The Founders are a shapeshifting race that runs an expansionist space empire and so are the Skrulls. DC's Durlans would fit in a way, too. They've faced prejudice like the Changelings, but they don't run an empire.
One species has a space empire with a bird motif and a sprinkling of Roman Empire terminology and the other is the Romulans. Sure, the Romulan Star Empire never seems as multi-species as the Shi'ar, but no reason it couldn't be. Might want to drop the link to Vulcan, though...
Turning to DC comics for the Federation species, I'll not the somewhat emotionlessness and computer-like logic of the Vulcans and Brainiac's people, the Coluans.
The other other identifications I thought of, but some are too similar to add anything particularly interesting (The Khunds and the Klingons) and some distant enough to be suggest substitution (Thanagarians and Andorians. Thanagarians might stand-in for Romulans, too, depending on which version we're talking about) but you get the idea.
7 comments:
This was the first thing I thought of when I read this post.
https://web.archive.org/web/20081012172349/http://members.aol.com/legionair/stfc/index.htm
I had to go to the Wayback Machine to find it, but I've had that site bookmarked for a long time.
I guess comics and TV SF tap similar veins when it comes to aliens. Broad brush cultures, a few defining attributes. There's also the interesting question of whether - if you had to be conquered by aliens - you'd rather be part of the Dominion or the Skrull Empire?
I'm totally down with a Wold Newton-inspired mashup sci-fi setting.
Amusingly, the Romulan secret police is actually called the Tal Shiar, but as far as I can tell it's probably a coincidence.
@RandyB - Interesting!
@John Till - The Skrull have been all over the place in their portrayal over the years so it's tough to say. Marvel history has them as largely benevolent back in the Kree's early days of space travel, though.
@Simon J Hopgood - Yeah, we were talking about that coincidence on Gplus too! The Vulcan method of execution by strangulation was called tal-shaya. I wonder it that's related to the Romulan word?
Memory Alpha (the Trek wiki) says that the writer who named the Tal Shiar was indeed riffing on tal-shaya.
Hmmm... I'm thinking about a StarTrek-crossover with the Marvel/DC-aliens. This could be very nice... :D
Wow... I was the GM to the Star Trek: Future Champions game mentioned in the first comment.
I was amazed to find a reference to that old website. Brought back a bunch of great memories.
Thanks. :)
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