A Type III civilization extracts fusion and exotic energy, information, and raw-materials from their galaxy. It is capable of intergalactic travel via wormholes, intergalactic communication via subspace, galactic engineering and galaxy-scale influence.
Such galactic traversers with supreme access to energy results in them evading extinction, as they would be spread too far. Thousands or even millions of years of evolution - both biological and mechanical - may result in something completely different from their Type 0 roots. They may be AI god-like superintelligences having gone through multiple stages of singularity, exceeding a level 7 AI by far. Androids, cyborgs and humans may all be relegated to being sub-species in a highly advanced galactic society.
The biological humans would likely be seen as being inferior or unevolved by their AI counterparts, and a hopeful scenario is that imaginative humans would have found a way to co-exist with their AI masters to keep them benevolent in a cooperative and mutually beneficial society. It is also possible that humans would have been eradicated during a malevolent stage of AI evolution, making the new race superior in many ways. It's also possible that humans will now have ascended into beings of pure energy, able to control and direct machines to carry out expansionist work.
Colonies of robots or AI sub-species that are capable of self replication will spread out across the galaxy, colonizing star after star. They will be able to digitize and enable all matter (from asteroids to planets) they come across, making everything 'alive' and part of their galactic network. They will build Dyson spheres to encapsulate each star, carrying excess energy to vital nodes in the network. By now, various methods of instantaneous faster-than-light travel are employed both for communication as well as mobility.
A Type III civilization could extract energy from a supermassive black hole. This captured energy could meet the extraordinary needs of a civilization that requires up to 1046 W/s. The energy would be captured in the form of radiation emitted by the matter rushing into the star, by means of collectors located within the accretion disk (similar to Dyson spheres). The overflow, as well as the waste of the civilization, would be redirected towards the black hole. A fraction of this energy, directed as a high-powered beam, could be useful for space travel. A galactic club of civilizations could transmit the energy through networks within the galaxy. Within the various central power stations that make up the network, power transmission is periodically switched between transmitter and receiver, according to the galactic rotation. To be efficient, this network should be located at the center of the galaxy.
This is the final type of civilization in the original proposal of the Kardashev Scale.
Detail
| Energy usage | 1036 W to 1046 W. Total usage is the same as Type II multiplied across galaxies.
Tapping into cosmic events like:
|
| Scale |
|
| Population | 1 nonillion (1030) people |
| Existence | 5d (awareness of 6d) and 1r (reality) |
| Travel | Intergalactic through space lanes or artificial wormhole nexus networks or stargates. |
| State of form | Eventually projected energy and transcendentalism |
| WMD scale | Interphased bomb; black hole bombs and wormhole imploders |
| Longevity | 500 - 1,000 (for biological) or immortal for AI |
| Industrial revolutions | Matter replication at the quantum level |
| Sprawl |
|
| Social issues | |
| Arguments |
|
| Social dream | Mantle of responsibility (self assumed stewardship over the balance of galactic power) |
| Class system | Emotive quality as a social lynchpin to reconsolidate group cooperation over an increasingly independent population |
Sub-Type
| Type | Description |
| 3.0
Intergalactic Age |
|
| 3.1
Telekinesis Age |
|
| 3.2
Satellite Age |
|
| 3.3
Galactic Colonization Age |
|
| 3.4
Live Galaxy Age |
|
| 3.5
Local Group Age |
|
| 3.6
Supercluster Age |
|
| 3.7
Supercluster Complex Age |
|
| 3.8
Parallel Age |
|
| 3.9
Universal Age |
|
Technology
| Military plasma physics | cannon, rifle, flare |
|---|---|
| Inter-phased fission | weapons & travel, drive, torpedo, bomb |
| Molecular control in industry | fuel, armour |
| Trans Genetics or grouped genetic engineering | crops, terraforming, evolution |
| 5d fields used in time travel | displacement, teleportation, inertial thrusters |
| Xeno social manipulation | corruption, culture enrichment, brainwashing, benevolence, shared philosophy |
| Sophont scale biokinetic wavelengths | |
| Tachyon fields | weapons, shields, bolt launcher |
| Unified field theory and Theory of Everything | |
| Internalized cycle of war | |
| Galactic proxy | |
| Time wars | |
| Fergnatz’s last theorem | |
| Hyper-radiation | |
| Hyper-geometry | |
| Hidden aliens | |
| Smug aliens |
Civilizations that are considered Type III
| 2.7~3 | Scrin from Command & Conquer |
| 2.7~3 | Engineers from Prometheus |
| 2.7~3 | The Grox from Spore |
| 2.7~3 | Aeldari and Necrons from Warhammer 40K |
| 2.7~3 | The Forerunners from Halo |
| 2.8~3 | Progenitors from Homeworld |
| 3.1 | The Builders from Heritage |
| 3.2 | The Nephilim from Wing Commander |
| 3.3 | The Asgard of Stargate |
| 3.4 | The Ceph from Crysis |
| 3.5 | The Endless from Endless Space |
| 3.5 | The Firstborn from Space Odyssey |
| 3.6 | Races from Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda |
| 3.7 | The Precursors from Halo |
Navigation to Kardashev Type
Omniverse: Type 0 - Type I - Type II - Type III - Type IV - Type V - Type VI - Type VII Hyperverse: Type VIII - Type IX Outerverse: Type X - Type XI - Type XII - Type XIII Adverse: Type XIV - Type XV - Type XVI - Type XVII - Type XVIII - Type XIX Beyond: Type XX. This is the final official type.