Scorpius (Farscape) and Talk:Tennessee State Route 102: Difference between pages

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|colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | '''''[[Farscape]]'' character'''

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|colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | [[Image:Scorpius.jpg|center|200px|[[Scorpius (Farscape)|Scorpius]].]]

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!colspan="2" style="font-size: larger; background-color:#c00| Scorpius

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|'''Title''' || None

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|'''Homeworld''' || None, Scarran laboratory

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|'''Race''' || [[Sebacean]]/[[Scarran]] hybrid

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|'''Gender''' || Male

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|'''Affiliation''' || Peacekeepers

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|'''Portrayer''' || [[Wayne Pygram]]

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'''Scorpius''' is a [[fictional character]] in the [[television]] [[science fiction]] series ''[[Farscape]]''.

Played by [[Wayne Pygram]], he is the half-[[Sebacean]], half-[[Scarran]] Peacekeeper who pursues [[John Crichton]] for the secrets of [[wormhole]] technology locked in John Crichton's unconscious mind.

== Physical attributes ==

Scorpius' body is shaped more like a Sebacean/humanoid than a Scarran, except for his grey, lizard-like skin. He is much stronger than a Sebacean, but is rarely physically violent. His unique heritage gives him the ability to see different light/heat spectrums than most humanoids, enabling him to distinguish a species unique energy signature on sight. This allows Scorpius to not only determine a subject's race, but even tell when someone is lying. Scorpius has a highly-trained mind, enabling him to resist torture and the Scarran heat-based mind probes.

Since he is a Sebacean/Scarran hybrid, he at once suffers from the Sebacean inability to regulate body temperature under extreme heat and the higher body temperatures imposed by his Scarran heritage. This makes for an unhealthy combination, one that Scorpius compensates for through the use of sophisticated equipment built into his heat dissipating costume. This even includes an automated coolant rod device imbedded deep inside his skull and, presumably, his brain. The rods have a limited life span and must be replaced sporadically depending on Scorpius' activity level. They may overheat quickly if he overexerts himself for too long a time. If Scorpius body temperature rises too high, the coolant rod will be automatically ejected from his skull for replacement. He usually needs help from others to accomplish this.

== Character traits ==

He prides himself on his patience and his intellect. Scorpius is a character willing to do absolutely anything to achieve his goals, which he is very honest about when it suits him. He will (and does over the course of the series) lie, kill in cold blood, order the deaths of multitudes, torture innocents, and sacrifice those close to him in order to get what he wants. He is also willing to aid his enemies or humiliate himself if it will further his goals. He has returned from supposedly fatal situations more than once, which he credits to his "foresight and preparation." He manipulates others to do his work but does much on his own; his obsession with Crichton and his wormhole secrets is proof of that. He is highly educated, very intelligent, and extremely clever. Only he knows how deep his schemes run, and, while he claims his main desire is to eliminate the Scarran threat, protagonist John Crichton is loathe to ever trust him.

His rank is never mentioned, and it is assumed that he does not officially hold one. Wayne Pygram seemed to confirm this during an interview on the Farscape DVD set, and [[Dominar Rygel XVI]] once claimed that he was "higher even than a captain" ("I-Yensch, You-Yensch"). His authority is not absolute, however, as Commandant [[Mele-On Grayza]] informed him when she superseded it. He does have the authority to command a research base, a command carrier, and even a fleet of command carriers. Since he has commanded a fleet of craft, he may hold the equivalent authority of a low ranking admiral or [[Fleet Captain]] (similar to that held by [[Jean-Luc Picard]] of [[Star Trek: The Next Generation]] on several occasions), allowing him special privileges in command situations. During Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, Scorpius was seen commanding much larger fleets, so his rank would most likely be equivalent to vice admiral or full admiral at this time. Officially Peacekeeper ranks at this level have never been established, so the specifics are conjectural.

== Character development ==

{{spoilers}}

=== Season 1 ===

In his first appearance on the show, he is portrayed as a walking lie detector. Within seconds of seeing Crichton for the first time, Scorpius identifies him as an imposter (of a Sebacean captain) and has him arrested. While holding Crichton captive, Scorpius probes John's mind with a Peacekeeper device called an [[Aurora Chair]]. During the interrogation Scorpius discovers (as does John) that a race of alien beings called Ancients planted knowledge regarding wormhole technology in John's head, gifting him with the ability to effectively research and develop such technology in order to take himself home to Earth. Scorpius then becomes determined to wrest that knowledge from John's mind. Meanwhile, Scorpius takes control of the command carrier formerly captained by [[Bialar Crais]]. John manages to escape Scorpius with the help of his friends, leading into Season 2 where the crew of [[Moya]] are on the run from Scorpius.

=== Season 2 ===

Soon John Crichton is seeing visions of Scorpius, often in absurd contexts. Slowly it is revealed that Scorpius placed a neural chip with a clone of his own mind into Crichton's brain to get the secrets of wormhole technology from his subconscious. This neural clone appeared in visions only Crichton could see, and could sometimes influence Crichton's behavior. Crichton nicknamed the clone "'''[[Harvey (Farscape)|Harvey]]'''" after the imaginary giant rabbit [[Jimmy Stewart]] talked to in the [[Harvey (movie)|film of the same name]]. Whereas Scorpius is quietly menacing throughout the series, Harvey soon becomes clownish at times, appearing in humorous scenes based on Crichton's memories and fantasies. Harvey has multiple goals: firstly, to find a way to acquire the wormhole knowledge lodged in John's brain; secondly, to safeguard John's life to keep safe the knowledge he holds.

From the appearances of Scorpius throughout Season 2, it becomes apparent that Scorpius' goal for weaponizing wormholes is not for galactic domination, but rather for survival in the face of a rising Scarran empire. He appears to genuinely care about Sebaceans and doesn't want them exterminated.

=== Season 3 ===

Scorpius has removed the neural chip from John's brain and now possesses enough information to greatly advance his own research. Due to some form of "neural bleed," Harvey remains in John's mind, but is unable to control him to as before now that the chip is gone (more a prisoner/occupant in John's mind). John also begins research of his own in earnest. It is revealed that Scorpius' reasons for hating Scarrans are very personal: he is the product of a Sebacean colonist woman who was raped by the Scarrans who captured her. Scorpius grew up on a Scarran Dreadnought, taught every day that his Sebacean half was weak and needed to be conquered. Failure in any way resulted in torture. He escapes using his cunning and defects to the Peacekeepers. At first suspicious, he gains their trust. He was recaptured by the Scarrans while foolishly investigating his past on his own. After some torture, he escaped again - proving his loyalty to the Peacekeepers.

At the end of Season 3, John manages to lie to Scorpius (with the help of Harvey) in spite of the half-breed's ability to detect when someone is lying. Crichton tells him that he finally wants to help in his wormhole research. During a test of a wormhole John betrays Scorpius, and the former Captain Crais has the command carrier blown up with the aid of his Leviathan gunship [[Talyn]].

With his ship gone, and having disobeyed Peacekeeper High Command (by continuing his research), vengeance against the Scarrans seems an unlikely prospect for Scorpius.

=== Season 4 ===

Captured and humiliated by Commandant [[Commandant Grayza|Grayza]], and later imprisoned by Moya's crew, it is shown that Scorpius will endure almost anything to achieve his goals. He even allies himself with Moya's crew to protect the wormhole secret's in Crichton's brain and to convince him to help Scorpius resume their earlier research. Scorpius also crafted a device to give John freedom from the shadow of Harvey in his mind. But this later turns out to be another deception.

Harvey resurfaces when John leaves Scorpius behind to die at the hands of Scarrans. Scorpius' device did not erase Harvey, but instead, insured his loyalty would be to Scorpius rather than Crichton. Harvey's stated purpose was to ensure the survival of Scorpius by influencing John. Harvey also claimed that he had reported to Scorpius on Crichton's wormhole knowledge through unclear means, but later, Scorpius indicated that his was untrue.

However, during a pitched battle at the beginning of the Peacekeeper Wars, Scorpius was somehow able to sense John's reappearance. This suggested that some form of telepathy may be at work between him and Harvey. There is no indication that Scorpius could read Crichton's thoughts, however, so the extent of this connection remains unclear.

=== The Peacekeeper Wars ===

During the Scarran-Peacekeeper War, Scorpius is given the position of commander of a Peacekeeper armada. Though his fleet's first battle goes well, Scorpius has his carrier pull out and make for [[Qujaga]], the ___location of the recently revived John Crichton. With this action, Scorpius' commission is terminated and he is ordered to be executed on sight by the Peacekeepers' Grand Chancellor. Hoping to convince Crichton to give the Peacekeepers wormhole weaponry and end the war, Scorpius accompanies Crichton on his travels to Arnessk, in captivity of the Scarrans, and back to Qujaga. He helps the crew of Moya defend the Eidelons' temple from a Scarran attack and he assists them when they are forced to fight their way back to Moya. Scorpius is last shown overseeing the signing of the treaty that ends the war, apparently quite satisfied that two people he despises, Grayza and [[Emperor Staleek|Staleek]], have been forced into peace.

[[Category:Farscape characters]]

[[Category:Fictional hybrids]]

[[Category:Television villains]]

[[Category:Villains who turned good|Scorpius]]

[[fr:Scorpius (Farscape)]]