Babylon 5
Internet-Role Playing Game
Members Homepage
The Races in the Babylon 5
Universe
Thanks to the efforts of Douglas Massie (aka Calris Tineray)
and the creator of one of the most informative Babylon 5 sites I
have come across, we have a link to a website that has been
around longer than we have. I have looked through this site, and
the information it contains far surpasses that listed below.
Please feel free to use this link as a reference guide to an
information spectrum for many of the B5 races not listed below.
Enjoy and good surfing!

http://hyperspace.isnnews.net/index.html
- Appearance
- Well, everyone knows what a human looks like, don't you?
In Babylon 5, the Terran System is ruled by Earth
Alliance under President Clark. President Clark is a bit
of a baddie, responsible for the assasination of
President Santiago. At the chronological stage of our
game, evidence to this effect has not yet been
discovered.
Personality
The general personality of humans are easy to guess, being
as we are all one, really. But they tend to be somewhat less
accepting of other races, and there is a definite uneasiness
in most Humans with regards to the Minbari since the end of
the Earth/Minbari war which nearly destroyed both races after
a mistunderstanding.
Below is a typical biography from one of our former senior
players, who was human.
Personality:
Outwardly, a by-the-books character who does not seek to go above
and beyond in his duties, but never does less than necessary.
Inwardly, a soul of jealousy, spite, a longing for mortal
pleasure and for love, compassion, and any other of the
contradictory traits that make humans what they are.
Relations: Loosely allied with
the Centauri, since they were the first race we met.
Respected by the League of Non-Aligned Worlds for our
assistance in the Dilgar War. Most don't really like
Minbari as they killed a lot of us during the Earth Minbari
War.
Time Period: Factions all over
the place. Those who don't like Clark, those who do;
Free Mars (like the IRA) and the Mars Resistance (like the
Sein Fein); All those crazy Pro-Human/Anti-Alien
groups.
Residence: Proxima, Vega, Orion VII,
Io (and other moons), Mars, Luna, Orion II, etc, etc, etc.
- Appearance
- A peaceful race full of ancient tradition. The Religious
caste usually hold positions requiring intelligence and
understanding. The Warrior caste are fairly descriptive.
The main difference between the two are that Warriors
have a more jagged bone crest than Religious and worker
cate and are more physically fit due to extensive
training, although Religious caste members are rather
stronger than your average Human or Volkune.
- Personality
- Religious caste members, being devoted to intellect and
philosphy, are more peaceful and graceful.
- Warrior Caste Members are strong, athletic and tend to be
easier to provoke into battle when it comes to issues of
honour, issues which can be resolved in only one way.
- Worker Class: Caught between the post-Earth-Minbari
War divisions of the Warrior and Religious Castes. Handle
the bulk of tasks not covered by the other two castes.
-
A typical Minbari description:
- Tirest of Vorune is an out
going and aggressive young Minbari. He is often arrogant
in the extreme in dealing with other races, especially
humans. This young Wind Sword word is his bond, when he
gives it he will die before he breaks it. Honor means
everything to him. He is a death before dishonor type
personality.
Relations: Apparently have
closer ties to the Vorlons than any other of the younger
races. Close connection to humans.
- Appearance
- The typical Narn is reminiscent of a Galapagos turtle,
leathery with green and brown markings covering the
surface of their bodies. No signs of hair, at least not
that anyone has lived to describe, and red eyes.
- Personality
- Your typical Narn is usually bitter, particularly about
the treatment the Narn race has had at the hands of
the Centauri people. Enslaved by the Centauri as a
sub-humanoid class of labourers, the Narns eventually
fought for their independence and gained their place in
the politics of the Younger Races. During the
re-emergence of the Shadows on the side of the Centauri,
the Narn Regime once again was subjugated by the
Centauri, and now only gather in small groups in places
of Sanctuary. Narns are NOT telepathic, as the gene was bred out of existence centuries ago. In the series, G'Kar made an attempt to synthetically enhance the gene, but kept this knowledge to himself.
Religion: There are many
different following in Narn philosophy/religion, but there
are two major followings. These are (in no particular
order) G'Quan, who G'Kar follows, and G'Lan, who Na'Toth's
father followed. The Book of G'Quon is considered to be in
the same league as the Bible or the Korran.
Relations: The Centauri
occupied the Narn homeworld for a hundred years. The
Narn are not at war with the Centauri, but they are working
towards their independence.
Telepaths: After
the Narn achieved spaceflight 1000 years ago, the Shadows
tried to set up base on their planet. The Narn attacked
the Shadows, and, in retribution, the Shadows killed all the
Narn telepaths. The teachings of G'Quan (which G'Kar
follows) documents this, and thus, Narns don't really like
Shadows. They remember them, and so they aren't
suceptible to the Shadow's influence like the Centauri
are. Narns do in fact have telepathic genes, but they
were so weakened that Narn telepaths are not bred.
Dust, however, does the trick as it does to mundane humans.
If you are intending to establish a Narn telepath in your
character, please contact a moderator beforehand.
- Appearance
- Centauri males have a pronouced crest of rich black hair
which is worn almost as a crown which shows their
position within the Centaurum. The taller the hair crest, the
more prominent position held by the male.
- Females have no hair at all except for a small patch at
the backs of their heads, and are known on occasion to
exhibit telepathic abilities.
- They are considered to be extremely vorascious in their
sexual appetites, the male sexual organism containing six
tentacles which are used during varying levels of
activity. Ambassador Londo Molari was once caught
cheating at cards using one of his tentacles to
"pinch" cards from the dealer's deck during an
episode of Babylon 5.
- Personality
- The Centauri are a decadent people, confident in their
superiority over other races. They exhibit
over-indulgance as a rule. They are selfish, arrogant,
and prone to extremes of excess. They have many
factions. In addition to their lust, gluttony, and
other love for vices, the Centauri are masterful
politicians. Not all are evil, however. Take
Vir, for example, who faked the death of thousands of
Narn during the second Centauri occupation of the planet
under the Shadow-influenced emperor and saved them.
When this happened, Vir said others were working with
him. Centauri are a people of intrigue, espionage,
and covert political action. They aren't called the
Centauri Republic for nothing; the actions of politicians
in the Republic resemble the ancient Romans a lot.
-
- Telepaths: Interesting bit here-
The Centauri Emperor employs 4 telepaths, linked at
birth, who are supposed to keep constant tabs on the
royal court and the emperor. When he's not on
Centauri Prime, two go with him and two stay
behind. Not much of use to the player, but an
interesting fact nontheless. Centauri telepaths tend to
be female rather than male.
-
- Appearance
- Volkunes are practically indistinguishable from humans.
The Males of the Royal family exhibit a bluish tint to
their fingernails and all Volkunes have a longer life
span than most humans, ranging from 120-150 years (where
humans tend to have a 70 - 90 year range). Volkunes have
a natural telepathic blocking ability so that a
telepathic rating of P-5 would be unable to scan even a
normal non-telepath. The Volkune society is structured
along family lines, but are not as divided into caste
systems as the Minbari. All families put stress on
intelectual achievement rather than commercial gain,
however, their have been some notorious Volkune traders
and merchants.
- Personality
- The average Volkune is quite similar to human, but rather
more restrained. When aroused, their tempers can be quite
viscious and violent, but eons in the attainment of
intelectual pursuits has tought them restraint and
patience. Their "deities" are referred to as
"The Prophets". The first Prophet is Tris, who
brought telepathic training and understanding to the
planet. For more information on the Volkune history,
check out this page.
- Appearance
- The universe of Babylon 5 is populated with hundreds of
races; most races, however, are technologically inferior
to the five major powers: Vorlon Empire, Centauri
Republic, Earth Alliance, Narn Regime, and Minbari
Federation, most of which are composed of a major race
and one or more less developed races. On Babylon 5,
to see in perspective, the League of Non-Aligned worlds
is given one vote equal to that of any members on the
Coucil of five major powers; each member of the League
is, theoretically, only a small fraction in strength of
any one of the "Big Five." The Volkunes,
a creation of the B5RPG, are represenative of a smaller
race. They hold a seat on the "Big Six"
of Pax VII mainly because they have taken a large
responsibility for its maintenance, as Humans had for
Babylon 1-4. Yet the Volkune have a large role in
the fate of the galaxy; their advanced telepathic powers
are signs of Vorlon intervention, while the current bogus
government of Vol'Indi, the "Republic," shows
evidence of Shadow tampering in their advanced warships.
-
- There are several other races mentioned in the Babylon 5
series which may be of interest to the player. Of course,
as these are as yet reasonably unexplored characters,
there is quite a open field for use by the potential
player. Perhaps one of the most famous to the Babylon 5
fan is the Shag Toth, portrayed by Martin Sheen in a
recent Babylon 5 Film. The Shag Toth are nicknamed
"Soul Hunters" and are greatly feared by the
Minbari, who feel that a soul should be free to pursue
it's natural course, whereas the Soul Hunter feels the
departed soul should be kept and preserved.
-
- Another race commonly seen in Babylon 5 is that of the
Drazi (seen above), nomadic traders who will trade in
almost anything, and are used as Non-Participating
Characters (NPC's) by many of our players who need a
"job done".
-
- Thus, playing as an individual from a smaller race, such
as the Drazi or Pak'Ma'Ra, can be both challenging and
exciting. Like the Volkunes, most smaller races
have had little information given on them in the Babylon
5 series, allowing for players to conjure up culture and
character. The facts provided in the series, such
as the Drazi Purple/Green ceremonial battle, or the
Pak'Ma'Ra's consumption of deceased lifeforms, may
challenge you to utilize the resources of the internet in
discovering more about the universe of Babylon 5 than you
have ever realized.
-
As you can see, choosing a race other than those listed can be
a complicated and difficult process. We therefore request
that, should you chose to do play as a smaller race, the
moderators be contacted prior to your application to discuss the
option in detail with you.
Please send me mail
telling me what you think about this page and how we might
improve your understanding of the characters in the RPG.
Electronic mail address
Soo
or Becky
Moderators
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