The Waro are a sapient species of grey-skinned, child-sized creatures which resemble to some extent the goblins, kobolds and gargoyles of Earth mythology, especially in their high-pitched laughter, bat-like ears, sharp teeth and claws and scrawny limbs. They also have yellowish green blood and are unable to communicate verbally with Humans. Their homeworld was once a rogue planetoid which was captured by Neptune upon entering the solar system and became the satellite Triton.
Being physically weak and fragile, they wear artificial wings and tend to attack in huge flocks, using heat weapons, but primarily making use of their own claws to tear their victims apart. Xenophobic to the extreme, the Waro feel an instinctive psychological hatred and urge to destroy all other forms of life, much like the Daleks, but manifesting itself in a far more violent and chaotic rage. They are particularly inimical towards the Nedenah. In the early ages of their history, the Waro were divided in countless individual nations, as hostile towards each other as they were ephemeral. They could only unite as a species by developing techniques to genetically and chemically alter their own instincts, directing all of their hostility towards other lifeforms rather than each other.
The Waro physiology is extremely tough; as they are able to survive as well on Triton's frigid, nitrogen atmosphere as on Earth. They have visited Earth for centuries to mine cobalt-60, which is used to produce nuclear explosives that render planetary environments uninhabitable for virtually any form of life other than their own. It is implied that they were the inspiration for the kobold legends, hinting on a relation between the words kobold and cobalt.
Appearances
- The Devil Goblins from Neptune, by Keith Topping and Martin Day (1997)