Changing Warframes Lore-Wise

[(PSN)Lowk721]

how else could we be male in one frame, and a female in another....

Tenno are Transgender or very very good at crossdressing?

Natures already got creatures who can modify gender traits. Tenno run on space magic that allows them to do stuff like turn into a puddle. Changing traits doesn't seem to be that big of a stretch. 

Edited July 12, 2014 by (PS4)Lowk721

[Hayzemet]

Tenno are Transgender or very very good at crossdressing?

Natures already got creatures who can modify gender traits. Tenno run on space magic that allows them to do stuff like turn into a puddle. Changing traits doesn't seem to be that big of a stretch. 

 

But then why would the frame wouldn change? Frames have no will they are suits..

[PixalatedVortex]

I always imagined that the suits are not removable

[Ionus]

How would this change the discussion ... the Warframe itself is a LIVING creature

 

It bonds with a Void-exposed, Technocyte-grafted Tenno creating a tripartite symbiote?

Being a "collective" organism it has emergent properties that modify, even supercede the intrinsic biology - even physics - of the constituent organisms

 

Thus ...

 

A warframe Tenno is self-evolutionary, can take on what ever shape, what ever function

 

Kinda scary thought if you are visiting a Warframe dating site ...

[vaugahn]

We will see which way the lore takes us, but it still seems to me like the most logical explanation is that changing frames is a gameplay constraint and not a lore one.

[ElHefe]

@ Ionus ... correction of "Tenno" for "warframe" accepted

 

Given the ambiguity (at least partial) of a time table for all this, some confusion of nomenclature is inevitable ...

For instance, the term "Tenno" includes the "native" Technocyte-grafted human/humanoids as well as their Warframed exo-suited counterparts

 

@ vaugahn ... I agree with you completely

 

The simplest way to account for confusion arising from "frame swapping" is that is an artifice of playing the game and which then need not imply that it occurs in the "history"

But then that borders on "make believe (gaming) is not the same as make believe (story telling) ... derp-de-derp

[vaugahn]

@ vaugahn ... I agree with you completely

 

The simplest way to account for confusion arising from "frame swapping" is that is an artifice of playing the game and which then need not imply that it occurs in the "history"

But then that borders on "make believe (gaming) is not the same as make believe (story telling) ... derp-de-derp

 

I like to believe it's a gameplay constraint because that opens up a lot of new story options. Maybe there's only one of each warframe, and in-universe they're just big enough badasses to fight the grineer and the corpus with only a tiny group. Or maybe there are hundreds or thousands of tenno, and the frames we play are just archetypes that certain classes of tenno follow. There's a lot of lore to explore once you move away from gameplay.

[zoffmode]

You can stop time, become invisible, spawn copies/holograms of you, become a puddle, revive dead enemies... but you can't change genders? 

 

Face it, Tenno are all gender benders and change their genders and shapes at will. The future!

[ElHefe]

@ zoffmode ... your post is probably the most persuasive so far

 

After all, "suspension disbelief" is the cornerstone of fiction; however, changing gender is not all that is different between frames - ALL of their properties change save their roughly equal size and humanoid outline

 

Implicit to your argument is that the Tenno are in effect pluripotent ... capable of changing EVERYTHING about themselves

 

Now up front I concede that possibility, but it strikes me that it goes against the psychic grain of most RPGs - whether a video game or a board game - where once the player selects a character, that character is not the same individual as another

This is especially true when the player can use many characters simultaneously as in Warframe

 

It is the UNIQUENESS of each character than makes them valuable and in effect NOT INTERCHANGABLE

 

SilentMobius makes an equally compelling case for "One Tenno - Poly Frame" with the fact that all the possessions (weapons, mods) are shared by another

However, it should be pointed out that the skill level of the different characters is NOT shared, thus establishing a distinctness for each

 

My last point ...

I am NOT trying to say "I'm right - your wrong" here ... only just sharpening the discussion so that I can begin to have clarity of my own

All views expressed are equally valid, it's just that I am OCD when it comes to SF 

Edited July 12, 2014 by ElHefe

[Shehriazad]

All I'm "sure" of is that we don't want to see what is inside....if the humanoid Tenno can fit into a Rhino just as well as he can fit in a Nova...then something is fishy.


btw it wouldn't make sense that we are "multiple" Tennos per account...in U14 you would have to see them inside of your ship then....if you own 20 Warframes and can jump into them on a whim and switch within seconds...then the multi Tenno theory makes no sense at all with the arrival of U14...

I still vote for 1 being that controls 1 frame at a time and you just slowly get access to more and more lost or new frames. 

What the hell..for all we know a Tenno might not even by physically present anymore...we might be nothing more but a "Ghost in the Shell" (which would be the only way I could accept a multi-Tenno per account theory)

Edited July 12, 2014 by Shehriazad

[vaugahn]

I still vote for 1 being that controls 1 frame at a time and you just slowly get access to more and more lost or new frames. 

What the hell..for all we know a Tenno might not even by physically present anymore...we might be nothing more but a "Ghost in the Shell" (which would be the only way I could accept a multi-Tenno per account theory)

It's confirmed that the frames are suits, and there's something humanoid inside them. At least in my opinion the shapeshifting and ghost in the machine theories seem a little far fetched, I think it would be more interesting to know how many Tenno exist 'in universe'

[Hayzemet]

Meh, I think that being able to operate all the frames, make tenno way too op lorewise, and take away some personality traits, it would be quite a bad story if this was the case, lore would be boring.. idk it tastes bad

[SilentMobius]

SilentMobius makes an equally compelling case for "One Tenno - Poly Frame" with the fact that all the possessions (weapons, mods) are shared by another

However, it should be pointed out that the skill level of the different characters is NOT shared, thus establishing a distinctness for each

Are you referring to our affinity rating with the warframe? Because given this is precicely the same mechanism that is used in the weapons and we never assume that building affinity makes the weapons themselves more experienced why would we assume the warframe affinity mechanic is any different?

IMHO affinity is just that, affinity with the equipment, warframe or weapon.

[SilentMobius]

It's confirmed that the frames are suits, and there's something humanoid inside them. At least in my opinion the shapeshifting and ghost in the machine theories seem a little far fetched, I think it would be more interesting to know how many Tenno exist 'in universe'

Enough to form more than one clan

[road2toad]

Each frame is a different Tenno, and each Tenno is a different frame.  It could be a Matrix-Like situation, minus the power-sapping thing.  Maybe you are a person, plugged into a sort of computer, Orokin Tech for that matter, and when you go into a different frame, your brain/hivemind, thing, transfers into that said frame.  So, even though as a Warframe, you are all human on the inside, but maybe there are some sort of body-mods, like in the Matrix, how they have the plug into their head, but, remote.  Or, maybe, when you switch frames, you walk into your Cryopod, and your memories are transported into your selected frame.  That's my theory, at least.  Up for discussion :P

[vaugahn]

Each frame is a different Tenno, and each Tenno is a different frame.  It could be a Matrix-Like situation, minus the power-sapping thing.  Maybe you are a person, plugged into a sort of computer, Orokin Tech for that matter, and when you go into a different frame, your brain/hivemind, thing, transfers into that said frame.  So, even though as a Warframe, you are all human on the inside, but maybe there are some sort of body-mods, like in the Matrix, how they have the plug into their head, but, remote.  Or, maybe, when you switch frames, you walk into your Cryopod, and your memories are transported into your selected frame.  That's my theory, at least.  Up for discussion :P

 

It's confirmed that the frames are suits, and there's something humanoid inside them. 

[road2toad]

 

I mentioned that.

[vaugahn]

I mentioned that.

 

Devs pretty much said there's a dude in the frame piloting it around. I'm not too sure about the transfer of consciousness 

[Ionus]

I like to believe it's a gameplay constraint because that opens up a lot of new story options. Maybe there's only one of each warframe, and in-universe they're just big enough badasses to fight the grineer and the corpus with only a tiny group. Or maybe there are hundreds or thousands of tenno, and the frames we play are just archetypes that certain classes of tenno follow. There's a lot of lore to explore once you move away from gameplay.

 

It is very unlikely that are are only one of each frame that exist, because clans, alliances, and solar rail conflicts are canon. Not to mention the dismemberment of a certain poster boy in the Profit trailer...

 

Badass as the Tenno are, they're up against factions that span multiple planets and all that's in between, and defeated a threat with an entire system in its dominion. The Grineer and Corpus alone probably number in the trillions or quadrillions.

[PsychedelicSnake]

It is very unlikely that are are only one of each frame that exist, because clans, alliances, and solar rail conflicts are canon. Not to mention the dismemberment of a certain poster boy in the Profit trailer...

 

Badass as the Tenno are, they're up against factions that span multiple planets and all that's in between, and defeated a threat with an entire system in its dominion. The Grineer and Corpus alone probably number in the trillions or quadrillions.

This is my thinking as well.

 

Not to mention the current gameplay/story segregation. And it goes without saying that explaining every single player is just playing as the same Tenno/Warframe would basically be a giant middle finger to immersion and roleplay in general.

[vaugahn]

Not to mention the current gameplay/story segregation. And it goes without saying that explaining every single player is just playing as the same Tenno/Warframe would basically be a giant middle finger to immersion and roleplay in general.

 

I've read some fan stories that do the single-tenno point of view, that's where I got that from. My personal theory is that the frames we play are archetypes, and in-universe all Excaliburs look slightly different and have slightly different powers but follow the same general theme

[Kestral9999]

We are ONE single tenno who can "wear" many suits it has been confirmed by DESteve that we are ONE SINGLE tenno, also, all characters ingame refer to us as one single tenno, gender is related to the original prototype of each TYPE of warframe, and gender traits stay there because its easier to copy things just as they are, this leaves a very big question, how do we fit inside the suits, well maybe we dont even fit inside, gender is not such a big problem when u think about the proportions of Nekros and Oberon, it is obvious there is no human inside of them, we are the Operating Sytem of the tenno that is all. 

 

inb4 you ask me to post sources u can google them or check the wikipedia they are very easy to find... DE steve confirming we are one tenno is in a Devstream and there is a letter from the Lotus saying how we (as one single tenno) have masterer many frames, that letter arrived during the Specters of Liberty event.

DEsteve very well could have slipped up, that may have been an unintentional bit of info.

 

The letter is undoubtedly a fourth wall break, the Lotus is talking to you, the player.

[Kestral9999]

To those of you who think that each Warframe is unique and singular I'm just going to leave this here.

 

 

Watch that, and explain to me one thing. Why are there still Excaliburs?

 

Now, my personal theory (though it seems it's not uncommon) is that we, as Tenno, are confined to a single suit. Whichever of the three starter frames we choose is an individual and not some entity that can change suits as they are made, though clearly certain parts are interchangable such as the helmet and attachments. The Tenno that fill those frames that we build later on are (as far as lore is concerned) the Tenno operatives and agents that we free in rescue missions or save in defense missions. Point being that each of the Warframes is filled with a completely seperate person and they number in the thousands+. Some frames are far more common than others due to how easily their parts are attained and their crafting materials' abundance. Rarer frames, such as Zephyr and Hydroid, come along later as their blueprints are discovered later. The weapons that your frames have access to are shared due to only one of them being active at any given time. The rest of your frames remain dormant in your Dojo (specifically in the Cryostasis rooms) but they all share a single arsenal. Obviously they dont share weapons with the rest of the players in your Dojo as that would make everyone OP as hell. The problem here is that there are so many gaming mechanics that are not canon that it's difficult to know practically anything as canon that is not directly stated as such.

 

Like how the fact that we have to kill bosses multiple times in order to obtain a full schematic for a Warframe that already exists is not only difficult to explain but likely not canon. Or the fact that we go to an omniscient market (likely of Corpus origin) to purchase blueprints for weapons and countless other things. Is platinum being a rare resource used as tinder considered canon? Also, who is paying us credits when we complete missions? The Lotus? So much inconsistancy and so many questions still surround this game that nothing is truly certain until DE confirms it.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Kestral9999

[Shienpoh]

You are incorrect the evidence can be interpreted in such a way as both avenues are probable. From Embers codex and to a lesser degree Excaliburs we know the form of power isn't a property of the suit but the person within it as the power is manifest without it and the suits are referred to as conduits. Ember can't get into Saryns frame and use it cause Ember has fire powers not poison.

^this

 

From Ember's Codex entry I get that the Powers we can use are within the Tenno (because Mutation from the Void, like the Mutants in X-Men), and the Frames are just a tool to control/focus this power (just like wands from the harry potter universe or the suit Mewtwo uses in the first pokemon movie ;) )

Sooo, a "firebender-tenno" could only use the ember-frame, because the frame doesn't generate the power, it controls it, so a fire-tenno could not use a saryn-frame...

Evidence of this "control" is in the Mats for the Frames: For the Helmet you need a neural sensor, as far as I rember its description says that it's built by the grineer to control modifications. In conclusion the tenno use them to control their frames, and the powers each frame can produce is a manifestation of the raw power of the tenno (raw power: fire | manifestation: the powers of ember like World on Fire).

 

And as Steve said, there are (or were) clans of tenno (I think he said that the different Mod-Symbols are the "logos" of the original clans), so therefore there have to be a bunch of tenno, which strenghens the theory, that there are more than one Excal, Ember, etc.

 

Concluding everything above, I think that there are many tenno, and each tenno is a mutant with a specific power (e.g. one tenno can generate fire, another one ice, another one has superhuman strength). But they struggled controling these powers (or they were to weak for the orokin, who knows), so the orokin built the frames to help the tenno control and focus their powers.

That means I think one tenno can only wear the frame build for his Mutation, but there are multiple Tenno with the same mutation, therefore multiple Embers, Saryns, Excals, etc.

Now the only question I have is: Are there only female tenno with the (for example) fire-mutation? It could be. The mutation comes from the void, so maybe these mutations develope depending on some "factors" from the humans sent there (e.g. gender, personality, eye-color, things like that), so that the prequisite for fire is really being female.

Either that, or we haven't found the male version of the fire-frame yet (the devs said, that they could think of making opposite gender frames of the same theme, so that you have a male version of ember with different powers but using fire).

 

Food for thought ;)

[(PSN)Folkeye]

I haven't dug too deep, but personally I take the Tenno in the frame as an individual who has personally mastered the frame they use. The frame is built specifically towards them and their unique power so they can control it. Due to this, they are truly confined to their specific frame, no clothing/full power change. They are a specific element/ability. That won't ever change. It's their problem for life. They are who they are and can't just pop into another form and have all new powers. Just doesn't make sense.

 

No problem with switching frames, it's another Tenno (be it male or female, I don't think they're genderless). Another character that has a history (plenty to fill in the gaps with your own imagination of who they are). 

 

I like having multiple personalities to control as a player. Not the one size fits all. Sure there are probably Tenno with the same type of affliction too. Not just one ice, or fire.... so there are some out there could very well be similar.

 

(I don't hold multiplayer/same frame in play in any form of continuity in terms of lore.)

Edited July 14, 2014 by (PS4)Folkeye