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{{trope}}
[[File:EscapePodSpaceballs.png|frame|link=Spaceballs|[[Abandon Ship]]! Abandon Ship! All personnel proceed to '''Escape Pods'''! [[Spaceballs|Close down the circus! Evacuate the zoo!]]]]
A lifeboat... '''[[Space Is an Ocean|IN SPACE]]'''.
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The '''Escape Pod''' can come in handy should a [[Boarding Party]] of [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens]] announce that [[All Your Base Are Belong to Us]], and you find it prudent [[Know When to Fold'Em|not to question them]]. Similarly, keep it in mind if you ever find yourself on the wrong end of [[The Mutiny]].
If you're ever stuck in a [[Supervillain Lair]] thoughtfully equipped with a [[Self-Destruct Mechanism]], you may want to memorize the route to the nearest
In a pinch, Escape Pods can be used for purposes besides evacuation—they provide a more humane alternative if you feel the urge to [[Thrown Out the Airlock|throw someone out the airlock]], and on rare occasions might even be used to [[It's Raining Men|deploy]] your [[Space Marine]]s. But in order for a pod to count as an example of this trope, its ''primary'' (or at least ''[[Informed Ability|informed]]'') purpose must be to serve as a science-fictiony life boat.
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Either way, it's certainly better than using [[Ejection Seat]] to face space in your [[Latex Space Suit]] alone.
Compare [[Bug-Out]], which is what frequently prompts the use of an Escape Pod.
{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
* When Volkswagen's New Beetle first appeared, with its compact, rounded, mildly Science Fiction-y shape, it was advertised with billboards that called it an "Escape Pod."
== [[Card Games]] ==▼
* The ''[[Star Wars Customizable Card Game]]'' reveals that Grand Moff Tarkin (at least, I think it was Tarkin...) doesn't ''like'' it when Imperial officers use escape pods to escape (something he considers an act of cowardice), to put it nicely. I believe it's implied (or outright stated) that he shoots them down. This is based on Tarkin's statement during the Battle of Yavin in ''[[Star Wars]] Episode IV: [[A New Hope]]''.▼
{{quote|Imperial officer: We've analyzed their attack, sir, and there is a danger. Should I have your ship standing by?▼
Grand Moff Tarkin: Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances! }}▼
== Film -- Animated ==
* ''[[WALL-E]]'' had a scene featuring an escape pod that, for some inexplicable reason, had ''its own [[Self-Destruct Mechanism]]''. The film's post-scriptum animation shows that ([[Fridge Logic|potentially explosive!]]) escape pods can also be used as makeshift shelters, and an escape pod plays a role in the related short ''BURN-E''.
== Film -- Live Action ==
* The 1993 movie ''Lifepod'' was essentially the [[Alfred Hitchcock]] movie ''Lifeboat'' [[Recycled in Space]].
* ''[[A New Hope|Star Wars: A New Hope]]''
** The movie opens with [[Robot Buddy|C3PO and R2D2]] fleeing Princess Leia's captured ship in an escape pod along with the blueprints detailing [[Attack Its Weak Point|the Death Star's weak spot]]; Imperial gunners nearly [[Sink the Life Boats|blow them out of the sky]] before they note there are no actual lifesigns on board the pod. (The fact that they'd shoot down a pod with people on board, but not an empty one, tells the audience something about the Empire...) The robots' escape sets all the events of the original ''[[Star Wars]]'' trilogy in motion.
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* ''[[Spaceballs]]'': Dark Helmet, President Skroob and Colonel Sandurz all have their escape pods stolen by other crew members (and, in one case, [[Everything's Worse with Bears|a bear]]) as ''Spaceball One'' self-destructs.
** As an extra bonus, the visual effect for each escape pod launching homages the iconic ''[[Star Wars]]'' example above.
== Literature ==
* Life Boats appear on a regular basis in [[Andre Norton]]'s science fiction stories (where they're sometimes referred to as an "LB"). Oddly, they're often used for purposes ''other'' than just escaping from a destroyed ship.
** In ''The Time Traders'', Ross Murdock fell into one (in a crashed alien ship) while dying of exposure to Arctic conditions. The lifeboat's automatic systems recognized him as an injured intelligent lifeform and tucked him into [[Auto Doc|a bunk full of some sort of healing goo]]; he came out some hours later feeling fine.
** Played straight in ''The Zero Stone''. Murdoc Jern is stranded aboard a derelict alien ship and escapes from it using a life boat. He eventually reaches a [[Conveniently-Close Planet]].
** A life boat is used in an unusual manner three times in ''Uncharted Stars'', the sequel to ''The Zero Stone''.
*** Murdoc Jern uses a life boat to make a stealth landing on the criminal planet Sororis and later return to his starship in orbit.
*** Murdoc and Eet take a life boat down to an unnamed planet in order to warn some Zacathan archeologists about a Jack (pirate) raid. They return to their starship in orbit with a wounded Zacathan they rescued.
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'''Ford''': "Twice." }}
* Ships in [[Honor Harrington]] carry escape pods which can be used to escape a ship that has suffered damage. However they are generally only provided for crew stationed close to the hull of the ship since under most circumstances crew further inside will either not have time to evacuate at all (if the reactors explode) or will have time to make an orderly evacuation using the ship's auxiliary small craft.
* The [[Backstory]] of ''[[The Lost Fleet]]'' is that Commander John Geary, after fighting a [[Last Stand|rear guard action]], was the last person off his wrecked ship -- in an escape pod with a malfunctioning beacon, so no one found him for 100 years. The good news is the pod had [[Human Popsicle|"survival hibernation" capability]]; he's physiologically no older than he was when he went to sleep. The bad news is Geary's now a [[Fish Out of Temporal Water]] in a [[Forever War]]. Oh, and he was "posthumously" promoted to captain, '''and''' made into a [[King in the Mountain]] legend.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' had an episode in which rough-around-the-edges engineer Tucker and an alien [[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!]] were [[Locked in a Room|trapped in a cramped escape pod together]] after fleeing some evil aliens.
** The mirror Enterprise NX01 also had life pods, not that they did the crew much good when they were used (almost all were destroyed by an energy web that was trapping the ship to begin with).
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* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' had Joel finally escape the Satellite of Love in a conveniently forgotten one of these. It was hidden in a box of hamdingers, and ''nobody'' likes hamdingers. It's name? The "[[Deus Ex Machina]]."
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==▼
=== Board Games ===
*
** Also keep in mind that in the [[Grimdark|spirit of that universe]], an exploding ship may ([[Crapsack World|And probably will]]) result in the creation of a temporary, gigantic rift in the fabric of space-time which leads to ''hell''. Or if the plasma drive goes first, it may make enough of fireworks that nearby vessels risk equivalent of few hits from a good ship-to-ship weapon. Being as far as you can at that point would be very wise.▼
* ''[[Star Fleet Battles]]'' Captain's module K1 ''Fast Patrol Ships''. When Fast Patrol ships are about to be destroyed, their crew eject in self-contained survival pods that broadcast a homing signal.▼
▲=== [[Card Games]] ===
▲* The ''[[Star Wars Customizable Card Game]]'' reveals that Grand Moff Tarkin (at least, I think it was Tarkin...) doesn't ''like'' it when Imperial officers use escape pods to escape (something he considers an act of cowardice), to put it nicely. I believe it's implied (or outright stated) that he shoots them down. This is based on Tarkin's statement during the Battle of Yavin in ''[[Star Wars]] Episode IV: [[A New Hope]]''.
▲{{quote|Imperial officer: We've analyzed their attack, sir, and there is a danger. Should I have your ship standing by?
▲Grand Moff Tarkin: Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances! }}
=== Tabletop RPG ===
* Ships in ''[[Traveller]]'' sometimes had Life Boats.▼
** One Double Adventure (''Marooned'' and ''Marooned Alone'') had the PCs landing on a planet using them after escaping from a passenger liner in orbit.▼
** The FASA adventure ''Action Aboard: Adventures on the King Richard'' had a section on how they would be used to evacuate passengers in the event of a disaster.▼
* ''[[Spelljammer]]'' has "Wreckboat", but a dedicated escape craft is luxury, since its engine is the same as on ships proper, where it's the most expensive part. So usually if a ship has any launches to use as shuttles, they'll double as lifeboats.▼
* ''[[Star Frontiers]]'' has lifeboat (one-way shuttle, usually with 20 seats, 30 hours worth of oxygen for them, used on ships from the size of a frigate or small freighter and up), escape pod proper (mostly-automated single passenger craft, given the destination at launch, with SOS beacon and life support for 11 days, can be carried on any ship except fighters — those may have ejectable cockpit instead) and launch ("space car" for moving to something on a nearby orbit without docking the ship to it, for 4 or 10 passengers, 10 hours of oxygen, and no airlock of its own), which is relatively short-ranged, but also used for evacuation in a pinch. Sometimes evacuation is about reaching a planet with breathable air, sometimes the goal is to make minimum safe distance before [[Going Critical|a damaged nuclear engine goes boom]], then wait to be picked up by a hopefully friendly ship.
**
* ''Starblazer Adventures'', based on the 1980's British science fiction [[Comic Book]]. Small ships such as fighters had ejection seats, while larger ships had escape pods.▼
== Video Games ==
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* In ''[[Nexus the Jupiter Incident]]'', any ship that is damaged beyond a certain point is considered lost, at which point it will start launching escape pods. If it is a ship from the player's fleet, then the percentage of escape pods that are collected determines if the player keeps the same experienced crew for the new ship. It is assumed that the captain always survives. If the ship is destroyed outright, then no escape pods are launched.
* Used several times in [[Space Quest]], being as the game's a send-up of sci-fi tropes. The first thing you have to go is get Roger the hell off the Arcada without getting vaped by the Sariens. Later, he steals ''their'' escape pod after setting the [[MacGuffin]] to blow. Second game has him stealing one to escape Vohaul's space station. A [[Have a Nice Death]] in the fifth one is him being expelled from Star Con Academy via escape pod.
* While only referenced in normal gameplay, ''[[
* The mining ship 'Ishimura' in ''[[Dead Space (video game)|Dead Space]]'' has several, not that they helped, in fact one of them led to {{spoiler|an entire military ship being destroyed.}}
* ''[[Dead Space 2]]'': not content with {{spoiler|being fired on a rocket chair and falling though space}} Isaac later ejects himself from {{spoiler|The Ishimura}} and crashes back into the sprawl.
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* Near the climax of [[Bulletstorm]] you need to make use of an Escape Pod
* ''[[Vega Strike]]'' has escape pods equipped with [[FTL]] drives, but with such a weak reactor and thrusters that running to a nearby base or ship is pain anyway. There are also Rescue missions where the player should collect with [[Tractor Beam]] a NPC pod asaulted by vengeful opponents and deliver the pilot to a nearby planet.
* In ''[[Star Control|Star Control 2]]'' {{spoiler|your Precursor ship gets
* ''[[Subnautica]]'' begins with a [[Cutscene]] of you boarding an escape pod and ejecting from a ship which promptly explodes, after which you are knocked out by flying debris. When you awaken, you are still in the (damaged and burning) pod, which becomes your shelter and base for the early part of the game.
▲== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
▲* Surprisingly for such a [[Crapsack World|Crapsack Galaxy]], Imperial Navy ships in ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' do have escape pods. They're mainly used to abandon ships that have suffered catastrophic rector damage and are about to explode in a spectacular ball of fiery death.
▲** Also keep in mind that in the [[Grimdark|spirit of that universe]], an exploding ship may ([[Crapsack World|And probably will]]) result in the creation of a temporary, gigantic rift in the fabric of space-time which leads to ''hell''. Being as far as you can at that point would be very wise.
▲* Ships in ''[[Traveller]]'' sometimes had Life Boats.
▲** One Double Adventure (''Marooned'' and ''Marooned Alone'') had the PCs landing on a planet using them after escaping from a passenger liner in orbit.
▲** The FASA adventure ''Action Aboard: Adventures on the King Richard'' had a section on how they would be used to evacuate passengers in the event of a disaster.
▲* ''[[Spelljammer]]'' has "Wreckboat", but a dedicated escape craft is luxury, since its engine is the same as on ships proper, where it's the most expensive part. So usually if a ship has any launches to use as shuttles, they'll double as lifeboats.
▲* ''[[Star Fleet Battles]]'' Captain's module K1 ''Fast Patrol Ships''. When Fast Patrol ships are about to be destroyed, their crew eject in self-contained survival pods that broadcast a homing signal.
▲* ''[[Star Frontiers]]'' module SF0 ''Crash on Volturnus''. After their ship is captured by the Star Devil's pirates, the [[PC]]s abandon ship in a lifeboat and use it to land on the planet Volturnus.
▲* ''Starblazer Adventures'', based on the 1980's British science fiction [[Comic Book]]. Small ships such as fighters had ejection seats, while larger ships had escape pods.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In his third appearance in ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]],'' the ever-resourceful villain [[Big Bad|Fructose Riboflavin]] makes surprisingly [http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20091020.html effective use] of his escape pod after his prison break, until [[Gadgeteer Genius|Galatea]] is able to give it a powerful enough engine to serve as a tiny spaceship in its own right.
== Western Animation ==
* They showed up in ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers|Galaxy Rangers]]'' a couple times. Most notably, in "Phoenix" where Eliza puts her kids in one, has to go back for supplies (it had enough for two people, not three), and is attacked. [[Heroic Sacrifice|She orders it to blast off when she's attacked by one of the pirates]]. A second example is when the Rangers use one to evacuate from an exploding Crown base in "Queen's Gun."
== Real Life ==
* Two [[Reds with Rockets|Soyuz]] spacecraft (the same ships used to carry crew and supplies to the ISS in the first place) are always docked at the International Space Station and can function as escape pods in case of an emergency. Each one can hold three crew members. On two occasions, the crew took refuge in these ships when danger from space debris loomed. Originally NASA planned to build a dedicated escape vehicle capable of taking the whole crew, the X-38, but - predictably - [[Failure Is the Only Option|this was cancelled after early tests]].
* Rockets carrying astronauts
* In the Apollo 13 incident, the Lunar Module essentially functioned as a makeshift escape pod for much of the flight.
* After the accidents of the space shuttle Challenger and later the Columbia there were plans to equip the remaining shuttles with [[wikipedia:Space Shuttle abort modes#Ejection escape systems|escape pods or even the ability to eject the entire cabin.]] However, those plans were abandoned -- adding crew ejection systems would be yet another risk element for the shuttle, and one which would only be useful in (hopefully) very rare circumstances.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Futuristic Tech Index]]
[[Category:Tropes in Space]]
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[[Category:Escape Tropes]]
[[Category:Spacecraft]]
▲[[Category:Escape Pod]]
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