History VideoGame / EndlessSky

* PunyEarthlings: Once jump drives are acquired, it becomes apparent that humanity is by far the least advanced spacefaring species in the galaxy, with only [[spoiler:the Hai, the Remnant (if you consider them to be a different species from humans) and the deliberately-restrained Pug]] not ''significantly'' outmatching them.

** Humans are on the bottom at Tier 1.

** [[spoiler:The Korath Exiles, the Kor Efreti, the Coalition and the Remnant]] are all Tier 1.5. Perhaps fitting for an interim tier, almost all of them have quirks -- [[spoiler: the Exiles created the Automata and thus used to be of a higher tier while also maintaining the specific higher-tier technology of constructing jump drives, the Remnant's tier is more variable due to the gap between their strongest equipment and their weakest, and the Coalition has unusually good civilian ships for their tier but is lacking in combat options, especially weapons.]]

* EloquentInMyNativeTongue: Most Korath hails are in their own language, but they also have a set of badly-pronounced English hails, mostly for if they have something so urgent to say that they feel it's important that you at least might understand it.

** [[spoiler: Korath Raiders are large ships, more powerful than any single human ship and easily able to escape larger human fleets with their jump drives. As they only ever raid alone and have a relatively low spawn rate, it would seem that they're rare and powerful units, but once you can actually visit Korath Space, they in fact have tons of them, alongside the even stronger Korath Dredgers.]]

* WhiteAndGreyMorality: It is difficult to find any true villains in the main quest. The Free Worlds are honorable and [[TechnicalPacifist violence-averse]], as is the Republic Navy. The Republic Parliament is more self-interested but still reasonable. The pirate factions, despite a few bloodthirsty warlords, are mostly just people who want to live free of government ([[GameplayAndStorySegregation in the story, at least]]), and even the Syndicate has enough of a conscience to feel ashamed when the war they started spirals out of control.

** The Tarazed Corporation cuts off all ties to the Free Worlds after [[spoiler: the [[TheUnfettered Wolf Pack]] use [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo nukes]].]]

* NuclearWeaponsTaboo: While nuclear reactors are legal, and can even be purchased by civilian spaceship captains, nuclear weapons have been banned for at least 500 years by the time the game starts, and two nuclear devices destroying the centre of the Galactic Stock Exchange and the Navy's main shipyard is what sets off the [=Republic/Free Worlds=] conflict. [[spoiler: It ultimately turns out that the bomb was made and used by the Syndicate... and they've since come up with spaceborne nukes. On the Free Worlds Reconciliation branch, you discover the latter [[OhCrap the hard way]] while you're escaping with evidence about the former case. The Checkmate branch lets you use them yourself to aid your conquest towards Earth.]]

** The [[spoiler:Pug Arfecta]], which has [[HealingFactor absurd regeneration]], [[spoiler:[[{{Invisibility}} cloaking]],]] and sweltering damage output [[ArmorPiercingAttack that also pierces shields]]. However, the only way to get one is to capture it, which means you're going to have to survive its ridiculous firepower yourself. [[spoiler: Specifically it means taking one of the ships that protect the Wanderers, or to [[BullyingADragon anger the Pug at Pug Iyik so that they send one after you]].]]

** [[spoiler: Speaking of the Korath, their Triple Plasma Cores are one of the most mass-efficient generators in the game besides the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Quarg Antimatter Core]], but they produce so much heat that the cooling outfits you need to offset it will probably outweigh any space savings or energy surplus it gives you, and unlike engines, you can't mitigate the generator's heat by using it less. In the mid-game you're probably [[BetterOffSold better off selling it]] and buying a Hai or Wanderer generator, instead.]]