Kalish

The Kalish are a fictional alien race in the Farscape universe. They are mainly represented in the series by the character Sikozu, although she is an abnormal case.

Culture
The species has been conquered by, and assimilated into the structure of, the Scarran Imperium. Following this conquest, the Kalish were socially engineered into the role of the Imperium's bureaucrats, technicians and civil servants. As a result, Kalish society has come to value traits such as intellectualism and pragmatism.

Resistance
Even though the Kalish chaffe beneath their overlords, their lack of military options forces the vast majority of the population to accept the status quo. However there is a small resistance movement that have gained access to Scarran bioloid technology in order to further their goals. A number of these Kalish replicants have been genetically engineered with a capability to emit an energy pulse lethal to their oppressors, which may be expressed as an area effect or focused through the hands. The bioloids are able to signal recognition of one another by rotating an eye in its socket.

The Organisation
Mentioned only once, this would appear to be the main organ through which the Kalish maintain business relationships with other species - in her first appearance Sikozu's services as a leviathan expert had been contracted to a crew of toubray hunters. Working for the Organisation is an extremely prestigious yet demanding occupation; the terms of the contracts negotiated for entry level employees leave little room for failure.

Physiology
Kalish are humanoids, with distinct male and female genders that by inference possess a means of reproduction physically compatible with humans. A common colouration is caucasian skin with a golden scale-like pattern emerging from the hairline, red hair and either blue or green eyes. As a species they are capable of learning to "shift their center of gravity" in order to walk on walls or ceilings, a technique allegedly connected to their lack of large veins and arteries. It also involves 'receptors' of some unspecified kind that can be interfered with by chemical substances - evidence suggests that they may be analogous to the function of the inner ear. Kalish only need to eat ten times a cycle, gorging themselves to excess to; the process of digestion generates a pleasurable sensation.

Though Sikozu demonstrated a regenerative ability to reattach severed limbs without the need for surgery on a number of occasions, the lack of any other Kalish character showing a similar capability leaves it unclear whether this is a species trait or a factor of her bioloid nature. Similarly as other Kalish and bioloids have demonstrated the ability to understand Crichton speaking English upon first encountering him, it is reasonable to assume the inability to tolerate translator microbes may be a side effect of process involved in creating the anti-Scarran bioweapon mentioned above. Her claimed vulnerability to radiation may variously be a Kalish or bioloid trait.