Bialar Crais

Captain Bialar Crais
First appearance	"Premiere"
Last appearance	"Unrealized Reality"
Details
Gender	Male
Species	Jjaal-Sebacean
Affiliation	Unaffiliated, formerly Peacekeeper
Vehicle of Choice	Command carrier, Talyn
Weapon of Choice	Pulse pistol
Portrayed by	Lani Tupu

"I live - I plan - I do - all in the service of my own interests. In that I believe I am not unique in the universe."

― Bialar Crais

Captain Bialar Crais was born in a Jjaal-Sebacean farming community on Prybella, but while still a boy, he and his younger brother Tauvo were taken from their family and conscripted into the Peacekeeper military. As they were hauled away, Crais' father charged him to look after his younger brother. It was a burden Crais would always remember, one that would later come back to haunt him.

Character History

Pre-Show

Crais at a young age.

Unlike most Peacekeepers, Bialar and his brother Tauvo were conscripted into Peacekeeper service at extremely young age. Before being taken from his father Bialar swore to watch over and protect his brother, but with training and assignments they were soon separated. Over the years Bialar caught the eye of his superiors, and quickly rose through the ranks and gained the rank of captain and the command of a command carrier, a position rarely achieved by any Peacekeeper not born on a carrier. Ordering the transfer of Icarion Company, in which his brother was now a lieutenant, Bialar and Tauvo were finally reunited.

Crais used his command to forward his own pet projects, including the genetic engineering of Leviathans, blending their DNA with Peacekeeper technology to produce an hybrid gunship. Capturing the Leviathan Moya, Crais had the uncooperative Pilot killed and replaced her with a younger Pilot he had covertly drafted.

Soon afterwards, Tam Velorek, the Pilot/Leviathan expert in charge of the gunship project, had begun an affair with a young officer named Aeryn Sun to whom he told his plans to sabotage Crais' experiments. However, duty came first and Aeryn wanted nothing more than to return to Prowler duty. In exchange for a transfer back to Icarion Company's Pleisar Regiment, Aeryn betrayed Velorek to Crais, who executed him for treason.

During D'Argo's Trial, Crais tried to get D'Argo released, although he knew full well that in the PK views D'Argo was doomed before he was even arrested. He also shocked D'Argo to make him easier to take away and was a pain to his admiral by mentioning that D'Argo's military record was better than Machton and that his own admiral lost several fights against D'Argo's general.

Season One

Two cycles later while escorting three additional Leviathan prison ships to the lifer's colony of Terran Raa, Moya broke formation after the prisoners gained control of the ship. Icarion Company was dispatched to subdue the Leviathan, but during the conflict a rift in space opened and the Farscape-1 Module, piloted by John Crichton, emerged. The Module collided with Tauvo's Prowler, sending him spinning out of control and crashing into a nearby asteroid, killing him on impact. Before it could be captured, the Farscape-1 Module was brought on board Moya with its docking web. Soon afterwards the prisoners managed to release the Leviathan's control collar, and went into Starburst, pulling Aeryn's Prowler along with them.

When Crais learned of the accident, he believed that Crichton intentionally rammed Tauvo's Prowler and murdered his brother. He followed the Leviathan to a nearby commerce planet and captured Ka D'Argo, along with Aeryn Sun and John Crichton. He arrested Crichton for Tauvo's murder and deemed Aeryn irreversibly contaminated for her prolonged contact with the human, essentially condemning her to death. But vengeance for his brother's death would be lost when the prisoners escaped again, this time into the Uncharted Territories. Now obsessed, Crais pursued them deep into the Uncharted Territories, against the wishes of Peacekeeper High Command.

Several months later, Crais rediscovered the legendary command carrier Zelbinion. Not wanting to take time away from his search, Crais left a group of technicians to salvage what they could from the ship then left, planning to return for them later. While he was gone, the techs were attacked by Sheyangs and all but one technician, Gilina Renaez, were killed. The Zelbinion would later be discovered by Moya and boarded by her crew. They aided Gilina in partially repairing the ship and driving off the Sheyangs. Gilina agreed to keep her encounter with Crichton and his companions a secret from Crais when he returned.

Crais was later transported to a small planet by the entity known as Maldis where he was given his first opportunity to exact revenge upon Crichton. Despite John's efforts to reason with him, Crais fell under the Maldis' sway and became enraged to the point of madness. During the long struggle Crichton eventually got the better of Crais and was about to take the killing blow when Maldis transported Crais back to his command carrier. Infuriated, Crais' sense of duty left him, even killing Lieutenant Teeg to ensure his hunt was not jeopardized and effectively going rogue. It was no longer about capturing a criminal, or avenging his brother. Crais wanted blood.

Months passed and despite thousands of wanted beacons spread throughout the Uncharted Territories, Crichton and the crew of Moya continued to elude capture. It was then, with great satisfaction, that Crais learned of Crichton's capture at the hands of Scorpius. Traveling to Scorpius' Gammak Base to claim his prize, he aided Scorpius in interrogating Crichton in the Aurora Chair since Scorpius refused to hand Crichton over before he examined him. The interrogation ended abruptly when they discovered a memory that showed Crichton giving Crais information on wormholes, exactly what Scorpius was hoping to find. The memory was fake, created by Gilina, who had been transferred to the Gammak Base. Scorpius however, believing the chair to be foolproof, used the Aurora Chair on Crais, but instead of the wormhole information, he found Crais' memory of Teeg's murder. Realizing that the chair has indeed been fooled, Scorpius stopped the interrogation. Before Crais was let out of the chair, however, he was discovered by Aeryn Sun. He ordered her to release him, but she refused. When he vowed to hunt her down and kill her as he had vowed to do to Crichton, she turned the chair to full power and left him to suffer and die. Crais survived, but was a broken man. His quest to find Crichton had become Scorpius', and the half-breed soon took control of Crais' command carrier as well. With Moya and the new-born Talyn cornered in the asteroid field surrounding the Gammak Base, Crais and Scorpius were approached by the deposed despot Dominar Rygel XVI advocating amnesty in exchange for the other fugitives. Realizing that he would soon have to face the consequences of his decisions for the past cycle, Crais convinced Rygel that Scorpius would kill them both if they did not leave immediately. He would help the crew of Moya escape if they granted him asylum from the Peacekeepers. Rygel agreed.

Escaping back to Moya, the crew finally came face to face with the man who had hunted them for close to a cycle. Despite their lust for revenge, the crew instead locked him in one of Moya's cells, where he was now their prisoner. Crais had also come to terms with his brother's death, that his thirst for revenge against Crichton was erroneous and for what it was worth, apologized. Yet his imprisonment did not last long when he was let aboard Talyn, Moya's newborn offspring and the successful outcome of the project he'd started nearly three cycles before. Gaining Talyn's trust Crais took the ship deeper into the asteroid field just before the crew destroyed the Gammak Base.

Season Two

After Scorpius had left to chase Moya, Crais returned to assist Aeryn in the rescue of D'Argo and John; in doing so he made Aeryn promise to help him gain full control over Talyn. When Moya finally rejoined them, the crew once again imprisoned Crais in hopes of protecting Talyn, but the Gunship turned his weapons on Moya and demanded Crais' return. When Crais reboarded, he was offered Talyn's "Hand of Friendship", a neural transponder which gave him and Talyn a telepathic link, over Aeryn's objections. During another attack by Scorpius the two Leviathans broke for an escape, starbursting in different directions.

For the next cycle, Crais and Talyn wandered the Uncharted Territories. Crais acted as a guide, a mentor, and a father to the developing Leviathan gunship.

Months passed without a word from Crais nor Talyn and the crew assumed the worst when they discovered that Talyn fired upon a Halosian ship. Further investigation, however, showed that Crais and Talyn attacked the ship out of self-defense, giving the crew some hope that Talyn in Crais' hands wasn't as disastrous as they thought. When Crais came to Moya's crew proposing to replace Talyn's weapons with non-lethal ones to be purchased from the Plokavians they were hopeful but suspicious. After the arrival of the Plokavian ship, however, Talyn detected them carrying a substance that was potentially harmful to Moya. He fired upon them, destroying the ship.

At one point while under Scarran torture, Crichton encountered a mental image of Crais. This image was cast in the role of an Australian beat cop wearing red high-heeled pumps.

Crais and Talyn would again cross paths with Moya and her crew after Talyn heard a call of distress from his mother. While Talyn helped Moya recover from severe burns, Aeryn implored Crais to help them assault a Shadow Depository and save Crichton. Crais refused to allow Talyn to participate as he was hoping to steer the Leviathan away from violence. Talyn decided to return, however, and during the rescue effort for Crichton at the Shadow Depository, Crais and Talyn made a single strafing run to destroy it. Afterward, while Moya was attended to by a Diagnosan for her burns from the ignited adrexan vapor Crais and Talyn held watch for Scorpius. While they waited, Crais informed Aeryn that Talyn wanted someone else to help guide him along with Crais. Together, they had selected Aeryn. While Aeryn was gratified at the offer, she left to pursue a Scorpius- controlled Crichton after he had escaped Moya. Aeryn was killed before she can give an answer. Her death devastated Crais and he attended her funeral before returning to Talyn. In the distraction caused by Aeryn's death thanks to the neural chip in Crichton's brain, Scorpius slipped past undetected. Having discovered Scorpius on the planet Crais and Talyn, hoping to avenge Aeryn, chased and destroyed a Marauder believed to be carrying Scorpius. Going into starburst to draw away the approaching command carrier, the crew of Moya once again lost contact with Crais.

Season Three

While trying to return to Moya, Talyn was assaulted by the Peacekeeper Retrieval Squad. Talyn managed to fight off part of the squad, but he was severely damaged by a Pantak-class Vigilante armed with an immobilizer pulse. Though they managed to escape, both Crais and Talyn were nearly killed and ended up drifting for days before Moya arrived, having received a signal from her son. When he was revived on Moya, Crais revealed that the Retrieval Squad was led by none other than Aeryn's mother Xhalax Sun. After healing on Kanvia, Talyn and Crais separated from Moya with Aeryn, Rygel, Stark, and one of the twinned Crichtons, so as to draw the Retrieval Squad away from Moya and the rest.

As their time passed on aboard Talyn, Crais revealed to Aeryn and the twinned Crichton the toll his bonding with Talyn had taken on him. Neural feedback caused severe blistering across his body and Talyn's instability had been slowly worsening. During this time, Crais also faced his growing attraction to Aeryn, Talyn's persistent behavioral problems, and the ever threatening Retrieval Squad. The ship also, at one point, got swallowed by a budong.

While healing Talyn on a jungle planet Crais, Aeryn, and Crichton finally came face to face with Xhalax and the Retrieval Squad. After separating with Crais being shot in the back and the twinned John carrying him, Harvey finally put himself to use inside Johns head, telling John that Crais hasn't been "Forthright" with them. Crais is tied up and it is revealed that Crais didn't run to them to protect Talyn or to protect the others. It turns out the Peacekeepers aren't after Talyn. They are after Crais. He knew too much and was a threat to them, so he used Talyn to get in with the others, knowing they would protect Talyn, which would untimately be protecting him. He put them all at risk to save his life.

After killing the other members of the Squad they realized the only way to prevent further Retrieval Squads is to kill Xhalax. Aeryn was unable to bring herself to kill her mother so Crais took it upon himself to play executioner or so it appeared. Instead, he told Xhalax to return to High Command and tell them that they were all dead in exchange for her life. Xhalax agreed, but this would not be the last time they encountered her.

Later Crais and the crew of Talyn headed to Dam-Ba-Da depot after they learn from the Ancient Jack that Furlow had sold wormhole technology to the Charrids, a race aligned with Scarrans. During the confrontation on the planet both Talyn and Crais were blinded by the solar flares and were unable to prevent the death of the twinned Crichton at the hands of the displacement engine used to destroy the Scarran dreadnought.

While on the planet Valdun, Stark discovered Xhalax alive. Though they believed that Crais had betrayed them, he eventually convinced them that his intentions were in everyone's best interests. Aeryn, distraught over Crichton's death, once again met her mother, who was bent on killing her child. Aeryn, though, was finally managed to redeem her mother. Crais, however, fearing for Aeryn burst into Aeryn's room and killed Xhalax, not realizing mother and daughter had finally reconciled. With her dead, they traveled back to Moya where Crais told the surviving Crichton of his twin's death and learned the full danger of wormhole technology. Crais, having seen the danger of wormholes, agreed to help Crichton and the crew infiltrate Scorpius' command carrier and end his wormhole experiments.

As they enacted Crichton's plan, Talyn became more irrational, destroying an unarmed medical ship as well as firing on his own mother, Moya. Realizing that Talyn needed extensive repairs and modifications, Crais decided to shut down his companion and friend and bring him to the only people who he knew could help him, the Peacekeepers, with the plan to basically destroy his neural systems and reboot with a new personality.

Crais sacrifices himself and Talyn.

After several plans fail, Crais realized that the only way to destroy the command carrier, while allowing everyone to escape, was by putting Talyn into Starburst while docked in the command carrier hangar, which meant that both he and Talyn would perish. While Crichton provided a distraction, Crais managed to board Talyn and reactivate his higher functions. After convincing Talyn that their sacrifice would save many lives, including Moya's, Crais ordered Talyn to starburst inside of the carrier's hangar. The resulting explosion was devastating, slowly consuming the command carrier from within. In this Crais came full circle, gaining both revenge against Scorpius and finding the redemption he had desired.

Afterward

Though dead, Crais appeared again in various forms. Less than a cycle after his death, Crichton encountered an image of Crais inside of a mental video game-like device. This image was in the form of an ogre and was married to a princess who greatly resembled Aeryn.

Crichton encountered Crais once more, this time in an Unrealized Reality. In this reality, Crichton was a Peacekeeper and Crais his commanding officer. After the Peacekeeper Crichton accomplished his mission by inadvertently capturing Moya and killing her crew, Crais embraced him and congratulated him on a job well done.

Personality

Crais was first seen as a typical villain, chasing John Crichton because of a personal need for revenge. Further investigation into his past showed that Crais had been forced to be a Peacekeeper and that his father had charged him with protecting his younger brother. His continued failure to catch Crichton, and the initial encounter with Scorpius led to a change in Crais. By this time he realized that his pursuit of Crichton was to fulfill his personal desire rather than for his brother's memory. He chose to leave the Peacekeepers and take Talyn, the product of his most successful project. Unexpectedly, Crais became a positive influence on Talyn. He acted as a mentor, teacher, father, and friend to Talyn and tried to teach him peace and discipline. The bond between Crais and Talyn grew strong, stronger even than Talyn's relationship with Aeryn.

In the two cycles following his defection from the Peacekeepers, Crais became a valuable ally to Moya's crew. With most of them, he never reached the level of friendship. Crais often acted in the interests of Talyn and himself. When he performed an action that he deemed necessary, he would go ahead and do it, with or without the consent or even knowledge of his companions. Though he fought beside him on several occasions, Crais did not like Crichton. By the time of the death of Talyn's Crichton, Crais had gained respect for John. This likely played a part in his decision to help Crichton end Scorpius' wormhole research. With Aeryn, Crais' respect eventually grew into something more. He admired many of her traits and grew to care about her deeply, possibly to the point of love. His change led to his decision with Talyn to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop Scorpius and save them all.

Crais' respect for the Peacekeeper mandates is unclear; at times, he was the flagbearer for military tradition; at other times, he was a renegade. Anything that could be construed as a challenge to his authority terrified him; he despised Scorpius for almost the same reason he despised Crichton. Crais simply wanted the universe to operate by his rules. And only Crais knew what his rules are.

Family

Tauvo Crais

Bialar's brother and fellow Peacekeeper. Tauvo, like his brother, rose through the Peacekeeper ranks, gaining some prestige with the rank of lieutenant and as a well respected Prowler pilot. The sudden appearance of John Crichton's module during the escape of the Leviathan Moya resulted in an unavoidable collision between the module and Tauvo's Prowler. Tauvo's ship was knocked out of control and crashed into a nearby asteroid killing him. Upon seeing this, Bialar vowed to avenge his brother's death.

Elann Crais

The farmer father of Bialar and Tauvo. Their father could only watch as the Peacekeepers took his sons away, making Bialar promise him that he would look after Tauvo as he no longer could.

Romantic Associations

Darinta Larell

An officer stationed on Crais' former command carrier and an expert on Leviathans, Larell was a lieutenant romantically involved with Captain Crais. After Crais abandoned the Peacekeepers, Scorpius discovered her relationship to Crais and put her through the Aurora Chair to gain information. When Crais returned to the command carrier with the crew of Moya, Scorpius sent Larell to spy on Crais, although Crais was aware of the nebulous nature of her loyalties. Though Crais still had some feelings for his old flame, he knew of her mission and used her to his own ends. However, he publicly rebuked and rejected her at the end as he was heading towards Talyn and their last deed, thus saving her life.

Aeryn Sun

A Prowler pilot under his command, Crais' relationship with Aeryn began as a rocky one, first getting his attention when she reported the sabotage of Crais' Leviathan gunship project by project leader Velorek. He would later hunt her as a fugitive when he deemed her irreversibly contaminated. After an encounter with her while he was in the Aurora Chair and his own defection from the Peacekeepers, his attitude toward Officer Sun began to change. Though he used her at first for his own ends, time would allow his admiration and respect for Aeryn to grow, eventually becoming something more, a feeling reflected by Talyn's. He recognized that Aeryn was with Crichton, however, and likely realized his chances of ever being with her were non-existent. It was his feelings for Aeryn that partially motivated his ultimate decision to use Talyn to starburst inside of Scorpius' command carrier, destroying the ship but killing himself and Talyn in the process.

Quotes

• I will track you down and kill you, Officer Sun. On that, I give you my vow.
• There is much in life that is unfair. We are all proof of that.
• I understand you didn't mean to kill my brother. It was an accident. I realize that now, as I look back and try to understand it all.
• I thought it was about my brother. It should've been about my brother. Somewhere along the way my priorities..decayed. I realized I'd became more concerned with my own image and career.
• Officer Sun, if by some strange quirk you survive your current situation and we manage to encounter each other again, I hope that our relationship away from the Peacekeepers will be a much different one next time.
• Talyn, you heard Scorpius. You are not his concern. Merely a tool he can use or barter away. This is how the Peacekeepers treat their own: you, me, Officer Sun. But we are alike now. Orphaned from all we ever knew. We have only one another to rely upon. You must believe me. Trust me.
• You have 50 microts to get back to your Prowler before we open the passageway to space. Good health, Officer Sun.
• All that I have cared for have gone. My parents...taken away from me, my brother dead. So now, I live; I plan; I do—all in the service of my own interests. In that, I believe, I am not unique in the universe.
• The last time I left this ship... MY ship... I did so under a veil of secrecy. You forced that situation. You took away my command. You stole my life from me. Well, this time, Scorpius, I am not leaving quietly.
• Talyn, starburst.
• Have you ANY IDEA how much trouble you're in? I like your style hombre, but this is no laughing matter. Assault on a police officer, theft of a police property, illegal possession of a firearm, FIVE counts of attempted murder.....That comes to..... 29 dollars and 40 cents! Cash, check, or credit card!
• LEAVE MY SHIP NOW!
• It was no accident for my brother.

Quotes Involving Others

CRAIS THE COP: Freeze! You're under arrest! You have the right to the remains of a silent attorney! If you cannot afford one... tough noogies! You can make ONE phone call! I recommend Trixie: 976-Triple 5-"love"! Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?! Well do you, punk?!

CRICHTON: ...No.

CRAIS THE COP: ...THEN I CAN'T ARREST YOU!

Trivia

• The series' creator, Rockne O'Bannon, named the character after his friend, contemporary mystery novelist Robert Crais.
• At one point there were discussions that instead of Crais dying at the end of season 3, he would be transported away at the last moment and gone back to his life as a farmer. (Source: Season 1, Collection 2 Starburst Edition DVD)

Alternate Versions

Crais the Cop

Crais the beat cop

Episode: "Won't Get Fooled Again"

While under a Scarran mind probe, Crichton encountered this version of Crais, whose image appeared as an American beat cop. In their first meeting, Officer Crais recognized and attempted to arrest the increasingly agitated Crichton, believing him to be drunk. Crichton, however, attacked and knocked out Crais, stealing his weapon. Later, after Crichton tried and failed to shoot several of his "friends and family", Crais appeared with a small dog named "Toto" and presented Crichton with a ticket for $29.40 for his list of crimes. As Crichton's sanity continued to slip and the scenario became ever more surreal, he would encounter the Crais cop one more time. This time, the cop was wearing red high heels, read Crichton a skewed version of the Miranda Rights, and refused to arrest him when Crichton claimed not to understand what was happening to him.

Crais the Ogre

Crais the ogre

Main Article: Ogre
Episode: "John Quixote"

The ogre was a character in the mental game based on Crichton's memories. One of the game's antagonists, many of the other characters feared him and the consequences of rousing his anger. The ogre was married, not quite happily, to a princess in the form of Aeryn and was eventually killed in a sword fight with Crichton and Chiana.

Unrealized Crais

Episode: "Unrealized Reality"

One version of Crais existed in the "Bizarro Moya" unrealized reality. Unlike Crichton's other companions, Crais appeared as he did in Crichton's true reality. The only differences observered were that he was Crichton's superior officer and was on much friendlier terms with him.

Murdered Crais

Comic series: Gone and Back

In this unrealized reality, Aeryn Sun never left the Peacekeepers and was responsible for discovering that Crais killed Lieutenant Teeg. Crais himself was killed by one of his other lieutenants much earlier than his prime counterpart.

Appearances

• Season 1:
  • "Premiere"
  • "That Old Black Magic"
  • "Till the Blood Runs Clear" (hologram only)
  • "Nerve"
  • "The Hidden Memory"
  • "Bone To Be Wild"
  • "Family Ties"
• Season 2:
  • "Mind the Baby"
  • "The Way We Weren't" (flashback)
  • "Out of Their Minds" (recording)
  • "Won't Get Fooled Again" (projection)
  • "The Ugly Truth" (flashback)
  • "A Clockwork Nebari" (recording)
  • "Liars, Guns and Money - Plan B"
  • "Die Me, Dichotomy"
• Season 3:
  • "Season of Death"
  • "Eat Me"
  • "Thanks for Sharing"
  • "Green Eyed Monster"
  • "Relativity"
  • "Meltdown"
  • "Infinite Possibilities - Daedalus Demands"
  • "Infinite Possibilities - Icarus Abides"
  • "The Choice"
  • "Fractures"
  • "I-Yensch, You-Yensch"
  • "Into the Lion's Den - Lambs to the Slaughter"
  • "Into the Lion's Den - Wolf in Sheep's Clothing"
• Farscape: D'Argo's Trial: "Error and Trial" (flashback)
• Season 4:
  • "John Quixote" (projection)
  • "Unrealized Reality" (unrealized reality)
• Farscape: Gone and Back:
  • "Through a Glass, Weirdly" (flashback)
• Farscape: Tangled Roots
  • "In Search Of..." (flashback)
  • "Undercover of the Night" (flashback)
  • "Prybella Little Tenderness" (flashback)
  • "Baxx in the High Life Again" (image only)
• Farscape: Scorpius: "Grim Intimations" (flashback)
• Farscape: Compulsions: "Who's on Faust?" (flashback)