1. - Miss M - A tall, over-bosomed woman that is all forward. Dressed in sensible black pants and big hiking boots but a brightly coloured buttoned shirt that shows off her assets. Which she refers to in the third person, and shamelessly uses to get the advantage in every situation. Some kind of hideous back-story and red hair. Very loud and kinda embarrassing to be around, but is an excellent captain so the crew put up with it. Is the only one on the crew who knows Newton's first name and uses it to blackmail him (because giant breasts don't work on a lizard).
   - Newton, first name Fig (but he doesn't tell people that) Small, weedy, humanoid lizard. Ship's engineer. Was named Fig Newton because his mother liked the sound of it, but tells people he was named Newton because of his obvious intelligence and aptitude for science. Considers himself above the rest of the crew and is a sarcastic bastard, but has a kind streak. Has an eyepatch.
   - Dúr - Ship's cook/cleaner/heavy things lifter/dogsbody. About 8 foot tall mutant, three eyes, and is blue and kinda furry. Thick as a post. Likes shiny things and small animals. Has a 5 word vocabulary. No one knows where he came from but Miss M found him in a shipping port and hired him because he's really strong.
   - Kiddo - A kid that stowed away in the same port the Dúr was found in. Never stops talking and asking stupid questions. Potentially female but has short hair and is wrapped up in layers of combat-green clothes so it's hard to tell. Black/brown hair. Can wiggle through small spaces, so gets used to sabotage other ships. Helps Dúr with the dishes and complains about the food a lot. Newton hates him/her.
   
   
2. Jean M. Rousseau is unabashedly French when virtually everybody sticks with planet of origin. He is of noble stock (another largely outdated concept); in keeping with the tradition of nobility, he has never worked a day in his life and doesn't let that keep him from wasting more money per year than your average working grunt makes in a decade. Jean's ship is small and flashy, and it hosts one of the most ill-kept secrets in the entire race: an extremely powerful drive that is so unreliable even the military hasn't been willing to make a non-virtual copy. The monstrosity takes up fully half of the Noblesse Oblige, and is used only for quick, infrequent boosts of speed that invariably put it at least two places farther up the line - until it blasts itself into little pieces. Jean nearly got in fifth place last race, but demanded the overstressed drive be put to use in the final straightaway and wound up drifting in for 29th.
   Jean is a foppish eccentric with a bad temper and bad taste in clothes. His crew is mostly more likeable and easier to pin down. Jax 'Pathfinder' Burton, the Oblige's pilot, is a heavyset, laid-back sort of guy who manages to make even the most daredevil stunts seem like nothing to even get excited about. Jean would never admit it, but his near success last race was more due to Burton than the flashy drive. Morton Alexander, on the other hand... well, give the man some slack. He probably wouldn't be painfully thin and always irritated if he wasn't given the thankless job of mechanic to two engines. Jeeves, a stuffy English butler, serves no function other than standing in Jean's shadow and pandering to his every whim.
   
   
3. Gorka, Morka, Fett & Da Weasels of Da Krew's Ship
   Possibly one of the only ships in this year's competition in worse general shape than the Infinity, Da Krew's Ship seems to be a welded together conglomeration of three partly-wrecked craft (four, if you count the engine cowling). Painted an almost lethally virulent red, the shuddering, lurching near-wreck is swarmed every time it stops by the (comparatively) techno-savvy portion of the crew, semi-affectionately known as Da Weasels. This collection of a dozen or two goblin-esque squabblers scoot about with laser welders, oversized zero-G wrenches, and anything that they've recently stolen to patch together the hull every time they shudder to a stop.
   "Captain" Gork, as he fancies himself, is a brutish, over-large, grey-green monstrosity out of an orthodontist's nightmare. Scraggly tusks pointing in at least three directions, beady bloodshot eyes, and a brain that's proud of never having an idea that it didn't steal from one of his "bruddas".
   Morka & Fett, Gork's smaller, smarter, less sheerly grotesque (though not by much) brothers, run Da Weasels with a rusted iron fist as they enjoy the benefits of being one of the few crews of Green-tusks to make it to space before the constant infighting on their planet erupted unto a true planetary war. Using "dat lard-ass" as a front in case someone really needs a fall for something they pull, they've become semi-deft hands at the dirty tricks that are expected of both Green-tusks and participants in The Great Zzybak race.
   
   
4. The Nefteu (Nuf-Too) Representation
   The mysterious and xenophobic system Nefteu has only recently opened its borders and, in a show of diplomacy, entered a state-sponsored team into the race. Pilot, mechanic, navigator and alternate crewmen are all eerily similar to one another, right down to looks: same height, same eye colour, complexion, hair colour, style even! They never speak unless spoken to, and then only directly to answer the question, although they're nicely polite about it. How much they look alike doesn't hold a candle to how well they work together though - it's as though they were all the same person.
   Their ship looks like their uniforms, sleek, black, shiny with a gray band (in the uniforms this goes across the chest). The name of the ship is written in gray on the side: Dominus. Creepy, but it's a diplomatic wave hello from a system that holds four planets thick with veins of unprocessed fuel.
   The team spend most of their time keeping their ship perfectly shipshape, although when pressed they seem uncreative about their methods. They don't do anything experimental to improve the ship in any way, nor do they seem to employ creative navigation techniques, shielding, weaponry, anything. Still, there is something particularly odd about their ship and they persistently do very well in the race.
   
   
5. The Alea Iacta is a state-of-the-art fast courier ship. It would have been among the top 3 favourites, if it were not for the crew.
   Captain-Owner: Onisak Rekop is a tentacle being and a gambler. She has won the ship in a game of chance and knowing nothing better to do with it, picked her crew from people she met at a party and entered the GZR.
   Ship's cook, barkeeper: Grulp, nicknamed Steaker. Looks like a humanoid hyena and is the most qualified crew member. He is able to make good food and drinks for many species.
   Pilot: Shelly Salazar, also called Shifty Shelly, had been booted out of flight school. She insists it was due to disciplinary not competence problems. Human, female in her 20s.
   Engineer: Tszish is a reptiloid, whose competence in starship engineering is surprisingly good, if you consider that all that he had ever learned is the operation and maintenance of sound systems.
   ?: Boulderplanet is a humanoid bunny, with the fur dyed in neon colours and oversized sunglasses. She is a rock singer, neither particularly successful nor particularly successless. Nobody, including the crew, is sure why she was hired other then "She is kinda cool and nice to have around" and she has not been assigned to a specific position.
   In general they don't take the race all that seriously and employ a live-and-let-live approach. They will not intentionally harm other crews unless in retaliation. They are also quite likely to answer to distress calls. They aren't above doing harmless dirty tricks like giving wrong directions to competitors or inviting competitors and offering them stronger and more drinks then they can handle.
   
   
6. Meet the crew of the Dancing Turkey. They'd like you to believe that they're space pirates even though they never manage to do any actual piracy, per se. Members include:
   Captain Jacqueline Heimer: "Captain or "Cap'n Jaq" to her face, and "Jackhammer" behind her back, the Cap'n is the only reason the crew ever manages to get anything done at all. She's the brains and the discipline of the operation and she's managed to take a rag-tag band of incompetents and turn them into a force to be feared... if only because of the collateral damage they tend to cause.
   "Cannonball" Jenny: Ship's gunner, demolitions expert, and engineer. Like most demolitions experts, she likes to demonstrate her expertise a bit more often than necessary. Surprisingly, she's nearly as good at fixing things as she is at destroying them. When not trying to blow things up, she can usually be found filching food from the ship's supplies.
   "Wamptemtatious" Will: So blonde, they had to invent a new word to describe her: Wamptemtacious. No one knows what her job is on the ship, since the only skills she seems to possess are an uncanny ability to spout non-sequiturs and a knack for getting the crew into trouble.
   Fifi the Reasonably Fearsome: Her real name is Ashlee and she hates it. Her parents sent her to a fancy French (or the scifi-esque equivalent) cooking school, but she rebelled against her upper-class upbringing and is now ship's cook and communications expert for the Dancing Turkey.
   The crew also includes various and sundry other deluded individuals who have watched too many pirate movies. They've entered the Great Zzybak Race in order to win fame and glory - or cause a lot of mayhem, whichever comes first.
   
   
7. A team from Universal Communications Inc. who are trying to promote the Global Translator Unit, which is losing out to the Pan-Galactic electro-unity device, which is beating the GLU in 4 ways. It's faster, cheaper, portable, and has a cooler name.
   Captain Farrell, with a shotgun with two barrels is the leader of UCi team. Like most captains he knows nothing about his field, and just speaks jargon to sound important. His main focus is the GTU promotion, forgetting that winning the race will promote it as well. Feels like good performance can be won with help of a big stick.
   Jorgin Sparot, the only female on the team, is the member responsible for diplomatic treaties with the other racers. If a situation turns hostile, she'll calm both parties into a peaceful agreement, or blast the opposition.
   Mechi Khanics, the engineer who responsible that the ship doesn't blow up half way through the race. In his spare time, he looks up mods for the ship. The ones he added pre-race don't make the ship any faster, or lighter. They just look cool.
   Tozaz Specmur, a racer who loved the thrill of races so much he returned from the dead as a spirit. Or at least that's what UCi CEO says.
   Serrli Drutex, the CEO's assistant. Makes sure Farrell does his job properly. Always gives good reports to his boss. This is mainly due to Farrell's big stick.

The following characters were originally designed as main characters, but some might make good rivals. If you like any of these more than the crews above, feel free to vote for them, and we can flesh out full crews around them.

8. The Royal Clone! Victoria
   In an effort to preserve their Royal Genotype, the ruling family of a small star kingdom had clones of all members created at birth. These clones were supposed to be kept cryogenically until need - but one was kidnapped, and raised as a staunch Republican opposed to all forms of Monarchy. Years later, she was found by an intelligence officer of the Star Kingdom that created her, who convinces her that her upbringing was the result of a long-laid plan to steal the throne. Victoria cannot conceive of a good Monarchy, but neither will she be a pawn in "game for the throne". With the active complicity of the Royal Family, she shakes off the despotic family that raised her and becomes a Royal Astrocartographer, tasked with mapping unknown areas of the galaxy...
   
   
9. Lord Protius Lu'Kahs is a half-robot, half-alien from a mysterious planet from a mysterious part of space with a mysterious past (Essentially: very mysterious). It is rumored Protius was once an upstart evil overlord, tried to conquer galaxy, but easily defeated and left with injuries resulting in the requirement of robot parts for continued survival. Claims to have an AI living in his head. While he pretends to act good to further his goals, he leaves many unintentional signs pointing to his true nature.
   He also tends to act like he has powers which he obviously does not have, such as force-like powers, getting him into constant trouble. Good at building elaborate things, except they always have obvious flaws and are overkill.
   Wears an evil looking mask and dark cape. Underneath, looks something like a large, half-robot tribble with fangs, scary eyes, and clawed hands and feet.
   
   
10. Botelo Slade and Djenn
    Botelo is a Dorulos, a species with three-part rotational symmetry as opposed to bilateral reflective symmetry. As he grew up, Botelo excelled in sciences, particularly in machine learning and neural systems. His research in cybernetics was welcomed at first, but as he progressed further people began to question his ethics. He created the first artificial lifeform, a robot he calls Djenn. The scientific community labeled his work as immoral and demanded he turn over his research and Djenn. Botelo feared that others would not understand the details of his studies and would damage Djenn, whom he now thought of as a daughter. So Botelo fled. Since Djenn was the first-ever artificial intelligence, she started out fairly ill-adjusted, but Botelo has been modifying and improving her, and would like to see how she interacts in a social environment. Upgrading Djenn isn't cheap, however.
    
    
11. Real Name: Kyle Tenetic
    Specie: Human
    Occupation: Former nanotech engineer, turned fugitive
    Abilities: Scientific genius. Developed a device that enables him to "read" emotions.
    Background: Graduated in the top 1% of his class, and majored in "nanotechnology for the sake of disease prevention". He got a job at NINE (Nanotechnology in Natural Environments), a government facility devoted to creating plants and animals that were immune to illness. A year after he joined, for some unknown reason, the facility was assaulted by a faction of black ops within the military who destroyed the base and everyone inside in an attempt to delete its existence. Kyle narrowly escaped with a device containing key data. Wants to help others, to the length that he evades the military while working in secret, working as a doctor under an alias. Uses his "empathic device" to sense when someone is lying or doubtful of him.
    
    
12. Reinard Petrovich is a twenty three year old Human Male. At the age of sixteen stowed away on a mercenary vessel. The captain decided not to turn him over to the authorities, taking him on as a crewmember, learning how to use a wide variety of weapons he was soon accepted as one of the crew. It soon became clear that Reinard had another talent. Whenever they arrived on planet he would pull out his Grandmother's antique Compass, and follow direction it pointed. This saved needless casualties for the mercenaries, as they avoided ambush after ambush. Many believed that Reinard was psychic and could see the future, guiding them to safety. However, his last mission with the crew led to disaster, an unmarked minefield from an old war exploded killing half the crew, including the captain. Reinard still uses his 'gift' but is terrified that something terrible will happen again..
    
    
13. Mark is 6'3" with black hair, one green eye, one cybernetic eye (left), upper left face and left hand (due to a prison fight) as well as a penchant for violence. He has fought as a mercenary/assassin and when he was short on money more mundane jobs. However his lack of ethics (- by sane standards anyway), his homicidal tendencies, rampant pyromania, kleptomania or often boredom cause him to return to his normal homicidal self. Mark however is slowly learning to keep his serial killer mentality within, and is learning to control his violent surges. This is partially because his cybernetic implants have a mental component, which increase self control and calming thoughts. This was due poorly funded planetary initiative, which for the most part failed. However this does mean that Mark can keep detached from his violent emotions and see things from a calmer viewpoint. This has given him a sense of black humour which goes with his semi-gothic dress style. Dark treanchcoats and paramilitary gear often with aviator sunglasses (hiding most of his cybernetic face) and/or a face hiding hood.
    
    
14. "He's the fella who looks like a planet-side 50. Taller, thin, grayish hair. Way I hear it, he's old, really old. And I heard he's doesn't use any tech he doesn't have to. Way he looks at bots you know he really don't like them, really. Heard he's so old that he used to be a [clergy of a sect that died out centuries ago, or longer]. Even heard he was one of the first real spacers. Third, fourth generation cryo. Back when they'd make mistakes and you'd end up mind-f***ed. Gets this look sometimes, not so most notice, but there's something wrong with him up top. Know what I mean? How could he be so old and have no augmentation? No idea. Never said it was true, just said I'd heard it."
    -On Cyrus Swift
    
    
15. Franklin T. Nord is tall and wiry. In his mid-thirties, he has a shock of blond hair and a goatee. He's usually smiling, but you're never sure about what, and wears loose, comfortable clothing. A small chunk of rock hangs from a necklace, he claims it's a souvenir, but doesn't talk about from what. "You can call me Frank. The 'T' stands for trouble, it usually finds me wherever I go. Used to be a beltminer, up until that incident with the Loonies... oh, sorry... the Lunar Colonies. I'm better at card games than I am at relationships, can't tell which I've had more of. You need a ship flown somewhere, I can fly any ship there is." He's confident, perhaps a bit too much, but he manages his way through any predicament he's met so far.
    
    
16. Neil Greyman
    Human male, unassuming in appearance, with hints of exotic blood. Not overly friendly with anyone, but works quietly and nearly seamlessly with almost anyone.
    He is intelligent and competent, occasionally showing abilities he shouldn't have. Nobody wants to make make an issue if they notice lapses in his apparent mediocrity.
    He is known to have worked in military intelligence, and demonstrates a great working knowledge of the underground. Don't bother asking.
    Demonstrated skills include small and large craft piloting, ability to command almost without seeming to, great organizational ability, good but not exceptional fighting skills in a variety of disciplines, and the ability to keep his mouth shut. He may be a topic of gossip, not ever a participant. His goals are his own, but don't seem to include self aggrandizement.