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M'Lee
M-lee
Got milk?
First appearance 1.21 ("Bone To Be Wild")
Details
Nickname(s) None
Gender Female
Species Unknown, but calcivorous
Affiliation Independent
Age Unknown
Romantic Associations None
Known Family Father, mother, and two brothers, all deceased; eaten by either her or others of her kind
Vehicle of Choice None
Weapon of Choice Her teeth, which can crunch through solid bone with ease; her nails and the spikes that pop out all over her body probably possess offensive capabilities as well
Portrayed by Francesca Buller

Character History[]

Before Farscape[]

M'Lee was born on a tiny verdant asteroid in an unknown portion of the galaxy within Peacekeeper territory. Her ancestors were brought to the asteroid by a race of botanists to which Br'Nee belonged in order to rid the asteroid of all herbivorous lifeforms. M'Lee's people preyed upon every creature on the asteroid, but eventually exhausted the tiny satellite of its creatures. With no other source of food, her people were forced to turn to cannibalism in order to survive. M'Lee is the last of her race on this asteroid.

Just when M'Lee was about to starve to death, a small group of the botanist race arrived on the asteroid to see if the calcivores had done their job. M'Lee killed and devoured all of the botanists except for Br'Nee, but knew that once Br'Nee was dead as well, her own death would be imminent.

Season 1[]

M'Lee was saved by the arrival of John Crichton, Ka D'Argo, and Zhaan, who had been chased into the asteroid field by Crais and chanced to catch a distress call that M'Lee herself had sent out. Arriving on the asteroid, they ran into both M'Lee and Br'Nee. M'Lee attempted to ingratiate herself with Crichton and Zhaan by painting a picture of herself as a poor colonist whose family had been killed by Br'Nee (which, in a way, was true). However, her disguise was shattered when she lost control of her hunger and attacked Crichton; running from her, Crichton encountered Br'Nee, who revealed M'Lee's true nature as a calcivore to both Crichton and Zhaan.

Eavesdropping on Br'Nee's conversation with Crichton, M'Lee revealed herself to the earthling again once Zhaan and Br'Nee had gone to heal D'Argo, who had been wounded by Br'Nee earlier. Admitting to her status as a calcivore, M'Lee went a step further and told Crichton how Br'Nee's people had brought her own here in the past, using them as tools to kill all the creatures on the planet and expecting them to starve to death afterwards. She assured Crichton that she could control her hunger long enough for him to take her to another planet where she could feed and survive, and begged him to do so. D'Argo, however, suggested that she instead wait on the asteroid for the Peacekeepers, who were hot on Moya's tracks and would be sure to be on the asteroid soon.

M'Lee waited as D'Argo suggested, devouring the bones of the by-now-deceased Br'Nee in order to present herself as a harmless creature to the Peacekeepers. She beseeched the Peacekeepers for assistance when they landed, assistance that Scorpius claimed he would give her. M'Lee is not seen again—however, Crais later mentioned that one of their Marauders was outbound with the adopted alien girl on board, the security officer assigned to watch her missing....

Racial Traits[]

Although M'Lee's race is never revealed, the traits of said race certainly are. They are calcivores; they feed on the bones of their prey. To this end, they possess an extremely heightened sense of smell that enables them to locate bone-carrying creatures from a distance, although it is unknown whether they smell the body and sweat of their targets or simply the bones themselves.

M'Lee's is similar to a kind of Venus fly-trap of a race. They have two distinct forms: passive and active. While passive, they appear innocent and harmless, pale-colored and helpless; M'Lee reinforces this image by acting innocent and naive while she remains in this mode. This appearance of delicacy allows them to choose and move in close to their victim. Once they become hungry and move into active killing mode, a razored fin rises up from their backs and spines pop out all over their bodies; they then attack their prey, kill and eat it, and return to passive mode to search out their next target. They rapidly lose control of themselves when hungry, unable to be around edible creatures without assuming active mode and attacking them, which makes them extremely dangerous to be around.

Quotes[]

  • You smell different. You smell like out there.
  • I'm feeling...hungry.
  • I HAVE TO EAT, JOHN.

Trivia[]

  • It is thanks to M'Lee's sense of smell that Crichton learns that Delvians are actually plant-based rather than animal-based.
  • Francesca Buller is the wife of series star Ben Browder. She would later return to play Ro-NA, Raxil, and War Minister Ahkna.
  • One original idea for episode 2.15 "Won't Get Fooled Again" was to have M'Lee appear in one of Crichton's many surreal moments snacking on a plate of bones.
  • M'Lee was supposed to return in season 5.

Appearances[]

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