The Race (Worldwar)
| Worldwar series character | |
|---|---|
| The Race | |
| Classification | Extraterrestrial reptilian humanoids |
| Homeworld | Tau Ceti II |
| First appearance | Worldwar: In the Balance (1994) |
| Last appearance | Homeward Bound (2004) |
| Created by | Harry Turtledove |
The Race refers to the fictional alien invaders of Harry Turtledove's Worldwar tetralogy, Colonization trilogy and Homeward Bound. The aliens, a reptilian species with an extremely long-lived and ponderous species history, call their planet "Home", and style themselves as "The Race."
The Race's homeworld, Tau Ceti II (known to The Race simply as "Home") revolves around a class II Secchi class star. Its elliptical orbit is half as long as Earth's, and its climate is much hotter and drier. Its oceans are very small and consequently hold few petroleum deposits. Animal inhabitants on the planet include a predator which hunts in a manner similar to the Trapdoor spider and pterosaur-like creatures.
Apparently evolved from predatory ancestors, members of the Race are physically shorter in height than humans and have numerous lizard-like traits. Their skin is brown and scaly, often decorated with body paint which becomes more elaborate in higher ranking individuals. Their eyes are segmented like a chameleon's and have nictitating membranes, an adaptation to the desert climate of their homeworld. They have bifurcated tongues and vestigial tail stumps. They have no tear ducts. Though they have a characteristic reptilian dislike of low temperatures, they are warm blooded as shown by their breath fogging in Earth's winter. Their wrist bones pivot off one bone rather than two, they have two bones in their upper arms and one in their lower arms (the opposite of humans), and their ribcages are described as resembling latticework. Though primarily carnivorous, as shown by their specialized teeth, the Race can process vegetation. They can also drink and process alcoholic beverages. They have a revulsion to eating eggs, due to the similarities to their own life cycle.Ginger has effects on the Race similar to those of cocaine on humans and also sends females into oestrus.
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