From whence this quote?

[seawasp]

I've run across the following quote a couple of times quite recently; up until recently, I had thought it was from a friend's RPG and was said by a character in that RPG. However, it's turned up enough places that it MUST have come originally from some wider source (or else my friend's had a lot more influence in more places than I would have guessed).

The context: The speaker is talking to some aliens, who I believe were trying to threaten/frighten him:

"...We release TOXINS into our air and water to weed out the weak! We detonate ATOMIC WEAPONS in our ONLY biosphere! We NAILED our GOD to a TREE! Do not F**K with the Human Race!"

I've heard this said with a German accent; I've seen it attributed to an (apparently Russian) general "Nikolai Nikolai".

Any definitive source for this quote?

Comments

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

General Nikolai, IIRC, was a character in Phil Foglio's Illegal Aliens novel. (The hidden member of the UN First Contact Team.) It sounds like something he'd have said, but I don't recall it specifically from the book.

-- Steve does vividly recall the poker game, though.

[midnightlurker.livejournal.com]

That's nothing that was said in Illegal Aliens, I can tell you that for sure. I definitely want to know where it did come from though.

[laptop-mechanic.livejournal.com]

I dont know who said it, but it's hilarious. I'll have to remember it.

[aiskon.livejournal.com]

Robert Fenelon during some RPG at Strikebase Moriarty

[shana.livejournal.com]

It does sound like Rob Fenelon -- but I don't know whether it was original or a quote.

[seawasp]

I am coming to the conclusion that it WAS in fact original, so it simply spread much farther than I had expected.

It's far too cool a speech for someone not to have recognized it.

[shana.livejournal.com]

I can easily hear Rob saying this -- probably when he was playing an alien invading Earth... (I can think of at least two possible characters.)

It would have been at least 20 years ago.

I suppose the simplest thing to do would be to ask him...

[seawasp]

Well, it would have been with Rob playing an Earth Admiral, actually, saying that line TO invading aliens.

[condorfan.livejournal.com]

Only read this just now (1;44pm Thursday) and emailed Rob & Walter, & will tell Phil in person. Rob DID say these lines a few weeks ago in my presence... :)

Straight from Rob himself...

[condorfan.livejournal.com]

On May 14, 2009, at 6:47 PM, Robert Fenelon wrote:

RE: From whence this quote: (Word do with better formatting attached)

It was at a Lunacon SF convention in the early 1990s, in the game room, during a RPG, which reminded me of Harry Harrison's novel, Invasion Earth. Since that book had a very similar opening premise as Phil Foglio & Nick Pollata's wonderful "Illegal Aliens", I swiped much of my character’s concept from the Soviet General on the UN’s First Contact Team from Illegal Aliens.

At one point, the lead alien tried to call our bluff, asserting that no sane species would risk inflicting such environmental damage to its home world.

I stomped up to their leader and started blustering in a hokey Russian accent:

First I hissed out: “You stooopid aliens do not have concept of who you are dealing with.”

My voice rose and my accent thickened: "We have factories to pump pollutants into atmosphere to WEED OUT those with WEAK LUNGS.”

He tried saying something, but I drove right over him, shouting, “We use fission weapons in our ONLY biosphere...

I thundered toward my crescendo:

“We're the GUYS!!”

My shouting drowned out the other tables of role-play games.

“Who NAILED GOD!!!!”

Screaming now.

“TO A TREE!!!!!”

The other games in the room had stopped, as peeps were staring as I screamed at the top of my lungs,

“DON’T F**K WITH THE HUMAN RACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”



What memories. Good times. Thanks for reminding me of that.


- Robert Fenelon

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On May 14, 2009, at 6:47 PM, Robert Fenelon wrote:

RE: From whence this quote: (Word do with better formatting attached)

It was at a Lunacon SF convention in the early 1990s, in the game room, during a RPG, which reminded me of Harry Harrison's novel, Invasion Earth. Since that book had a very similar opening premise as Phil Foglio & Nick Pollata's wonderful "Illegal Aliens", I swiped much of my character’s concept from the Soviet General on the UN’s First Contact Team from Illegal Aliens.

At one point, the lead alien tried to call our bluff, asserting that no sane species would risk inflicting such environmental damage to its home world.

I stomped up to their leader and started blustering in a hokey Russian accent:

First I hissed out: “You stooopid aliens do not have concept of who you are dealing with.”

My voice rose and my accent thickened: "We have factories to pump pollutants into atmosphere to WEED OUT those with WEAK LUNGS.”

He tried saying something, but I drove right over him, shouting, “We use fission weapons in our ONLY biosphere...

I thundered toward my crescendo:

“We're the GUYS!!”

My shouting drowned out the other tables of role-play games.

“Who NAILED GOD!!!!”

Screaming now.

“TO A TREE!!!!!”

The other games in the room had stopped, as peeps were staring as I screamed at the top of my lungs,

“DON’T F**K WITH THE HUMAN RACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”



What memories. Good times. Thanks for reminding me of that.


- Robert Fenelon


<We have factories pump pollutants to weed out those with weak lungs.doc>

[vulpine137.livejournal.com]

No clue, but if you find out, let us know *chortles and shares the quote*

[deor.livejournal.com]

Stargate? For some reason, I'm 'hearing' it in Ben Browder's voice.

[sorek.livejournal.com]

Maybe Ben Browder, but not likely Stargate, much more like something you might find in the last episodes of Farscape.

[xpioti.livejournal.com]

No source, but I've heard this quote or something very similar, and nothing in the other comments rings a bell. Stargate sounds very possible and 'feels' right, but I can't find any episode transcriptions. (Okay, 3 Google searches do not add up to real research. But for such a cool quote, it should turn up something!)

[howardtayler.livejournal.com]

Sounds like John Ringo to me. Probably out of the Aldenata series if it is.

[alex swavely (from livejournal.com)]

A fulltext search of the contents of the "Looking Glass" CD turned up nothing.

[denelian.livejournal.com]

no, not Looking glass, but one of the Aldenta books. it sounds like a "Mike", but they could just be similiar quotes - but Mike *DID* use nukes and thought he'd nuked his own father and daughter...

[alex swavely (from livejournal.com)]

Right.. The CD contains everything Ringo published with Baen up to Through the Looking Glass.

Look here for a list of books searched:
http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/07-LookingGlassCD/LookingGlassCD/

[denelian.livejournal.com]

O_o sorry, misunderstood what you meant.
and i even have that cd.

is it in one of the later cally books, or maybe the Navy side of the series? i'm gonna go look...

[seawasp]

Waaaaaay too late. I heard this for the first time back in, well, I think it was before the turn of this century.

[denelian.livejournal.com]

oh. lol.

then i gives up (i was scanning the third Cally book, too, lol)

i tried to Google it earlier, but i got nada. so... i'm sorry, i am not helpful :(

[seawasp]

When I first heard it, Ringo hadn't even gotten Baen's attention, let alone gotten published.

[midnightlurker.livejournal.com]

Funny thing: I just quoted this to a friend, using the Russian accent. Without missing a beat, he responded "That sounds like something from Illegal Aliens."

Mr. Fenelon apparently nailed Nikolai's character. :)