36 replies to this topic

[Sky Legacy]

Just curious but anyone with any better "Lore" knowledge than me can chime in on whether certain clans are supposed to be inspired by or based on particular countries/regions/ethnicities, even in a vague/subtle sense?

To me here is the "feel" that I get from some of the clans roughly speaking:

Clan Jade Falcon: this clan strikes me as roughly irish/scottish/UK/Anglo-saxon in leaning, or something. Their founder is Khan Elizabeth Hazen which is sort of an English/UK sounding name. The predominance of the green color in their heraldry seems remniscient of Wales and Irish flag.

And some of their official blood names sound very Anglo like Faulk, Horn, Sender, Thastus, etc?

Clan Wolf with their sheer military might, dominating Red color and exclusivity of Kerensky blood name definitely strikes me as "Russia" (though strangely there's a weird attraction of real Russian players to clan Jade Falcon for some reason).
Furthermore there's parallels with Clan Wolf and Russian history in that Russia seems often baited into wars they don't want (Warden) and the Clan Wolf in Exile event seems to be remniscient of Russia's civil war / october revolution or even the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and the ceasing to be one of of history's great powers.

Clan Ghost Bear - Strikes me as sort of some Nordic / Scandinavian clan not only due to the obvious polar bear reference but the fact that they are peaceful and deliberate and very cautious (from what I remember) kind of like many Scandinavian societies, thoughtful and not quick to action but once they commit they are methodical and brutal.
Their founder is "Hans Ole Jorgensson" so the Scandinavian region definitely seems like the inspiration for this clan.

Clan Smoke Jaguar reminds me of some African region vibe. Partly due to the fact that a smoke jaguar reminds me of a panther sort of like the comic book superhero Black Panther who is from a technologically advanced society "Wakanda" just like from what I can remember wasn't Smoke Jaguar supposed to be one of the most technologically advanced clans?

Their founder Franklin Osis, not sure of the etymology of that name but sort of reminded me of Osiris and names of that sort, which were from ancient Egypt.

Secondly, they were also devastated and destroyed just like colonial Africa was by the evil "Empire" representing Europeans aka the Inner Sphere Houses, I guess.

Their home world "Huntress" has a very tribal name feel.

I remember too little of the other clans' specifics to comment on them but maybe some others can lead the discussion on the other clans or Houses.

Obvious ones like House Kurita being Japanese.

What about Davions, and all the rest? Steiners = Jewish?

[Spr1ggan]

From Sarna on Steiner as of 3130.

• Location (Terra relative): Coreward and Anti-Spinward quadrant^[5]
  
• Total (Inhabited) Systems: 319
  
• Estimated Population (3130): 955,000,000,000
  
• Government: Constitutional Monarchy (with German feudal stylings)
  
• Dominant Language(s): German (official) , English, Scottish Gaelic, Italian, French
  
• Dominant Religion(s): Christian (Protestant), Judaism, Muslim
  
• Unit of Currency: Kroner (1 kroner = 2.13 C-Bills / 3.88 C-Bills (3145)^[6])

Davion.

• Founding Year: 2317
  
• Capital (City, World): New Avalon City, New Avalon
  
• National Symbol: A silver sword, blade upturned, against a golden sunburst on a red disc.
  
• Location (Terra relative): Outward-Spinward quadrant
  
• Total (Inhabited) Systems: 434
  
• Estimated Population (3130): 1,302,000,000,000
  
• Government: Constitutional Aristocracy (Western European feudal stylings)
  
• Ruler: Prince Harrison Davion^[24]
  
• Dominant Language(s): English (official), French, German
  
• Dominant Religion(s): Christianity (Interfaith Church), Buddhism, Judaism
  
• Unit of Currency: Pound (1 pound = 0.97 C-Bills/1.72 C-Bills (3145)^[25])

Edited by Spr1ggan, 21 August 2015 - 05:05 PM.

[FupDup]

I just think of the Clans as communist inbred space furries.

[Agent 0 Fortune]

I like to think of them all as Jewish, because of the whole exile and weird commandment thing.

[bad arcade kitty]

FupDup, on 21 August 2015 - 05:06 PM, said:

I just think of the Clans as communist inbred space furries.

do you have a plushie of your green space turkey?

[Spr1ggan]

It's been discussed before but ok. Even though the Clans have their own quirks and identities. Their involvement in BT lore is pretty much taken from the Golden Horde (Mongols) invading Europe in the middle ages. Hence the Khans etc.

Edited by Spr1ggan, 21 August 2015 - 05:32 PM.

[Sky Legacy]

Spr1ggan, on 21 August 2015 - 05:13 PM, said:

It's been discussed before but ok. Even though the Clans have their own quirks and identities. Their involvement in BT lore is pretty much taken from Golden Horde (Mongols) invading Europe in the middle ages. Hence the Khans etc.

That's very interesting thanks. You're right about that. I.e. that in GENERAL the re-invasion storyline IS taken from that. However each individual clan is obviously uniquely based on different regions/nationalities as I've outlined, at least in my opinion

Sky Legacy, on 21 August 2015 - 05:18 PM, said:

That's very interesting thanks. You're right about that. I.e. that in GENERAL the re-invasion storyline IS taken from that. However each individual clan is obviously uniquely based on different regions/nationalities as I've outlined, at least in my opinion

Then again it could be based more on the crusades because Mongols as far as I know were not after one particular city like "Terra" but in the crusades it was very clearly all about getting Jerusalem

[Spr1ggan]

Sky Legacy, on 21 August 2015 - 05:18 PM, said:

That's very interesting thanks. You're right about that. I.e. that in GENERAL the re-invasion storyline IS taken from that. However each individual clan is obviously uniquely based on different regions/nationalities as I've outlined, at least in my opinion


Then again it could be based more on the crusades because Mongols as far as I know were not after one particular city like "Terra" but in the crusades it was very clearly all about getting Jerusalem

Well another thing to note is that the Mongol invasion of Europe failed due to their leader dying and all the top generals going back home to choose a new leader. Similar with the Clans in BT, the IlKhan was killed and the Clans halted the invasion so they could choose a new one.

I'm not saying that they are Mongols and look like them or anything like that. They do have roots in certain cultures. Iirc Goliath Scorpion are a very Spanish sort of Clan.

Edited by Spr1ggan, 21 August 2015 - 05:27 PM.

[Sky Legacy]

Grisbane, on 21 August 2015 - 05:24 PM, said:

Clan Nova Cat was inspired by Native Americans.. the rituals and beliefs the Nova Cats have are based on those that were and still are (to some extent) common to some Native American tribes.

very cool that's the type of thing I was looking for. Gotta look into that one

[Spr1ggan]

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page

Use this site dude. Just type whichever faction you want to know about in the search box.

[Bill Shakespear]

The clans aren't really based off any particular ethnicity or country. (Although like the Nova Cats Grisbane mentioned, they sometimes draw inspiration from cultures that guide their principles). They were originally the remnants of the old Star League Defense Force, which encompassed units from every great house. So it was probably a fairly ethnically diverse group.

Nicholas Kerensky loosely based his organization of the "Clans" on the Mongols and feudal Japan.

The Clan names and totems were based on animals found (or they genetically engineered) on the various home-worlds they colonized.

Sarna.net has a great summary of Clan history.

[Sky Legacy]

Spriggan and Bill Shakespeare, yes I know. I'm not looking for the official info as I know officially the clans are not based on particular societies. I was asking what do the clans "FEEL LIKE" to everyone "UNOFFICIALLY."

[Khobai]

dont really know how to contribute to this topic without saying something horribly racist

[lshtaria]

Khobai, on 21 August 2015 - 05:43 PM, said:

dont really know how to contribute to this topic without saying something horribly racist

Racism is only something for people who deny there are actual genetic and evolutionary differences between hooman beens. Black, brown, white, yellow, green, purple... we are all different to each other, we are not the same. It's discriminating and treating each other differently because of those differences that is true racism.

The word "racism" has become so dumbed down and overused lately that people have become worried about talking about normal race related things because of the fear of being labelled racist.

[Khobai]

no matter how profoundly correct your statement might be, if you start saying racist stuff on the forums its still going to get you banned lol.

[El Bandito]

Clan Smoke Jaguar = Space National Socialists

Clan Nova Cats = Space Hippies

Davions = Space Muricans + Brits + French

Steiner = Space Prussians + Italians

Kurita = Space Samurais + Arabs

Liao = Space Chinese + Russians. (making them the "bad guys" whom the Muricans (Davions) love to bash)

FRR = Space Norse

Marik = Space Canada

Comstar = Space Comcast

Edited by El Bandito, 21 August 2015 - 07:57 PM.

[Mazzyplz]

i would contest that and say marik is space european union.

just look at the official marik languages - romanian, spanish and hindi are prominent.
the marik dedication to the arts as well, in 3050 the marik are the only faction that widely appreciates art.
this is similar to what happens in europe nowadays, not to mention the fact that they are fragmented peoples and they often do not agree with each other within the marik empire.


and i think steiner is space USA;
forget the germanic name - let's look at the facts, steiner are war mongers and they love their vehicles of impractical size. much like the usa love muscle cars and huuuge ford/dodge trucks

english language is largely germanic




anyhow;

the inner sphere is based on ethnicities - the clans are based upon gundam's newtypes.


superhuman mech pilots. in gundam it was because they had awoke a latent telepathic ability within.

in battletech it is because they wear microchip tattoos and abuse steroids (how does that make you a better pilot btw? brock lesnar should fly an f-22? LOL!)

Edited by Mazzyplz, 21 August 2015 - 07:25 PM.

[Mazzyplz]

anyways, we had seen this engineered pilots subplot already in ender's game, battletech probably took a page out of both fictions;

in gundam, the people who left earth and came back to attack are very similar to what happens with the clans in battletech, i'd say it's lifted straight out

this was a metaphor against a centralized govt. this has happened many times in the real world, when empires stretch too thin.

in particular in gundam it seems to be an allegory referring to the post ww1 dummy government the germans were so mad about that they sought to fight a new war



the culture of the clans seem to be taken from the philosophy of the spartans of antiquity.
likewise, the dynamics between inner sphere and clans; are almost mirroring the dynamics between the athenians and the spartans. spartans for example fought with short swords called lakonia (i think) because they deemed it honorable and worthy of a warrior, you may have seen this in the movie 300 for example. even the romans fought in a similar way later on with the short sword gladius, so this type of soldier existed for a long time. they also used longer weapons but mostly for throwing

Spoiler

athenians earned their living doing stuff other than fighting, they were fishermen, artisans; etc - and when they fought, they fought smart, they used 8 foot long spears to engage spartans from far,
these warriors with long spears were a different type of hoplite than that of the spartan, both used spears frequently, but the athenian spears were ridiculously long, this type of warfare unit also survived even in the dark ages in the form of pikemen or halberdiers

Spoiler

this is similar to the inner sphere in their disregard for honorable combat, the inner sphere just fights smart

Edited by Mazzyplz, 21 August 2015 - 07:54 PM.

[FupDup]

bad arcade kitty, on 21 August 2015 - 05:11 PM, said:

do you have a plushie of your green space turkey?

This is the closest that I can find on Google:

[lshtaria]

House Cameron was Space 'Murica. It no longer exists.

While there are mixed cultures and ethnicities incorporated into the remaining houses, the main influences are...

Davion = French/English
Steiner = Germanic
Rasalhague = Nordic
Kurita = Japanese
Liao = Chinese
Marik = Eastern Europe

Of course there's more to it than just that but they are the main cultural influences for the houses.