Mars, to most of its natives also known as Barsoom, is the fourth planet in the Solar System. It is orbited by the moons Thuria (Phobos) and Cluros (Deimos). The planet is prominently seen at the start of Volume II.
Overview[]
Mars used to be a planet like earth. It bore five seas, the largest and mightiest of them Throxeus. Today, however, these oceans are all but dried out, and the planet now has very little water. Most water comes from the North and South poles and is distributed along the planet by the many canals.
Since Mars is a dying world, life on the planet is hard and barbaric. The many races inhabiting Mars are constantly at war with one another over the last remaining resources the planet has to offer. However, there are still some small, often isolated locations where there is still plenty of water and vegetation, like the valley of the Hither People. Mars is a planet of many contradictions. In a lot of ways, the technology of its inhabitants is more advanced than that of (late 19th century) Earth. For example; most Martian races have developed flying machines and their medical skills far exceed those of humans. Even the most severe injuries can be healed with Martian medicine. In other ways however the planet is more primitive than Earth, like the main weapons still being swords.
Since Mars has a lower gravity than Earth, any human who visits Mars becomes stronger and agiler than they would be on Earth.
History[]
The planet Mars was said to have first come to the League's attention in 1720, when Lemuel Gulliver was told by Lauptan astronomers that there were "two lesser satellites" that orbited around Mars. It wasn't until over a century later that Asaph Hall gave their distinctive names, Phobos and Deimos, in 1877.
Sometime later, in 1894, Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli discovered the Martian's irrigations systems and deduced that Mars was inhabited. This finding led him to found the Lowell Observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona, dedicated to the further studies of Mars' many different lifeforms.
Sometime prior to 1898, the planet was invaded by an extraterrestrial race, referred by the Martians as the Molluscs, from an unknown planet. The Martians managed to defeat the invaders, but only to indirectly encouraged them to launched their invasion of Earth, attacking London.
In the years that followed the invasion, the solar system became a hub for interplanetary travel between worlds. But when Harold Wharton took office in 1948, various alien races faced detention and extermination by the Ingsoc regime. It is unknown if these policies were changed in the years following Ingsoc downfall.
Inhabitants[]
Mars is inhabited by several intelligent races and diverse animals.
Confirmed[]
These races are seen in the LoEG comics and supporting stories to inhabit Mars:
- Green Martians
- Green Martians (DC Comics)
- Hither People
- Sorns
- Red Martians
Unnamed[]
These Martian races were never named in their respective sources.
- The antennaed Martians from Your Favorite Martian
- The brained Martians from Mars Attacks
- The Martians from the 1953 film War of the Worlds
- The slit-pupiled Martians from Invaders from Mars
Unconfirmed[]
These races are not seen in any LoEG media, but considering the source material used for the comics it can be assumed they exist in the LoEG-universe as well:
- Bat-like Martians
- Black Martians (First Born)
- Eldila
- Hrossa
- Ice Warriors
- Kaldanes & Rykors
- Martian Dwarf
- Martian Glider
- Pfifltrigg
- Setissi
- Thither People
- White Martians (DC Comics)
- White Martians (Therns)
- Yellow Martians (Okar)
Non-Native races[]
Since they came to Earth from Mars, the Mollusc where wrongfully called Martians by the humans who witnessed their invasion. However, in reality, they are not native to Mars but invaded the planet some years earlier until they were driven off the planet by a coalition of several Martian races led by John Carter and Gullivar Jones.
Source material[]
Mars, as seen in the LoEG, is based on the works of several authors; most notably the Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation by Edwin Lester Arnold, Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis, Kane of Old Mars by Micheal Moorcock, War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, and the comics published by DC Comics and Cartoon Art Productions among many others.