Tiberium: the Alien Crystal That Ate the Earth

Tiberium is the most interesting idea in Command & Conquer. It's the money you harvest in every game, and it's also the slow end of the world. Everything else in the series, from the wars to the mutants to Kane's prophecies, happens because of a green crystal that fell into Italy in 1995. (Command & Conquer)

A resource and a poison#

The first thing anyone learns about Tiberium is that it's valuable. It leaches metals from the soil and concentrates them in crystals, so you can harvest it cheaply from the surface, and that's why every Command & Conquer game has you sending a harvester out to it. The second thing is that it's poisonous to humans and animals. (Command & Conquer)

Nod got there first and got rich. Kane and the Brotherhood claimed they'd foreseen it, and they've treated it as a sacrament ever since. (Command & Conquer)

What it did to the planet#

By Tiberian Sun in 2030 the crisis is obvious. Whole regions are consumed. Ion storms rip through contaminated zones, wrecking equipment and communications. New creatures live in the crystal fields, and people exposed for too long have changed into the Forgotten, a mutant people led by Tratos. Civilisation has retreated from the worst areas. (Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun)

Kane's plan in that war, a missile intended to turn the planet over to Tiberium, makes his view of it clear. He doesn't want to stop it. He wants it to finish. (Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun)

The Zones#

Tiberium Wars shows the result. By 2047 national borders matter less than contamination levels. Red Zones can't support human life. Yellow Zones are moderately contaminated, hold most of the world's population and are largely in Nod's hands. Blue Zones are the last remnants of civilisation, protected by GDI. It's a grim picture, and a good reminder that one side's prosperity depends on the other's misery. (Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars)

Why the aliens came#

The third war finally answers the question of where it comes from. The Scrin arrive to harvest Tiberium, and Kane has drawn them here on purpose with a massive liquid Tiberium explosion. The Tacitus, the alien database at the centre of the earlier wars, turns out to matter for the same reason. (Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars)

How it ends#

By 2062 Tiberium has reached a new stage and is spreading so fast the Earth would soon be uninhabitable. The Tiberium Control Network, built by Kane and GDI together, is the answer. When it goes fully active, reports say Tiberium growth has receded. It's the closest thing the saga has to a happy ending. (Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight)