Kilrathi

The Kilrathi are a race of warlike, felinoid aliens in the popular computer game series by Origin Systems: Wing Commander. They loosely resemble the Kzin from Larry Niven's Known Space universe.

Related Topics:
Aliens - Computer game - Origin Systems - Wing Commander - Kzin - Larry Niven - Known Space

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The Kilrathi stand upright, but otherwise resemble big cats: they have leonine manes but also have markings which distinguish the clan. The Kilrathi society is depicted as an empire of hrai clans, with the dominant religion being the cult of a war deity, Sivar: the Sivar-Eschrad Ceremony is to be performed on newly seized territory, which drives most Kilrathi wars, and had caused the confrontation with the Terran Confederation, which is the theme of the first three games and the Freedom Flight spin-off novel.

Related Topics:
Cat - Sivar - Sivar-Eschrad Ceremony - Terran Confederation

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Militarily, the Kilrathi are strongly biased toward smaller numbers of powerful heavy fighters coupled with swarms of swift but inferior light fighters. Kilra'hra - the lords of the hrai - pilot the heavy craft while Thrak'hra - the lowborn - are those who fight in the light craft. Despite this division, many Thrak'hra aces have emerged, some of whom have won acclaim with the nobility.

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In Wing Commander, the Kilrathi were primarily a hated faceless enemy, but in Wing Commander II a more complex side of them was revealed: one of the notable characters in the game is ex-lord Ralgha nar Hhallas, the Kilrathi captain who defected his ship to the Terran Confederation in order to deliver the offer of allegiance from a rebel Kilrathi colony.

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The Kilrathi also make brief cameo in the game Ultima VII, also by Origin Systems. There it is possible to find a Kilrathi ship in the corner of a field, and this triggers the Kilrathi audio theme from Wing Commander. It is however impossible to interact with the ship.

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Ralga nar Hhallas, later, in Wing Commander 3: Heart of the Tiger, is shown to be a preprogrammed spy, much like Quaid in Total Recall. He kills a fellow crew member of Christopher Blair (main character), Cobra, and later takes off to deliver the information he gathered to Kilrah authorities. Later on, Blair confronts him, and must kill him, to destroy Kilrah, the home planet of the Kilrathi, with the Temblor bomb, to end the war.

Related Topics:
Spy - Total Recall - Christopher Blair - Temblor bomb

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