#plus I have an ex-Kraang OC that's pretty prominent within my little OC lore so I had to figure out these smaller details to flesh them out

[adelrambles]

Christening this blog proper with a post of Utrom headcanons for the 2012 continuity! I personally find them to be the most interesting bit of lore in 12, but I wish they got explored more, so here's my take! Tried to extrapolate as much as I could purely from what's shown in this canon, but for some points I just made shit up lol

Language

-Utrom speech patterns, compared to English, are extremely formal and seek complete clarity. This is why, when directly translated with a universal translator, they come off as very stilted and redundant.

-When learning earth languages, it is very difficult for utrom to grasp implied meanings or words because of this.

-When "anglicanized," utrom language uses long vowels and harsh consonants. (Evidenced by names: Kraang, Niktu, Klaatu (I get those last two are scifi/87 references but it's all I have,,))

-Utrom that have been stationed on earth for long periods may have more natural speech patterns, and even more fluid body language and/or facial expressions. This is not true of Kraang, who are all hivemind of Kraang Prime, who has not spent any significant time on earth. Thus, they are incapable of improving.

-Kraang Subprime is a bit of an anomaly. Utrom communicate in their native language with screeches, purrs, and other guttural sounds. They don't have tongues. Therefore, it should be impossible for them to speak human languages. Subprime, however, has been bouncing between earth and dimension X since before some languages have existed. They learned english and a couple others as they evolved, and learned to mimic the sounds without use of a tongue.

-While translated utrom speech comes across stilted and redundant, in practice they communicate a lot in short amounts of sound. Their "words" are much shorter than those of earth, often milliseconds long.

-This means a lot of utrom find English and other earth languages to be painfully slow to communicate with. Some get personally offended that those using droids might sometimes choose to communicate in human languages between them (and this is a common practice among recovering former-kraang.)

-For this reason it is also very difficult for them to translate names, which have no direct parallel on earth.

Reproduction

-Utrom reproduce asexually, all being born of a specific material. This material must be "planted" and cared for dutifully by a "parent." It must be kept at a specific temperature and humidity and elevation, and other such things, so growing a new utrom is a full-time job.

-The Material is sourced from a large and ancient meteor. Essentially, utrom are all living meteor jelly.

-The substance fully forms into a new utrom over the course of half a year, who is physically full-grown. They do not have a juvenile stage.

-The new utrom is a complete blank slate, mentally, and it is up to the parent to prepare them to enter society. Typically, they will be shadowed by their "child" for about a year. The parent decides when they're ultimately ready, though, so it can be longer or shorter.

-Thus, utrom have a lineage. When an utrom does something commendable, their parent will also get praise for preparing them well. Therefore lineages can be very important to some.

-Because utrom have such incredibly long lifespans, the amount of new utrom permitted within a given amount of time was regulated during peacetimes, to prevent overpopulation.

-It's possible for one plot of Material to produce two or more utrom, though exceedingly rare (with the rarity directly proportional to the number of utrom.) These are called sibling sets.

-There are superstitions surrounding sibling sets, with the most widely-believed being that siblings are exactly the same person. This means, sometimes, one will be scrutinized for the actions of their sibling.

-The very first few utrom were said to have formed by accident, from the Material, which was festering inside a large meteor. Once they observed a third form by accident, they began experimenting to find out how to induce it, and thus wrote the very rules of how to create a new utrom through trial and error.

-Using the meteor and others nearby, they built a sanctuary, including a fake atmosphere. This pseudo-planet cluster became Dimension X.

Culture

-Family is not that important, overall, to the utrom. Parenthood is also an uncommon aspiration for them.

-Due to their much looser family structures, friendship is considered the deepest form of bond. A parent and child have a relationship more akin to a mentor and student. Romance is non-existent and utrom don't experience such attractions.

-Dimension X is so far to the edges of the known universe that it is actually on the edge of two different dimensions. This means traveling to and from Dimension X normally is impossible, but also that interdimensional travel from there is far easier.

-The Hall of Portals was slowly built over time after the utrom discovered this.

-Time fluctuates in Dimension X, switching between matching each universe its edges touch. This is why sometimes time can pass normally while visiting, and other times it feels faster or slower. The utom aren't particularly bothered by this, given their longevity.

-Given utrom's long lifespans and isolated home planet, when an utrom is killed the entire community is shaken. This has been less so in recent times due to the long-lived war, but the Newtralizer's rampage, recently, caused a lot of turmoil in the recovering utrom culture.

-Contemporary utrom culture has shifted significantly from what it was pre-Kraang. Particularly, it has taken a lot from earth culture. Utromdroids are now common, everyday tools and a staple of their society, despite being developed as weapons and espionage tools. Human languages are sometimes spoken between groups of utrom, instead of their native language. Design sensibilities and entertainment will also certainly take inspiration from earth.

-On the other hand, the constant state of war has made it so a lot of traditions have gone unpracticed for a very, very long time. With the majority population having been hiveminded that whole time, and new practices being developed to support them, a lot of the old traditions have been lost or abandoned. Though, many still remember them.

-Most notably, with the event of the orphan generation, family structures are changing among them. Some utrom have elected to team together and split care of their fosters between them, and some have taken on more than one. Familial bonds are notably stronger than they have been, historically-- though it's possible this will not be reproduced outside the orphan generation (see Post-War section.)

-Utrom don't have unconscious states, and don't sleep.

-Utrom can subsist on one meal for months at a time. They have multiple "stomachs" and slow metabolisms.

-However, if the food is too soft it will last shorter for them. Their usual food is crystalline levels of solid.

-They also don't have taste buds, and their preference of foods is mostly determined by texture or temperature.

-Utrom require a lot of hydration, but again, their body can hold liquid for long periods of time.

-Due to their builds, utrom structures do not have a lot of flat surfaces, since it's difficult for them to traverse. Their buildings are made for climbing and hanging and lounging, as these are what their bodies are made to do.

-The gravity of earth makes walking along flat surfaces without a droid even harder.

-The frills on their head appear involuntarily when excited, but can also be displayed voluntarily.

-Utrom have no concept of gender. They are all made from the same Material, and are genetically identical. Plus, they don't have any reproductive organs.

-Most default to they/them. Some will accept what humans label them with based on their droids, making he/him very common, too. (Subprime's a bastard who has used every conceivable pronoun on earth just to confuse others.)

-Utrom bodies do not change at any stage in life. In a sense, they do not age, and it is impossible for an utrom to die of old age. Before the war, only a handful of utrom had died in total.

War/Post-War

-During the war, the utrom high council formed and later took their codenames from the game of chess. It took a long time for the tribe to organize and pick leaders. Before the tribe's creation, survivors were scattered among hiding places.

-When Kraang Prime took over, he gained control of The Meteor. This was a big point of focus during the coming wars. The utrom tribe wanted desperately to regain control of that point, especially due to their dwindling numbers. The Triceraton sought to destroy it.

-Kraang Prime, instead, used it to make hundreds and hundreds of new soldiers, blank slates that were easy to assimilate into the hivemind. He eventually used it up to extinction, meaning the utrom currently have no way to reproduce.

-When Kraang Prime died, it took a day or so for his control to wear off. It was slow and gradual, and the utrom high council had a bit of a hysteria to handle once the freed Kraang slowly became aware of themselves.

-When Kraang Prime died, these blank slates were a difficult point for the utrom high council to tackle. They could simulate normal(-ish) utrom behavior, but had nothing of substance behind them; no education, personality, or wants. They were dubbed the "orphan generation." The solution, it was decided, was to assign them adoptive parents to be shadowed. The problem was that the number of orphans far outnumbered the number of utrom tribe survivors.

-Freed Kraang have to relearn what it's like to think and feel things for themselves. They require a lot of support, which the utrom high council is struggling to supply with their low numbers.

-There are less than a hundred utrom tribe survivors by the time Kraang Prime dies. Comparatively, there are thousands and thousands of freed Kraang.