Are the orokin the "species" or the leaders

[Pau45]

We all know the orokin empire but what i'm asking is who are the orokin are they only the inmortal godlike rulers of their empire or are they the "substitute" for humans.

 Most in game lore points to first one but i've seen many people say otherwise.

 

[NPC]

Probably yes but might also be a No. 

[NeithanDiniem]

The Orokin was an empire. The people of that empire were the Orokin. Its just like how people that live in Canada as citizens are Canadians. They are not a sub-species of humanity (although some would argue that), they are just people that live under the Candian government.

The immortal leaders were the Archimedians and the like. They were Orokin that held a title. They were still the same humans as their subjects, essentially, just with control and a wider access to resources and perks, such as immortality. Corpus were just "corpuses" then, family groups vs one singular group company. Grineer were the only ones that were actually a sub-species as they were genetically modified clones with a predisposition to serve their masters and a significant decrease in mental capability. Infested were a nanomachine/virus hybrid.

Edited April 1, 2018 by NeithanDiniem

[SpacewalkerX]

i think the orokin was everyone that was granted immortality.

[(PSN)robotwars7]

6 minutes ago, Pau45 said:

are they only the inmortal godlike rulers of their empire

this. they are basically the leaders. the Orokin themselves were revered as living gods, appearing as beautiful as possible with perfect symmetry, golden eyes, and voices that only the privileged were allowed to hear. the Orokin themselves had a lot of power, but the actual ruling of the Empire was handed down to the Seven Executors, one of which was Ballas. below the Orokin themselves were the executors, and below them, most likely high-ranking military personnel (Sectarus Class, for example, appears to have been a group of individuals with access to Executorial Frigates and other restricted areas).

below them, the Dax, The Orokin's most elite force outside of the Tenno, and then below the Dax level would be regular troops, and then human Civillians. at the absolute bottom was the Grineer, who at this time were not soldiers, but labourers cloned en masse to erect the huge golden monuments made in the name of the Orokin. it is believed that the Tenno killed all of the Orokin themselves, the Executors, and the Orokin military infrastructure, which contributes to the cataclysmic event in the lore known as "the Collapse".

[NeithanDiniem]

2 minutes ago, SpacewalkerX said:

i think the orokin was everyone that was granted immortality.

Nah, because even Alad V is called "Orokin" by Hunhow, and Alad V was not even alive back during the old war. This means they were citizens, including those that became the Corpus we know now.

[NeithanDiniem]

1 minute ago, (PS4)robotwars7 said:

this. they are basically the leaders. the Orokin themselves were revered as living gods, appearing as beautiful as possible with perfect symmetry, golden eyes, and voices that only the privileged were allowed to hear. the Orokin themselves had a lot of power, but the actual ruling of the Empire was handed down to the Seven Executors, one of which was Ballas. below the Orokin themselves were the executors, and below them, most likely high-ranking military personnel (Sectarus Class, for example, appears to have been a group of individuals with access to Executorial Frigates and other restricted areas).

below them, the Dax, The Orokin's most elite force outside of the Tenno, and then below the Dax level would be regular troops, and then human Civillians. at the absolute bottom was the Grineer, who at this time were not soldiers, but labourers cloned en masse to erect the huge golden monuments made in the name of the Orokin. it is believed that the Tenno killed all of the Orokin themselves, the Executors, and the Orokin military infrastructure, which contributes to the cataclysmic event in the lore known as "the Collapse".

The civilians were also called Orokin.

[Koldraxon-732]

@NeithanDiniem, the Sentients were also a(n unintended) byproduct of the Orokin.

I believed, initially, the Orokin were exclusively the ones who held titles (Executor, Archimedian, etc...), but then again the Tenno themselves could be considered Orokin to a fashion. This changed when Alad V was called an Orokin; perhaps Sentients see most humans as Orokin, with a distorted identification filter preventing alternative perceptions than such?

We will learn more as time progresses.

Also, anyone noticed that the Orokin Faction icon has changed in recent updates into a glyph visually akin to Frost Prime's helmet?

Edited April 1, 2018 by Koldraxon-732
Hunhow's comment on Alad V

[(PSN)robotwars7]

1 minute ago, NeithanDiniem said:

The civilians were also called Orokin.

but they would only be Orokin in name, as part of a collective (Orokin literally meaning "golden family"). a REAL Orokin was an immortal leader, Orokin civillians would just be human like you and me.

[Lyravain]

The empire was called the 'Orokin Empire', likely carrying the name of its highest 'caste' of members, the 'Real Orokin', so to speak. From what little we know, the Orokin were human (though considering how far into the future that part of the game takes place, they were likely mutated to the current genome since the entire empire seemed to consider genetic editing pretty much the same as changing shirts) that were either born or 'elevated' to their status. The 'elevation' not only granted them more power in the empire but it also seemed to heavily consist of mutating/altering the individual into a 'superior state'. So, my answer would be; both. Becoming part of the Orokin-caste 'species' was a process that also awarded you a leadership position.

[NeithanDiniem]

1 minute ago, (PS4)robotwars7 said:

but they would only be Orokin in name, as part of a collective (Orokin literally meaning "golden family"). a REAL Orokin was an immortal leader, Orokin civillians would just be human like you and me.

Yes, which is why defining that reduces confusion. The leaders are the ones that had all the nasty associated stuff with them going on, but to define "Who were the Orokin" you would need to specify all of the loose ends.

4 minutes ago, Koldraxon-732 said:

@NeithanDiniem, the Sentients were also a(n unintended) byproduct of the Orokin.

I believed, initially, the Orokin were exclusively the ones who held titles (Executor, Archimedian, etc...), but then again the Tenno themselves could be considered Orokin to a fashion. This changed when Alad V was called an Orokin; perhaps Sentients see most humans as Orokin, with a distorted identification filter preventing alternative perceptions than such?

We will learn more as time progresses.

Also, anyone noticed that the Orokin Faction icon has changed in recent updates into a glyph visually akin to Frost Prime's helmet?

Not sure how the sentients play into this, as they were not only created without self-awareness, but developed it independently of the entire solar system the game takes place in. Their ties to the Orokin are only that of "They made us," just like the infested. They were not a part of the Orokin civilians or elite, or considered as a part of their empire. They with the Grineer were tools or weapons, nothing more.

Though I'm guessing you meant more along these lines here:

Hunhow called Alad V an Orokin because at the time of the war, after Hunhow and his fleet attacked the Origin System, the corpuses were family groups considered as civilians of the Orokin Empire, and considered as Orokin (by name, as robowars7 mentioned). Hunhow wouldn't see a difference to the "change in leadership," as it were. They were remnants of the Orokin to him, and were just as much a target after Natah's task would have been completed.

[midtarget]

Space Roman Empire

[Urlan]

More of the society and its citizenry while leaders would be Orokin Elite

[(XBOX)Clockwork Geoff]

Both as I understand it. They were the immortal rulers of the empire - Ordis, when he was a man, fought hard for the Orokin so he could achieve immortality and join their ranks and in order to do so he would have had to imbue certain substances (kuva) to alter himself physically to some degree.

Maybe not quite a different species, but certainly a different strand of humanity than the rest.

[(XBOX)motionROTATION]

How and where do you learn any of this?

[NeithanDiniem]

3 minutes ago, (XB1)motionROTATION said:

How and where do you learn any of this?

By paying attention to the events, quests, dialog, and codex entries.

[Lawmonark]

16 hours ago, Pau45 said:

We all know the orokin empire but what i'm asking is who are the orokin are they only the inmortal godlike rulers of their empire or are they the "substitute" for humans.

 Most in game lore points to first one but i've seen many people say otherwise.

 

Who "were" the Orokin would be the better question. Also, this thread my be considered spoilers.