Galra (Voltron: Legendary Defender)

Galra are a species that feature in Voltron: Legendary Defender.

History

The Galra were an extraterrestrial species of blue-furred and skinned humanoids that were native to the planet Daibazaal. Long ago, it was said their homeworld was home to many warring races that made up a part of one great nation tribe that all sought dominance in the time before they became an interstellar society. Ten thousands years ago, a young leader by the name of Zarkon came to power and led his people as a warrior king who sought to protect them from preying pirates that terrorised the local systems. During this time, they encountered the people of the local systems which included Altea that was ruled by the alchemist King Alfor. The two became fast allies and met fellow comrades in Trigel, Blaytz and Gyrgan where they worked together to protect the local systems. One day, a comet struck Daibazaal that contained an ore that held trans-reality properties with all the Galra being evacuated from the impact site. Alfor offered his worlds scientific capabilities with an Altean scientist named Minerva being dispatched to study the comet. From it, they determined that it had limitless potential that revolutionised technology that enhanced the Galra forces. The experiments revealed the existence of a substance called Quintessence that offered the potential for life everlasting. Alfor's science had also fashioned the ore from the comet to create new craft for them with these taking the form of lions that developed a symbiotic relationship with their pilots. By this point, an energy based lifeform was being studied as it emerged from the rift by the comet but the creature went out of control threatening to break free from containment. Zarkon, Alfor and the others piloted their ships in order to stop the creature after it broke free with Galra forces attempting to hold it back but unable to do so. The lion craft themselves struggled until their vessels urged them to go into formation to form Voltron where the giant robot destroyed the creature. From that time, the lions and Voltron led by Zarkon served as protectors of the universe with an era of peace and prosperity emerging. However, Zarkon and his wife Minerva sought greater power with them continuing their experiments on the comet along with Quintessence despite the warnings of King Alfor. To continue their goals, they intended to enlarge the rift on Daibazaal but required Voltron to do so with Alfor and the others refusing to aid Zarkon in this endeavour. Afterwards, Minerva was stricken ill due to her experiments with a desperate Zarkon seeking to save her. He decided to trick Alfor and his former colleagues claiming that the rift had destabilized his homeworld and that he needed Voltron to destroy it. Their attempt to do so with Voltron's sword simply catapulted them past the rift where Zarkon placed himself and his wife into that realm where they seemingly died. They were brought back but the actions of Voltron had enlarged the rift which began to consume the planet. The Galra were forced to abandon their homeworld with Alfor and the others destroying Daibazaal that was their only alternative to ending the threat of the rift. The Galra armada conducted a funeral for their rulers with the bodies of Zarkon and Minerva on-board their ships. However, the encounter in the other universe transformed Minerva and Zarkon who were changed forever. The pair were resurrected with them seeking to gather unlimited Quintessence and become immortal. Upon his reawakening, Zarkon told the Galra people that the Alteans had destroyed their world and that they sought revenge against Altea for this with them waging war against their former allies.

For the next 10,000 years, the Galra Empire continued to rule where they invaded worlds for Quintessence that was stripped from the planets.

With Zarkon wounded, knowledge of his state was hidden from the rest of the empire with the official line being that the emperor was alive and secretly directing their forces. To rule in his stead, he summoned his son Prince Lotor to return and head the Galra Empire under his command. During this time, factions formed within the empire that sought to usurp the throne from Lotor.

After the death of Zarkon, factions began to form within the empire as numerous commanders sought to place themselves as the new leader of the Galra. One Galra Commander sought to place himself ahead of the others by staging an attack against the Voltron Coalition's capital of Olkarion by deploying a viral weapon but was killed by Voltron. By this point, the various factions had began to solidify as they sought to take part in the Kral Zera that would crown the next ruler of the empire. Among the contenders included Warlord Ranveig, Commander Trugg, Commander Gnov, Quartermaster Janka, and finally Commander Sendak whose hidden patron was the witch Haggar as she herself could not rule due to not being Galra. Sendak managed to defeat the other contenders and nearly claimed the throne when the Black Lion arrived carrying Prince Lotor who made his own claim to the throne. A battle erupted causing the Galra forces to attack one another with the various factions departing as they splintered from the empire. This led Lotor the only remaining contender who light the flame and thus securing the loyalty of those Galra that remained behind who acknowledged him as their new emperor. Lotor came to rule the majority of the empire but there were multiple sizeable factions all of whom sought to claim control of the universe.

It was believed that both Voltron and Lotor perished in the battle with one another. In the aftermath, the witch Haggar disappeared causing the Galra empire to fracture even further. This resulted in warlords and pirates forming that sought to take control over various factions as well as territory. Beyond them, the Druids had also struck out on their own after their leaving them where they came to believe that they had failed her and thus desperately sought to prove themselves to Haggar so that she could accept them back. As a result, members of the Druids began to strike at the Blade of Mamora under the belief that destroying them would redeem themselves. Such was the state of affairs for the next three years as the Galra in-fighting dominated most of known space. Among the factions was Commander Sendak's Fire of Purification who sought to destroy Voltron and in order to draw his foe out he discovered the planet Earth which he subjected to an occupation with the goal of drawing out the Paladins.

Overview

In appearance, the Galra were a race of humanoids of varying sizes that had purple fur over most of their skin that blended with their hair on their scalps. Common characteristics were their purple-to-gray skin tones, long limbs, yellow eyes, pointed cat-like ears and prominent canine teeth. Galra tended to be nimble with long arms that aided them in fights. They were capable of breeding with other races such as humans and having offspring.

Leadership of the empire was held by a figure who held the position of Emperor or Empress. It was said that only pure Galra were able to hold this position with half-breeds not allowed. If their leader was killed, the Galra relied on the use of the Kral Zera to determine a successor as this was a ritual of succession. The ritual was actually a coronation that crowned the new leader of the empire whereby a number of contenders to the thrown were required to ascend a set of stairs on a temple of their sacred world in order to light the flame of the Kral Zera. Such an act was filled with peril as the contender with the flame faced challenges from other warriors among the Galra who similarly sought the throne.

Long ago, they were noted to had held a servant class with fraternisation with this lower class being frowned upon. Their empire came to see half-breed Galra as being inferior to those that were pure bred.

One mysterious group within the empire were the masked robed Druids who were all magic wielders that were disciples of the witch Haggar.

As a war-like civilization, the Galra believed that combat was the searing light that burnt away imperfections on every level from personal to societal. As such, they tended to be a violent race that thought that for the mind to learn then the body needed to be broken. This became a factor in their belief system which they referred to as Palen-bol or the 'enlightening pain with them believing that pain was capable of making a person learn and become smarter.

In the military, personnel when conducting a salute spoke the words "Vrepit Sa!". The origins of this term dated back to the early history of the Galra prior to them becoming an interstellar civilization. In that time, their homeworld of Daibazaal was home to many races that were part of one great nation tribe. In the war to annihilate the opposing tribes, the Galra formed a phalanx of their bravest who made a spear-like attack at the heart of their foes. This was known as the Killing Thrust or Vrepit Sa that became their battle cry and salute of their people. During an occupation, the Galra forced the captive population to mine the native resources to bolster the Galra army such as building fortifications.

A key resource used by the empire was a substance known as Quintessence that generated the highest known energy per unit volume in the universe. It was attracted from planets with raw Quintessence being refined into fuel for Galra technology. Mining of Quintessence was paramount to the Galra empire with it entirely based on acquiring more of the substance.

The Galra Empire's military largely relied on bipedal automatons known as Sentries. These robots were capable of acting as guards, army units, pilots, and general workers with them capable of speech and communicating with each other. A Sentry could be reprogrammed to learn new concepts such as fun. For certain tasks, the Galra made use of small floating triangular robotic Drones that were deployed on assigns such as patrols, attacking enemies or for repair assignments. Another kind of drone was a spherical version that sent out signals when they tracked enemies.

Galra fleet.

Within their arsenal were the large Zaiforge Cannons that were defensive weapon systems used by the empire. These large platforms were powerful energy cannons able to fire over incredible distances where they could be used to destroy enemy fleets or destroy massive asteroids. The Zaiforge had thrusters allowing it to adjust its position and had defensive turrets to attack enemy fighters and strong energy shields to prevent boarding or destruction. A new weapon they had created was a viral weapon that was designed to re-program organic matter to follow a set use of functions. Once deployed, it took the form of a chemical mist that dosed an area where it turned plants against the Galra's enemies and could be programmed to take the form of a giant beast.

Their cruisers were designed to close down sections of the hanger in the event of a hull breach. This was intended to protect the ship in case of damage by isolating those damaged areas. Galra warships were equipped with powerful ion cannons that were used to destroy strong enemy targets.

One great weapon of destruction was the creation of Robeasts that were powerful creatures who were created with a combination of dark magic and technology with them being empowered with Quintessence. They came in a variety of appearances and had a range of unique powers but were all giant mecha able to devastate worlds. Robeasts were animated by choosing a sapient being to become the base that served as the intelligence of the creature. Typically, gladiatorial slaves or disgraced Galra commanders were punished by having their minds placed within a Robeast with the artificial body being animated by their minds whereas their originals became lifeless corpses. They were encased within large craft known as coffins that were launched towards targets.

Members

• Zarkon :
• Haggar :
• Lotor :
• Ranveig :
• Trugg :
• Gnov :
• Janka :
• Prorok :
• Throk :
• Senda :
• Narti :

Notes

• The Galra shared the name of the antagonists from the original Golion series.
• Zarkon's race was unidentified in Voltron: Defender of the Universe with them simply calling Planet Doom their homeworld though they were part of the Drule empire.

Alternate versions

• In the episode "Hole in the Sky", an alternate reality was shown where the Alteans became an aggressive empire under Empress Allura who led them to defeat the Galra uprising after the death of her father with her disappearing thousands of yeas ago. After her loss, the Altean Imperium expanded where they stripped their enemies of their will turning them into submissive servant races under the pretence that this brought peace to the universe. The Altean Imperium ruled their reality with them facing resistance groups but sought to expand their domain into other realities.

Appearances

• Voltron: Legendary Defender:

External Links

• Voltron Wiki Entry

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