The Corpus Beast (Let's Compile Lore!)

[Terumitsu]

For some time now, I've been looking at the themes and inspirations behind Warframe factions from the real world and for a while the Corpus has been the odd group out. While the Tenno and their Lotus have a surprisingly large draw from buddism, the infested take after parasites, and the Grineer seem to draw most readily from Celtic roots, the Corpus have been rather more difficult to pin down.

 

And that may perhaps be partially due to the fact that they are somewhat overt about just what it is they are. A 'Missing the forest for the trees' sort of situation, if you will.

 

Currently, I'm of the opinion that the Corpus faction has a base in totemic shamanism and their biggest tell is their proxies. Totemism, in short, is the belief where there is a bond or link with another physical object or being. Yes, this means it could be with animals, plants, swords, or robotic war machines named after animals and these linked things can be seen as an emblem or symbol of a person or group. You can't see an Osprey or Moa in game without thinking 'Corpus,' after all, so this feels like one way that the theme fits so far. Plus, if you've ever watched that moa with the corpus handler in the Perrin Sequence room, you can see that they don't just treat the robots as tools and only tools either.

 

Shamanism, on the other hand, is harder to nail down. The fact is that this is a word for a large number of 'subgroups' that have various beliefs but all seem to have at least a few basic ideas in common. To name a few, A shaman does not just deal with spirits, both good and bad, but also is a kind of living codifier of a given society. Not necessarily a tribe chief but more like a 'wise man.' They interact with the spirit world in various ways, including using methods to divine the future, and use animals as messengers or spirit guides. In addition, several kinds of shamanism use markings, paints, or tattooing to mark ranks of a shaman or their place in a given society. Currently, this part of the theme is admittedly tenuous but I think there is at least some merit in keeping it in mind for the future. That said, the mask/face markings that the more powerful Corpus units/people have as well as the fact that the places on Earth from where shamanic traditions were once quite strong are also the places from where each of the Animals that the proxies reference can be found (Excepting the Moa because they're extinct). That latter bit may just be coincidence, though..

 

The thing is, despite what few connections we have so far, I don't think that we know enough about the Corpus in general to solidly confirm anything beyond the associations I've made here. However! I will fully admit to missing information that either is being relayed differently or is just not well known.

 

That is where I'd like the rest of you to chime in. If you've perhaps found something contributing or even contradicting these ideas then I'd like to know. I am fully aware that this may not be a solved deal for some time given the over-all lack of information we have on the Corpus when compared to the Grineer but perhaps more eyes could search out what a single pair could not.

[Incrodon]

I honestly quite curious about corpus society as well, but I also don't know much.
I do think there is a contradiction.

 

In the tutorial missions, Darvo mentions how the corpus use mental nullifies on their robotics to keep them in line. This implies that the Moa's and Osprey's are much smarter than their shown in combat, it's just that they aren't allowed to be so smart, which seems a bit weird if the corpus see's them as something more as tools, and before people say 'to prevent robot uprising', the majority of the Corpus Board is completely unknown to us, after years of spy's and mobile defenses, we have only found Alad V, and that's with the help of another member of the Corpus Board which shows their very capable of keeping a stable and safe government.

 

EDIT

Now I think about it, maybe their government is something more than capitalism, it could be that the highest of the corpus uses the indoctrination temples and damping of robotic intelligence as a sort of way to make the leaders seem something more than they are, possibly even to deity levels of respect, and having very few [but enough], hyper intelligent A.I's to help make sure this appearance stays. This can reinforce your idea of Totemism, as the corpus believe that orokin tech is indeed holy, and all the mind tech is most likely directly gathered from orokin towers and their neural networks, meaning that those that use the tech believe they are connecting to something spiritual, and those affected believe they are more then any civilian could ever be. 

Edited April 12, 2015 by Incrodon

[mrhat.lf]

I honestly quite curious about corpus society as well, but I also don't know much.

I do think there is a contradiction.

 

In the tutorial missions, Darvo mentions how the corpus use mental nullifies on their robotics to keep them in line. This implies that the Moa's and Osprey's are much smarter than their shown in combat, it's just that they aren't allowed to be so smart, which seems a bit weird if the corpus see's them as something more as tools, and before people say 'to prevent robot uprising', the majority of the Corpus Board is completely unknown to us, after years of spy's and mobile defenses, we have only found Alad V, and that's with the help of another member of the Corpus Board which shows their very capable of keeping a stable and safe government.

We have seen the faces the of the other Corpus Board members, but not their names (excluding Frohd Bek and Salad V). If you really wanted to, you could call Darvo the Chairman of the Board, even though he isn't in it since Bek wanted him to be.

[Incrodon]

We have seen the faces the of the other Corpus Board members, but not their names (excluding Frohd Bek and Salad V). If you really wanted to, you could call Darvo the Chairman of the Board, even though he isn't in it since Bek wanted him to be.

I still remember that mini event, I don't think he could be called chairman of the board since he completely denied it, he just runs our market, and I think he used to live in empty void towers until the relays were built... I would like to know if he ever ran into a group of tenno expecting it to be full of loot and corrupted.

[(XBOX)Grihaly]

The Corpus are a corporation. That's their 'inspiration'.

[Happynuke]

>In the tutorial missions, Darvo mentions how the corpus use mental nullifies on their robotics to keep them in line.<

That might explain, why the laser-doors in Corpus missions do so little against the Tenno.
They aren´t meant to be used against us. They are meant to keep their own robotics out, in case of rebellion.

[Incrodon]

The Corpus are a corporation. That's their 'inspiration'.

Well, were talking about something more than just government type, they are atleast 50% corporation, I will give you that, but there is more.

>In the tutorial missions, Darvo mentions how the corpus use mental nullifies on their robotics to keep them in line.<

That might explain, why the laser-doors in Corpus missions do so little against the Tenno.

They aren´t meant to be used against us. They are meant to keep their own robotics out, in case of rebellion.

Yes, not even the sentients can even dream of going through the green lazers, for they are the most power full defense known to ALL LIFE!

Wait, lets get silly and stupid, so lets say the laser doors are mental nullifiers, does that mean every time we go through the doors, we get dumber? That needs to be art.