So, I side with the Hamidon.

Well, obviously, wiping out humanity entirely is an overreaction, but before, during and after the Hamidon Wars, humanity has been systematically degrading and destroying all other parts of the Earth's environment. While I can't agree with his policy of genocide, I also can't agree with humanity's response - to shut out the wilderness behind the sonic fences, burn away the forests and wild places near any settlement, and build up a "perfect" little island of concrete, glass and steel. We don't even grow our own flowers, and have to endure those Syntha-Flora mockeries. The only water supply in Praetoria is chained to an industrial plant and doped with Enriche. The tunnels are filled not only with Neuron's embarrasing failures, but also the waste, industrial and domestic, of thousands of homes and hundreds of manufacturing plants. And the glorious Emperor's only response to this obvious challenge from Gaia herself? Build a bomb. Escalate the war on nature.

I don't know about Marcus Cole, but the rest of us need to breathe. We need to eat and drink. And if we win the war against nature, if we destroy all the wild places, then we won't be able to. The ecosystem collapses, and our high-rises will become mausolea. The Hamidon is more than just a monster. It's a warning. Our planet will not stand to be abused much longer, and when one champion of the wild has been stopped, another will rise to take its place. Can we really afford to fight another Hamidon? A bigger, better, more primally destructive beast? We don't have to agree with the Hamidon to accept that there's a problem, and that bigger cities and more technology won't fix it.

How do we know that Praetorian Hami isn't a tragic hero? Remember the human race had nearly rendered the world uninhabitable. What would be Eco-terrorism in the presence of a responsible humanity, might be Eco-salvation in the distopia that was nuclear ravaged Praetorian earth.

I'll continue to fight on the side of the one being that actually makes sense to me: Me. If it's in my best interest to save you for later use then so be it.

Another thing you should note is that Earth would require a great amount of time to revert to a "natural state," if that's even possible.

In my area, we have an invasive species called "Pale Swallow Wort," a member of the milkweed family that is known for choking the life out of everything in the areas it grows. I have seen some of the worst infestations, and they are certainly not pretty.

Kudzu is another example of an invasive species that just chokes the life out of other vegetation. You may acquire a green world, but it won't be the perfect jewel you're envisioning.

I've got nothing to say about the rest because it's a preference of philosophy that I now realize I only disagree with. It's unsettling, but it's your right to believe that humanity should be destroyed so Mother Earth can take back over.

This gives me ideas for Druid-like toons who worship Hami!

Unlike every other species, however, only humans have the technology to remove themselves from the Earth after making it uninhabitable for themselves.

Each of the species you mentioned would eventually find their point of equilibrium within their environment just as every other non-human species does.

I am not in any way stating this to side with the concept that the world would be better off without humans on it. It would be Earth without humans, nothing more and nothing less. Making the statement that one is better than the other is as nonsensical as stating that blue flowers are prettier than purple elephants.

If you are looking for examples of non-human life destroying the environment, just consider the appearance of green plants. They poisoned the environment with highly toxic and corrosive oxygen, destroying everything that failed to adapt to it or hide from it. Unless we get to the point where we render the atmosphere and hydrosphere fatal to all present life, we won't equal that.

Trees also devastated the planet; they poisoned the oceans by breaking up rock with their roots and causing a massive flow of dissolved minerals into the ocean.

Man, I wouldn't mind devouring a Devouring Earth pizza.

Devourminos. The box with the tentacles.

In Praetoria, Pizza devours YOU!!!

Phew, this thread got a bit political fast... Anyway, IMHO, humanity is best accepting its place in nature and working with it than trying to rule it. By trying to do the latter, Hamidon falls into the villain category.

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Originally Posted by Pedro Schwartz This gives me ideas for Druid-like toons who worship Hami!

My Druid toon actually spent some time as a part of the DE but these days he's in tune with the real nature of the planet, not Hami's.

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Man, I wouldn't mind devouring a Devouring Earth pizza. Devourminos. The box with the tentacles.

Funny, I'm actually in a plot doing something like that right now. Of course, the customers don't know that they're going to turn into DE creatures after eating enough of it but hey... I am a villain after all.

Still, I'm not completely convinced that Hamidon is the villain he's portrayed to be in Praetoria. This is Cole's version of 'the truth' we're dealing with here. Do we even know if the Praetorian DE are the same as the ones on Primal Earth? From the description of Hamidon's fight with Cole, I think not. It appears there were tentacles involved.

I wouldn't be surprised to find out later that the release of the Will of the Earth virus was an accident or that Hamidon was set up in some way. Something about him being the 'Big Bad' almost overshadows Cole and makes him look like more of a hero to the people. I smell political jiggery pokery here.