The Kinitawowi are bulky humanoids that stand in at around six feet high; they are covered in warts and shaggy dull orange/copper/brown fur. Judging from their appearance it would seem they were roughly based upon orang-utan DNA. As Kryten states, some have their sphincteral orifices in their faces and as such touching of the face was considered highly offensive to them.

Due to their stout and brawny bodies, they were probably originally engineered by space astros for use as slave labour and for demanding physical tasks. It was revealed in the seventh series "lost episode" Identity Within that the Kinitawowi were originally bred as quartermasters aboard deep space starships. However it is unclear whether or not this is considered canon in the Red Dwarf universe.

Their bodies are extremely tough; in the fifth episode of the seventh series (Beyond a Joke), a direct blast of plasma from Dave Lister's bazookoid (a mining tool normally reserved for blowing up rocks) did not kill a Kinitawowi; in fact it merely stunned the creature even though it was shot at close range.

Previous assimilation into Earth culture of the Kinitawowi people is demonstrated by a number of facets of their own culture; for example the Kinitawowi measure time in "hanaka" which is curiously similar to one minute. However it does appear as though the Kinitawowi have since rejected any form of writing, or never had any form of writing in the first instance. The Kinitawowi people are now firmly rooted in Deep Space and have very little, if anything, to do with humans.

The Kinitawowi lead a primitive tribal existence on various moons and asteroids with S3 (or Earth-like) atmospheres across Deep Space. The Kinitawowi were a deeply territorial and xenophobic race; their space is bordered by gigantic stone warning beacons that resembled GELF skulls many miles across carved out of asteroids. These were a deterrent to any stray humans which may wander into their space. Strangers were normally killed, and as Arnold Rimmer recalled from old space legends he had heard, unfortunate humans that unwittingly wandered into Kinitawowi space were often skinned alive to make beanbags.

Nevertheless, Kryten explained that the Kinitawowi were one of the friendlier "kintetiakh" (or tribes) of humanoid GELFs and that they didn't always kill on sight as other humanoid GELFs apparently do. Indeed, the Kinitawowi would occasionally extend the rare honour to various travellers of not skinning them alive on sight, and this was considered a warm greeting. However, this may only occur on rare occasions when the Kinitawowi believed there was profitable trade to result in it. Some Kinitawowi were highly merchant-like and it would appear that the Kinitawowi had knowledge of futuristic technology as they kept supplies of spacecraft engine parts to trade with any passing visitors they may do trade with.

Kinitawowi villages resemble African tribal villages, often dimly-lit by flaming torches on moons where there is perpetual twilight. The structures of these villages are simple huts or "watunga". Any human allowed into a "watunga" was indeed "khan khasset", or "blessed", although to be granted this honour a human would have to please the chief by giving them lots of shiny trinkets and goods of apparent worth. They are an extremely proud and stubborn people.

A common Kinitawowi greeting and way of saying goodbye after a successful trade was, instead of a handshake, to hold the ankle of the other individual with one hand whilst the other does the same; and then the ritual is completeld by the two individuals jumping up and down on the spot in this stance.

In the fourth episode of the sixth series, Emohawk: Polymorph II, the Kinitawowi make their first appearance. The Dwarfers were marooned on a moon in Kinitawowi territory (as evidenced by a gigantic Kinitawowi skull a mile wide in space carved out of an asteroid) and in order to take back off again, the crew need supplies and especially an oxygen-generation unit (or O/G unit) so that the crew could breathe in space. Luckily for the Dwarfers, Kryten had studied the Kinitawowi language (which as Dave Lister noted sounds "like a footballer clearing his nose") and the Kinitawowi happened to have an OG-unit to trade. However, the only way in which the chief would give the Dwarfers the O/G unit was if Lister married the chieftain's daughter in exchange for it (the tribal chief was played by celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott).

A disgusted Lister married the chief's daughter, but in the night the Dwarfers escaped. The furious chief, realising his daughter had been abandoned on her wedding night and his O/G unit stolen, sent his Emohawk after the Dwarfers to drain their emotions and aspects of their personalities. Apparently, Emohawks are common pets of the Kinitawowi as emotions drained by the Emohawk are a highly valued trading commodity.

After these events, the Kinitawowi pursued Starbug across space in a battle cruiser for a full series of the programme, in a bid to return Dave Lister to his Kinatawowi wife, before eventually catching up with Starbug in the seventh series episode Ouroboros. Although on first appearances the Kinitawowi would not seem to be a technologically advanced or space-faring race, their battle cruiser carried some of the most advanced technology seen so far in the Red Dwarf universe. The Kinitawowi were able to infiltrate subspace easily and cross over into various dimensions of their choosing, something the crew of Starbug were unable to do. The weapons of the Kinitawowi battle cruiser were so powerful they were capable of severing subspace corridors and linkways.

The battle cruiser may not have been constructed by Kinitawowi, however; it may have been a derelict that was commandeered by them, or stolen by them. This was never explained in Red Dwarf canon. The Kinitawowi battle cruiser was crippled when it crashed onto an ice planet during a chase with Starbug. Due to the fact it was not seen again, it is likely the Kinitawowi aboard did not survive the incident (this ship was used as the background cover for the Red Dwarf Series VII DVD).

In the later episode Beyond a Joke, a Kinitawowi tribesman was seen serving aboard the commandeered SS Centauri under a villainous Rogue Simulant captain. This Kinitawowi tribesman was killed with the destruction of the SS Centauri and it marked the last appearance of the Kinitawowi in the television series.

EVENTS:

January 2008

February 2008

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