Jade Prime Lore Speculation. Spoilers!

[(XBOX)elementXGHILLIE]

Massive Spoilers for both the quest and a lot of background lore.

So this just occured to me, while watching Triburos Jade Video, and remembering the quest. 

Jade is one of the most lore important frames. 
Some of that lore:

Spoiler

• She and the stalker were forbidden lovers.
• Both turned into warframes.
• She is likely the Jade Light, a popular means of execution to the Orokin, reserved for honorable deaths. This includes the death of the OG margulis.
• She then was bonded with an operator, and she had enough sense of self to console the operator/child, put them to sleep, and regain full warframe autonomy.
• She did missions pretending to be the operator. 
• When the Tenno decided it was time to kill the orokin, she was still pretending to be one of them.
  • Presumably she was fine with it at the time, I imagine she wasn't a fan.
• She goes there see the Stalker, realizes he is the body guard to the orokin, and the mouthless and mindscarred warframes, they are can't really communicate.
• Tenno and Stalker fights, she saves the stalker.
• They retreat, she goes comatose, and begins sending her energy to make a child.
  • This is the abbreviated version of the important lore bits.

Ok, what does this mean when she eventually get around to getting primed?

Primes in lore, were described as prototypes, but eventually got retconned to be clones of the original/human warframes "perfected" by orokin technology.

What would this mean for Prime Jade?
SPECULATION AND LORE

Spoiler

1. Pregnant Jade is only the product of thousands of years of comatose child making.
   1. This means any other copies of her, wouldn't be pregnant.
   2. The exception to this is the copies we make in the present. It is likely finding her the way we found her with most of her strength was in her womb. Meaning to actually be functioning, ours has to be pregnant.
2. What would perfected mean in relation to Jade, and why would they replace her as a means of execution?

I believe they replaced her with her prime version, and I believe her prime form would be more efficient at killing.

In lore, this Prime Jade would be an executioner. 
Jade is designed to be similar to angel, Jade Prime is closer to the "Angel of Death."

What this would mean for implementation. Keep in mind, I know this is years off, but then again Sevagoth feels like he came out yesterday.

• Prime Jade should canonically, not be pregnant. Realistically, a toggle could be added to add this effect.
• Her appearance should be darker in tone, and closer to the "Angel of Death" Aesthetic.
• This Prime Jade should blur the lines in appearance between Old Jade and Stalker.
• The stalker, if his memory issues are resolved by then, should see this as an orokin bastardization of his wife, and the mother of his child.
  • If he stops attacking when Jade is in the game, He should attack more fiercely if Jade Prime is present.
• Any skins of Jade that come out between now, and her prime will need to have a "non-pregnant toggle" or have one implemented when the prime comes out, or more realistically, just her prime version will. Option C of this is just have pregnant and non pregnant skin options. 
  • If they go with option A, it allows for more creativity for tennogen artists and fashion framers, but more work for implementation.
  • Option B, would make the prime distinct from every other jade skin. Meaning if people really dislike the pregnant look, they can use the prime.
• This is only important in case DE, completely forgets about lore, and make the prime pregnant regardless.

 

Edited September 15 by (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE

[Chewarette]

Jade Prime will be Jade with shiny stuff, and with her belly, deal with it

[(XBOX)elementXGHILLIE]

9 minutes ago, Chewarette said:

Jade Prime will be Jade with shiny stuff, and with her belly, deal with it

I make a long post talking about Jade Prime, her role in the lore, and how it should look, and that is how you respond.
I like Jade's Model, I just like the lore more, I also didn't suggest her prime shouldn't or couldn't be pregnant in game. I said we have the chance for the orokin "perfected" view of an angel of death.

Also you don't point out why or anything, you just assume I have an issue with her current figure.

Canonically, Jade Prime could be the orokin's preferred executioner, her motif could be the exact opposite of our Jade, and she could represent the Orokin disfigurement of the warframe's identities. Realistically, people who prefer the pregnant look will be upset if the go this route with her prime, hence why I suggested the toggle.

I thought about mentioning that this isn't copium or anything, this is my interpretation of the lore of what the prime frame could be, but I thought no one is gonna care about that, and no one would be that petty. I prefer lore, to DE doing what they did to Revenant Prime and saying, uhh, conceptual embodiment, paradox, there.

If you wanna have a conversation on what makes sense in the lore, we can do that. If you want to ignore the lore, or assume I have ulterior motives, I kindly suggest you continue on your day.

If you wanna suggest how a prime clone of jade got pregnant, or how we clone our Jade into a prime, I could see that as a viable talk on lore.

 

[Pakaku]

Lore reason as to why Jade Prime will appear "pregnant": Ballas is a $&*^ and made a prime like that to mock her

 

3 minutes ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

Also you don't point out why or anything, you just assume I have an issue with her current figure.

You did make a thread on why she shouldn't be, so what that implies...

It would also involve creating a new mesh for her body, which tends not to happen. Primes are almost always the same base body with stuff glued on to look shiny and new

[JadeFromWarframe]

Strongly doubt that this will happen. That would be removing a core element of a frame's design for its prime variant, to a degree I don't think any primes have reached so far. Moreover, the blueprints to Jade keep the belly, implying that it's just...part of the standardized design. Which, yeah, Ballas would totally do that just to taunt OG Jade further. But also, it kinda demands some backend changes regarding idle animations, since if she's not pregnant, then that one animation doesn't make a lot of sense. I don't think that's ever happened with a prime before.

Now, could she get a skin with a new animation set to fit the absence of a bump? Sure, other frames have skins with new animations. But I don't think it'll happen for her prime, and truth told, I personally don't want it to. This whole thing is kinda why I started playing her, so I really hope it sticks around for the "upgraded" Jade design. I can take or leave skins, I just won't get the ones that don't give me the serotonin her base design does, but primes elaborate on the originals, even on parts of the design that feel secondary to the "main" gimmick of the design. Revenant doubles down on being a vampire despite that being secondary to his eidolon nature, Khora expounds on the spider motif even though she ended up being more about whips and wires, etc. I half-expect Jade Prime to be bigger for the sole reason that that's the weirdest possible outcome, and this game prides itself on being weird.

Regardless, we got 4ish years to see what happens. I think we can realistically expect most forms of this Warframe to keep her pregnant appearance, with perhaps a deluxe skin that does not and either disables that animation or has its own set.

[(XBOX)elementXGHILLIE]

25 minutes ago, Pakaku said:

Lore reason as to why Jade Prime will appear "pregnant": Ballas is a $&*^ and made a prime like that to mock her

 

You did make a thread on why she shouldn't be, so what that implies...

It would also involve creating a new mesh for her body, which tends not to happen. Primes are almost always the same base body with stuff glued on to look shiny and new

Ballas has issues but he likes taking life not creating life. If he does create life, it takes life.
I just don't see him as making a baby even if it was intended to mock her. If he wanted to mock her, he's probably just show her, her husband who doesn't remember completely. Even then, I don't think Ballas knows she isn't a thoughtless warframe.

As for the mesh, the only thing that would need changing is the animation set, which we can already change in game, and each new frame has a default of. This Jade Prime Animation Set, can then be used on Jade Prime freely or bought as a prime accessory. I don't think the attachment points would change, and i don't think she casts with her baby.

Also wanna hear a joke? What does Jade's Baby eat. 
 

Spoiler

Baby Forma-la. I didn't steal that at all, I swear.

 

Edited September 15 by (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE

[(XBOX)elementXGHILLIE]

5 minutes ago, JadeFromWarframe said:

Strongly doubt that this will happen. That would be removing a core element of a frame's design for its prime variant, to a degree I don't think any primes have reached so far. Moreover, the blueprints to Jade keep the belly, implying that it's just...part of the standardized design. Which, yeah, Ballas would totally do that just to taunt OG Jade further. But also, it kinda demands some backend changes regarding idle animations, since if she's not pregnant, then that one animation doesn't make a lot of sense. I don't think that's ever happened with a prime before.

Now, could she get a skin with a new animation set to fit the absence of a bump? Sure, other frames have skins with new animations. But I don't think it'll happen for her prime, and truth told, I personally don't want it to. This whole thing is kinda why I started playing her, so I really hope it sticks around for the "upgraded" Jade design. I can take or leave skins, I just won't get the ones that don't give me the serotonin her base design does, but primes elaborate on the originals, even on parts of the design that feel secondary to the "main" gimmick of the design. Revenant doubles down on being a vampire despite that being secondary to his eidolon nature, Khora expounds on the spider motif even though she ended up being more about whips and wires, etc. I half-expect Jade Prime to be bigger for the sole reason that that's the weirdest possible outcome, and this game prides itself on being weird.

Regardless, we got 4ish years to see what happens. I think we can realistically expect most forms of this Warframe to keep her pregnant appearance, with perhaps a deluxe skin that does not and either disables that animation or has its own set.

I totally get not wanting her prime to be without the pregnant look. I'm not suggesting we pick one over the other, hence the toggle. If they can model Khora and her prime kavat, or Sevagoth and his shadow, 2 midsections of the same frame shouldn't be an issue.

I take it as our clone of Jade being pregnant as a sign that the version we see has all of her power in her womb, so if we want a functional frame at all, that is what we must replicate. We never see her not pregnant, so how would we know how to restore her to that style of function.

As for the animation, I use her animation on Heirloom Ember and Protea Prime. Makes it look like she is petting her abs, or resting her hand on her blazing turrets. It would make sense for a different animation here, and if it was focused on a lack of something it would be upsetting but unique, a nice call back to what the orokin did. After all, Jade's first baby was basically killed by the orokin, until she gave it life as a frame again.

 

[Myscho]

Im more curious if Stalker junior have another role in Warframe or will be forever forgotten

[(XBOX)elementXGHILLIE]

Just now, Myscho said:

Im more curious if Stalker junior have another role in Warframe or will be forever forgotten

This has huge lore implications. Opens a lot of doors to what needs to change for this baby to have a normal life.

1. Firstly, warframes don't grow, for a baby this means being stuck as a baby forever, and no ability to grow complex thoughts.
2. A helpless warframe, whose mother was a notorious weapon, and father was a notorious killer, will be hunted across the galaxy.
   1. if a faction gets a hold of this baby, I suspect the Jade light of this child will be akin to the death star.

This basically all means: we need to find a way to fight the infestation, to allow this baby to grow, and we gotta keep it safe at all costs.

• I've been thinking about writing up a lore concept about a "infestation" combatant to give to the members of the entrati, to our frames, and to the baby.
  • This would mean the entrati don't forget everything again or become feral.
  • Warframes get autonomous function back.
  • Stalker may regain memories.
  • Umbra may regain memories
  • Baby may get to live a better life.

[JadeFromWarframe]

6 minutes ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

I totally get not wanting her prime to be without the pregnant look. I'm not suggesting we pick one over the other, hence the toggle. If they can model Khora and her prime kavat, or Sevagoth and his shadow, 2 midsections of the same frame shouldn't be an issue.

See, that actually sounds reasonable on paper, but DE didn't do it for her base model, so I can only see them adding a toggle for Fetus Prime as a matter of hindsight regarding the original. Also, just to be pedantic, the shadow and Venari aren't part of their owners' models, they're separate entities, so having their own models and skins isn't quite the same. And they don't need changes to which idle animations those frames can use in order to make sense. That means Jade Prime has to have 2 versions of the same model.

9 minutes ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

After all, Jade's first baby was basically killed by the orokin, until she gave it life as a frame again.

Not quite. Jade was pregnant and got helminth'd, but didn't lose the baby, it just couldn't develop further without her funneling energy into it. The Stalklet we see in Jade Shadows is that same baby she was originally going to have. It wasn't death so much as hitting the pause button on life.

[Binket_]

1 hour ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

This is only important in case DE, completely forgets about lore, and make the prime pregnant regardless.

As much as I adore this entire idea?

... I also know who's the "Lead Director" at the moment. That isn't happening no matter how much sense we make.
That being said, this a wonderful way to lead this all away from the controversy and gives me some hope down the line that I can enjoy Jade for what she was advertised as.
^{(And not the sorry excuse of fanfic she came out to be.)}

Also, I should probably mention that while it is a "retcon" so to speak of how Warframes work?
The whole "Prototype" thing for Warframes kinda didn't make sense to begin with.
Ivara's Leverian gives great insight to how the whole "Prime" function happens.

They give a set amount of Warframes "gilding" once they prove themselves.
Thus being the "Prime" of their kind.

If anything, it kinda makes sense in a way. Orokin were known for their prideful hubris after all.

48 minutes ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

I make a long post talking about Jade Prime, her role in the lore, and how it should look, and that is how you respond.

Also you don't point out why or anything, you just assume I have an issue with her current figure.

Yeah, that checks out for the community.
A large portion of them still believe "DE can do no wrong" as if the "writer's barely disguised fetish" trope doesn't exist.
... just like how that same portion would probably put Umbral Mods on Hildryn. Despite Umbral Vitality/Fiber having basically zero effect on her.

They don't care to see the game grow, just that the tiny "head" in their pants does.
Welcome to 2024. That's just how people work. Here's your free pint of apathy, be sure to make it last.

48 minutes ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

Realistically, people who prefer the pregnant look will be upset if the go this route with her prime, hence why I suggested the toggle.

Personally, the fact that we don't such an option to begin with is what upsets me.
Especially when you take a trip to the Helminth. Have someone walk into your room with that happening, good luck explaining it.

It's kinda gungy on the soul too, y'know? Feels like a thin sheet of tar, vile and repulsive with how it bubbles...
^{Or maybe I just have a sense of empathy left enough to know better. A sin these days, I'm told.}

 

42 minutes ago, Pakaku said:

Lore reason as to why Jade Prime will appear "pregnant": Ballas is a $&*^ and made a prime like that to mock her

Lore reason as to why we can just opt to not do that: It's probably more interesting to think about on a story level if you didn't do that.

Why is the community so utterly fixated on this design?
... I mean, besides the fact that most of you all are probably competing on "R34 Announced Character Speedruns" to a superhuman degree.
I cannot FOR THE LIFE OF ME understand.
^{Wordplay was not intentional now that I'm rereading this, but I'm keeping it in for my own snide humor.}

Themes of life? There's plenty of ways to go about that.
Most of which don't need this brazen act to create- and I need to remind people it exists- a PREGNANCY MINIGAME.

Angellic themes? Pretty sure angels don't need to lug around offspring like it's a broodmother spider, but you do you.
... oh, yes. Spider mentioned. I should probably stop doing that in this community.

 

Personally, the idea of Jade Prime being built as a mockery to Stalker is far more interesting.
Both in story and just to show how petty Ballas can be.

 

33 minutes ago, JadeFromWarframe said:

Strongly doubt that this will happen. That would be removing a core element of a frame's design for its prime variant

Strange, most of the design up until the big shocker reveal of "Oops! We screwed the Warframe while you weren't looking"?
It was an angel. A typical antithesis to the notion of destruction and war in most common media.
^{Yes, I'm fully aware how destructive angels can be in their source material. Just like this game, they've been simplified to a fault in media.}

... but it was just an angel. We didn't need "belly", we didn't need "fanfic"-- it was the opposite to Stalker.
Just like a broken relationship and a desperate attempt to salvage, I'm sure a baby will fix everything.

Anyway, lemme know how the divorce plays out.
^{Y'know, since I assume this is the peak fantasy for most Warframe players so it seems topical.}

33 minutes ago, JadeFromWarframe said:

But also, it kinda demands some backend changes regarding idle animations, since if she's not pregnant, then that one animation doesn't make a lot of sense.

Honestly, if I were to play Jade without knowing that idle animation?
I'd probably just make some random assumption to deal with it.
Like "Oh, it's just a power core and fit nicely there" or some typical half-witted nonsense to deal with DE's lunacy.

Nope! They had to double down and add the animation. Now it just feels even harder to do that.

Hell, it's because they went so hard on trying to prevent people from enjoying the Warframe outside of the belly that drives me nuts.
They fixated so hard on it that what can else you assume that is besides a glorified fetish? Genuinely!
If it's not a fetish with that degree of fixation, than I must also own a small island made entirely of gold and gemstones.

Wait-- why am I explaining this to you? You're named "JadeFromWarframe", of course you're likely not going to listen.
Oh well, already typed it out.

 

32 minutes ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

As for the mesh, the only thing that would need changing is the animation set, which we can already change in game, and each new frame has a default of. This Jade Prime Animation Set, can then be used on Jade Prime freely or bought as a prime accessory. I don't think the attachment points would change, and i don't think she casts with her baby.

Honestly, DE has done more work for less important things.
I don't even think you need to change the idle that much anyway, just... move a few limbs.

All Idle Animations are just... instructions to move a preset mesh on a model somewhere. Usually with a loop to make it seamless.

 

16 minutes ago, Myscho said:

Im more curious if Stalker junior have another role in Warframe or will be forever forgotten

6 minutes ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

This has huge lore implications.

Given how...

• Lotus was effectively replaced by Digi-Lotus for more of the game's lifespan than she was actively there.
  • Honestly, the fact that the Operator is so fixated on her kinda mirrors the community in a way.
    • Seriously, they're mirroring a cult when you think about it. Doesn't help we're called "Void Demons" and act like it too.
  • Otherwise, Lotus is just a cardboard cutout for personality with a dozen keychain "Plot MacGuffins" attached to her.
    • Kinda a poor-trop of the "self-insert" now that I say that out loud.
• Lech Kril sure did exist as well as the Sergeant.
  • Salt in the womb (that is a joke) with Tyl Regor, another character they killed(?) taking the place of Kril on his OWN PLANET for Mirror Defense.
  • With even a sprinkle of taunting the damn guy.
• The Worm Queen kinda just chilling in the giant flying asteroid.
  • As a result, she's kinda just been delegated to the "Canonical Cannibal Vtuber" and while that descriptor is crudely funny... it is kinda a narrative waste.
• Frohd Bek is stuck in "Maybe he's dead!" purgatory.
  • You'd think he'd have something to say on Parvos and all.
  • Honestly, the fact that I don't think we've had any of the major Corpus characters besides Nef Anyo interact with Parvos is a BIG narrative loss.
  • Hell, even commenting on the Grineer would do. Especially given how Frohd was often butting heads with them back in the day.
• The Zariman just kinda... anchored there on standby until further notice.
• Narmer is still fully operational, but plot said "Hey, look over there!"
  • Kahl doesn't even exist anymore as far as most people are concerned.
  • Pazuul also being planted on Erra's head makes this whole bit here even more concerning.
• The Entrati are just... doing Deimos stuff and not a single one has noticed the Tenno "visiting Necraloid" for suspiciously long periods of time.
  • Father stored his "Snake" Necramech in the room Necraloid occupies. So they DO know the room exists.
• Eris. The entire planet, really.
  • Arlo too, if you wanna expand on that. Really only the most DE has bothered to explain with that place.

and more?

I wouldn't bank on it.

But I do like how OP at least tries to keep more of an actual narrative spin on that.
Appreciate the effort!

 

 

[(PSN)ErydisTheLucario]

1 hour ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

Massive Spoilers for both the quest and a lot of background lore.

So this just occured to me, while watching Triburos Jade Video, and remembering the quest. 

Jade is one of the most lore important frames. 
Some of that lore:

  Hide contents

• She and the stalker were forbidden lovers.
• Both turned into warframes.
• She is likely the Jade Light, a popular means of execution to the Orokin, reserved for honorable deaths. This includes the death of the OG margulis.
• She then was bonded with an operator, and she had enough sense of self to console the operator/child, put them to sleep, and regain full warframe autonomy.
• She did missions pretending to be the operator. 
• When the Tenno decided it was time to kill the orokin, she was still pretending to be one of them.
  • Presumably she was fine with it at the time, I imagine she wasn't a fan.
• She goes there see the Stalker, realizes he is the body guard to the orokin, and the mouthless and mindscarred warframes, they are can't really communicate.
• Tenno and Stalker fights, she saves the stalker.
• They retreat, she goes comatose, and begins sending her energy to make a child.
  • This is the abbreviated version of the important lore bits.

Ok, what does this mean when she eventually get around to getting primed?

Primes in lore, were described as prototypes, but eventually got retconned to be clones of the original/human warframes "perfected" by orokin technology.

What would this mean for Prime Jade?
SPECULATION AND LORE

  Reveal hidden contents

1. Pregnant Jade is only the product of thousands of years of comatose child making.
   1. This means any other copies of her, wouldn't be pregnant.
   2. The exception to this is the copies we make in the present. It is likely finding her the way we found her with most of her strength was in her womb. Meaning to actually be functioning, ours has to be pregnant.
2. What would perfected mean in relation to Jade, and why would they replace her as a means of execution?

I believe they replaced her with her prime version, and I believe her prime form would be more efficient at killing.

In lore, this Prime Jade would be an executioner. 
Jade is designed to be similar to angel, Jade Prime is closer to the "Angel of Death."

What this would mean for implementation. Keep in mind, I know this is years off, but then again Sevagoth feels like he came out yesterday.

• Prime Jade should canonically, not be pregnant. Realistically, a toggle could be added to add this effect.
• Her appearance should be darker in tone, and closer to the "Angel of Death" Aesthetic.
• This Prime Jade should blur the lines in appearance between Old Jade and Stalker.
• The stalker, if his memory issues are resolved by then, should see this as an orokin bastardization of his wife, and the mother of his child.
  • If he stops attacking when Jade is in the game, He should attack more fiercely if Jade Prime is present.
• Any skins of Jade that come out between now, and her prime will need to have a "non-pregnant toggle" or have one implemented when the prime comes out, or more realistically, just her prime version will. Option C of this is just have pregnant and non pregnant skin options. 
  • If they go with option A, it allows for more creativity for tennogen artists and fashion framers, but more work for implementation.
  • Option B, would make the prime distinct from every other jade skin. Meaning if people really dislike the pregnant look, they can use the prime.
• This is only important in case DE, completely forgets about lore, and make the prime pregnant regardless.

 

Warframes can also earn the right to be primed. That's the route I imagine it'll go for Jade.

[TARINunit9]

1 hour ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

• She then was bonded with an operator, and she had enough sense of self to console the operator/child, put them to sleep, and regain full warframe autonomy.
• She did missions pretending to be the operator. 

I highly doubt Jade ever had a Z-kid. Whoever's video you watched is doing a LOT of assumptions I do not agree with

[MrInubis]

People are fixated on the premise that there was army of any given warframe when it totally makes no sense. Warframes should be unique as the people that got transformed into them. Just because we see some destroyed means nothing since they can be rebuilt and not like cloning but more like Shepard in ME2. We do this with Umbra. On top of it you need Tenno as operator. How many kids could there be on Zariman? 100? 200 tops right? IMO there was just 1 of every given frame. Thats the only reasonable way to tie them to lore. You dont have any copies on any trailer too. Its always 1 warframe vs an army. 

 

Also there is nothing that says we, the operator cant prime a warframe. Prime is just the best version there could be. A Warframe in its prime.

[TARINunit9]

2 minutes ago, MrInubis said:

People are fixated on the premise that there was army of any given warframe when it totally makes no sense

It's not so much a "premise" as it is an "established fact about the lore." En masse Warframe cloning isn't just a gameplay mechanic like levels and experience points, it's something a character actively does in a cutscene (Sacrifice, cloning Umbra)

3 minutes ago, MrInubis said:

How many kids could there be on Zariman? 100? 200 tops right?

Thousands. The thing was a generation ship, it was designed to have a self-sustaining human colony population

[(XBOX)elementXGHILLIE]

6 minutes ago, TARINunit9 said:

I highly doubt Jade ever had a Z-kid. Whoever's video you watched is doing a LOT of assumptions I do not agree with

Go to teshins cave at a relay, next to the graves there is a feather that has some of Jade's lore.
Alternatively, go read the wiki.

[MrInubis]

4 minutes ago, TARINunit9 said:

It's not so much a "premise" as it is an "established fact about the lore." En masse Warframe cloning isn't just a gameplay mechanic like levels and experience points, it's something a character actively does in a cutscene (Sacrifice, cloning Umbra)

Umbra was not cloned, he was rebuilt. Its not the same.

 

4 minutes ago, TARINunit9 said:

Thousands. The thing was a generation ship, it was designed to have a self-sustaining human colony population

For self-sustaining human population you need 17 individuals. Zariman is big but not that big of a ship. We never see more than few kids and nowhere it was stated how many there were.

Edited September 15 by MrInubis

[(XBOX)elementXGHILLIE]

2 minutes ago, TARINunit9 said:

It's not so much a "premise" as it is an "established fact about the lore." En masse Warframe cloning isn't just a gameplay mechanic like levels and experience points, it's something a character actively does in a cutscene (Sacrifice, cloning Umbra)

It's a fact. The original warframe's were people usually Dax infested.
They took the best ones, and cloned them.
The ones cloned and improved were Primes.

I don't think we clone Umbra, I thought we rebuilt him. Rebuilding makes more sense to me because it explains his memories, cloning doesn't makes sense without like genetic memory. In that case every version of every frame has the same memories. 

[(XBOX)elementXGHILLIE]

3 minutes ago, MrInubis said:

For self-sustaining human population you need 17 individuals. Zariman is big but not that big of a ship. We never see more than few kids and nowhere it was stated how many there were.

The question of size been debated, with some saying it's the size of a small country or average state.
When you can synthesize any material, build with slave labor, and force people to ride.
In a desperate attempt to stop overpopulation, go big or go home.

[MrInubis]

4 minutes ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

It's a fact. The original warframe's were people usually Dax infested.
They took the best ones, and cloned them.
The ones cloned and improved were Primes.

I didnt ever see anything saying they were cloned. They were transformed, yes but not cloned. If you could point me to the source of this i would be thankfull.

2 minutes ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

In a desperate attempt to stop overpopulation, go big or go home.

But it wasnt about overpopulation ever right?

[(XBOX)elementXGHILLIE]

18 minutes ago, (PSN)ErydisTheLucario said:

Warframes can also earn the right to be primed. That's the route I imagine it'll go for Jade.

Only our Jade in the present is pregnant.
The process of priming, I thought meant cloning. If it isn't, it's an action taken on a frame during the orokin era to improve said frame.
If our jade got primed, she reversed it before becoming pregnant or being the jade we meet.

[MrInubis]

So i did some digging on the wiki and everything says there were very few Tenno. The army part has no confirmation anywhere. I couldnt find any info about "thausands" so if anyone has any proof of the claims i would like to see them. My headcannon makes more sense so far.

[(XBOX)elementXGHILLIE]

25 minutes ago, MrInubis said:

But it wasnt about overpopulation ever right?

They were concerned about overpopulation in the orokin system. When everyone of importance and their relatives are immortal, I imagine that gets to be a problem.

15 minutes ago, MrInubis said:

So i did some digging on the wiki and everything says there were very few Tenno. The army part has no confirmation anywhere. I couldnt find any info about "thausands" so if anyone has any proof of the claims i would like to see them. My headcannon makes more sense so far.

It's not stated how many, but tons. 
To put it simply, the Lotus had to hide the entire moon to hide the majority of the tenno.

They governed themself, had great schools, developed weapons and techniques. There is many different group of tenno, as well. Honor Guard, assassination focused, protection details, rank and file soldiers, etc.

There was also enough to kill the majority of the orokin in one fell swoop. The entrati survived due to them being preoccupied with the infestation in the void, and ballas survived due to being in on it. As stated earlier, there were a lot of orokin, enough to take up a solar system.

[MrInubis]

1 minute ago, (XBOX)elementXGHILLIE said:

They were concerned about overpopulation in the orokin system. When everyone of importance and their relatives are immortal, I imagine that gets to be a problem.

It's not stated how many, but tons. 
To put it simply, the Lotus had to hide the entire moon to hide the majority of the tenno.

They governed themself, had great schools, developed weapons and techniques. There is many different group of tenno, as well. Honor Guard, assassination focused, protection details, rank and file soldiers, etc.

There was also enough to kill the majority of the orokin in one fell swoop. The entrati survived due to them being preoccupied with the infestation in the void, and ballas survived due to being in on it. As stated earlier, there were a lot of orokin, enough to take up a solar system.

Prove it. Every source i came across says "few". I dont care what was speculated on the forums or what is "agreed upon" i want any proof of the claims.

[Binket_]

58 minutes ago, MrInubis said:

I dont care what was speculated on the forums or what is "agreed upon" i want any proof of the claims.

Sir/Ma'am/Humanoid/Non-specific Face/Etc.

.... this is Warframe. A game with plot that makes me feel like I'm playing Kingdom Hearts in terms of where it's going.
About 70% or more of the "Vital Plot Details" are likely:

• Hidden in an old, one-off event. Sometimes with a singular voice line being the sole indicator.
• Hidden in oodles of collectibles, often needing multiple runs to get them all.
• Retconned in some form and in varying degrees of severity.
• Up to interpretation. _{(which is not something you want on "VITAL Plot Details".)}
• Probably dreamt up by Steve smoking a leg-sized cigar while security is trying to stop him from activating "Specters of the Rail 2".

If anything, lore-wise today Operators probably have a collection of Warframes stored away in the Orbiter.
What IS canon is the actual Orbiter is much larger than what we can explore. Most of it being storage and systems.
Of which the spare Warframes go into. This is why you can swap from Mesa Prime with a fancy Top Hat to uncolored standard Volt quickly.

The reason they don't make an "army" is two-fold.

1. The Operators are limited, so a given one can only pilot a given Warframe at a time.
   • Exceptions like Wukong exist, but I'm going to assume it's simply mirroring the Operator's exact moves.
   • Because honestly, I don't think you can make Wukong as a concept canon without retconning large portions of the plot as is.
2. If they need spare and disposable backup, that's what the Specter Particle is for.
   • Parvos not only invented it, but also explains it in the Deadlock Protocol.
   • It mimics the thing it's built from. "Like a child learning from it's surrogate mother." to paraphrase it.

... and frankly, an "army" is more a descriptor for the force and less it's actual numerical sense.
If an Operator can "reconstruct" a Warframe, what's stopping them from making more duplicates?

Technocyte Flesh made from the Helminth Strain is still flesh.
It grows and repairs itself given enough nutrients and time.
Considering the Infested are body-horror incarnate and regenerate all the time-- that's not a stretch by any means.

If a Warframe is a hollow puppet- no more alive than an actual vegetable- until the Operator pilots it?
What's the problem in making a few dozen copies by chopping off a limb and repairing that?
After all, we build them in a foundry using resources and it takes a lot of time.

 

If you're asking for a DE-certified label that says "Yeah, we did that!"
You're not gonna find it. Not easily anyway.
However, I don't think that really matters when your "head-canon" (as you called it yourself) is just as concrete.

All this to say: "Stop talking if you're just gonna dismiss everything."