Psi Corps - Purpose and Operation

Purpose and Operation

The origin and early history of the Psi Corps are revealed in a series of books written by Gregory Keyes. Following panic and persecution when telepathic abilities in certain individuals were confirmed, the Psi Corps was created as part of EarthForce by Earth Alliance to protect telepaths, but also to identify and control them.

The Psi Corps' headquarters has hospitals, offices and a boarding school where young people possessing telepathic and telekinetic power (known colloquially in the series as teeps and teeks) can develop without the fear and persecution they would face among the normal population (referred to by psychics in the series as mundanes). This school is overseen by the monitors (nicknamed grins), which appear in Susan Ivanova's nightmare about the Corps and her mother. (Family names are matrilineal: the mother's maiden-name is passed down to the children, which is why female telepaths such as Lyta Alexander and Talia Winters carry their surname down the generations.)

The Corps was originally established to protect, nurture and train humans with Psi abilities, and to protect the mundane population from possible abuse or criminal activities by talented individuals. At some point the Corps realized that it could not be effectively monitored by any external authority, and the Corps developed into a fascist state-within-a-state, pursuing its own agenda using the Psi Cops and other means, and taking an active role in Earth politics.

By the time of the pilot movie, Babylon 5: The Gathering, the Corps has degenerated to the point where many potential and former members prefer a life on-the-run as rogue psychics (referred to by the Corps as blips) to the safety and comfort of living and working under its wing.