Kadeshi – Homeworld. 9 iconic & notorious enemies from 90s' games

Who were the kadeshi?

The Kadeshi were an alien race in the timeless, real-time, space-opera strategy game Homeworld. At first, they were only known as the Protectors of the Garden. They thrived in isolation, hunting the ships that wandered into their remote nebula. Over time, the nebula became a center of their obscure cult, and the visitors were only given two options – join them or die – no matter the costs. Hunting for other ships became their recipe for survival – acquiring new resources without the risk of exploiting their natural habitat. The Kadeshi built a vast fleet of spike-like ships and special devices to inhibit hyperspace jumps of other ships, preventing them from escaping. Another deadly weapon were small fighters that could swarm an enemy ship. The Kadeshi have earned a reputation of great and fearsome warriors.

Why were they memorable?

In missions where you have to face the kadeshi, the swarms of small fighters were the biggest problem that kept players at the edge of their seats. They could appear out of nowhere and reduce an entire fleet to one, giant wreckage. It was almost like a horde mode, in which you not only have to survive waves of enemies, but also find a way to stop them coming, for example by destroying their fuel stations. In the original game, meeting the kadeshi was designed as a surprise, and encounter with something completely unknown, and very deadly.

1. Homeworld in our encyclopedia