Fan Theory - Kerbals not Native to Kerbin

[oliv897]

So this has been on my mind for awhile now and the more i play the more it becomes at least to me more credible.

My theory is that Kerbal's do not come from Kerbin, if we take a look at the Space Agency we can clearly see that it is the only sign of civilization on the entire planet, now I have noticed other things such as we NEVER see any Kerbal outside (does this mean the air is toxic?) the few we do see (ship crew) always wear a space suit even on the surface with no option(yet) to remove it (another tip that the atmosphere is Toxic?)

My theory states that not only do they not originate from Kerbin but that they and the premise of the game is to research enough on space travel in order to find a way home, now if we think for a moment that these are abandoned/lost colonists that would explain their stupidity and also their lack of understanding but also allow for the closeness they show to me and you.. everyday people.

I think they're Colonists that have lost contact from their home planet and are now doing all they can to find a way back home and they need our help!

There is much more evidence to support this as well such as we only know them as Kerbals that would be the correct way to label a person or being from the planet Kerbin, now what if they are cut off? an example we are Human, not Earthlings(we are but officially we're human) now if we sent colonists to Mars and then cut contact, surely in ooh a few generations they'd simply refer to themselves as Martian? not Human?

This is what's been on my mind and I thought I'd post it here to get some more feedback on it and see if any other players have noticed anything that would support this?

[EladDv]

well it sounds good but the fact that you cant detect a different solar system (in stock) dosnt support your theory. while kerbals have not built any cities on kerbin you can recruit unlimited amount of them so there is a population existing on kerbin somewhere. but honestly i dont think the devs have such a complicated origin story for the kerbals but a good theory nonetheless

[Overland]

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

your not ment to know that.. you'll start things in motion that must not be...certain things are forbidden.. its all well and good flying little bottle rockets off the surface of kerbin.. puttering around the Kerbol system..

Once you develop hyperdrive.. you'll come back to kerbin to see it consumed by a firestorm.. with a significant debris ring in lower kerbin orbin

NO KSC, NO KSC2.. no land-trains...simply..... no one left.. not even beacons

Edited July 27, 2015 by Overland

[heng]

This would be consistent with the tech tree mechanics...

'New' technologies and parts being rediscovered from leftovers of the original settlers.

- "Hmm, I wonder what this part actually does... Hey, Jeb! Could you try this button-majingy-thing during flight? I'll pay you..."

The original settlements could have been underground. Hence the lack of visible cities.

[LethalShade]

Toxic atmosphere, uh ?

[Geschosskopf]

My theory is that Kerbal's do not come from Kerbin, if we take a look at the Space Agency we can clearly see that it is the only sign of civilization on the entire planet, now I have noticed other things such as we NEVER see any Kerbal outside (does this mean the air is toxic?) the few we do see (ship crew) always wear a space suit even on the surface with no option(yet) to remove it (another tip that the atmosphere is Toxic?)

......

I think they're Colonists that have lost contact from their home planet and are now doing all they can to find a way back home and they need our help!

I, too, for similar reasons, have conjectured that Kerbals are stranded colonists from elsewhere. And given their obvious lack of knowledge of science, they might have been analogous to the Golgafrinchian telephone sanitizers of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a non-productive segment of the population misled into leaving the home planet and deliberately marooned elsewhere .

However, there is a big problem with this theory: the Pyramids. The Pyramids, containing as they do a huge statue of a Kerbal, indicate that Kerbals have been on Kerbin a long time, since at least the dawn of civilization when the invention of the mud brick was big news. This seems a bit too low-tech for stranded extra-Kerbin colonists. Also, the statue doesn't have a helmet, which indicates that Kerbin's atmosphere back in those days wasn't harmful to Kerbals. I have, therefore, had to come up with another theory. In fact, I have 2 competing theories:

1. Kerbals Are Artificial

There are monoliths all over Kerbin, especially at KSC, and also on Mun. These demand an explanation. And Kerbals die, they disappear in a puff of what looks exactly like Mundust. So it could be that the monoliths create Kerbals from materials gathered on Mun and spawn them at KSC as needed. This is all the experiment or idle diversion of some hyper-intelligent, pan-dimensional beings, who watch their creations evolve and struggle to develope technology for reasons of their own. In this theory, the other monoliths on Kerbin and the Pyramids and other ruins, mark former locations where Kerbals used to spawn in the past. There has never been more than a handful of Kerbals at any one time, hence no other ruins, and new Kerbals are created as needed. Kerbals wear helmets outside just because they were created wearing them so feel incomplete without them.

2. Kerbals are Troglodytes

Kerbals are naturally biological, native to Kerbin, and exist in huge numbers, but all underground in vast subterranean cities. Most of them are quite happy there and only the few nutjobs among them ever venture up on the surface, let alone want to go to space. They are a type of fungus similar to puffballs and the dust released when they die is actually a cloud of spores. Those on the surface wear helmets out of a delusional vanity (they are nutjobs, after all).

Regardless of Kerbal origins, the whole helmet I think has to be more costume than necessity. Kerbals lack noses and keep their mouths shut most of the time, so it's really open to argument as to whether they breathe at all. Maybe they absorb something through their skin, but I suspect the main practical purpose of the helmet is merely to maintain pressure while in space.

[steve_v]

We will probably have to ask the mice about the true purpose of kerbin...

[Evanitis]

we NEVER see any Kerbal outside (does this mean the air is toxic?) the few we do see (ship crew) always wear a space suit even on the surface with no option(yet) to remove it (another tip that the atmosphere is Toxic?)

I see Kerbals walking around in the SPH and the VAB in civilian clothes, with open doors. It's more likely that it's only the kerbonauts that have a strict regulation to always wear protective equipment on missions. Even if the mission is to take a soil-sample of the launchpad.

the fact that you cant detect a different solar system (in stock) dosnt support your theory.

I can detect many many solar systems in stock. What else are those dots you see in space all around?

Edited July 27, 2015 by Evanitis

[Geschosskopf]

I see Kerbals walking around in the SPH and the VAB in civilian clothes, with open doors.

Actually, they're inside a controlled environment just like IVA Kerbals.

Observe that when you're in the VAB and SPH, you can see "clouds" through the "open" doors. However, when you're outside, there are no clouds. The reaons is because the doors are actually blocked by force fields that seal the interior atmosphere, and the "clouds" are just moire patterns as the field ripples.

[Overfloater]

Toxic atmosphere, uh ?

http://puu.sh/jeFh2/15dbf24584.jpg

[/thread]

.....

[Kaos]

I like this theory.

Another explanation for the ground crew despite toxic atmosphere is that the atmosphere is only slightly toxic. The kerbals live there for say five generations and a small fraction of the population managed to get adapted to the toxic air. These Kerbals are too valuable to use in exploding rockets, so they work as ground crew.

[HoloYolo]

I had a theory on the Steam forums that kerbals were humans that evolved in the Kerbol system. The radiation from a space mission caused the female pilot to have the first kerbals, and after a few hundred years, humans were extinct and kerbals ruled Kerbin. The story was a lot more elaborate, but I can't type all of it here. I see where you're coming from though. Very cool idea!

[Evanitis]

Observe that when you're in the VAB and SPH, you can see "clouds" through the "open" doors. However, when you're outside, there are no clouds. The reaons is because the doors are actually blocked by force fields that seal the interior atmosphere, and the "clouds" are just moire patterns as the field ripples.

Initially I wanted to express how revolting is what you are implying here. I started to think about a reasonable reasoning centered around why the clouds are more visible in semi-closed environments... but than I had to notice some other irregularities concerning the view from the hangar... namely that the sun never sets there. There's always sunshine, even at the middle of the night. Just like in the movie Dark City, just backwards.

Poor kerbal engineers - I believe something really fishy is going on with them. I believe there is a lot more serious hidden secret there than toxic air. We'll need to investigate further.

[GoSlash27]

Hmm... except for one thing:

Best,

-Slashy

[EdusacconBR]

and the ksp wiki say they live underground, also, theres KSC 2 and island runway on kerbin

[LordFerret]

Hmm... except for one thing:

http://mvinetwork.co.uk/kspblog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Screen-Shot-2014-05-12-at-20.30.04.png

Best,

-Slashy

Good point. I forgot about that lol.

On the other hand, Kerbals are green ... Jool is green ... Kerbals come from Jool.

[Xacktar]

I'm still sticking with the theory that a maniacal dictator rained fire and destruction over the entire planet and is now using the remaining population to search for a new planet to ruin.

All the kerbals wear space suits because the atmosphere is highly radioactive.

The only plant life left is the one type of grass and tree that was resistant to radiation.

All the rocket tech comes from disassembled munitions of various size and complexity.

There is not enough food to feed all of the Kerbals, so those that speak out against the dictator are recruited, drugged, and sent to space.

[justidutch]

I don't see how the presence of the pyramids and other artifacts found on various bodies debunks this theory. We don't know that, for instance, these pyramids weren't built two days before the beginning of KSC (and our introduction to the story). And/or, perhaps these pyramids and other artifacts were overseen by the master Kerbal race (originating from another solar system as the theory goes), and the Kerbals we see here, now, were the slaves that were forced to build these artifacts, and upon completion were abandoned here; their masters not expecting the slaves to survive, let alone develop the anti-stupidity necessary to begin their own space exploration program.

[Zephram Kerman]

if we sent colonists to Mars and then cut contact, surely in ooh a few generations they'd simply refer to themselves as Martian?

People from any place refer to themselves by that place, sometimes within just a few weeks. For example, people from Oregon call themselves Oregonians. So your theory makes sense to me.

Once you develop hyperdrive.. you'll come back to kerbin to see it consumed by a firestorm.. with a significant debris ring in lower kerbin orbin

NO KSC, NO KSC2.. no land-trains...simply..... no one left.. not even beacons

That scene at Kharak was so sad, and motivational. Beautiful story.

]...the monoliths create Kerbals from materials gathered on Mun and spawn them at KSC as needed. This is all the experiment or idle diversion of some hyper-intelligent' date=' pan-dimensional beings, who watch their creations evolve and struggle to develope technology for reasons of their own...[/quote']Those hyper-intelligent, pan-dimensional beings are... US! Not so sure about the hyper-intelligent part, but at least compared to Jeb, we are.

...the view from the hangar... namely that the sun never sets there...

Maybe not so sinister; it may just a back-lit mural of outside that helps them feel more relaxed, like the mirrored back wall of a fish tank. The VAB/SPH don't even have actual doors; the vehicles are actually 'beamed' to their launch sites by a hyperedit device.

Hmm... except for one thing:

That one's wearing a foil hat. The space suit helmets are just high-tech versions of the same thing, to prevent us from reading their silly little minds.

[LethalShade]

Hmm... except for one thing:

http://mvinetwork.co.uk/kspblog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Screen-Shot-2014-05-12-at-20.30.04.png

Best,

-Slashy

What is this mod ?

[Evanitis]

What is this mod ?

It's stock. Anomaly Surveyor or ScanSat can help you find those if you are interested.

[Planetfall]

I think you would like the Kerbal Kronicals. its a fan writing about how the first three and some others survive on kerbin after their mother ship explodes. I think its rather good though the pictures are vary photo-shopped

[pxi]

My personal theory is they actually live in tree-shaped houses.

[Xyphos]

It's stock. Anomaly Surveyor or ScanSat can help you find those if you are interested.

I think ScanSat is a mod, not stock.

I don't have said mod and I don't have said part(s).

I have noticed other things such as we NEVER see any Kerbal outside (does this mean the air is toxic?) the few we do see (ship crew) always wear a space suit even on the surface with no option(yet) to remove it (another tip that the atmosphere is Toxic?)

Definitely NOT toxic, he's just over-dressed for the occasion.

Perhaps when/if life-support mod becomes stock, spacesuits will become optional removable equipment?

Edited July 27, 2015 by Xyphos

[Cydonian Monk]

Kerbals originally came from Laythe. Their entire civilization was wiped out as their cities sank beneath the waves following some unknown catastrophe. Kerbin, a planet they had once visited and attempted to colonize (as evidenced by the desert ruins) became their only point of refuge.