An Idea of Protoss Reproduction

I'm trying to make a vid to describe one of my character's personality, and most of what makes him different is the history of his birth.

So, in relation to that, this idea came up regarding Protoss reproduction. I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.


General Idea:

Two (maybe more) Protoss who would agree that their combination both in Psionic or Physical would yield something/someone who can best represent them (or for any other reason), would sacrifice an essential part of them that makes them battle worthy.

It can be psionic talent, physical prowess, intellectual capacity, etc. Once these protoss would decide to pass down their purest essence to their offspring, most, if not all of them, gradually weakens, leading some to live as khalai, others spend their time in the Dae'uhl, while others wander into exile.

This doesn't mean that only one offspring can be created per couple. Depending on the couple's ability to hand-down strains or how much they give to create the offspring, they can create more than one offspring.


In the past:

In certain caves, in the primitive times, Protoss would "create" their would be offspring in these chambers. There naturally growing plants/organisms that are linked to Khydarins would then take and process these "essenses" and incubate the offspring.

In the present:

Technology allowed the protoss to tap into these chambers and preserve the natural system that occured in these caves. They regard these caves sacred, and built structures to both protect them and preserve them.

Some say, to control who gets to make an offspring and when.


In essence, this makes the Protoss homeworld of Auir mean a lot to the Protoss. The first protoss was born out from these chambers and nurtured, then evolved into what they are now. They kind of evolved and separated from these organisms, and yet would return to them to create more offspring, as their natural evolution dictated. This cycle continued from their previous evolutionary stages, though of slightly different nature.

This would also mean it would be scarce for Protoss to reproduce or create more Protoss, would explain their pride, and sometimes arrogance -- their sort of strong feelings of their "right to be", and probably why they express so much of how awesome they are.

So, what do you think? Would this sound interesting? Would this work?

As Protoss seems to take very few matter from the environment, i guess they grow very slowly. One of them would lose an amount of mass that isn't going to be recovered in a lot of years. Probably that's enough of a setback to have slow birth rates.

Except that would lead to a genderless species, in which they would reproduce sexually, but like bacteria. And it would also go against the fact that we see both male and female Protoss. Maybe Protoss brains take a long time to develop in the womb, leading to a long gestation period.

Quite frankly, all signs point to Protoss laying eggs.

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Originally Posted by DemolitionSquid

Quite frankly, all signs point to Protoss laying eggs.

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That would be too easy. Why would a species have such a low birth rate if they can just lay eggs? The Zerg use eggs, that tells you something.

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Originally Posted by Norfindel

As Protoss seems to take very few matter from the environment, i guess they grow very slowly. One of them would lose an amount of mass that isn't going to be recovered in a lot of years. Probably that's enough of a setback to have slow birth rates.

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They'd sort of stay in those chambers, while they hand down their purest essence or seed, you mean? That is cool.

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Originally Posted by Hellgrinder

Except that would lead to a genderless species, in which they would reproduce sexually, but like bacteria. And it would also go against the fact that we see both male and female Protoss. Maybe Protoss brains take a long time to develop in the womb, leading to a long gestation period.

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I thought they were only mentally/spiritually gendered, or something of the sort? This could awesomely combine with Norfindel's idea.

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Originally Posted by DemolitionSquid

Quite frankly, all signs point to Protoss laying eggs.

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What if these "eggs" were that specific "purest essence"? Just like how eggs are soft before it gets laid, they would sort of "lay" these eggs individually. Like how fish does reproduction.




In a way, mature protoss sort of expand the genes/essences they're born with through experience, time, and or training. Then hand them down to their offspring through careful thought, consent, choice, and wisdom.

Their offspring would then do the same, and the cycle goes on.


This could then explain how they are very methodical or the sort, cold logic, eager to go beyond themselves, take careful thought of their honor, close ties with each member, that strong feeling of being one, and somewhat sensitive to energies. Their Khala/Psionic-link would also sort of mirror this in some way.

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Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk

I thought they were only mentally/spiritually gendered, or something of the sort?

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Nope. One of the Dark Templar novels mentions that Protoss reproduce sexually, and that there's even a specific word for wife in Khalani. It even says that Protoss can have multiple offspring. Besides, if Razsagal and Selendis are anything to go by, there are visible physical differences between male and female Protoss.

How does it go really? Like, do they get pregnant?

@GnaReffotsirk - Wouldn't put much stock in the Dark Templar trilogy, since Metzen and co said the issue of Protoss reproduction still hasn't been decided after the books were published.

Your idea by the way is honestly the best I've read. Wish I'd come up with it myself. :cool:

I think this thing has been the synergies of everything we've previously talked about and some.

Leonidas, Samurai sort of master-student, from king to the new king, etc. And maybe politics. And fishes.

Maybe there's another way they could do incubation in this respect though. I like Norfidel's idea up there, where it would take a long time and would require some kind of dedication to create those "pure essence eggs".

My idea was more like they carry their offpring in their bodies much like we do, but they actually lose all that matter from their bodies, because they don't recover matter fast like we do, so the female is pretty much crippled for a serious amount of time.

Artanis was considered young with 262 years. They could take like 200 years to reach full body size. How many years does it take to recover all the matter given to the baby? Probably a bunch.

I always just assumed that Protoss lifespans were just 10 times the length of human lifespans, and that Artanis would be considered the Protoss version of someone in their mid-twenties, considering it said that he was young for that position.

And also, if Protoss did reproduce like that, then the Xel'Naga probably wouldn't have considered them having "Purity of Form". While I too, believe that the Protoss have a low birth-rate, maybe that's because the female spends at least a decade infertile after giving birth.

Well, in terms of purity of form, I see it this way:

Since they are not duplicates, rather parts of a single whole that is Protoss (now there's going to be points to discuss about this), or that great one where each one was born from, and that they have developed and improved these parts that each one is gifted with, then they are pure in form in the beginning. I doubt though that this would be the case now since a lot have been lost since the Overmind arrived.

The Overmind assimilates and takes from others to develop the whole that is the swarm, which itself is the center of. The overmind can be called as the Zerg, it is the Zerg with many parts of itself duplicated and made manifest.

Now, the Protoss on the other hand (should the case the OP implies be taken into account) does not copy, but rather hand down these parts, and develop the pieces each individual has as their responsibility -- which of course makes them each as they are.

In form (whatever that means really, maybe in the likes of having watched a dancer and having to say, "good form" or in disciplines like in martial arts) they are intact, and complete. Unlike the Overmind and the swarm, which in itself is nothing but an organism that assimilates beings/forms/dna/what not.

The core of the idea is that the Protoss are not only Psionically gifted, but are born from psionic energies. They in turn manifested as organisms to develop their psionic energies through the development and mastery of their physical bodies, and then would return to the "Khala" and make it more rich. This of course is unknown to an average Protoss, but religious fanatics might cling and preach this out.

Basically, their nature being a race that retains a forerunner's actual parts and develop them further, and make them pure, refined, perfected in the long run, kind of defines the Purity of Form that the Protoss is.

The overmind or the zerg, in contrast, employs another race's attributes, and mix and match to create the strains. It makes these parts uber or what not, but it has no ability to develop it's nature. The Zerg remains Zerg, and so it has purity of essence.

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Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk

Well, in terms of purity of form, I see it this way:

The core of the idea is that the Protoss are not only Psionically gifted, but are born from psionic energies. They in turn manifested as organisms to develop their psionic energies through the development and mastery of their physical bodies, and then would return to the "Khala" and make it more rich. This of course is unknown to an average Protoss, but religious fanatics might cling and preach this out.

Basically, their nature being a race that retains a forerunner's actual parts and develop them further, and make them pure, refined, perfected in the long run, kind of defines the Purity of Form that the Protoss is.

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hmm..cool..so...does this mean the dark templar have no purity of form? :)

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Originally Posted by Zeraszana

hmm..cool..so...does this mean the dark templar have no purity of form? :)

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Nice idea. :)

They are Protoss, only have dislodged themselves from the link. I'm not sure if they return to the Khala in their deaths.

We could add, "maybe this is why the Templar consider the outcasts as something different." Makes sense to me.

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Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk

Nice idea. :)

They are Protoss, only have dislodged themselves from the link. I'm not sure if they return to the Khala in their deaths.

We could add, "maybe this is why the Templar consider the outcasts as something different." Makes sense to me.

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they don't return to the khala...you got proof of that because the preservers can't access their memories :) but i still think that they have their purity of form, just that it has nothing to do with the khala (same thing with reproduction, although it makes for a cool explanation of things), i still go with the idea that the younglings develop inside of the female protoss in some sort of energy form (dunno how to say it better lol) and after they become ''independent/stable'' eg. they can sustain their energies on their own, not requiring the mother any longer to sustain them, they get ''transferred'' to a crysalis of sort (think pylon shape/khaydarin with the nutrient fluids and capabilities of stasis cells but rather than freezing the individual it contains it till it ''grows'' a physical body - about the growth -> remember how stetmann muses how it would be impossible for the crystal to grow cuz it has nothing to grow from? in the logs :) ) and then after the individual ''matures'' inside of it he/she get ''teleported'' (think prism teleport) outside of it (could be used as an explanation as to why we never saw any baby protoss, but rather ''smaller'' - if you count the mangas :) ) so it would make for a good explanation (in my opinion) as to why it takes so long (double time to mature and develop) and why it happens so slowly (few engage in such a responsibility) cuz presumably the female gets weaker and more vulnerable to both physical and emotional/mental things, so both the male and female (and possibly others too, like elders, healers etc.) would be out of the question of doing anything else but taking care of the female and the youngling

any thoughts or holes about this? :D

I think it adds up. Nice. :)

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Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk

I think it adds up. Nice. :)

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thy :)

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Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk

The core of the idea is that the Protoss are not only Psionically gifted, but are born from psionic energies. They in turn manifested as organisms to develop their psionic energies through the development and mastery of their physical bodies, and then would return to the "Khala" and make it more rich. This of course is unknown to an average Protoss, but religious fanatics might cling and preach this out.

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While that is physically possible, converting energy into mass is no small undertaking, and almost no natural phenomena would be able to pull that off, to say nothing about organic bodies. The only thing able to do something like that would be space-time, and even then, the energies that create these particles always create the antiparticle of them, so the two annihilate almost instantaneously to repay the energy debt. The only way this energy can become matter without going back to energy is if it's near a black hole, and one of the particles falls in, allowing the other to escape.

Also, the fact that Zeratul was about 400 years younger than Raszagal, who was very young at the time the Dark Templar were banished, seems to show that Protoss don't need the Khala to reproduce, as Zeratul was most likely born on Shakuras.

A nice theory, but inconsistent with SC lore, and having energy requirements that are nothing short of insane.

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Originally Posted by Hellgrinder

While that is physically possible, converting energy into mass is no small undertaking, and almost no natural phenomena would be able to pull that off, to say nothing about organic bodies. The only thing able to do something like that would be space-time, and even then, the energies that create these particles always create the antiparticle of them, so the two annihilate almost instantaneously to repay the energy debt. The only way this energy can become matter without going back to energy is if it's near a black hole, and one of the particles falls in, allowing the other to escape.

Also, the fact that Zeratul was about 400 years younger than Raszagal, who was very young at the time the Dark Templar were banished, seems to show that Protoss don't need the Khala to reproduce, as Zeratul was most likely born on Shakuras.

A nice theory, but inconsistent with SC lore, and having energy requirements that are nothing short of insane.

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It doesn't necessarily mean that way. But I see a very interesting subject here.

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Originally Posted by Eligor

Wouldn't put much stock in the Dark Templar trilogy, since Metzen and co said the issue of Protoss reproduction still hasn't been decided after the books were published.

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Agreed. And I don't think they'll have answers for it, not even after LotV is released.

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Originally Posted by Hellgrinder

Nope. One of the Dark Templar novels mentions that Protoss reproduce sexually, and that there's even a specific word for wife in Khalani. It even says that Protoss can have multiple offspring. Besides, if Razsagal and Selendis are anything to go by, there are visible physical differences between male and female Protoss.

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Where does it say these things out of curiosity.

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Originally Posted by DemolitionSquid

Quite frankly, all signs point to Protoss laying eggs.

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That would indicate the presence of a cloaca, ovipositor, or other such organ. but thus far we've seen no evidence of this.



But if it were true, then it probably would lend some credence to this statement from a few months back:

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"The protoss LOVE the cock. It's true, check the wiki.
-SaharaDrac

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We could add, "maybe this is why the Templar consider the outcasts as something different." Makes sense to me.

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Actually, they consider them different because they can't feel and share their emotions like they can with other khalai. Humans are about as apart from khalai as DTs because they aren't a part of the khala either. It's just that with the DTs there's a whole shameful history.

Y'know if my entire life's social structure was based on knowing when and how someone else feels happy and what will make said person sad or happy and that them being happy would make me happy (etc.); I'd be pretty scared of those that wanted to get away from that since they'd be socially apart from the entire damn system.

It makes sense y'know.

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Originally Posted by solidsamurai

Actually, they consider them different because they can't feel and share their emotions like they can with other khalai. Humans are about as apart from khalai as DTs because they aren't a part of the khala either. It's just that with the DTs there's a whole shameful history.

Y'know if my entire life's social structure was based on knowing when and how someone else feels happy and what will make said person sad or happy and that them being happy would make me happy (etc.); I'd be pretty scared of those that wanted to get away from that since they'd be socially apart from the entire damn system.

It makes sense y'know.

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true, but the real reason they are afraid of them is cuz they were spoonfed bs about them wanting to DESTROY the khala and then after that cuz they are out of it..

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Originally Posted by phazonjunkie

That would indicate the presence of a cloaca, ovipositor, or other such organ. but thus far we've seen no evidence of this.

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Correction: we've seen no evidence of anything. So what can we infer from what we do know about the Protoss?

- No mouth, no need for mammary glands.
- Very little body fat
- Absorb energy and moisture through skin to use photosynthesis to create food like a plant.
- Know there are two genders, equivalent to male and female and that by definition females give birth
- Enhanced psyonic ability

Certainly the lack of mammary glands and body fat to fuel the cell growth of the fetus negates the likelihood of live birth at least. Protoss do not reproduce asexually by budding. Its unlikely then that they use spores either, as many earth plants do. They may reproduce with the aid of psionics, forming an archon and then splitting again into 3 parts, but that's unlikely as their conversion of matter into energy and back again would emit too much of their own energy as radiation, exemplified by the atom bomb, and the canon lore that Archons do not generally survive long without absorbing new Protoss as fuel as per Ulrezaj. As stated, we have no evidence of a cloaca, ovipositor, or vagina, but we know that the Protoss are photosynthetic and thus may reproduce like plants via a form of seed, or as the case may be, egg.

Or, maybe the egg hatches inside the female, and the young are still born live, like in certain species of snake and shark here on Earth.

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Originally Posted by Hellgrinder

Or, maybe the egg hatches inside the female, and the young are still born live, like in certain species of snake and shark here on Earth.

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Do you really think the Protoss physique lends itself to carrying a fetus?

http://www.artofgt.com/images/selendis.jpg

Yeah, them's birthing hips, but there's still no room in the core.

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Originally Posted by DemolitionSquid

Do you really think the Protoss physique lends itself to carrying a fetus?

http://www.artofgt.com/images/selendis.jpg

Yeah, them's birthing hips, but there's still no room in the core.

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actually...didn't blizzard actually widen the waist part? if i remember correctly the sc1 protoss literary had a spine and a bit of flesh around it for waist, but now it looks almost human like (if you don't count the high hips)? so maybe they are thinking of the idea, although i don't approve of them carrying any kind of physical fetus or internal egg hatching