Speaker-to-Animals

Speaker-to-Animals
Ringworld character
First appearance	1970
Created by	Larry Niven
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Diplomat

Speaker-to-Animals (or later Chmeee) is a fictional character in the Ringworld series of books, written by Larry Niven.

In Ringworld, Speaker-to-Animals is a junior diplomat who is trained to deal with other species without reflexively killing them. He is recruited by Nessus, a Pierson's Puppeteer, as a member of an expedition to explore the Ringworld.

Speaker is a Kzin, a member of an extraterrestrial race of large tiger-like beings. He is a trained diplomat posted to the United Nations. His title (in place of a name he has yet to earn) is a polite reference to how Kzinti refer to non-Kzin races.

Following their return to Known Space, he is given the name of Chmeee (the "ch" is pronounced like a guttural German "ch", as in "ach") and given breeding rights by the Kzinti Patriarch.

In the sequel The Ringworld Engineers Chmeee, along with Louis Wu, is kidnapped by the Hindmost (the exiled leader of the Puppeteers). The Hindmost wants Louis and Chmeee to uncover the secret behind the creation of the Ringworld.

Chmeee appears briefly in The Ringworld Throne and Ringworld's Children. His son, Acolyte, is a supporting character in these novels.

As a member of the Kzin species, Speaker-to-Animals is extremely dangerous and always ready to fight despite the fact that he is a diplomat. He was the one that caused the most damage to the Ringworld village of Zignamuclikclik and were he not a part of the Docile Kzinti project, he probably would have leveled the village to the ground. He is also responsible for the expedition's safety on Ringworld and therefore is in charge most of the time.

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