Cool Starship: Difference between revisions

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[[File:berkey 450-resized.jpg|link=Sector General|frame| Try as you might, your ships will never be as cool as John Berkey's.]]
 
{{quote|''"The only thing between you and the vacuum of space is six feet of solid style."''|'''[[Spore]]'''}}
|'''[[Spore]]'''}}
 
The cool ship can be a spaceship that other characters consider a [[What a Piece of Junk!|piece of junk]]. In fact, you get [[Used Future|extra points for junky]]. If you can't call it a rustbucket, though, it has to be the one and only latest, just-about-a-prototype, bleeding-edge [[Shiny-Looking Spaceships|techno-miracle]].
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
 
== Anime ==
* Many anime series are named after the Cool Ship:
** ''[[Uchuu Senkan Yamato]]'' ("Space Battleship Yamato," or "Star Blazers" in the U.S.)
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* The ''Blue Typhoon'' from ''[[Sonic X]]''. It even has a [[Thunderbirds|Thunderbird 2 style launch pad for the smaller vessels!]]
* The ''Gekko-Go'' aircraft from ''[[Eureka Seven]]''.
* The ''Swordbreaker'' from ''[[Lost Universe]]''. That line in the trope desctiption that ends with "Okay, dude, quit hogging the cool" describes ''Swordbreaker'' rather well.
* The ''Soyokaze'' from ''[[Irresponsible Captain Tylor]]'' The junky rust bucket trope is somewhat subverted here, as the ship is recognized as junk by everybody and their mother's dog.
** The played straight component of it includes the fact that it has a bar, spa, fighter hanger, and marine detachment.
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** The Anti-Spirals have the Ashtangas which look like a HUGE (as in, several times the size of a planet) stone with several dozen faces and arms - scary as hell.
** The original Dai-Gurren and the Tengen Toppa Dai-Gurren (a billions times bigger version that looks more demonic). The fact that the latter can shoot inter-dimensional anchors or fire missile barrages that [[Beyond the Impossible|affects probability]], as in missiles that make it more improbable that the enemy will evade future attacks. And that's considered weak.
* The ''Arthra'' from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (anime)|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' and ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha AsA's]]''.
** It gets decooled in ''[[NanohaMagical StrikerGirl Lyrical Nanoha SStrikerS]]'' when the ship is in the process of decommissioning, but rides one last time to serve as a base. In return, the third season gives us ''The Saint's Cradle'', a [[Evil Is Cool|wickedly cool]] looking and extremely powerful warship.
** ''[[Nanoha Force]]'' gives the ''Esquad Hückebein'' (which is so cool, it violates the laws of magi-physics) to the villains, and the ''Wolfram'' (a [[Spiritual Successor]] to ''Arthra'') to the heroes.
* The Bay Tower Base, and later the Orbit Base from ''[[GaoGaiGar|Yuusha-Oh GaoGaiGar]]'' are multiple [[Cool Ship]]s connected to a hub, which can deploy and serve various purposes. Three of them transform into the handle of a [[Drop the Hammer|giant hammer]] in the OVA.
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* The Bell from ''[[Magic Users Club]]''.
* [[Planetes]] has Debris Section's ''Toybox'', which is the epitome of [[Used Future]] and is still working fine despite being ''older than some of the crew'' {{spoiler|and gets a [[Save the World|spectacular sendoff.]]}} The Wernher von Braun fits into the "techno-miracle" category.
 
 
== Comic Books ==
* The Ship of ''Starlord'', simply called "Ship", a sleek, highly maneuverable starship—which is actually a sentient shapeshifting [[Energy Being]] who is in love with her pilot.
* The giant Celestial-built Ship (also simply called Ship) of [[X-Factor (comics)|X-Factor]]. Eventually blew up, but the AI survived and became an ally of Cable.
* Friday, the "Smartship" of [[Power Pack]].
* The Starjammer, of the [[Space Pirate]] group of that name who are friends of the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]].
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** Regular Calvin's little red wagon deserves a mention for somehow managing to get to Mars and back.
** Calvin's cardboard box has to be one of the coolest devices ever: it's anything the plot requires it to be, including a time machine, but still looks like an ordinary cardboard box to most people.
* A new ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' comic features the ''Luck Of The Draw'', an [http://img.trekmovie.com/images/comics/ds9fg_1_2.jpg awesome little ship] with a [http://img.trekmovie.com/images/comics/ds9fg_1_3.jpg badass rotating warp drive thing on the back].
* [[Superman]] villain Brainiac has a ship that, in many incarnations, is a giant version of his head with tentacles on it.
* Any and all space vessels designed by [[Jack Kirby]].
* In DC's ''[[Star Raiders]]'' graphic novel, the titular ship is a fast, nimble one-man attack craft with a galaxy-skipping warp drive and disproportionately heavy armament and defenses. It's so cool that simply ''discovering'' it inspires [[Action Duo|Jed and Tommy]] to start [[La Résistance]] against [[The Empire|the Zylons]] and use it as their flagship.
** Averted in the original video game, where the ship is never shown.
* In [[Bionicle]], the entire universe of the first 8 years of the story is contained within a [[Beyond the Impossible|16 million feet tall sentient robot]] which travels between planets.
 
 
== Film ==
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** The ''[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Suncrusher.]]'' It's barely bigger than an ''X-Wing'', yet it can destroy ''solar systems in a single shot'', and endure glancing hits from the ''prototype Death Star's superlaser''.
** The Death Star. "That's no moon..."
** Vader's personal TIE Advanced x1. It managed to take a TIE Fighter, essentially the [[Star Wars]] version of [[StarcraftStarCraft|Zerg]][[Zerg Rush|lings]], and actually ''make it a decent combatant''. Shields and a hyperdrive go a long way to making it the Imperial version of an X-wing or Y-wing. The only drawback is that it moves slightly slower than average TIE Fighters, although the fact that the only one we see in the films is ''flown by the greatest pilot in history'' tends to make up for this.
*** On that note, the TIE Interceptor. While still just as fragile as a typical TIE Fighter, it's [[Fragile Speedster|wicked-fast]] and has a dagger-like profile that absolutely ''screams'' "Evil" with a capital E.
*** TIE Fighters in general are [[Mookmobile|useless]], but very cool. And don't tell me that you don't love that [[Most Wonderful Sound|memorable screaming noise]] that even the bog-standard TIE makes when it flies by.
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** Enterprise D from ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''
** Enterprise-D...the future refit from "All Good Things". Best Star Trek ship EVER.
** The [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/d/df/USS_Enterprise-A_quarter.jpg Enterprise from the TOS movies] was pretty freakin cool also, especially in the first two moves. Admit it... love or hate ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture|Star Trek the Motion Picture]]'', you enjoyed that first [[Scenery Porn]] reveal of the ship in all her glory...
** The ''[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090525051809/memoryalpha/en/images/0/05/USS_Reliant.jpg USS Reliant]'' from ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan]]'' just looks plain badass.
** Played with in ''[[Star Trek III: The Search For Spock|Star Trek III the Search For Spock]]''. The ''[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090606201731/memoryalpha/en/images/6/6a/USS_Excelsior_in_Spacedock.jpg USS Excelsior]'' was intended to be an ''un''cool starship, an obnoxiously modernist contrast to the good old ''Enterprise'' we know and love. [[Rescued Fromfrom the Scrappy Heap|We love her anyways.]]
** The ''Enterprise-B'' that appeared in ''[[Star Trek Generations]]'' was also an ''Excelsior''-class starship, and proved to be as underprepared and bug-ridden as its class-type predecessor.
** Then there's the one that started it all, Zefram Cochrane's warp vessel, the ''[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100605052031/memoryalpha/en/images/9/99/Phoenix_space.jpg Phoenix]''. At first it just looks like this [[What a Piece of Junk!|rickety, cobbled-together thing that's barely a step up from a 60's space capsule]]... ''Then'' the side panels come off, and ''[http://employees.csbsju.edu/rsorensen/modelcitizen/trekships/misc/phoenix-unfolding.jpg the warp nacelles unfold and lock into position].'' And that is when the discerning Trekkie knows [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|epic-ness is about to ensue.]]
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*** The [http://img.trekmovie.com/images/fanmade/kelvin_wall04_1280.jpg USS Kelvin]. [[Ensemble Darkhorse]], much?
* USS ''Discovery'' of Stanley Kubrick's [[2001: A Space Odyssey]]. A spaceship controlled by a genius computer in which the only real way to travel is in a cryo-chamber. Admittedly not FTL, but ranks highly on the [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness]] in that respect. However, as humanity's first long distance spaceship, its a pretty good effort, delivering the astronauts to Jupiter (Saturn in the book). Also the inspiration for the [[Standard Establishing Spaceship Shot]], accompanied by [[Crowning Music of Awesome|the "Adagio" from ''Gayane'' by Khachaturian]].
* The brief external shot of the ''Venture Star'' in ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'' was pure scenery porn. The spacecraft design was incredibly realistic, perhaps more so than any other movie starship to date, being based on Charles Pellegrino and Jim Powell's [https://web.archive.org/web/20100529041650/http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3aj.html#valkyrie Valkyrie] antimatter starship, with an additional Laser Sail for "ground power" acceleration while outbound from Earth.
* The possible patron saint of this trope is the bubble spaceship from [[The Fountain]]. It's a freaking ''bubble'', and it houses some land, the Tree Of Life, and Hugh Jackman. How can you beat that?
* The NSEA ''Protector'' from ''[[Galaxy Quest]]''. Lovingly and accurately modeled by the Thermians after the ship from the (cancelled) TV show, it can do everything a TV starship can do. It's also the last holdout of Thermian civilization against Sarris's forces.
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== Literature ==
* The "Cavorite sphere" from H.G. Wells' ''[[The First Men in the Moon]]'' was nothing more than a room-sized sphere of anti-gravitational [[Applied Phlebotinum]] known as Cavorite, named after the story's well-meaning [[Mad Scientist]] Cavor. No giant rockets here. To begin their journey the crew merely unleashed the moorings so the hull could set about its gravity-repulsive business and, like a metal hot air balloon, float off into the void. This altogether genteel and erudite mode of transport allowed its Victorian-era crew to focus on pipe smoking, tea preparation, [[Angst|existential angst]], and other civilized behaviors. Possibly the ultimate in [[Steampunk]] technology.
* The Starship Lady MacBeth in ''[[The NightsNight's Dawn Trilogy]]''. It's a giant flying basketball, but it also has 3 fusion rockets and 8 communication lasers (Masers) that just happen to double as Deathrays.
* The ''Heart of Gold'' in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''. The ''Bistromath'' is arguably a subversion of this trope.
** Hotblack Desiato's Space-Limo in the books and television series anyone? So cool Zaphod and Ford can't help but steal it. Even in the radio series, where it looks the same but is actually the flagship for a massive intergalactic war fleet.
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** Arguably culminates in ''Surface Detail'' with the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Abominator class]] "Picket Ship" the Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints. {{spoiler|It [[Curb Stomp Battle|curbstomps]] a Culture tech (they thought) equivalent battle group in milliseconds and then proceeds to wipe out thousands of smaller craft per minute. It also keeps very high resolution recordings of all its engagements as possibly the closest thing a warship-Mind can have to porn.}}
* In James Blish's ''Cities in Flight'' books, devices called "spin-dizzies" lift up whole cities and send them into space. It's just as cool as it sounds. {{spoiler|They can also be used on whole entire planets.}}
* Subversion? The cool ships in the "[[The Ship Who...]]..." series tend to be middle of the road, completely average ships. Not too junky, not too edge of the tech. Mainly because it's too expensive. And the ships can't afford it (yeah, the ships are alive—each ship is controlled by a "brain", a human born with incapacitating disabilities raised as a "shellperson" and trained to control ships, space stations, or cities, who are cybernetically connected to the ship/station/city systems). Oddly, few have weapons.
* [[Larry Niven]]'s ''[[Known Space]]'' series of novels and short stories features ships built into the Puppeteer-produced General Products Hull. Sure, you can only get them in "cigar-shape" or "kilometer-wide-sphere" models, but they're '''''completely invulnerable to anything short of antimatter'''''. [[Rule of Cool|And they're transparent.]]
** They actually come in 4 sizes/types. A sphere, roughly the size of a basketball, a cylinder 300 feet long and 20 feet wide, pointed at both ends and with a slight "wasp-waist" constriction near the tail., a cylinder with rounded ends and a flattened belly. and a transparent sphere around 1,000 feet in diameter.
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** Also the titular spaceship from [[Rendezvous With Rama]]
* The ''Phoenix Exultant'' of [[The Golden Oecumene]]. It's designed and built by the greatest engineer in the system and tough enough to fly into the heart of the sun.
* Technological miracle? How about a spaceship built with [[Clock Punk|Renaissance-level technology]]? Living ship? Well, sort of; its power source is a lot of [[Our Dragons Are Different|swamp dragons]]. General cool appearance? It's designed to look like a bird-of-prey in the process of catching a salmon. It is, of course, ''The Kite'' from ''[[Discworld/The Last Hero|The Last Hero]]''.
* The Rhabwar from ''[[Sector General]]'', pictured at the top of the page.
* The ''[http://drexfiles.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/vanguard_3_hot_pursuit_r02.jpg USS Sagittarius]''{{Dead link}} from ''[[Star Trek: Vanguard]]'' is a fast-looking, sexy little thing, even when it's on fire and about to be curb stomped by Klingons. Also, the fiercely awesome ''[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090314131643/startrek/images/4/42/TOS_Miranda.jpg USS Bombay]''. Not only is it a TOS-ified version of the already cool ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|Reliant]]'', it kicks ass and takes names in an insane five-on-one battle before {{spoiler|[[Heroic Sacrifice|getting]] [[Taking You with Me|blown]] [[Dying Moment of Awesome|up]]}}. Starship [[Determinator]] FTW.
** Remaining in the ''[[Star Trek]]'' EU, Diane Duane's novels of the ''Rihannsu'' series have the ''Bloodwing''. That, according to Kirk himself, defeated the ''Enterprise'' more than once (to be fair, the ''Enterprise'' always gave her a desperate run for her money and won her fair share of bouts). That was before her [[The Captain|commander]] Ael augmented her guns and switched sides to save the Romulan Empire from itself. After the change of sides... Well, on one occasion ''Bloodwing'' flew past Romulus' defenses and landed on the Imperial Senate building, then flew away after blowing up the only ship that dared not to be awed enough to try and stop her...
** Also in the EU is New Frontier's ships.
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** The über awesome city ships that the Alliance have, a collection of skyscrapers floating through space, [[Rule of Cool|just because you can]]. They were designed to be a sort of counterpoint to ''[[Star Wars]]'' Star Destroyers, tall as opposed to long, and made to resemble office buildings to reflect the bureaucratic nature of the Alliance.<ref>And because space is a virtual vacuum and [[Fridge Brilliance|you don't need to streamline ships in space.]]</ref>
* "The [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/8/8b/USS_Enterprise_leaving_galactic_barrier%2C_remastered.jpg Starship Enterprise]" of ''[[Star Trek]]'', in its various incarnations, is likely the archetypal [[Cool Ship]] for television. But a franchise this wide has room for plenty more:
** The [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/2/26/Kavis_Alpha_sector.jpg Enterprise-D] of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' positively made every other Star Trek ship that came before it look a sedan compared to a Porsche.
** Then came the [https://web.archive.org/web/20051130115812/http://home.tiscali.nl/goosens/warpcore/en/downloads/achtergronden/enterprise_e_1024.jpg Enterprise-E] in ''[[Star Trek: First Contact|Star Trek First Contact]]''.
** ''[[Voyager]]'', a [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/9/9f/Intrepid_class_top_quarter_aft.jpg sleek, high-tech ship] designed to go where the bigger ships can't, and accomplishes this goal a little ''[[Infinite Supplies|too]]'' well.
**** [[Word of God]] says that the folding pylons make the warp drive [http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Force_of_Nature_%28episode%29 less damaging to local space.]
*** Also, the ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120617073815/http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/7/74/Delta_Flyer_II.jpg Delta Flyer]'', designed by [[Ace Pilot|Tom Paris]] and [[Wrench Wench|B'Elanna Torres]] ''specifically'' to be a Cool Starship. (Too bad Tuvok vetoed those retro fins Tom wanted.)
*** And the ''[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/6/62/USS_Dauntless_profile%2C_Hope_and_Fear.jpg Dauntless]'', even though {{spoiler|it turns out to be a [[Trojan Horse]]}}, it's still pretty cool.
** The ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Defiant]]'', a cramped, blocky, compact ship designed to ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120617074543/http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/e/ee/USS_Defiant%2C_First_Contact.jpg break stuff]''.
{{quote|'''Sisko:''' Officially, she's an "escort vessel". Unofficially... she's a warship.}}
**:* Described in the DVD commentary as "on a five-year mission to ''kick ass''."
{{quote|'''[[SF Debris]]:''' It's a set of guns strapped to an engine. }}
*:* The ''[http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:USS_Prometheus,_2374_(fore).jpg Prometheus]'', an experimental starship seen a couple of times in ''Voyager''. Not only is it a sleek high-tech ship designed to go where bigger ships can't, it can also [[Bifurcated Weapon|split]] into [http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:USS_Prometheus,_multi-vector_assault_mode.jpg three parts] in order to break stuff.
**:* The [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/5/5c/USS_Enterprise-C.jpg Enterprise-C], commanded by Captain Rachel Garrett and Lt. Castillo. It was so badass, it's crew decided to [[Heroic Sacrifice|fight a battle they were destined to lose]] simply because it would lead to peace between the Federation and the Klingons. Now you know you're a cool ship when you get blown up and the ''Klingons'' are impressed.
*:* ''Enterprise'' [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/7/74/Enterprise_NX-01.jpg NX-01], humanity's first Warp 5 ship. Not as pretty or [[Badass]] as later versions, but it did get the job done. And got it done well.
*:* The entire Constitution ''class''. They were fast, reliable, powerful, and tough. Remember the USS ''Constellation''? Blasted into near-scrap by the Doomsday Machine, antimatter exhausted and warp drive a 'pile of scrap', yet it could still fly and fight clumsily once Scotty got his hands on it. Those ships were arguably the best the Federation ever built.
*:* And that's just the main Human ships. Most of the supporting cast of races got cool ships, but the [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/5/5f/IKS_Kronos_One.jpg Klingon]{{Dead link}} and [https://web.archive.org/web/20120617073811/http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/1/15/IRW_TMet_firing_disruptors.jpg Romulan ships] were especially badass.
**::* Especially since, if you go by the [https://web.archive.org/web/20120617074642/http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/0/06/IKS_Rotarran_fires_on_Jem%27Hadar_attack_ship.jpg IKS Rotarran], (Martok's ship) Dominion War-Era Birds of Prey are pretty much comparable to the USS Defiant.
**::* Not to mention the [http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/D%27Kora_class Ferengi Marauder] of all things, even Picard considered it a "very impressive design" - good thing they're more interested in commerce than warfare.
*:* Let's add the ''[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/a/a9/Akira_class%2C_overview.jpg Akira]''-class (functionally Star Trek's version of [[The Battlestar]]), ''[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/c/c2/USS_Farragut%2C_Generations.jpg Nebula]''-class (Compact version of the ''Galaxy''-class yet just as powerful, and with the weapon's pod even moreso), the ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120617073702/http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/e/e7/Galaxy_class_aft.jpg Galaxy]''-class itself (especially the War Refit versions), the ''[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/2/2c/USS_Enterprise_%28NCC-1701%29%2C_remastered.jpg Constitution]''-class (AKA, the ORIGINAL Enterprise, and especially the [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/d/df/USS_Enterprise-A_quarter.jpg refit and movie versions]), and many more...
*:* Also, the various Borg ships, especially the very large and very dangerous [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/9/9f/Borg_cube_engaged_at_Sector_001.jpg Cubes]. That is, until they start to suffer from [[Villain Decay]], notably in ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Star Trek Voyager]]''
*:* While only occurring in one episode, the [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/3/38/Voth_city_ship.jpg Voth City Ship] is definitely deserving of a mention. It's huge. It's fast. It beamed the entire motherflipping starship Voyager into a cargo hold!
**::* More impressive because the Voth are genetically related to humans, being descended from Earth dinosaurs, who managed to escape the extinction in primitive ships and made it all the way to the Delta Quadrant where they dominate all the species in their area of influence. They could probably give the Borg a run for their money.
*:* The Vulcan High Command ringships from ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|Star Trek Enterprise]]''; particularly the [https://web.archive.org/web/20120617073723/http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081008011025/memoryalpha/en/images/5/58/D%27Kyr_type%2C_ventral_particle_beam.jpg ''D'Kyr''-class Combat Cruiser], but also the ''Surak''-class ships and the larger ''Suurok''-class vessels like ''Sh'raan''.
*:* Many of Starfleet's ships have a Fridge Coolness factor to them: before the ''Defiant'', Starfleet weren't really into actual warships,<ref>That would be ''why'' the Defiant isn't officially classified as a warship</ref> and so their ships had other primary purposes (exploration, mostly). Didn't keep them from going up against ''dedicated'' warships and winning...
* This was subverted in ''[[That '70s Show]]''. The camera moves underneath a chassis to display it as a huge behemoth flying in space, only to reveal that it's a Vista Cruiser with Eric and Donna sitting in it. Incidentally, it could be considered a [[Cool Car]].
* The ''[http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/White_Star_class White Star]''(s) from ''[[Babylon 5]]''.
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* The Doctor's TARDIS on ''[[Doctor Who]]''. Even though it barely works and constantly shakes and smokes, it is still the most powerful ship ''in the universe'', capable of towing ''the Earth'' through intergalactic space. And it looks like a Police Box.
** And have we mentioned that it's [[Bigger on the Inside]]?
** Aside from the TARDIS, the new series features the Daleks' badass [http://images.wikia.com/tardis/images/3/3d/Daleksaucer.jpg flying saucers], not to mention the beautiful ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20111112155901/http://images.wikia.com/tardis/images/a/aa/Byz.png Byzantium]'' from ''The Time of Angels'' (pre-crash, of course). It has ''[[Rule of Cool|cyborg trees]]'' on board to generate oxygen! Freaking ''cool!''
** Not to mention the super-epic Starship UK from "The Beast Below", which not only features skyscrapers mounted on a shiny metal platform, but is {{spoiler|powered by the last Star Whale}}.
* John Crichton's ''Farscape One'' from ''[[Farscape]]''.
** Speaking of Farscape... ''Talyn''. ''Moya'' was like a good [[Team Mom]], but ''Talyn'' was like that dangerous but cool kid everyone knew about but never really knew growing up.
** Lo'La. Period.
* Subversion: the new ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', BS-75, survived the Cylon attack to become the focus of its series because it was old, obsolete, and ''less'' cool than the rest of the fleet, without being actually junky. (Though by virtue of achievement Galactica is still really, really cool, with many a-[[Crowning Moment of Awesome]].)
** The Battlestar ''Pegasus'' is a straight up example. Likewise the Mk VII Vipers.
** To quote the commander of Pegasus, "Galactica's not a Relic, it's a Classic." And this "bucket"'s main defense are not crazy shiny looking shields but saturating the surrounding area of space with an absurd amount of explosions.
** Hell, the Cylon basestars count. There's a ship that looks both truly unique ''and'' [[Badass]].
*** They also look like [http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic52141_md.jpg Split-Level Aggravation]{{Dead link}}.
* The ''[[Lexx]]'', a massive spacecraft that resembles a dragonfly. Its [[Crippling Overspecialization|only weapon]] is a [[Wave Motion Gun]] that smashes the planets into bite-size chunks.
** A dragonfly, eh? [[Is That What They're Calling It Now?]]?
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*** To paraphrase [[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]: "More like lower-atmosphere-ships."
* The Eagles from ''[[Space: 1999]]'' also fit, being the best thing about the series apart from Martin Landau.
* The Astro Megaship from ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'' and ''[[Power Rangers Lost Galaxy|Lost Galaxy]]''. All the functionality of the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' Enterprise, plus it turns into a giant robot!
** It's got [[Atop the Fourth Wall|Linkara's]] seal of approval!
** As does Master Vile's skull spaceship. Serpentera also technically counts.
* The basis for the Astro Megaship - Mega Ship / Galaxy Mega from [[Denji Sentai Megaranger]]. Since the series was themed around computers rather than space travel, it was used as an orbital base instead of transport, but still.
** The [[Space Sailing|Gokai Galleon]] from ''[[Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger]]''.
* The ''Vulture'' from "[[Salvage 1]]." Built in a 1979 scrap yard from parts including a gasoline truck, a cement mixer and some old tires, the ''MilleniumMillennium Falcon'' ain't got nothing on this baby when it comes to being a miraculously functional "piece of junk." It took its crew of a junkman, a former astronaut, and a propulsion expert all the way to the Moon and back to salvage NASA's collectibles.
 
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]: [[Battlefleet Gothic]]''. Ten-thousand-year-old mile-long cathedrals to war and destruction with broadside guns that can screw continents. In space.
** Just to clarify: Escorts (the lightest ships) are supposed half a mile to a mile long, Cruisers generally range from 4 to 8 miles long, and Battleships are larger than [[Star Wars|Super Star Destroyers]].
** The Blackstone Fortresses. Enormous and fantastically ancient mobile starbases built to slay [[Eldritch Abomination]]s and armed with cannons that shoot [[Negative Space Wedgie]]s!
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** A fairly normal feature is a computerized surface that can be used to customize any imagery the captain desires. Similar features are available on several of the bulkheads. Thus even fairly ordinary Starships can look cool
* One of the possible settings in [[Maid RPG]] is space. Given the nature of the game, at least one of these will be involved in any game taking place in that setting.
* In [[Exalted]] the very ''Sun'' itself is a battlestation known as '''Dirigible Engine Daystar''' designed to fight back armies of billions of Raksha and rogue Primordials. The Daystar is detailed in five parts on the Ink Monkeys' Blog ([https://web.archive.org/web/20100704065503/http://forums.white-wolf.com/cs/blogs/freelancers/archive/2010/05/19/ink-monkeys-vol-13-the-daystar-part-i.aspx I], [https://web.archive.org/web/20100704072011/http://forums.white-wolf.com/cs/blogs/freelancers/archive/2010/05/22/ink-monkeys-vol-14-the-daystar-part-ii-1.aspx II-1], [https://web.archive.org/web/20100704072016/http://forums.white-wolf.com/cs/blogs/freelancers/archive/2010/05/23/ink-monkeys-vol-15-the-daystar-part-ii-2.aspx II-2], [https://web.archive.org/web/20100704065106/http://forums.white-wolf.com/cs/blogs/freelancers/archive/2010/05/24/ink-monkeys-vol-16-the-daystar-part-ii-3.aspx II-3], [https://web.archive.org/web/20100704071636/http://forums.white-wolf.com/cs/blogs/freelancers/archive/2010/05/31/ink-monkeys-vol-17-the-daystar-part-iii.aspx III], [https://web.archive.org/web/20101229121027/http://forums.white-wolf.com/cs/blogs/freelancers/archive/2010/11/09/ink-monkeys-vol-the-daystar-finale.aspx Final]).
* The ''[[Starfire]]'' hex-map-based wargame was ''all about'' combat between fleets of starships. The units varied in size from tiny one-man fighters all the way up to Monitors four times as large as a space battleship, armed with quasi-inertialess ion engines, nuclear missiles, [[Antimatter]] missiles, [[Frickin' Laser Beams]], [[Tractor Beam]]s, [[Deflector Shields]], and a host of other deadly hardware.
 
== Toys ==
* In ''[[Bionicle]]'', the entire universe of the first 8 years of the story is contained within a [[Beyond the Impossible|16 million feet tall sentient robot]] which travels between planets.
 
== Video Games ==
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* The various Hunter-class gunships from the ''[[Metroid]]'' series. GFS ''Olympus'' from ''[[Metroid Prime|Prime 3]]'' probably also counts, if only because it has its own <s>Mother Brain</s> Aurora Unit onboard, where Auroras are usually limited to larger installations - like, oh, entire cities.
* The [[Global Airship]] in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]''. It's called the ''Ragnarok''. You find it in space. [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rq9vTcJ1IU&mode=related&search= It does this]. It, along with 3 other ships of the same model, were also used to lift the [[Sealed Evil in a Can]] into orbit, as seen [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HnjHoObHiy8&NR=1 here]
* Another [[Global Airship]], this time in ''[[Wild ArmsARMs 3]]'', called [[Mechanical Lifeforms|Lombardia]], is a ''[[Transforming Mecha]] [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragon]]'' which far outclasses any imitators you might meet in aerial [[Random Encounters]].
** The Lombardia returns in ''[[Wild ArmsARMs XF]]'', although you only get to see it in cutscenes. As a [[Shout-Out]] to 3, it's classified as a "Dragon Class" subspace vessel. It's also cool as hell.
** Its/his (her?) first appearance was in ''[[Wild ArmsARMs 2]]'', where it's explained to have traveled from another dimension full of biomechanical dragons. This was their excuse for putting a [[Transforming Mecha]] in a [[Desert Punk]] setting. Sadly, it didn't join the heroes until after the one mission that required them to actually go into space.
* Most space shooters feature a few of these - The Vic Viper from Gradius is a good example.
** [[R-Type]] fighters
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** Given that [[Memetic Badass|Sir Isaac Newton]] [[Memetic Mutation|is the deadliest son of a bitch in space]], presumably the Everest-class dreadnoughts count.
** How can a ME list not include the ''Destiny Ascension''? The largest warship in the galaxy, it manages to hold its own during the surprise attack on the Citadel. {{spoiler|unless you go Renegade..}}
** The [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|geth]] flagship is a massive dreadnought that can lay waste to the entire quarian fleet, even though it looks like a giant cockroach. Unless, of course, {{spoiler|Legion disables its weapons and defenses}}. Keep in mind that the quarian dreadnoughts (or civilians ships that pretend they're ''not'' dreadnoughts) are armed to the teeth with the Thanix cannons.
* In [[StarcraftStarCraft|Starcraft II]], the protagonists' starship, the Hyperion, a stolen [[The Empire|Dominion]] battlecruiser, qualifies.
** Also, the Void Seeker (Zeratul's ship) and possibly the Shield of Aiur (Artanis' Ship).
* The ''[[Star Wars|TIE Fighter]]'' series of games featured the TIE Defender, which was the fastest starfighter in the galaxy; as well-armed as some bombers; shielded (unusual for TIEs); equipped with hyperdrive; and some models had a ''tractor beam''. Something of a [[Game Breaker]], it didn't make it into other similar games, leaving you with only the second best TIE Advanced starfighter.
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** Pretty much any Forerunner ship as described in [[The Forerunner Saga|Cryptum]]: some are made up primarily from hardened light, which can be turned transparent in some areas to simulate being completely outside. Of particular note is the unnamed ship used by the Didact, which, while small compared to some other ships, was equipped to singularly wage a large battle, and the Fortress ships, which were 50 kilometers long and capable of {{spoiler|destroying Halos on their own}}.
* ''[[EVE Online]]'' has many of these, but the Veldnaught, piloted by Chribba, gets special mention. Beyond being a capital ship, it is located in high-security space, where capital ships are not allowed to enter, but the Veldnaught was already THERE when the rule was put in place. So what does Chribba use it for? Mining.
** The Rifter class of frigate also fits in this trope. Like all Minmatar ships, Rifters look like they're made of scrap. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121130170855/http://www.eve-tribune.com/index.php?no=1_13&page=4 This article] (non-canon) claims that the first Rifters were constructed during the Minmatar Rebellion out of actual scrap, with converted plasma cutters for engines. But they don't just fly well - the Rifter is commonly held to be the best combat frigate in the game.
*** Every pilot in Goonfleet knows that the original Rifters were built from bicycles and televisions stolen from the Amarr. :)
** The Magathron Navy Issue was at one point considered one of the most aesthetically pleasing ships in the game, given that its base design was already [[Badass]] looking. However, unlike the regular issue, it sported a jet black paint scheme with blue lighting. To the point that people bought it just because it looked cool.
*** This changed when the Dominion expansion altered the paint scheme to a [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|horribly ugly forest camo.]] Chided by players as being perfect to hide the ship behind all the trees in space. The price of the Mega Navy Issue took a nice drop in response.
** The Scorpion received an epic visual overhaul with the deployment of Tyrannis, which was especially well received by the player base.
 
*** And children's toys for the AI.
** Bassically, any ship in EVE can be considered a "Cool Starship" depending on your standards and sense of aesthetics. Except the noob ships.
*** And now even the noob ships look cool now that they have also received a visual overhaul on par of that of the aforementioned Scorpion.
* ''[[Star Trek Online]]'', naturally, allows you to command the cool starships of the franchise practically at-will. They even slipped in the original Enterprise design as a preorder bonus [[Rule of Cool|just because]].
** You can also [[Design -It -Yourself Equipment|mix and match parts from ships with (roughly) identical roles and performance capabilities]], and then give it a custom paint job, to make your own, personalized Cool Starship that still fits the setting.
** To fill out the ship roster, Cryptic had to generate cosmetic variations on pre-existing ships, and some of said variations are... somewhat lacking.
* ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' has one of the understated ones. The Lunar Whale is a mobile free inn with an enormously fat bird that serves as a [[Hyperspace Arsenal]] access point. It may not be the biggest out there, but it's more than enough for world-saving adventurers battling the forces of ultimate evil.
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* Each player class in [[The Old Republic]] gets their own Cool Starship around the late tens of their character level, give or take, and can use it to fly [[Star Fox]] style missions as well as transporting themselves around the galaxy.
 
== WebcomicsWeb Comics ==
 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150110172132/http://www.dresdencodak.com/cartoons/dc_015.htm This ship] from ''[[Dresden Codak]]''.
== Webcomics ==
* [http://www.dresdencodak.com/cartoons/dc_015.htm This ship] from ''[[Dresden Codak]]''.
* In the long-running comedy [[Military Science Fiction|Mil-SF]] ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' the mercenary company "Tagon's Toughs" advances through a series of starships of various sizes, the latter three with AI shipminds that are full characters. They start with the ''Kitesfear'' (small and patched, but with excellent fire coverage), to a used Tausennigan Ob'enn Thunderhead-class superfortress (ridiculously oversized) which dubs itself the ''Post-Dated Check Loan,'' then to one of its troop boats (the ''Serial Peacemaker,''), and most recently acquired the ship of a larger merc company, renaming it the ''Touch and Go.''
** This says nothing compared to some of the UNS Fleet. For example, the UNS Battleplate ''Morokweng'', a ship design originally intended to block asteroid impacts the hard way, and this particular example is implied to be even bigger than previously seen battleplates. Gets into a pissing match with both the ''Touch and Go'' and the ''Athens II'' at the same time, and is carrying enough pee to outpiss both of them and nearly feed the crushed remains into its annie plants.
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* [http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos233.html This ship] from ''[[A Miracle of Science]]''. The martians are not allowed to have battleships, so they call it a police cruiser.
* The ''White Knight'' from [[Terinu]], personal fighter of Rufus Brushtail. Not only does it look cool, it's got the requisite "recovered from a junkyard" background.
* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' Torg, Riff, and Zoe are ''very'' excited to [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20130511213527/http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=081124 get one of these]. Though Riff ''is'' a bit disappointed it doesn't come with space lasers.
* ''[[Freefall]]'' gives us the ''Savage Chicken'', distinctly on the junky end of the scale. In the earliest strips, it's a non-flyer, without running water. Even as of July 2011, it is currently only repaired enough to serve as an orbital-only shuttle, pending funds for further work.
* [[Quentyn Quinn, Space Ranger]] has two thus far--- Quinn's own ship, the Thunderbird, and the recently introduced Sapphire Star, a luxury cruise ship with a diameter measured in kilometers.
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== Web Original ==
* ''[[Orion's Arm]]'' is chock-full of Cool Starships. Even though none of them are faster-than-light, it doesn't matter since everyone is immortal anyway. Most of said starships are also [[Sapient Ship]], and often transapient, and have extremely propulsion technology - monopole-based "conversion" drive, which can render antimatter engines obsolete, is a commonplace standard-issue drive system, and the greater AI powers use various forms of [[Reactionless Drive]]. The pinnacle of all are the Voidships, created and used only by the greatest archailects, which leave normal space altogether and exist within Alcubierre-esque void bubbles, and can only be detected as very fast moving gravitometric distortions.
* ''[[Star Trek: Phoenix]]'' has the new Ascension class [http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs42/f/2009/122/4/3/USS_Phoenix_in_low_orbit_by_MarkKingsnorth.jpg USS Phoenix]
* ''[[Tech Infantry]]'' has several. The ''EFS Stornoway'' is a fleet destroyer with an experimental graviton cannon. The freighter ''Resolve'' is a rusty bucket of junk with as much personality as the ''[[Star Wars|Millennium Falcon]]''. And then there are the Star Control Ships, massive warships several miles long, and the Vin Shriak Worldships, hollowed-out asteroids refitted as warships several ''hundred'' miles long. [[Horde of Alien Locusts|The Bugs]] create starships partly by gluing together the dead bodies of their own workers and soldiers with ''saliva''.
* ''[[AH Dot Com the Series]]'' has several, most notably of course the eponymous MES ''AH.com'', which subscribes to the "vast rickety old warship with skeleton crew" setting similar to ''[[Red Dwarf]]''.
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* [[The Age of Dusk|The Idealist]], which is the first AI controlled ship created by the Tau Empire.
* [[Nexus Gate]] you yourself can own one!
* In ''[[Pay Me, Bug!]]'', the protagonist owns one. And he just got a windfall to use in upgrading it, too!
* ''Comicron 1'' from ''[[Atop the Fourth Wall]]''.
* The Freelancer Project's ''Mother of Invention'' from [[Red vs. Blue]] is an incredibly cool starship, controlled by an equally cool AI.
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* Mator and Captain Roger from the [[Pixar Shorts|''Cars Toons'']] "UFM: Unidentified Flying Mater" and "Moon Mater", respectively.
* [[Mad Scientist|Jumba's]] spaceship from ''[[Lilo and Stitch]]'', [[What Could Have Been|which was originally going to be a stolen passenger jet,]] but was immediately changed into what it is now due to controversy concerning the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161002014554/http://www.toonbarn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Aya-in-Frontier-Space.jpg Aya the Interceptor] from the [[Green Lantern: theThe Animated Series|Green Lantern animated series]] is a Green Lantern ''starship''. Oh, and it's the fastest thing ever created by sentient beings.
* Most ships from the French cartoon Once Upon a Time...Space. The coolest ones were the warships used by the republic of Cassiopeia.
 
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== Real Life ==
* There is so far nothing in existence that can be called a true "spaceship", i.e, a space-equivalent of an oceangoing vessel, which could be loosely defined as a reusable space vehicle <ref>Oceangoing ships are reusable - they can be resupplied, and make the same trip several times, or travel to different destinations. A one-shot exploratory craft could be more accurately described as a probe, than a ship.</ref> capable of practically traversing interplanetary or at least cislunar distances,<ref>I.e, they're not limited to the harbor of Earth orbit.</ref> and not necessarily aerodynamic in any sense or designed to land anywhere.<ref>I.e, the vehicle stays in space, although it can deploy landers or shuttles to planetary/lunar surfaces - similar to ocean vessels, which never intentionally come ashore, but can carry small boats or hovercraft which do.</ref> And a true starship - a spaceship which can practically traverse the huge distances between stars - is much farther off. The International Space Station was built and space and stays in space, but it doesn't go anywhere, and even the Apollo command modules were one-shot non-reusable deals. So technically, this trope is not yet [[Truth in Television]]. That doesn't stop the following quasi-examples - unmanned probes, surface-to-orbit launch craft, and realistic proposed spaceships which we could (but have not yet) built - from being cool.
* The Space Shuttles, in spite of their flaws, qualify as "cool", if for no other reason than that they are among the relativerelatively few passenger spacecraft actually in use at presentused (though not by July 2011, whenalthough the fleet is tohas bebeen retired).
** The flaws have been overstated somewhat. And the other two manned spacecraft currently in use are [[Boring but Practical|disposable 3-man capsules]] with no cargo capacity to speak of - you can't really compare them to humanity's first [[Outlaw Star|grappler ship]]...
* The massive Saturn V rocket, with the Apollo capsule and lunar lander were awesome.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Cool Starship{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Settings]]
[[Category:Anime Settings]]
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[[Category:Spacecraft]]
[[Category:Travel Cool]]
[[Category:Cool Starship]]
[[Category:The Utterly and Completely Definitive Guide to Cool]]