Noman

"Nomans -- a caste of people who are considered non-humans and have no rights."
-- Booklet 076, "War of the Castes"

The Noman (plural: Nomans; German: Noman, literally "No-Man") is the lowest caste in the rigid social hierarchy of the Terran Star Empire in Die Terranauten. Nomans are people who have been stripped of all legal rights, all social identity, and -- in many cases -- their PSI abilities. They are officially designated as non-persons, invisible to the institutions of the Council of Corporations, and survive in the ruins of old cities, abandoned bunkers, and the margins of corporate megastructures. Hunted for sport, used as experimental subjects, and denied any legal protection, the Nomans represent the most oppressed and dehumanized group in a civilization defined by systematic inequality.

Yet the Nomans are far more than victims. From the earliest booklets to the saga's climax, they are a force of resistance. Their leaders -- Brak Shakram, Nobody, Hanstein, Delwin, Carsen, and others -- organize the dispossessed into a political and military force that ultimately helps bring down the corporate oligarchy. The Commando Brak Shakram, named after their most famous martyr, becomes the paramilitary backbone of the F.F.D.E. coalition, and the Noman uprising of 2501 prefigures the War of the Castes that dissolves the Council of Corporations in 2503.

The Caste System

Terran society in the 26th century is stratified into a rigid hierarchy of castes that determines every aspect of a person's existence:

1. GeneralManags / Manags -- The corporate elite who sit on the Council of Corporations and control the economy, military, and political apparatus of the Terran Empire.
2. Arbiters -- A professional caste of administrators, technical specialists, and functionaries who serve the corporations.
3. Relax -- A vast caste of people who are materially provided for but do not participate in the work process. Kept pacified through entertainment, drugs (including Dust Medusa Extract), and cosmetic alterations, they exist in a state of comfortable dependency.
4. Nomans -- The lowest caste. People stripped of all rights, considered "non-humans," surviving in ruins and wastelands outside corporate-controlled zones.
5. Drivers -- PSI-gifted navigators who steer starships through Space II. They occupy a paradoxical position: essential to the economy yet feared and persecuted under Max von Valdec's regime.

The Nomans sit at the absolute bottom of this structure. Below even the pacified Relax, they have been cast out entirely -- not merely disadvantaged but erased from the social order.

What It Means to Be a Noman

Legal Non-Existence

A Noman is, in the eyes of the law, a non-person. They possess no legal identity, no recognized name in the corporate registries, no right to housing, food, employment, or protection. The very word "Noman" -- "No-Man" -- encodes this erasure. A Noman is nobody, and the most famous Noman leader in the saga literally calls himself Nobody (Booklet 023), embracing the dehumanizing label as an act of defiance.

The Noman Sign

Nomans are marked by the Noman Sign (German: Noman-Zeichen) -- a red triangle worn as a visible mark of their caste status. This branding ensures that Nomans can be identified, avoided, and targeted at any time. The Sign functions as both a social stigma and a practical tool of oppression: it makes Nomans immediately recognizable to the Gray Guards, to sport-hunters, and to the general population.

How One Becomes a Noman

There are several paths to Noman status, all of them involving a fall from whatever position one previously held:

• PSI-Stripping: Drivers who have had their PSI Powers surgically removed may be cast down to Noman status. The connection between PSI-stripping and Noman identity is made explicit in Booklet 027, where a Noman is defined as "a Driver who has been stripped of their PSI powers and deported." The process of PSI-stripping is surgical and irreversible, performed in facilities on planets like Siam-Sin and aboard hospital ships like the MEDIKRAT (Booklet 012). The victims become hollow, broken people -- and those who are not reclassified as Silent Drivers may be discarded into the Noman underclass.

• Administrative Demotion: Citizens can be arbitrarily demoted from Relax to Noman status through bureaucratic action. In Booklet 053, the alien Gorthaur manipulates Earth's computer network, causing widespread chaos and "downgrading millions of Relax to Noman status." The character Pyther Drom in Booklet 072 is demoted to Noman status through the caste system, becoming "a victim of the caste system." This demonstrates that Noman status is not merely a category for born outcasts but an active tool of social control -- anyone can be made a Noman.

• Desertion or Defection: Military personnel who desert or are disgraced may fall to Noman status. Brak Shakram was a former captain of the Gray Guards before becoming the leader of the Nomans (Booklets 006, 021). Hanstein was a former Manag who became a Noman, helping Llewellyn 709 escape through the ruins of Old Berlin (Booklet 009).

• Criminal Conviction or Political Punishment: Those who run afoul of the Council's legal apparatus, or who are politically inconvenient, can be stripped of their status and cast into the Noman underclass.

Where Nomans Live

Nomans inhabit the interstices of Terran civilization -- the places the corporations have abandoned or cannot fully control:

• Old Berlin -- The ruined remains of the original Berlin, located beneath the modern city of New Berlin, is the saga's most prominent Noman habitat. Nomans live in the ruins alongside other outcasts, forming communities in the underground spaces between the corporate surface city and the Dead Spaces prison complex below (Booklets 009, 021, 023).

• Ultima Thule -- The terGorden family palace in Greenland harbors Nomans in its bunker system. Brak Shakram and his band -- including Nolan, Fallon, and Hossan -- live in the palace's underground halls (Booklet 006).

• Northern Canada -- Remote wilderness areas where small bands of Nomans, such as Delwin's group, survive outside corporate control (Booklet 008).

• Ruins of New Delhi -- Location of the major Noman uprising during the War of the Castes (Booklet 076).

• Noman Hideouts and Hauptquartier der Nomans -- Hidden locations and headquarters used by the Nomans for shelter, planning, and resistance.

The Noman Hunt

Perhaps the most chilling aspect of Noman existence is the Noman Hunt (German: Noman-Jagd) -- the practice of hunting Nomans for sport. Organizations such as the Berlin Shooting Club (German: Schutzenverein Berlin) operate in the ruins of Old Berlin, treating Nomans as game animals to be tracked and killed for entertainment (Booklet 008). When David terGorden and his companions pass through Old Berlin, they are "attacked by members of the Berlin Shooting Club, who hunt Nomans for sport." This detail -- that the hunting of human beings is treated as a recreational activity -- underscores the totality of the Noman's dehumanization within the caste system.

Noman Philosophy

The experience of being cast out of civilization creates a distinctive worldview among the Nomans. Noman philosophy (German: Noman-Philosophie) is associated particularly with the character Carsen, a Noman electronics expert who accompanies David terGorden to Ultima Thule in Booklets 073-074. Carsen is described as possessing a personal philosophy shaped by his existence outside the caste system -- a perspective informed by radical independence, deep skepticism toward all institutional power, and an understanding of survival that comes from living without any safety net.

Carsen's philosophy manifests in practical terms: he is immune to telepathy (Booklet 073), suggesting that Nomans who have been PSI-stripped develop mental defenses or simply lack the psionic receptors that would make them vulnerable. He is initially hostile to Mandorla, a former Queen of the Gray Guards, viewing her with the suspicion that any Noman would have toward a representative of the military force that hunts them. Yet he proves a valuable ally, helping David reactivate the Central Computer of the Biotroniks Corporation and retrieve critical information about the Book Myriam (Booklet 074).

History

Early Appearances and the Greenland Period (2500)

The Nomans first appear significantly in Booklet 006, The Psi Inferno, when David terGorden encounters Brak Shakram and his band of Nomans living in the bunkers beneath the terGorden family palace in Ultima Thule, Greenland. Shakram, a former Gray Guard captain who rejected the caste system, has organized these outcasts into a community capable of collective action. He recognizes David as the son of Growan terGorden and helps him locate the hidden computer controlling the palace's defense systems. Their alliance -- the corporate heir and the Noman leader working as equals -- is one of the saga's earliest cross-caste partnerships.

In Booklet 007, The Children of Yggdrasil, Llewellyn 709 and Shakram attempt to warn the Drivers that the Kaiser Corporation is poisoning Yggdrasil, though they are not believed. A Gray Guard defector named Aishi, a former lover of Chan de Nouille, warns the Nomans about an impending Gray Guard gas attack on Odrodir.

In Booklet 008, City of Madness, David and his companions encounter Nomans in both northern Canada (where Delwin's band helps them, having known Shakram) and in Old Berlin (where they are attacked by the Berlin Shooting Club). The booklet defines the Nomans as "outcasts from society who live outside the law" and establishes the brutality of their daily existence.

Brak Shakram's Martyrdom (2501)

In Booklet 021, Oxide Death Zone, Brak Shakram -- imprisoned in the Kaiser Laboratories on the Moon and subjected to experimental procedures, including the growth of a replacement arm -- escapes during the Oxyd crisis. He transmits messages to the Nomans across Earth, urging them to resist the panic caused by the approaching asteroid and to trust Cantos, the alien who is trying to save humanity. Shakram is recaptured, escapes again, and is ultimately killed by the Gray Guards before he can spread his message further.

Shakram's death transforms him from a leader into a martyr. His recorded messages -- his "visio-address" -- become the inspiration for the Noman uprising that follows.

The Noman Uprising (2501)

Booklet 023, The Outcasts of Terra, depicts the first coordinated Noman uprising on Earth. With Max von Valdec away on a punitive expedition, Summacum Muhlherr (a Lodge Master) and Nobody (a Noman leader) organize a combined force of Nomans and Drivers in Old Berlin. Key elements of the uprising include:

• Hanstein, an old Noman, prepares a pirate transmitter to broadcast to Nomans worldwide.
• The broadcast reveals the truth about the Oxyd catastrophe -- that it was caused by Kaiser Force experiments, not natural causes -- and that Cantos saved humanity. This is the very information Shakram died trying to transmit.
• GeneralManag Claasen of PRODUKT ENERGIE, sympathetic to the Nomans, listens to the broadcast and later provides intelligence.
• The Nomans seize the Kaiser Corporation's transmitter in New Berlin.
• Fighting erupts across Earth: in Old Berlin, New Sydney (Australia), and even Odrodir (Holy Valley).
• Bohrl and his group discover advanced alien weapons in a secret installation and use them against the Gray Guards.
• Queen Paola coordinates the Gray Guard response and evacuates New Berlin.

Ultimately, Valdec's fleet returns. Cosmoral Fay Gray leads the final assault, and the Kaiser transmitter is destroyed. Nobody, Hanstein, and Muhlherr are killed. The Noman Uprising fails militarily. Valdec announces a cosmetic reform -- allowing people to reclassify into the Relax caste -- but the fundamental injustice remains.

The uprising fails, but it is not forgotten. It demonstrates that the Nomans are capable of organized resistance on a global scale, and it plants the seeds for the broader revolution to come.

The Brak Shakram Command and the F.F.D.E. (2502-2504)

After the uprising, the Noman resistance reorganizes under the name Commando Brak Shakram (Booklet 053). Under the coordination of Manuel Lucci, the organization evolves from a purely Noman resistance cell into a broader coalition -- described as a "trade union movement" -- that unites Nomans, workers, Arbiters, and political dissidents. The Brak Shakram Command becomes the paramilitary arm of the F.F.D.E. (Freedom for the Earth / Freiheit fur die Erde), the umbrella resistance organization that leads the popular uprising against the Council of Corporations.

Key milestones in this evolution:

• 2502: The Brak Shakram Command helps Ignazius Tyll escape assassination during Valdec's second coup. Lucci demands formal recognition for the rebel groups (Booklet 054).
• 2502-2503: Lucci operates as both Coordinator of Commando Brak Shakram and a member of the Joint Council of the F.F.D.E. (Booklet 072).
• 2503: During the War of the Castes, the Nomans revolt in the Ruins of New Delhi simultaneously with the Action Committee Free Africa's uprising in Kilimanjaro (Booklet 076). This is the second major Noman revolt in the saga.

The War of the Castes (September-November 2503)

The War of the Castes represents the culmination of the Nomans' long struggle. In September 2503, multiple uprisings erupt across Earth simultaneously. The Nomans revolt in the Ruins of New Delhi while the Action Committee Free Africa rises in Kilimanjaro. David terGorden, now a GeneralManag and Special Envoy, attempts to mediate. An assassination attempt on Manuel Lucci, orchestrated by Anlyka terCrupp's corporate faction, nearly sabotages the negotiations.

The war ends with David and Lucci jointly announcing the dissolution of the Council of Corporations and the transfer of corporate assets to worker control (Booklet 079). Chan de Nouille pledges the Gray Guards' service to the people. The caste system that defined the Nomans as non-persons is officially dismantled.

The fact that the F.F.D.E. coalition -- built on the foundation of the Noman resistance and bearing the name of a dead Noman leader -- ultimately destroys the Council of Corporations is one of the saga's most powerful narrative arcs: the non-persons bring down the system that denied them personhood.

Valdec's Return and Final Liberation (2504)

The Nomans' victory is short-lived. When Max von Valdec returns and establishes the Second Reich of Humanity, the F.F.D.E. leadership is systematically hunted down. Lucci is captured and imprisoned in the Dead Spaces beneath Berlin (Booklet 086). In the saga's finale, Lucci and other political prisoners are freed by Bolter's Hausfreund via a Space-Time Stroboscope and transported to Ultima Thule, where they witness David terGorden's announcement of the end of corporate rule and the ecological transformation of Earth (Booklet 099).

Notable Nomans

Non-Noman Figures Central to the Noman Cause

The Noman-Horde

The Noman-Horde is a specific organized group of Nomans led by Ulana Graiowskanowa. While details are sparse, the existence of organized "hordes" suggests that the Nomans developed their own social structures outside the corporate-imposed caste system -- bands, tribes, and communities with their own leadership hierarchies and territorial claims.

Thematic Significance

The Ultimate Outcasts

The Nomans embody the extreme consequence of the caste system: the creation of a class of people who are not merely disadvantaged but officially nonexistent. Their designation as "No-Man" -- the negation of personhood itself -- is the saga's sharpest critique of a civilization that categorizes human beings as resources to be exploited or discarded. When the Berlin Shooting Club hunts Nomans for sport, the dehumanization is made literal: these people are treated as animals.

Resistance from Below

Despite -- or because of -- their utter dispossession, the Nomans are among the saga's most persistent resistors. They have nothing to lose, and this gives them a freedom that the Relax (pacified by drugs and entertainment) and the Arbiters (bound by professional obligation) lack. The progression from Shakram's individual acts of defiance to the organized global uprising of Booklet 023 to the political sophistication of the F.F.D.E. coalition in Booklets 076-079 traces the evolution of a resistance movement that begins at the absolute bottom of the social order and ultimately reaches the top.

Bridge Figures

Several of the saga's most important characters are people who cross the boundary between the Noman underclass and the upper castes:

• Brak Shakram -- from Gray Guard captain to Noman leader
• Hanstein -- from Manag to Noman
• Carsen -- a Noman who becomes an essential ally of David terGorden, the corporate heir
• David terGorden himself -- the GeneralManag who allies with Nomans from his very first adventure

These bridge figures demonstrate that the caste divisions are artificial constructions maintained by force, not natural categories. The alliance between David and Shakram in the bunkers of Ultima Thule (Booklet 006) prefigures the alliance between David and Lucci at the steps of the Council administration (Booklet 079).

The Power of Information

A recurring theme in the Noman narrative is the struggle for information. Shakram dies transmitting truth to the Nomans during the Oxyd crisis (Booklet 021). The Noman uprising of Booklet 023 is built around the seizure of the Kaiser Corporation's transmitter and the broadcasting of suppressed information. In a civilization where the corporations control all media through the RMN and where disinformation is a tool of governance, the Noman resistance's most radical act is often simply telling the truth.

The Name That Endures

Brak Shakram dies in Booklet 021, but his name lives on through Booklet 099. The Commando Brak Shakram operates for years after his death, evolving from a Noman resistance cell into a recognized political force that negotiates with the Lord Colonel of the Council. The fact that a movement named after a dead Noman -- a non-person in the eyes of the law -- ultimately helps dismantle the Council of Corporations is one of the saga's most powerful ironies and one of its most hopeful statements about the persistence of resistance.

Related Concepts

• Noman Sign -- The red triangle worn by Nomans as a mark of their caste
• Noman Hunt -- The practice of hunting Nomans for sport
• Noman Uprising -- The 2501 global uprising of the Nomans
• Noman philosophy -- The distinctive worldview of the Noman underclass, particularly associated with Carsen
• Noman Hideout -- Hidden locations used by the Nomans
• Hauptquartier der Nomans -- The headquarters of the Nomans
• Noman-Horde -- An organized group of Nomans led by Ulana Graiowskanowa
• Noman Leader -- The rank/title of Noman leaders such as Brak Shakram

Related Articles

• War of the Castes -- The 2503 civil war that finally breaks the caste system
• F.F.D.E. -- The umbrella resistance organization that grew from the Noman resistance
• Commando Brak Shakram -- The paramilitary arm of the F.F.D.E., named after the Noman martyr
• Council of Corporations -- The corporate oligarchy that maintained the caste system
• Gray Guards -- The military force that enforced caste oppression and hunted the Nomans
• Drivers -- The PSI-gifted caste; PSI-stripped Drivers may become Nomans
• Relax -- The pacified caste above the Nomans; Relax can be demoted to Noman status
• PSI Powers -- The abilities whose removal can condemn a person to Noman status
• Dead Spaces -- The underground prison beneath Berlin, adjacent to Noman habitats
• Berlin Shooting Club -- The organization that hunts Nomans for sport
• Silent Drivers -- Drivers stripped of PSI who share the Nomans' experience of loss
• Brak Shakram -- The most famous Noman leader and martyr of the resistance
• Manuel Lucci -- Coordinator of Commando Brak Shakram and inheritor of the Noman cause

Appearances

The Nomans or Noman-related themes appear in the following booklets:

The Nomans or their legacy appear in at least 13 of the 99 booklets of Die Terranauten. From the bunkers of Ultima Thule to the ruins of New Delhi, from the hunted outcasts of Old Berlin to the political leadership of the F.F.D.E., the Nomans' arc traces the saga's central conviction: that no system of oppression, however total, can permanently silence those it seeks to erase.