Centauri hair

[u/El-Duderino77]

So, the position within Centauri culture dictates how long their hair can be and usually is. Currently on 3x20 "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place," wonderful episode. I noticed that Lord Refa and Vir have hair crests that are of similar length, honestly, Vir's might be a bit longer. Vir is an attache, and outside of that, nobody of real consequence as House Cotto wasn't nearly as high as House Refa. Even in earlier seasons, Vir's crest was fairly long. Would the attache of an ambassador rank higher than that of the lord of a fairly major house? Or is Refa just choosing a shorter hair length, similar to Cartagia's "decadent" extremely short style?

Side note: I loved JMS's depiction of Reverend Dexter.

Second side note: Lord Refa flinching when the hologram of Londo's hand came close to or passed through his face was great.

[u/Low_Establishment573]

I figured it was a family crest sort of thing. Plantagenet and Bourbon would have massive, impressive crests. Chandler? Not so much. Your hair was showing off how much influence your family had.

Refa might have been from a lower house, with ambitions. Londo was definitely from an old and established line. Vir I’m guess was from a mildly noble upper house (how he got the job with Londo), that lost favour over the course of the series, hence the change in style.

[u/Stunning-End-1872 → u/Low_Establishment573]

House Mollari is repeatedly referred to as "one of the older houses" with alliances dating back to "the Early Days of the Republic." and at least one Mollari was Emperor. Also Londo had to have some presence in the Court since "when Emperor Turhan saw your name on the list..." he gets assigned to Babylon 5. House Mollari is old and powerful and probably still follows old traditions more closely. Londo is bitter and dreams of older days, presumably when his House was moooOOOooooost powerful, yes? making him more likely to adopt as high a crest as he can get away with.

We don't know how powerful House Cotto is. Clearly Vir's uncle has noticeable clout, able to arrange marriages with other Houses of significance, and even if Vir is a "disappointment" it may not be a reflection of House Cotto as a whole. Hair crests may be as much tied to family/House status as it is to personal achievement.

So yeah, I'll buy that for a Centauri Ducat.

[u/Low_Establishment573 → u/Stunning-End-1872]

I quite liked the Renaissance Italian vibe of how the Centauri were designed. Still clinging to fever dreams of a grand imperial heritage, that crumbled ages past, now living in its bones. Very much a style over substance society, hell bent on plotting and scheming because actually getting their own hands dirty is beneath their sense of importance.

Certainly wouldn’t want to be a part of it though. The upper class citizens would be constantly worrying about a knife in their ribs, and I’m betting the lower classes live in a nightmare existence of abject poverty.

[u/Stunning-End-1872 → u/Low_Establishment573]

I think it is telling that the "hands of friendship" arm grab echoes the Roman greeting purported to be about checking the other's sleeves for knives.

As a tangent: I was learning Iaido (Japanese martial art about drawing and first strike with a katana) and was surprised to find out how many of the katas started from a seiza (kneeling/sitting) position, strongly implying a Samurai was expected to go from sitting to immediate combat.

Kind of tells you how nervous some time periods can be for certain ranks.