The Drej are a malevolent alien race that serve as the main antagonists of the Don Bluth animated film Titan A.E.. These beings, while possessing a physical form, are actually non-corporeal as they are made up entirely of energy. They are highly aggressive and isolationist, disassociating themselves with other races. They harbour an extreme hatred for the human race, which seems to stem from a fear of humanity's creative potential.
History[]
Little is known about the Drej's history other than their clear animosity towards humanity. When the human race developed the Titan Project in the 31st century - the capability of creating entire planets - the Drej came to regard humanity as a threat and launched a full-scale assault on Earth. While the human race and the Titan spacecraft fled to the stars, the Drej completely destroyed Earth, leaving behind only a field of cosmic debris. With humanity scattered, the Drej believed that life adrift in space would lead to mankind's extinction.
Fifteen years after Earth was destroyed, the Drej made contact with the human Joseph Korso. Korso had worked with Professor Sam Tucker on the Titan Project and had been living the life of a mercenary since the Titan had disappeared. The Drej wanted to find the Titan and destroy it, ensuring that humanity could never threaten them and believed that Korso could lead them to it. Korso himself had no idea where the Titan was, but had been searching for Professor Tucker's son Cale, certain that the boy held the key to locating the ship.
The Drej offered to pay Korso handsomely for giving them the Titan and Korso, believing that humanity was doomed anyway, accepted the offer. He and the crew of the Valkyrie would find Cale Tucker on the salvage colony of Tau 14 and the Drej followed in hot pursuit, eager to ensure the Titan's destruction. They followed the Valkyrie from Tau 14 to the planet of Seccharim where they were able to capture Cale and partially copy the star map imprinted on the genetic storage ring that he wore.
Cale was able to escape from the Drej mothership and returned to the Valkyrie, though he and Korso's first mate Akima would later flee from there when he learned of Korso's deal with the Drej. Meanwhile, Korso and his remaining crew headed into the Tegrin Ice Rings where the Titan was apparently located. The Drej were following from a safe distance, though both they and the Valkyrie were narrowly beaten to the Titan by Cale and Akima who had acquired a small ship from a human drifter colony.
Cale and Korso would find themselves on the same side again as the Drej launched their assault on the Titan. Together, they were able to reconfigure the Titan's energy transfer system to use Drej energy, so when the Drej mothership opened fire on the Titan, they inadvertently fuelled it, allowing Cale to activate the Titan's transformation sequence. The Drej were completely absorbed by the Titan which used their energy to create a new planet that would become humanity's new home.
Physiology[]
The Drej are made of pure energy, yet they still have a physical form. They seem to have a humanoid body structure: one head, two arms and two legs with a distinct skeletal appearance. Their bodies perpetually glow with crackling blue energy and are rather resilient. Energy weapons can harm them, though only larger weapons or precise shots from small arms aimed at the head or midsection can destroy them. In the event that a Drej loses a limb, it can immediately regenerate the lost appendage.
The head of the common Drej drone is oblong with only a dark hole where a face should be. The drone's right arm can morph into a rifle that shoots beams of concentrated energy as a form of attack. Drones are about the size of the average adult human, though the Drej Queen stands roughly at 10 feet tall. The Queen, unlike her drones, has a pair of eyes which are visible within the dark face hole. Her head structure is more ornate, making it appear as though she wears a form of regal headdress.
Nothing is known about the evolution of the Drej, such as whether or not they were originally an organic race. It is unknown if they even have a home planet; the entire race seems to be confined to a large mothership.
Society[]
The Drej Queen
The Drej social structure is similar to that of an insect hive. Their society is governed by a queen who directs and coordinates the countless drones under her rule. The queen is the only Drej that has displayed any ability to communicate, speaking in a series of distorted warbles and shrieks. While the Drej rarely have any contact with other species, their language is at least comprehensible by different species, as demonstrated when the Drej Queen communicates with Joseph Korso.
Technology[]
Drej technology is also made up of the same blue energy as the Drej themselves. Their fleet consists of one gigantic mothership and swarms of smaller craft known as "Stingers". While the Drej do not need to breathe, their ships are capable of sustaining an atmosphere suitable for humans as proven when they captured Cale Tucker and Akima Kunimoto. Non-Drej are also capable of operating the Stinger fighters; Cale manages to steal a Stinger and uses it to escape the Drej mothership.
The Drej mothership houses countless Drej drones and just as many Stinger craft. How Drej forces are replenished is unknown, though it is doubtful that the Drej reproduce in a manner similar to organics. The mothership is capable of firing a powerful beam of kinetic energy that can cause the core of a planet to rotate at an exponential rate, making it shake itself apart. This is how the Drej destroyed Earth.