The Europans, otherwise known as Europs, were semi-intelligent lifeforms living on post-Lucifer Europa, Jupiter's sixth moon. Evolved from lifeforms living around deep ocean hydrothermal vents, they were able to spread to the surface when Jupiter was transformed into a sun, Lucifer.
Evolution[]
The heat from Lucifer melted away the ice that covered Europa's oceans and made it warm enough for the Europs to evolve. The Monoliths fostered the Europs, hoping that they would become intelligent and even sheltered their settlement, Tsienville, from high winds with the Great Wall.
Intelligence[]
The Europs were fostered by the Monoliths left to encourage the evolution of intelligent lifeforms so that they could become sentient. Although, they established a settlement, Tsienville, on the ice and could construct igloos, they were only ever semi-intelligent. when the Tsien crashed on Europa, it was stripped of metals, rare in pure form on Europa. This shows that the Europs had curiosity.
Behaviour[]
The Europs as Frank Poole, when he was revived in the Third Millenium, described them:
'They remind me of little trees, walking on half a dozen slender trunks. And with hundreds of branches dividing into twigs which divide again...and again.'
Because they were sulphur-breathing lifeforms, they were not as efficient as oxygen-breathing lifeforms and therefore moved incredibly slowly. Sleeping in igloos during the day, they ate and lived underwater, although Chris Floyd thought that they lived in the igloos and slept underwater. Poole also believed that they reproduced by budding and were possibly evolved from the lifeform that destroyed Tsien, just far smaller. They also had thorns or spikes to protect them from predators. Their igloos were also similar to the underwater igloos they made out of rocks which were also to protect them from predators.
Human Interaction[]
2061[]
In this year, Chris Floyd, flying over Europa in the William Tee, a craft launched from the crashed ship Galaxy, flew over Tsienville with his the Galaxy's second officer, Jolson. During the flight, Floyd saw a figure standing in Tsienville. The figure turned out to be his father, Heywood, transformed into an energy being. Floyd landed to investigate and was told that the Europs had all gone underwater because the oxygen, used as propellant in the William Tee, was toxic to them.
3001[]
In this year, Frank Poole, flying from Ganymede to Europa in a craft called the Falcon, wanted to investigate claims of David Bowman living as an energy being there. When he landed, he investigated the Europs and talked to David Bowman and HAL 9000 both as one energy being called Halman.