Zentradi

The Zentradi are a fictional militaristic extraterrestrial race of giants and often the main antagonist in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross anime series and its Robotech adaptation.

It is transliterated as Zentradi, Zjentohlauedy, Zentrady and Zentraedi for the Japanese Macross series, with the Zentraedi spelling being the one most used commonly in the Robotech adaptation. The Robotech novels and comics would add the occasional spelling T'sentrati. In both the Macross and Robotech universes, humans and Zentradi are capable of interbreeding due to being genetically equivalent.

In Macross

In the original Macross japanese anime series (Big West/Studio Nue, 1982) the Zentradi were created as a space-bound race of giant humanoid proxy warriors by the first civilization in the galaxy, the Protoculture, 497,500 years ago. They contributed greatly to the expansion of the Protoculture Civilization's sphere of influence and the creation of a Protoculture Stellar Republic that controlled most of our galaxy.

As war broke out with The Supervision Army centuries later, the Zentradi entered into combat with their fearsomely powerful force of millions of space warships and mecha produced in thousands of huge automated factories scattered across the galaxy and legions of expendable clone troops. After the end of the war with the Supervision Army, the Zentradi fleets travelled the galaxy in search of Supervision Army survivors until they encountered the human race, an event that caused Space War I (2009-2010). In order to better maintain control of the Zentradi, the Protoculture trained them only in the limited mix of skills which were necessary for the soldier's particular role in the Zentradi military. It seems that no Zentradi were trained in the repair and maintenance of their equipment, making them dependent on easily controlled supply stations and factory asteroids. The Zentradi were also segregated so that males and females could not mix, which might lead to love and/or natural procreation. Male Zentradi are also called "Zentran", which means "male" in the Zentradi language. Also, Female Zentradi are called Meltrandi, the word "Meltran" meaning "female" as well. Finally, the Zentradi were forbidden culture, and were instilled with orders to never interfere with culture-bearing planets and civilizations, again apparently to suppress independent thought and keep an iron loyalty in all the Zentradi forces.

The downfall of the Zentradi nomadic warrior civilization came during Space War I (2009 A.D.), when the technologically inferior but culturally and spiritually superior "Micrones" (humans) were able to reach the buried emotions of the Zentradi through terrestrial culture and humane actions, especially music and acts of love and kindness. After 2012 A.D., the Zentradi are estimated to have 1000-2000 fleets of sizes similar to the 4.8-million-ship Boddole Zer Main Fleet in Space War I. However, the UN government of allied Humans and Zentradi became the reigning hegemony in near-Earth galactic space.

The average Zentradi are five times the size of Earth Humans, but some of them use ancient miniaturizing cloning technology known as the micronization process (maikuro-n ka in Japanese) to coexist with humanity. Many intregrated into each other's population where many families became a mix of both Human and Zentradi individuals.

Before the Zentradi and modern Humans made contact, the average Zentradi had the equivalent intelligence of Human primary school children. Since their exposure to Human society and knowledge, their potential intelligence and learning capacity has been shown to be higher.

In the original Macross TV series the Zentradi possessed a fictional alien alphabet which was developed by Kazutaka Miyatake of the Studio Nue staff but their dialogue was automatically translated into Japanese language. However, in the Macross: Do You Remember Love? animated film the Zentradi were actually shown speaking a fictional extraterrestrial language (that also was developed for the movie by the Studio Nue production staff) as subtitles were provided for the audience.

The Zentradi alphabet from the original Macross TV series and the spoken form of the Zentradi language from the Macross: Do You Remember Love? film appeared again in the Macross 7: Encore OVA and the Macross Frontier T.V. animated series. Both the fictional Zentradi language and its alphabet have been used in several video games that take place in the Macross universe.

In Macross 7, the Zentradi are noted to be especially fearful towards other alien creatures known as the Protodeviln to the point of it being an instinctive reflex.

During the latest Macross TV series, Macross Frontier, Zentradi are shown to live among humans in both macronized (giant) and micronized (normal sized) form in the outer space colonies. This includes having Zentradi sized buildings and facilities, including shopping malls (with similarily sized products). They also seem to change sizes at will using the cloning technology described before.

Notable Zentradi/Meltrandi:

Notable Zentradi-Human Hybrids:

In Robotech

The history of the Zentraedi is different in Robotech (Harmony Gold, 1985), the American-edited adaptation of the first Macross TV series along with Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada. In Robotech, the Zentraedi were created as slave clones to the Robotech Masters, first to be used as miners in the planets of their empire and later trained to be their perfect warriors and guardians. Seeing their effectivity as soldiers the function of the Zentraedi within the Masters' empire was mostly to subjugate worlds for them and to battle their enemies, most notably the Invid.

To control them, the Robotech Masters psychologically impaired them by orienting nearly the entire population to the sole purpose of war to the exclusion of all else. They had no arts, no learning beyond what was directly related to war; even sophisticated medical and technical skills were denied which restricted any advanced task with these skills to the automatic functions at special bases built by the Masters. In addition, the sexes were strictly segregated to minimize the chance of sexual reproduction which could profoundly alter the worldview of the race. To that end, the population was indoctrinated to view any sexual activity disgusting and dangerous.

In 2009, Dolza, the supreme commander of all Zentraedi forces in the galaxy, is ordered by the Robotech Masters to find and recover the lost spaceship that had crashed on Earth in 1999. He orders his second in command, Breetai, command a fleet of ships to track down a lost battlefortress, the SDF-1, which contains the last remaining supply of Protoculture in the universe. In 2009, Breetai's forces arrive in Earth's solar system and discover that the battlefortress, which had crashed on Earth 10 years earlier has been rebuilt by the planet's inhabitants, which are referred to by the Zentraedi as humans, or Micronians, due to their small size. However, the humans refuse to return the fortress and a two year battle begins between the humans and the Zentraedi (known as the First Robotech War) over the SDF-1.

Initially it appears the Zentraedi's far superior numbers will ensure them an easy victory. Although the pilots of the SDF-1, who utilize veritech fighters (which are derived from technology taken from the SDF-1) are highly skilled, they are constantly endangered of being overwhelmed. However, an unexpected element comes into play that changes the entire course of the war - Human culture and emotions. The Zentraedi have no exposure to human emotions and culture and its introduction causes many Zentraedi to rethink their austere lives as soldiers. As the war drags on, more and more Zentraedi defect to the SDF-1. The first are Rico, Konda and Bron, who after infiltrating the SDF-1, decide to defect after becoming enamoured with human culture. A short time later, more and more Zentraedi defect. In April 2011, Miriya Parina Sterling, the finest Zentraedi warrior in the fleet, defects after falling in love and marrying Ace human pilot Max Sterling. At that moment, Dolza, disturbed at the growing contamination of that fleet's personnel, ordered an all out attack to destroy the SDF-1. During the resulting battle, Miriya convinced her husband to attack specific points of Zentraedi mecha to disable them rather than kill them out as a gesture of goodwill. Although Max's superior, Lt. Rick Hunter realized what he was doing, Hunter decided to take the same approach as a final gesture for peace in the face of hopeless odds, while other Terran pilots began to join in. This gesture turned out to be far more productive than any hoped with a significant portion of Breetai's fleet deciding that they cannot fight against the Micronians and began to mutiny to stop the battle. Breetai, alarmed at the disintegration of discipline in the ranks, called a cease fire in direct defiance of his orders.

Eventually, the entire Zentraedi force under Breetai and Exedore change sides after realizing that human emotions have made them incapable of further conflict with the humans (after soldiers throughout Breetai's forces, who have become enamoured with human culture, refuse to fight and turn on their superiors, Breetai realizes that a truce with the humans is the only way to stop his fleet from tearing itself apart).

Dolza, realizing the situation and the threat that human emotions pose to his command, and that if this continues, the entire Zentraedi military could be affected, and decides to take decisive and brutal action. Dolza orders the 4.8 million capital ships in the Zentraedi Grand Fleet, along with his planetoid homebase, to fold into Earth's solar system and destroy the SDF-1, the defecting Zentraedi forces, and the Earth itself to eliminate the threat of the humans once and for all. After folding into Earth orbit, the Grand Fleet fires on Earth, causing horrific damage - cities, houses, soldiers and children are all vaporized as the 4.8 million ships fire relentlessly. No area of the planet is spared by the barrage. All major cities are destroyed and the human population is reduced from 6 billion to only 70,000.

As the Zentraedi fleet prepares to fire again, The Alaska base, which survived the initial attack, fires the massive Grand Cannon which destroys a large portion of the Zentraedi Grand Fleet. A subsequent assault by the SDF-1 and the allied Zentraedi manages allows the SDF-1 to penetrate into the core of Dolza's homebase and launch its missiles at the base's power source - its massive reflect furnace. The explosion of the base destroys the rest of the Zentraedi fleet. This marks the end of the First Robotech War.

The assault by the Zentraedi on Earth marked the sudden and almost complete end of the Zentraedi race. Between the firing of the massive Grand Cannon by the Alaska Base, direct casualties of the enormous engagement between Zentraedi, and the massive explosion resulting from the destruction of Dolza's planetoid base, losses are overwhelming. Only a few hundred warships survive the battle, mostly drawn from Breetai's forces.

The surviving humans and Zentraedi then begin to work together to rebuild Earth from the ashes left by the First Robotech War and many Zentraedi are able to integrate into human society, many of whom are micronized to human size. In October 2012, Max Sterling and his Zentraedi wife Miriya Parina Sterling give birth to a daughter, who the name Dana Sterling. Dana is the first child born from a human-Zentraedi union.

Most of the remaining Zentraedi join their commander and the humans in a subsequent operation against the last remaining Robotech Factory Satellite, an automated production center built by the Robotech Masters to supply their giant warriors with mecha at the height of their expansion. The Satellite is defended by a large under the command of Reno, but his forces prove just as susceptible to "micronian" culture as did those of Breetai and Dolza's fleets. In June 2013, Reno's fleet is destroyed in battle, pushing the Zentaedi to near-extinction apart from those on or allied with humanity.

Although many Zentraedi successfully integrate into human society, many others are unable to overcome their life-long lust for war and a rebellion begins under Khyron and Azonia late in 2013. In January 2014, in the battle of New Macross City, Khyron and Azonia, along with most of the rebels, are defeated, although the SDF-1 is destroyed and the city is left in ruins. The entire area is then sealed off. The attack also kills many Zentraedi who were aboard the SDF-1 at the time. Further Zentraedi rebellions are eventually put down by 2015.

The Zentraedi under Breetai discovered their tragic origins in 2013 (one year before the destruction of the SDF-1 and the death of Khyron) and swore enmity to their former masters. However, the latent hatred held by humans due to the Zentraedi holocaust proves to be much of a strain on relations. In 2022, all of the remaining Zentraedi on Earth join the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) on a mission into deep space to find the Robotech Masters and prevent another war on Earth. The Zentraedi who do not join the REF take up residence on the Zentraedi Satellite Factory. By 2023, the only person on Earth with any Zentraedi blood is Dana Sterling, who was judged as too scientifically valuable to join her parents on the REF mission. Dana would play an important role in the Second Robotech War when the Robotech Masters arrive in Earth orbit in 2029. Her skills as a pilot and tactician are critical to the eventually defeat of the Robotech Masters by the Southern Cross human forces, although the human victory is a pyrrhic one.

The Zentraedi who join the REF fight alongside the humans against the alien race known as the Invid on over a dozen planets as well as against General T.R. Edwards when he betrays the REF. During the mission, many Zentraedi, including Breetai and Exedore, are killed.

By the end of the Third Robotech War in 2044, only a few of the REF Zentraedi are still alive. Among them is half-Zentraedi soldier Maia Sterling, the second child of Max and Miriya, who serves as a skilled pilot against both the Invid and the Haydonites.

The Jack McKinney novels and Robotech comics such as The Malcontent Uprisings limited series developed a Zentraedi language which was different from the language which was developed for Macross DYRL and was not as completely developed as the Macross version. Unlike in Macross, the language for the Robotech Zentraedi was dominated by more harsh, guttural sounds very similar in nature to Star Trek's Klingonese.

Notable Zentraedi:

Breetai | Exedore | Dolza | Khyron | Miriya Parina Sterling

Notable Zentraedi-Human hybrids:

Dana Sterling | Maia Sterling

Source: Wikipedia

Translation

The word "Zentradi" occurs as such in the following languages: English, Italian.

Translation(s) in other languages: French: Zentradien, Japanese: ゼントラーディ人, Serbian: Зентраеди, Chinese: 杰特拉帝人.


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