Scorpius
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Scorpius is a fictional character from the television series Farscape, who was played by Wayne Pygram.
He is a Scarran-Sebacean hybrid and a Peacekeeper, who first appeared in the season 1 episode, "Nerve".
Because of his unique physiology -- the heat-generating Scarran and heat-vulnerable Sebacean halves of his heritage don't mix well at all -- Scorpius requires a special, customised coolant suit to keep alive, and he must periodically replace the coolant rods that keep his brain from overheating.
Scorpius's rank in Peacekeeper hierarchy is never stated, but it is sufficiently high to place him in command of entire research operations, and above the rank of captain. As a hybrid rather than a pure Sebacean, it is also possible that he operates outside the normal hierarchy of the Peacekeepers.
His mother was a Sebacean colonist who was captured by Scarrans and raped as part of a breeding experiment. She died as a result of the pregnancy. A young Scorpius escaped the Scarrans and joined the Peacekeepers in order to be able to pursue his vendetta against the Scarrans.
As the commander of a secret Gammak base, Scorpius conducted research on wormhole technology, in the hope of using it as a weapon against the Scarrans.
When John Crichton infiltrated the Gammak base to find medical supplies vital to Aeryn Sun's survival, Scorpius immediately detected him as an intruder. When he discovered that Crichton possessed knowledge about wormholes, Scorpius tortured him in an attempt to extract those memories.
Although Crichton escaped when a recovered Aeryn came to his rescue, Scorpius had implanted him with a chip containing a neural clone of Scorpius's personality, which continued to try to obtain Crichton's wormhole knowledge, and foiled his later attempts of Scorpius's life.
Scorpius replaced Bialar Crais as the chief antagonist in Farscape throughout seasons 2 and 3, until he was supplanted by Mele-On Grayza in season 4, at which point he became a reluctant ally to the crew of Moya, via an intercession by Aeryn Sun, who required Scorpius's help to survive Sebacean heat delirium.
In season 4, while on board Moya, Scorpius developed a relationship with Sikozu.
In The Peacekeeper Wars, Scorpius finally saw the effects of wormhole weapons, which were so devastating that he begged Crichton to stop them.
Subtext and themes
Scorpius's relationship to his Peacekeeper subordinate, Miklo Braca, was tinted with slashy subtext. Although Braca collaborated with Mele-On Grayza's torture and humiliation of Scorpius, it was implied that Braca remained loyal to Scorpius. In "Kansas", Scorpius kissed Braca on the forehead to express his gratitude.
Crichton compared their relationship to that of Mr. Burns and Smithers, from The Simpsons (in which Smithers has an unrequited crush on Mr. Burns, his boss), and certain scenes implied Braca's jealousy at Sikozu's relationship with Scorpius.
Scorpius's relentless pursuit of Crichton has also been the source of a lot of subtext, often recognised by Crichton himself in some of his dialogue.
From "Liars, Guns and Money, Part 1: A Not So Simple Plan":
- SCORPIUS: Insert the rod! Insert it! Insert it, insert it, insert it, insert it... Insert the rod... John...
- CRICHTON: (laughing weakly) You're really not my type.
From "Into the Lion's Den, Part 1: Lambs to the Slaughter":
- CRICHTON: Why are you bitchin' at me like we're married, Scorpy-Sue?"
Aside from Sikozu, Scorpius's other canonical sexual relationship was with Natira, who appeared in the "Liars, Guns and Money" episode trilogy.
Scorpius's status as a Scarran-Sebacean hybrid also carries some racial themes. His mixed background made him the object of racial or species-supremacist and xenophobic animosity, which was somewhat mitigated by the protection contingent to his high rank among the Peacekeepers.
Although Scorpius was Crichton's nemesis for much of the series, and generally therefore considered a villain, and he indisputably demonstrated ruthless and bloody methods of achieving his ends, Scorpius's character was portrayed as too complex to be shown as simply evil for evil's sake, but rather evil as a result of an all-conquering obsession and hate derived from suffering.
The research into wormhole technology which Scorpius conducted led the series into an exploration of the ethics of military applications of science.