The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

The Zoq-Fot-Pik, as we see them, have no legs. How to they move then? They mention in their history when they invented wheel, fire and religion all three were walking or so. So how? Zoq (the plant) just ... slowly "wlobbing", the middle (Fot?) flying and the Pik jumping?

Chenjesu? I don't think they need to move, but still ...

Umgah? They are just a mass of some organs and eyes. They'd poke themselves on sharp things on the ground immidiately, but still, how do they move?!

I imagine the Zoq Fot Pik all waddle or hop around in a highly comical fashion.

The Umgah probably pull themselves around by their limbs. Those flesh chambers they're in must somehow give them better mobility. The Umgah spy that pulled the trick on the Spathi probably had special parts grafted onto it so it could pretend to be one of the slugs.

The Chenjesu... well... you've got me there.

If always wondered about the chensesu in particular. It could be that they have limbs made up of crystaline substances. It could be that they are mindes that move from crystal to crystal. But movement is still neccesary for building those broodhomes.

The bass that the zoq-fot-pik are on is not attached to them, it is like a platform. I imagine the zoq and the fot have legs. The pik may traval like a worm.

i always belived that the chenjesu used telepathy and telekinesis, to move objects and interact with the world around them. though no written explination surpports this, to me it makes since that a being, not organic, would have other means to be mobile.

~DEFIANT

On battle the umgah appears to have a body besides the head. Maybe F&P decided that if they are just heads it will look much better.

(http://slylendro.3d-life.com/starcontrol/umgah1.jpg)

(http://slylendro.3d-life.com/starcontrol/umgah2.jpg)

We really don't have a clue how the "real" umgah looks like. They all do modifactions to their bodies! So I really don't have clue how they move.

The chenjesu... well I have no clue how they move either! :P They don't have legs...hands... or anything they can use to move! So there are 2 options: Telkenesis(like DEFAINT said) or they just don't need it, since they have the Tech they need to move.
Now you probably ask: "How they have the tech they need to move themself?" The answer is simple: They are not a "real" race. Someone created them. This is my opinion.

And for the zok-fot-pik.... I agree with Shiver ;D

Edit: look on the second picture of the Umgah. The one from the back seem to stand on legs.

If I remember correctly  in SC3(no comment that I'm referring to this abomination plz!) the Chmmr Levitated let's assume the same is true of the chenjesu,  the mrmmrm(excuse shitly spelling) were mechnical probably with robotic limbs which the chmmr don't have lets assume the physical aspect is the Chenjesu and the mental aspect is the mrmmrm(excuse spelling again).

And let's look at the umgah in a different light they are parsitic by nature right?  Let's say they they "infest" a mobile animal let's say a mule for example it would take over the mind and then live inside of it, similar to the Dnyarri no?

The Umgah don't look parasitic to me.

IIRC, the canonical answer for Chenjesu is that they do not move themselves, but they do have the ability to manipulate electrical fields, enabling them to build complicated electrical devices. These can then be used to move the Chenjesu if they so desire.

Like D999 said, the Chenjesu use highly complex and sophisticated electrical fields to manipulate their surroundings; they can send hyperwave communications naturally too.

Where on God's green earth did you get the idea that the Umgah are parasitic?
*mutters*
We don't need an Azolero here, read up on information before you throw assumptions out.

The Chenjesu had no natural predators, and were chemo-photovores; they had no need to evolve movement since both were in extreme abundance on their planet.  Assuming that their bodies are piezo-electric, some part of them has to deform in order to produce their electric arcs, so they might have some sort of silca-musclular base used to move slowly in search of new chemical deposits (and to eat).

The ZFP:  The Zoq probably waddles, the Fot probably crawls with hundreds of tiny legs under its shell (it looks like a lichen-scraper), and the Pik seems to bounce quite a bit already in the comm screen.

The Chmmr in SC3 bear no resemblance to the Chmmr in SC2...

The Umgah are agoraphobic, so they don't touch the ground too often. In regards to their being parasitic:  I mentioned parasitic anscestry as a possible explaination for their agoraphobia and preference for fleshy living environments.

A question from another thread:  Did the Ur-quan travel through the tree-tops on their planet (like they do in their dreadnoughts now), or did they crawl on the ground?

Do Druuge move at all, or do they hang in chains throughout their lives, letting machines move them around?

How do the Supox move (a question answered in another thread if I recall correctly)?

Do VUX have legs or two more tentacles?

I think some of those questions are yet to be decided. The VUX could walk with legs, or many tenticles. The supox could easily have legs. Most of the pictures seem to cut off so you don't see how they walk. Maybe that should be an ingame question.

Just answered one of my own questions: VUX are bipedal (in the SC1 manual).

I indeed forgot about the Chenjesu telekinesis and telepathic abilities. Would figure out a lot. Moving themselves with telekinesis... cool.

I tried to come up with other races that might seem pecualiar...

I find Pkunk rather peculiar, when it comes to walking/moving. Their immensily large, fat head must weight so much it must interfere...

Hmm... I would guess that the Pkunk exhibit morphological changes that came about due to living principally in space.

I don't know how the planet-bound ones do it.

Which means that the Yehat are Pkunk are definitly not interbreedable. The Yehat, as mentioned in the SC1 manual, live on a superdense planet.

"Hellooo my old bretheren! So glad am I to see that the chakras have aligned in our fav--"
*head implodes*

Well, it was a guess. Maybe their super-skeletal strength from evolving on a superdense planet enables such aberrations, and after a short period back on homeworld their heads shrink back down to a manageable size.

the chenjesu use the suns or what ever energy they have and and are able to glide you know like bumper cars
what ever go to smart school

An interesting fan written fiction proposed that the chenjesu moved by molecularly rearranging themselves -- an incredibly slow process.  

And that also, since then, they developed a wheeled cart that could be manipulated electrically.

I thought it fit their particular style -- thoughtful, philisophical, slow.

These have all been very wonderful theories and an utmost joy to read, I have to say that with the Chenjesu I too favour the idea of slow molecular readjustment, for no other reason than the idea of it fascinates me more than anything else; and if one were to theorize, it would also explain why they'd wish to bond with the Mmrnmhrm and moreover, how.  After all, it's true that the Mmrnmhrm used technology that was so aptly described by the avatar of Sqrlian-ness, Gordy, as Robotech technology.  Given the morphic nature of the Mmrnmhrm and the supposedly morphic nature of the Chenjesu, this might allow them to bond on some molecular level and this possibility might've seemed like a really good idea at the time to both, for the reasons stated within the game, of course!  It seems likely anyway that such an adaptive and modular molecular structure would support the idea of 'The Process'.

As for the Pkunk, I have little to say!  I certainly don't stand behind the idea of them being 'airheads', not at all.  I won't hear of that.  Instead I'd rather agree with he who claimed the Pkunk to have a denser bone structure, after all, if it works for Flamingoes then it might also work for our good friendly friends, the Pkunk.  It's just a theory in passing anyway, they all are and I enjoy them.  I've also enjoyed reading all this.  Verily, keep them coming!  This is a fascinating topic.

I did have an idea on the Umgah too; but that was ranging far too into the far-fetched and it might get me into trouble, so I'm not sure whether I should share this one.  I think I will but... you have been warned.  And to be forewarned is to have four-arms, or something along those lines.  I theorize that the Umgah whilst not being wholly parasitic, might be able to 'bond' with their ship on some level, so instead of moving they might be able to 'sink into' the biommass of their ship, to join with it and eventually, be spat out somewhere else.  That the 'body' of their ships might work like any other body and its reactions to the organisms contained within.  I know little of the Umgah so their entire planet might be like this as far as I know.

It might be possible that they were able to merge with parts of their planet and use it to travel around, utilizing vines and whatnot in a sort of symbiotic way.  If they were parasites then it's likely they'd still have and be using the creatures they bonded with, I'm not sure?  They could've 'absorbed' these creatures into their biomass I admit, and used them that way but they don't seem to have any aspects of other races.  So they might feed on the animals of their planet by absorbing them and they might use these absorption techniques to move through certain kinds of matter such as the biomass of their ship.  Not like parasites then but... it's really quite hard to explain.

More like the way a water-based life-form might become one with a body of water easily.  A water-elemental might become a lake.  That sort of thing.  In essence, I believe I'm claiming that the Umgah are flesh elementals.  I know, it's just icky.  I wouldn't touch the topic more than that with a long barge pole, and I might desire to clean said pole afterwards.

... or discard it entirely.

As for the Umgah, I take note of several factors:

1) they take a very whimsical view towards combat
2) they find massive destruction funny
3) they are the best neurosurgeons around
4) their ship is called the drone
5) instead of one Dnyarri being able to take control of one planet of Ur-Quan (who were the most psychically susceptible of the Milieu races), the Dnyarri took over the ENTIRE UMGAH SPECIES

I think the Umgah are psychically linked on a deep level to each other, so closely tied that individuality is greatly mitigated. So going into combat against a precursor vessel and facing sure death is fine, because it'll jump ship once it has been discorporated, and enjoy the tale with a laugh later on.
On the other hand, once the Dnyarri asserted control over the umgah on the homeworld, which has by far the biggest psychic network around (even bigger than 1-900-Pkunkra), the weight of that influence affected the outlying ships.

SO... the umgah on board a ship might simply absorb into the walls, discorporating... and then grab spare parts from a different part of the ship and reincorporate over there. For short range movement, of course, those stubby legs would be adequate.

What think ye?

Sounds exactly the same as what I'd described, I note.  My theory being minus the psychic elements, of course.  That said, I support your theory.  It sounds good and plausible to me.  I think the Umgah are just biomasses which can bond with things, I think that's all each Umgah body is.  They're like an ameoba but on a much larger scale, and they actually have a complex molecular structure as opposed to none.

-- Edit --

Of course, I bear no malice towards the peculiar Umgah so I wouldn't want to discard said stick; besides, poking them with a stick might prove enlightening, they might really be holographic entities disguising themselves as a biomass to throw us off and they got hacked!  Of course, I really should stop thinking about machines.

And no, nobody should take that seriously, I was kidding, wholly.  Though this does give an amusing cause to wonder, if the Umgah shared their home planet with any other races, said races might've spent days poking the Umgah with sticks and wondering what they were and in an eye-for-an-eye way, the Umgah might've decided to do some exploratorive research on them instead and found how fascinating it was.

"Oh, so THAT'S why they were poking us with sticks.  There's interesting stuff in there!  Probably in us too..."

Nonetheless, I shall wander off and take my crazy with me, but I thought it was an amusing thought in passing.

I think the Umgah move sort of like meatwad does in Aqua Teen Hunger Force.  Just sort of roll around like meatballs.

Since their entire homeworld is made of crystals, maybe the Chenjesu transfer themselves through the crystal latices of their world.

What I think this discussion is verging on, but hasnt actually said yet, is that the umgah are a collective. Each umgah can merge with each other, and maybe the squishy bottom of their ships. They are each different, and have enough organs grafted to them to allow them to do their jobs. They are sortoff like the borg in startrek, except organic (squishy-er)

Don't the umagh just sort of roll around and laugh? har har har  :P

They seem very... interconnectable. It seems if two umgah were pressed toghether they would make a single umgah.

This theory seems ok. It explains why the frog took over the entire Umgah and not just a single planet. Also, I think the "drone" ship is made from...Umgah.

The drone doesnt look organic to me. I think they built it.
The podship looks organic. I think the blade is under dispute.

You know what? You are right. The drone can't be organic. The umgah are "real" life form. They were created from nature. The Mycon aren't. There isn't an organic creature that can survive in space. The podship surely can, because it was created for it by another creature.

It looks like they forced evolution on a mycon to make him a podship. I would think that the mycon is still alive though. They are quite the tough fungi

What would be a real pain is moving around as a Druuge. Always stuck on chains and hooks, not much room to move about as you please.

Also what about the Kohr-Ah? I mean, judging by teir in-game picture, they must be at least 15-20 feet tall. or long. Do they bond themselves to the ceiling of their ships or what? Along with their piles of bones and 40+ crew, I doubt that leaves much room to frolic about. or do they move at all?

A lot of races appear as if they're immoble.

Some very interesting theories here :)

Isn't it possible that the Umgah genetically modified themselves to be blobbies? They sure enjoy biology and with their skills in that area I have little doubt that they could have done it.

This also begs an interesting question; If the umgah have modified themselves to be the humourous psychic blobbies we know and love (har har har), what would the original umgah have been before the modifications began? Squid? Frog? Chumtoad?

It's also neat how the umgah dont really discuss their history as other races do, it leaves it so very open a book :)

I have always wondered, How do the supox move? (Chrispy, were are you?) I mean, being a plant, you can be transport every second. On the other hand, according to the game, we "proved" that plants cna't be sentient. So... Any ideas?

The supox, unlike plants we are familiar with, have muscles.
The can control their own movements.
Another difference between the supox and other plants, is that the supox have an unset number of leg like roots. These roots do not dig fully into the ground. They serve the purpose of water consumption, and movement.

But the stupidest thing in the game is that they can't explain how they "come" in this world... Just ruined the game  :-/

Don't they say that their scientists proved that plants can be sentient too?

from comm/supox/supox.txt:

#(plants_arent_intelligent)
C'mon, plants can't be intelligent! Our top scientists and science fiction writers have proven it!

#(PROVES_WERE_SPECIAL)      supox016.ogg
Yes. This has been confirmed by our people as well. Strange, is it not?
Many of our people regard this inconsistency as proof of our divine origin.