Pak Breeders and
Pak Protectors are two forms of fictional life in
Larry NivenLaurence van Cott Niven is a US science fiction author. Perhaps his best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. It also often includes elements of detective...
's
Known SpaceKnown Space is the fictional setting of several science fiction novels and short stories written by author Larry Niven. It has also in part been used as a shared universe in the Man-Kzin Wars spin-off anthologies sub-series....
universe. The Pak first appeared in "The Adults," which appeared in
Galaxy in 1967; this story was expanded into the novel
Protector by Larry Niven (1973). The Pak also appear in several of Niven's later novels, notably those set in the
RingworldRingworld is a Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe and considered a classic of science fiction literature. It is followed by three sequels, and ties into numerous other books set in Known Space...
.
The upcoming
Destroyer of WorldsDestroyer of Worlds is a novel set in the Known Space series, by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner. It is a sequel to their previous novels, Fleet of Worlds and Juggler of Worlds...
will depict a confrontation between the Pak and the Puppeteers.
Narrative purpose
Niven has written that he invented the Protectors as a thought experiment to explain the common effects of aging on humans, and to create a fictional evolutionary explanation for humans' long lives after females have passed reproductive age. Accordingly, most of the positive attributes of Protectors are based on negative human aging effects: sore joints, poor circulation, wrinkled skin, lack of sex drive, and tooth loss are all turned to advantage during the shift from Breeder to Protector.
The Pak species
In
Protector, we learn that humans are descended from the Pak. Pak Children and Breeders appear in Earth's fossil record as
Homo habilisHomo habilis is a species of the genus Homo, which lived from approximately 2.5 million to at least 1.6 million years ago at the beginning of the Pleistocene period. The discovery and description of this species is credited to both Mary and Louis Leakey, who found fossils in Tanzania, East...
; the few Pak Protectors to make it to Earth apparently are not found in the fossil record.
The Pak species goes through 3 stages of development: Child, Breeder and Protector.
Pak Child is analogous to a human child: sexually immature and dependent upon adults for survival.
Pak Breeder is analogous to a human adult: sexually mature, self-sufficient (more or less) and provides immediate care for the children. In the Pak, the Breeder stage is not fully sentient; Breeders, to a large extent, rely on Protectors for long-term survival.
Pak Protector is not analogous to any human form. It is described as a 'fighting machine,' with armor-like skin, super-human strength and super-human intelligence. Niven's stories which focus on the Pak mostly concentrate on the unique Protector-stage.
Niven explained the evolution of the Pak as resulting from high radiation levels on their home world near the core of the
GalaxyA galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The name is from the Greek root galaxias [γαλαξίας], meaning "milky," a reference...
. The high radiation near the star-dense core caused severe mutations that can destabilize the evolutionary process. As a result, the Pak evolved a mechanism to eliminate dangerous mutations from the population. That mechanism is the protector stage.
Protectors are highly sensitive to the smell of their close relatives and 'weed out' those that smell wrong, which may indicate a potentially dangerous mutation. This weeding also suppressed positive mutations, essentially halting Pak evolution. Protectors are fully sentient, and are far more intelligent than ordinary humans. However, this superior intelligence only serves a Pak Protector's instincts to protect its bloodline at any costs.
The change from Breeder to Protector is the result of a
peramorphicIn developmental biology, peramorphosis is a phylogenetic change in which individuals of a species mature past adulthood and take on hitherto unseen traits...
transformation brought about by the plant known as
Tree-of-LifeThe Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant in Larry Niven's Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving...
. As humans (and all primates) are descended from the Pak, Tree-of-Life can create a Protector-stage human.
Tree-of-Life
Tree-of-LifeThe Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant in Larry Niven's Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving...
is the mechanism by which a Breeder becomes a Protector. The term originally is used to refer to a specific plant which, when consumed, triggers the transformation. The term "Tree-of-Life virus" is used to describe the
symbioticThe term symbosis commonly describes close and often long-term interactions between different biological species...
virus which actually governs the transition.
Niven took the name Tree-of-Life from the Book of Genesis; specifically to the fruit of the "Tree of Life" that could make Adam and Eve immortal (Genesis 3:22-24).
Tree-of-Life (the plant) is a bush native to the Pak homeworld. When a Breeder reaches the proper age (early 40s for humans), the smell of the root becomes irresistible; the Breeder gorges on the Tree-of-Life root, infecting itself with the Tree-of-Life virus and transforming into a Protector. The age window for the metamorphosis is relatively narrow (estimated "generously" in
Protector at 40–60 years of age). Tree-of-Life is common on the Pak world, so there is almost no risk of a Breeder living past this window without being exposed to the roots. Humans who are infected with the virus after the metamorphosis window die in what appears to be a failed transition (although the smell of the root is still irresistible).
The transition from Breeder to Protector involves reconfiguration of the anatomy, including the acquisition of a leathery armor or
exoskeletonAn exoskeleton is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal endoskeleton of, for example, a human. Some animals, such as the tortoise, have both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton...
, strong enough to turn a copper knife. Joints swell until the creature becomes "a parody of the human form done in
cantaloupeCantaloupe refers to two varieties of Cucumis melo , which is a species in the family Cucurbitaceae, which includes nearly all melons and squashes. Cantaloupes range in size from 0.5 kg to 5.0 kg...
s and
coconutThe Coconut Palm is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only species in the genus Cocos, and is a large palm, growing to 30 m tall, with pinnate leaves 4–6 m long, pinnae 60–90 cm long; old leaves break away cleanly leaving the trunk smooth. The term coconut refers to the seed of the...
s". This expands the leverage available to muscles by increasing the
momentIn physics, the term "moment" can refer to many different concepts:*Moment of force is a synonym for torque, an important basic concept in physics, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering. In the context of mechanical engineering, the terms are not necessarily interchangeable, but one or the...
arm: the protector can lift 10 times its own weight. Genitalia vanish, and a second two-chambered heart forms in the groin. Fingernails turn into retractile claws. Teeth fall out, and lips fuse; the resulting structure is a sort of bony beak. The brain grows to an enormous size; the resulting mind, even starting from something as "unintelligent" as a chimp, becomes far more intelligent than a human mind. All the breeder's hair falls out and the head acquires a bony ridge to protect the newly-expanded
craniumThe skull is a bony structure found in the head of many animals. The skull supports the structures of the face and protects the head against injury....
. Pak Protectors also acquire an extended lifespan, and can live tens of thousands of earth years (a common element in Niven's stories).
Once the transformation is complete, a Pak Protector must periodically consume more Tree-of-Life root to maintain the virus in its body. Without the virus, a Protector will weaken and die.
The Tree-of-Life crop on Earth failed; the plants grew but didn't support the virus. As a result, the Protectors that led the colony to Earth died of starvation when their store of roots ran out.
Protector behavior
Pak Protectors have an innate need to look after (or protect, hence the name) close relatives of their family. When a Pak Protector has no bloodline to protect, it usually stops eating and starves; some childless Protectors can adopt the entire Pak race as their family.
Niven speculates that Protectors on the crowded Pak homeworld would constantly war against each other to gain advantage for their family and that alliances would last only until one ally sees advantage in betrayal. Human Protectors, and those on the Ringworld, seem to be less warlike and better able to work for the betterment of the entire species (or all of the Ringworld hominids) rather than just their bloodline.
Protectors typically die from starvation (from lack of will to live, e.g. if the Protector's bloodline has died out) or violence. Although Protectors have a vastly extended lifetime, it is not infinite.
Because of their enormous intelligence and instinctive need to protect their family (or their species, etc), Protectors are efficient, ruthless and quite amoral. It is observed several times that this intelligence combined with instinct also compels action so completely that Protectors often have little "free will". Niven uses this trait as a plot device several times as characters set up circumstances where Protector characters will react in a specific manner. In
Protector, Jack Brennan (a human turned into a Protector) commits
genocideGenocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group.While precise definition varies among genocide scholars, a legal definition is found in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of...
by exterminating the
MartianAs an adjective, the term "martian" is used to describe anything pertaining to the planet Mars.However, a Martian is more usually a hypothetical or fictional native inhabitant of the planet Mars. Historically, life on Mars has often been hypothesized, although there is currently no solid evidence...
race (as he says, to protect humans against a potential hostile species - though in fact the Martians had no means or wish to get off their planet and very few humans ever landed there) and also releases a genetically modified Tree-of-Life virus on the colony world Home, turning everyone middle aged into a Protector and killing everyone else on the planet (to create an army of childless Protectors to fight an invading Pak fleet).
Niven explains much of Protector behavior in his Future History, by revealing in
Ringworld's ChildrenRingworld's Children is a 2004 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, the fourth in the Ringworld series set in the Known Space universe. It describes the continuing adventures of Louis Wu and companions on Ringworld.-Plot summary:...
that the ARM may be run by at least one Protector and that Boosterspice (which dramatically prolongs human lifespan) is derived from Tree-of-Life.
The Pak and Humanity
In
Protector, Niven explains that humans (and all of Earth's primates) are descended from a colony of Pak breeders that were stranded on Earth 2.5 million years ago. The protectors that built the colony ship died when their Tree-of-Life crops failed. The original Pak Breeder population (known to us as
Homo habilisHomo habilis is a species of the genus Homo, which lived from approximately 2.5 million to at least 1.6 million years ago at the beginning of the Pleistocene period. The discovery and description of this species is credited to both Mary and Louis Leakey, who found fossils in Tanzania, East...
) bred and mutated wildly, evolving into modern humans as well as all other Earth primates. All Terran primates would transform into the Protector stage if exposed to Tree-of-Life root (or, more accurately, the symbiotic virus it contains).
In
The Ringworld Engineers, the characters find evidence that the
RingworldRingworld is a Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe and considered a classic of science fiction literature. It is followed by three sequels, and ties into numerous other books set in Known Space...
was built by Pak Protectors (confirmed by the statements of a character in
Ringworld's Children who claims to be one of the original builders) and populated by Pak breeders. The Pak Protectors dwindled in numbers until they were no longer able to maintain the genetic purity of the breeder forms and the breeders eventually evolved into all the other
hominids of the RingworldThese beings, like the humans of Niven's other Known Space works, are descendants of the species called the Pak, whose "breeder" stage resembled Homo habilis, and who utilize a symbiotic virus to then develop into a hyper-intelligent Protector stage...
that one sees in Larry Niven's novels.
See also
- Protector (novel)
Protector is a 1973 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe. It was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1974....
- Ringworld
Ringworld is a Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe and considered a classic of science fiction literature. It is followed by three sequels, and ties into numerous other books set in Known Space...
- The Ringworld Engineers
The Ringworld Engineers is a 1980 science fiction novel by Larry Niven. It is the first sequel to Niven's highly popular Ringworld and was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1981....
- The Ringworld Throne
The Ringworld Throne is a novel by Larry Niven, first published in 1996. It is the direct sequel to his previous work The Ringworld Engineers...
- Ringworld's Children
Ringworld's Children is a 2004 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, the fourth in the Ringworld series set in the Known Space universe. It describes the continuing adventures of Louis Wu and companions on Ringworld.-Plot summary:...
- Man-Kzin Wars XI