Hard Light: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|'''[[The Flash]]:''' ''(faced with half a dozen clones of Luminus)'' "This is supposed to scare me? They're just illusions."

 

When ordinary light, whether it comes from science-fiction projectors or a magic spell, seems to have (or really does have) actual substance, it's '''Hard Light'''. '''Hard Light''' objects behave like any other object—chairs support weight, bullets kill, razors shave, and so forth. An illusory ''[[Energy Beings|person]]'' made of '''Hard Light''' can pick up real things and interact physically with real people, even though they don't technically exist.

 

{{examples}}

* The Duel Disk systems in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'' use this, but it very rarely matters since the monsters are mostly just fighting each other. Still, when monsters attack the opposing player directly, it ''actually hurts''.

** Which makes it even weirder during a scene in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX|GX]]'' that actually shows objects going ''through'' a monster hologram.

** Explained more in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's]]'', in the duel academia episode. Lua/Rua/Leo was commended for having good acting skills instead of good dueling skills. The psycho duelists however...

*** Then there's the duels with the Dark Signers, the Three Emperors, a ghost...

* Sixshot in ''[[Transformers Headmasters]]'' is adept at creating holograms that can fool any human or robot. They are perfectly capable of fighting, and even shooting real lasers.

* Folken in the ''[[Vision of Escaflowne]]'' movie attempts to persuade the heroine to his side twice projecting his image to distant places with his (or possibly Sora's) psychic powers. The second time he does this he grasps her hand quite physically.

** This is initially [[Averted Trope]], however, as without the {{spoiler|[[MacGuffin|Vongola Mist Ring]]}}, Mukuro was only able to simulate physical illusions by hiding rocks in them.

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' example [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O801pLj4gig&playnext_from=TL&videos=UeS0KbKEipY here] at 3:40... poor, poor Shinji.

 

** Producing various kinds of light, including the Hard variety, is the superpower of the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'s Dazzler.

** Bishop's sister Shard once existed as a being of hard light, before [[Heroic Sacrifice|heroically sacrificing]] herself by letting herself be absorbed into him to help him escape from Fitzroy.

** The original Dr. Light, a villain, could do it as well, but with gadgets.

* Back in Marvel, [[Quasar (comics)|Quasar]]'s Quantum Bands have the power to create solid light constructs.

* [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Cyclops]]' [[Eye Beams]].

* The [[Wildsiderz]] wear suits with projectors that gives them "holographic powers" of animals.

* ''[[Megalex]]'' features a few examples, most notably a sinister [[Sapient Ship]] personality named Shalise. Shalise is a holographic projection but is able to attack people in the real world with seemingly physical claws.

 

 

* Much of Ecoban's technology in ''[[Sky Blue]]'' makes use of hard light. At the very end, Shua is able to plug a physical device containing the self-destruct code into an entirely holographic terminal.

* In the 1936 ''[[Flash Gordon Serial|Flash Gordon]]'' serial, a "bridge of light" can be turned on to walk from the roof of one Martian building to another.

* In the Soviet sci-fi two-part film ''[[Moscow Cassiopeia]]'', the the relativistic starship ''ZARYa'' is equipped with the so-called Surprise Chamber, which allows the teenage crew to recreate different Earth locations. While they aren't as perfect as ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' holodecks (the sides are slightly reflective), the sights, sounds, and smells are pretty realistic.

 

* ''[[The Culture]]'' drones' fields: They manipulate [[Force Field|force fields]] with a very high degree of precision and control. Skaffen-Amtiskaw, in ''Use Of Weapons'' is seen using fields both as incredibly sharp "blades" and blunt objects, medical instruments (sucking blood away from a wound and performing surgery), and supporting pillars. Other drones carry objects and make mirrors from fields, and the gun in "A Gift From The Culture" extends one to "field-anchor" its wielder's arm for a steady shot. The field are generally coloured to depict the mood of the drone - for example, red is "the colour of drone pleasure". This is helpful, as a drone has no facial features or body language to interpret. In ''Consider Phlebas'' they use the word "soligram" to refer to this concept.

* Used, but not described as such, in the ''[[Skylark Series|Skylark of Space]]'' novel series by [[E. E. "Doc" Smith]], written in the 1930s. His "projectors" could send out other "projectors" of pure "force" that could manipulate material objects, transmute substances, act as remote "television broadcasters" and "spy-rays", and even manipulate objects at the core of dwarf stars (that's how lenses are created for the highest level of projectors). The in-novel justification for all this was that the hero was originally using matter to channel forces—the [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|sufficiently advanced aliens]] simply did away with using the matter, and channeled the forces directly.

* [[John Brunner]]'s Traveller in Black carries a walking-staff made out of light.

 

* The idea was [[Trope Codifier|popularized]] by the holodeck of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', although they weren't responsible for the standard "hard light" [[Hand Wave]]. Strictly speaking, Star Trek holograms are not hard light as the physical part comes from the use of forcefields rather than being an intrinsic quality of the hologram. The EMH Doctor in ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' often refers to himself (or fellow holograms) as "photons and forcefields" (as opposed to flesh and blood). Sentient holograms tended to refer to themselves and others as photonics.

** They even [[lampshade]]d this in one episode. Neelix's [[Organ Theft|lungs were stolen]] (... yeah) and the Doctor proposed that they be temporarily replaced with holographic lungs. As seen in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbut8Sp7jY4 this video], when Tom Paris pointed out that it couldn't work, as light was intangible, the Doctor ''[[Crowning Moment of Funny|slapped him]]''. Some holograms such as the doctor also had the ability to switch between solid and non-solid by deactivating the force field portion of their program separately to the hologram.

* In the ''[[Farscape]]'' "Look at the Princess" trilogy, the royal family possess a machine that can show what any potential child would look like and allows you to hold and interact with them.

 

* [[Older Than Print]]: In Norse Mythology, the [[Ur Example|ur-example]] may be Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge: it's implied to be [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|a solid bridge made out of a rainbow]] connecting Asgard and Midgard.

 

 

* The '95 PC game ''[[The Dig]]'' employed Hard Light in the form of bridges activated by Boston Low, the main character. If the player contacted Maggie about them, the two exchanged "light" puns (a "light" salad, "light" beer, etc.)

{{quote|'''Boston:''' If they can make bridges out of light, you have to wonder if they can make anything ELSE.

* The index keys from ''[[Halo]]'' are a kind of Hard Light construct. They exist physically most of the time, and can be handled by ordinary humans and Covenant, but digital constructs like Cortana and Guilty Spark can download an index and store it as electronic data. Plus, y'know, the ''Light Bridges''.

** One mission in ''[[Halo]] 2'' features holograms that ''can wield weapons and be hit by projectiles.''

*** Apparently, this was an extremely common aspect of any Forerunner structure (some ships are almost exclusively hard light, even). The Halos were unusual in that they didn't incorporate the technology as much as in other structures.

* The light arrows in [[The Legend of Zelda|''Zelda'' series]] seem to be composed of solid light energy.

** The access to Ganon's floating castle in Ocarina of Time is a bridge made of light (created by the sages Link awakened).

** Deku Seeds and Deku Nuts, when you throw them, look like balls of light and explode in a bright flash when they make impact.

* From the ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' series, the Robot Master Astroman had his abilities based on this, primarily sending forth a storm of Hard Light meteors and creating a holographic copy that [[Collision Damage|hurts just as much as crashing into the real thing.]]

* ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' character Dr. Nefarious uses hard light holograms in the third game, as does [[Shout-Out|Ace Hardlight]] in the fourth. Ratchet himself employs Hard Light armor in ''A Crack In Time''.

* Unlike previous games, illusory creatures in ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]] 4'' act just like real creatures. The flavor text in the library implies it's a case of [[Your Mind Makes It Real]].

* The Ixian Projectors from ''Emperor: Battle for [[Dune]]'' can project hard light copies of units, which can even deal damage. The downside is, being solid holograms, touching enemy units or being shot at instantly destroys them. Still, it allows one to [[Zerg Rush]] with an army of [[Glass Cannon|glass cannons]], so all in all, not bad.

* In ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'', in the Great Crystal, entire pathways are made out of nothing more than solid projections of light.

** ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' has a prequal, Crisis Core, in which Shinra has training programs that are essentially holograms. What makes that this Trope is that the holograms can completely imitate the physical qualities of the object. For example, Sephiroth's sword will actually cut you, even though it's not the real Sephiroth. Also, somehow, it creates its own arid desert.

* ''[[Portal 2]]'' features platforms made out of hard light as a gameplay element, which can be redirected through portals to gain access to unreachable areas or block turret fire.

* [[Deflector Shields|Shielding]] from many FPS games (shield belts from ''[[Unreal Tournament]]'', "active defense" from ''[[Battlefield (series)|Battlefield 2142]]'') takes this form, usually to allow players to see and be seen, but not shot from outside (even when [[Fridge Logic|laser weapons]] are used).

** Later on, at the [[Point of No Return]], {{spoiler|you cross a rainbow bridge into the Ark of Yamato.}}

 

* Dr. Disaster's simulations in ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' combine holograms with tactile feedback suits. Also, the shadow men are able to manipulate matter, making Hard Darkness.

* The Boscis in ''[[Banished]]!'' take pride in their Hard Light technology, which is indistinguishable from an ordinary person, er, bird. Except, of course, they can't be attacked.

* In ''[[Heist]]'', Geist the protagonist steals a hard light generator from its current owner (on whose behalf he had recently stolen it from someone else) in order to infiltrate the satellite headquarters of a [[Darker and Edgier]] [[Justice League]] [[Expy]].

 

* In the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'', there's a character codenamed Fubar (his real body is horribly mutated and he can't survive outside of a tank of purified water). He appears to people using astral projection, and uses psychokinesis to provide the appearance of a physical presence. He's very adept at it, but he's had ''decades'' to practice.

* In an [[Homage]] to ''[[Star Trek]]'', the ''[[League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions]]'' has a "holographic" doctor.

 

* [[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius|Jimmy Neutron]]'s holographic butler.

{{quote|'''Superman''': Are your holograms supposed to scare me?

'''Luminus''': Holograms are made of light. ''So are lasers.'' }}

** He met his match in this trope's polar opposite: Raven's hard ''shadows''. And the soul-crushing abyss within her cloak they dragged him into because she was so pissed she tapped into her demon heritage, but that's another story.

* The holographic training simulator in the Hall of Justice in ''[[DC Super Friends]]'' runs on this. Things go bad when Joker decides to take over the home base while Superman and Batman are visiting it.

* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987]]'' had an episode where Shredder created a couple of "solid holograms" to fight the Ninja Turtles.

* In ''[[Rollbots]]'', Botch has a Hard Light [[Grappling Hook Pistol]].

 

* The book ''Secret Weapons of World War II'' reports one non-scientist military type suggesting that research be done on "solidifying" searchlight beams to grab planes and smash them into the ground.

* Very slightly [[Truth in Television]]: light ''does'' exert a certain amount of force on solid objects. This is why engineers and science fiction writers have come up with the concept of solar sails.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3seTlvQtIgc Japanese Scientists Create Touchable Holograms].

** Is there anything those guys can't do?

 

{{reflist}}