Humanx Commonwealth: Difference between revisions

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A timeline of the Commonwealth universe can be found [http://alandeanfoster.com/version2.0/chronomaster.htm here].

* [[Zero Percent Approval Rating]]: The Meliorare Society gets this after their scheme to produce genetic supermen is exposed. ''Everyone'' hates them.

* [[Zero-Percent Approval Rating]]: The Meliorare Society gets this after their scheme to produce genetic supermen is exposed. ''Everyone'' hates them.

* [[Absolute Xenophobe]]: the Pitar, who seemed friendly enough but turned out to be ''batshit crazy''.

* [[Abusing the Kardashev Scale For Fun And Profit]]: The Tar-Aiym and Hur'rikku are Class II several times over; the Xunca are Class III-IV.

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* [[Apocalypse How]]: X-3 if the [[Ultimate Evil|Great Evil]] gets to our galaxy, potentially X-4 if it is allowed to roam unchecked. X-2 in ''The End of the Matter'', with the rogue collapsar sucking up star systems. ''Bloodhype'' merely gives us a Class 5 on any planet the Vom reaches.

* [[Applied Phlebotinum]]: Being a [[Space Opera]] series, it lives on this trope.

* [[Arbitrarily Large Bank Account]]: Flinx has one after ''Orphan Star'', thanks to the Ulru-Ujurrians.

* [[Arbitrarily-Large Bank Account]]: Flinx has one after ''Orphan Star'', thanks to the Ulru-Ujurrians.

* [[Artificial Gravity]]: Both used to create and applied as a side effect of the posigravity/KK drive.

* [[Badass Bookworm]]: Bran Tse-Mallory and Truzenzuzex, military veterans and renowned scientists both, carry around enough firepower for an entire squad of peaceforcers and know how to use it. They also like making [[The Cavalry]] entrances.

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* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: The [[Ultimate Evil|Great Evil]], of course. The Vom (from ''Bloodhype'') also partakes of some aspects of this trope. Certainly it has the nigh infinite power curve, [[Mind Rape]], inscrutability, and tendency to destroy all life wherever it's encountered parts down.

* [[Emotion Bomb]]: Flinx's offensive use of his empathic abilities.

* [[The Empath]]: Flinx's primary power is this. Unlike [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart Anyway|many examples]], it is very useful [[Power Incontinence|when it works]], and later he develops a projective version which is downright devastating when used <s>im</s>properly.

* [[The Empath]]: Flinx's primary power is this. Unlike [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|many examples]], it is very useful [[Power Incontinence|when it works]], and later he develops a projective version which is downright devastating when used <s>im</s>properly.

* [[Empathic Weapon]]: The Krang. Flinx also qualifies in a sense.

* [[Enemy Mine]]: Happens between the AAnn and Commonwealth twice, both in the face of overwhelming external threats. The first time is in ''Bloodhype'' when their respective fleets offer to team up against the Vom (which proves futile, but hey, it's the thought that counts). The second occurs in ''Flinx Transcendent'', and is somewhat one-sided, as the AAnn Emperor agrees to call off all acts of aggression against the Commonwealth for one year in order to allow Flinx to pursue the resolution to the Great Evil crisis unhindered.

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** Many of the stories involve [[Fantastic Racism]] between "primitive" tribes of aliens, which the more advanced Commonwealth representatives [[Mighty Whitey|often try to settle]].

** Of the few individuals who have found out about Flinx's origins, many have directed open revulsion towards ''him'', much as if he'd been a participant rather than a passive victim of the Meliorares' genetic crimes. Granted, those who've reacted this way are usually villains.

* [[Faster Than Light Travel]]: Via a device known as the KK, or posigravity drive, which "pulls" ships through space by generating an artificial gravity field in front (with a bit of [[No Conservation of Energy]] thrown in). Later in the series, more exotic forms are found to have been used by the [[Precursors]].

* [[Faster-Than-Light Travel]]: Via a device known as the KK, or posigravity drive, which "pulls" ships through space by generating an artificial gravity field in front (with a bit of [[No Conservation of Energy]] thrown in). Later in the series, more exotic forms are found to have been used by the [[Precursors]].

* [[The Federation]]: The Humanx Commonwealth itself.

* [[Food Pills]]: Meal concentrates. Most characters express a preference for the real thing, however, or at least use equipment to make the concentrates more meal-like.

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* [[Interspecies Romance]]: Averted, as the series takes biological compatibility quite seriously. However, the concept is given quite a working over by Kitten Kai-Sung, who has apparently studied the art of interspecies sexual stimulation and deliberately uses this knowledge to [[Squick]] out her companions.

* [[Interstellar Weapon]]: The Tar-Aiym weapons platform and the Xunca superweapon, in ''Flinx Transcendent'', which can fire (if such a term is even applicable) across inter''galactic'' distances.

* [[~~Its~~ Not You ~~Its~~ My Enemies]]: Flinx's justification for leaving Clarity Held in the care of Bran Tse-Mallory and Truzenzuzex in ''Flinx's Folly'', conveniently [[Put On a Bus|putting her on a bus]] until the grand finale.

* [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies]]: Flinx's justification for leaving Clarity Held in the care of Bran Tse-Mallory and Truzenzuzex in ''Flinx's Folly'', conveniently [[Put On a Bus|putting her on a bus]] until the grand finale.

* [[Just Like Robin Hood]]: First line of ''The Tar-Aiym Krang'' -- "The Flinx was an ethical thief, in that he only stole from the rich."

* [[Kick the Dog]]: Too many villainous moments to list (Conda Challis, anyone?), but Flinx gets his own [[Designated Hero]] moment in ''Reunion'' when he uses his projective empathy to infiltrate the Terran Shell.

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* [[Retcon]]: Because both ''The Tar-Aiym Krang'' and ''Bloodhype'' were written before the major plot points of the ongoing series had been established, a lot of work had to be done to fit them in. ''For Love of Mother-Not'' establishes Flinx's canonical origin story at odds with some elements of ''Krang'' (the given explanation is that Mother Mastiff was lying to Flinx for his protection), and there are some glaring continuity gaps around ''Bloodhype'' ([[Your Tomcat Is Pregnant|Pip's gender]], Flinx's age, and the design of his starship). Foster acknowledged these and offered some explanations, but admitted that complete consistency was impossible.

* [[Saintly Church]]: The United Church is portrayed as well-meaning and idealistic, almost saccharinely so. On the other hand, its operatives are well trained, and can go around [[Church Militant|very well-armed]], when called for.

* [[Sci Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale]]: The one glaring example here is the scale of the interstellar merchant trade. There would have to be literally millions of ships running nonstop routes between every star system to deliver even a fraction of the goods required to sustain an economy the size of the Commonwealth's. On the other hand, ''The Tar-Aiym Krang'' does contain a passage explaining how difficult it is to patrol interstellar space; if you don't travel within sensor range of a monitored system, you can go anywhere you want.

* [[Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale]]: The one glaring example here is the scale of the interstellar merchant trade. There would have to be literally millions of ships running nonstop routes between every star system to deliver even a fraction of the goods required to sustain an economy the size of the Commonwealth's. On the other hand, ''The Tar-Aiym Krang'' does contain a passage explaining how difficult it is to patrol interstellar space; if you don't travel within sensor range of a monitored system, you can go anywhere you want.

* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]]: A rare example of the protagonist using this trope; after ''Orphan Star'', Flinx is so rich (the Ujurrians rigged his account with [[Arbitrarily Large Bank Account|effectively infinite wealth]]) that he can buy his way out of many situations. Of course, in later novels he's wanted by nearly every Commonwealth authority, so the value of his "inheritance" is a bit dubious.

* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]]: A rare example of the protagonist using this trope; after ''Orphan Star'', Flinx is so rich (the Ujurrians rigged his account with [[Arbitrarily-Large Bank Account|effectively infinite wealth]]) that he can buy his way out of many situations. Of course, in later novels he's wanted by nearly every Commonwealth authority, so the value of his "inheritance" is a bit dubious.

** Blatantly invoked by Jack-Jax Coerlis, the {{spoiler|first}} villain of ''Mid-Flinx'', {{spoiler|1=at least until the ''real'' threat (the AAnn) show up}}.

* [[Sealed Good in A Can]]: Peot, the Tar-Aiym Guardian, in ''Bloodhype''.

* [[Sealed Evil in A Can]]: The Vom, also in ''Bloodhype''. Although in this case, it's a planet-sized can that is opened when an AAnn exploratory vessel lands there and decides to take the mysterious alien lifeform to an inhabited world for study. This [[Evil Is Not a Toy|doesn't turn out so well for them]].

* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: Truzenzuzex is occasionally afflicted with this malady. The rather more laconic Bran Tse-Mallory loves to rib him about it.

* [[Shoulder Sized Dragon]]: Pip all but breathes fire.

* [[Shoulder-Sized Dragon]]: Pip all but breathes fire.

* [[Shown Their Work]]: [[Alan Dean Foster]] loves using his [[Real Life]] excursions to exotic locations on Earth as inspiration for describing alien worlds.

* [[Single Biome Planet]]: There are both aversions and straight uses of this, depending largely on how much time the story spends on a given world. Terra, Hivehom, and Moth get the most love; but then you have examples like Midworld and Longtunnel...

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* [[So What Do We Do Now?]]: {{spoiler|Flinx's last line in ''Flinx Transcendent'' -- "I'm bored."}}

* [[Space Fighter]]: The Commonwealth has stingships, two-person attack ships each carrying a single SCCAM missile.

* [[Space Is an Ocean]]: Most particularly in that the method of [[Faster Than Light Travel|FTL]] used allows interplanetary travel measured in days or weeks. "KK drive" starships therefore cruise the void much like sailing vessels, complete with merchant traders and trading companies run by wealthy magnates.

* [[Space Is an Ocean]]: Most particularly in that the method of [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|FTL]] used allows interplanetary travel measured in days or weeks. "KK drive" starships therefore cruise the void much like sailing vessels, complete with merchant traders and trading companies run by wealthy magnates.

* [[Sssssnaketalk]]: The AAnn.

* [[Standard Time Units]]