The Unreal Tournament logo, commonly used as a symbol for the Liandri Grand Tournament.
The Liandri Grand Tournament, often shortened to simply The Tournament, is a world-spanning tournament sponsored by the Liandri Mining Corporation, which serves as the backdrop for the Unreal Tournament and Unreal Championship video games. It evolved from the underground leagues and matches used by mining companies like Liandri to channel aggression on their mining worlds. Whilst primarily a human affair, the Tournament has attracted fighters from countless alien races, including the Skaarj, the Phayder Corporation's Necris Black Legion, humanoid beings known as Nightmares, violent members of the otherwise-pacifistic Nali, and armoured Nali War Cows.
History[]
Origin[]
During the Human/Skaarj War, Earth and the United Aligned Worlds formed the New Earth Government, a single government that they believed would be more efficient at carrying out an interplanetary war. Deep space asteroid mining became the choice means of financing the war, with raw materials easily gained from with the Terran System. However, between pay, work conditions and the constant victories of the Skaarj invasion forces, the working class grew more restless. This would lead to riots, the most notable of which was the Green's World Rebellion, where over three thousand miners joined in a riot that would cost billions in damage.
The Human/Skaarj War was brought to a standstill when, during what became known as the "7 Day Siege," Skaarj forces surrounded the Terran System. However, a team of NEG military specialists were able to fight their way onto the Skri'ith-Class Dreadnought 'Krujhlok, the Queen Ship of the Skaarj forces, destroying it and killing the High Matriarch in the process. Without their queen, the Skaarj were forced to withdraw. Unfortunately, it was too late. The NEG had largely ignored its internal social conditions whilst waging an expensive and impossible war, and the riots grew in frequency, to the point where even the government cracking down had little effect.
NEG politicians decided that the best policy was to give this violence an outlet, leading to the legalisation of "consentual murder" in 2291. This meant that any two people could, under organised conditions, fight to the death. Various mining conglomerates began to organise matches and small leagues to channel agression, with results coming in immediately pointing to this policy being a success. Over time, the leagues would escalate, as money and promotions were offered to victors. One corporation, the Liandri Mining Corporation, began to tri-cast fights and capitalise on this modern-day gladiatorial show. Much to the LMC's financial delight, these tri-casts were more successful than the fights themselves, and thus, the Liandri Grand Tournament was born, bringing more money in for Liandri then mining ever did.
From this point, the timeline is separated between the canon Unreal Tournament series, and the spin-off series, Unreal Championship.
Unreal Tournament Timeline[]
The first official champion of the Tournament was the cyborg Xan Kriegor, who has been champion since the days when the Tournament wasn't yet legal. Whilst some may believe this to be a breach of the rules, there is no rule specifying that cybernetics are illegal, as the only rule is to win by any cost. Many would fight for the chance to face Xan, including human-skaarj hybrids, veterans of the Human/Skaarj War and assorted mercenaries, but the final victor, and the one to unseat Kriegor, would be a man named Malcolm, leader of the team Thunder Crash, who would win the tournament of 2293.
Malcolm would last as champion until 2302, when he'd be defeated by Gorge (real name: Prometheus Georgian Pithras), one of the Juggernauts sponsored by the Axon Research Corporation. Gorge would ending Malcolm's winning streak, snapping his spine in the process. However, his own run as champion would only last one year, before he'd be defeated by the player in Unreal Tournament 2004. However, as Epic Games never specified which character won the 2303 tournament, it is unknown who took his place.
Unreal Championship Timeline[]
The events of Unreal Championship take place during the events of Unreal Tournament 2003. An unknown alien empire managed to do what the Skaarj could not, conquering Earth and enslaving humanity. The Emperor and his councel kept the Liandri Grand Tournament running, but replaced the competitors with the countless inmates of their new prison planets. The greatest champion of this timeline was not Malcolm, but rather a competitor named Nefarious. Not much is known of him, only that, when he won, he was offered immortality and turned it down, instead asking for his freedom. Afterwards, his name was stricken from the history books, with rumours stating that he was either executed or given his request, living the rest of his life in isolation on the planet Pandora.
In 3215, Liandri sponsored the 523rd Nakhti Ascension Rites. The Nakhti, a group of humans who's culture was based entirely on Ancient Egypt, had traditionally used these rites to determine the next Emperor, but thanks to Liandri, the 523rd Rites were turned into a qualifier for the Tournament, with the new Emperor having to defend his crown in the arenas of the Tournament, even after securing his place as leader of the Nakhti people. During the 3215 Tournament Qualifier, a distinction was made between Ascension Rite matches and qualifing matches, the former being restricted Nakhti competitors only, whilst the latter followed traditional tournament rules. The winner, and new Nakhti Emperor, was a warrior named Anubis, though whether he would go on to win the Tournament or if a 524th Rites would need to be held immediately after the Tournament's conclusion remains a mystery.