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Foreigner

208 statements
40 feature instances
1 referencing feature instances

Foreigner	type	TVTItem
Foreigner	label	Foreigner
Foreigner	page	Foreigner
Foreigner	comment	Bren Cameron has the job of the paidhi, the sole point of contact between the human Lost Colony on the island of Mospheira and the alien atevi on whose planet the humans are living. While Bren enjoys being a diplomat/translator/linguist/xenologist, it's not what you'd call an exciting job. Some excitement is added when the aiji, the head of the atevi government, gives him a handgun as a gift, even though it's highly illegal for a human to posses a gun. It then gets much more exciting when, two weeks later, an assassin breaks into his apartment and he's forced to use the handgun in self defense. The attack leaves Bren baffled, since although there are plenty of conservative atevi who hate humans enough to want him dead, the conservative atevi have always hated humans, but no one has tried to have the paidhi killed in the nearly two hundred years that the office has existed. And thus begins C. J. Cherryh's book series on inter-species politics and intrigue.
Foreigner	fetched	2018-08-06T21:02:23Z
Foreigner	parsed	2020-06-24T06:49:14Z
Foreigner	isPartOf	DBTropes
Foreigner / int_17058a90	type	No Biochemical Barriers
Foreigner / int_17058a90	comment	No Biochemical Barriers: Partially averted, partially played straight: Aversions: Atevi infectious diseases don't affect humans, and visa-versa. Many atevi teas and seasonings contain alkaloids which are poisonous to humans. The same alkaloids which are poisonous to humans are essential nutrients to atevi, so an atevi attempting to subsist entirely on human foods would suffer from vitamin deficiency, and eventually die. Played straight: Atevi foods contain carbohydrates, fats and proteins which are digestible and usable to humans, and visa-versa for the atevi. There's nothing in human foods which is poisonous to atevi.
Foreigner / int_17058a90	featureApplicability	-1.0
Foreigner / int_17058a90	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_17058a90
Foreigner / int_1869b4b1	type	UnreliableNarrator
Foreigner / int_1869b4b1	comment	Unreliable Narrator: Though it's not Bren's fault, and serves to underscore the fact that if an empathetic, mathematical and linguistic genius like Bren can't decipher the Atevi mind, overcoming an such immense communication gap would be simply impossible for 99.9% of the human population. The audience is told Atevi don't have words for love or friendship because they don't have those feelings, and it's accepted as an indisputable fact for several books. It's not until well into the series that Bren begins to question this, noting that while they don't have general terms like humans, they have very specific names for different kinds of relationships, and these relationships can be as binding as any human friendship or marriage. Even humans acknowledge there are many different kinds of love, despite using the catchall term more than any other...so do the Atevi feel "love"? They would say no. Bren would say...
Foreigner / int_1869b4b1	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_1869b4b1	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_1869b4b1
Foreigner / int_204a1207	type	Hyperspace Is a Scary Place
Foreigner / int_204a1207	comment	Hyperspace Is a Scary Place: Well, actually it's a dull place, since hyperspace has the side effect of making everyone muzzy headed. When combined with the cabin fever of year long trips, this can lead to quite a lot of stress.
Foreigner / int_204a1207	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_204a1207	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_204a1207
Foreigner / int_22fed3a1	type	MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness
Foreigner / int_22fed3a1	comment	Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness: Relatively high on the hardness scale, with the only exception to currently understood physics being the existence of Faster-Than-Light Travel. In spite of the existence of FTL travel, there is no faster than light communication or sensors.
Foreigner / int_22fed3a1	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_22fed3a1	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_22fed3a1
Foreigner / int_2717a55e	type	Bizarre Alien Psychology
Foreigner / int_2717a55e	comment	Bizarre Alien Psychology: The main character has to train himself to think like aliens in order to be an ambassador to them.
Foreigner / int_2717a55e	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_2717a55e	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_2717a55e
Foreigner / int_2af7961	type	Faster-Than-Light Travel
Foreigner / int_2af7961	comment	Atevi numerology is much more complex and wide-ranging than the human equivalent, since one of the more popular schools of atevi numerology includes "Faster-Than-Light Travel is impossible". Humans had to avoid revealing that they arrived in the atevi's star system via Hyperspace since that would have pissed off so many atevi it might have lead to another war, that's how seriously atevi take their numerology.
Foreigner / int_2af7961	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_2af7961	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_2af7961
Foreigner / int_3ebc57ac	type	Going Native
Foreigner / int_3ebc57ac	comment	Going Native: Bren Cameron essentially does this. Which is not taken too well at first by the (human) government he was supposedly representing, or the people close to him he now is not able to see except very occasionally.
Foreigner / int_3ebc57ac	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_3ebc57ac	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_3ebc57ac
Foreigner / int_403bb6f0	type	The Xenophile
Foreigner / int_403bb6f0	comment	The Xenophile: Bren has a rather large fascination and affection for the Atevi and their culture. So much so that he eventually drops any pretense of taking orders from Mospheira and openly becomes Tabini's agent instead, and begins living permanently on the Mainland. Certain humans are... not happy about this. Cajeiri the 8 year old kid of Tabini is obsessed with Human Culture, and can speak fluently several languages. This is not however a good thing as Cajeiri has difficulty relating to his own kind, becauae he is going through the atevi equivalent of puberty.
Foreigner / int_403bb6f0	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_403bb6f0	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_403bb6f0
Foreigner / int_4a3e547f	type	Leaning on the Fourth Wall
Foreigner / int_4a3e547f	comment	Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Peacekeeper, the fifteenth novel in the series, centers around major character Cajeiri's ninth birthday party and wraps up a number of plot threads that have been dangling since about book seven. It has several remarks to the effect that "the next wholly auspicious number after nine is fifteen" in the numerology of the atevi. In-universe, it's Cajeiri noting — or someone noting to him — that this is the most significant birthday party he's going to get for quite a while. But it also reads as meta-commentary; since Cherryh didn't manage to wrap up these particular plots by book nine, she needed to drag them out through book fifteen if she wanted the structure of the series to respect its character's numerology.
Foreigner / int_4a3e547f	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_4a3e547f	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_4a3e547f
Foreigner / int_5028baf2	type	What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?
Foreigner / int_5028baf2	comment	What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Atevi are completely incapable of feeling any emotion involving affection, since their brains are wired differently than humans. Having no common point of reference, they can't even understand it. The closest translation they have for "like" in the sense of affection is "like" in the sense of "I really like salads". This is probably the largest cause of on-the-job stress for Bren: he spends 99% of his time surrounded by people who he likes who not only will never like him back, but who will never even understand what it means to like someone. The reverse also applies, since the atevi feel an emotion unknown to humans, man'chi. Humans can sort of understand it, since it's sort of like loyalty and sort of like a flocking instinct, but humans can never fully understand it, never grasp it at a gut/intuitive level, and never ever actually feel it.
Foreigner / int_5028baf2	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_5028baf2	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_5028baf2
Foreigner / int_57b80b45	type	Fantastic Racism
Foreigner / int_57b80b45	comment	Fantastic Racism: Even the very progressive Western Atevi generally distrust Humans. The Eastern Atevi outright hate Humanity and if given the chance would start a second war.
Foreigner / int_57b80b45	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_57b80b45	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_57b80b45
Foreigner / int_5a2c2468	type	Teleportation Misfire
Foreigner / int_5a2c2468	comment	Teleportation Misfire: The Hyperspace version of this happens at the start of the series: some malfunction with the Hyperspace engine sends the human starship to a completely uncharted region of space.
Foreigner / int_5a2c2468	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_5a2c2468	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_5a2c2468
Foreigner / int_5fb5be92	type	Spot of Tea
Foreigner / int_5fb5be92	comment	Spot of Tea: Any meeting with atevi, whether for business or socialization, is probably going to involve drinking some form of herbal tea. Unfortunately for Bren, many atevi herbs are poisonous to humans, so he has to be careful about what he drinks.
Foreigner / int_5fb5be92	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_5fb5be92	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_5fb5be92
Foreigner / int_62011b2f	type	Centrifugal Gravity
Foreigner / int_62011b2f	comment	Centrifugal Gravity: All starships and space stations use this, as the sci-fi is on the "hard" end of the scale.
Foreigner / int_62011b2f	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_62011b2f	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_62011b2f
Foreigner / int_6439de78	type	Heroic Sacrifice
Foreigner / int_6439de78	comment	Heroic Sacrifice: The original crew of the Phoenix, needing fuel to leave the radiation hell (an O-class star system) they arrived at, went out to mine fuel, knowing they would die from the intense radiation outside the hull.
Foreigner / int_6439de78	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_6439de78	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_6439de78
Foreigner / int_6b35bdff	type	Serious Business
Foreigner / int_6b35bdff	comment	Serious Business: Numerology, to many atevi. Some examples: Humans have delayed handing over computer technology to the atevi, since computer hardware and software is full of manipulating numbers. If a customer database assigned customer numbers to people, some atevi would take offense at being assigned an unlucky number. If the database was changed to only use customer numbers internally, those atevi would take offense at secretly being assigned unlucky numbers. When the atevi first started using aircraft, each atevi would determine their flight path according to whatever brand of numerology they used, completely ignoring air traffic control. It took a serious aircraft disaster before the government could effectively force all pilots to obey air traffic control. Atevi numerology is much more complex and wide-ranging than the human equivalent, since one of the more popular schools of atevi numerology includes "Faster-Than-Light Travel is impossible". Humans had to avoid revealing that they arrived in the atevi's star system via Hyperspace since that would have pissed off so many atevi it might have lead to another war, that's how seriously atevi take their numerology.
Foreigner / int_6b35bdff	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_6b35bdff	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_6b35bdff
Foreigner / int_6c7136b7	type	Tactful Translation
Foreigner / int_6c7136b7	comment	Tactful Translation: A central trope of the Foreigner verse, where Bren's tact and diplomacy has resulted in him being the paidhi, the only one allowed to translate between the humans and the aliens, even when he is no longer the only person who can speak to the aliens.
Foreigner / int_6c7136b7	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_6c7136b7	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_6c7136b7
Foreigner / int_71538259	type	Token Human
Foreigner / int_71538259	comment	Token Human: Bren Cammeron. Being a diplomat who's the only human allowed off the human enclave of Mospheira, he spends most of his time in the company of the alien atevi.
Foreigner / int_71538259	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_71538259	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_71538259
Foreigner / int_72217e12	type	Murder, Inc.
Foreigner / int_72217e12	comment	Murder, Inc.: The atevi has a government sanctioned assassin's guild. However, in spite of the name, most licensed assassins spend most of their time being bodyguards and doing security work.
Foreigner / int_72217e12	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_72217e12	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_72217e12
Foreigner / int_7a4c6931	type	Aliens Never Invented Democracy
Foreigner / int_7a4c6931	comment	Aliens Never Invented Democracy: The atevi cannot conceive of any other form of governance than monarchy.
Foreigner / int_7a4c6931	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_7a4c6931	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_7a4c6931
Foreigner / int_8485d41a	type	Interspecies Romance
Foreigner / int_8485d41a	comment	Interspecies Romance: Double Subverted with Bren and Jago, since Jago is incapable of understanding what romance is. They still end up sleeping together.
Foreigner / int_8485d41a	featureApplicability	-0.3
Foreigner / int_8485d41a	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_8485d41a
Foreigner / int_961518ca	type	Mid-Battle Tea Break
Foreigner / int_961518ca	comment	Mid-Battle Tea Break: When two atevi are in a heated discussion, one of them may call for tea, to let tempers cool before the discussion continues.
Foreigner / int_961518ca	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_961518ca	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_961518ca
Foreigner / int_98393faf	type	First Contact Faux Pas
Foreigner / int_98393faf	comment	First Contact Faux Pas: When humans first land on the atevi's planet they make the mistaken assumption that, just like humans, the atevi equivalent of governments have borders. The led the humans to think they were dealing with a single government when they were in fact double-crossing and triple-crossing multiple governments, a misunderstanding that eventually led to the War of the Landing.
Foreigner / int_98393faf	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_98393faf	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_98393faf
Foreigner / int_98ce21fe	type	Long-Running Book Series
Foreigner / int_98ce21fe	comment	Long-Running Book Series: C. J. Cherryh's longest single series. Her Alliance/Union universe is much larger and longer running, but consists of many different stories set in the same 'Verse rather than a single series.
Foreigner / int_98ce21fe	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_98ce21fe	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_98ce21fe
Foreigner / int_9dbb9688	type	Fantastic Honorifics
Foreigner / int_9dbb9688	comment	Fantastic Honorifics: A few. nand- / nandi : very formal. nadi : less formal. -ji : familiar.
Foreigner / int_9dbb9688	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_9dbb9688	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_9dbb9688
Foreigner / int_a0edf122	type	Good with Numbers
Foreigner / int_a0edf122	comment	Good with Numbers: The other thing which distinguishes the atevi mind from that of humans (taking second place to their inability to understand love) is their facility with math. They can instantly and accurately count things, have a photographic memory for anything they count, the adult version of their language requires doing simple algebra to formulate grammatically correct sentences, and atevi cultures treat numerology with the same fervor that human cultures treat religion. Bren's chief bodyguard would be considered a mathematical prodigy by human standards, but chose a career having nothing at all to do with math.
Foreigner / int_a0edf122	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_a0edf122	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_a0edf122
Foreigner / int_a38088cf	type	Space Is Cold
Foreigner / int_a38088cf	comment	Space Is Cold: The only notable science mistake Cherryh makes in the novels is that unheated portions of Space Stations and starships are extremely cold.
Foreigner / int_a38088cf	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_a38088cf	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_a38088cf
Foreigner / int_aa88f109	type	Humanity Is Infectious
Foreigner / int_aa88f109	comment	Humanity Is Infectious: Averted. No matter how much exposure atevi have to humans, they'll never acquire (or even understand) human emotions involving affection, because their brains are wired differently than human brains.
Foreigner / int_aa88f109	featureApplicability	-1.0
Foreigner / int_aa88f109	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_aa88f109
Foreigner / int_ac4ac8e5	type	Idiosyncratic Episode Naming
Foreigner / int_ac4ac8e5	comment	Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: All the titles in the series are one singular noun ending in "-er" or "-or".
Foreigner / int_ac4ac8e5	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_ac4ac8e5	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_ac4ac8e5
Foreigner / int_b2f26025	type	Genki Girl
Foreigner / int_b2f26025	comment	Genki Girl: Played with Cajeiri who is in love with Human Culture, and hangs around human friends and has no idea about proper Atevi etiquette, because, he was in Space for 2 years without any other Atevi his age.
Foreigner / int_b2f26025	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_b2f26025	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_b2f26025
Foreigner / int_b58b4e3c	type	Too Dumb to Live
Foreigner / int_b58b4e3c	comment	Too Dumb to Live: Bren Cameron's reaction to his temporary replacement turns out she's a Not-So-Harmless Villain.
Foreigner / int_b58b4e3c	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_b58b4e3c	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_b58b4e3c
Foreigner / int_ce9f550c	type	My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels
Foreigner / int_ce9f550c	comment	My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: A not-quite-fluent professional translator between humans and the alien atevi says, in the atevi language, "pregnant calendar" when she means "urgent meeting", and "disintegrate and abase your weapons" when she means "surrender and throw down your weapons".
Foreigner / int_ce9f550c	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_ce9f550c	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_ce9f550c
Foreigner / int_d5a84e45	type	Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit"
Foreigner / int_d5a84e45	comment	Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit": This is (unsuccessfully) defied by one of the first human biologists to land on the world of the alien atevi. The biologist argues that though there are things on the atevi's planet that look and act a lot like grass/trees/etc from the old Earth of the humans, calling them grass/trees/etc could cause humans to assume that they're exactly like the Earth lifeforms when there might be important, yet-to-be-discovered differences. The biologist is ignored and the human colonists wind up calling them grass/trees/etc.
Foreigner / int_d5a84e45	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_d5a84e45	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_d5a84e45
Foreigner / int_d5b84171	type	PowerOfFriendship
Foreigner / int_d5b84171	comment	Power of Friendship: Averted, or even inverted, since Bren will generally pay for feeling that way.
Foreigner / int_d5b84171	featureApplicability	-1.0
Foreigner / int_d5b84171	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_d5b84171
Foreigner / int_dca70c44	type	Reasonable Authority Figure
Foreigner / int_dca70c44	comment	Reasonable Authority Figure: Tabini is pretty much this. Considering how merciful he is and how he's actually never lost his patience with the Ship-humans and their constant infighting. Human President Shawn Tyers is this as well.
Foreigner / int_dca70c44	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_dca70c44	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_dca70c44
Foreigner / int_dcbe8a6e	type	Chekhov's Gunman
Foreigner / int_dcbe8a6e	comment	Chekhov's Gunman: In Inheritor, Rejiri, "the boy from Dur" begins as a minor nuisance and distraction. Near the end of the book, he suddenly gains everyone's undivided attention when he notes that, as a resident of the isle of Dur, he knows the currents in the Strait of Mospheira and can predict where Yolanda-paidhi will wind up when she tries to cross it.
Foreigner / int_dcbe8a6e	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_dcbe8a6e	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_dcbe8a6e
Foreigner / int_dd8deee1	type	Xenofiction
Foreigner / int_dd8deee1	comment	Xenofiction: The Foreigner novels are borderline examples, since they largely follow the human interpreter to an alien race, but the focus is the alien psychology. Later books add an alien as a second viewpoint character.
Foreigner / int_dd8deee1	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_dd8deee1	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_dd8deee1
Foreigner / int_e78aa97d	type	Rubber-Forehead Aliens
Foreigner / int_e78aa97d	comment	Rubber-Forehead Aliens: The only visible difference between humans and atevi are that the atevi are taller, have gold colored eyes, pitch black skin (darker than even the darkest human skin, and shading to grey as it gets lighter), pointed ears, and no facial or body hair. Oh, and their sweat smells like petroleum products. This actually causes a lot of problems - atevi look human-like, but they think much differently. Assuming otherwise causes... problems. Their hair is also a different texture than humans', to the point where they find it odd that human hair won't stay perfectly braided during physical activity, and their eyes are reflective in the dark. The Kyo are also another example. They look like a larger and thicker version of humans, but they think very differently.
Foreigner / int_e78aa97d	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_e78aa97d	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_e78aa97d
Foreigner / int_e8e56799	type	Blue-and-Orange Morality
Foreigner / int_e8e56799	comment	Blue and Orange Morality: The atevi can't understand the concept of friendship, but have their own biologically-based, heirarchical system of loyalty called man'chi. If an atevi contracts with the Assassin's Guild to kill someone, the target is informed of the fact ahead of time. If, in spite of the warning, the target is killed, it isn't considered to be murder. The atevi view some aspects of human society this way. As an example, when Bren's fiancée unexpectedly breaks up their longer long distance relationship and marries another man, Bren's atevi bodyguard considers it to be an unthinkable betrayal.
Foreigner / int_e8e56799	featureApplicability	1.0
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Foreigner / int_name	type	ItemName
Foreigner / int_name	comment
Foreigner / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
Foreigner / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
Foreigner	hasFeature	Foreigner / int_name
Foreigner / int_name	itemName	Foreigner

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Foreigner

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