Welcome to another Expanded Universe column where I’ll be featuring essays from authors and editors of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, as well as from established readers and reviewers, talking about anything SFF related that interests us. My guest today is Micah Dean Hicks, who is a Calvino Prize-winning author of fabulist fiction. His collection of Southern fairy tales, Electricity and Other Dreams, was recently published by New American Press and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. You can follow him on Twitter at @micahdeanhicks or at his website www.micahdeanhicks.com

Micah Dean Hicks

Micah Dean Hicks

The Sith. Unsullied. Fedaykin Death Commandos. Jedi. Dark Templar. Kyoshi Warriors. Red Wizards of Thay. Death Eaters. Dai Li. Mord-Sith. Faceless Men. Sardaukar. Predators. Aurors. War Boys.

One of my favorite aspects of worldbuilding is the elite groups of warriors authors create for their worlds. I don’t mean groups like Marvel’s The Avengers or Saga’s The Revolution, elite individuals working together and no two of them alike. Elite groups are also different from the powerful beings an author might place in their world, things like dragons or panserbjørne. Elite groups are all too human. Like us, they begin weak and lost. A Sith is not born a monster, but is made one, and she is not a monster alone.

Most of these groups share four traits:

1) Reputation: In Frank Herbert’s DUNE novels, even rumors that Sardaukar soldiers are present can cause huge political shifts, change alliances, and start wars. Words like “Sith” are best whispered, if said at all. Even with groups like Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Dai Li, where no one knows much about them, that mystery becomes something to fear. When we see an image of people through the blurry heat vision of a Predator, we already know how bad this is. It doesn’t matter if this Predator is the worst of her kind; just being one means something.

2) Uniform: To capitalize on their reputations, these groups usually wear some kind of uniform, announcing what they are and what they can do. In Legend of the Seeker, a Mord-Sith’s red leather suit is a promise that she will be covered in your blood. A Kyoshi warrior’s costume makes her a living reminder of her hero, Avatar Kyoshi. Sith, Death Eaters, and Dark Templar all trail tattered cloaks, black hoods, ripped sleeves. Their dress tells us that these are hunted men.

3) Weapon: Recognizing one of the elite means knowing immediately how they can hurt you. There are few sounds as distinctive as the crackling hiss and thrum of a Jedi’s lightsaber. J.K. Rowling’s Death Eaters have their signature, forbidden Cruciatus Curse. Herbert’s Fedaykin use crysknives made from the tooth of a sandworm, near-mythical weapons that outsiders aren’t even allowed to see. The Mord-Sith have their pain-inducing Agiels. The Dai Li have their stony hands. The weapon is often more than a means to an end. It is a symbol, communicating power without the need for words or actions.

4) Philosophy: While it’s easy to get stuck on how these groups look and what they can do, the most interesting thing about them is the synergy between what they can do and what they believe. The Sith’s chaotic lightning is a reflection of their unrestrained hate. The Kyoshi Warriors’ flowing costumes, makeup, fan-weapons, and dance-like movements are an argument that women and the traditional trappings of femininity are not frivolous or weak; they are, in fact, as dangerous as anything traditionally masculine.

fantasy book reviews science fiction book reviewsThese groups serve their philosophies unwaveringly. They are fanatics, making a religion out of conflict. In the DUNE series, Paul Atreides worries that his old friend Stilgar doesn’t really serve him but instead serves a fanatical idea of who he is. The Unsullied do not flinch from any pain, their service more important to them than their own lives. One of the things that makes these groups so captivating is how assured they are. They always have an answer. They aren’t plagued by doubt. They don’t question their faith. They believe, and the world of their belief is the only world they can see.

These philosophies leave no room for dissent. A Jedi cannot shrug and tell her elders that she doesn’t think the dark side is quite as bad as everyone says. A Dai Li does not tell his fellows that he doesn’t think the queen is worth serving anymore. When a character questions the laws of his order, as Starcraft’s Tassadar does, that character is purged.

Our culture tends to view its special forces the same way. We don’t just expect a Navy Seal to be an exemplar of killing. We expect them to only kill bad people for good reasons. We insist on grand narratives of what it means to be a soldier, as in American Sniper and Seal Team Six. When soldiers themselves push back against these heroic narratives—in books like Rory Fanning’s Worth Fighting For, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, and Jesse Goolsby’s I’d Walk with My Friends if I Could Find Them—people get angry and call their service into question. It’s almost as if we’re unwilling to accept power without powerful belief. We want strength to mean very particular things.

Even though their beliefs are intense and questioning is forbidden, there are many examples of characters breaking with their philosophies. In Mad Max: Fury Road, this is what saves George Miller’s War Boy renegade Nux (though is Nux elite, or only mediocre?). Star Wars fans are captivated by Sith who were first Jedi. But even when a character does break with her group, she is often just trading one banner for another. Her beliefs change, but her devotion remains. Time and again, the mighty reject the gray world in favor of the black and white.

Narratives around elite warrior groups give us something that we crave. In a world of confusion, ambiguity, and powerlessness, they present a fantasy of absolute strength and absolute conviction. Not only do these groups have the power to do exactly what’s needed, they know exactly what’s needed. Maybe that is what we envy most of all.

Thanks, Micah! Readers, what are some of your favorite elite groups and why? Discuss in the comments. One commenter will win a book from our Stacks.

Author

  • Kate Lechler

    KATE LECHLER, on our staff from May 2014 to January 2017, resides in Oxford, MS, where she divides her time between teaching early British literature at the University of Mississippi, writing fiction, and throwing the tennis ball for her insatiable terrier, Sam. She loves speculative fiction because of what it tells us about our past, present, and future. She particularly enjoys re-imagined fairy tales and myths, fabulism, magical realism, urban fantasy, and the New Weird. Just as in real life, she has no time for melodramatic protagonists with no sense of humor. The movie she quotes most often is Jurassic Park, and the TV show she obsessively re-watches (much to the chagrin of her husband) is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.