Earth

Earth, in the EVE universe, is the all-but-forgotten birthplace of humanity. From the perspective of an NPC resident of New Eden, Earth is the unofficial name given to the theoretical birthplace of humankind—whether a single planet, single solar system, constellation or any other location, either in the New Eden cluster or elsewhere in the cosmos. It is supposed by some to be located on the other side of the EVE Gate. The stories of Earth among disparate people in New Eden are the main evidence for the common origin theory.

This forgetting can be attributed not only to the huge gap in time between the date in New Eden and the real-world date, but also to the dark ages suffered by the survivors of the collapse of the EVE Gate. While struggling for survival, it is doubtful that the residents of New Eden put forth much effort into preserving their cultural heritage.

Not all has been lost. Ship names, for instance, often recall Earth legends or concepts from Earth, but much has changed since the twenty-first century, including the legends. For instance, in real-life Norse mythology, Loki is a mischievous and sometimes evil god who contrives the death of Balder and is punished by being bound to a rock. In New Eden, the game informs players who read the details of the Loki that Loki has no single, direct translation, and is variably used to mean “hidden wonder” or “secret passage”, “changing mask” or “unseen dagger”—and, in all the tales, “hope”.

The introduction of the named wormhole system Thera, an anagram of "Earth", in the Rhea expansion may suggest some more attempts at twenty-first-century nostalgia—or maybe Thera marks the next step in unravelling mysteries surrounding New Eden.