open/close all folders
Humans
In General
Humanity as a whole plays a very small role in the series, with only Crichton representing them for much of the show.
- Determinator: The Hat of humanity, as observed by Noranti. One of the Talking Heads in "A Constellation Of Doubt" takes great pride in this observation, knowing that the human drive to succeed and will to survive has impressed far more technologically advanced species.
- Precursors: Eventually revealed to be this for the Sebacean race. The Eidolons collected a few early humans and genetically modified them to serve as their acolytes.
- Puny Earthlings: Though Noranti's view is a bit more positive, most of Moya's crew leaves Earth feeling profoundly unimpressed with humanity, noting that while they may have some potential, they are far from being anything noteworthy at this point. It's also made abjectly clear that if any of the other races, like the Hynerians or Luxans (let alone the Peacekeepers or Scarrans), were to find their way there, humanity would be completely, and utterly helpless against them.
Jack Crichton
Played By: Kent McCord
"Each man gets the chance to be his own kind of hero. Your time'll come, and when it does, watch out. Chances are, it'll be the last thing you ever expected."
A retired astronaut who at one point had walked on the Moon, and the father of John Crichton.
- Cool Old Guy
- Domestic Abuse: Played with in "Kansas." A teenaged Crichton thought that Jack treated his mother badly. Though arguments between the parents were apparently frequent, an older Crichton was very much aware of how much this trope was averted.
- Hero of Another Story: Following the events of "Terra Firma", during which Jack organizes a global peace initiative in preparation for exploring space.
- Open-Minded Parent: Though shown to butt heads with his son, Jack has always been very supportive of what he had to say.
- Patriotic Fervor: Following the World Trade Center attacks.
D.K.
Played By: Murray Bartlett
John Crichton's childhood friend who, along with Crichton, formulated the theory that was being tested by the Farscape project. Crichton helped D.K. cheat on his SATs, and helped get him his job at IASA.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: He dies unceremoniously when he's tortured and killed offscreen by the Skreeth along with his wife, and promptly forgotten about.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: He's briefly mentioned in the "Constellation of Doubt" documentary but Crichton is never shown reacting to his death.
- Happily Married: D.K. marries at some point in the 4-odd years between Crichton's disappearance. Unfortunately, he and his wife are both tortured, interrogated, and murdered by the Skreeth under Grayza's orders.
- It's All About Me: He's much more concerned with how things are affecting him personally than about the bigger picture (particularly in the latter). He also cheated on his SATs with Crichton's help, potentially risking Crichton's own academic future.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: He's a considerably bigger jerk in "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Terra Firma" than he is in the pilot. Considering the version of D.K. in "WGFA" is a simulation at least partially based on Crichton's memories, it's plausible he was always a dick and we just didn't see enough of him in the pilot to find out.
Bobby Crichton
Played By: Joshua Anderson
(to D'argo) "I thought you were great on Letterman."
John's nephew, who gets a kick out of the aliens visiting Earth.
- Captain's Log: His video recordings.
- Tag Along Kid: When he gets to go aboard Moya.
Delvians
In General
A culture of mystically-inclined, blue-skinned humanoid plants. Currently subjugated by the Peacekeepers.
- Bald Mystic: Delvian males (and the odd female) tend to be completely bald. As all Delvians have some mystical abilities, they fit.
- Corrupt Church: Around the time Zhaan left her home planet, the normally benevolent Delvian Seek was under the control of a few very conservative Pa'us and their Peacekeeper allies.
- The Dark Side: Delvians are prone to falling to this as they ascend the ranks of the priesthood, especially if they commit murder.
- Enlightenment Superpowers: Most of the powers held by Pa'us are gained through their tentative steps toward enlightenment. Some of them are based on obvious psychic power, while others are far more magical in nature.
- Enslaved Elves: As a concequence of Pa'u Bitaal's coup, the Delvian people are under the "protection" of the Peacekeepers.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: They are very attractive even with the blue skin.
- Lovecraftian Superpower: Starved Delvians sprout poisonous buds from their skin, and exhale clouds of choking spores.
- Mental Fusion: Delvian's can mentally meld their consciousness with another in a mystical, vaguely sexual process known as Unity.
- Mind Rape: A Delvian can misused unity to forcefully extract knowledge from their partners or even kill them.
- Plant Aliens: Human-shaped but evolved from plants. Crichton doesn't find out about this until near the end of the first season.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: A sure sign that the Delvian in question has fallen to The Dark Side.
- Rubber-Forehead Aliens: Less so than some examples, their design involves more body paint and detailing than larger prosthetics.
- Space Elves: Greater connection to nature than other species? Check. Benevolent but slightly smug about their mental superiority? Check. Weird ears? Check.
- Telepathy: In addition to Unity, Delvians have psychic powers of perception far beyond other races.
- Touch of Death: Unity can be used to kill which is what Zhaan did to Bitaal.
Bitaal
Portrayed By: Aaron Cash
The spiritual counsellor of the Delvian people, Pa'u Bitaal was also personal teacher and lover of Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan.
- Corrupt Politician: Worked for the Peacekeepers and imprisoned anyone who spoke against him.
- The Lost Lenore: Played with. Zhaan loved him, but the effect killing him did on herself is a bigger focus on her arc.
- Posthumous Character: Since Zhaan killed him and all.
Tahleen
Portrayed By: Kate Raison
A Delvian Pa'u and the leader of a group of missionaries based on the New Moon of Delvia.
- Evil Counterpart: To Zhaan. She also rebelled against the Delvian government and their alliance with the Peacekeepers, but she operates under considerably worse
- Gold-Colored Superiority: She has gold markings on her face that no other Delvian shares, implying they're a mark of her status as a Pa'u.
- Sanity Slippage: She wasn't all that great to begin with, but she goes off the deep end after stealing Zhaan's knowledge for herself. Her defeat as Zhaan's hands is explicitly noted to make this problem worse.
Tuzak
Portrayed By: Max Phipps
A Delvian Pa'u and revolutionary who led a group of missionaries to the New Moon of Delvia in hopes of creating a new kind of Pa'u who could be used against the oppressive Delvian government and its Peacekeeper allies.
- Obfuscating Insanity: Its implied he's more with it then he lets on. He's at least aware enough to discourage Tahleen from doing what he did.
- Sanity Slippage: Pre-series, attempting to create a new kind of Pa'u left him as an unfit leader for his missionaries.
Lorana
Portrayed By: Darlene Vogel
A Delvian missionary and a follower of Tuzak and later, Tahleen.
- Heel–Face Turn: Eventually begins working against Tahleen after seeing the inside of Crichton's mind.
- Master of Illusion: Uses this against Crichton, only to end up finding his reaction to said illusions admirable.
Hynerians
In General
A sapient amphibian species, who have a large empire despite their diminutive size and clumsiness on land.
- Beware the Silly Ones/The Napoleon: Despite their ridiculous stature, they have a large empire and in their conflict with the Charrids, have resorted to very bloody tactics to beat back their enemies.
- Big Eater: They eat incessantly, and their portions are many times larger than most other species.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Mostly to do with their digestive system. They have three stomachs, can fart helium when nervous or angry, and can apparently refine tannot root into chakan oil, which powers Peacekeeper pulse weapons.
- Bizarre Alien Reproduction: Their reproductive system is something to behold: they don't do "body breeding" like humanoids, but still have something equivalent to sex for the purposes of pleasure.
- Decadent Court
- The Empire: Though the deeper details are not dwelt on, various throwaway lines by Rygel indicate that the Hynerian Empire, while maybe not on par with the Peacekeepers or Scarrans, is a force to be reckoned with, with up to 600 billion people under its rule. It's also implied that they have no qualms invading, and enslaving other races.
- Frog Men: Though they're more toad-like, with their squat stature and leathery skin.
- God Guise: At one point, one of Rygel's ancestors went out of his way to ensure that Hynerians visiting a certain planet would be welcomed as gods; he did this by stranding an entire settlement of Sebaceans loyal to the Hynerian throne on a remote planet and disabling their technology.
- Little Green Men: Big time. Rygel, the most prominent representative of their race in the series, is so short he requires a hover chair to move around and keep pace with the rest of Moya's crew.
- Muppet
- Our Goblins Are Different: Much like how the Delvians are a variation on Space Elves, the Hynerians have a lot of goblin-like features, such as green skin, pointy ears, and above all, bottomless greed.
- Zerg Rush: In desperate times, the Hynerian military have favoured these kinds of tactics.
Bishan
Played By: Lee Perry
Nearly 165 cycles prior to the events of Farscape, Bishan helped to depose Dominar Rygel XVI while he was sleeping, and ascended the throne of his home planet, Hyneria. He turned over his cousin to the Peacekeepers, who subsequently imprisoned the deposed Dominar.- Karma Houdini Warranty: He deposed Rygel and turned him over to the Peacekeepers, which led to over a century of torture and imprisonment. By the time of the comics, Rygel was finally able to return home, reclaim his throne, and give Bishan what he deserved.
- Sketchy Successor: By the end of Season 3, Rygel learns from Orrhn that Bishan had become deeply unpopular in the empire, to the point of formal calls for his resignation. During the Peacekeeper/Scarran war, he sought to stave off his own political problems by inviting Rygel to return home as a co-ruler.
Orrhn
Voiced By: Alexandra Fowler
Kalish
In General
A humanoid species directly under the Scarran heel, they are a mysterious race. Note that most of what we know about the Kalish comes from Sikozu.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: They don't require eating regularly, only 10 times a year. Their bodies cannot stand translator microbes, meaning they must learn the language of each language they encounter. However as this trait is observed in Sikozu, but apparently not in any other Kalish — for example, Kalish on Katratzi had no problems understanding English — much of this may be unique to her bioloid physiology.
- Human Aliens: Other than some uncommon skin markings, they are physically indistinguishable from humans and Sebaceans.
- Only a Flesh Wound: They are capable of reattaching severed limbs. This is another trait we only see from Sikozu, so it's unclear if all Kalish are capable of doing so, or if it's unique to her and other bioloids.
- Wall Crawl: They can manipulate their gravity center to walk over walls and ceilings. One of the few Kalish characteristics clearly observed in members of their species not known to be bioloids.
Trayso
Played by: Shane Briant
A Kalish medical doctor who works at the Scarran Border Station. When Noranti infects Rygel with a disease, he issues a quarantine that prevents Aeryn's captors from leaving.- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Noranti's Dermafolica scheme depends on him putting the station on lockdown as soon as he gets an inkling that Rygel has it (preventing everyone from leaving), which is exactly what happens.
- Happiness in Slavery: He works as a bureaucrat for the Scarrans, and given that Zukash said he was the only resistance member on Katratzi he evidently doesn't mind.
Karohm
Vakali
Zukash
Luxans
In General
As a race, Luxans can be inartful at love... inadequate at war... and intrinsically inept.
— Natira
A Proud Warrior Race, recognizable by their facial tentacles, who apparently have a tradition of mercenarism.
- Badass Preacher: The Luxans have an entire class of priests called Oricans, most of whom are revered among the general populace for their abilities. Given that just one of them almost aged Moya to death without even getting within firing range, without even realizing she was doing it, the reverence is pretty damn justified.
- Beard of Barbarism: Made of hair and tentacles.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: While the scope of their bizarreness is tame by Farscape standards, it's notable that the primary first aid procedure for Luxans involves beating the crap out of the wound until the blood runs clear. They can also survive in a vacuum for around 15 minutes.
- Blood Knight: Luxans often edge into this territory, and just love to fight (see Proud Warrior Race Guy).
- Facial Markings: They use black facial tattoos to mark military ranks.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Males suffer this in the form of Hyper-rage, which is exactly what it sounds like. Falling into it in public is extremely shameful despite their warrior culture, and getting married before learning to control it is a major taboo. That D'argo is still susceptible to them at the beginning of the series is a sign that he is very young and emotionally immature by Luxan standards.
- Hidden Depths: Most races (even their allies) dismiss Luxans as brutish barbarians. However, they have strong religion, art, and history. And then there's D'Argo's Ancient Luxan ship, with a cloaking device, gun capable of one-shotting Leviathans, and a whole host of other goodies. It's more powerful than anything else seen in the series, and only about the size of one of Moya's transport pods. And it's explicitly an ancient Luxan ship. In The Peacekeeper Wars, Jothee shows up in the modern equivalent, showing that this is not an example of Luxan Lost Technology.
- Multipurpose Tongue: At will, a Luxan can extend their tongue out to something like twelve feet, and it contains "adaptive venom" that renders the target, whatever its biochemical makeup might be, unconscious.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Luxans seem quite happy with their reputation as barbarian savages, while quietly building stealth ships with frelling big guns and concealing energy weapons in their qualta blades. They may love a good fight, but don't underestimate how advanced their science and technology, and even culture and diplomacy, really are.
- Percussive Maintenance: The only way to prevent "blood toxicity" when injured is to strike the wound very hard until the blood goes from dark to clear.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: They aren't above diplomacy, though. They tend towards the Proud Soldier Race variant of the trope; the fighters may enjoy their work, but they are one of the most disciplined and professional forces shown in the series (of course, that doesn't mean there's not some Luxans that edge into outright Blood Knight. One of Jothee's troops during Peacekeeper Wars remarks that as Kleeva Jothee is the only one there to think, the rest of them just love to fight). Those that don't enjoy it enough to make it their whole life just run their mandatory tour of duty and retire to civilian life, as Dargo was trying to do in his backstory.
- Religion is Magic: In contrast to Delvian Enlightenment Superpowers, the Luxan Oricans actually perform magic in their duties. Apparently, this is one of the reasons why D'Argo treads carefully around supernatural beings like Maldis or the Delvian Pa'us, given the amount of power just one Orican can wield.
- Rubber-Forehead Aliens: A pretty impressive prosthetic, but still qualifies as Rubber Forehead.
- The Smart Guy: An actual (and honored!) rank in Luxan military structure, Kleeva, is explicitly this. Which isn't to say that the average Luxan is nothing more than a dumb brute.
- Unstoppable Rage: Luxan males sometimes enter a state called "Hyper-rage" where they go berserk with anger and attack anyone nearby, including allies and family members. The only ways for someone in this state to calm down are by waiting for it to dissipate or by killing someone. They can eventually learn enough self-control as they age to prevent themselves from entering the state entirely. Younger males are generally not permitted to marry out of concern that they might attack their partners without meaning to.
Ka Jothee
Played By: Grant Magee (child), Matt Newton (adult, Season 2-3), Nathaniel Dean (adult, "The Peacekeeper Wars")
"I'm only half Luxan... and for many cycles, I didn't even want to be that."
D'Argo's long-lost son, who has deep issues relating to his mixed ancestry, his mother's death, his separation from his father, and... well, you name it.
- The Atoner: After his role in the end of D'Argo and Chiana's relationship in Season 3, Jothee departs the crew to find some way to make things right and restore his father's faith in him. He ends up with a prominent position in the Luxan military.
- Back for the Finale: Returns in Peackeeper Wars, leading his fellow Luxans as Big Damn Heroes to save his father and Chiana.
- Beard of Barbarism: Grows one in time for Peacekeeper Wars, after becoming reconciled to his father's culture.
- Dark and Troubled Past: In the course of a day or two, his mother was murdered, his father dropped him off on a different planet before being arrested for her death, and he had to learn how to function on his own. Over the years, he did things to survive that would be considered shameful, faced extensive prejudice for being a hybrid, and ended up a slave.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Jothee bears a deep scar across his nose, and most of his head-tentacles have been mutilated. "Die Me Dichotomy" revealed that these were actually self-inflicted. He's had the tentacles healed by the miniseries.
- Half-Breed Angst: When D'Argo is finally reunited with Ka Jothee in season 2, it's revealed that, having been born as a result of a Maligned Mixed Marriage between a Luxan and a Sebacean, Jothee has been subjected to a great deal of discrimination throughout his life, even being sold into slavery at one point. It eventually got so bad that Jothee went so far as to mutilate his face and tenkas in an attempt to erase any signs of Luxan heritage. He also hates his Sebacean half, due to his beloved mother being murdered by her brother, which led to much of the misery he experienced after being separated from his father.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: According to D'Argo, shortly before Lo'Laan was murdered, Jothee had started to realize how different he was from everyone else and was chafing over it.
- Mark of Shame: After finding out that Jothee was having an affair with Chiana, D'Argo branded him with one of the union tattoos he'd intended for himself and Chiana- and destroyed the other tattoo so that Chiana couldn't mark herself with its twin.
- Nasal Trauma: Jothee sports a particularly vicious-looking scar across his nose, believed to be a souvenir of his days as a slave. In "Die Me Dichotomy," he admits that he'd been mutilating himself to remove any signs of his Luxan ancestry, possibly including the Luxan beak-nose. By the miniseries the beak has been restored through unknown means.
- The Nose Knows: He has a better sense of smell than most people but it's not as good as his father's. It's unclear if this is due to his mixed heritage or the disfigurement of his nose.
- Only Sane Employee: When he joins the Luxan military this is explicitly the job of his rank. As his sergeant puts it, "The rest of us just like to fight."
- Took a Level in Badass: When we first meet him as an adult, he's certainly got the fighting spirit, but not the skills or tactical smarts that his father has. For example, he's rather easily subdued by Harvey, whereas D'Argo efficiently took care of business. When Jothee returns in the miniseries, he's muscled up and in charge of a Luxan commando group. It's acknowledged he's not stronger than the others, but he is the brains and earned his position.
- Undying Loyalty: Though D'Argo was publicly accused of murdering Lo'Laan, Jothee never doubted his father's claims of innocence. Even after everything he experienced while on his own, he asserts he never stopped believing in him.
Learko
Played By: John Adam
A Luxan commando under the command of Kleeva Ka Jothee during the time of the Peacekeeper/Scarran War. Nilaam
Played By: Melissa Jaffer & Anna Lise Philips
A powerful and ancient Luxan Orican. Kor Tosko
Played By: Lewis Fitz-Gerald
A special Luxan ambassador.Nebari
In General
All is forgiven if it is in the service of the greater good.
— Varla, spouting a favourite Nebari creed
Grey-skinned self-righteous wowsers who are trying to export their uniquely smug brand of totalitarianism to the rest of the galaxy.
- Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul: The Mental Cleansing Process.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: Grey skinned and quite attractive, a trait their government is revealed to have exploited to spread a mind control virus to other species, so as to one day subjugate them.
- Higher-Tech Species: Technically advanced and very heavily armed — just one of their ships (a "Standard Host Vessel" which is undefined beyond Salis claiming it wasn't a warship) was enough to destroy one of the biggest and deadliest ships in the Peacekeeper armada.
- Hypocrite: They typically justify their violent actions, despite nominally abhorring violence, as part of the "Greater Good".
- Individuality Is Illegal: Anyone who strays from the strict social norms is either given a Mental Cleansing or outright executed.
- La Résistance: As "Clockwork Nebari" demonstrates, there's a resistance movement working against the Establishment.
- Mind Rape: The mental cleansing process. It's said that there are two ways of doing this, the first is supposed to be permanent but takes years to do. The second in a drug, but is temporary and only works on non-Nebari (it was also useless on Pilots and Hynerians were relatively unaffected due to their rapid digestive system). The entire crew is subjected to the latter, and Chiana was going to be subjected to the former when she was introduced. She was hysterical about it, insisting she'd rather die.
- Pale Females, Dark Males: Nebari females have white hair- as opposed to the black-haired males.
- The Plague: One of their plans for taking over the galaxy consists of infecting their rebels with a very potent STD and sending them in the direction of their future enemies; when it comes time for the great Nebari invasion, the virus will be activated — leaving the many billions of infectees defenceless.
- Space Elves: The Dark Elf version — pale-skinned, sneaky and very enthusiastic about torture.
- Totalitarian Utilitarian: Their society is highly conformist and determined to wiping out all extreme emotions in the name of creating a peaceful, non-violent society. This is usually achieved with extremely invasive brainwashing.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: They were initially set up as a horrifyingly powerful faction whose plans for conquest were already well under way, but their plotline was quietly dropped without ever being addressed.
Salis
"When I was your age, I was focused on what I could do to fit in. Not stand apart."
Played By: Tiriel Mora
A member of the Nebari Establishment and at one point the captor of Chiana. Salis boarded Moya with prisoner Chiana and a mind cleansed Selto Durka after their ship collided with the Leviathan. Salis calmly explained the danger that their prisoner posed and that they would need accommodations until a Nebari host ship arrived to pick them up.
- Asshole Victim: Considering Salis spent much of his one-episode appearance being silently judgmental, inflicting torture on Chiana for no reason, delivering subtle threats and establishing himself as a brainwashing asshole it's hard to say he didn't deserve to be murdered.
- Black Eyes of Evil: He has them, and it adds to his highly creepy demeanor.
- Character Death: Salis is murdered off-screen, but it's never confirmed who killed him: Durka or Chiana. This ambiguity is used as a plot point in "Losing Time" when D'Argo tries to confirm Chiana's identity by asking if she killed him. She still doesn't reveal what happened.
- Creepy Monotone: Salis speaks in a perfectly even, gentle tone.
- Faux Affably Evil: A brainwashing monster he might be, but he's unfailingly polite even when delivering threats.
- Nerves of Steel: Due to the brainwashing he himself likely underwent, Salis is always perfectly calm regardless of the situation.
Hubero
Played By: Kate Beahan
An androgen in the tight-laced Nebari society.- Intersex Tribulations: She describes herself as "not exactly male, not exactly female, not exactly anything", indicating that she's intersex in some way. The highly-conformist Nebari completely reject androgens and most are executed at birth. Hubero was spared because she was born in an isolated colony filled with more liberal Nebari. As a result of her status, she's extremely closed off and relcutant to trust people. She only opens up to Chiana after confirming that Chiana is also an exile for rebelling against Nebari culture.
Meelak
"I have some data that I've got to get back to Nerri and the others. As soon as we hit the outpost, I'm going to take the express out of there. You two are on your own."
Played By: Malcolm Kennard
An alleged member of the Nebari Establishment. In fact, he was a double agent who worked for the Nebari Resistance.
- The Mole: An effective and careful one at that.
Varla
"We are in difficult times. I'm afraid we must do whatever is necessary to serve the greater good."
Played By: Skye Wansey
A member of the Nebari Establishment who was sent to track down Resistance leader Nerri.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: Her constant torturing of Chiana finally gives Meelak a good explanation to the Establishment for killing her.
- Nerves of Steel: Refuses to panic when she believes the ship is under attack.
Nerri
Played By: Simon Bossell
Chiana's older brother, an outcast Nebari, and a leader of the Nebari Resistance.- Being Good Sucks: He'd love to see his sister again, but he believes going anywhere near her would make her a target of the Establishment. One of the reasons he faked his death was so that they would have no reason to bother with her.
- Cool Big Bro: Chiana views him as such, due to how much time they spent together and how he always looked out for her.
- Faking the Dead: He was thought to have died at the start of "Taking the Stone" (due to the life disk Chiana had deactivating), but "A Clockwork Nebari" reveals he faked his death as part of his resistance work and to keep Chiana safe. The Establishment only learn he's still alive because a security camera caught his image during a raid.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The stories of their travels together note that Chiana was the one more likely to get into trouble and that Nerri (while understanding, given their circumstances) would typically be the more responsible one. On one occasion where D'Argo took umbrage with her behavior, Chiana alludes to how she already had a brother that would tell her what to do.
- La Résistance: He's one of the leaders in the fight against the Establishment.
- Promotion to Parent: It's not clear if the parents are alive back home or not, but during their travels out in space together, Nerri acted as a provider to his little sister and tried to keep her (as well as himself) out of as much trouble as possible.
The Ancients
In General
Crichton: What will you do now?
"Jack": What we've done since before I was hatched. We continue searching for a home...
A mysterious race of highly advanced aliens, who are searching for a new home after their original homeworld was destroyed.
- Dying Race: They have to proceed with illusions like in "A Human Reaction" because of this. For all their technological advancements, they only have enough power for one last trip to a different planet, and it's believed that even humans would've been able to effectively repel them. According to Jack, while the Ancients did eventually find a new home and settled there, the trip there made them even weaker, so they're in no condition to do anything about the aggressive species seeking wormhole technology.
- Innocent Aliens: Certainly not naive, though — the test they put Crichton through in their first episode was used to determine whether the human race would accept them if they ever chose Earth as a haven.
- Insectoid Aliens: Their apparent natural state.
- Mysterious Watcher: Apparently, the Ancients were originally created to act as this for an entire universe, having been sent into our dimension to monitor and catalogue the state of wormhole technology in it. Of course, by the time of their first episode, they've forgotten this role.
- Noodle Incident: At some point before the "Infinite Possibilities" two-parter, they did end up finding a suitable world and traveled there. Where exactly they went is unknown, but even Einstein was unable to locate them.
- The Promised Land: With their species in decline and their original mission lost, the Ancients are now seeking out a world where they can flourish — preferably in coexistence with the local sentients. They find one and settle on it between appearances, but refuse to give any details.
- Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: Quite apart from their ability to craft physical environments based on Crichton's memory, they'd also mastered the art of wormhole travel and weaponry.
- Telepathy
The True Ancients/"Einstein's People"
Cousins of the previous culture who retained their full power.
- The Ghost: We only ever meet one of them — and he isn't willing to show his true face.
- Reality Warper
- Sufficiently Advanced Aliens
- Time Master: At least have a good knowledge of how time would be affected by time travel.
Jack the Ancient
"We needed a reaction, a human reaction, John. Your reaction."
Played by Kent McCord
A member of an ancient race of Sufficiently Advanced Aliens, who have been searching for a new home and have unique knowledge of wormholes.
- Cool Old Guy: Based on his appearance.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: He appears to Crichton in the form of his father so that Crichton will find it easier to talk to him.
- Insectoid Aliens: His true appearance.
- The Mentor: One of Crichton's main influences in understanding his wormhole knowledge.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His true name is unpronounceable outside of his native tongue.
- Sufficiently Advanced Alien
- This Was His True Form
Einstein
"Your knowledge is quite extraordinary for one of your realm. And your many travels inside wormholes... troubling. But now that I've glimpsed your mind, I'm aware this has made you a target of more aggressive species: a liability which must be dealt with..."
Played by John Bach
A mysterious superbeing attempting to make sure that various characters' attempts to gain wormhole knowledge don't disrupt the multiverse too much.
- Black Eyes of Evil: Okay, maybe not exactly evil...
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: We don't even get the slightest glimpse of what he really looks like.
- The Mentor: He gives Crichton further instruction in his wormhole knowledge.
- Only Known by Their Nickname
- Power Floats: During a conversation with Crichton, (who's sitting on top of an iceberg) Einstein very subtly levitates until he's at eye-level with him.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Rather understanding for an all powerful being. He's more focused in making John understand how dangerous wormholes can be, and is willing to aid Chricthon on multiple occasions. Likely because John understands his lessons and acknowledges the incredible dangers that could result from the knowledge in his head.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: In the words of Crichton, "nice threads".
The Eidolons
In General
As youths, we open our faces to the universe, absorbing the joy and anguish all creatures feel. Then, upon maturation, we step to the altar to receive Hora Dalay: the ability to encourage rationality and tranquility in others. The capacity to influence others toward peace carries great responsibility. Do you accept this burden for the rest of your days?
— Hierarch Yondalao
A species of mystical peacemakers, long believed extinct.
- Charm Person
- The Empath: A subtle example, but also a very effective one.
- Hidden Elf Village: Both the cloaked refugee settlement on Quajaga and the sealed temple on Arnessk function as this.
- More than Mind Control: The Eidolons' diplomatic techniques; since they can't actually control minds, they use their powers to lull their opponents into a receptive state, and then use their empathic abilities to present a compelling argument.
- Perfect Pacifist People: Averted; while generally opposed to violence, they aren't above using it in emergencies; the Quajagan Eidolons, having lost the art of activating their powers, employed heavily-armed soldiers. And at the height of their power, the Eidolons actually created the Peacekeepers as a security force for the systems under their control.
- Power Glows: When they use their powers, a faint glow emanates from the patterns on their faces.
- Precursors
- Proud Scholar Race
- Rubber-Forehead Aliens: Used and subverted; on the surface, they look like humans with raised patterns on their faces. However, these patterns are actually edges; when transferring the knowledge of how to use their powers, their faces literally open!
- Sealed Good in a Can: A temple-city of them were sealed outside of time on Arnessk up until Crichton and Co managed to unlock them.
Hierarch Yondalao
Muoma
Pikal
Caa'ta
