Ashes to Ashes

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Despite Chuck's objections, I can think of a reason or two why the Kobali would reproduce the way they do. Maybe the true species is some kind of parasitizing fungus that just moves in on the host corpse and absorbs their memories and personality.

[stellar_coyote]

The Kobali have the potential to make really good antagonists in the future, especially if they leaned into the cult-like ideology that seems to go with them. The moment you're resurrected you belong to the Kobali, doesn't matter if you have some lingering memories or feelings for your previous life. The idea that they purposefully rewrite memories and alter senses so that the resurrected can only eat Kobali food would only add to their insidiousness.

I mean, how would it sound if they became the main threat or a seasonal villain in some Trek show? Have the Kobali learn all the ins-and-outs, the secrets and technology of the Federation all thanks to the number of Red Shirts and lost souls the Kobali have collected across the galaxy. Be a neat "ghosts have come back to haunt you" theme for Star Fleet.

[clearspira]

Despite Chuck's objections, I can think of a reason or two why the Kobali would reproduce the way they do. Maybe the true species is some kind of parasitizing fungus that just moves in on the host corpse and absorbs their memories and personality.

That would be a great idea - it really would. Problem is, that clearly is not what the writers were going for. If it was they would have alluded to it.

[Madner Kami]

The Kobali have the potential to make really good antagonists in the future, especially if they leaned into the cult-like ideology that seems to go with them. The moment you're resurrected you belong to the Kobali, doesn't matter if you have some lingering memories or feelings for your previous life. The idea that they purposefully rewrite memories and alter senses so that the resurrected can only eat Kobali food would only add to their insidiousness.

I mean, how would it sound if they became the main threat or a seasonal villain in some Trek show? Have the Kobali learn all the ins-and-outs, the secrets and technology of the Federation all thanks to the number of Red Shirts and lost souls the Kobali have collected across the galaxy. Be a neat "ghosts have come back to haunt you" theme for Star Fleet.

Star Trek Online did that and pitted the Kobali against the Vaadwaur. The Kobali found one of the Vaadwaurs' stasis tombs and the Kobali took the chance to expand their numbers...

[pilight]

Despite Chuck's objections, I can think of a reason or two why the Kobali would reproduce the way they do. Maybe the true species is some kind of parasitizing fungus that just moves in on the host corpse and absorbs their memories and personality.

I can't imagine their reproductive method is any kind of natural evolution. In the scenario you posted the living bipeds would have to accept their loved ones coming back as fungus controlled zombies. A far more likely response would be the bipeds eradicating the fungus.

The Kobali form of procreating must have come about some time after they developed warp travel. No one would have their spouse or child resurrected as a different person with a completely altered personality but retaining some of the memories of their previous life. The only way it makes sense is to use bodies from outside their current society, so that neither their appearance nor their memories have any resonance.

[TGLS]

I can't imagine their reproductive method is any kind of natural evolution. In the scenario you posted the living bipeds would have to accept their loved ones coming back as fungus controlled zombies. A far more likely response would be the bipeds eradicating the fungus.

Well I can imagine that at some point in the past they could have used monkeys or something, but then the question becomes, why not farm monkeys for new fungal hosts?

Then again Star Trek is screwed up enough to have a fungus like this develop during the period of warp travel.

[Madner Kami]

Despite Chuck's objections, I can think of a reason or two why the Kobali would reproduce the way they do. Maybe the true species is some kind of parasitizing fungus that just moves in on the host corpse and absorbs their memories and personality.

I can't imagine their reproductive method is any kind of natural evolution. In the scenario you posted the living bipeds would have to accept their loved ones coming back as fungus controlled zombies. A far more likely response would be the bipeds eradicating the fungus.

The Kobali form of procreating must have come about some time after they developed warp travel. No one would have their spouse or child resurrected as a different person with a completely altered personality but retaining some of the memories of their previous life. The only way it makes sense is to use bodies from outside their current society, so that neither their appearance nor their memories have any resonance.

Beta canon is, that they lost their natural reproductive capabilities accidentally through genegeneering themselves. However, their scientifical knowledge allowed them to create a retrovirus, which reforms any specie's genetic material to Kobali genetic material.

[clearspira]

Despite Chuck's objections, I can think of a reason or two why the Kobali would reproduce the way they do. Maybe the true species is some kind of parasitizing fungus that just moves in on the host corpse and absorbs their memories and personality.

I can't imagine their reproductive method is any kind of natural evolution. In the scenario you posted the living bipeds would have to accept their loved ones coming back as fungus controlled zombies. A far more likely response would be the bipeds eradicating the fungus.

The Kobali form of procreating must have come about some time after they developed warp travel. No one would have their spouse or child resurrected as a different person with a completely altered personality but retaining some of the memories of their previous life. The only way it makes sense is to use bodies from outside their current society, so that neither their appearance nor their memories have any resonance.

Beta canon is, that they lost their natural reproductive capabilities accidentally through genegeneering themselves. However, their scientifical knowledge allowed them to create a retrovirus, which reforms any specie's genetic material to Kobali genetic material.

That still doesn't explain away Chuck's point about cloning. It really seems as if a species this advanced in genetic engineering could just revert back to their previous form. Did they literally delete all of their files from decades past or what? It wouldn't help the living but that still doesn't change the fact that it wouldn't involve necromancy either. We can grow artificial embryos in the lab today and i'm sure that it was pretty obvious that we were heading this direction back in the 90s given Dolly the sheep and the Human Genome Project so we can't even use the sort of excuses you could break out for TOS.

Incidentally, I have been thinking about how the ''spore'' idea could work in relation to surviving long enough to actually become a warp capable species without getting wiped out and that would be to throw religion into this argument. Lets say that the spores evolved alongside a humanoid race. And lets say that said humanoid race worked the resurrection abilities of the spores into their religion. That would be a powerful motivator for some kind of symbiotic relationship developing.

And in addition to this, the spores do seem as if they give you a second life to an outside observer. True, we know that its not technically you. Its a copy and paste. You died, a photocopy took over your life. But to a primitive people? They probably wouldn't know the difference. And that's where the religion aspect comes in again. You couldn't have EVERYONE on this planet breathing in a spore, because they would have run out of dead bodies before they attained warp travel. So lets imagine that only the members of the religious caste were allowed to ''come back to life''. And its worth noting I think that we only have the word of one ship of people that they ALL reproduce like this. For all we know, the original Kobali's turned into atheists and kicked them out.

Either way, we on this forum have put far more thought into this than the Voyager writers ever did.

[pilight]

You couldn't have EVERYONE on this planet breathing in a spore, because they would have run out of dead bodies before they attained warp travel.

We don't really know how long they live after reanimation. It's also not out of the realm of possibility that a body could be reanimated multiple times. It's possible they could have survived a long time without replacements.

It could be that they developed warp capability because they needed a fresh supply of bodies.

[pilight]

Well I can imagine that at some point in the past they could have used monkeys or something, but then the question becomes, why not farm monkeys for new fungal hosts?

They might have ethical problems using living creatures in that way. Caging an animal so you can one day use its dead body would give many people pause.