Dispatches from Andromeda:

THE NIETZSCHEANS

In this week’s dispatch, Wolfe discusses one of the series' most intriguing species: the Nietzscheans. The newly released Andromeda web site states that Nietzscheans (Homo sapiens invictus) are an offshoot of humanity "bigger, faster and stronger than normal humans."

"They are immune to most poisons and diseases," the site proclaims. "They can breathe chlorine gas without harm. They can eat a much wider variety of foods, survive in harsher environments, and pride themselves on thriving where normal humans wouldn’t dare to tread."

Nietzscheans originated on Ayn Rand Station,« a colony founded by a geneticist and named after the author of Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. In the Andromeda universe, they represent about 8 percent of all humans.

Needless to say, their society is founded on the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche who, as the site puts it, "believed that strife and conflict would inevitably reshape men into something better and stronger« than what they once were. As a human subspecies, Nietzscheans took his words to heart and use genetic engineering and nanotechnology to reshape themselves into the ultimate survivors."

"Nietzscheans built their culture on the twin pillars of social Darwinism and Dawkinite genetic competitiveness. Their single-minded« devotion to self-improvement« and the propagation of the their own genes« can strike other species (even their non-Nietzschean cousins) as selfish and arrogant, yet in practice the Nietzscheans’ boundless energy and willpower has made them valued contributors to Commonwealth society."

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SPACE.com: Could you talk about the literary background of the Nietzscheans?

Robert Hewitt Wolfe: We were looking for a race that could be both good and bad and have both positive and negative qualities. I was trying to think about a cool approach for that race and "Darwinists" didn’t really sound that good. "Dawkinite" [named after Selfish Gene« author Richard Dawkins] doesn’t work either. "Machiavellianite" is too long. So it ended up "Nietzschean". It’s cool, short but tough to spell. There are also other associations with Nietzsche.

SC: Godlessness?

RHW: Godlessness, rabid self-interest, sometimes even destructive« self interest. Monsters staring at the abyss and having it stare back, ubermenschen. All those good things. The Nietzscheans are basically the ubermenschen (supermen).

SC: These characters wear their philosophical and literary heritage on their sleeves. What about the others?

RHW: There are definitely in the crew. Dylan [Hunt, Kevin Sorbo's character and captain of the Andromeda Ascendant] has a definite philosophical perspective, [a] secular humanist, governmental -- occasionally military -- point of view. Other characters come from other places. Only two characters in the crew -- the Nietzschean and another -- have the most label-like philosophy.

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Dylan's first officer is a Nietzschean named Gaharris Raday. »Keith Hamilton Cobb seems perfectly cast to play this superman.

"He’s six foot five, so he's actually taller than Kevin is, which was hard to find," says Wolfe.

One can imagine the conflicts Dylan will have with a first officer who believes the best way to fight an enemy is to hit fast, hit early, hit dirty, and kill them all.

The characters in Andromeda’s universe are more complex than you see in most other science fiction shows, because an individual’s personality isn’t solely defined by his, her or its (some Andromeda aliens require more exotic pronouns) species.

"There are not just races, there are philosophically joined groups who share a common philosophy across many races," Wolfe says. "There are political entities that span multiple races. There are races that have their own distinct spheres of influence. There are different kinds of alien life forms that you would have a hard time categorizing as a specific race. There’s a lot of variability. There are movements, corporations, non-governmental organizations, empires, and republics. You name it man, it’s out there." 

This article by Don Lipper originally appeared in SPACE.com (posted: 07:00 am ET, 06 May 2000) -- slipstreaming status: off

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