Babylon 5 Universe

Babylon 5 , or B5 for short , is the name of a fictional space station that is the location of the science fiction television series of the same name by Joseph Michael Straczynski ("JMS"). This series and the associated television films, offshoots and novels are set in a fictional universe of their own .

The universe

The Babylon Project

The Babylon project was originally started with the first Babylon station, whereby the actual project goal of mankind was a space station in which all peoples meet in order to trade together and to communicate peacefully with one another. The occasion was a devastating war between the humans and the Minbari people, which brought humanity to the brink of extinction.

After the first three attempts to build a space station were sabotaged and the fourth station disappeared only 24 hours after being put into operation, the fifth Babylon station was only able to start operating as planned in 2257 and continue to perform its task until it was decommissioned and demolished in 2281 . ^{P. 51}

The Babylon 5 space station

Main location of the series: The system of Epsilon Eridani (red circle) in the constellation Eridanus

The Babylon 5 space station is an approximately 8 kilometer long hollow body construction that generates gravity through rotation. The principle is based on the idea of ​​the Bernal sphere , a cylindrical hollow body on the inside of which a biosphere is created. The station is - apart from a few control engines - immobile and has a stable orbit near the third planet in the Epsilon-Eridani system.

Inside the station there is mostly an air atmosphere . However, there are also individual demarcated areas with extraterrestrial atmospheres that enable non-human species to live in their own sectors without special breathing equipment.

The individual areas of the space station are divided up by color markings and can thus be clearly assigned:

• Blue: command, personnel, military, docks
• Red: shops, apartments
• Green: ambassador, diplomacy
• Yellow: nuclear fusion reactor
• Gray: industry
• Braun: Life support, waste recycling, several undeveloped areas

The gray and brown sectors are not fully developed for financial reasons. These areas, known as the "lowest level" ( DownBelow in the original), serve as home for the so-called Lurkers . These are homeless people who ended up on Babylon 5 in search of a better life but were either unemployed or unable to find work. ^{P. 47 ff. P. 198 p. 460}

At the beginning of the series, Babylon 5 has very little armament. In the second season, Babylon 5 will then be equipped with weapons systems from Earth in order to be able to protect itself. The main defense of the station, however, lies with its fighter planes (the Starfuries ), which take off from their own hangars and have a greater operational range.

Races and groups in the Babylon 5 universe

→ Main article : Peoples and groups in the Babylon 5 universe

For Babylon 5, a universe with a multitude of different peoples with different histories, idiosyncrasies and diplomatic entanglements was created. The plot essentially focuses on the peoples of the people, Minbari, Centauri, Narn (young races) as well as shadows and Vorlons (old races), but several other races and groups play significant supporting roles for the plot.

Figures in the Babylon 5 universe

→ Main article : Figures in the Babylon 5 universe

Languages ​​in the Babylon 5 Universe

Each people in the Babylon 5 universe has their own language. The common lingua franca on Babylon 5 is English. If interlocutors are speaking in the same language or if they can understand each other, their sentences are written in clear English or German for the viewer. If, on the other hand, a Minbari speaks to a person and the person cannot understand him, you will only hear "incomprehensible" words and the translation is sometimes subtitled. Some races also use various translation devices to communicate. To communicate with unknown species, the Earth Alliance uses a simply structured language called Interlac , which is used on initial contacts . ^{P. 369}

Hyperspace

To enable interstellar travel, the series uses the concept of hyperspace . Spaceships can enter hyperspace via so-called jump gates and cover great distances there in a short time. Large ships are able to create their own access point, independent of a jump gate.

Timetable

In the following table all canonical works are arranged according to their main plot time. In the case of titles that are listed twice, there are larger leaps in time within the story.

See also : List of literature within the canon in the article "Babylon 5"

year	plant
2115	The Birth of the Psi Corps
2189
2195	Best ascendant
2243	The first step
2244
2245
2246
2247
2248
2256		The Shadow Within
2257	The gathering
2258	season 1	Best ascendant	Casting Shadows
2259	season 2	Summoning Light		To Dream in the City of Sorrows	Comics 1-6 note
2260	season 3	Space, Time and the Incurable Romantic	Invoking Darkness
2261	Season 4	The gateway to the 3rd dimension		In Valen's name
2262	Season 5	The long Night of Centauri Prime	The Shadow of His Thoughts	Genius Loci	Hidden agendas
2263	The flow of souls
2264
2265	Legend of the Ranger		The Nautilus Coil
2266	Brothers in Arms		Armies of Light and Dark
2267	Crusade
2268
2269	True Seeker
2270
2271	Forgotten legends	The Fate of Bester		The Lost Tales mini-comic
2272
2273
2274			Out of the Darkness
2275
2276
2277
2278	The first step
2279
2280	The way into light ( S5E22 )
2281
2362	In a hundred years, in a thousand years ( S4E22 )
2593	Space, Time, and the Incurable Romantic
2762	In a hundred years, in a thousand years ( S4E22 )
3262
+ 1 million

 Main series and offshoots of
 television films and direct-to-DVD
 novels,
 comics,
 short stories

^NoteThis includes the titles Treason , The Price of Peace , Shadows of the Past , Silent Enemies , The Laser Mirror and Psi Corps .

Web links

Commons : Babylon 5  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Goldkanal (including background information and episode guide)
• Babylon 5 Books (English; including online encyclopedia, documentations, literature with background information)
• Information about Babylon 5 on sf-radio.net
• The German Lurker's Guide for Babylon 5 (including episode guide )
• English fan wiki
• German Fan Wiki

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Jason Davis: Babylon 5 Encyclopedia . 1st edition. Publishing 180, 2017, ISBN 978-0-9821005-9-2 .
2. ↑ Bernal Sphere. Retrieved July 15, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Stephen D. Rogers: The Dictionary of Made-Up Languages . Simon and Schuster, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4405-3039-5 .
4. ↑ Kevin R. Grazier, Stephen Cass: Hollyweird Science: From Quantum Quirks to the Multiverse . Springer, 2015, ISBN 978-3-319-15072-7 , pp. 231 .