Tangeans: Royals and Grounders

It's possible that the environment on Tangea offered the inclination for both races to develop their mental powers in different ways. I mean, we're talking about a whole planet, meaning there's got to be enough diversity to offer the possibility that both the Royals and the Grounders evolved in different locations, much like the different races on Earth who developed in different corners of the globe. The Grounders may have developed in a harsher part of Tangea where survival and striking down dangerous creatures was important. The Royals may have evolved in milder climates, allowing them the peace to further explore their mental powers.
It is even possible that the Royals and Grounders share a common ancestor from a long time ago, but some may be loathe to admit it.

All very good questions, Steel, and ones I’ve given a lot of thought to. Brace yourself for a massively long reply!



I think the Royals and Grounders were originally one species which diverged over time into two very distinct races. The original Tangean race probably had brown skin and was probably quite muscular like the Grounders, but would have had smaller heads like the Royals and probably had hair too. No doubt they would have had some kind of mental powers, but they were probably much more limited than those of the Royals and Grounders.

At some point, something must have happened to cause a split in the race. Since Tangea has several cliffs and gorges, one possibility I can think of is an earthquake. Perhaps there was an earthquake which formed a rift between two locations, cutting off the Tangeans on each side. From then on, they would begin developing differently, and this is when they would start acquiring their unique traits.

But why would the Grounders develop head-blasting powers while the Royals developed ghosting powers? Well, let’s assume there are a number of dangerous predators on Tangea’s surface (we never see any, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility). Children born with some sort of defensive capabilities will be more likely to escape these predators and reach adulthood (and thus get to pass on their genes). So if a few kids were born with head-blasting powers, they’d be able to defend themselves against danger better than the other kids. In fact, it would also make hunting a lot easier – you see something you want to eat, so you blast it – which means they’d get more food too. What all this means is that it’s likely their genes would be spread throughout the population, eventually resulting in everyone acquiring the head-blasting ability.

But what about the Royals? How did they get their powers? Well, suppose some of the kids in their group are born with a primitive form of ghosting. Like the head-blasting, this will also be very beneficial in a hostile environment. If predators attack, they can become intangible and avoid getting hurt. Thus the people with ghosting powers will be more likely to reproduce than people without them, and those genes will be spread.

And because the powers of the two groups cancel each other out, they would avoid coming into contact with each other, making interbreeding unlikely – thus they would grow further and further apart genetically. The net result is you end up with two different species. As for why their powers are cancelled out when they’re near each other, I have no idea.



The ghosting group obviously became more technologically advanced than the other group, and developed a radically different culture. For whatever reason, they decided to leave the surface and build floating cities, and that’s where most of them now live. However, I’m pretty sure they must still have a few cities on the surface, because I doubt it would be possible to grow enough food for their people on the floating cities, or to house any domestic animals there. So it seems to me that there must be Royals living on the surface as well. That could also explain how someone like Romac became so well-spoken – if he lived among surface-dwelling Royals for awhile, he might pick up their language and way of speaking.



You raise an intriguing point about the Grounders not considering themselves part of the GA. I’m guessing the Grounders have a separate government to the Royals, and don’t care much about what the Royal government does or what alliances they join. What’s interesting to note, though, is that despite the fact that the Royals are the ones who joined the GA, the Grounders are the ones who have the most contact with outsiders. They’re technologically advanced enough to be capable of space travel, and a number of them have been seen off-world, like Romac, Clay, and Marl. The Royals on the other hand almost never venture off their planet, and are pretty xenophobic (the Grounders have never shown any signs of xenophobia, however, so perhaps in some ways they’re more culturally-advanced than the Royals ).



Now, if they both developed from a common ancestor, why do they look so different? Well, as I speculated above, perhaps the Grounders are adapted more for fighting and hunting (and thus have bigger muscles) while the Royals are adapted for hiding and fleeing (though, considering how well Mira and Fop did at the Academy, they’re probably not too bad at fighting either).

Because the Grounders shoot energy beams from their foreheads, their heads are enlarged and they don’t have any hair (which would obviously get in the way). Other than that, they’re not too different from the Tangeans.

Probably one of the biggest differences in appearance between the two races is their skin colour. Why are the Grounders brown but the Royals blue? I have an explanation, but it’s a wee bit technical and I hope the science is alright (I’ve done my research, but it’s always possible I’ve made some mistakes):

When I tried to figure out why they were different colours, I theorized at first that the Royals had blue blood (the Grounders have called them “Blue-Bloods” after all), but I soon realized this couldn’t be true because whenever Mira blushes, her cheeks turn red. That means her blood must be red.

So are the Royals blue because of skin pigmentation? Unlikely. Most creatures with blue colouration don’t have blue pigments – they’re blue because of something known as the Tyndall Effect. Basically, the Tyndall Effect occurs when blue light waves encounter tiny particles of the same wavelength as themselves and get reflected back, resulting in blue colouration, while the other, longer colour waves simply pass through the particles and aren’t reflected back. Let’s assume the Tangeans’ natural pigment is melanin. Originally, all the Tangeans will be brown. But what about after some of them start evolving ghosting powers? What if those particular Tangeans develop some sort of “ghosting tissue” directly beneath their skin that happens to contain tiny particles of protein/fat/air/whatever in it? If these particles are of the right wavelength, they’ll reflect blue light waves back and give the Tangeans a blue skin tone despite having brown pigmentation.

This could explain why the Royals “yellow” when they’re out in the sun. Perhaps prolonged exposure to sunlight causes the tiny particles under their skin to expand slightly so as to block out excess sun, and because the particles change size they now match the wavelength of yellow light instead of blue light, so their skin becomes yellow temporarily.



Anyway, those are my thoughts on the Tangeans for now. I’m sure there are plenty of holes in my logic, so feel free to disagree and offer alternate views.

Ranger-Nova wrote:
The ghosting group obviously became more technologically advanced than the other group, and developed a radically different culture. For whatever reason, they decided to leave the surface and build floating cities, and that’s where most of them now live. However, I’m pretty sure they must still have a few cities on the surface, because I doubt it would be possible to grow enough food for their people on the floating cities, or to house any domestic animals there. So it seems to me that there must be Royals living on the surface as well. That could also explain how someone like Romac became so well-spoken – if he lived among surface-dwelling Royals for awhile, he might pick up their language and way of speaking.

This sort of ties into my idea that maybe the Royals developed in an area on Tangea that wasn't populated with too many predators or inclement weather or frequented by other natural disasters. When survival isn't a major concern, a society will begin to focus on other things such as technological development, leisure, development of one's powers, etc. This could lead to a more introverted tendency towards self-perfection in their culture. Maybe when they did become advanced enough that they first made contact with the Grounders, they were horrified by the loss of their abilities when they got in range. This could have motivated them to take their civilization airborne to avoid losing their powers in the presence of the only other sentient race around. Their view of the first sentient race they made contact with likely soured their perspective on future encounters with other species when they achieved space travel. The introverted view they take coupled with their focus on developing their powers could lead to there being a potential monk-type group among the Royals who develop their abilities to near perfection, but due to the frivolous attitude most Royal's have I wouldn't hold my breath.

One more thing...Watch Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky and then tell me that you still doubt the presence vegetation and fauna in an aerial environment. Science fiction can make giant sky trees happen.

Ranger-Nova wrote:
You raise an intriguing point about the Grounders not considering themselves part of the GA. I’m guessing the Grounders have a separate government to the Royals, and don’t care much about what the Royal government does or what alliances they join. What’s interesting to note, though, is that despite the fact that the Royals are the ones who joined the GA, the Grounders are the ones who have the most contact with outsiders. They’re technologically advanced enough to be capable of space travel, and a number of them have been seen off-world, like Romac, Clay, and Marl. The Royals on the other hand almost never venture off their planet, and are pretty xenophobic (the Grounders have never shown any signs of xenophobia, however, so perhaps in some ways they’re more culturally-advanced than the Royals ).

The Grounders seem to have a level of technology that suggests that they picked up the scraps of outdated tech that the Royals discarded. Because of the overspecialized and destructive nature of their mental powers, they probably developed in a harsher environment where survival was a high priority. Anything to help them get by on the surface was probably viewed as an asset. The Grounders may have a seemingly primitive way of talking, but I don't believe that they are in anyway stupid. They're actually more practical of the two races all things considered. They know they lose their powers around the Royals, but they probably saw the worlds beyond and the people who lived there as a way of furthering their survival, by hanging around with those who don't block their abilities and can offer them opportunities for advancement. Can't afford to be picky when you need to survive.
Despite the fact that the Royals were the ones who joined the Galactic Alliance in Tangea's name, it probably didn't make any difference to the Grounders, who were flexible enough to work with whatever came to visit their world.

I hope that made any sense. The anthro-nerd in me won't shut up.

As a warning for the following, I only skimmed through the previous posts, so some things I've said may have already been discussed... ^^; Also, I may not have explained something clearly enough, in which case just ask and I'll try to explain it better, perhaps...? Haha, well, here we are:

Well, when it comes to cultivating food, Tangean Royals seem to be vegetarians, yes? I can't recall an instance of them eating an animal, though I may be wrong about this. As such, they could very well grow their own food, perhaps even within their floating palaces in the sky.

I'd imagine that, perhaps, there's an designated place for growing food, perhaps an atrium since the Royals seem baroque enough to want a fancy atrium instead of a regular greenhouse. That would give plants the light they need to grow. What about soil, you ask? Well...

There's this thing out there called Hydroponics, where plants are grown without soil, directly in water filled with the necessary nutrients for a healthy crop. This is a sci-fi show, so might as well have a fancy scientific way of growing plants, no?

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As for whether or not Royals and Grounders share a common ancestor... Most likely they do. If you're going by evolution standards, then you have to realize that, even on Tangea, perhaps all life descended from one cell (or a few cells of the same type) multiplying and evolving to for different species over time. So, it's not a matter of whether they have a common ancestor, but of how far back that ancestor is.

This brings to mind the question of WHY their powers cancel each other out. It's hard to see an evolutionary purpose as to why one species would develop a power that cancels out its own powers when next to something of a different species. But, since it DOES disable the other species, this implies that this is a form of defense. It's just not as perfected as it could be, perhaps for various reasons such as genetic disease, in that it doesn't let one side keep their powers while disabling the enemy.

Also, there is the possibility of colonization. Perhaps one species, be it the Grounder's ancestors or the Royal's ancestors, lived on the planet originally and the other species moved to that planet and made up their own home separately, though either way it led to the Royals being stuffy and seemingly being in charge of the planet as a whole over the Grounders. This seems less likely, however, since it doesn't as easily explain why their powers cancel out each other. However, it could be coincidence or adaptation as the two species developed into the two species we know today.

Interestingly, if this is a case of colonization, it can give two different explanations for why Tangean Royals dislike other species so much. (One being because they don't like the Grounders for infesting their planet, the other being because they took over control themselves and want the natives gone and everyone else to leave them alone.)

Well, here are a few various things I've considered...?

I have a new question... What makes the palaces float? Perhaps it's a machine, perhaps powered by some sort of unique energy? (On a side-note, perhaps this energy is the one King Nova used to be addicted to.)

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Grounders may "lack intelligence" but still have mental powers if the mental powers and overall intelligence are controlled by different parts of the brain, such as when people are geniuses in, for example, math, but have difficulty actually speaking or being aware of their environment.

Why does Romac seem smarter than other Grounders? This could be a case of self-discipline. Unlike most other Grounders, Romac may have decided to learn more and self-studied on his own time. Grounders do have radios, so perhaps Romac learned how to speak more fluently by listening to programs and copying their way of speaking. So: Self-studying and being smarter than other Grounders...? Clearly Romac is a lovable geek!

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Royals have a "nimbus" around then when they ghost that protects them (such as in the Adventure Begins when Mira ghosts through the hull of the ship into space without any ill effects). What happens then when this nimbus goes away while they're partway through a wall and a Grounder is around? You would think being stuck in a wall like that would hurt, right? Our theory is that a Royal's molecules push apart when they ghost through objects. If a Grounder shows up and the Royal is only halfway through a wall, then the molecules are stuck in their pushed apart state rather than snapping back together and causing massive injury. However, since the Royal can't completely pass back through the wall on either end, this implies that the rest of their molecules are still in their normal, collected state. This implies that as Royals ghost, they push their molecules apart bit by bit as they pass through an object rather than all at once. This can explain why Royals can ghost only a part of their body at a time, such as when they fish for information in someone's mind.

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If the two are separate species and one arrived there from off world, it's possible that they developed mental powers independently and that, due to being unused to each others powers and not given time to adapt and evolve, these powers cancel each other out. However, now that I think about it, the idea that they come from different worlds is less likely because of this one thing: Grounders and Royals can have mental links! That means they are connected to each other some way... That's not to say that other species cannot have mental links with Royals and/or Grounders, but the link would likely be less solid, harder to form, and would probably be carried mostly by the Royal or Grounder.

*time for Ranger to waste her time by writing another long post about fictional aliens*


First of all, I think the Royals probably do grow food up in their palaces, but I doubt it would be practical to grow their entire food supply there for several reasons:

Lack of space – to feed an entire city you’d need lots of different plants and lots of room to grow them. Plus food isn’t the only resource plants provide. You’d also need to grow plants for wood, clothing (I’m assuming they have some equivalent to cotton on Tangea), and stuff like that. I just don’t think the palaces have enough room.
Problems related to growing plants indoors – light can be handled quite easily, but there are other problems like pests and diseases which are much more common in indoor growing environments that outdoors, dust build-up on plants, poor air circulation, etc.

Now, it’s quite possible the Royals could have a whole city devoted to growing crops, which are then distributed to the other cities (and if they do I so want to work there), but I still think they’d need to have ground-based settlements. Think about this: What happens when they need to build a new city (new cities will be needed as their population grows, unless they have a VERY low birthrate)? The materials to build a floating palace would have to be mined from the surface, and unless they forced the Grounders to do it for them (which is unlikely), they’d need people on the surface to carry out that kind of work.

Anyway, moving on to other topics:

I think the Grounders are probably just as intelligent as the Royals, and like Steel says, their language no doubt makes perfect sense to them.

I love the “Romac is a geek” idea. That’s kind of how I always thought of him. He’s a geek... but with a cool bike, stylish leather outfit, and big muscles. He defies all the usual stereotypes!

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Excellent theory on how the ghosting works, Alexa! I figured it would have to be something like that, but you’ve expressed it far better than I could have.

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About the floating palaces – I have a question: Can they move? Because sometimes they seem to be in different locations (curse those animators!).

On the floating issue, I still don’t have an answer to how they do it, but I’m guessing it’s just a scaled-up version of how those floating tables in First Missions work.

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Distance doesn’t seem to be a big issue for Tangean telepathic abilities, since not only can Mira and Romac mind link while far away, but Mira was also able to sense Tangea’s presence even after Zurg sent it to another dimension. On the other hand, it seems much more difficult for them to form a mental connection with other races – they have to stick their hands into their heads – so this seems to confirm that the Royals and Grounder were once one species.

I think you’re probably right about the mind link being used during intercourse, and I can imagine that Tangeans couples probably share a very strong mental bond with each other throughout their lives, even when they’re not mating. Of course, this would make it very difficult if one of the partners died or left. Just think of the emptiness the other would feel.

All in all, the Tangeans (or at least the Royals) seem to place a lot of importance on their mental connections with each other. Think of what Angstrom said at the beginning of the wedding ceremony (“We are gathered here to today to put our positive mental powers together for a blessed and joyous event”) and the only vow we hear during the wedding is “Will you be of one mind and body with…”

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Hmm… those aliens could be Tangeans, but I somehow doubt it. It would be pretty cool if they were, though. As it is, the only Royals confirmed to have left Tangea are Mira, King Nova, Lord Angstrom, and Fop Doppler. The Royals need to get out more!

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That’s it from me for now. I look forward to discussing this some more later (this is one of the best threads we’ve had yet!).

Wow, this is an interesting topic! I honestly don't know what to add.

I was wondering what kind of cities the Grounders live in. I always assumed they lived like humans do, but I also used to think "Under-Grounders" when I first started watching BLoSC on t.v. I thought there was the possibility of them also having underground networks and cities.

Also, about Royals and Grounders powers canceling out. I think you might be right about it preventing mortal damage. It's probably some sort of adaption before they became technologically advanced. Maybe to prevent them from killing each other into extinction and damaging the environment.

There was a devolution episode where Mira "devolved" into some sentient ooze creature. If grounders came from the same root species, wouldn't that mean they evolved from the same puddles of ooze?