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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The Great Chain, also known as the Great Chain of Being, Great Chain of Existence,[1] or the Chain, is the natural hierarchy of all living things.[2] It is a tool made by the Judgements[3] to ensure that the universe behaves according to their design.
All Living Things Are Joined in the Great Chain[]
Every species occupies a place in the hierarchy of the Chain.[4] To change one's place is not only forbidden by the Judgments,[5] but made incredibly difficult where their laws apply. However, in places like the Neath where their laws cannot reach, one's nature is a bit more... mutable.[6] The art of breaking the Chain is called the Red Science. [4]
The Prehistoricist faction believes that the Chain not only dictates one's place, but also one's purpose, which manifests itself through a species' natural desires. If one believes this, given the fact that a desire can be caused by a part of the body,[7][8] one may assume that their place in the Chain can be determined by a part of their species' body. The Prehistoricists also believe that the Chain contains gaps; there are tasks that human find unpleasant, such as hard manual labor, so ideally these gaps should be fixed by creating beings who desire to do such work.[9][10] (At least, that's what the faction's philosophers believe; other members would simply rather create giant dinosaurs.)
Supporters of the Liberation of Night, however, see the Chain as a tool of oppression that was never intended to help humanity; therefore, in their eyes, the Prehistoricists are wasting their time.[11] In fact, the Liberationists see the body itself as a prison,[12] and believe that the order of the universe is fundamentally unjust.[13]
Real-Life Origins[]
The Great Chain of Being was likely inspired by a Christian concept of the same name in which every being is ranked, with God at the top, followed by angels, humans, animals (stratified according to their role in nature), plants, and minerals.[14] Some claim that there are three principles behind this idea: the principles of Plenitude (the Chain is the expression of God's power), of Continuity (there are no gaps in the chain), and of Gradation (all beings are ordered from the highest to the lowest).[15]
The Great Chain may also be inspired by a food chain, a concept in biology that organizes species in a hierarchy according to which other organisms in an ecosystem make up the bulk of their diet. This is supported by the motif of consumption prevalent throughout the Great Chain as depicted in Fallen London.[16]