Faction Guide

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Until now in world's history, whenever we've had a dark age, it's been temporary and local. And other parts of the world have been doing fine. And eventually, they help you get out of the dark age. We are now facing a possible dark age which is going to be world-wide and permanent! That's not fun. That's a different thing. But once we have established many worlds, we can do whatever we want as long as we do it one world at a time.

—Isaac Asimov, speech at Newark College of Engineering, 1974

Nearly 40% of all Fen are independent, either as neutral as humanly possible when it comes to politics[1], or generally liking many different groups but not enough to join any of them. (These Fen are often called "Neutrals" and "Generalists", respectively.) The rest belong to one or more factions - something of a cross between a nation-state, a political party, a business, a social club, and a mutual-aid society, but not quite like any of those types of groups.

Confusing? A bit, but think how much worse it is to the people who live there.

Government, or what passes for it in Fenspace

Main page: Government in Fenspace

Government
Faction Flag, Icon or Logo Capsule Description
Fenspace Convention
Flag of the Fenspace Convention.png
Civilian government across (and binding on) all of Fenspace
Space Patrol
Patrol shield.png
Fenspace's pan-factional police force
Great Justice
OGJ flag.gif
Fenspace's equivalent to NATO and the Warsaw Pact

Major Factions

These six groups, listed by size, are the largest factions in Fenspace:

Major Factions
Faction Flag, Icon or Logo Capsule Description
United Federation of Planets
Federation seal.png
Also called Trekkies, Trekkers, or FedFen, the UFP is the single largest faction in Fenspace. Based around Mars, they have a reputation for staying on their ships and exploring far afield.
Galactic Republic
Republic Seal.png
The Warsies have colonized the Saturn subsystem, but maintain a presence throughout the rest of Fenspace, working with Great Justice to defend the Solar System. The Trekkie/Warsie feud is greatly exaggerated for the tourists, but was the cause of the largest interfactional dispute in Fenspace history.
The Wizarding World Scattered throughout the Main Belt and elsewhere, the Wizards (or Potterites) are fans of all sorts of modern-magic stories, not just the recent blockbusters. They have a bad habit of debating and dithering rather than acting, which lead to them taking heavy losses during the Boskone War.
Interstellar Alliance The Fivers (or Rangers, if you prefer) can be found throughout Fenspace, acting as diplomats between other factions. They're believed to be based out of Earth orbit.
Independent Faction
Browncoatflag.jpg
Call them Browncoats, Whedonites, or Jossies, the members of the Independent Faction are the major colonists of the Jupiter subsystem. They've turned Ganymede into the breadbasket of the Solar System.
Crystal Millennium
Senshi flag.png
Some are called Senshi, others are called Action Girls, but they're all busy terraforming Venus and coming to the aid of distressed travelers.

Minor Factions

Minor Factions
Faction Flag, Icon or Logo Capsule Description
Belters a.k.a. Nivenites or Rockrats
Kingdom of the Abh
Kingdom of Jurai
Justice League Interplanetary a.k.a. Supers
Koopa Kingdom
SOS-dan
SOS-dan logo.png
Soviet Air Force
Soviet Rose.png
Space Pirates a.k.a. Leijiites or Buccaneers
The Twelve Colonies of Kobol a.k.a. Colonials or Galacticans
United Stars Organization a.k.a. USO or Rhodanites
Village Hidden in Asteroids a.k.a. Ninjas

Cultures and Subcultures

These groups are identifiable as distinct cultures in Fenspace.

Cultures and Subcultures
Group Flag, Icon or Logo Capsule Description
Furries
Heinlein Society a.k.a. Heinleinians
Military fen
Military Fen.png
If someone in Fenspace needs to understand something of a military nature, and they don't have access to the Dorsai or the Roughriders, they consult their local Military Fen.
Panzer Kunst Gruppe Cyborg Martial Artists who may take the cyborg thing just a bit too far. Gunnm Fen.
Pellucidarans
MinersHelmet.jpg
Pulpers a.k.a. Golden Agers
Submariners
Submarine.png
For lovers of Seaquest, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, and similar works. Those who believe the mysteries of Space are nothing compared to the hidden mysteries of the Abyss.
Timelords
TARDIS.png
a.k.a. Whovians
Turnerites a.k.a. Skinheads, Space Nazis, Church of White Jebus, etc. Named after the first group of people in space identified to think this way, the Turnerites held onto their racist and sexist beliefs when they moved Up from Earth. They are considered an "enemy" culture by many Fen but not by the Fenspace Convention as a whole, who offer them as a group the rights and protection that they deny to some of their own members.

Non-Governmental Organizations

Some things need to be done, or should be done, but cannot effectively be done by a company or a government. These groups are the ones who do these things.

Non-Governmental Organizations
Organization Flag, Icon or Logo Service Provided Capsule Description
Artemis Foundation
Artemis project emblem.png
Astronomical observation and charting
Banzai Institute for Biomedical Research and Strategic Information
Winged-BB.jpg
Education, Disaster Relief aka Blue Blazers[2]
The Cyber Confederation
The Hacker Underspace Computer Security Fenspace's "l33t haxorz"
The Knight Foundation
Knightrider.jpg
The Mars Terraforming Project
Mars.jpg
Terraforming
The Mob Thanks to the pervasive nature of fandom, the nature of criminal organizations in Fenspace is... different from their mundane counterparts.
Musician's Aid Society Mutual-assistance a.k.a Dandelions, Filkers
Nikaido Foundation Charitable Funding
Paratheo-Anametamystikhood Of Eris Esoteric
Hand of Eris.png
Fnord Fnord
The Quartermass Institute
Radiotelescope.gif
Defence of Earth
The Venus Terraforming Project
Venus.jpg
Terraforming

Other Groups

Assemblages that resemble groups from the outside.

Loose Groups of Fen
Grouping Flag, Icon or Logo Capsule Description
Antis a.k.a. Anti-'Danes - virtually indistinguishable from Generalists, from the outside
Boskonians Black Hats, the Dark Kingdom, Death Eaters, Pirates, Reavers, Shadows, Sith – whatever name one gives them, the Boskonians are Fenspace's organized-crime element. The Fenspace Convention considers them to be outlaws and terrorists; the whole point of the Space Patrol and Great Justice is to arrest or subdue (respectively) Boskonians whenever and wherever they arise.
Gearheads
Gearhead 2.gif
If it walks, drives, flies, transforms or preferably all of the above it falls among the Gearheads. Fenspace mecha Fen.
Herbertites
Humourists
Humorists.png
Some people can't take anything seriously – in Fenspace, these people are called Humorists. Or Humourists. (Some will insist you spelled the group's name incorrectly, no matter which spelling you used.)
The Watch a.k.a. Discworld fen

Related Pages

Fen Companies
Mercantile and other business groups in Fenspace.

Notes

  1. Which means not at all neutral, of course.
  2. Most Blue Blazers would say they technically count as a subset of the Pulpers, but the sheer size and scope of Dr. Banzai's operation leads this Troper Editor to separate them into their own faction.