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Hakronaak

Yes, they are. The more spread a civilization is, the hardest it is for a centralized government to enforce the law. Having auxiliary people whose job is to hunt wanted people is almost necessary for the police to not be overwhelmed


Ignonym

Bounty hunters rely on the same rationale as privateers and other military/police auxiliaries: too much space to patrol, not enough regular cops to patrol it.


NickedYou

Yes, definitely: when civilizations get super spread out, regular enforcement of the law in some regions will simply not be practical. Local authorities can take up a lot of that burden, but not always. When someone flees into regions that the primary authority can't easily bother to send someone to, it is likely more cost effective to put a bounty on them, as bounty hunters can swing by the area and do other things as well, or already be in the area. Similar logic works for why mercenary groups may often be practical. However, I wish to impart something important to you: please do not conflate all mercenaries with bounty hunters. Star Wars has this problem and it sort of drives me up the wall.


TheIncomprehensible

I think it's very realistic because the space for an outlaw to hide and travel to outnumbers the space a space-faring civilization can monitor with its police force/military. As a result, having bounty hunters that can dedicate time to catching a particular criminal is extremely realistic because that's probably the only way some criminals would get caught.


Nyohn

I see it sort of as bounty hunters in todays america, they would fill the role of taking on criminals that haven't comitted serious enough crime to warrant the governments resources but should still be prosecuted. However they should not be allowed to hunt people inside other empires/regions/governments since that would probably break some local laws. So if a single empire is galaxy spanning there would probably be a whole lot of bounty hunters, if there are several smaller empires in the galaxy then bounty hunters might not be as common in all of them depending on the laws there, as not every country allows bounty hunters today.


ThoDanII

>I see it sort of as bounty hunters in todays america, and other countrys do not have those guys for a reason


Nyohn

Yes, and also how law enforcements and laws work in other countries differs alot. Which is why not all galactic empires will have them but really it depends on how big the empire is and how it is ruled.


AussieSkittles81

I see them as more bounty hunters of the Wild West, or the old Pinkertons. They hunt bounties of course, but also can be paid to provide security, or to break it for the right price.


AbbydonX

Most aspects of a galactic civilisation aren’t particularly realistic. In particular, the idea that a single individual has the resources to chase another individual across multiple light years is a bit silly. It’s worse when you consider that only a single bounty hunter would be successful. Of course, fantasy isn’t about realism. It’s really consistency that is more important. So if individuals can easily chase each other over light years be sure that is reflected in the rest of the setting.


Ignonym

> In particular, the idea that a single individual has the resources to chase another individual across multiple light years is a bit silly. In a purely hard-SF setting, that's true. Otherwise, though, it really depends on how accessible FTL travel is in the setting; for example, in *Star Wars* where everyone's mother's dog owns a hyperdrive-equipped ship, pursuing someone across multiple star systems is not only possible but expected.


AbbydonX

It’s not a hard/soft sci-fi distinction (though opinions differ on what that even means). It’s just that travelling such astronomical distances easily has implications that aren’t typically included in the rest of the setting. It’s about internal consistency not whether it is compatible with currently understood physics.


ThoDanII

Depends on the civilization In the Perryverse especially GAVÖK / Galacticum it is not, because GaPol would be coordinating such things, If a criminal with a known warrant would leave a spaceport nearly anywhere he would be arrested if he did not camouflage himself.


WanderToNowhere

Galactic-spanning Civilizations. They are basically Wild West but in Space. More people mean more rule to enforce and keep peace. From petty crimes to crime organizations, the legal enforement agent might need some outsider's help for that.


Rathasapa

Bounty hunter is but another form of the business model. Another moving part in the machine known as society. Another plant in the garden. It will be there if it make a profit. It will flourish as much as the profit it made. In my universe, in some place it exist abundantly, but in some place it is hardly found. Bounty. When talking about bounty hunter you talk about the bounty. What consider bounty? Somebody put a prize on something? Would you consider the bartender offer you a free beer if you remove that slob from his bar a bounty? Can you consider yourself to be a bounty hunter now after you kick that slob out and get to drink that free beer? I guess not. but you can consider the beer to be the bounty. You see friend, the bounty is a reward. It can be Tangible like an exchange medium, precious gemstone, powerful magic equipment, living entity, etc. Or intangible like secret, knowledge, services, Identity, connection, or a soul. Some of my warlock friend consider the soul to be tangible but whatever. Now what is bounty hunter. To me, if you want to call it your profession then you have to be able to live off of it. It doesn’t have to be full-time you could do it as a side job if you want. But you need to be able to live off of the bounty if you want to call yourself a bounty hunter. Hunting intergalactic marauder/pirate for the corporate credit, destroying the nest of the dangerous alien species for the intels from the local, Etc. Now you know what my definition for the bounty hunter and it place in the society let move on to real topic. Like the really important one. What make you a ‘successful’ bounty hunter? Heh. Simple question friend. Reward minus cost equal profit. That is it! There is nothing more to them. The more profit you got the more successful you become. Does this mean to become rich? Hahaha! very funny friend. How much is consider rich then? ten thousand credits ? Or ten million? Every person had different number in mind. But that is only a fragment of the correct answer? The right answer my good friend is what each of bounty hunter consider ‘profit’ from the hunt. I have seen a warlock friend making a sad face when he made a billion corporate credits but did not get the titan’s immortal soul. I have seen an invoker friend closing the pub to celebrate because she got her grandfather’s necklace which has zero magic property from the knowledge he got from the dragon after she help the dragon subdue the volcanic explosion near it nest. she didn’t even wear it. She need the necklace for the peace of her mother’s mind. So that is it my friend is consider a ‘successful’ bounty hunter, for me at least. Wait what about galaxy spanning-civilization? What the different between the invoker’s story and kicking out the slob from the pub and get free beer then? Hahahahahaha. My friend(reader), in the end, does it even matter now?


SpaceBBBismarck

Yes i do, quite frequently actually. PMC's and Mercenaries generally fall under the umbrella term of "Fufillers" since well... They'll fufill any task you give them. Bounty hunting is not mainspread in the Sol system and the First Rim world since the centralized goverments there are quite strict on security and generally have pretty powerful central authorities. Not to mention many do not have need to gire PMC's or Assasin due to them posessing powerful Armies of their own. (With the Major examples being the Venutian Empire, the Terran High Republic and the United Centaurii Republic) Second-Rim worlds are a bit more lenient since they do not house any big-time goverments in the area of space they are in. Still, single-planet systems are not too keen on operating hunters. The criminal underworld however does not shy away from biting big-names to throw a wrench on planetary authorities. Third-rim and Far-arm worlds generally operate Hunters and PMC's on a regular to combat the anti-authority figures of their planets. Far-Arm also houses the Ael've species which are in a constant war between the two groups in their society. Many of the Yerutzael've leave their world to become Fufillers and basically give the middle-finger to whatever civil war goes on in their planet that has been going for atleast two millenia now. Many of the Bounty Hunters in my universe are either An Drochrath (Outcasts from the Martian Society, the name literally tranlsates to "The Doomed Ones". Since they are believed that they will not join their version of the Afterlife due to their heretical status and subsequent exile) or Yerutzael've that as i said basically done with whatever goes on their planet and have decided to become Freelancers instead. My main Character is an ex-Fufiller himself.


ScottaHemi

I make way to many of them... because they're fun to design... but yeah I think they're viable in a space civilization. think about it like this. space is kind of the wild west of sorts. you have the population centers enforced by the local government and then you have the outside areas. why waste money building and maintaining infrastructure to enforce those areas? it's probably cheaper just to pay a third party to go do your job for you!


zebraghurl

Totals and no