MIND FLAYERS: Cultural Index

[@JackgarPrime]

Awwww yeah, here's a race I'd been hoping for an episode on! Also, shout-outs to Spelljammer and the Giant Space Hamsters.

[@LeandraF109]

I don't know GIANT space hamsters, but Richard nearly sent a Robin into space

[@Raine_lrr]

You have seen Boo?

[@greywizard2557]

@@Raine_lrr Go for the eyes Boo!

[@lightningcat82]

I always prefered the Miniature Giant Space Hamsters, they make fun familiars.

[@Tiberon098]

Heck yeah, Illithids are the best malevolent enemies you can use.

[@InvisibleLightRec]

Caitains! (right, found the voting on your community tab) keep up the great work. Watch everything you upload. Best YT channel by far. Very entertaining, informative and diverse even within your subject matter.

[@Charhills]

I've never been interested in D&D but after watching this I'm tempted to learn more

[@kirkkerman]

People (not entirely wrongly) assume it's all just generic fantasy, but a lot of the official campaign settings contain a lot of interesting and evocative ideas.

[@andromidius]

DnD is what you make of it. Don't like an aspect of it? Change it! The lore even says this is okay, as there are infinite parallel mutliverses (and occasional rifts between them).

[@Ultra_DuDu]

You should try to get information on different settings. If you are on this channel I assume you would be more interested in Spelljammer but Eberron or Planescape might also be right for you. The downside being, some of those settings are not really adapted for 5e (the current edition and the most beginner friendly).

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

@@Ultra_DuDu and even then there are good replacements and those that haven't gotten here yet are coming. Ravnica is a good steampunk setting to go alongside Eberron

[@Scylon1]

main thing to keep in mind is Sci-fi has set rules. Things are as they are and it strict. DnD the "rules" are more pliable and it is more a kin to a guide.

[@casbot71]

Whatever you do, never mention the Githzeri around the Githyanki The Githyanki deserve their own *cultural index* as well, they are a complicated species… and they just _look cool_ with their heavily ornate armour and weapons.

[@jdcrosier2682]

Doing a dual one on both types of Gith would be awesome!

[@ptonpc]

Then Hale accidentally blows them all up while he's on his own adventure.

[@cwaldrip]

THIS WAS AWESOME! Please do more D&D monsters!

[@d20avatar]

Oh shit. Never would have thought DnD monsters would be on the table for this podcast.

[@destructimus]

Thank you so much for this video! I've been wanting to learn more since I binge watched Stranger Things last year!

[@ApsalusSigma]

Speaking of space felines, I personally would love to see a Cultural Index on the Kilrathi of Wing Commander.

[@TheLordOnyx]

I am down for that one.

[@rtechie]

The Kzinti memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Kzinti are a very similiar species within Star Trek.

[@richardbell7678]

@@rtechie The Kzinti are only quasi-canonical within the Star Trek Universe. Their only appearance in Star Trek comes from an adaptation of a Larry Niven short story "The Soft Weapon" written for his "Known Space" setting with the characters of Beowulf Shaeffer, Nyssa the Pierson's puppeteer, and Teela Brown (?) renamed Sulu, Spock, and Uhura, given the title "The Stasis Box" and produced as an episode of the Star Trek animated series [arguably the best episode of the best episode of the animated series]. Not that the Kzinti do not deserve their own cultural index episode, only that calling them a "Star Trek species" does them a disservice. The "Man-Kzin Wars" shared universe has (last time I checked) fourteen volumes of short stories and novellas exploring the history of the interactions between humans and kzin.

[@dunmermage]

Aw, yes! Sci-fantasy D&D is best D&D! Ever think of making a video on the modrons?

[@hamishsewell5990]

Amazing stuff! Love this series! Speaking of parasites - would love to see a vid on the Goa’uld of Stargate

[@c-money9623]

These cultural index vids really are a treat.

[@fortkavanagh]

Can you do a video on more... obscure species in Sci-fi series?

[@DCJMS]

That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die

[@aspacegamer92]

Ah yes lovecraft says hello

[@bobthesnotling8647]

Are we headed to the nameless city?

[@DCJMS]

@@bobthesnotling8647 I'm sure they have thousands of lost cities floating around waiting for explorers :)

[@DCJMS]

@@aspacegamer92 when your ancestors are in the future what does death really mean anymore?

[@willmiller8730]

Spooky

[@moonringXD]

Awesome video! you should do more dnd race like gith, beholders or deep imaskari!

[@Gangerworld]

They sound pleasant. Caitans, plz!

[@erieperry8241]

Great video! One of my fav races in DnD! *crosses fingers for a Drow video in future*

[@kannathraymaker]

Loved this profile! One of the best explanations of these dirty berks! Like to put the lot of em in the dead book! Think you could the Aboleth too? They are said to be older than the gods and to have one ruled a multiplanar empire, only they didn’t fly through the skies. They swam through portals like star gates that they made between the oceans of the many many worlds they ruled. And they still exist in furthest depths even to this day, the stories say.

[@Daleksaresupreme1]

As you say, D&D lore is up to interpretation and modern D&D is very Homebrew focused but I really love all the old settings, Greyhawk, Mystara, Dragonlance, Spelljammer, Planescape, Ravenloft and Darksun. Especially when they were all interpreted as a multiverse, where you could be on the planet Oerth (Greyhawk setting) step through a dimensional portal to Sigal (Planescape setting) Step through another portal there to the Rock of Bral (Spelljammer) then hope on a Spelljamming vessel to Krynn (Dragonlance setting). I know all that lore is too complicated and inaccessible by modern standards (reading a bunch encyclopedias for fictional worlds, some of which date back to the 70s is not everyone's cup of tea) but imagine how great it would be to run or play in a campaign where everyone knew the multiverse well enough to improvise and use it as a sandbox.

[@Daleksaresupreme1]

@Hauke Holst Ah, Did not know that. In AD&D there was a book called Krynn space that was a crossover of Dragonlance and Spelljammer

[@Reverend_Sashimi]

Caitian!!! I've always wondered about them! 😁

[@aaronedgeley]

I love these videos! Would love to see something on a species from the Farscape universe. 🤔

[@danielseelye6005]

Yes! The Scarrans for sure but I've wondered if there's more info about the Peacekeepers?

[@joeywall4657]

Can you do a video on beholders next? Unless you already did one and I didn't catch it. I love these non Star Trek episodes :-)

[@prophetisaiah08]

Nice! There's a lot of sci-fi influence in D&D, even though it's primarily a fantasy property. Spelljammer is the most obvious sci-fi influenced setting, but there's bits and pieces of sci-fi to be found nearly everywhere in D&D.

[@christopheroneill77]

nice vid, good beats and info, love the pacing and blend of obscure and basic info. Bravo!

[@XX-sp3tt]

I swear I twist into contortions every time I hear the words 'Far Realm' and how it's hijacked several pieces of previous established lore along with the Primevals!

[@gallendugall8913]

Oh sure, everyone hates the "Mind Flayers", but everyone would want to be their friends if you give them a nice name like "Mind Cuddlers"

[@axdntprn]

Sounds like thrall talk to me

[@AnonEyeMouse]

It's true. Cthulhu is considered a cosmic horror but Cthuwu is a comedic hugger.

[@MmmEERTGF]

Yeah just imagine what those tentacles can do

[@Wertsir]

Non-consensual mind cuddlers.

[@THE-X-Force]

This was effing fascinating and extremely well produced and presented. Where did the video come from? It's been ages since I've played a game. I really want to get back into it.

[@danieltoquothty4967]

balder's gate 3

[@THE-X-Force]

@@danieltoquothty4967 Thanks very much!

[@oisinm332]

Bio-organic, so doesn't that just mean organic. I'm thinking bioships like the Undine from Star Trek, Yuzhang Vong from Star Wars or Wraith of Stargate.

[@chiefgully9353]

Bio-organic: pertaining to the composition and biological activity of carbon-based compounds, especially those of laboratory rather than biogenic origin Organic: relating to or derived from living material

[@oisinm332]

@@chiefgully9353 Sounds like splitting hairs, if it was just called an organic ship, living ship or bioship all sound like the same thing.

[@chiefgully9353]

@@oisinm332 I think I agree with you. I was just trying to help by providing definitions. Not sure about the nuance of the words though. I guess it's just preference.

[@ElDiabloGringo]

One of my favorite enemies to fight in DnD. They can change the mood of the table in an instant lol

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

I’m a simple man. I see mind flayers, and I click like.

[@feralprocessor9853]

Right off the bat, an unsettling stare.

[@LordProteus]

I hope you do more Fantasy Races, particularly from Dungeons & Dragons. The Aberrations alone, especially from 3rd edition, all have very extensive and rich lore behind them, and a lot of it is condensed in the Lords of Madness book, which is easily my favourite Dungeons & Dragons book of all time. The Nine Hells and The Abyss of 3rd Edition(and probably others) could also make good episodes, which also have condensed compendiums of lore.

[@CertifiablyIngame]

I'd love to, but this channel has a strong sci-fi theme to it and I don't wanna stray too far from that.

[@theunitedcommonwealth715]

Imagine them fighting The Flood or The Yuuzhan Vong or The Demons from Doom yikes.

[@BNuts]

That last implies they would eventually encounter Doomguy as well. And he's rather single-minded, and so unlikely to be stopped.

[@The_Keeper]

Why do you think they had to escape to not only the past, but another multiverse entirely? A slave rebellion is a better explanation than: "Yeah, so there was this one human who eradicated most of our species..." 😁

[@BNuts]

@@The_Keeper Is Doomguy even human anymore?

[@wilmagregg3131]

@@BNuts hes basically ascended to godhood as hes been pumped full of purified argent energy for countless years at this point explaing why he literlly just stumpble a little after getting fired threw a steel and concrete wall by a giant rail gun

[@BNuts]

@@wilmagregg3131 He's full of Argent Energy, a desire for revenge against the demons that cannot be sated, and a little something extra. But even before all that he survived fighting the armies of Hell several times, and I'm assuming travel through space and time. "You're not dealing with the average Slayer anymore," doesn't even begin to describe the monster that is... Doomguy.

[@casbot71]

Oh and Mind Flayers have innate very powerful magic resistance, just to make them even more annoying.

[@feralcrafter7043]

Space tadpoles in the eye, and just kept saying "Come again?" That must burn!

[@flibbernodgets7018]

From what little I know of the Spelljammer setting, the spacefaring Illithids view the ones that live in the Underdark (i.e. the paranoid and murderous kind adventurers are most likely to meet) the way we might view the antagonists from The Hills Have Eyes.

[@megamanfan3]

I find it rather interesting that mind flayers also were used in the Final Fantasy series.

[@sagesheahan6732]

This is sure to push you over 100k subscribers.

[@scottmantooth8785]

*would be interesting to see a cultural index on the Krites from the Critters franchise*

[@chiefgully9353]

Well done cover. Good job

[@Ace20999]

I would love to see some cultural index stuff for Babylon 5

[@Justicemace]

Looks at subscriptions... see this thumbnail.... what heresy is this?!

[@npbwolf]

what video did you use in the mind flayers cultural index

[@guardduvie]

Love your work!

[@BA1Gang]

Isn't part of their lore that they are a paradox, i.e. they fled into the past from the far future where their empire once was, but before they fled into the past their species didn't exist, and they don't know the origin of their species--this ties into the Gith also being a future race that pursued the Illithid into the past for revenge, but their race is sort of a slave designer race that came from some kind of selective breeding of Elf, Human, Dwarf, and Orc over who knows how many eons before the Gith evolved from this mix, and eventually overthrow the Illithid.

[@EmeraldEdge72]

Thank you for doing this I own a copy of Shattered Lands & Wake of the Ravager if anyone is old enough to know what computer games I'm talking about.

[@TheLordOnyx]

I would liked to hear about the Kilrathy of Wing Commander.

[@keithlamm1126]

What movie or tv show were some of these scenes from?

[@antonyborlase3965]

Where did the video bits come from?

[@CSGraves]

I too am curious about those animated clips!

[@lightningcat82]

New Baldur's Gate trailer

[@CSGraves]

@@lightningcat82 Sweet, thanks!

[@jasonskeans3327]

The new balders gate

[@Starius65]

I want to see more of these d&d vids

[@Black-Knyght]

DEFINITELY do the Caitians !!!

[@AnonEyeMouse]

A vote on cat people without the Kilrathi, Thunderans or Khajit? That's a CATastrophic oversight!

[@Zeithri]

They also show up in Final Fantasy 1. And usually kill you!

[@Visuwyg]

Where is the CGI from? So high quality!

[@moonringXD]

It's from the new Baldur's Gate 3 game

[@aledwalters8977]

please explain the tau empire from warhammer 40k

[@balrogdahomie]

Just here to (1) say that this vid is great (not that that’s a surprise) and (2) Reiterate my request for a Principality/Republic of Zeon cultural index video

[@danddoty3981]

Next should be the Kzinti of both Ring World and Star Trek.

[@xXRayilXx]

thx for the info

[@lvluptoaverage52]

This was actually oddly entertaining

[@jakesgaming682]

Looks a lot like the Faceless faction, in the mobile game Realm Grinder. Or is that just me?

[@michaelgundel8168]

Thay remind me of the oode from doctor who some information from them next???.

[@todd5687]

whats the name of the game these video clips are from?

[@haraldjensen1839]

These guys belong in Warhammer 40k

[@NoJusticeNoPeace]

They clearly originate in the Pegasus galaxy, where they were known as the Wraith...

[@carlose4314]

Caitan

[@BNuts]

Can I vote for Option C, the Kilrathi from _Wing Commander_ ?

[@Daleksaresupreme1]

I've always preferred the time travel origin

[@LukeCampbellBrennan]

Anyone know where these video clips are originally from?

[@FarseerOfCearath]

The intro cinematic/trailer of Baldur's Gate 3.

[@TheVeritas1]

I've heard of Mind Flayers but never knew they were this evil. Also, voting for Catians.

[@feralprocessor9853]

They remind me of the "Enslavers" from Warhammer 40k.

[@DWPL89]

9:18 Space hamster? XD

[@Kawa-oneechan]

Yyyyyyup

[@merryc.5466]

All hail the mighty Giff!!! I've been waiting for this video since u mentioned it in another. :) Pls do both catlike species in succession & perhaps the ones from Skyrim also lol. Thx for ur continuously good work. ❤ Like #182

[@SlashDotDash121]

Be gone furry creature

[@piotrskodowski7544]

Go for Zangerians naxt

[@chrisbritt4266]

Go for the ones on Star Trek please

[@rtstrong]

Man, flay a few minds and suddenly *you’re* the bad guy.

[@RomLoneWolf23]

Caitians! Definitely Caitians!

[@SHDUStudios]

Why can’t we play this race?!!!!

[@noaaahhhhhh9420]

What about gith

[@CloneTrooper-yz2ov]

Saiyan would be a fun to do

[@RunicGamingYT]

Caitians! 😃

[@evilwarcow]

I vote the Catanians.

[@Lethaltail]

Damn. That's a lot.

[@barrybend7189]

3.5 best lore.

[@jasonskeans3327]

For the most part but like like what they did for eberon in 5e

[@cstewart7723]

Caitian

[@mittensfastpaw]

But can you cure the parasite in my eye friend?

[@theJayprechaun]

Caitians of Star Trek please.

[@doom7ish]

Ah yes Cuthulu.

[@XiahouDun1225]

Caitian, I'd say.

[@Vestolord]

Zygerrians - Star wars plz

[@jstop5189]

Here you go that’s stranger things for you

[@aidiotjr8128]

We need an Arkanian cultural index

[@Numba003]

D&D is a pretty good time, even if you just want to play casually. Stay well out there everybody, and Jesus Christ be with you friends.😊

[@Scr0fula]

Caitians please.

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

Yes but actually no those of us who have been deepest parts of candlekeep have found old tomes that actually contradict in several ways the established belief we actually don't know that much about the illithid we do know that whatever form the originally possessed it is nothing like what their form currently is we also know that they seem to be directly tied to the far Realm though it's debated in what capacity this is in addition to this we also know But most importantly we know that the great illithid Empire is a non-linear temporal hegemony their empire actually exists in the far distant future and in the far distant past simultaneously they are an Ouroboros civilization they are their own progenitor

[@Kawa-oneechan]

I vote caitians.

[@adamofgrayskull7735]

Ohh yeah

[@cytorakdemon]

Caitians! If only because the other races are Cathars.

[@teufeldritch]

braaaaiiiiinnnsss

[@feralprocessor9853]

Bruh they have diet of classic zombies.

[@MedalionDS9]

Bor Gullet... will know the truth