Star Control 2 - The Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah

[@ShiniesAreCool]

A screaming fanatic can be frightening, but the truly terrifying ones are so confident in the absoluteness of their way that they never deign to raise their voices. The Kohr-Ah aren't angry that you disagree with them. They are right. You are wrong. There is no discussion to be had.

[@normanred9212]

And they aren't wrong, Nature agrees

[@PaulTightbowFirellon]

This voice actor is truly brilliant. SO calm, confident, reasonable, sometimes sarcastic and nonetheless evil as hell...

[@GlobstersMessenger]

Dunno about you but I get the remote sense of a tinge of compassion at the end. Perhaps not what we'd classify as 'compassion', but from the standards of someone of the Khor-Ah, I think the genuine desire for the person they're about to purge to understand at least why, is interesting. Why would it matter that someone understand why they do this, if they were about to die? Why would the Khor-Ah care at all if the people they killed did or didn't 'take whatever rituals are necessary for their species'? One of the most interesting aspects is how on some level, this isn't something they take joy in, they aren't xenophobic in a particularly hateful way, they just see this as a necessary action for their safety, like putting down an animal.

[@RonaldRaiden]

They echoed the words of their only friends who the dynarri commanded them to destroy. This made them feel the compassion to at least explain why, but their reasoning to continue cleansing is that the "spores" could be enslaved by the Kzer-za and pose a real threat to their kind. Kind of like a "hey, you guys are cool, but they might turn you against us and we don't believe in slavery so LATER" *throws spinny disc thing*

[@GeoRyukaiser]

The Kohr-Ah are surprisingly civil for a species out to comit omnicide. If they could get over thier own fears they could be good drinking buddies.

[@iona2225]

"This is my trophy stein shelf! It was collected from the various Renaissance fairs and German towns I exter- I mean, visited."

[@normanred9212]

They live by the true law of Nature of the Universe, only the strongest survive

[@purpleblah2]

I remember reading on the wiki that the Ur-Quan reflect the reactions of abused children, people who were abused and underwent extreme trauma, and in reaction, lashed out at others in perceived self-defense.

[@normanred9212]

A true expression of Nature, not good nor bad, just a species fighting for survival and staying on top

[@urquanoverlord2538]

The way he understands your fear and the tone he says "nonetheless" in makes him sound kinda friendly.

[@HayTatsuko]

Bryce did a fantastic job of bringing personality to the Kohr-Ah. Yeah, they are one of the most terrifying forces ever seen in a game, but dammit... they have reason to be creepy, ample reason. That's the real horror -- they are coldly logical about how things are and relentless in pursuing their logic.

[@sumanadasawijayapala5372]

It's funny how they describe their history in much more detail than the Kzer-Za, despite wanting to exterminate you.

[@mrmrmadlad9167]

@@sumanadasawijayapala5372 It sort of makes sense, the Kohr-Ah’s doctrine is the much more extreme one, so they probably feel the need to justify it in much more detail

[@LordOfGilneas]

@@mrmrmadlad9167 That and the kohr-ah were the 'warrior race' of the two engineered subspecies, the Kzer-za were scientists and philosophers, so it makes sense that save push coming to shove the kzer-za are more detached about things.

[@JTDutch]

... "I grow tired of talking, alien, and your time grows short." Spoken like true badasses.

[@shamussimpson1566]

so badass. i remember running into them for the first time and i was like oh shit i'm dead.

[@the_kombinator]

@@shamussimpson1566 I too was cleansed. *AALLELUYAH* (reappears)

[@BossDabei]

Then---- "I guess that's it." "No, it is not."

[@ZorotheGallade]

They...are one of the best. Villains. EVER.

[@stcredzero]

ZorotheGallade This is some of the best Fantasy/Space Opera writing I have ever encountered in a game. Heck, it beats most tv shows and movies!

[@RonaldRaiden]

Direct relationship with...dare i say it...nazis. They felt as though their race was superior because they got their asses handed to them in ww1, and then blamed all the immigrants for their problems. It also seems to be inspired by the descendants of slaves in the U.s., they would never allow themselves to be enslaved again

[@ZorotheGallade]

Godwin's law in effect right there.

[@RonaldRaiden]

@@ZorotheGallade i had to Google that but lol. It makes sense though no? The dnyari were symbolic of Hitler's speech against Judaism. "Mind control" through his position

[@skatetrooper5285]

@@stcredzero I agree

[@user-lx9tl3lc5f]

Can you imagine, alien, what it must have been like to wear an excruciator? To live in endless screaming pain for months on end? No. You cannot.

[@Aruthicon]

3:13 The way he says "nonetheless" is... comedic.

[@puffythedestroyer8878]

this voice is almost tony jay levels of an un-earthly, yet calm & pragmatic demeanor

[@Dwarfurious]

Love how theres 3 ways to hear this story, and they all tell it a little differently, each giving you a little more information, only after you hear it from all 3 sources do you know it.

[@mikakeinanen8382]

1) Ur-Quan/Kohr-Ah, 2) Dnyarri, 3) Melnorme?

[@UnrealPerson]

@@mikakeinanen8382 UQ Kzer-Za, UQ Kohr-Ah and Melnorme. The Dnyarri are about as reliable as the average conservative.

[@mikakeinanen8382]

@@UnrealPerson so in the star control universe, which story of the above you prefer? I think the Mael-Num (Melnorme) provide an unique view into it

[@UnrealPerson]

@@mikakeinanen8382 The Melnorme's seems the most objective out of all of them, although we have no reason to believe both flavours of Ur-Quan are lying, even if they tend to stroke their centipediform _canolo_

[@mikakeinanen8382]

@@UnrealPerson Melnorme is objective because they are the objective of the genocide in the eternal conflict. They just survive. Actually, now that I think of it, so is Dnyarri.. but what is the difference between them?

[@deathrabbit8710]

"We are self sufficient. We need nothing. We want nothing..." Damn, I love them so much.

[@kabob0077]

The Kzer-Za: "Let's just put everyone who doesn't choose to fight with us under a shield and never again be slaves!" The Kohr-Ah: "SUFFER NOT THE ALIEN TO LIVE!"

[@charlesajones77]

The Ur-Quan are quite possibly the best villains in any video game ever. They actually have good reason for doing what they do.

[@vpryt18]

Same as Scryve in SCO

[@spicingdeed8931]

​@@vpryt18scryve sucks, cartoon villains

[@vpryt18]

@@spicingdeed8931 looks cartoon due to the approach of Stardock but Scryve has a good reason too for doing what they do, just like Urquan.. Actually they are the urquan of SCO, with a different name, due to copyright issues with PistolShrimp games.

[@ClickBeetleTV]

The depictions of trauma as motivation in the Kohr-ah and Kzer-za were unusually persuasive

[@otofoto]

They sound like Russians. You are not our enemy but we will attack so you sure are.

[@aSSGoblin1488]

the urquan star control 2 has a special place in my memory of youth. what a well written and voiced early game from the 90s

[@rayxus2216]

Holy shit. So the Mael-Num are the Melnorme... Mind = Blown

[@hagamapama]

THat makes the Melnorme older and probably more advanced than the Ur-Quan.

[@EricBarbman]

I've just watched again the first encounter with Melnorme, who don't want to disclose anything about their "origin and purposes which are frankly mysterious due to serveral unavoidable factors" one of them being their "unwillingness to give information" :D

[@DeltaD36]

Literally Mass Effect before Mass Effect.

[@EricBarbman]

Yes, clearly, ME stole direct elements from the Star Control 2 lore.

[@littlecjoverthere467]

Mael-Num Melnorme?

[@earthsteward70]

I think one of the creators said that this is canon.

[@mikakeinanen8382]

It's canon. One of the mind blown moments I learned 20 years after playing it for first time

[@SuperNerd9695]

Correct

[@tree_alone]

"I fondle my bone too, we're not so different you and I."

[@iona2225]

"I miss the universe five microts ago, the time before you said that. You will now be cleansed."

[@tree_alone]

@@iona2225 "but who will cleanse your mind of my words, now immortal in your memory? Fool that you are, thinking that by destroying this physical form I will not haunt your nightmares..."

[@Lavthefox]

An interesting observation on my part: The Kzer Za did not speak condescendingly about their Khor Ah brothers, other than perhaps referring to them as laborers. Even after the Kzer Za give their explanation for the Path of Now and Forever --> it wasnt even like "man we hate those guys! they suck" but a more methodical and logical approach. The Khor ah, on the other hand... used the terms "Effete" and "bureaucrats." Perhaps it is their combative nature, their innate hostility that compels them to even make a description of their brothers a point of conflict!

[@kynriv101]

Kohr-Ah > Mass Effect's Harbinger.

[@Cecilff2]

@bonart9 @Maridianokusho The Kohr-Ah aren't complete monsters, they do want to explain why they do what they do. Without the talking pets, they would be unable to. Sort of a way of saying "Sorry you have to die." I would guess that would they have somehow succeeded in their goal of wiping out every single living sentient thing to their satisfaction, they would have turned on their Dnyarri afterwards.

[@NuniaBiznaz]

Incredibly incredibly late reply, but I personally believe that since the Kohr-Ah believe in reincarnation, they see it as slightly neccessary to talk to those who will eventually become future Ur-Quan once there is no more life left to reincarnate into, but they deem the Dnyarri so vile that their entire species will be allowed to exist solely as non-sapient translators, their souls trapped forever within mindless flesh shells so that their evil, no matter how distanced, may never again mingle amongst the Ur-Quan, as eternal punishment for their sin.

[@MultiCommissar]

They use "talking pets" because the idea of having a direct conversation with another species disgusts thrm.

[@RawrManu]

The voice reminds me of Sovereign, from Mass Effect.

[@tree_alone]

something that scares an ur-quan has got to be beyond scary

[@mikebison9838]

Imagine losing your will and being a mindless slave for thousands of years.

[@SaraphDarklaw]

@@mikebison9838 The worst part is they still remember. Trauma isn’t allowed to heal.

[@tree_alone]

@@mikebison9838 not mindless. They were trapped in their bodies like helpless observers.

[@UBCForce]

My favorite voice :)

[@Wargoat6]

Bad ass voice acting.

[@whocares5529]

mr cleeeeaaaan

[@Onefuturist]

They have soooo awesome voice...

[@heavytrike]

The builders, the fighters, the doers.

[@eisvisage1459]

"the Taalo, our only friends... whom we exterminated..." XD

[@tarponpet]

Eisvisage what's so funny?

[@shizogoon9138]

@@tarponpet out of context it sounds funny

[@twilightzoneseinfeld]

Kohr-Ah seem to have a similar history to humans.

[@ashipthattriestobotheryou4759]

If you imagine enough you could know what the taalo form .... *ROCK* Also in star control 3 the clarcontlar are also have rock like biology like taalo too so the ur-quan still have truly friends to be with.

[@hagamapama]

Is the Taalo Shield a Taalo device, or is it perhaps a Taalo?

[@돌죽-u8n]

5:24 so sentimental

[@BrotherJohnCOG]

sounds like the evil immortal from the original Highlander... thick, evil, gravelly... just sinister.

[@seakingpingas]

Yup, he's a talker

[@killertrip10]

ah so the space toad is what makes them get all shakin' in their boots.

[@noisywan]

He says he collects `skeletons` from every race he exterminates. The pit contains human(humanoid) bones only. no Pkunks, no Orz, no Sphati, just humans... weird.

[@aidandixon6028]

Maybe they don't have skeletons. In sc2 most of the aliens are creative and unique and the syreen that are the only humanoids probably have a similarly bone structure.

[@puffythedestroyer8878]

noisywan also orz are new. Also probably have no bones. After all , Orz are not * light reflections * or * many bubbles * like * campers *, it is such joke

[@ashipthattriestobotheryou4759]

In SC 2 P6017 they come with more bones from more species +from other science fiction series

[@GlobstersMessenger]

I mean they've been travelling for millenia around the entire damn galaxy, so if the rest of the galaxy is as populated as the areas in the game, it's not unreasonable. Especially if most of them were not technologically advanced.

[@urquanoverlord2538]

Those do not look that human. it's also unlikely we see them all.

[@mrk45]

It's almost disappointing when you find out that badass voice is actually coming from the little Dnyarri froggie in the corner.

[@jotunbjorn]

I like to imagine the Ur-Quan sound like autotuned squirrels which is why they have the pets.

[@seneryy]

I think this is how their voice actually sounds, the Dnyarri is a mere interpreter that translates it with same sounding to the one who is being talked to

[@Cynidecia]

The Slave has become the Slavemaster. No better than the Dnyarri. The Taalo would look on them with disgust.

[@DoomRater]

"We cleanse the galaxy of such threats" But you didn't..... did you?

[@bummer6]

I never got to this part of the game... I now feel for the Kohr-ah. I thought they just wanted to dominate the universe, now I see they were just defending their spiecies from suffering the same fate once more.

[@MrAsaqe]

Galactic conquerors usually engage with more pompous ceremony than a race who never want to be under the boot of another.

[@swashbucklemchrue2323]

For being the working class Ur-Quans, they sure do talk better than the Kzers.

[@gavinbalter9464]

Hey kour-ah can I have a dnyarri to translate Orz

[@andreinazarov7638]

Wait what if you take the talking pet from the umgah to orz...

[@DoomRater]

I too enjoy sacrificing myself to Cthulu. The Arliou make it clear learning more will get humanity utterly wrecked by eldritch abominations.

[@Dwarfurious]

I dont accept the Lurg, its a fan-made mod, it is not in the continuity and i find the idea of trying to mix this shadow species into SC2 to be offensive.

[@mikakeinanen8382]

Best evil of any ever devised story of humankind.. and yet it makes me think.. are we the Kohr Ah?

[@awkwardcultism]

The Ur-Quan ideologies are based around sacrificing all others for the benefit of oneself... no matter how good the reason, this is wrong. When we follow this path, we are the Ur-Quan. But when we work together with others, and sacrifice ourselves for the benefit of others, we are not. Humanity as a whole is quite selfish. (I don't exclude myself from this.) But humanity also has the ability to learn and grow... that is another thing the Ur-Quan lack. The fact that you asked this question and took a silly little computer game as an opportunity for self-reflection and personal growth is proof that we are not Ur-Quan.

[@mikakeinanen8382]

@@awkwardcultism When I was small, me and my friends took upon us, to slaughter a small maggot. We hit it I did, with a rock and it split open with foam of white stuff

[@lord_toker]

​@@awkwardcultismWise observation

[@KevinBusomjack]

I am the vanguard of your destruction....wait, wrong game.

[@antimarmite]

but when you think about it, the way that the green Ur-Quan enslaved races was different than the Dynari's enslavement, rather than turning a race into the slaves the way Europeans did to the Africans, they simply imprisoned and enlisted races, only calling upon them in times of war or preventing them from killing other races or themselves, in a sense, it wasn't enslavement as much as it was vassalage.

[@GlobstersMessenger]

The battle thralls were never enslaved, however those placed under the slave shields certainly were, slave shielded planets had to pay tithe and were permanently sealed away under the Ur-Quan's control. Also, when the Ur-Quan leave? From what we can see in SCII, the moment they leave, everyone pretty much drops what they're supposed to be doing and goes right back to trying to kill each other. They're more like inattentive teachers who come in occasionally with a cane and hit some students, expel some others, and leaves again after having a massive fight in the classroom with another teacher.

[@sohamsengupta6470]

Gotta give it to em, they have a point

[@NuniaBiznaz]

When and why do the kohr-ah say the dialogue at the very beginning of this video?Is it just random chatter after you encounter them enough times, or do you need to kill a certain amount of them?

[@zxcvbnmnbvcxzxcb]

It's when you have the Dnyarri in your inventory.

[@jt4369]

First he says that you are no longer filth, but an actual threat. Then he says that you’re a mere spore or seed that MAY become a threat. I guess Kohr-ah are quite good at contradicting themselves.

[@TinariKao]

Do you care about contradictions from a race that can, and will, exterminate you completely?

[@dynamicwolf]

brings back memories

[@thebestSixZero]

What a lightheaded fellow

[@HalfRightFaceProductions]

my favorite game

[@1stb1]

i do like being tidy, but these guys are clean freaks

[@thebestSixZero]

How bout making another game already

[@Juff0Wup]

Agreed, voice is awesome. This is one part where modern games failed. Epic Fail

[@Kirbpoyo3YT]

i just searched to find original version of Dodal/Blockerman666 PFP aka CoV Guy and oh BOI... what did i found it

[@aliveonmoonrocks]

@Juff0Wup mass effect reaper is basically this, same voice too! lol its like the real star control 3

[@tabryis]

Fucking amazing writing

[@gavinbalter9464]

cc line:your we Barbie gril on core all(real)we are the ur-quan khor-ah.

[@Lorenz-Bruchtal]

Did they ever blink with the lower big eye in the 20000 years of their being? ^^

[@sonofeyeabovealleffoff5462]

Notice how the Kzer-Za glosses over much of this.

[@urquanoverlord2538]

There's a lot of people here who don't know how to reply to comments.

[@ajshell2]

I think this is a relic from the merger of KZbin's comment system with Google+. That broke a lot of old comments, like these. Ironically, KZbin would outlive Google+.

[@urquanoverlord2538]

@@ajshell2 Makes sense. Thanks for telling me.

[@grathapilot]

yep agreed some of the voice acting in Ur-Quan masters was good, but some of it was absolutely terrible so bad in fact that I'm glad I played the voiceover-free original first... but words won't get in the way of others sentimentality ;)

[@Dwarfurious]

You need to get yourself a Talking Pet o.O Sounds like conjecture, the talking pet was nullified anyways so that cant be true. Ur-Quans have a history of killing/torturing themselves, and each other.

[@killertrip10]

i forgot about him whining like a girl when you have a decked out starship and a huge fleet of bad-ass ships lol

[@urquanoverlord2538]

If you're talking about the first bit that's because you have the Dnyarri.

[@killertrip10]

@@urquanoverlord2538 it's been a while, tank for the refresh button.

[@cruelscepter415]

Did you see the endings.... the old man and his grandchild holding hands, exactly same as this

[@gilian2587]

Hello... I am the Doctor; basically, RUN!

[@caslaBBalsac]

Do NOT defame Star Control by comparing it to Mass Effect.

[@TalkernateHistory]

lol, bone pit fondling.

[@avabethmcghee3048]

So... I Goth'd a bit too hard and ended up here.

[@TuneTalesGamer]

@MrILOVEBEINGPURPLE That would be terrifying. lol

[@Cazzerpot]

I wonder why the Kohr-Ah haven't cleansed their talking pets. If they're scared enough of others to make it their mission to wipe out any other life in the galaxy, why do they insist on keeping their former slavers alive?

[@NuniaBiznaz]

The Kohr-Ah believe in reincarnation. They think that once they exterminate all non-Ur-Quan life in the galaxy, every soul will eventually re-incarnate into an Ur-Quan since it would have no other living species to be born as. As such, denying the talking pet's capability to reincarnate into fully sapient, civilized beings living in a supposedly utopian galaxy ruled over and populated solely by fellow ur-quans and instead forcing them to live as immortal sub-sapient translators would be a kind of hell, a sort-of worse-than-death punishment of the Dynarri for the sins they commited against the Ur-Quan. That, and they seem to have some sort of sympathy for the races they exterminate. They see genocide as more of a necessary evil than a thing to take joy in.

[@patrickcummins79]

3:45

[@Dwarfurious]

I know english isnt your first language and its hard to understand, so i was saying you need a talking pet to help translate ! By conjecture i mean you are asserting the motives of the characters

[@dectilon]

@RawrManu Sovreign tries too hard though, trying to be all mysterious. These guys tell it like it is: "We cleanse. You are the filth."

[@Itachi21x]

reminds me of reapers

[@aliveonmoonrocks]

I bet the reapers killed off the Kohr-Ah and made a Kohr-Ah reaper (soverign). lol

[@Whatever4690]

kohr-ah sounds very like koran,haha.

[@mirjamheijn5214]

the il wrath are more muslim like.

[@modex20]

me when watching Anita Sarkeesian

[@Goatisme]

Bro love of all for centipedes

[@patrickcummins79]

3:40