Pakuni
Pakuni refers to anything of, or relating to the Paku, a race of hominid anthropoids native to the Land of the Lost. The term has also been used interchangeably to refer to the Paku people as well. Little is known of Pakuni culture, save that they are an arboreal, tribal society comprising a caste system. The behavioral traits of the Paku are often times contradictory, for they are both an extremely curious species, but also tend to shy away from things they don't understand.
(See Also: Land of the Lost)
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Paleolithic era
Paleolithic era is a period of time spanning 2.6 million years ago to 10,000 BCE. This was a point in time when prehistoric man first started wielding stone tools. They were still known for grunting and whacking people across the coconut with wooden clubs, but at least they had the common decency to start wearing furs and skins to cover their junk.
(See Also: Paleolithic era)
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Pa'u
Pa'u is a title used in the Farscape multimedia franchise. It refers to the spiritual leaders of the alien race known as the Delvians. It's Earth equivilant would be akin to Father for Catholic priests or Sister for Catholic nuns. A Delvian priest always seeks spiritual enlightenment and harmony and worships an ethereal being referred to as the Goddess of the Delvian Seek. On Farscape, one of the main characters from the first few seasons, Zotoh Zhaan, was a Delvian priest and introduced herself as Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan (the greeting was often accompanied by a symbolic hand gesture). The thirteenth episode of season one, "Rhapsody in Blue" introduced other members of the Delvian race, all of whom were Pa'u.
(See Also: Pa'u; Clergy)
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People of the Way
The People of the Way is a religious order featured in the science fiction television series Andromeda. Members of the order are referred to as Wayists, while ministers of the People of the Way are called Reverends, or Rev for short. They are philosophers and arbiters of peace. Wayists do not try to convert people to their way of thinking. They believe that their function is simply to show them that they are already Wayists. The Magog alien known as Rev Bem is a Wayist, which is in sharp contrast to the common practices and methods of his species.
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Pilot
- A pilot is an individual responsible for flying an air, space or hover craft. The term has also been applied to some marine vehicles. On a starship, the pilot is often referred to by the gender-neutral title Helmsman. A Helmsman differs from a traditional pilot in that they must coordinate their actions with the help of a support staff, usually a navigator or co-pilot.
- A pilot may also refer to the premiere episode of a television series. Pilot episodes are submitted to networks for consideration and based upon the results from test audiences, the networks decide whether the pilot should be extended into a full television program.
- Pilot may also refer to the bio-mechanical life forms featured in the television series Farscape. Pilots share a unique relationship with living bio-ships and are physically bound to the ship they are assigned to. "Pilot" is used both as a descriptor of the individual's profession, but is also used as a formal name.
(See Also: Pilot (Farscape); Pilots; First episodes)
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Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, but is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.
(See Also: Planetoid; Planets in fiction; Examples of planets; Planetary destruction)
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Planetoid
Planetoids are small stellar system bodies in orbit around a star, especially in the inner Solar System; they are smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids. The term "planetoid" has historically been applied primarily to minor planets of the inner Solar System, as the outer Solar System was poorly known when it came into common usage.
(See Also: Asteroid)
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Pleistocene era
The Pleistocene era is the epoch from 2.588 million to 12,000 years BP covering the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The Pleistocene Epoch follows the Pliocene Epoch and is followed by the Holocene Epoch. The Pleistocene is the first epoch of the Quaternary Period or 6th epoch of the Cenozoic Era. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the retreat of the last continental glacier. It also corresponds with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. In film, the Pleistocene era was presented during the "Dawn of Man" sequence from the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was identified as the Pleistocene era in Arthur C. Clarke's novelization of the film.
Pod people
Pod people is a generic phrase which refers to individuals who have been imprisoned and/or replaced by extraterrestrial forces and re-inserted back into the general populace. In many instances, the duplicate or cloned individual is birthed from a pod-shaped egg or embyro. Pod people stories are a popular plot device used in films such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the television series Invasion.
(See Also: Films with alien possession; Programs with alien possession)
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Police officer
A police officer (also known as a policeman or policewoman, and constable in some forces, particularly in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations) is a warranted employee of a police force. In the United States "officer" is the formal name of the lowest police rank; in many other countries "officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank, and the lowest rank is often "constable". Police officers are generally charged with the apprehension of criminals and the prevention and detection of crime, and the maintenance of public order. Police officers may be sworn to an oath, and have the power to arrest people and detain them for a limited time, along with other duties and powers. In the Scanners film franchise, Sam Staziak is a member of the Los Angeles police department gifted with great psychokinetic abilities. He can perceive the thoughts of others and project waves of kinetic energy that can cripple an adversary, thus earning him the nickname Scanner Cop. The most well-known police officer in science fiction however is Alex Murphy, aka, RoboCop. In Detroit, Michigan of the near future, Alex Murphy is fatally wounded in a shootout with a criminal gang led by Clarence Boddicker. Thanks to the technological wizardry of Omini Consumer Products however, they are able to save Murphy's life by turning him into a cyborg powerhouse dubbed RoboCop. Gifted with enhanced strength and versatility, RoboCop becomes a one-man police squad systematically taking down all of Boddiker's gang members and uncovering the secret link between his enemies and OCP.
(See Also: Law Enforcement)
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Power coupling
Power couplings are integral components used on advanced spacecraft, shuttlecraft and some terrestrial vehicles. Couplings regulate and transfer power from one source to another throughout the vessel. In some cass, a visible arc of energy can be seen transferring from one coupling to another. This was commonly seen on racing vehicles known as podracers.
(See Also: Power coupling)
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President
President is a title that reflects the highest form of authority in an organization. This may include the president of a country, the president of a corporation, or the president of a social club. As an example, Josh Blaylock is the President of Devil's Due Publishing, which is a comic book publishing company. Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the United States (and a darn fine vampire killer ta'boot!)
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Priest
A priest or priestess is one authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which may also apply to such persons collectively.
Nearly every race has some form of organized religion guided by it's respective leaders. In the continuity of the Firefly TV series, priests are addressed by the title of Shepherds. Derrial Book was a Shepherd who served aboard the Firefly-class ship Serenity. In the Star Wars mythos, the Order of the Jedi are often looked upon as spiritual leaders in that they communed with the mythological Force and used it to guide their actions. In Farscape, the alien race known as Delvians are often priests. The title applies to both male and female members of the species. The character of Zotoh Zhaan was a Delvian priest.
(See Also: Category:Clergy)
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Prime Minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the Government. In most systems, the prime minister is the presiding member and chairman of the cabinet. In a minority of systems, notably in semi-presidential systems of government, a prime minister is the official who is appointed to manage the civil service and execute the directives of the head of state.
Private
Private is a rank found in several Earth-based and non-terrestrial militaries. For Earth-based Armed Forces divisions, it represents the lowest rank of an enlisted soldier and is the equivalent to NATO Rank Grades OR-1 to OR-3 depending on the force that the individual serves in. Private is a rank found in the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps. Fictional military Armed Forces that include the rank of Private include the United States Colonial Marines Corps. Junior enlisted soldiers may also hold the rank of Private First Class (PFC), which is the equivilant to a Lance Corporal in other militaries.
(See Also: Private)
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Protoplasm
Protoplasm is the living contents of a cell that are surrounded by a plasma membrane. Protoplasm is composed of a mixture of small molecules such as ions, amino acids, monosaccharides and water, and macromolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and polysaccharides. In eukaryotes, the protoplasm surrounding the cell nucleus is known as the cytoplasm and that inside the nucleus as the nucleoplasm.
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Pulp heroes
Pulp heroes refers to a particular subgenre of speculative fiction. They were a form of literature published in magazine format and so-named because of the inexpensive wood pulp paper that the books were printed on. They were the successors to the short fiction format of the 19th century found in dime novels and penny dreadfuls. Pulp magazines featured tales of different types such as mysteries, crime stories, adventure tales and westerns. Pulp hero magazines usually followed the adventures of a male protagonist who was of an extraordinary nature in some way, possessing either a sharp mind, keen instincts, or physical attributes beyond that of the average man. Pulp fiction stories began publication in the 1890s and ran through the 1950s. They were the precursors to modern superhero fantasy tales. One of the first and most famous of the pulp heroes was The Shadow. Others included Doc Savage, the Phantom Detective, and Flash Gordon. Modern storytellers have created characters inspired by the pulps such as Indiana Jones, the Rocketeer, and Tom Strong. The character known as Domino Lady was the first masked female hero of the pulp era.
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