How old is a Kilrathi?

C

climber

Spaceman
I know that discussions have been had about exactly how old blair is at any given time but does anyone know how old some of the kilrathi characters are meant to be and how long does a kilrathi live for, if he lives to old age? Thrakath was about in action stations and obviously up to the end of WC3 period but how old does it make him? Was Jukaga older than him? Help me out here gurus
 
We don't know Thrakhath's exact age. However, given that Hobbes was apparently an officer by the age of three (!), and Thrakhath does not have any rank in Action Stations, it's safe to assume he's younger than three. And yes, we can also assume that Jukaga was older than him, though probably not by much.

As for maximum age... the only Kilrathi that we know of who was even close to dying of old age was the Emperor (who in WC3 was convinced he wouldn't last a year... and he didn't :p). I don't think we know when he was born, but he must have been at least around 60 years old. So it seems that in general, the Kilrathi mature much faster than humans do, and (if we can assume anything based on just one example) they probably don't live as long as humans do, either.

(...their pilots certainly don't, in any case ;) )
 
Hobbes was an aristrocrat so its probable that he was simply given an officers rank when he was still an infant (its happened in Human history also)
 
We know that the Kilrathi nobles serve in a war when they mature - Ratha had just reached this age in Action Stations (2634) but Thrakhath had not. This tells us several things.

* Given that Ralgha was serving as an officer at age three, it stands to reason that this means Thrakhath was less than three years old in 2634 -- meaning he's 35 or 36 when he dies in Wing Commander III.

* The Emperor first served in 2594 fighting the Varni. This means he was probably around three years old then... and that he was about 75 when he was expecting to die of old age in Wing Commander III.

So, the moral is that Kilrathi mature much more quickly and they also die a good bit younger.
 
Hobbes was an aristrocrat so its probable that he was simply given an officers rank when he was still an infant (its happened in Human history also)
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No, we know he was actually serving the military in 2645 (age four) -- and commanding a cruiser in 2650 (age nine) and was a Rear Admiral in 2655 (age fourteen).
 
Fast-maturing or not, it's kind of hard to see how they could be educated and trained by the age of three years, given how long schooling and military training require for humans.
 
Ijuin said:
Fast-maturing or not, it's kind of hard to see how they could be educated and trained by the age of three years, given how long schooling and military training require for humans.
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That's the keyword - 'require for humans'. Here, we're dealing with what is effectively a predator species, so maturation is apparently quite fast as a result. They don't talk about how long training takes, though End Run suggests that the average Kilrathi pilot gets thrown into an academy program and then graduates after much of the class may have taken severe attrition due to training accidents and the like. Also, what sort of training are they getting here? From what seems to be indicated by the books, they get language, combat instruction, pilot instruction, social mores and maybe a few other things. They may get a year or so's worth of combat training, but this is something we just don't know yet.. and they grow up with a lot of this anyways.
 
Either the Kilrathi learn three times as fast as humans, or the fighters we see in the game are being piloted by the psychological equivalent of Jr. High school boys. :D
 
Ijuin said:
Fast-maturing or not, it's kind of hard to see how they could be educated and trained by the age of three years, given how long schooling and military training require for humans.
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There is some debate about the nature in humans and animals of "genetic memmory." Sometimes its described as instinct. Little newborn puppies sem like they dream of chasing rabbits before they even open their eyes. Kilrathi are agressive by nature and like real cats have a strong predatory instinct. Most likely the focus needed for space combat, and the ability to quickly assess the tactical situation are all part of their conquering nature. So as soon as their bodies are developed enough and they have developed communication skills, pretty much they would only need to understand the technical aspects of flying and fighting in a space fighter.
 
Then again, having the Kilrathi be psychological teenagers would explain why Confed pilots can outfly them so easily... :D
 
Also keep in mind that the Emperor probably has lasted a very long time compared to ordinary Kilrathi: he's been smart enough to avoid assassinations or coups this far, and he obviously has access to the best medical technology of his race.
 
Ijuin said:
Then again, having the Kilrathi be psychological teenagers would explain why Confed pilots can outfly them so easily... :D
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But when I was playing WC1 and 2, I was a psychological teenager as well. Heck, I might still be. :)
 
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