Ur-Quan

The Ur-Quan are the main antagonists in Star Control and Star Control II, a science fiction video game series created by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. The Ur-Quan are introduced in Star Control as an intelligent race of giant predatory caterpillars, leaders of a hierarchy of battle thralls. Star Control II details a traumatic past that lead them to fiercely seek their own security. The Ur-Quan's military doctrine becomes a subject of intense internal conflict, leading to a civil war. In Star Control 3, developed by a different team, they ally with the player against a different antagonist and their role is scaled back.

Ur-Quan
Star Control character
The Ur-Quan speaking to the player in The Ur-Quan Masters, the open-source remake of Star Control II.
First gameStar Control (1990)
Last appearanceStar Control 3 (1996)
Created byPaul Reiche III, Fred Ford
Voiced byLarry Zee, David Bryce
In-universe information
Full nameUr-Quan Kzer-Za, Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah

Reiche and Fred Ford developed the Ur-Quan based on the concepts for unique ships in Star Control; their insectoid appearance was inspired by a National Geographic photo of a caterpillar. The Ur-Quan's role in Star Control II has earned acclaim among the best game villains of all time. Besides their menacing and threatening persona, they are praised for their surprising depth and humanity.

Background
The Ur-Quan's character design was based on insects such as the caterpillar.

The Ur-Quan are an alien race of giant predatory caterpillars.[1] Their biological origins are similar to solitary predators such as the praying mantis, who are naturally limited in their social behaviors. As the Ur-Quan evolved, they were able to master their fierce territorial and hunting instincts, and build a co-operative spacefaring civilization.[2]

Prior to the events of the games, the Ur-Quan were discovered by an evil psychic race called the Dnyarri, who enslaved the Ur-Quan and compelled them to dominate the rest of known space. Using genetic engineering, the Dnyarri separated the original brown Ur-Quan into two sub-species. The green Ur-Quan became the Dnyarri's favored administrators and researchers, and the black Ur-Quan became their designated soldiers.[3] Much later, the Ur-Quan led a successful slave revolt. They discovered they could break the Dnyarri's psychic compulsion by torturing themselves, giving them enough time to kill and eventually exterminate their Dnyarri oppressors.[4]

The Ur-Quan vowed they would never again be slaves, and began to conquer all other intelligent life in the galaxy.[5] The green Ur-Quan were renamed the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za in honor of the Ur-Quan scientist who freed them all. The Kzer-Za moved forward with the 'Path of Now and Forever', a policy of security through enslaving all non-Ur-Quan sentient life, controlling them as either 'battle thralls', or as 'fallow slaves' forever imprisoned on their home worlds under impenetrable force-fields. The Black Ur-Quan, renamed the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah after their new leader, felt that they could only be safe with the utter annihilation of all non-Ur-Quan life, an ideology they called the 'Eternal Doctrine'.[6] The differing doctrines of the two fiercely territorial species escalated into a civil war.[7] After devastating losses, the Kzer-Za eventually triumphed through the discovery of an enormous ancient battleship created by a lost alien civilization called the Precursors.[8]

By the time of the games, the Ur-Quan form a Hierarchy of enslaved races,[1] and travel the galaxy enforcing their doctrine of security through slavery.[9] Star Control II begins following the war from the first game, after the victorious Ur-Quan enslave humanity and their allies.[10] At the climax of Star Control II, the Ur-Quan are defeated when a bomb destroys their ancient Precursor battleship.[11][12] At the start of Star Control 3, the Ur-Quan join an alliance with the player,[13] but are ultimately undermined by another civil war with the Kohr-Ah.[14]

Concept and creation
Star Control creators Paul Reiche III (left) and Fred Ford (middle) at GDC 2015

Creators Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford first conceived of the Ur-Quan for the original Star Control.[15][16] Reiche and Ford began with paper illustrations, which led them to implement ships with special abilities, with each character concept inspired by each ship's unique look-and-feel.[17] Reiche describes their character creation process, "I know it probably sounds weird, but when I design a game like this, I make drawings of the characters and stare at them. I hold little conversations with them. 'What do you guys do?' And they tell me."[16] One of the large ships had the ability to launch fighters, which led the designers to a creative conclusion - these aliens seemed to have command over others, and they would be an ancient race that plays the role of the main antagonist.[18] Reiche and Ford felt that the word "Ur-" had ancient connotations, and liked the sound of "Quan", and thus the Ur-Quan were created.[19]

The first Star Control's story was mainly written in the instruction manual,[10] describing the Ur-Quan as founders of an evil Hierarchy, a "rigid union of the ancient Ur-Quan slavers and their minions".[20] Reiche and Ford wrote the Ur-Quan's motivations for galactic dominance as their desire for slaves.[16] Reiche had previously created a mantis-inspired race called the Thri-Kreen for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, and the mantis continued to inspire the creation of Star Control's insectoid species.[17] When Reiche saw a National Geographic image of a predatory caterpillar dangling over its prey, this became the basis for the Ur-Quan's appearance.[16]

"We really made a conscious effort to stay away from stereotypes and give every alien race a history that justified their behavior. ... In the Ur-Quan's case, they were under cruel, psychic control themselves for millennia and when they finally broke free the desire never to be in that position again ... overpowered any other mitigating factors."

— Fred Ford, Star Control co-creator, GameSpy Classic Gaming Feature[21]

The origins of Star Control II were motivated by the designers' interest in expanding on the first game's story.[19] As they began writing the new game, Reiche and Ford used the first game's characters to tell simple visual stories about their fictional conflicts.[17] Their intention was to develop aliens who were exaggerations of human flaws, personalities, and cultures.[22] The Ur-Quan were already understood as a race of slavers in Star Control, so the writers developed their motivation by imagining them as former slaves themselves.[16] Reiche attempted to humanize the Ur-Quan, based on his own "relationships with people who had experienced significant childhood abuse and how those traumas produced distinctly odd behaviors in adults. [The Ur-Quan's] doctrines were the overtly crazy but internally reasonable responses to their treatment by the Dnyarri, and the pain they had to endure to win their freedom from slavery."[22] The team describes this writing process as imagining justifications for past creative decisions, building logically on details about the Ur-Quan's history, artwork, and game abilities.[19]

The Ur-Quan theme music for Star Control II was created by fantasy artist Erol Otus, who first composed the song on a synthesizer before it was re-sampled and exported to MOD file format.[23] The 3DO version of Star Control II features the voice of Larry Zee for the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za, and David Bryce for the Ur-Quan Kohr Ah.[24]

Reception
Bioware co-founder Ray Muzyka cites Star Control as an inspiration, leading journalists to compare the Ur-Quan to Sovereign in Mass Effect.

The Ur-Quan have been described by gaming publications among the best science fiction races ever created.[25][26] Game Historian Rusel DeMaria claims that the Ur-Quan are "one of the all-time villainous races in the history of computer games".[16] Praising the complexity of the Ur-Quan, Rock, Paper, Shotgun explains that "part of Star Control II is slowly learning that the Ur-Quan aren't actually as bad as they seem", and proclaims the Ur-Quan a "galactic threat better than basically any science fiction role-playing video game that came after".[9] GameSpot ranked the Ur-Quan as the best computer game villain in 1999, explaining how their "masochistic and truly sad history makes the Ur-Quan one of the very best villains. Even now, we are hard-pressed to find a race of adversaries as complex and three-dimensional as the Ur-Quan."[27] This mirrored their reader-voted awards, where fans chose the Ur-Quan as the 4th greatest game villains ever.[28]

The Ur-Quan remain an iconic part of what made Star Control a success. AllGame describes Star Control II as a masterpiece, while declaring that "nothing compares to the horrible plight of the Ur-Quan, ostensibly the major villains in the game. By the time you learn about the millennia of enslavement and mind-control they've had to endure in the past, not to mention the self-inflicted excruciating torments they underwent to gain freedom, the Ur-Quan become more sympathetic than most of the friendly-but-fluttery allies populating your own fleet. This is a rare and praiseworthy design achievement."[29] BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka credits Star Control as an influence on the Mass Effect series,[30] and Mass Effect writer Mike Laidlaw has also cited the influence on Star Control on his career.[31][32] Journalists have since noted the design similarities between the games' villains, "as Sovereign's words—and voice—echo those of the Ur-Quan almost line for line".[33] GameSpot mentions the Ur-Quan for their role in one of the best video game endings,[11] and GameSpot readers frequently praised the Ur-Quan for their role in one of the greatest game settings of all time.[34]

The Ur-Quan have also been celebrated for their music and sound design. Hardcore Gaming describes how the unique style of each song "works to the game's benefit, because, again, they give each race their own personality", particularly the Ur-Quan's "low and foreboding" theme.[10] This similarly led GameSpot to rank the Star Control II soundtrack as the second greatest of all time, as "these themes were as diverse as the aliens' appearances. Your Green Ur-Quan masters had a commanding, pounding beat, while their more sinister brothers, the Black Ur-Quan, had a more menacing and subtle theme."[35] Retro Gamer applauds the voice acting and dialog for the Ur-Quan, including the "absolute dread caused by hearing in-depth explanations of what it's like to wear a 'pain excruciator'".[36]

Star Control 3 was developed and written by a different team. Hardcore Gaming 101 lamented the Ur-Quan's new allied role in the third game, explaining that "as menacing as the Ur-Quan were in Star Control II, and how cool it is that they're on your side in this game, they barely do anything here."[13] Game magazine Pelit made a similar criticism, that the third game was left lacking a threat as memorable as the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah.[37]

References
  1. Paula Polley, Paul Reiche III, Dick Moran (November 17, 1992). "Star Control II Manual". Accolade. Archived from the original on July 4, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2020.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Paul Reiche III & Fred Ford (1992). Star Control II (PC). Accolade. Melnorme: The Ur-Quan evolved on a harsh planet orbiting a star outside this region of space. They were solitary predators, like your praying mantis, Captain, or polar bear who had a very limited set of social behaviors, most of which dealt with sex. Since they had to compete for survival against many physically superior species the Ur-Quan evolved intelligence and tool use, in much the same way as your own species. The Ur-Quan also learned to master their fierce territoriality to build a cooperative planetary culture. When the Ur-Quan were discovered by the Taalo, they had just begun exploring their solar system in crude atomic vehicles. Although the Ur-Quan attacked what they thought to be an invader, the Taalo were patient. They explained the purpose of the Sentient Milieu, and offered the Ur-Quan membership. The Ur-Quan recognized the benefits that such a system provided and once more conquered the hunting beast within themselves to become cooperative, productive members of the Milieu.
  3. Paul Reiche III & Fred Ford (1992). Star Control II (PC). Accolade. Ur-Quan: It was on a routine planetfall that one of our Milieu scoutships first met the Dnyarri. They were evilly intelligent creatures who could control the minds of others. They wanted to rule the universe. We could not resist them. For thousands of years, we were unthinking slaves to the Dnyarri. The Dnyarri had a special liking for us Ur-Quan so they began to tinker with our genes. They built two Ur-Quan sub-races one Green, the thinkers and planners the other Black, the warriors and laborers.
  4. Paul Reiche III & Fred Ford (1992). Star Control II (PC). Accolade. Melnorme: The Ur-Quan developed new tools and weapons to destroy their evil masters. The most gruesome of these devices was the Excruciator a mechanism which was inserted directly into the brain, and generated a constant stream of agony. The Dnyarri could not bring themselves to make the necessary mental connection with these tortured Ur-Quan. They were slaughtered by the thousands. The Ur-Quan slave revolt was won. When the last Ur-Quan was free of psychic compulsion -- when the last free Dnyarri was dead the combined might of the Ur-Quan star fleets met in orbit above the Dnyarri homeworld.
  5. Paul Reiche III & Fred Ford (programmer)Fred Ford (1992). Star Control II (PC). Accolade. Ur-Quan: The Dnyarri had a special liking for us Ur-Quan so they began to tinker with our genes. They built two Ur-Quan sub-races one Green, the thinkers and planners the other Black, the warriors and laborers. When the martyred genius Kzer-Za gave us the secret to defeating the Dnyarri, we destroyed them. Then we decided that we would never again be slaves. We would follow the Path of Now and Forever. We decided to enslave or imprison all other intelligent life in the galaxy. We had slave-shielded one world, when we learned that the Black Ur-Quan under a new leader, Kohr-Ah, had devised the Eternal Doctrine which called for the `cleansing', the annihilation, of all non-Ur-Quan sentient life.
  6. Paul Reiche III & Fred Ford (1992). Star Control II (PC). Accolade. Melnorme: Following the successful Ur-Quan slave revolt the Ur-Quan met to decide how to ensure their freedom. The Green Ur-Quan, who called themselves the Kzer-Za in honor of the Ur-Quan who triggered the revolt wished to establish the `Path of Now and Forever' which required that all other sentient species must become slaves of the Ur-Quan or be forever imprisoned beneath an impenetrable force shield. Leading the opposition to this plan was Kohr-Ah, a charismatic fleet officer. Kohr-Ah proposed a simpler alternative, the 'Eternal Doctrine'. Simply put, this scheme called for the systematic eradication of all sentient life in the universe aside from the Ur-Quan.
  7. Paul Reiche III & Fred Ford (1992). Star Control II (PC). Accolade. Melnorme: The followers of Kzer-Za and Kohr-Ah were all on the brink of madness but neither side would submit, and so they fought a bloody civil war.
  8. Paul Reiche III & Fred Ford (1992). Star Control II (PC). Accolade. Melnorme: The civil war between the Green Ur-Quan, the followers of Kzer-Za and their opponents, the death-dealing Kohr-Ah, lasted for decades. It is likely that they would have annihilated each other were it not for a chance discovery by a Kzer-Za – a Precursor Battleship! The vessel was huge, many times the size of the Ur-Quan's vessels. The Precursor ship sliced through the Kohr-Ah forces in days – the Kohr-Ah were defeated.
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