AKD headdliners

Characters of the Five Star Stories

The Five Star Stories features a truly large cast of characters. In the image above, you can see the headdliners (and one fatima) who serve the First Easter Mirage Corps. of the AKD. Characters in the story fall into 3 groups: normal humans, headdliners and fatimas (fatimas are covered in their own section).

Humans of the Joker Star Cluster
Some claim that human life began on Kallamity Godarce in the Southern Solar System although it is difficult to prove as accurate records were lost in wars long, long ago. Over time, the residents of the Joker Star Cluster underwent changes. Their jaws decreased in size, accommodating only 28 teeth; their tail bones retracted and disappeared; IQ fell from an average of 180 to 120 and the average life span increased to around 250 years. Some believe that humankind has plateaued and can progress no further in its development.

Age Comparison of Earthlings and Jokerians (in years of age)
Earthlings Jokerians
0 - 3 0 - 5
3 - 7 5 - 20
7 - 12 20 - 40
12 - 20 40 - 90
20 - 30 90 - 150
30 - 40 150 - 180
40 - 50 180 - 230
50 - 60 230 - 280
60 - 280 -

Headdliners
In the distant past, soldiers and space explorers were genetically modified to make them faster and stronger than normal. Those modified traits have been preserved in their descendants through the ages and those gifted few in whom they manifest are known as headdliners. In the past 1 in every 120 births was a headdliner but the number has declined in recent years to 1 in every 360. The traits usually show themselves when a child reaches 30 years of age (9 in Earthling years).

Headdliners can react 10 times faster than the average person, run 100 meters in 3 seconds and leap over a 10 meter bar in one bound. These talents have secured headdliners a place in the elite class of Joker society. When a child, regardless of social class, shows headdliner abilities they are presented to their nation’s authorities and enrolled in special institutes where skills such as personal combat, mortar headd piloting and etiquette are taught. They are given authority and titles in the armed forces of their nations and begin lives of privelege. However, the constant warfare in the Joker galaxy ensures that few of them will live to old age and retirement.

Although headdliners belong to the priveleged class and are afforded respect there are still many who regard them as abnormal and strange. It is often difficult for headdliners to mingle with normal humans and as a result usually keep company with other headdliners and their fatima partners (if they are fortunate enough to have one).

Divers
Divers are people with potent mental powers. Feared throughout the galaxy, some say divers pull the strings that make kingdoms move. Several of these mysterious individuals appear in the Five Star Stories. Read more about divers.