In 3 Body Problem, San-Ti is an alien race seeking to conquer Planet Earth.
San-Ti come from an unstable three-star system, four light-years away from Earth. The name San-Ti is derived from “san ti ren,” which reads “Three-body people” in Chinese.
San-Ti don’t look like humans, and in the series, they have chosen to look like them just to make it comfortable for humans.
They embark on a mission to take over Earth after being invited to the planet by Ye Wenjie in 1977.
They are 400 years away from Earth when humans learn about them. San-Ti are traveling at 1% light speed, and humans have 400 years to save themselves from their end.
The reason San-Ti are coming to Earth
The motion of the three bodies in the space of San-Ti’s three-star system cannot be predicted. Hence, their planet is doomed.
The San-Ti are bound to perish over time. All the civilizations before them have faced the same fate. Since they cannot solve the three-body problem, their only way to survive is to flee the planet.
Hence, after receiving Ye Wenjie’s invitation, a fleet of 1000 ships from San-Ti’s current civilization, civilization number 9478, left their planet in pursuit of Earth.
Most of the people of their planet have stayed behind, but the San-Ti believe that if one of them survives, they all survive.
San-Ti’s followers
Ye Wenjie invited San-Ti to Earth after concluding that the people of their planet are hopeless; they cannot save themselves.
Along with Mike Evans, who shared the same ideas as her, Ye Wenjie formed a group of followers that worship San-Ti and think they can save their planet.
San-Ti share their story with their followers with the help of a video game that they have created. The game’s objective is to help the player understand the root problem that San-Ti are facing.
Mike Evans communicates with San-Ti daily on his vessel, Judgement Day. However, there are certain things that even San-Ti don’t entertain.
For example, San-Ti can’t lie, and they don’t appreciate when Mike Evans confesses that all humans lie, and so does he, resulting in San-Ti abandoning their followers for a while and working on their own.
The advantage humans have over San-Ti
San-Ti use Sophons, a proton that they have turned into a sentient computer. It keeps an eye on Earth. San-Ti are watching and hearing humans all the time.
Hence, they will know every plan humans devise. They call humans mere bugs, sparking an outrage.
At the same time, San-Ti may be more advanced than humans, but their technology grows slowly compared to that of humans.
Unlike humans, San-Ti have had to restart completely again and again due to the catastrophes they have faced.
Humans, on the other hand, have faced catastrophes but have managed to survive because their planet is stable, which is why humans can continue their research without having to restart and become more advanced than San-Ti by the time they reach Earth.
This advantage that humans have over San-Ti explains why San-Ti are targeting successful scientists on Earth. They are trying to kill the science of the humans.
However, Thomas Wade resolves to fight back, and using the advantage that they have, work on combating San-Ti begins.
Also Read: 3 Body Problem review: Ambitious series with uneven execution