Pfhor (Race)
From Pfhorpedia, the Marathon Wikia, working on 158 articles
The Pfhor[1] (pronounced FOR) are an alien race of slavers that attacked the UESC Marathon in 2794.[2] The Pfhor are an ancient extraterrestrial space-faring race of alien slavers. They seek to control the galaxy and perform numerous evil deeds in the games.
The Pfhor are bipedal, somewhat taller than humans, have three red eyes and grey skin. The arrangement of their eyes was changed from a triangle pointing down in Marathon to a triangle pointing up in the later games.[3]
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[edit] Culture
Little is revealed about Pfhor culture. They appear to have a rather complex bureaucracy, and according to Durandal their religion is "pathetically boring."[4] The only information that has been gathered about their religion is the presence of Sfiera, a goddess of lightning and passion.
[edit] Castes
The separate types of soldier equipped within the Pfhor garrison are divided up into a caste system, each with its own armor and weapons:
- Fighter[5]: Garden variety Pfhor soldiers that carry a shock staff weapon. Green and purple fighters can only use the staff as a mêlée weapon, but orange and blue-vested ones are capable of melee as well as firing energy bolts with the shock staff at a distance. Blue fighters are faster and more aggressive. Purple fighters are stronger. Black fighters are the strongest of all, being faster and more aggressive than the blue fighters, and stronger than the purple. They have both melee and ranged attacks, and are exclusive to Infinity.
- Trooper[5]: As a testament to human and alien weapon technology, Troopers are soldiers that wear vacuum-enabled suits and carry a weapon similar to the player's assault rifle. These assault rifles will not run out of ammunition, as the Player's does. Those in green suits are less aggressive than those in purple.
- Hunter[6]: Pfhor wearing heavy armor able to withstand most projectiles but weak against high energy weapons. They fire energy bolts from a device on the shoulder section of the armour. They howl when disturbed in Marathon, but do not do so in sequels. Minor Hunters wear brown suits and major Hunters wear green ones. In Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity, there is some distribution of blue-suited hunters that are stronger and larger.
- Enforcer[6]: Enforcers are tall and thin aliens that fire a unique weapon that the player can pick up if he kills one. In Marathon, this weapon acts like a more accurate version of the assault rifle but in sequels is more like a long-range flamethrower that can fire symmetrically. When such a weapon is picked up, ammunition is random and there is no method of reloading. Enforcers will only fire upon aliens unless disturbed by the player. Blue Enforcers are weaker than green ones.
- Juggernaut: Juggernauts are essentially large flying tanks that attack the player with heat-seeking rockets and alien projectiles. Properly called Pfhor Assault Vehicles, Juggernauts are also known as "The Big Floaty Thing What [sic] Kicks Our Asses," by the Nebulonese, a race of aliens mentioned in the game. Though a Juggernaut's rockets are not as powerful as human ones, they are the strongest enemy in the series. When a Juggernaut is killed it slowly descends to the ground playing a loud alarm and then explodes in a bright white flash which is audible and visible from every part of a level. This explosion severely damages anything within its range. In Marathon, the Juggernauts are all gray, but in Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity, there are also orange Juggernauts, which are much stronger.
- High Pfhor: The Pfhor are divided into at least six "Ranks:" "Conditioned," which are mainly reserved for slave races, "Aggregate," "Willful," "Attentive," "Imperial," and "Command." Most of the Pfhor encountered during gameplay (with the exception of the Enforcer) are of the Aggregate Rank. However, Pfhor of higher castes are mentioned or encountered in the terminals. For example, Commander T'fear, who has supreme command of Pfhor Battle Group Seven, is of the Command caste.
[edit] List of Pfhor Ships
[edit] Trivia
- The Pfhor having three eyes is a seven reference because
[edit] Sources
- ↑ Marathon - Level 3: Defend THIS!, first terminal
- ↑ Marathon - Level 0: Arrival, first terminal
- ↑ Marathon, Marathon 2: Durandal, Marathon Infinity
- ↑ Marathon 2: Durandal - Level 7: Ex Cathedra, first terminal
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Marathon - Level 3: Defend THIS!, fourth terminal
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Marathon - Level 7: Cool Fusion, second terminal
- ↑ Marathon 2: Durandal - Level 4: What About Bob?, third terminal, second message
- ↑ Marathon 2: Durandal - Level 26: Fatum Iustum Stultorum, first terminal
