The Free People were a group of X-ians from Planet X who lived in the Forbidden Zone. They were made up of members of the five expeditions that visited there to seek survivors of Xpia's destruction and, once there, decided they liked being away from the excessive bureacracy and grooming habits of X-ian culture. They lived a simple agrarian lifestyle and wore facial hair and animal-skin clothing. For a time they were ruled over by Jore.
The Free People took great pains to keep their existence a secret and maintain the illusion that the Forbidden Zone was devoid of life. The only X-ian to discover their secret and leave was XK-4, who never told anyone.