Rev Bem

Rev Bem is an extraterrestrial male television character who features in Andromeda.

Biography

Rev Bem was a member of the Magog race and was given the name of Red Plague upon his birth. (Episode: Its Hour Come Round at Last) He was notably born on the planet known as Kingfisher where his parent infested the body of a Human female that would serve as his "mother". At the time, a member of the People of the Way arrived known as Brother Thaddeus Blake who walked amongst the horde of Magog and converted them into Wayists. Among their number was Rev Bem who became a student of Blake. (Episode: The Devil Take the Hindmost) Following that moment, he abandoned his Magog name and took the name of Reverend Behemial Far Traveller and became fixed on the peaceful teachings of the Divine. (Episode: Its Hour Come Round at Last)

Around the year CY 10087, Rev Bem joined the crew of the Eureka Maru, a salvage ship operated by Captain Beka Valentine. They were hired by a Nightsider named Gerentex to locate a legendary lost High Guard ship called the Andromeda Ascendant. Beka and the others found the ship trapped in the gravity well of a black hole. They managed to retrieve it, only to discover that its captain, Dylan Hunt was still onboard and still alive. Gerentex had the crew of the Eureka Maru board the ship in an effort to take it by force if necessary. It was at this time that Rev Bem began to question working for Gerentex. Ultimately, Gerentex betrayed them all in his quest to claim the Andromeda and Rev and the others sided with Dylan Hunt. Once Gerentex was defeated and both ships were safely away from the black hole, Dylan invited the crew of the Eureka Maru to join with him on the Andromeda Ascendant. Rev Bem served as the ship's psychiatrist, physicist and spiritual advisor. (Episode: Under the Night)

During a visit to the Hajira, a people with perfect genetic memory who were being taught the values of Wayism and faced threat from slavers. Rev Bem's genetic material was extracted by Tiama who infested herself with his larval offspring. Although he was an unwilling participant in the event, Rev nevertheless allowed the children to be born, hoping that the 'mother's' genetic memory would result in the creation of Magog with some degree of innocence. After the birth, this hope was proved to be correct; while the children were initially indiscriminately violent, they demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with humans shortly after birth.

Later on, Rev Bem left a holographic message for his crew members to say he's off to do some religious travelling. (Episode: Ouroboros)

Afterwards, Rev Bem went through a transformation so that he's looking a lot less like the furry creature and more like a prehistoric person actual actors face becoming more visible. (Episode: What Happens to a Rev Deferred) He would later lure Dylan Hunt to Juko, a planet that has a reputation for junkies. Once there, Captain Hunt was captured by the Collectors. At first, it appeared that Rev Bem had joined the Collectors but it was ultimately revealed that he was being controlled by the secret society. (Episode: Fear Burns Down to Ashes)

Overview

Personality and attributes

His original name was a series of loud screeches in his native Magog tongue. The closest English translation was Red Plague.

Though he was a Magog, Bem was a devout member of the Wayist religion. Therefore, he had has to control his baser instincts to kill other living beings for food, or forcibly infest them with Magog eggs for reproduction.

Rev Bem was a kind and understanding when most beings he encountered greet him with a shriek of terror and aim a weapon at him. Dylan once said that Rev was the closest thing to a savior he had ever met.

It was known that following his encounter with the Abyss, Bem's belief was sorely tested to the point that he believed he was not a creation of the Divine but rather a monster made to serve his species dark deity. This led to him fasting and enacting a desire not to harm any form of life as atonement for his crimes namely killing numerous members of his kind on the Worldship. (Episode: Exit Strategies)

Powers and abilities

Rev Bem was born a member of the parasitic Magog race. As such, he was born after gestating within a human host body.

Like all Magog, Rev Bem possessed the ability to project a stream of paralytic poison from his mouth. Biologically, the Magog use this to capture prey or to subdue living beings that they intend on using as incubators for their young. However, the poison can also be used for combat purposes and Rev Bem has been known to use it to incapacitate armed assailants. The effects of the poison are only temporary and affords Rev Bem a defensive measure without resorting to violence.

Amongst his skills included being a theoretical physicist and he was also capable of serving as the ships psychologist. (Episode: Ouroboros)

Notes

• Rev Bem was created by Robert Hewitt Wolfe and was portrayed by actor Brent Stait and featured in the setting of the Andromeda universe.
• The character departed the show as a cast member in its second season after the actor, Brent Stait, developed an allergy to the prosthetics he wore to play the role.
• According to the unproduced episode "Coda" by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, in the Perfect Possible Future envisioned by Trance; Rev Bem would have ascended in the ranks of the Wayist church and become their leader thus making him the first Magog leader of the Wayists since the Annoited. Witn an army of fanatical Magog under his rule along with other believers, Bem created a religious state that was equal to both the Commonwealth and Nietzschean Empire; he would later lead his followers in the final battle against the Abyss.

Appearances

• Andromeda:

External Link

• Andromeda Wiki Entry

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