Most Powerful Sci-Fi Civilization

[Harbinger]

Was curious what everyone thinks could be the most powerful sci-fi civilization in science fiction. Let's for a moment forget about "Q" since we know they're omnipotent beings unmatched in Star Trek. Sure, Continuum are powerful but we already know this and we already know they could probably win for being the most powerful.

We have an assortment of ridiculously powerful beings, from Doctor Who's Time Lords and you have things like The Culture, The Foundation, The Forerunners (and maybe even grossly more powerful than them, the Precursors), The Leviathans (who were nearly wiped out by their own machines), The Gree, etc. ad nauseum.

Who do you feel would be able to at least come close, to say, Q and his race? Who is the most technologically, ridiculously powerful race in all of sci-fi?

 

[Davros]

I might be suspected of bias, but the Daleks are the superior life form in the universe.

 

[Nerys Myk]

They even figured how to go up stairs!!!!!

 

[Harbinger]

I might be suspected of bias, but the Daleks are the superior life form in the universe.

Well, if we're going by bias I would choose Precursors, even though we don't know anything about them. Heh. :P

But, seeing as how powerful the Forerunners were, it may be safe to say the Precursors are very much god-like. The Forerunners themselves had an empire that spanned millions of planets, built near solar system sized Dyson spheres, could traverse Slipspace accurately and even traveled to other dimensions (and to some degree, time), were able to digitize organic life in large quantities (the Composer), move planetary objects through slipspace and had intergalactic travel, created their own galaxy spanning "VR" (the Domain), built weapons that could destroy organic life on a galactic scale, etc. These guys were serious stuff! Now imagine the one's who came before them who also created them (and humans) and created the one threat that can devour entire galaxies and that's even ridiculously more powerful!

 

[Edit_XYZ]

The Q, as seen, can create an universe/a reality by snapping his fingers - omnipotent/beyond physical law, etc.

All the forerunner achievements you named are child's play by comparison - and certify that the forerunners were most definitely bound by physical law.

Not to mention, none of these ancient "god-like" civilizations were powerful/smart enough to prevent their own extinction. Which is more than enough to destroy any "god-like" mystique.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I believe we're looking for civilizations which don't quite qualify as "Sufficiently Advances Species".

 

[Bob Morton]

The Humans of the Greater Commonwealth (Peter F. Hamilton) are pretty powerful as they are, but when facing a superior adversary, become even more powerful as they learn from the war with the enemy.

Effective immortality, The Deterrence 'Fleet', Dyson Barrier Shielding, 100+ light year per hour ship speeds. They are not God-like, yet, and could probably be wiped out by a Q, but maybe a way could be found to bind the Q to the physical universe and limit the Magics.

Anyway I really root for the Humans and a positive future, maybe I'm biased.

 

[MacLeod]

I might be suspected of bias, but the Daleks are the superior life form in the universe.

They might be except for one minor little detail, they seem to keep losing to the Timelords, esp. the one known as The Doctor.

 

[Captain Nebula]

A galaxy-spanning civilization that can make a planet-destroying laser in a mobile space station the size of a small moon. Although I hear that it's insignificant next to the power of the Force.

 

[Harbinger]

The Q, as seen, can create an universe/a reality by snapping his fingers - omnipotent/beyond physical law, etc.

All the forerunner achievements you named are child's play by comparison - and certify that the forerunners were most definitely bound by physical law.

Not to mention, none of these ancient "god-like" civilizations were powerful/smart enough to prevent their own extinction. Which is more than enough to destroy any "god-like" mystique.

That's why I wanted to keep "Q" out of this discussion. Heh. We already know him and Q's are grossly powerful. I think I probably wanted to keep more on track with a civilization that started off mortal/corporal and eventually climbed its way to the top. Q were all powerful beings since the beginning, as far as we know.

BTW Edit, yeah the Forerunners got pretty hurt badly, one might say but then there's the Precursors. They are considered Transentient. Nobody knows what happened with them but guesses are they left the galaxy and/or this universe. All we know about them is that they had technology that worked on "neural physics", seeing as how they believed the universe was a living thing and that at least one of them might have become a Gravemind (The Primordial/Timeless One).

 

[Silvercrest]

I think the Borg meet that definition.

 

[Auralis]

Perry Rhodan setting, Kosmokrats, Chaotrachs.
They live outside the known multiverse, in a realm that can can't be understand by beings from the multiverse. They can alter the laws of nature, create universes or destroy them. And of course anything simpler then that.

 

[Australis]

Despite what m'co-named above says, the Culture. Hands down.

 

[P0sitr0nic]

The Asgardians from Marvel Comics (Thor) spring to mind.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

The XeeLee from Stephen Baxter's Xeelee Sequence, although they were ultimately defeated by the Photino Birds in this universe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeelee_Sequence

 

[Gov Kodos]

Amber and The Courts of Chaos, everything else is the realm of shadows.

 

[Ethros]

The Pakleds

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Despite what m'co-named above says, the Culture. Hands down.

Yeah, I have to go with the Culture.

 

[RAMA]

Its impossible to answer a question when we can't begin to understand civilizations as all powerful as the Q, or any number of ancient civilizations starting with those in the Lensman and Starmaker and continuing with works of Stephen Baxter, Ian Banks, etc. My mind reels at the thought of quantifying them...

A speculation: an ultimate advanced technological civilization (The Q are not technological) would be able to harness/control matter and energy in the universe, they would imbue anything that can process information down to molecular level with "smart technology". The entire universe might be a quantifiable, operating, sentient computer.

 

[Santaman]

The Q are little brats and quite powerless when it comes to the beings in the Perry Rhodan series.

To quote wiki:

To all life, an evolutionary theory called the "onion-shell-model" is employed. It states, that there is a continuous evolution from lower life-forms (bacteria) to higher life-forms like intelligent life and finally bodyless entities. Upon invention, the onion-shell-model was used by the authors as if there are definite and discrete stages in cosmological evolution. However, later in the series further life-forms, representing stages between the known shells, were introduced.

The main shells are:

life-less matter
bacteria
higher animals
intelligent species
intelligent species, that have contacted other species
superintelligences (SI)
matter-fountains/matter-sinks
cosmocrats/chaotarchs (high powers)

The Q would be merely a superinteligence species, cosmocrats and chaotarchsare a few whole levels more powerful, they rule EVERY universe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan

As for technology, Rhodan's humanity itself has ships of immense power, a single one of those that can totally wipe out the Borg without breaking a sweat, or being in danger for one second.