EVE Online/Characters

The Empires
"Four races, torn apart by two horrific wars. When all that remained were the smoldering ruins of lost cities and shattered lives a universal truce was declared to end the despair."

- Eve Online Intro

The four playable empires of Eve have existed in a state of (relative) detente for over a century.

Caldari State
"Standing amidst the flock, we should have feared their glory; instead, we drew hope. This moment is the first time I understood what it meant to be Caldari: Divinity in the flock, delivery in flux, one being, many changes."

- Janto Sitarbe, The Legendary Flock

Strident capitalists with a side of ultranationalism. The Caldari system might not be pretty but its brutally efficient, and is one of the few that offers true social mobility. Still mad at the Gallente for that whole ethnic cleansing thing.

Notable Caldari tropes include:

 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: The entire Caldari government. Thank God they're also somewhat competent. A reform movement on this front is a big part of the current Caldari storyline, though for storyline fans, the changes are contentious. And time has suggested that the bickering between megacorp factions is as lively as ever.
 * Designer Babies: Popular among the Deteis. The initial justification for creating "Tube Children" was the massive disparity in population between the State and Federation.
 * You Can't Go Home Again: Formerly a major factor in Caldari society, and one of the many reasons for the bad blood between the Caldari and Gallente. During the Gallente-Caldari War, Caldari Prime was blockaded and orbitally bombarded by the Federation. Most of the population managed to escape to Caldari colonies, but the Federation eventually landed surface forces; by the time the war ended Caldari Prime was firmly in Gallente hands. 190 years later, the Caldari Navy took advantage of the chaos surrounding the Elder War and retook Caldari Prime, leaving a Titan in orbit to ensure things stayed that way.

Gallente Federation
"The Federation is not a defined region of space, of planets, of mountains, rivers, or woods. It is a vision."

- President of the Federation, Arlette Villers. CE 23154.6.2

Truth, justice, and apple pie In Space. They're huge fans of majority rule, even if they struggle with the minority rights part sometimes.

Notable Gallentean tropes include:

 * Attack Drones: Their weapon of choice.
 * Crystal Spires and Togas: Justified with the Crystal Boulevard on Gallente Prime - not only does it make for a fabulously picturesque display of wealth, but all that diamond serves as excellent protection against an orbital bombardment. Hence the government fallout bunker underneath it.
 * Eagle Land: Their system of government is a blatant rip-off of the United States, and they're all about freedom and democracy. But ultimately subverted: they're French.
 * Free Love Future: Non-utopia version with a heavy dose of Sex Sells and not completely without Moral Guardians; nonetheless, the Gallente are the most "liberated" of the empires in this sense too. Rule 34 probably has a Gallente corollary: if there's porn of it, you can find it in the Federation, quite possibly displayed in public.
 * Jack of All Stats: Standard fare for Gallente ships - with the proper skills, they can do anything, but can't match the individual specialties of the Amarr, Minmatar, and Caldari.

Amarr Empire
"The Amarr Empire used to shine as a beacon to humanity of what it meant to be civilized: To be strong, and to lead by example. Through God's words we spread civilization throughout the stars and it is by our leadership that New Eden achieved its wings."

- 24th Imperial Crusade Recruiter

Imperialist space catholics. Generally well meaning, even when they're conquering your world.

Notable Amarrian tropes include:

 * Beam Spam: The Amarr weapon of choice are lasers, and enough of them to throw a rave.
 * MY EARS!!!!!
 * Church Militant: Formerly the M.O. of the entire Amarr Empire. However, a fair number of elements throughout their society and government, such as the Theology Council, retain this role to varying degrees, such as the elite guard known as Paladins. Under Jamyl Sarum the Amarr have been favoring ideological warfare, freeing masses of slaves who are frequently indoctrinated with Amarr beliefs, building schools and churches in the Ammatar Mandate instead of subjugating them with force, etc.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: As previously stated, their weapon of choice.
 * Taking You With Me: Standard operating procedure for Imperial Navy battlegroups. Also commonly used by players piloting Amarr battleships, which are too slow to get away from almost everything.

Minmatar Republic
"The holder stood atop his tower and preached salvation to the baying horde of slaves below. In answer, Korgoth raised his fist and let out a roar of defiance. The throats of a thousand Minmatar joined him, tearing through the air in a wave of pure hatred."

- Battle of Ariti, "Tales of the Rebellion", Minmatar Archives

A tribal republic. When they're not fighting amongst themselves they're usually staring daggers at the Amarrians, who still hold a significant portion of their population in slavery.

Notable Matari tropes include:

 * Lightning Bruiser: Pretty much sums up Minmatar tactics.
 * More Dakka
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: The Brutor Tribe. If the name doesn't scare you, the fact that they average around 7' tall should.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy: An odd fusion of this and La Résistance. The Minmatar have strong warrior traditions, but their tactics are more in line with guerilla tactics.
 * Used Future: "In Rust We Trust".

Angel Cartel
""The explosive package that the boss told me to deliver to the Senate seems to have gone off in one of our cargo ships. The hold's contents are now drifting in the void, attracting scavengers of all sorts. To finish the mission, I will have to go to the installation in LN-56V and pick up a new device. The Senate's new order must be suppressed.""

- Angel Ship Log 349584483


 * Imported Alien Phlebotinum: The alleged source of the Angels' bizarre ships and meteoric rise to power.
 * The Cartel: Apart from just the name they fit this trope well with their dealings in drugs and Minmatar revolutionaries.

Blood Raiders
"Bloody Omir ran away, Hiding from the light of day, Made a base out in the night, Far far from the Empire's might, Holders think they all are safe, Protected by the Emp'ror's grace, Silly people, they should know, You shall reap just what you sow, Bloody Omir's coming back, Monsters from the endless black, Wading through a crimson flood, Omir's come to drink your blood."

- Amarr Nursery Rhyme

An Amarrian religious cult that holds that immortality may be achieved by drinking human blood

Tropes of the Sani Sabik:

 * Ax Crazy: Tend to be the least characterized of Pirate factions, with most of their actions attributed to their Religion of Evil.
 * Cult: A derivative of the mainline Sani Sibik faction of the Imperial Faith, only with less reverence to the Emperor and more blood drinking.

Guristas Pirates
""I can neither confirm nor deny the allegations that... what are we being accused of again, Rabbit?"

"This time? G-g-grand piracy, sixth-degree m-m-multiple-homicide, terrorism and littering, i-i-if I'm reading this right."

"Yeah, that. No comment.""

- Jirai "Fatal" Laitanen and Korako "The Rabbit" Kosakami


 * Damaged Soul: Fatal after the Crielere incident. Due to a bad clone he suffered from acute memory loss and fine motor skill problems. His charming associates took the opportunity to oust him and send him into hiding.
 * Faux Affably Evil: Fatal, always quick with a smile or a joke while he undermines international stability for his own profit.
 * Damn It Feels Good to Be A Gangster: All the pirate factions enjoy their work but its undeniable that the Guristas seem to be having the most fun at it.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: See the above quote....

Sansha's Nation
"Do you know what you are, capsuleer? The truth will not comfort you. You are a frightened child running headfirst towards oblivion. And I? I am the only one who tried to stop you. I am the messiah that you turned against. You persecuted me, hunted my children. Vowed to burn my promised land to ash. Now I have returned, and I know you better than you know yourself. I will vanquish your fear, and commute your flesh to dust."

- Sansha Kuvakei

A "utopia" created by Mad Scientist Sansha Kuvakei, dependent on zombie-like "True Slaves" for its labor force. The four empires objected to these monstrosities, and in a unique show of solidarity, united against The Nation, reduced it to remnants of its former self and killed Sansha. Or did they?

True Sansha's tropes:

 * A God Am I: See the above quote to get an idea of the soaring vistas of megalomania Sansha has reached.
 * Back From the Dead: Sansha, or someone claiming to be him has begun posting on the in-character "Gal Net" forums, and Sansha activity is on the rise.
 * Beam Spam: Hey is that a wormhole opening u-OHGODWHY.
 * Cult: While his true slaves don't get much of a choice in their worship, true citizens and many outside groups idolize Sansha's utopian dream.
 * Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: "True Slaves"; those citizens who have been cybernetically Brainwashed in just such a way that they retain all the creativity of a normal person, but have the unrelenting obedience of a machine.
 * Enemy Mine: When Sansha's Nation attacks, everyone retaliates.
 * Oh Crap: Sansha is alive? His nation has access to Jove space and potentially Jove technology? This Is Gonna Suck.
 * Mad Scientist: Sansha again.
 * Recycled in Space: True Slaves are often referred to as "space zombies" although this does their intelligence a considerable disservice.
 * Utopia Justifies the Means: Sansha Kuvakei's shtick. Central to his Nation's structure was a binary caste system of True Slaves and True Citizens . The rest of the cluster had a few choice words regarding Sansha's methodology.
 * Wetware CPU: How True Slaves are placed in their zombie-like state and used as ship pilots.
 * Zombie Apocalypse: Cyber Zombie Apocalypse occurs whenever they take a populated planet. They are also the only faction the four main empires have ever united against.

Serpentis
"The DED has been making some inquiries into our operations in the Erme system. We're making inquires into how much the agents value their families' well-being."

- Anonymous Serpentis Employee

A drug Syndicate with close ties to Angel Cartel and the Intaki Syndicate. They are the primary enemies in Gallente space.

Notable Serpentis tropes include:

 * Added Alliterative Appeal: Salvador Sarpati, CEO of the Serpentis Corporation. Bonus points if spoken with sibilance.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: When the stellar flares tied to the appearance of wormholes at the beginning of Apocrypha slagged the Gallente planet of Seylin I, Salvador Serpati sent freighters of medical supplies to the system. The Gallente president and CONCORD admiral made it clear they wouldn't be giving him any return favors for it but the three of them agreed to the temporary truce needed to bring them in anyway.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Serpentis security forces use heavily modified Gallente hulls. That Vindicator? You can be sure its closing in with eight neutron blasters and a stasis web for the Eve equivalent of a knife fight.
 * Palette Swap: Their ships are black and gray hued Gallente ships.
 * Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Snake motifs, including, obviously, the name.
 * The Chase: A world event focusing on Serpentis CEO Salvador Sarpati, who had the alloyed tritanium balls to hijack a Titan.
 * The Syndicate: They control much of organized crime in Gallente space. They also have influence in the region of 0.0 space called The Intaki Syndicate, which was set up by Intaki exiles who sympathized with the Caldari during the first Gallente-Caldari war.