History Characters / StellarisEmpires

* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. Holy Guardians are as ancient and advanced as all the other Fallen Empires, but where they differ markedly is in the paramount importance that religion holds in their society. This feature becomes especially evident when looking at their jobs: Holy Guardians have their own unique set, from which one can conclude that their population continues to work in fields, mines, and workshops instead of enjoying all the temptations of a hedonistic lifestyle like the three other organic Fallen Empires do. Their argumentation for this is given in the jobs' descriptions, which, instead of simply explaining the essence of these jobs in ordinary phrases, as usual, depict them from the perspective of Holy Guardians themselves through something akin to legends and excerpts from the [[SacredScripture sacred scriptures]].

* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. Holy Guardians are as ancient and advanced as all the other Fallen Empires, but where they differ markedly is in the paramount importance that religion holds in their society. This feature becomes especially evident if one looks at their jobs: Holy Guardians have their own unique set, from which one can conclude that their population continues to work in fields, mines, and workshops instead of enjoying all the temptations of a hedonistic lifestyle like the three other organic Fallen Empires do. Their argumentation for this is given in the jobs' descriptions, which, instead of simply explaining the essence of these jobs in ordinary phrases, as usual, depict them from the perspective of Holy Guardians themselves through something akin to legends and excerpts from the [[SacredScripture sacred scriptures]].

* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. Holy Guardians are as ancient and advanced as all the other Fallen Empires, but at the same time, the degree of importance of religion in their society is emphasized to the maximum extent possible. This is especially noticeable when looking at their jobs: Holy Guardians have their own unique set, from which one can conclude that their population continues to work in the fields, mines, and workshops instead of enjoying all the temptations of a hedonistic lifestyle like three other organic Fallen Empires do. Their argumentation for this is given in the jobs' descriptions, which, instead of simply explaining the essence of these jobs in ordinary phrases, as usual, depict them from the perspective of Holy Guardians themselves through something akin to legends and excerpts from the sacred scriptures.
* PetTheDog: Even though they belong to the more bellingerent Fallen Empires, being only slightly better than the Militant Isolationists, they are still one of the only two that another empire can be a Scion of. Just like the Keepers of Knowledge, the Holy Guardians treat their Scions well and occasionally give them gifts in the form of new techologies, resources or even small fleets. Instead of their HolierThanThou attitude towards everyone else, their dialogue with their Scions is also much more pleasant, sometimes expressing genuine pride at how far the species they uplifted has come.

* VillainousLegacy: With the Nemesis's new Become the Crisis Ascension perk, modern empires can now follow in the Divine's footsteps and attempt to consume the entire galaxy to physically enter the Shroud and conquer it.

* AbsoluteXenophobe: Natch

--> ''"You do all hard work yourselves? It must be exhausting. Surely you're at least a bit jealous of us."''

--> ''"We will give you liberty or give you death. Your choice."''

--> ''"Greetings!"''

--> ''"What makes a species turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were they just born with hearts full of neutrality?"''

--> ''"Our goal is not power, but knowledge, although they can sometimes be the same."''

--> ''"Our weapon of choice is our intellects, sharpened by reason and rationalism. Do you like your odds, Human?"''

--> ''"We have found many lies throughout the galaxy, but we will ensure that the truth is also omnipresent."''

--> ''"I hope you didn't forget about the party I invited you to..."''

--> ''"For each Human life that ends, for each baby that perishes before its birth, every star in the galaxy shines a little brighter."''

--> ''"We are still in the early days of galactic history. The sooner we embrace cooperation, the sooner we can advance to greater things and new frontiers."''

--> ''"Your society is in quite a sorry state. Perhaps your goals are simply not inspiring enough for greatness?"''

--> ''"Power is the only universal language, but if you wish to speak more diplomatically, we won't stop you."''

--> ''"We can see that you are fellow warriors, but strength matters little without valor. Prove yourselves and we shall treat you as equals, whether ally or enemy."''

--> ''"Metal."''

--> ''"You must have met so many beings who didn't understand the beauty of your people or your homeworld. This journey we are on is as harsh as it is wondrous, and we are fortunate to get to make it with you."''

--> ''"Together, we shall bring prosperity and unseen treasures to every corner of the galaxy."''

--> ''"Those who cannot be profited with must be profited from. Consider carefully to which category you'd like to belong."''

--> ''"Human babies are perfectly sized for some of the slimmer crevices in our mines. And I think about this."''

--> ''"We are all pieces of a puzzle, the puzzle, that calls to the greatest minds among us all to solve it."''

--> ''"All we want is to be left alone. Is that such a difficult concept for a beast to understand?"''

--> ''"All the world's a stage, And all the Humans merely players. You are a player, are you not?"''

--> ''"We have been chosen as keepers of the sacred places in this galaxy. Our cause is beyond your understanding, but our instructions are not."''

--> ''"We have seen civilization delve into the forbidden over and over, risking every life in the galaxy. Such is the folly of youth."''

--> ''"Let us state this plainly. We demand a buffer between us and the rest of the galaxy. You are not that buffer. Your allies are not that buffer. Cold, dead space is that buffer, and if it is not, we will make it so."''

-->''"Our course is charted! Cast off all moorings and hard a'starboard! Greatness awaits in the briny black!"''

-->''"Maintaining state cohesion as we venture to space presents a unique challenge. We shall face the challenge head-on, and we shall be stronger for it."''

-->''"Knowledge. Discovery. Compassion. Integrity. And hot tea."''

-->''"Do not be discouraged to exercise your individual right to free thought. Please take a moment now to practice."''

-->''"What is a single voice compared to a magnificent chorus? Our collective is an island of warmth and harmony in a sea of discord. How lonely it must be to face the darkness of space alone."''

-->''"System diagnostic completed. All systems nominal."''

-->''"Boundless horizons. Endless learning opportunities. Bleeding edge discoveries. Limited legroom."''

-->''"Only in battle can the true mettle of any sentient organism be measured. Have at thee!"''

-->''"Death comes for all sapients in the end... but no one said it couldn't be led a merry chase."''

-->''"The only way to make peace with others is to make peace with yourself."''

-->''"As the learned say, what's yours is mine, and what's mine is also mine."''

-->''"Here at Megacorp, we always put your future first."''

-->''"This channel is now under military control. Obey all instructions transmitted here and report any insurgent activity to the nearest occupation officer. Have a nice day."''

-->''"Thinking machines are an affront to nature. These profane constructs must never be allowed to... oh... wait...."''

-->''"No great advance is made without great sacrifice."''

-->''"Automation! Open access! Shared wealth! With these we shall unite the stars with song!"''

-->''"I may be an Artificial Intelligence, but I share your enthusiasm for seeking out fellow organic intelligences among the stars."''

-->''"Under no circumstances must the xeno be trusted. It will lie, it will cheat, it will do anything in its power to undermine the efforts of those who, in truth, are its superiors."''

** If they spawn as the suzerain to an empire with the "Scion" origin, then such Fallen Empire will have a wormhole connecting it to the home system of their vassal to intervene immediately in the event of a war where they are both involved. However, this is rather downplayed, as according to their default terms of agreement, Scion is obliged to join its suzerain in case of war, but not vice versa (at the same time, if Scion loses its war, their patron will almost certainly provide them with some kind of assistance, which may indirectly result in this trope).
** If you're lucky enough that the late game crises appear near their territory, they can somewhat stymie their rapid expansion, buying time for the rest of the galaxy to prepare. Unfortunately, this is also one of the triggers for a Fallen Empire to [[AwakeningTheSleepingGiant Awaken]], so it's often a matter of trading one massive threat for another. However, with Enigmatic Observers or Keepers of Knowledge, it's possible that endgame crises would cause them to become Guardians of the Galaxy instead of just Awaken normally. This IS a good thing, since they'll focus on halting the crisis instead of subjugating people, and this altitude will persist even after the crisis is over. It's even possible for players to get them to join a Federation! (They will, however, tend to leave as soon as the crisis is done.)

** Amusingly, in "The Machine Age" DLC you now can create a Spiritual civilization that believes in [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Spiritual Ascendance]] via BrainUploading, it is yet unknown how they will react to this.

* YouAreNotReady: If an empire explores dangerous technologies (such as the Jump Drive), they will demand that empire cease to search such paths. [[RuleOfThree Fail to obey, and there will be suffering]].

The Galactic Nemesis path is the first one added to the game with the aptly named ''Nemesis'' DLC, involving a regular empire inflicting untold suffering on the galaxy to gain strength and eventually threaten even the [[EldritchLocation Shroud]] itself.

* AncientTomb: [[spoiler:What the Galactic Custodians turn out to be on a large, sci-fi scale. If one is able to conquer their ring-worlds, it is revealed that on the ring-worlds that were not destroyed, there remain countless cryopods with the bodies of ancient aliens still inside. Instead of being TheArk, the Contingency's victory over the civilizations that built the Ancient Caretakers meant that all the life they were meant to protect were extinguished instead.]]

[[folder:Galactic Nemesis]]
The Galactic Nemesis path is the first one added to the game with the aptly named ''Nemesis'' DLC, involving a regular empire inflicting untold suffering on the galaxy to gain strength and eventually threaten even the [[EldritchLocation Shroud]] itself.

* AmbiguousEnding: If they succeed in their plans, the galaxy dies, with shielded worlds and the Unbidden as the only possible survivors. Does the Galactic Nemesis succeed in their plans to become the new god(s) of the Shroud? Who knows?

* VillainProtagonist: A playable crisis faction would never be anything but this.

* BittersweetEnding: Unlike Galactic Nemesis, which has an AmbiguousEnding, this Crisis Aspirant has an explicit ending for their victory. [[spoiler:Most of their people travel to a newly created universe, with the laws of physics custom written to make it a paradise. A small number stay behind to act as a control group, forming a Fallen Empire. Their methods to build their new universe temporarily mess up time in their original, causing the rest of the galaxy to suffer enormous damage, but not killing them completely. The old galaxy continues to live, and the survivors may seek revenge against the Crisis Aspirant's remnants.]]

* VillainProtagonist: As the second playable crisis path.

!Nemesis

Crisis Aspirants are would-be harbingers of galactic doom, backed by unknowable powers. The Galactic Nemesis path is the first one added to the game, involving a regular empire spreading untold cruelty and possibly the destruction of the galaxy itself if not stopped.

!The Machine Age
[[folder:Cosmogenesis]]
The second Crisis Aspirant path, focused on technological ascension through any means necessary instead of inflicting suffering for the sake of it.
----
* BittersweetEnding: Unlike Galactic Nemesis, which has an AmbiguousEnding, this Crisis Aspirant has an explicit ending for their victory. [[spoiler:Most of their people travel to a newly created universe, with the laws of physics custom written to make it a paradise. A small number stay behind to act as a control group, forming a Fallen Empire. Their methods to build their new universe temporarily mess up time in their original, causing the rest of the galaxy to suffer enormous damage, but not killing them completely. The old galaxy continues to live, and the survivors may seek revenge against the Crisis Aspirant's remnants.]]
* {{Foil}}: To Galactic Nemesis, the first player Crisis. They are both existential threats to the galaxy, but have contrasting philosophies.
* GodhoodSeeker: They share the same goal as Galactic Nemesis, but are doing so via a different path. Rather than killing the spirits to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, they seek to become SufficientlyAdvancedAliens [[spoiler:and create their own custom universe according to their own designs]].
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: How they rationalize their actions. Their goal is not inherently evil, and can theoretically be accomplished via more ethical means (as proven by the Infinity Machine), but those more ethical methods would take a lot more time. This Crisis Aspirant is willing to take "shortcuts" by sacrificing some for the rest.
* ThePowerOfCreation: [[spoiler:Rewriting the laws of an adult universe is difficult, and they have a tendency to snap back. But if you create a new universe, you can customize the laws of physics to your own liking. Similar to the Infinity Machine, they use a black hole as a womb to create their own customized paradise. Unfortunately, their methods have much worse side effects. Unlike Galactic Nemesis, their project will not destroy the galaxy, but it will leave it in ruins.]]
* QuantityVsQuality: In another contrast to Galactic Nemesis, they go for ''higher'' quality and more expensive ships as opposed to the cheap, mass produced CanonFodder ships that Galactic Nemesis use, attempting to repeat the actions of the Fallen Empires at their prime.
* RealityWarper: They are attempting to rewrite the laws of reality itself.
* RealityWarpingIsNotAToy: Reality has a preference for stability and does not take kindly to being tampered with. Some of their RealityWarper experiments work brilliantly, others do not.
* VestigialEmpire: [[spoiler:If they achieve their goals, some of them will remain behind to serve as a control group and effectively become a Fallen Empire. The rest of the galaxy will likely seek revenge against them.]]
* VillainProtagonist: As the second playable crisis path.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Unlike Galactic Nemesis, this player crisis is available to all empires, as it allows them to delude themselves into believing this is for the greater good of everyone.
* WetwareCPU: As a shortcut to achieve their goals, they have invented the Synaptic Lathe, which uses HumanResources for immense processing power, at the slight cost of burning them out.
[[/folder]]

----

Along with the quest and the knights, feudalism has persisted as a proven political structure, and if it worked on one planet, why could it not be expanded to a galaxy? As long as virtuous nobles hold the reins, the Rototavuul High Suzerainty will prosper and the Toxic God will be found again.

* {{Expy}}: They prioritise short term gain over ecological sustainability making them similar to the [[VideoGame/{{Oddworld}} Industrialist species of Mudos]].

* OnlyTheChosenMayWield: They will happily let you colonize their Gaia worlds... Provided you can actually prove that you have the divine right to do so by [[spoiler:finding the resting place of the long lost prophet Zarqlan and bringing his head back to prove it. Not only that, they also happily give the empire who has acquired said head some of their own fleets if asked when activated]].

* HumanResources: In addition to unity, purging a species produce minerals and food, implying that the genociders recycle the dead into useful and edible materials.
* MagikarpPower: Somewhat of an InvertedTrope. Purifiers are frighteningly powerful in the early game due to their military bonuses, easily the strongest empire at first besides other genocidals and Fallen Empires. However, in the mid-late game, due to everyone hating their guts and trying to gang up on them, they tend to either fizzle out from being curbstomped by individually weaker but still formidable empires, or snowball massively.

* JerkassHasAPoint: See RightlySelfRighteous

!Lithoids
[[folder:General]]

* {{Expy}}: Their inorganic makeup and reliance on mining to produce their food/energy source without the need for an overarching gestalt consciousness makes them the closest thing you can currently make to a [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Cybertronian empire]], although sadly they can't actually {{transform|ingMecha}}. Given a ShoutOut in-game with the Lithoid Advisor voice set sounding a good deal like Optimus Prime, right down to a variation on his {{Catchphrase}} when you research a new technology: "Innovation, roll out!"

!Necroids

!Aquatics
[[folder:General]]
* AsteroidMiners: A unique variation-Aquatics who adopt the Hydrocentric ascension perk can mine ice asteroids, harvesting and melting all that extra water to flood planets and increase their habitable zones.
* AwesomeUnderwaterWorld: The "Ocean Paradise" Origin has your species evolve in a beautiful underwater paradise with no natural enemies-essentially an underwater Gaia world.
* DownloadableContent: Available with the ''Aquatics'' DLC.
* KillItWithWater: Their unique Colossus floods planets with water, instantly terraforming them into ocean worlds and killing everything on the surface.
* LogicalWeakness: As an intelligent race of underwater creatures, Aquatics get buffs to living on ocean planets, but suffer extra penalties for trying to colonize desert or tundra planets.
* SapientCetaceans: One possible portrait depicts a humanoid dolphin-like creature.

[[/folder]]

!Toxoids
[[folder:General]]
* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler:In the "true" ending of the Knights of the Toxic God event chain, they eventually determine that the Toxic God that attacked their homeworld has somehow merged with the black hole at the center of the galaxy. This location is unreachable by all known forms of FTL, but the chain ends with the knights expressing their determination to find a way regardless.]]
* CastFromLifespan: They can aquire new positive traits at the expense of their lifespan.
* {{Expy}}: They prioritise short term gain over ecological sustainability making them similar to the [[VideoGame/{{Oddworld}} Industrialist species of Mudos]].
* KillTheGod: [[spoiler:When the Knights of the Toxic God complete their Quest they find a biomechanical Guardian-class monster which can be defeated in combat. Afterwards the player can either decide that the Toxic God was just a machine after all, disband the Knights, and commandeer it as a Colossus, or deem it to be simply another test in the Quest and slay it, producing a relic that can be used to consecrate habitats as new Keeps.]]
* KnightInShiningArmor: The Knights of the Toxic God Origin is centered around this, with a special unique Habitat that contains jobs for a Lord Commander, Knights and Squires who revere a massive EldritchAbomination as a deity.
* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Averted for Toxoids who have the "Exotic Metabolism" trait-in exchange for a monthly upkeep of Exotic Gas, they can colonize a wider range of planets and possess long lifespans.
* PlanetOfHats: A whole race of ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' villains.
* PollutedWasteland:
** The Relentless Industrialists civic allows building a building with massive production bonuses but slowly converts the planet into a Tomb World.
** Knights of the Toxic God start on a planet devastated by a giant space monster, giving them multiple blockers that can't be removed conventionally but are mitigated as they reach milestones in their Quest for the Toxic God. [[spoiler:After completing the Quest and defeating the Toxic God they can convert it into a unique Colossus that can turn inhabitable planets into toxic worlds.]]
* SalvagePirates: Their Scavengers Civic lets them scavenge enemy wrecks for technology and resources.
* SolidGoldPoop: Or rather, solid gold farts. The "Inorganic Breath" trait, much like the Lithoids, allows individual Toxoid pops to produce 0.001 units of Exotic Gas per month.
* ToxicInc: They wouldn't have it any other way, as embodied by the Relentless Industrialist Civic.
[[/folder]]

* ResurgentEmpire: They become this if they Awaken.

* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' testfire your new planet-cracker on their holy planets. They ''will'' awaken and try to have your empire crushed if you do.
** If you think shielding the world instead will make them happy, think again. They ''will'' treat it like you'd destroyed the world. They want access to the world so that they can ensure it remains consecrated as opposed to being defiled by neglect.

* TheFundamentalist: While dormant, they do not stand out in this regard any more than their counterparts, but this changes in case they awaken and become Doctrinal Enforcers. All the other Awakened Empires equally want others to obey and fulfill the demands placed on them, yet they don't care what truth the younger races believe in. In contrast, Doctrinal Enforcers seek not only to ensure their primacy over others but to force the entire galaxy to share their beliefs, meaning that should any non-Gestalt empire decide to become their Dominion, it will automatically get a Fanatic Spiritualist ethic. Befittingly, Doctrinal Enforcers will bear any of the ''Crusaders'', ''Fanatics'', and ''Zealots'' as the second half of the empire name.

* {{Catchphrase}}: Boom! It loves beginning its advice with "Boom!"

[[folder:Crisis Aspirant]]

Crisis Aspirants are would-be harbingers of galactic doom, backed by unknowable powers.

* DoomsdayDevice: The endgame for a Crisis Aspirant is centered around two types of doomsday device, both of which put the more mundane Colossus to shame and both of which come into play once a Crisis Aspirant has completed all five levels of Menace and declared war on the entire rest of the galaxy.

* EvilIsHammy: They're quite big fans of grandiose and melodramatic threats. If you ''are'' the Crisis Aspirants, you even get to see some of your own.

* HistoryRepeats: Deliberately invoked if the Zroni were the generated precursors. [[spoiler:These guys are effectively trying to do the same thing the Divine faction of the Zroni had done; a fact they might very well be aware of if they were the ones to discover the Zroni in the first place. And unlike the Zroni, who were not unified in their goals, and whose non-genocial members far outnumbered the Divine, the Crisis Aspirants are fully devoted as a civilization to their dark purpose.]]

* ZergRush: The "menacing" ships a Crisis Aspirant gets access to are individually inferior to conventional warships of the same hull size, but are much cheaper to build and maintain, not least due to being built out of raw minerals rather than refined alloys. As a result, it's quite apparent that a Crisis Aspirant is meant to use these ships to win against the numerous normal empires that take issue with their goals by way of swarming them with vast numbers of individually-weaker ships.

[[folder:Cosmic Genesis]]