Canon?

[Nimja]

Hello. I'm very new to KSP, and I was wondering: Is there any KSP canon stories. I was just wondering, as many people keep talking about "Jebadiah". Thank you.

[AmpsterMan]

Welcome fellow Kerbonaut!

As far as I am aware, there is no canon storyline. The reason we all refer to Jebediah so fondly is because he is the first Kerbal that flies your craft. Also he has a specific tag in his personality profile that means he tends to smile and laugh no matter what.

My theory for why we all like Jeb so much is because he is the only character that reflects the player. He is our avatar.

Listen to what people say about him: He launches when the rocket is good enough, he adds more boosters, he flies by the seat of his pants, he likes explosions etc. These are things that us as the player enjoy and so we project our feelings onto the chatacter.

[regex]

Jebediah Kerman along with Bill and Bob, form the default crew you start any game with in KSP. Jeb is a legend around here because he's almost always grinning like an idiot and, because he's at the top of the list, he horns in on any flight if he's not already flying something.

[sal_vager]

Just the official Squad videos I think, there's no real background to the Kerbals otherwise, Jeb Bob and Bill used to be fairly static images

[SkyRender]

KSP has more cannon than canon, generally speaking. Specifically, crazy cannons built by players to launch Kerbals into the stratosphere with no spaceship and no hope of surviving the fall back to Kerbin. We're a fun-loving bunch, even if many of us do tend to not think much of the little green men we slaughter wholesale in the name of boredom.

[EndOfTheEarth]

At the moment, there are only two sources of story material for KSP: the update trailers and the part descriptions.

It is possible to determine a fair amount of story from the pieces we have. Here's what I've collected, assuming we use just the available fiction:

The canon of KSP, summed up, is that, just like IRL (Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Northrop Grumman, etc.), there are a handful of component contractors:

--Kerlington Model Rockets and Paper Products

--C7 Aerospace Division

--Jebadiah Kerman's Junkyard and Spaceship Parts Co.

--Probodyne Inc.

--STEADLER Engineering Corps

--Rockomax Conglomerate

--An unnamed contractor who built the original SAS and a few other things

--O.M.B. Demolition Enterprises

--FLOOYD Dynamics Research Labs

--Dinkelstein Kerman's Construction Emporium

--Moving Parts Experts Group

--RÖKEA Inc.

--Ionic Protonic Electronics

--Zaltonic Electronics

--RKEA Inc.

--Clamp-o-Tron (unconfirmed, but suggested by a different piece)

--Kerbal Motion LCC

--Integrated Integrals

--Experimental Engineering Group

Based on the names, it sounds like we have everything from professional contractors to the equivalent of the local home improvement store. This, in conjunction with the planned funding and reputation systems suggest that Kerbals did not (and probably still don't) take the idea of a functional space program seriously, which meant that early-days KSC was low-budget experimental stuff that Jeb (who, as shown above, is one of the contractors) and others thought would be fun to try out. If Jeb actually IS a main contractor, then it is possible that Bill and Bob are as well, and that the initial idea of KSC's government was to try to stop the endeavor by killing the contractors at the start. Regardless of how successful they were, the kerbals managed some level of success in their program, which eventually led to a substantial industry following. Presumably, there are other companies or research groups out there that have a need for KSP's services, but we won't know about them until the contract part of Career mode is finished.

Beyond this, we won't know for sure until more fiction is produced for Career mode.

[ZodiaK]

The "plan", for a narrative loosely connecting easter eggs, as was originally imagined by me, was that a long, long time ago, a precursor civilization to the Kerbals had lived in the same solar system. This is evidenced by the face on Duna, the SSTV signal, Vallhenge, the Monoliths, etc.

Their home planet, however, was lost due to a severe miscalculation of the parameters of their interstellar travel system (maybe the player could've gotten their hands on the tech, but that's a bit of a lame way to acquire interstellar travel, being forced to jump through a bunch of hoops and calculate a bunch of stuff...), which resulted in the whole planet being placed in an extremely distant orbit around the sun, where it quickly froze and died. The rapidly dwindling population of survivors managed to launch numerous monoliths across the system, in hopes of seeding intelligent life.

Their plan failed. They made Kerbals.

This planet would not be visible in the map view, or discoverable through any telescope. To find it would require the player to locate several SSTV signals (these and the monuments were the equivalent of what flags are today for Kerbals - a "look, we were here") around the system. Each signal would normally contain a complete list of orbital parameters for the home planet, but over millions of years of degradation, only a snippet would remain.

Once the orbital elements of the planet had been found after decoding and analyzing enough signals, its current position could be calculated with reasonable accuracy, and a mission sent out. Once found, the planet would reveal itself as just a bit smaller than Kerbin, covered in frozen cities, abandoned monuments, oceans frozen solid, and an atmosphere long lost to the depths of space. This far out, the sun might even not light up the world too much, leaving it in a perpetual state of twilight. A very, very, very unusual and alien world.

On the subject of the first SSTV signal - it depicts four precursor critters standing by their monument, their home planet, and the symbol of the planet's world government, a universal sign of peace and exploration. A number would have been added later on, as Duna's contribution to the orbital solution.

Of course, this whole "plan" never really left my head, apart from a few brief teasings that I had a plan! I believe this is the first time I've ever really talked about the full extent of the ideas for a sort of narrative behind the easter eggs (although IIRC I may have touched upon it in past forum posts, like the idea of the monoliths failing and creating kerbals instead of proper intelligent life). Maybe one day I'll resurrect this plan, maybe as part of Alternis, or even in a different game.

Time will tell.

A story regarding the monoliths and easter eggs as envisioned by Novasilsko. not sure if Canon or not, but interesting noetheless!

[KSK]

At the moment, there are only two sources of story material for KSP: the update trailers and the part descriptions.

*snip*

Based on the names, it sounds like we have everything from professional contractors to the equivalent of the local home improvement store. This, in conjunction with the planned funding and reputation systems suggest that Kerbals did not (and probably still don't) take the idea of a functional space program seriously, which meant that early-days KSC was low-budget experimental stuff that Jeb (who, as shown above, is one of the contractors) and others thought would be fun to try out. If Jeb actually IS a main contractor, then it is possible that Bill and Bob are as well, and that the initial idea of KSC's government was to try to stop the endeavor by killing the contractors at the start. Regardless of how successful they were, the kerbals managed some level of success in their program, which eventually led to a substantial industry following. Presumably, there are other companies or research groups out there that have a need for KSP's services, but we won't know about them until the contract part of Career mode is finished.

Beyond this, we won't know for sure until more fiction is produced for Career mode.

It's certainly not canon but that's broadly how my story (work in progress, see signature for link) goes. Apart from the killing the contractors bit.

[Javster]

At the moment, there are only two sources of story material for KSP: the update trailers and the part descriptions.

It is possible to determine a fair amount of story from the pieces we have. Here's what I've collected, assuming we use just the available fiction:

The canon of KSP, summed up, is that, just like IRL (Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Northrop Grumman, etc.), there are a handful of component contractors:

--Kerlington Model Rockets and Paper Products

--C7 Aerospace Division

--Jebadiah Kerman's Junkyard and Spaceship Parts Co.

--Probodyne Inc.

--STEADLER Engineering Corps

--Rockomax Conglomerate

--An unnamed contractor who built the original SAS and a few other things

--O.M.B. Demolition Enterprises

--FLOOYD Dynamics Research Labs

--Dinkelstein Kerman's Construction Emporium

--Moving Parts Experts Group

--RÖKEA Inc.

--Ionic Protonic Electronics

--Zaltonic Electronics

--RKEA Inc.

--Clamp-o-Tron (unconfirmed, but suggested by a different piece)

--Kerbal Motion LCC

--Integrated Integrals

--Experimental Engineering Group

Based on the names, it sounds like we have everything from professional contractors to the equivalent of the local home improvement store. This, in conjunction with the planned funding and reputation systems suggest that Kerbals did not (and probably still don't) take the idea of a functional space program seriously, which meant that early-days KSC was low-budget experimental stuff that Jeb (who, as shown above, is one of the contractors) and others thought would be fun to try out. If Jeb actually IS a main contractor, then it is possible that Bill and Bob are as well, and that the initial idea of KSC's government was to try to stop the endeavor by killing the contractors at the start. Regardless of how successful they were, the kerbals managed some level of success in their program, which eventually led to a substantial industry following. Presumably, there are other companies or research groups out there that have a need for KSP's services, but we won't know about them until the contract part of Career mode is finished.

Beyond this, we won't know for sure until more fiction is produced for Career mode.

Not forgetting "Found by the side of the road"!

[42undead2]

Yea, the side of the road is a pretty big contractor too!

[Xaiier]

I'm trying to find the page on the wiki that had a funny explanation of Jeb, Bill, and Bob, but it seems to have dissapeared.

Their current pages do have a bit of a backstory as well, but it isn't as good as the old one.

[CalculusWarrior]

I like how the devs haven't made much canon, as it allows us to fill in the gaps with our own stories, making the game a unique experience for each of us.

Edited January 6, 2014 by CalculusWarrior

[sledgeweb]

I like how the devs haven't made much canon, as it allows us to fill in the gaps with our own stories, making the game a unique experience for each of us.

I agree. In my universe, the Kerbals have only evolved "intelligence" and civilization in the last 500 years. They live mostly underground, but as they have evolved and are a rather curious species, they have started building and exploring the surface as well as the strange things beyond the surface since their emergence. I kind of envision them as immature children with a lot of energy who achieve through trial and error more than research, simulation and testing. Which, kind of goes along with my play style. I just got my first set of probes on Duna, and I didn't do any research on how to get there - just built a rocket that looked like it might make it, and tried it out. After a few failures, I was able to get there. Of course, the first two probe "landings" didn't go as hoped - with all my fuel spent, including my landing rockets, I only ended up "braking" enough to land on Duna by holding down the "W" key for 15-20 minutes to decelerate with RCS jets. That resulted in having no fuel for the landing, only parachutes - which didn't keep me slow enough and resulted in smashed but functional probes.

My earlier Mun missions followed the same process - resulting in Jeb successfully landing on Mun in the first attempt aboard the Khonsu I (I didn't send any probes prior to this attempt though). I thought it would take a few tries, and that I might just orbit Mun on my first few attempts. But things were going well enough and Jeb pulled off a stellar landing. Unfortunately, I then found out I didn't have enough fuel to get home. And, at the time, I didn't have the resources for a rescue mission, so my space program came up with a "replacement" program in order to bring home a national hero and boost the morale of Kerbal civilization. Thus, rookie uknown Orlie Kerbin flew a ship to Mun, got off, and let Jeb fly it home. Later, Bill Kerbin would attempt a rescue mission of Orlie - but also didn't have enough fuel to land and take off. So Jeb, being the hero he is, flew a second rescue mission to pick up Orlie while Bill orbited Mun. All three flew home together, in two separate ships. Unfortunately, upon re-entry, Bill's parachute was ripped from the hull and he died on impact. It was a sad day for Kerbalkind and the Kerbin Administration of Aeronautics and Orbital Science (KAAOS), but at least we learned what the physical limits were for a single small parachute. Jebediah made the first Minmus landing shortly after this tragedy, and erected a flag to mark the occasion - which also contained a tribute to Bill's sacrifice and enduring inspiration.

Soon, we will attempt to send the first Kerbal to Duna (and hopefully back).

Edited January 6, 2014 by sledgeweb

[boolybooly]

No canon, HarvesteR said he would not weaponise space.... lol sorry.

[BlackBicycle]

While others theorize (and I enjoy those ideas allright)...

...The reason we all refer to Jebediah so fondly is because he is the first Kerbal that flies your craft... My theory for why we all like Jeb so much is because he is the only character that reflects the player. He is our avatar...

This ^^^

P.S. rep added for a good answer : )

Edited January 6, 2014 by BlackBicycle

[VoidPointer]

My personal canon is that there is no such thing as "Kerbal civilization." There is only a whole bunch of Kerbals at the KSC, making and flying rockets and doing science. They just appeared there one day and started doing rocket science. The idea that there's just a space program, nothing else, has a certain conceptual purity which I find appealing.

[Sof]

The true story is that Kerbals are actually a hyperadvanced race.

Only the twist is, Kerbin isn't their homeworld. Jeb, Bob and the rest are just survivors from a transteller seedship that malfunctioned and crash-landed in an uncharted system. Only the growing vats for the cloned frozen embryos, the embryos themselves, the mega 3D printer VAB that can manufacture whatever you can think of from base elements, and a broken teach-bot survived the crash.

The poor new Kerbal hatchlings can't learn much from their only teacher, so they grow up without proper knowledge of the world around them. All they can understand is that they are lost and they arrived on a rocketship, so they spend their days vainly attempting to rescue themselves by strapping fuel and engines together with them on top.

They just want to get home, really. Desperately.

[FellipeC]

Yes, Canon

hehehe sorry guys!

[Mr.Rocket]

My theory is that the kerbals and applicants are stranded survivors. The original kerbals lived in a galaxy far, far away. They sent Jeb, Bill, and Bob (as commanders), along with many other thousands of kerbals on a mothership to explore this unique world. Some thing went wrong, and the kerbals all got stranded. Now, using the rocket parts left over from before, they are exploring space on the hopes of finding thier lovely home planet once again.

It literally makes complete sense to me. Its the reason there are no civilizations on kerbin besides KSC. It explains why the kerbals are so eager to volunteer to go to space. It explains why they all some-what know how to fly rockets. It explains why alot of the parts are found by the side of the road: Debris. And why they go to space to look at worlds that are not nearly as diverse as kerbin. They just want to find home!

[Whackjob]

Canon in KSP?

Turns out yes.

[Rowsdower]

I like how the devs haven't made much canon, as it allows us to fill in the gaps with our own stories, making the game a unique experience for each of us.

This here, in a nutshell. The community has developed so many cool and varied ideas because of this. It's beautiful to see.

[federicoaa]

Canon people, not cannon

[match]

I felt that the Kerbals arrived from a different planet, now uninhabitable due to a launch failure. You see, they had planned three humongous ships to launch simultaneously and explore in different directions. The first group landed at our present day Kerbal. The second in a different, undisclosed system. The third had a launch clamp issue, never launched and instead burned a hole to the core of the original planet causing widespread mayhem, rendering it uninhabitable until they can develop a giant cork to seal off the venting planet.

...yeah, my mind wanders a bit at times.

[Starwhip]

That "Jebediah has a special tag in the config to make him smile all the time" post in the first page, just to let you know, the tag is called: "badAss"

[peadar1987]

I felt that the Kerbals arrived from a different planet, now uninhabitable due to a launch failure. You see, they had planned three humongous ships to launch simultaneously and explode in different directions. The first group landed at our present day Kerbal. The second in a different, undisclosed system. The third had a launch clamp issue, never launched and instead burned a hole to the core of the original planet causing widespread mayhem, rendering it uninhabitable until they can develop a giant cork to seal off the venting planet.

...yeah, my mind wanders a bit at times.

Fixed that for you