Quantitative"

Utwig

  • Endo might refer to a slang word for marijuana. In Japanese, this is also type of pea.
  • Manny might refer to the main character in Robert A. Heinlein's book The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.
  • Nestor might refer to the NS-2, a robot model in Asimov's "Little Lost Robot" that can, by inaction, allow a human to be harmed. It is also an actual human name of Greek origin.
  • Jujuby might be an alternate spelling of 'Jujube', which is the fruit of a certain tree, also known as the "Chinese Date".

VUX

  • PIF is a file extension used in early versions of Microsoft Windows.
  • VIP is an acronym meaning "very important person".
  • YUK likely comes from the work "yuck" -- an appropriate name, given the VUX's appearance.
  • ZIT likely comes from the skin blemish of the same name.
  • NRF may refer to the toy gun brand Nerf.

Yehat

  • Beep-eep could refer to the token sound made by the Road Runner in various Looney Tunes animations and products.
  • All the rest of their captains' names simply change the first letter.

Zoq-Fot-Pik

Ship Designs

Star and constellation names

According to the HyperSpace starmap, the names for the HyperSpace stars and constellations were taken from "traditional astronomical designations." These are the in-game star and constellation names that don't directly correspond to real life astronomical designations. Others such as Lalande and Wolf, while not the name of actual constellations, appear to be derived from astronomical designations.

  • Almagest is a reference to the Almagest, an astronomical treatise written by Claudius Ptolemaius and describing his geocentric theory.
  • Arianni may be a reference to the "inner earth people" with the same name mentioned in a purported missing diary of Admiral Byrd. Alternative origins may be Arianna Reiche (Paul Reiche III's daughter), the Ariane rockets, which were the primary launch vehicle of the European Space Agency in the latter portion of the 20th century, the planet Ariannus from the original Star Trek, the Arianist religious doctrine, the Arian/Aryan (Proto-Indo-European) people or the ancient Greek historian Arrian.
  • Brahe is a reference to Tycho Brahe, the famous Danish astronomer of the 16th century.
  • Cerenkov is a reference to Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov, a Soviet physicist and Nobel laureate.
  • Chandrasekhar is a reference to the Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, famous for his work on stellar evolution and black holes.
  • Copernicus is a reference Nicolaus Copernicus, the polish astronomer who proposed the sun was the center of the solar system.
  • Gorno is a possible reference to the Gorn, a race in Star Trek.
  • Hyginus is a reference to the attributed author of Poeticon astronomicon.
  • Hyperion is a reference to the main setting of Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos; in turn, the denomination is taken from the name of the mythological Titan Hyperion.
  • Illuminati is a reference to a variety of conspiracy theories, especially those of the Bavarian Illuminati.
  • Kepler is a reference to Johannes Kepler who discovered the three laws of planetary motion.
  • Klystron is a reference to a kind of vacuum tube used in early radar systems.
  • Lalande is a reference to the french astronomer Jérôme Lalande.
  • Lentilis is probably a reference to the Lentili from David Brin's short story Sshhh ....
  • Lipi is possibly a misspelling of "Lupus", an existing constellation.
  • Maksutov is likely a reference to the Maksutov telescope invented by the Russian optician Dimtri Maksutov.
  • Mersenne is a reference to Marin Mersenne a Minim friar who lived in France from 1588-1648 and was a major founder of number theory.
  • Metis is a moon of Jupiter, and correspondingly a character in Greek mythology.
  • Olber is likely a reference to Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers, a German astronomer.
  • Organon is likely a reference to either Francis Bacon's book The New Organon or Aristotle's Organon, after which Bacon's book was named. Alternatively it could be a reference to Organia, an important location in Star Trek, or to the Organa family in the Star Wars universe.
  • Ptolemae is a reference to Claudius Ptolemaius, an ancient astronomer whose Geocentric views Copernicus replaced.
  • Raynet is possibly a misspelling of "Rayet", an existing astronomical designation. It could also be a reference to British amateur radio network RAYNET.
  • Saurus is possibly a reference to Eden Phillpotts novel Saurus. It is also similar to the Greek word for "reptile".
  • Squidi
  • Vitalis
  • Wolf is a possible reference to the german astronomer Max Wolf.
  • Zeeman is possibly a reference to the physicist Pieter Zeeman for whom a crater on the moon is named.

Other

  • The name and appearance of most bio types found on planets originate in some way from real (living or not) things. The less obvious ones are listed below:
    • Roto-Dendron is likely a portmanteau of "roto" and "rhododendron" (the name of a real plant).
    • Macrocilla is probably a misspelling of "macrocilia", i.e. macroscopic cilia.
    • In Splort Wort, "splort" is an onomatopoeia for the shooting of a liquid, and "wort" is old English for "herb".
    • The Bug-Eyed Bait resembles a worm, and indeed, worms are used as bait in fishing. Also, the large eyes of the creature justify the epithet "bug-eyed".
  • The Pkunk Fury tactic of rotating while firing in all directions is refered to in the Star Control II manual as Death Blossom; this term originates from the movie The Last Starfighter where it is used to describe a similar manoeuvre.
  • Shiva Furnaces were probably named after the Hindu God of Destruction Shiva.
  • Hellbore Cannons are a reference to Keith Laumer's Bolos or perhaps the weapons used by the Hydrans in the game Star Fleet Battles.

Notes and references

1From part two of Matt Barton's video interview with Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford:
In general, we would create a ship through illustrations, and usually through paper illustrations, and then implement powers that made sense for it and that were cool and then afterwards, we'd sort of backwards think about "Now, who's flying this ship?", you know, "This ship sort of has this odd, robotic kind of pop look to it, so maybe like someone who looks like Devo is flying it." And so the Androsynth evolved out of this strange like "Wouldn't it be cool if Devo was flying spaceships.".
2Paul Reiche III explained the connection between the Androsynth and his own "friendships with openly gay folks" in an email exchange with a fan.
3From the 1998 IRC chat with Toys for Bob (Fwiffo is both Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III here):
<Manta> Fwiffo: Has anyone ever brought up parallels between Babylon 5 and Star Control?
<Fwiffo> Babylon 5 causes a certain amount of stomping around the office screaming.
<Fwiffo> Babylon 5 steals from us. We steal from known space.
<Fwiffo> And Larry in known space steals from others.

See Also

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