- "There was a time when this whole quadrant belonged to us! What are we now? Twelve worlds and a thousand monuments to past glories. Living off memories and stories. Selling trinkets! My god, man, we've become a tourist attraction! "See the great Centauri Republic, open nine to five... Earth time!""
- ―Londo Mollari
The Centauri are a humanoid species from the planet Centauri Prime.
Biology[]
On first glance, a Centauri would appear completely indistinguishable from a Human (bar the clothing, accent and styling of hair), but you'd be wrong, both internally and externally, there are many differences between the two species. Internally, the differences lie in the Centauri binary cardiovascular system, with the right heart functioning identically to Human hearts and the left heart acting like Human kidneys, filtering out toxins from the bloodstream. Should the second heart fail, it is usually fatal to the individual.
The other difference is in their reproductive organs, with Centauri men possessing six prehensile tentacle-like appendages which emerge from a Centauri male's torso, with a Centauri female having an equal number of entrances just above their hips.
Centauri are known to possess Telepathic abilities, with an apparently normal occurrence in their lives being a single vision of their death (in the case of Emperor Londo Mollari, he foresaw himself and the Narn Prophet G'kar choking each other to death).
Culture and Society[]
The Centauri are the namesake species of the once vast and powerful Centauri Empire (now the Centauri Republic) which had dominion over hundreds of worlds across the galaxy, notably the Narn Homeworld and Pak'ma (the former would later be invaded and occupied again by the Centauri during the Shadow takeover of the Centauri government). The highest authority among the Centauri is the Emperor
The Centauri have a very particular style which draws heavy lines between different classes and genders. Men in Centauri society usually wore elaborate vests and and coats, with their hair usually worn in a crown-like shape, with the crown's diameter being a status symbol with larger hair usually being possessed by noblemen and members of the royal court (with the notable exception of Emperor Cartagia, who is believed to have had the shortest hair of any Centauri Emperor). Centauri women are usually seen dressed in long flowing gowns, their hair is usually worn back in a long ponytail, with the rest of their head being bald.
Centauri society is heavily patriarchal, with Women who weren't telepaths acting as effectively a currency, being married off to forge ties which would inevitably be severed when the two houses daggers finally came out.