| “ | You're bugs! | „ |
| ~ The Trisolarans taunting humanity through the sophons. |
The Trisolarans are the main antagonists of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, a series of science fiction novels written by Chinese author Liu Cixin, as well as its television adaptations.
They are an alien civilization from the planet Trisolaris in the Alpha Centauri star system. They plan to escape the harsh conditions of their home world and make Earth their new home - wiping out humanity in the process.
Biology[]
The Trisolarans come from the planet Trisolaris, which orbits a triple star system. As such, the planet is violently hurled from star to star in an unstable, unpredictable orbit. The Trisolarans are adapted to survive these "Chaotic Eras" (periods where their planet does not have a stable orbit around just one star), though a large-scale disaster would be enough to wipe them out. They possess the ability to "dehydrate" their bodies, entering a type of suspended animation that allows them to wait out the Chaotic Eras until a brief Stable Era (a short period where their planet only orbits one of its three suns) occurs.
The Trisolarans reproduce by having two members of the opposite sex merge together, and three to five new Trisolarans are created from the two, each inheriting some of the their parents' memories. Because of this, Trisolarans do not have "childhoods" in the traditional sense of the word. This memory inheritance is partially what allowed the Trisolarans to keep progressing despite the constant annihilation of their civilizations. The Trisolarans communicate by expressing their thoughts directly with visible light emitted by their brains as they think. Because the thoughts of the Trisolarans are on full display, they do not have the ability to lie or keep secrets, initially finding the very concept difficult to grasp.
Their lifespans, when translated from Trisolaran hours, range from 70-80 years (note that they do not age while dehydrated), though they lose the functionality to do labor some time before that. They also posess the ability to sleep and wake up on command, as showcased by Listener 1379 when he willingly entered sleep and had a dream about Earth's destruction.
History and Culture[]
Trisolaris originally resided within a triple star system with 12 planets, though 11 of those planets were destroyed by being absorbed into the three stars mass. This left Trisolaris as the only planet left. Over time, Trisolaris also had it's mass ripped apart by events known as great rips, reducing the planet to 10% of it's original mass. Some unknown time after, an intelligent civilization dubbed the Trisolarans emerged on the planet.
The Trisolarans would repeatedly have their civilization obliterated by the unpredictable orbit of the triple star system, and society would take a very long time to recover from these disasters. Most of these civilizations worked to try and come up with a solution. After evolving the ability to dehydrate themselves into lifeless fibers to wait through chaotic eras, much of Trisolaran history consisted of being repeatedly wiped out by the unpredictable orbit.
| Civilisation # | Description | Technological Advancements |
|---|---|---|
| 137 | After three shooting stars were observed in the sky, a 48 year long winter with snowfall of various elements being frozen by the absolute zero temperatures rained down on the planet. Most terrestrial settlements were obliterated by the extreme snowfall. | Presumable basic utilization of tools and agriculture, comparable to that of Earth during 300 BCE (Warring States Period) |
| 138-141 | 362,000 Years following the destruction of #137, civilization emerged four more times up to #141 with #139 surviving long enough to be able to develop Steam engines. | Steam engines, possibly similar to Aeolipiles on Earth during 1 BCE |
| 141 | Though this civilization was still oblivious to the fact that shooting stars signified the movement of the stars, they were still able to develop a model to try and predict the movement of the triple star system. #141 was obliterated when one of the three suns orbited extremely close the planet, burning everything to death. | Technology similar to that of Earth during the 3rd century (200 CE) (Eastern Han Period) |
| 183 | Up to this point, the Trisolarans were still oblivious to the fact that the shooting stars were the appearance of the suns moving a significant distance away from the planet. It is revealed that some time before #183, an unidentified civilization was able to observe 2 suns in the sky, but was quickly obliterated, leaving their records vague. #183 was destroyed in an event known as "Tri Solar Day", in which all three suns simultaneously move close the planet, melting the planets crust. This would explain why no civilization in the past was ever able to observe 3 suns, as they would've been quickly annihlated. | Technology similar to that of 16th Century Earth (1500 CE) (European Middle Ages) |
| 184 | This civilization consisted of Trisolarans that evolved the ability to communicate instantly with light emitting organs, and had reflective skin. They are able to make a Siphonophore-like Biological Computer using crowd formations. A Tri Solar Syzygy occurs, in which three suns are stacked in a consecutive pattern very close to Trisolaris. The combined gravity of the three suns disrupted with the gravity of the planet, causing the entirety of planets atmosphere and anything not connected to the ground to float away from the planets surface, causing yet another extinction level event. | Technology similar to that of 17th -19th Century Earth, as well as basic understanding of Computer Science, including the understanding of Logic Gates.( 1600-1800 CE ) ( Scientific Revolution- Industrial Revolution ) |
| 191 | The worst disaster in Trisolaran history occurred when the planet's three stars aligned and Trisolaris was caught between two of them. The planet was literally torn in half. The smaller half became the planet's moon, and the debris formed a ring temporarily. The planet suffered massive geological changes, including the ring falling back on the planet in the form of mass metorite rains, and mountains being erratically formed. Civilisation took 90 million years to reform. | Unspecified |
| 192 | 200 years into #192's history, the Trisolarans were able to learn of the history behind their solar system, as well as the properties of the stars, in which its gaseous outer layers aren't visible at a far distance, hence the smaller shooting star appearance. They conclude the three body problem ahs no solution, and plan to venture out into the stars in search of a better planet. 451 years later, #191 is annihilated after 2 of the stars moved close the planet, burning the surface. | Technology similar to that of 20th Century Earth ( 1900s) ( "Atomic Age, Information Age ") |
| possibly ≈195 | Trisolarans begin developing ships that can travel sub lightspeed. | Technology rivals Earth in the 21st Century ( possibly ) |
| Sometime between ≈190 to ≈200 | Listening outposts are established, at least a thousand years before Ye Wenjie broadcasts her message. The sublight speed ships set sail, though there course is later diverted after receiving Ye Wenjie's message. | unknown |
| possibly ≈200 | Trisolarans develop ships able to travel around 1-10% the speed of light powered by antimatter, and make a fleet consisting of around a thousand ships. These ships intend to divert course to Earth after having intercepted a signal in the 1970s-1980s. The fleet will arrive in around 450 Earth years, marking the later years of the Broadcast Era and the beginning of the Crisis Era. | Technology far surpasses Earth, it is later revealed that humanity in the year 2200s still did not possess enough power to combat a fraction of Trisolaran strength. |
The Trisolarans themselves have a culture that promotes collectivism rather than individualism. Things such as art and love are seen as weak, and those that cannot work are put to death. They do not appear to have names, and are instead referred to by their job titles. The leader of the Trisolaran civilization holds the title of Princeps. That being said, each Trisolaran does possess individuality, and are capable of differing opinions and ideas, much like humans are. This is shown when Earth is discovered, and a large percentage of the Trisolaran population advocates pacifism, despite the princeps and his government's plan to invade.
Technology[]
Sophons[]
A Sophon expanded out to cover the sky
The four sophons, as portrayed in the Netflix series
Sophons are microscopic supercomputers created by "unfolding" a proton's extra dimensions, turning it into a sheet the width of a planet. Circuits are etched onto the sheet using strong interaction force before the sheet is folded back into a proton. Because of their nature as subatomic particles, the sophons can be accelerated to light-speed and arrive in the Solar System in advance, allowing them to carry out their purpose; sabotage Earth's technological development by scrambling particle accelerators, forcing them to give false and inaccurate results each time a collision experiment is conducted. They can bypass the light speed communication limit through quantum entanglement, allowing the Trisolarans to monitor Earth in real time, and communicate with the ETO.
Trisolarans etching computer circuits on a unfolded proton
Following the Crisis Era, the sophons are repurposed as ambassadors on Earth. "Sophon," an AI robot controlled by the sophons, represents Trisolaris on Earth, initially as a simple ambassador, but later, after Dark Forest deterrence breaks down, as a tyrannical dictator.
A Sophon being collapsed back in to the size of a proton
Droplets[]
Also called "Strong Interaction Space Probes", the Droplets are unmanned, teardrop-shaped space probes sent by the Trisolarans ahead of the invasion fleet. The outer shell of the spacecraft is coated with a layer of strong-interaction material, giving the Droplet a reflective surface that cannot be so much as scratched. A single Droplet is more than a match for the entire Earth space fleet, due to its invulnerability. It was capable of annihilating the entirety of humanity's space fleet by simply ramming the ships, and could also seal off the sun's ability to amplify radio waves, preventing mankind from initiating a Dark Forest strike against Trisolaris. They are later used by Sophon to enforce her will by attacking various cities.
Synopsis[]
The Three-Body Problem[]
By the time of the first novel, the Trisolarans have reached a technological stage superior to that of humanity's. They are aware that the universe is a "Dark Forest" and as such do not broadcast messages in to the cosmos, however, they do have listening posts to receive messages. One such post, numbered 1379, receives Ye Wenjie's message from Earth, expressing a desire to meet alien life and explore the universe. The message also provides details about Earth, but does not reveal its location.
The alien listener of post 1379 becomes enamored with the message, in no small part due to the fact that Earth is practically a paradise compared to Trisolaris. Knowing that if the Trisolaran Fleet (which has already departed the planet to search for a more hospitable world) finds out the location of Earth they will invade it and destroy humanity, the listener broadcasts a message in the direction the initial message came from, warning humanity not to respond or else Trisolaris will be able to find and conquer Earth. He also provides details of Trisolaris' own history and culture.
The Listener is brought before Trisolaris' ruler, the Princeps, to explain his actions. The Listener expresses his opinion that the Trisolaran race has grown selfish and emotionless under the philosophy that survival is above all, and that if they were to conquer Earth, they would only ruin the beauty it has. The Princeps, unimpressed, has him forcibly dehydrated, so that in the future he can watch as his beloved world is invaded. He then has all the personnel at his listening station burned to death for failing to prevent his warning broadcast, before sending a message to the Trisolaran fleet, diverting it towards the direction of Earth.
Eight years later, Trisolaris receives a reply from Earth, specifically Ye Wenjie, who has grown tired of humanity. She invites the Trisolarans to Earth and offers to help them conquer it. The length of time before receiving the message confirms to the Trisolarans the location of Earth. Unfortunately, the Trisolarans have discovered through analyzing the initial data of Earth that humanity possesses the ability to exponentially grow in technological development, meaning that by the time the Trisolaran Fleet reaches Earth in 450 years, they will be up against a technologically superior Earth, even though Trisolaris holds technological superiority currently. To combat this, "Project Sophon" is born, with the aim to sabotage Earth's technological development until the Trisolaran Fleet arrives.
After several failed attempts, the Trisolaran scientists succeed in creating the sophons via turning protons into sentient supercomputers. The sophons disrupt Earth's particle accelerators, and also spy on humanity and allow them to communicate more efficiently with the Earth-Trisolaris Organization (abbreviated ETO, a fifth column on Earth sympathetic to the Trisolaran invasion). Two of the sophons are launched toward Earth at lightspeed, while two remain on Trisolaris to receive the information transmitted instantly through quantum entanglement. After the UN on Earth discovers the ETO and Ye Wenjie is arrested, they subsequently discover the messages transmitted between Earth and Trisolaris. Using the sophons, the Trisolarans beam one final message into the retinas of all those present in the meeting: "You’re bugs!". They then cease all communications with Earth.
The Dark Forest[]
The UN forms the Planetary Defense Council (PDC) to combat the Trisolaran invasion. Since the sophons cannot read minds, four people are selected as Wallfacers, who will devise strategies in their minds while deceiving everyone around them. Three of the Wallfacers; former US Secretary of Defense Fredrick Tyler, former president of Venezuela and nuclear engineer Manuel Rey Diaz, and former president of the EU and neuroscientist Bill Hines; are chosen based on merit, whereas the fourth; Chinese sociology professor Luo Ji; is chosen based on the fact that the Trisolarans want him dead for reasons unknown to even Luo Ji himself.
It turns out this is because of a conversation between Luo Ji and Ye Wenjie about "cosmic sociology," the idea that life is common in the universe, but resources are finite, meaning the incentive is very high for a civilization to pre-emptively kill another as soon as they are discovered, therefore meaning a civilization's survival is determined based on how well they can hide, providing an answer to the Fermi paradox. In response to the Wallfacer announcement, Trisolaris, through the ETO, appoint three people as Wallbreakers to discover the plans of Tyler, Rey Diaz and Hines. Luo Ji is not given a Wallbreaker because Trisolaris do not want anyone to discover the secrets of the universe, as it could lead to their downfall if humanity exposed their location to the cosmos. Instead, they focus on assassinating Luo Ji at all costs.
Shortly after the Wallfacer announcement, the Trisolaran fleet passes through a space dust cloud, leaving behind trails visible to Earth's space telescopes, causing a round of mass hysteria as people realize that the Trisolaran threat is very real, and not just a hoax as some believed. Luo Ji eventually realizes what he must do, and instructs his team to broadcast a "spell" at a star roughly 50 light years away (revealing its location to potential alien observers, testing the Dark Forest theory) after which he will hibernate (be under suspended animation) until any effects on the star are noticed. Immediately after putting this plan into effect, Luo Ji is targeted by a severe cold engineered by the ETO, and is placed in hibernation until a cure can be found. The Trisolarans discover all of this through the sophons, and immediately send out much smaller, faster probes to seal off the sun's ability to amplify radio waves.
Trivia[]
- Although the physical appearance of the Trisolarans and what they actually look like is left mostly to the imagination in the original trilogy, in the semi-canon spin-off novel, The Redemption of Time, they are described as small, insectoid creatures no larger than an ant or a grain of rice.
- This makes them referring to humanity as "bugs" ironic, to say the least.