Slave Race: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

This of course has some uncomfortable [[Real Life]] examples. (Note, however, that for the majority of history, slavery was ''not'' directly linked to race; beware of [[Eagleland Osmosis]]. Historically, most people got to be slaves by running into debt or getting kidnapped in war, then they'd be sold to raise cash or brought home with their captors as loot. Slaves could therefore be any ethnicity, including that of their master, and prior to capture, they might be any social class ranging from peasant to king.)

* One of the greatest examples is ''[[Happiness in Slavery|Homo Servus]]'' from [[S.M. Stirling]]'s [[The Draka|Draka]] tetralogy. The ''Servus'' have been genetically engineered to derive orgasmic pleasure from subservience to their masters ''[[Superior Species|Homo Drakensis]]'', and are incapable of functioning independently . Both species were once normal humans, but, unluckily for the rest of humanity, the Draka were [[Nietzsche Wannabe]] [[Badass|badasses]] who practiced the [[Spartan Way]] and had a penchant for [[Evilutionary Biologist|Evilutionary Biology]]. An interesting aspect is that the ''servus'' are actually smarter than the Draka; the latter genetically engineered themselves into their ideal of the Master Race and it is strongly implied that in the process, they destroyed their own creativity and flexibility.

* The House-Elves from ''[[Harry Potter]]'' are another example of a slave race that's only [[Happiness in Slavery|too happy]] to be enslaved. They're probably based on the fairy tale "The Elves and the Shoemaker," which in turn is based on European folk tales of kobolds and similar household spirits; being bound to a house that benefits from their service gives their lives meaning, and being set free is a sign of disapproval with the services they've rendered, a very depressing concept for a creature that defines themselves by their capacity to provide excellent service.<br /><br />Hermione is a strong believer in freedom for house-elves, but she bases her philosophy about this on Dobby, who was a unique case in that the family he served was so abusive (frequent death threats, ironing his fingers as punishment) that it was ''worse than freedom'' by [[Blue and Orange Morality|elf standards]]; her position has actually made her extremely unpopular with the school's resident horde of elves, and when she was attempting to duplicitously free them, they went on strike, forcing the already-free Dobby to clean Gryffindor Tower all by his lonesome.

*** Also note that 'attempt to pay them for their services and they will go away' was a general formula invoked sometimes to clear out a house-elf who'd gone lazy and troublesome and started spending all their time playing pranks instead of helping 'round the house. [[Sadly Mythtaken|Mythologically]], one could not actually ''command'' a house-elf any more than any other kind of elf.

*** They also left if you kept the place so tidy they felt marginalized.

** Another ''[[Doctor Who]]'' example, the Zeronites from Eighth Doctor [[Doctor Who Magazine|comic strip]] "Sins Of The Fathers" who were created by the Kulkan Empire to maintain their long range missiles when they were fired. And there was no way out for them.

** Also from ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the Slab might be this, but are more likely machines, it's left vague. ("Solid leather, all the way through. [[Hell-Bent for Leather|Someone has got one hell of a fetish.]]")

** Series 6 brings us the Gangers/Flesh.

* The Kalish in ''[[Farscape]]'' have been enslaved by the Scarrans for some time, acting as technicians, bureaucrats, and occasionally spies: they have it better than most Slave Races, but they're still oppressed and abused by both their Scarran masters and the Charrid mercenaries they work with.

* The humans (called cows) of Pylea were a slave race to the demons there in ''[[Angel]]''.

== Video Games ==

* In ''[[Achron]]'' {{spoiler|it is revealed that the Vecgir were enslaved by the Grekim, or rather by the AI that controlled both the Grekim and Vecgir. The difference is that the Grekim ''liked'' being controlled.}}

** The slavers are the good Ur-Quan. Bad ones just decided to kill everyone else.

* ''[[Half-Life (series)|Half-Life]]''.

* {{spoiler|The Collectors}} of ''[[Mass Effect]]''. In this case, there's no rebellion, since they're {{spoiler|Protheans}} who were all thoroughly brainwashed and genetically re-engineered thousands of years ago. {{spoiler|The Keepers}} may also qualify, since their origins are never made clear; {{spoiler|in the first game, Vigil speculates that the Keepers were the first race to be harvested, and in the second game, you can hear crew-members wondering aloud if the Keepers were put through the same process.}}

** Some people (in universe and out) feel that the drell qualify, due to their subservient position to the hanar. Both the hanar and the drell will get extremely angry if you call the drell slaves, though. Because the hanar pretty much saved the drell from going extinct, the drell see their servitude under The Compact to be a way to repay the hanar for this immeasurable debt, and by all accounts drell servants are treated ''very'' well by the hanar.

** [[Final Fantasy VIII|Guardian Forces]] are technically this. Well, the equippable ones, anyway. Delves into [[Happiness in Slavery]] as well. Unfortunately, there isn't much explanation into this point.

* Everything that isn't a Pfhor in ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]''. The [[Mind Control|mind controlled]] cyborg S'pht are given the most attention out of these, due to their rebellion being a major turning point in the conflict. The Pfhor plan on turning humans into this too, but according to the second game's epilogue, humanity eventually wins.