Remarkable Creatures: The Space Whale

Another page in the Remarkable Creatures compendium of real, mythic and imagined beasts.

The space whale is a creature of such transcendent perfection that we must wonder if we ourselves imagined it into being. It is most surely the result of no familiar evolution. A being built not upon carbon, but still somehow alive; our awe is matched only by incredulity.

The creature is distinguished in every respect by its strangeness. True, it is enormous when compared to those that roam the Earth, but among the realm of celestial bodies it is tiny, not even twice the length of a space station. So it is perplexing that the creature possesses such great mass - even the smallest is dense enough to exert alarming gravitational attraction. A pod of these creatures can move stars.

Space whales are seen not by the light they reflect but by the light they absent. A ghostly, twinkling mirage across the heavens. But it is not through sight that we truly behold their majesty. The song of the space whale is heard even by those without ears, it is a melody piped directly to the soul. The beast's song befits its nature: it calls and it terrifies; it intrigues yet is without guile; it reveals, in parallel, our hope and our hopelessness.

In time past, a reckless humankind hunted all that was on Earth until no challenge remained. Unabashed, we lifted unsated, appetent eyes to the skies, and thusly the space whale revealed itself. Our punishment or our salvation? Those who answered the beast’s taunt, blubber-hunters wrapped up tight in fragile shells who cast themselves like lines into the dark, have hooked nothing but tragedy. And yet, others are impatient to follow. The more perilous the quest becomes, the more eagerly we pursue. It matters not whether the space whale lures us toward judgement or transcendence; we cannot help but favour either fate above that of not knowing.

Characteristics

Type of Beast: Non-carbon lifeform.

Habitat: Space.

Strengths: Pretty much everything: strong, cannot be injured by conventional physics or weapons, intelligent in ways humans can't comprehend.

Weaknesses: Pretty much nothing: though not very dexterous at the miniscule scale of humans.

Unique Features: Strong gravitational field, melodic telekinesis that affects emotion, composed of dark matter.

Usual Disposition: Aloof, ineffable.

Can I fight one?: Not unless you want to be crushed into a ball of nothingness.

Can I pet one?: Only in the abstract.

Size: Beyond huge.

Cognition: Sapient (ability to think, the capacity for intelligence, the ability to acquire wisdom).

Movement: Flying. Faster than your spaceship.

What do I do if I see one?: Learn whatever you can, resist the siren song, don't get in the way.

But Why?

Space whales, air whales, and sky whales have appeared in a variety of forms in mythology and science fiction, old and new, but there doesn't seem to be any consistency in the way their form or origin or motivations are represented. This is just the way they like it.

This page is my own imagining. It tickles me, and I like to think that more people would study astronomy/astrophysics (as I so very obviously have not) if we characterised dark matter as space whales.

Interesting links:

TVTropes details some cool pop-cultural space whale sightings.

The constellation Cetus represents the sea monster / whale from Greek mythology.

And the Fuck Yeah Space Whales tumblr account collated a huge range of space whale art between 2010 and 2017.