Deadly Kilrathi Pilot Takes a Stand (November 18, 2019)

ChrisReid

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
randomthefox tipped us off about an absolutely stellar sketch of a Kilrathi and her Dralthi drawn by Heresy. The pilot's armor is exquisite with a wonderful mix of futuristic claws, ornamental plates and even a tail. The helmet is also reminiscent of Bhurak Starkiller's famous visage. A blur effect on the Dralthi and rest of the background complete the package nicely. You can find more of Heresey's work on DeviantArt or Patreon.






A female Kilrathi pilot from the Wing Commander computer game series.
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Original update published on November 18, 2019
 
Ahem. If I recall correctly the cutscenes from SM2, she's missing some parts of her anatomy.

On a sidenote: has anyone ever considered the sheer inconvenience of clothes and especially armour for the tail? Each of those armour rings would have to be snapped on separately, one at a time. I wonder if a race of militaristic humanoid space cats would not in fact cut off their tails at the base to avoid all the fuss. Heck, they'd probably make this a part of their coming-of-age rituals and such.
 
Quarto said:
Ahem. If I recall correctly the cutscenes from SM2, she's missing some parts of her anatomy.
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Oh good. I was hoping I wouldn't have to be the first one to say anything on the subject...

On the matter of the tail - I'd have to go back and look at the cutscenes, but I don't recall seeing them much past WC2 and its expansions. You might be on to something.
 
capi3101 said:
Oh good. I was hoping I wouldn't have to be the first one to say anything on the subject...
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To be fair, I think the WCA cartoon also didn't bother with that. It's one of those ideas that's certainly good as a way of differentiating the Kilrathi from humans, but when you put it into practice, people wind up thinking you're a sex-obsessed pervert. So, I suppose, the concept had to die once a Saturday morning cartoon entered the picture.
 
Quarto said:
To be fair, I think the WCA cartoon also didn't bother with that. It's one of those ideas that's certainly good as a way of differentiating the Kilrathi from humans, but when you put it into practice, people wind up thinking you're a sex-obsessed pervert. So, I suppose, the concept had to die once a Saturday morning cartoon entered the picture.
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You're right - when it came to Thrakhath's sister Zu'kara (and yeah, that's what they named her), they didn't bother with it. They also made her pink for some reason. Maybe she was just going through a My Little Pony phase or something...
 
I had never thought about the tails. It looks like tails are present here (maybe)
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but not here
wc1screenshot07.gif
 
It seems like they're simply very inconsistent in WC1. You see the Kilrathi with tails in the losing McAuliffe cutscene, but they're clearly tailless in the wining scene. You see them tailless again in the winning scene in Rostov, and - surprise surprise - with tails in the losing Rostov scene. The funny thing is, the only time armoured Kilrathi soldiers are seen with tails, is when they face the camera. This could have been an artistic call - someone may have decided the tails just look silly when you actually see them from behind. The only Kilrathi in WC1 that has a tail visible when looking from behind, is Admiral Gilkarg at the end of SM1 - but he's just basically a black silhouette.

By the time WC2 came along, I think they had effectively given up on showing tails at all, and the cats are always tailless. Whether they actually don't have tails, though, or if they simply tuck them in their clothes/armour, will forever remain a mystery.
 
We see tails as late as Wing Commander Prophecy! Take a close look at the artwork of a priestess at the temple seen in the intro. (Other female Kilrathi that don't match the Secret Missions 2 priestess - Thrakhath's sister Zukara from Academy, the 'Sivar's Blessing' priestess from the CCG...)

There's certainly no consistency regarding breasts, tails or number of fingers... but then those are all are true of actual cats which can have 2-10 nipples, 0-1 tails and 4-9 fingers on each paw... :)
 
ChrisReid said:
randomthefox tipped us off about an absolutely stellar sketch of a Kilrathi and her Dralthi drawn by Heresy. The pilot's armor is exquisite with a wonderful mix of futuristic claws, ornamental plates and even a tail. The helmet is also reminiscent of Bhurak Starkiller's famous visage. A blur effect on the Dralthi and rest of the background complete the package nicely. You can find more of Heresey's work on DeviantArt or Patreon.








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Original update published on November 18, 2019
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I'm looking at this and thinking Kilrathi would love daedric armor.
 
That link isn't to Deviantart... it's totally to Furaffinity. Hah. It's a pity, there isn't much Kilrathi art in the fandom. You find lots more Tabaxi and Khajiit. For Sci-Fi, even Caitians are more common...
 
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