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Despite what you may think, No Man's Sky has a lot more lore than it seems. Over time as one update after another added more content and creativity to the game, a rich and pretty grim universe of lore had been built up. With a wide-reaching history interconnecting most, if not all, of the species within the game in one way or another, substantially adding more depth to the galaxy.
For the Gek in particular, history paints a pretty bad picture of this seemingly comical space-faring species. Because though they may be trade-focused entrepreneurs, those Gek that came before were an entirely different breed. So with that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about the Gek First Spawn.
Who Are The Gek?
Before we get started, it's worth catching up with where the Gek are right now in No Man's Sky. They're one of three core alien races of the universe, and they're a primarily merchant species that are amphibian in nature and hail from the planet Balaron. Seeming fairly timid and jovial in nature, they communicate in a series of verbal squeaks and squawks as well as the occasional odorous smell.
They’re quite goofy little space goblins whenever you meet them and will often happily trade items for credits whenever they have the chance. Their systems are where you can often find Hauler class starships and their societal hierarchy is also merchant based, with known higher up titles often being referred to as Directors, Supervisors, Brokers, and lower groups taking up the aptly named "SalesGek" positions.
Who Were The First Spawn?
“This Galaxy is vast but it is knowable and it can be conquered. It shall be subjugated. The rising tide of the First Spawn will sweep away any that oppose it.”- Quote From A Translated Gek Plaque
Though clownish and cartoonish caricatures they may seem, the Gek that preceded the current generation were as far as you could get from the familiar fools we all know. In the early days of the Universe, the Gek were once a ruthless and expansive galactic empire.
Gek reproduce in spawning cycles and at that time they were led by the infamous First Spawn. A group that was so impulsive and aggressive that it saw all other races (including other Gek) as inferior. In Gek Lore found through monoliths, it’s said that those who opposed the First Spawn were thrown into fire or exiled to become beasts of the field. Referred to as Minor Gek, these unfortunates were regularly slain and fed upon by their brethren, who were said to grow stronger from the cannibalistic feeding frenzy.
Though the early Empire was large in number, it was not yet strong enough to dominate the stars. Previous engagements with Sentinels protecting planets had not gone particularly well for the Gek. So it took a colossal war between the Sentinels and the Vy’keen, where both sides almost annihilated each other, for the First Spawn to be able to creep their way out of the shadows. With little to no force to oppose them, they began to purge the stars of everything non-Gek.
The Culling Of The Korvax
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During their crusades, countless planets were burned by the First Spawn, and numerous species were expunged from the solar system forever, but perhaps the biggest blow was dealt to the Korvax. During an event known as the Great Disconnection, the Gek shredded the home planet of the Korvax (Korvax Prime) along with a sizeable portion of their main Neural Network Hub.
Billions were killed and countless precious memories uploaded to the Hubs databanks from past Korvax were lost forever to the void of space. Those that remained alive at the end of the conflict were either mercilessly enslaved or had their robotic bodies melted down and sold for scrap. It was genocide on a galactic scale that no one had witnessed before and it’s a tragedy you can still find evidence of from the various Gek monoliths, plaques, and other artifacts left around the Universe.
The Downfall Of The First Spawn Empire
At the peak of their dominance and cruelty, it seemed like the Gek had no rivals, and that was pretty much true. Their scaly blood-stained hands reached far across the outer edges of the galaxy and held tight to its control, but it was an iron grip that was not to last long.
Moves in the shadows had already begun against them, as hundreds of enslaved Korvax gathered in secret near the spawning pools of the Gek homeworld of Balaron. A great host that in unison, sacrificed itself, spilling their nanite cluster infused lifeblood into the pools, with the goal of using it to rewrite the genetic structure of future First Spawn embryos with help from The Atlas. An act so desperate, it actually seemed to work.
The Changing Of Opinions
Though the evidence of their actions would be discovered, it would take a number of years before the effects would be felt. Over time, the following generations of Gek would find a sudden devotion to the Atlas and an urge to be more commercially focused instead of empirical. Though the First Spawn seemed to accept this emerging part of their species, doing so would be their downfall.
This new and pliable side of the Gek allowed the Korvax Priesthood to quietly recruit and gain influence over members of the Empire that had become humbled by the religious epiphanies brought on by meeting the Atlas Interface in person - when in reality it was just their nanite-altered DNA going into action to make them more compliant. The numbers of this new cult grew, and eventually, significant members of Gek society were recruited and began to question the nature of the First Spawn Empire they lived in and the methods for obtaining it.
The Uprising Begins At Last
After years of torment from the Gek, the long-running machinations of the Korvax finally went into full swing. Upon hundreds of manufactory worlds, Korvax slaves rebelled against their masters as anarchy broke out in the heart of the First Spawns territory.
It created untold chaos across the galaxy and cost a number of lives, as the Gek Overlords that tried to stop it met swift and unexpected resistance from peers now turned dissidents. The empire as a whole fractured, with the First Spawn being utterly crippled both militarily, and more so economically because of the loss of production from the rebellions.
What Happened To The Remaining First Spawn?
Those First Spawn Gek not caught in the conflict with the Korvax or in rebellions on Gek controlled worlds were ruthlessly attacked by Sentinel robots, repaired by the Atlas, and returned to claim planets they once protected. The culminating battles completely crushed the First Spawn, with their remaining forces seemingly annihilated from the face of the Universe.
To make sure they could never return, the First Spawn's spawning pools on Balaron that were not infected by nanites by the Korvax, were dredged. Thousands of infants and unborn Gek alike were heartlessly left to dry out in the sun. It was a pretty brutal end to an exceedingly monstrous side of a species. Though the Gek have managed to move on from their dark past, there are still rumors spreading throughout the galaxy that members of this group survived and worse, might yet return.