History Main / FantasticCasteSystem

* The Minbari caste system in ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]''. The Minbari have three castes, two of which fight each other for dominance while the third caste is ignored or even forgotten. The Minbari system of workers, warriors, and religious was consciously modeled on the Medieval European idea that society was divided between those who work (peasants, serfs, and craftsmen), those who fight (knights and other members of the aristocracy), and those who pray (priests, nuns, and monks).

* Though barely explored, the aliens in [[NieaUnderSeven NieA_7]] has a caste system. The underbar in the title actually contains the words "under", which refers to eponymous character's caste level: "Under Seven", the lowest possible caste. The highest is inexplicably called Plus Five (a minor character is a Plus Five and is a TV presenter. At the end, somehow he regresses to Under Five and is drinking in a roadside stall.)
** actually the lowest possible caste is an under five, making her more abnormal than she already is.

** Except a good part of them are sent to die uselessly in the Endless War...
*** AFAIR the 1984 megastates don't use conscription anymore, so they only have to die if they want to fight in the war.
*** AFAIR the only indications Oceania ''was'' at war was propaganda from the Ministry of Truth, enforced rationing from the Ministry of Plenty, and the occasional rocket attack in London. Winston (or possibly Goldstein's book, I can't recall) speculates that the Inner Party occasionally attacks its own people to keep up the pretense that there is still a war going on.

* Played with in CSLewis' ''SpaceTrilogy'': The three species of Mars each have different roles, but oddly, this is presented as simply being based on their own natures; each species simply acknowledges that the others do certain tasks better. (The fact that ther're "unfallen" and thus not inclined to evil probably helps keep things peaceful.) It may not count as a "caste" system, however, especially since they tend to keep their societies separate, making their cooperation more akin to different nations trading with each other.

* This one is OlderThanDirt. Examples include mythological pantheons, Kings and queens of TheFairFolk, and so on.

** To be precise the caste system is fairly complex. It all overlaps between species. Specifically Grunts and Jackals are approximately the same (Jackals maybe rank a bit higher).

*** That may not count. Elite ranks, at least, are based entirely on kill count.
* The dwarves of Orzammar in DragonAge practice a system in which each newborn is sorted in to one of eight castes dependent on the caste of their same sex parent. Elevation is all but impossible, barring two very specific methods. Those ''without'' a caste (criminals, exiles, and any children of the above two groups) are considered to be worth less than dirt and barred from obtaining any work or housing legally. Even aiding the casteless is considered a major social taboo for most dwarves. [[JustifiedCriminal Effectively ensuring that the casteless have to become criminals to survive.]]

** It plays an especially significant role in Karkat's character. The other trolls' blood color is revealed by the color of their text in chat, but Karkat specifically uses grey to hide his. [[spoiler: We later find out that his very human-looking "candy red" blood doesn't fall ''anywhere'' on the Troll's Hemospectrum, and he'd be considered a freak of nature and shunned by the rest of Troll society if it was found out.]]

* Hinduism had a caste system; whose modern practice is increasingly criticized by Hindus themselves, more and more of whom are turning completely anti-caste.
** Make that "the ''Indians'' had a caste system". While the castes were bound in Hinduism, they weren't a part of the original creed, which only had three castes and fair bit of mobility between them. The system only reached its ultimate complexity with British colonialism in the 19th century, when the colonial masters favoured certain castes over the others. Today the caste system is declared illegal, although its use in practice has not died, especially in the countryside, but Hinduism is still going strong, regardless of the official dissolution of the system.
*** Minor correction: Hinduism official texts never say anything about the caste system, but higher castes used the Hindu idea of karma to justify it, to the point where the two became inseparable.

** A disproportionately large percentage of those involved in organized crime are of Burakumin heritage; and form roughly 70% of one of the largest Yakuza families.
*** Unlike other traditional crime syndicates who often limit membership to certain ethnicities (e.g., Mafia, the triads), historically the Yakuza have been open to even the most marginalized members of Japanese society, including burakumin and [[NoKoreansInJapan Koreans]].
** There are a few organizations that are working to change this situation, but they're often too small or too radical (most are associated with communist or socialist organizations) to have much effect. There has been anti-discrimination legislation passed since the 1980s, and more since 2000; but improvement is still slow. It doesn't help that discussion of the plight of the untouchable classes is considered taboo in Japanese society, so few Japanese are aware that the problem still exists to this degree.
*** Most burakumin also prefer to hide their heritage, as they aren't racially or ethnically different from the majority of the Japanese. Because of this there also is no nation-wide burakumin community that would back up the anti-discrimination organizations.

** In practice the contest for power in Europe was a three way contest between the nobility, the clergy, and the merchants (the rich commoners). Some families had a foothold in more then one of these especially as for a long time becoming a cleric was the only career allowed to a nobleman who didn't want to be a warrior. Arguably the caste system in Europe was less rigid then some examples because Europe was less isolated from outside influence. Also of course it varied in different places in Europe.

* The ship in SandyMitchell's DarkHeresy novel ''Innocence Proves Nothing'' is full of heritary jobs with fancy titles.

* The Clans of {{Battletech}} go by five castes, three of which are devoted to combat. The 'Mechwarriors' (robot pilots) are the ones held in the highest regard. Interestingly, the fact that all Clanners are genetically-engineered and the castes differ greatly in physique (the 'Elementals' or PoweredArmor soldiers are ''huge'') invokes a BugCasteSystem of sorts.

* In ''UnlikelyEden'' all Coalition soldiers are engineered to be one of four castes. Visibly they are indistinguishable, but their abilities are all specialized for their combat roles. This governs everything from authority, to the acceptable formation of friendships.

* The current version of [[{{Superman}} Krypton]] has society divided into Guilds. While it's theoretically possible to choose a Guild, most people are in the same Guild as their parents, especially the Workers' Guild, who seem to have less opportunities to qualify for the others. (The others are Religious, Artist, Military, and Science. Science is, of course, [[ProudScholarRace the most important]].)

** Make that "the ''Indians'' had a caste system". While the castes were bound in Hinduism, they weren't a part of the original creed, which only had three castes and fair bit of mobility between them. The system only reached its ultimate complexity with British colonialism in the 19th century, when the colonial masters favoured certain castes over the others. Today the caste system is declared illegal, although its use in practice has not died, especially in the countryside, but Hinduism is still going strong, regardless of the offical dissolution of the system.
*** Minor correction: Hinduism official texts never say anything about the caste system, but higher castes used the Hindu idea of karma to justify it, to the point where the two became inseperable.

This trope might owe a debt to both {{Plato}}, whose {{utopia}} in ''The Republic'' was highly socially stratified, as well as Karl Marx, in his conception of the relationship between bourgeoisie and proletariat. When a fantasy or alien race has specialized castes with physical dimorphism, as with worker and queen ants or bees, that's HiveCasteSystem. Compare with UrbanSegregation which has some overlap as well as DividedStatesOfAmerica which similarly extrapolates on a real-world situation.

* The dwarves of Orzammar in DragonAge practice a system in which each newborn is sorted in to one of eight castes dependent on the caste of their same sex parent. Elevation is all but impossible, barring two very specific methods. Those ''without'' a caste (criminals, exiles, and any children of the above two groups) are considered to be worth less than dirt and barred from obtaining any work or housing legally. [[ViciousCycle Effectively ensuring that they have to become criminals to survive.]]