Talk:Minbari

Strength of Minbari weaponry

The article states that "The Minbari are more advanced in terms of technology than the humans but their weapons are not necessarily more powerful." While the gap in strength is certainly reduced during the course of the series, the Minbari ships are still more powerful. This especially holds true for the Earth-Minbari war, where EarthForce ships are unable to harm Minbari ships at all. (The only exception being Sheridan's attack, where he is hiding a fusion bomb in an asteroid field to bring down a Minbari war cruiser.) During The Battle of the Line, Delenn even comments that the humans keep fighting, even though they are unable to harm Minbari ships. In the first episode of season two, Sheridan comments that human targeting systems were unable to target or track Minbari vessels during the war, effectively making the Minbari fighters invulnerable to EarthForce fighters.

In short, this claim either needs to be more detailed (their small-arms weapons may be comparable to human weapons?), re-written or removed.84.208.160.97 (talk) 17:41, 25 December 2012 (UTC)

Martial Arts

I was just watching the episode near the end of the first season where Lannier and Londo get in a fight in the casino due to Londo cheating at poker. There are other episodes where the Minbari strike a Bruce Lee-like martial arts pose when they are confronted by a hostile person. But in this episode, you get to see some of Lannier's fighting skills. Any additions about Minbari martial arts would be appreciated. Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.230.226.185 (talk) 05:39, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

a Minbari not born of Minbari

Changed "a Minbari not born of Minbari" to "a Minbari not born of Minbar" since the quote is of the planet/origin of the race MinbariMementh (talk) 03:51, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I just watched the show to confirm this and you are incorrect. the quote is: "A Minbari not born of Minbari". It is a reference to the fact that Valen's parents are not Minbari, (plenty of Minbari would be born on planets other than Minbar anyway since they have many planets under their control). I have corrected the article. 118.208.240.247 (talk) 04:35, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

I agree with the second statement. In the subtitles on the DVDs the quote is clearly "a Minbari not born of Minbari". It does not refer to a location but to the fact that Valen was human-born. Please, do not change it back again, unless you have written proof that the DVDs of the show are wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Amj1967 (talk • contribs) 15:47, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Concur. Editorially not allowed to change a direct quote, even if the English is "poor". WP:MOS might allow a [sic] to be added (see WP:MOSQUOTE), but I'm wondering what is the point when nobody misses the meaning? See also Talk:Valen. —Aladdin Sane (talk) 01:36, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

Satai

Actually Grey Council members are called Satai not Catai.

Satai is not a noun, thus it is incorrect to say they are 'called' Satai. The word Satai is actually 'satai-', and is an honorific prefix, like the Japanese suffix '-dono' or '-sempai' but its use is exclusive TO members of the Grey Council. Actually, when you watch the first season and think about it the Minbari draw quite a few parallels to Edo period Japan and Pre-Meiji Shinto-Buddhism. Verlocs 02:47, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't think that that distinction was made, and while it certainly is used as an honorific, it is also used as a title of office (e.g. "you are satai!" or the computer's recitation of what "satai" means when Sinclair researches it, see "Soul Hunter").

True seekers

I've added a True seekers section and cited the heck out of the religion section. Someone please carry the torch and cite the rest of the article? -Harmil 16:00, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

True seekers do not have anything to do with saving humanity or such, and that part has been removed. The defining feature is pursuing a quest of the heart. Brother Edward is also a true seeker, and his quest was purely for theological information, not world-saving.68.188.213.53 (talk) 17:57, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

biology

The bone crest on the head of some Minbari was blatantly modelled after the haircut of the German countertenor Klaus Nomi, who gave himself the appearance of a space alien as his stage persona. 89.51.32.215 (talk) 02:01, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

This article could really use a photo of the Minbari people.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.250.140.219 (talk) 15:54, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

Minbari facial hair is not because of Valen interbreeding with them and intermingling his human DNA into the gene pool. JMS said so during an interview. It's also implied here on the Lurker's guide for the episode, Atonement. http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/075.html#JS The Valen connection to Minbari facial hair is a just fan theory and has been disproven. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:644:4301:85F0:1138:92EB:E736:F0AC (talk) 04:18, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

Stellar Location

Do we have a confirmed source for Minbar's location in Space? While the rest of the paragraph is Canon (7th planet, colder, crystals, ice, length of year), 25LY seems a ludicriously small distance between Civilisations, especially one which has been spacefaring for a thousand years.Draffa 23:04, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Minbari language

In reality, much of the Minbari spoken on screen is derived from Russian, with phrases such as не можно ne mozhno spoken with a subtitle saying Don't be, such as in the episode War Without End Part I.

I might insist that this is duscussable. This phrase "ne mozhno" sound much more polish rather than russian. Sure russian speaking people understand these words but actually in modern russian language this word is pronounced as "нельзя" - "nel'zya". Assuming the polish roots of JMS it seems to be much more possible that language is derived from polish not russian. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.134.5.167 (talk) 12:41, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

It may sound Polish (and might even be Polish too, I don't know), but those are real words in Russian and are completely separate from the word "nel'zya" you are thinking of.68.188.213.53 (talk) 18:02, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Section on courting

I just pulled this section, and I think it should be looked over:

Pair Bonding and Courtship under Society

Minbari pair bonding and courtship is far more intentional and ritualistic than the practices of other races. Nothing seems to be taudry or short term. Matches are arranged with partners being extremely intentional about their goals. Courting is a long winded process involving numerous rituals that are very formal in nature.

I feel, as an editor, that the sub-section as written is too far into opinion, and fails to instead state facts about the fictional species. However, I think it is fixable, and if not already in the article belongs there. I'd like for me or someone to re-write it as "fictional fact" and cite it to its sources: Most of what is written here is actually in an episode somewhere. —Aladdin Sane (talk) 23:24, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Lifespan

The article says that "living as long as 120 years". There seems to be ample evidence that this data is not accurate. In "The Quality of Mercy", Lennier mentions his "eleventy-fifth cycle". The B5 wiki, and a number of other sources, say that he arrived on-station at an age of "over 110 cycles" which translates to 146 years of age, "suggesting a maximum life expectancy of 450-500 cycles (600-670 years of age)"

http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Minbari

Admittedly, their translations and data are as non-canon and non-authoritative as the claim in the article, but it would be good to find an actual value here and put it in. But it does seem that their values are closer in line with the "reality" of the show.

DBalling (talk) 12:10, 6 May 2014 (UTC)