Behind the Scars - a Yuuzhan Vong characterization thread- The Great EU Disappearing Act!

I've come to notice that many people don't have a very good grip on writing Yuuzhan Vong and their associates. Meanwhile, other writers can really get inside the heads of characters such as Nen Yim, Tahiri Veila, Nom Anor, Onimi, Vergere, and their fellows. A lot of this is attention to detail while reading the NJO, but I think another aspect of it is dialogue and actions. For example, a Heretical Shaper like Nen Yim is going to react differently to something than a Scheming Politician like Nom Anor. A Jedi like Tahiri and a philospher like Vergere will present more reactions.

What I'd like to do with this thread is dedicate each week to discussing the character traits of one major Yuuzhan Vong character and also create a place for authors to swap techniques for characterizing these undercredited characters. So, lets get started!

Week of Febuary 13: Nom Anor and Yuuzhan Vong Basics
Week of Febuary 19: Onimi
Week of Febuary 26: Nen Yim
Week Of March 6: Niriit and Shoon-Mi Esh
Week of December 25: Warrior Appreciation Week!

Starting on page three: general discussion.

Coming soon: Index!!!

 

The character we'll be focusing on this week is Nom Anor. As one of the prime characters of the NJO, Nom Anor sets many events into motion. He is the one to infect Mara Jade with Coomb Spores and the one to orchastrate the capture of Jacen Solo. He holds the position of "Executor", a high rank in the Attendant caste. As paranoid as he is bloodthirsty, he has had one of his eyes replace with a Plasryn Boyl (sp) - a living weapon. This has lead to the deaths of many of his associates, including Niriit and Shoon Mi, siblings from domain Esh.

 

Wow. I haven't read anything with the Vong yet, but he sounds like on bad dude. Please keep going, I am interested to see what else Nom does.

 

>_< YUUZHAN Vong!!! (sorry. I'm touchy like that.)

And actually, I was hoping more people would contribute with their own takes on Nom Anor.

 

I'd say, to add to Nom Anor's already accurate description, you'd have to add coniving, self serving, oportunistic and disloyal. His only loyalties appear to be to himself, and in keeping his own skin intact. He doesn't believe in the system which the Yuuzhan Vong have held to in the years and doesn't believe in the gods.

To be honest, I'd say Nom Anor is one of the hardest characters to write or interpret simply because he can be so much more than simply scheeming. His intelligence and cunning are highly advanced.

At least, that's my take on him.

 

VM, it's probably my fault since I'm the one to used the wrong typo (curse my fast typing).
Vongy, starting this thread is a good idea.
As for Nom Anor, it's rare to see a Yuuzhan Vong atheist who's pretended to be faithful to more than one religion.

 

Sounds like this is the place to ask this question. How exactly was Nom Anor supposed to have infected Mara? I never really caught that when I was reading through the NJO series.

Anyway, I completely agree with Nom Anor being conniving and manipulative. And his multiple alliances certainly tell a lot about his ability to play all sides against the middle. IMO he's one of the most interesting characters to come out of the NJO.

 

Nom Anor was a member of the Praetorite Vong - an ethnic group within the Yuuzhan Vong. Most of them were sent ahead as scouts and Nom Anor remained in disguise. Somewhere along the line, her encountered Mara Jade and poisoned her.

 

Thanks for that. I couldn't recall what sect Nom Anor belonged to. So it's never spelled out how he infected Mara, huh? Sounds like there's a fan fic opportunity there

 

Well, If I remember correctly... she was poisoned while escorting or protecting some dignitary during a gathering on some planet. Specific, ain't I?

I'll have to look it up, unless someone fills ya in first.

 

There was some confrence Mara went to before Survivor's Quest and after VP.

Nom Anor is one of the best villians in the EU next to Thrawn.

I was hopin all along that he'd beg for mercy to the New Republic then Mara would kill him, but no...

 

my goal with this thread is to create a place where writers can come to get info on whatever Yuuzhan Vong they're writing. By doing week-by-week discussions, I hope to create an archive... sort of

 

Somehow, we're going to stretch this discussion a whole week. How about a challenge???

A Day In the Life Of: Nom Anor

One posties. Post them here!

 

Vongchild, could you do a thread about their religion? Their gods and goddesses and how they relate to the skywalker family.

I know in TUF there was someonthing said about Luke being Yun-Yummuka and Jacen being Yun-Sh'uno.

and of course there's Jaina as Yun Harla

 

Just wondering, what aliases did Nom Anor use besides Yu'Shaa and Pedric Cuf?

 

I think that was all he had for main ones, though he had several several throwaways.

Here's the creation myth I wrote for them based on the information supplied in the books.

In the beginning, there was chaos. There was no dark or light, good or evil, life or death. There was only chaos. From this chaos, the first gods were formed - Yun Yuuzhan, Yun Shuno, Yun Harla, Yun Ne'shel, Yun Txiin, and Yun Q?aah. And out of the chaos, the gods created the universe - night and day, dark and light, worlds of sea and sand, worlds of cloud and rock, stars and novas, pulsars and black holes. They created clusters and galaxies, systems and nebulas, and settled upon a world they called Yuuzhan?tar, meaning place of greatness.

On Yuuzhan?tar they built a palace in the sky, with a rainbow bridge and three seperate cities in which to live. On the world itself they created a garden, with plants and animals of all sorts for them to admire. But, as any gardener knows, a garden left untended can quickly become infested with weeds and over time turn into a jungle. So Yun Yuuzhan set to create the first Yuuzhan Vong, a name which means ?Servants of greatness?. And so he went about asking the other gods what gifts to bestow upon the gardeners.

?Give them inteligence,? said Yun Harla, ?So that they might be curious.? So Yun Yuuzhan did.

?Give them humility,? said Yun Shuno, ?So that they might obey us.? So Yun Yuuzhan did.

?Give them compassion,? said Yun Txiin, ?So that they might respect each other.? So Yun Yuuzhan did.

?Give them mortality,? said Yun Q?aah, ?So that they might come to value life.? So Yun Yuuzhan did.

"Give them pain," said Yun Ne'shel, "So that they might come to be peaceful." So Yun Yuuzhan did.

And he was all set to create his beings when from out of the void came the voice of Yun Yammka, the dark one, and he said, ?Give them love, that they might learn to hate. Give them anger, that they might learn to destroy. Give them hatred, that they might learn to fight.?

And so Yun Yuuzhan did.

?And so I will give them hope,? he said, ?That they might learn to look past all those things to find the True Way.? And so he formed the Yuuzhan Vong from the pieces of his own body, leaving for himself only a soul. And so he formed for himself a new shape, with eyes of stars, a mouth of a black hole, a torso and limbs of the night sky, hands and feet of vonduum crab, and a cloak of the very fabric of space and time.

And that was how the Yuuzhan Vong came to be.

 

Nice story Vongchild.

Where do the others come in, like the lovers

 

Not all Yuuzhan Vong gods have paralels in earth mythologies, but some do. I've listed them as I see fit. I'm pulling from Greek mostly because.... well... They had gods for everything...

THE YUUZHAN VONG GODS
Yun Yuuzhan is the creator god. He is the chief god and the most important god of the Yuuzhan Vong. (Earth equivalent: Greek, Uranus and Gaea, the creator gods) (Jedi parallel is Luke Skywalker)

Yun Harla is the trickster goddess. She is the goddess of priests and shapers and all others who may be untruthful. Also a knowledge godess. (Earth equivalent: Greek: the closest ones I can think of are Artemis, Apollo, and Athena.) (Jedi parallel is Jaina Solo)

Yun Shuno is the god of shamed ones, healing, and warriors. (No earth equivalent.) (Jedi parallel is Jacen Solo)

Yun Txiin and Yun Q?aah are also known as the lovers or the twins. They are the god and goddess of love and share the duty of being fertility gods with Yun Ne'shel. (Greek. Aphrodite and Cupid)

Yun Ne'shel is the goddess of shaping, childbirth, and fertility. (She is NOT the goddess of Shapers. All Shapers fall under the domain of Yun Harla because they are forbidden to bear children.) (Closest parallel is probably Artemis, because she was also a fertility goddess in some myths.) (Jedi parallel is Tahiri Veila)

Yun Yammka (AKA the Slayer) is the god of death, pain, and war. He is not actually a true god, added after the exile from Yuuzhan'tar to suit the warlike nature of the modern Yuuzhan Vong. Most warriors and leaders pray to both Yun Yammka and Yun Yuuzhan. (Probably a cross between Satan, because of his dark, evil properties, and Hades, because of his domain over death. Perhaps even a touch of Ares.)

There yah go!!!!

 

for Yun Harla I can think of Eris, the goddess of discord and Ares' sister.

Hera is the goddess of childbirth but as for the lovers...love is so fickle for the Greek gods that's more like a soap opera.

Back to Nom Anor, I'd like to do a fic of him one say but it would be so difficult. He's the character you love to hate

 

It's pretty hard to compare gods from different mythologies on acount of each civilization assigning different duties. Artemis and Diana even had different duties, and they were the same person! While Artemis was supposed to be a life giver, Diana was a cruel hunter.

 

Nom Anor was one of the few Vong I could stand to read about. He was so self-serving that you had to find him amusing. Sort of like a nastier Dr. Smith from the old Lost in Space story.

I would equate Yun Harla more with the Norse god Loki. The god of mischief.

 

Hmmmm... Yun Harla and Loki..... I never thought of that one before, but it's a good one. She's not Pan. Pan, allthough a trickster god, is much too inocent.

Right now I've got a schedule for the next four weeks.

Nom Anor Week is almost over! What did we learn?

 

Well over the course of this week, there came to be a really nice character bio for Nommie. BTW, I think, somewhere in this thread should be a list of all Yuuzhan Vong words found in the books, their English translations, and a list of Yuuzhan Vong grammar rules (I know there's something about verbs coming either before nouns or direct objects). Is that a good idea?

 

This is the real story man....

Spearheading the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy was a silver-tongued and black-hearted executor known as Nom Anor. Though that was his true name, it was only one of several he bore during his advance mission to infiltrate a galaxy of infidels.
This highly skilled member of the Intendent caste has bioengineering talents that rival the skilled Shapers of his people. He has crafted organic tools of cloak and dagger, and created an insidious virus with which he afflicted Mara Jade Skywalker. Even when stripped of weaponry, Nom Anor is not unarmed -- his eye socket conceals a plaeryin bol capable of spitting deadly venom.

Anor worked both as a subtle manipulator and a political firebrand, disrupting the politics of local systems and stirring up trouble for the New Republic and the new Jedi order. Anor pulled the strings behind Xandel Carivus, a key member of the Imperial Interim Council that replaced the Empire after the death of Palpatine's clone. His behind-the-scenes actions helped hasten the eventual downfall of the fragmented Empire.

Nom Anor disappeared for years, resurfacing on the planet Rhommamool as the leader of the Red Knights of Life extremist group. His heated rhetoric against droids, technology and the Jedi amassed a sizable following, straining the delicate peace between Rhommamool and sister planet Osarian. As the crisis escalated on the twin worlds, Nom Anor again vanished, faking his own death.


His advance mission was over. Shortly after the Rhommamool incident, the Yuuzhan Vong invasion began in force. This principal incursion, led mostly by members of the intendent caste, was deemed a failure, and Anor's status was tainted by association. The next Yuuzhan Vong wave consisted of the warrior caste.

Anor forged tenuous alliances in an effort to smooth differences between him and the warrior caste, who were predisposed to distrust the intendent. Anor hatched a scheme to use a defector to defeat the Jedi, but this eventually failed. Anor was able to recover by bringing the Hutts into the Yuuzhan Vong fold as allies. Knowing full well the Hutts were untrustworthy, Anor used them to sew disinformation into the New Republic ranks.

Anor was finally able to redeem himself in Warmaster Tsavong Lah's eyes by devastating and conquering the world of Duro. It was a hollow victory, as the Warmaster did not promote Anor, and the intendent then found himself competing with Vergere, Tsavong Lah's unlikely alien underling and advisor.

Upon the discovery that Jacen and Jaina Solo were twins -- a relationship of great significance in Yuuzhan Vong mythology -- Tsavong Lah tasked Anor and Vergere with the capture of the Solo children. The opportunity came when the Solos infiltrated the heart of a Yuuzhan Vong operation on Myrkr. By mission's end, Anakin Solo was dead, Jaina Solo had escaped, but Jacen Solo had been captured.

Anor intended to twist Jacen Solo into the instrument of Jaina Solo's destruction, fulfilling an ancient Yuuzhan Vong prophecy when one twin sacrificed the other. Jacen proved difficult to break, however. Aided by the traitorous Vergere, Jacen escaped his captivity into the overgrown wilds of the Yuuzhan Vong-conquered Coruscant. Nom Anor led the charge to recapture him, but ultimately failed. Jacen Solo's efforts subtly destabilized the Yuuzhan Vong transformation of Coruscant, and the Yuuzhan Vong visions of perfection and infallibility began to erode.

Despite his failure, Nom Anor continued to risk heresy in his quest for information he could use to his advantage. Donning an ooglith masquer, he infiltrated a Yuuzhan Vong heretical sect, and learned that some of the deepest tenets of the Yuuzhan Vong philosophy may have foundations as unstable as the Coruscant Vongforming process.

Now, Anor is now on the run, having failed yet again by advocating an attack on Ebaq 9 which turned out to be a trap which crippled the Yuuzhan Vong forces. He is in disguise among the shamed castes, armed with dangerous knowledge that could unsettle c

 

The databank files are only half-complete. They don't contain the second half of NJO, when Nom Anor took on the name Yu'Shaa and set out to take over the galaxy using an army of shamed ones. The info on that is in Force Heretic 1-3 and The Final Prophecy.

Yuuzhan Vong Honorifics are fairly easy. Shapers, attendants, and Warriors have personal names and domain names. In normal conversation, both are used. Use of only the personal name (IE Nen, Nom, Vua, Hul, Mezhaan) denotes some sort of intimacy and implies friendship, familial ties, or love (IE, Tahiri refers to her alter ego simply as Riina in later books to denote that they have reached some sort of friendship). If this intimacy is not earned, using only the personal name is extremely rude (The spiteful usage of Riina in the early books) (Same goes for Japanese.) Priests have only one name (IE Harrar, Elan) because they are supposed to be approachable and humble. Shamed ones are refered to by first name only to denote that they are below normal citizens and deserve no respect.

Overlords are the only difficult part of this. Though they only go by one name (IE Shimra(SP)), they are not humble, nor are the shamed ones, nor are they equals to everyday citizens. Usually the title Master, Dread One, Dread Lord, or even Yun- are added, the last of which being because the Yuuzhan Vong elevate their leaders to almost a godlike position, similar to egyptian pharaohs.

Between members of the same caste, futher honorifics are added. In the military, ranks are used. In Shaping damuteks, "master" and "adept" are used. Etc... etc... etc...

Whew. That was long.

I'll get a dictionary... Later.

Creche and Qua are real words, though Qua in the english language is a preposition meaning "The capacity or function of". Creche is a word indicating a place where children are taken care of while their parents are working or doing otherwise.

Ladeedah, then, I'll be going.