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Hoka

 Hoka
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 Hoka
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Hoka
 Hoka
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Hoka
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Humorous science-fiction series by Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson.The Hoka are an alien race who are notable for two reasons: First, they look remarkably like living teddy bears. Second, they are entranced by fiction. Give them a story and they will start to live it out, believing (or at least acting) as if they are in it. They have whole cities based on various periods of human history, with Ancient Rome, Victorian England, American Wild West and other places. One of them believes he is Napoleon and has an entire city of Hokas willing to follow him as leader of "France". Actually, a better way of saying it is that their hat is following tropes, as they tend to act out the trope more than reality. Luckily, they are non-violent, so they tend to just fake the wars and other violent parts (except hangings, which they do with gusto because Hokan neck muscles are much too strong relative to body weight for it to do anything but tingle).Each of the stories features a different story or genre being re-enacted, from The Western to Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. One of the most well-known stories, "The Adventure of the Misplaced Hound", features the Hoka Sherlock Holmes.In most of the stories, the point-of-view character is Alexander Braithwaite Jones, the human ambassador to the Hoka planet, who generally finds himself being the Only Sane Man. His outsider viewpoint, and the fact that unlike his furry charges he's capable of distancing himself from the various roles he's been given, grant him a measure of Genre Savvy, but it doesn't always do him much good.
 Hoka
fetched
2023-08-12T04:58:21Z
 Hoka
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2023-08-12T04:58:21Z
 Hoka
processingComment
Dropped link to Blackmail: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Hoka
processingComment
Dropped link to Pirate: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Hoka
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Hoka / int_121865ac
type
Noble Savage
 Hoka / int_121865ac
comment
Noble Savage: Once the defeated Slissii realize the associations that come with being labeled "injuns" by Wild West-acting Hokas, they milk this trope for all it's worth, to such spectacular effect that they manage to afford being able to hire a bus big enough to fit their whole species.
 Hoka / int_121865ac
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1.0
 Hoka / int_121865ac
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_121865ac
 Hoka / int_18baa751
type
Historical Villain Downgrade
 Hoka / int_18baa751
comment
Historical Villain Downgrade: All the villains played by the Hoka actually never hurt anyone. See Always Lawful Good (above).
 Hoka / int_18baa751
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1.0
 Hoka / int_18baa751
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_18baa751
 Hoka / int_1effdd6b
type
White Man's Burden
 Hoka / int_1effdd6b
comment
White Man's Burden: Referenced, as humanity has re-embraced the trope as spaceman's burden, trying to uplift every tribal society they come across and make that species as much like humanity as they can — the collective series is sometimes referred to as The Earthman's Burden series. Experience with the Hokas teaches Alex that this might not always be a good idea. Or possible.
 Hoka / int_1effdd6b
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1.0
 Hoka / int_1effdd6b
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 Hoka
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Hoka / int_1effdd6b
 Hoka / int_24321e44
type
Only Sane Man
 Hoka / int_24321e44
comment
Only Sane Man: Alex. In at least one story, his wife gets to play the role when Alex is away. Her sanity is tested, though.
 Hoka / int_24321e44
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1.0
 Hoka / int_24321e44
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_24321e44
 Hoka / int_2941069e
type
Law of Inverse Recoil
 Hoka / int_2941069e
comment
Law of Inverse Recoil: In The Sheriff of Canyon Gulch, Alexander Jones gets in trouble when he assumes that his skill with a laser pistol will translate into skill with a six-shooter. He's never experienced recoil before.
 Hoka / int_2941069e
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1.0
 Hoka / int_2941069e
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 Hoka
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Hoka / int_2941069e
 Hoka / int_2a7b0247
type
Could Say It, But...
 Hoka / int_2a7b0247
comment
Could Say It, But...: Alex once explains a story by saying he can't explain because he's unwilling to accuse officials of having swallowed the story of a drunk or possibly deranged individual.
 Hoka / int_2a7b0247
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1.0
 Hoka / int_2a7b0247
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_2a7b0247
 Hoka / int_2cbadc
type
The Good Guys Always Win
 Hoka / int_2cbadc
comment
The Good Guys Always Win: It's a comedy series, so naturally this happens. This may be due to Obfuscating Insanity as seen in the alter entry.
 Hoka / int_2cbadc
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1.0
 Hoka / int_2cbadc
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 Hoka
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Hoka / int_2cbadc
 Hoka / int_2eac5753
type
Narrative Profanity Filter
 Hoka / int_2eac5753
comment
Narrative Profanity Filter: In one story, one character describes another as the offspring of a union that the compilers of Leviticus would not have approved of. At another point, Alex swears by apparently saying "Blankety-blanks!"
 Hoka / int_2eac5753
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1.0
 Hoka / int_2eac5753
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_2eac5753
 Hoka / int_33aa30e3
type
The Man They Couldn't Hang
 Hoka / int_33aa30e3
comment
The Man They Couldn't Hang: You can hang a Hoka, but it won't hurt him (they have unusually strong neck muscles), and he'll consider it all part of whatever fiction is currently being lived out.
 Hoka / int_33aa30e3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_33aa30e3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_33aa30e3
 Hoka / int_3e0c789e
type
Thoroughly Mistaken Identity
 Hoka / int_3e0c789e
comment
Thoroughly Mistaken Identity: In a sense, the Hokas can be considered to be doing this all the time, except that when a Hoka adopts a role, that becomes their real identity for the duration. There's a more clear-cut example in "The Adventure of the Misplaced Hound", where the Hoka Holmes persists in addressing Alex as "Watson", because he needs somebody to be Watson and the real Watson (that is, the Hoka who usually enacts the role) is unavailable.
 Hoka / int_3e0c789e
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1.0
 Hoka / int_3e0c789e
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_3e0c789e
 Hoka / int_4a3e547f
type
Leaning on the Fourth Wall
 Hoka / int_4a3e547f
comment
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: At one point, Alex half-jokingly speculates about being in an actual fictional narrative written by money-desperate hacks.
 Hoka / int_4a3e547f
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1.0
 Hoka / int_4a3e547f
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_4a3e547f
 Hoka / int_4f4372e9
type
Early-Installment Weirdness
 Hoka / int_4f4372e9
comment
Early-Installment Weirdness: The first Hoka story features the Hokas' ancient enemies, the reptilian Slissii. They are never seen again; Alex later explains that they fled the planet.
 Hoka / int_4f4372e9
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1.0
 Hoka / int_4f4372e9
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 Hoka
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Hoka / int_4f4372e9
 Hoka / int_53bc5d26
type
Legion of Lost Souls
 Hoka / int_53bc5d26
comment
Legion of Lost Souls: The Hoka version of the French Foreign Legion includes not only Hokas that want to be Legionnaires, but those who are inspired by certain works of fiction but are unable to get other Hokas to join in.
 Hoka / int_53bc5d26
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_53bc5d26
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_53bc5d26
 Hoka / int_567beeb6
type
Theory of Narrative Causality
 Hoka / int_567beeb6
comment
Theory of Narrative Causality: The only other explanation (if you take the Hoka stories seriously, which they are not) besides Obfuscating Insanity which explains how the Hoka always manage, in the end after Alex is first driven almost crazy pushing them, to do the right thing.
 Hoka / int_567beeb6
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1.0
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_567beeb6
 Hoka / int_5706c395
type
Cute Critters Act Childlike
 Hoka / int_5706c395
comment
Cute Critters Act Childlike: The Hoka, with their adorable teddy bear like appearance, innocent good nature, and active imaginations.
 Hoka / int_5706c395
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_5706c395
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_5706c395
 Hoka / int_67edaf78
type
Gargle Blaster
 Hoka / int_67edaf78
comment
Gargle Blaster: Old Panther Sweat. Made in Montana by Panthers. Hokas drink an extremely potent alcoholic beverage that has nowhere near as much impact on them as it does on members of other species, who are more than once taken completely off guard, since they tend to believe that what's in the glass is the beverage they're told it is. With Hokas, not a safe bet.
 Hoka / int_67edaf78
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_67edaf78
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_67edaf78
 Hoka / int_67f26dcc
type
Planet of Hats
 Hoka / int_67f26dcc
comment
Planet of Hats: The Hokas have the hat of living out fiction. Some of the other alien races that appear in the stories also have hats.
 Hoka / int_67f26dcc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_67f26dcc
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_67f26dcc
 Hoka / int_77bc8a56
type
Unable to Support a Wife
 Hoka / int_77bc8a56
comment
Unable to Support a Wife: Alex's problem in "Don Jones".
 Hoka / int_77bc8a56
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_77bc8a56
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_77bc8a56
 Hoka / int_7919a45b
type
Duel to the Death
 Hoka / int_7919a45b
comment
Duel to the Death: Once Alex Jones challenged the Pirate Greenbeard to a duel — when Greenbeard was the persona he adopted to infiltrate the pirates. Staging it behind a wall, he convinced the Hoka pirates that he had actually fought it.
 Hoka / int_7919a45b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_7919a45b
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1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_7919a45b
 Hoka / int_79974fb8
type
Rock Beats Laser
 Hoka / int_79974fb8
comment
Rock Beats Laser: Hokas stick to their old navigational tricks — captains use the newfangled human ones for veneer.
 Hoka / int_79974fb8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_79974fb8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_79974fb8
 Hoka / int_7bd8307f
type
The Infiltration
 Hoka / int_7bd8307f
comment
The Infiltration: Alex Jones infiltrates the Hoka Pirates to prevent actual fighting from breaking out.
 Hoka / int_7bd8307f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_7bd8307f
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_7bd8307f
 Hoka / int_7c42a8ac
type
Captain Colorbeard
 Hoka / int_7c42a8ac
comment
Captain Colorbeard: In one of the stories, one of the humans must become a convincing pirate, so he glues on a synthetic green beard and becomes Greenbeard.
 Hoka / int_7c42a8ac
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_7c42a8ac
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_7c42a8ac
 Hoka / int_7e499910
type
Obligatory Joke
 Hoka / int_7e499910
comment
Obligatory Joke: More than once, circumstances will lead some character or another to throw out a famous quote associated with whichever work the Hokas are enacting, usually as a punchline at a story's climax. In "The Adventure of the Misplaced Hound", Alex realizes that the Hoka Sherlock Holmes is maneuvering his human companion blindly into setting him up to deliver Sherlock's famous line. Rather than try to warn the other human off, he just sits down for a drink.
 Hoka / int_7e499910
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_7e499910
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_7e499910
 Hoka / int_83a55c8e
type
Napoleon Delusion
 Hoka / int_83a55c8e
comment
Napoleon Delusion: One Hoka calls himself Napoleon. For once, Alex feels bound to explain that a sane Hoka can call himself Napoleon. Sane by Hoka standards, anyway.
 Hoka / int_83a55c8e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_83a55c8e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_83a55c8e
 Hoka / int_8bbf64f
type
Unsuspectingly Soused
 Hoka / int_8bbf64f
comment
Unsuspectingly Soused: Several humans run afoul of the extremely potent Hoka liquor, not helped by the Hoka tendency to call what's in the bottle/decanter by whatever name best fits the current fiction.
 Hoka / int_8bbf64f
featureApplicability
1.0
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featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_8bbf64f
 Hoka / int_96a33f11
type
Riddle for the Ages
 Hoka / int_96a33f11
comment
Riddle for the Ages: What was Hoka society like before they learned about human stories? There is no way of knowing — one anthropologist found an isolated Hoka tribe and started studying them, but had to abandon the project when they all started acting like anthropologists. Do Hoka really believe to be the fictional characters they imitate, or are they just into acting and very committed to the bit? There are hints that the latter may be true, but we never get a definitive answer.
 Hoka / int_96a33f11
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_96a33f11
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_96a33f11
 Hoka / int_9dab0a6e
type
Continuity Nod
 Hoka / int_9dab0a6e
comment
Continuity Nod: From time to time, references are made in passing to previous stories. One story mentions in passing that the pirates sacking Kingston became an annual tradition (complete with a parade) after Alex "killed" Greenbeard.
 Hoka / int_9dab0a6e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_9dab0a6e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_9dab0a6e
 Hoka / int_9e1eef4c
type
Always Lawful Good
 Hoka / int_9e1eef4c
comment
Always Lawful Good: The Hoka. Although they really don't worry about any law but the Law of Drama. Some Hoka will "act" out the parts of historically evil humans, but they never actually do anything evil.
 Hoka / int_9e1eef4c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_9e1eef4c
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1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_9e1eef4c
 Hoka / int_a4247d2b
type
Multiboobage
 Hoka / int_a4247d2b
comment
Multiboobage: Female Hokas have two rows of breasts, so in roles such as Pirate Girl, they have to tailor their costumes appropriately, to show off all their cleavage.
 Hoka / int_a4247d2b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_a4247d2b
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_a4247d2b
 Hoka / int_b032e4ed
type
Ms. Fanservice
 Hoka / int_b032e4ed
comment
Ms. Fanservice: Various female characters from time to time, but in particular Doralene Rawlins. Per the narrative:
 Hoka / int_b032e4ed
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_b032e4ed
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_b032e4ed
 Hoka / int_b4fce1ab
type
Obfuscating Insanity
 Hoka / int_b4fce1ab
comment
Obfuscating Insanity: You get little hints here and there that the Hoka sometimes understand exactly who is the bad guy and how to stop them regardless of the current book plot they are acting out. Of course you could see it as... Theory of Narrative Causality: The only other explanation (if you take the Hoka stories seriously, which they are not) besides Obfuscating Insanity which explains how the Hoka always manage, in the end after Alex is first driven almost crazy pushing them, to do the right thing.
 Hoka / int_b4fce1ab
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1.0
 Hoka / int_b4fce1ab
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 Hoka
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Hoka / int_b4fce1ab
 Hoka / int_b7d89879
type
Flashed-Badge Hijack
 Hoka / int_b7d89879
comment
Flashed-Badge Hijack: The Hokas appropriate the courier on this ground
 Hoka / int_b7d89879
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_b7d89879
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_b7d89879
 Hoka / int_cb060751
type
War Refugees
 Hoka / int_cb060751
comment
War Refugees: Fleeing the Slissii in the first story.
 Hoka / int_cb060751
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_cb060751
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_cb060751
 Hoka / int_d54fa1a6
type
Magic Antidote
 Hoka / int_d54fa1a6
comment
Magic Antidote: A "soberpill" removes all intoxication the moment it's swallowed.
 Hoka / int_d54fa1a6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_d54fa1a6
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1.0
 Hoka
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Hoka / int_d54fa1a6
 Hoka / int_daba0e87
type
Acquired Poison Immunity
 Hoka / int_daba0e87
comment
Acquired Poison Immunity: After a few years with the Hokas and their preferred tipple (see Gargle Blaster), Alex has a massively increased tolerance for alcohol. In one case, he finishes off an entire pitcher of martinis under the mistaken impression that it's mineral water.
 Hoka / int_daba0e87
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_daba0e87
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_daba0e87
 Hoka / int_dc579c91
type
Contrived Coincidence
 Hoka / int_dc579c91
comment
Contrived Coincidence: In "Full Pack (Hokas Wild)", three aliens who resemble a tiger, a snake, and a monkey make an unscheduled stop on the Hoka planet right near a bunch of Hokas who are re-enacting The Jungle Book (with humans playing Mowgli and Messua).
 Hoka / int_dc579c91
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1.0
 Hoka / int_dc579c91
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 Hoka
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Hoka / int_dc579c91
 Hoka / int_e0828de1
type
Deathbringer the Adorable
 Hoka / int_e0828de1
comment
Deathbringer the Adorable: The Hoka are known as the "Demon Teddy Bears" to some. But they are really very kind and nice. It's just that when they are roleplaying, you can't stop them.
 Hoka / int_e0828de1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_e0828de1
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 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_e0828de1
 Hoka / int_e24d2d5c
type
Reptiles Are Abhorrent
 Hoka / int_e24d2d5c
comment
Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Played straight in "The Sheriff of Canyon Gulch" (with the other natives of Toka, no less) and "Joy in Mudville" (although that lot are not entirely reptilian); subverted in "Full Pack (Hokas Wild)" with the snakelike Slissii, who turns out to be an innocent hostage — and since the Hokas are acting out The Jungle Book at that point, he's seen as Kaa, the wise old python.
 Hoka / int_e24d2d5c
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 Hoka / int_e24d2d5c
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 Hoka
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Hoka / int_e24d2d5c
 Hoka / int_ee7a60e9
type
One-Steve Limit
 Hoka / int_ee7a60e9
comment
One-Steve Limit: Not in the Western setting. For the males, anyway, as they have about twenty names between them. The females keep traditional Hoka names, as otherwise they'd all be named "Jane".
 Hoka / int_ee7a60e9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hoka / int_ee7a60e9
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 Hoka
hasFeature
Hoka / int_ee7a60e9
 Hoka / int_fcdb5fb2
type
Coin-Targeting Trickshot
 Hoka / int_fcdb5fb2
comment
Coin-Targeting Trickshot: Alex may not know how to ride a horse (let alone the reptiloid creatures the Hokas insist on calling "ponies") but he is "the best raythrower marksman in the Fleet" and he promptly offers to "plug it through the middle" if one of the Hokas will throw a coin in the air. Unfortunately for Alex, "raythrowers don't have recoil", and this last attempt at impressing the Hokas with his human superiority falls quit flat (as does Alex, who is literally knocked flat by the recoil of a black-powder six shooter).
 Hoka / int_fcdb5fb2
featureApplicability
1.0
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 Hoka
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Hoka / int_fcdb5fb2
 Hoka / int_fea715c1
type
Feudal Future
 Hoka / int_fea715c1
comment
Feudal Future: On some parts of the Hoka planet.
 Hoka / int_fea715c1
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Hoka / int_fea715c1
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Hoka / int_name
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Hoka

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Hoka
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Amusing Alien / int_1360fc2a
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Baseball Episode / int_1360fc2a
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Beary Friendly / int_1360fc2a
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Beary Funny / int_1360fc2a
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Boarding Party / int_1360fc2a
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hasFeature
Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality / int_1360fc2a
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Captain Colorbeard / int_1360fc2a
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Coin-Targeting Trickshot / int_1360fc2a
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Cute Giant / int_1360fc2a
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Diplomatic Impunity / int_1360fc2a
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Fantastic Slurs / int_1360fc2a
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hasFeature
Flashed-Badge Hijack / int_1360fc2a
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Heavyworlder / int_1360fc2a
 Hoka
seeAlso
Hoka
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Klingons Love Shakespeare / int_1360fc2a
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Multi-Ethnic Name / int_1360fc2a
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Noble Savage / int_1360fc2a
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Planet of Hats / int_1360fc2a
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Reptiles Are Abhorrent / int_1360fc2a
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Saw It in a Movie Once / int_1360fc2a
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Sentimental Drunk / int_1360fc2a
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The Man They Couldn't Hang / int_1360fc2a
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Thoroughly Mistaken Identity / int_1360fc2a
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White Man's Burden / int_1360fc2a