ISO Standard Human Spaceship: Difference between revisions

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** Or olive-drab if the creator's American.

#While not required, visibly being constructed from riveted metal plates is encouraged, as is [[Star Trek|Borg cube]]-like details called [[wikipedia:Greeble|greebles or nurnies]].

#Since [[Our Weapons Will Be Boxy in ~~The~~ Future]], larger spaceships must be angular too; the standard human spaceship will be mostly rectangular with engines on one end and weapons on the other.

#Since [[Our Weapons Will Be Boxy in the Future]], larger spaceships must be angular too; the standard human spaceship will be mostly rectangular with engines on one end and weapons on the other.

#[[Space Fighter|Space Fighters]] and other small craft will be [[Old School Dogfighting|built around a cockpit and wings to look like airplanes]], but may have some style.

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Note that fictional vessels tend to use enormous amounts of energy yet typically lack [http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3au.html thermal radiators] to shed waste heat (no air-cooling in space). Although that ''could'' explain all the so-called wings...

Space wings are also often used in fiction as places to put extra weapons (like [[Macross Missile Massacre|missiles]]), and to store things (extra electronic equipment or fuel) inside them, although putting those things on or in the main hull makes more sense for a nonatmospheric [[Space Fighter]], as spreading out the ship's mass makes little sense for a vessel designed to maneuver in vacuum in three dimensions-- better to keep it compact, to conserve angular momentum. You ''can'' increase maneuverability by putting thrusters on the tips of them a la ''[[Babylon ~~Five~~]]'' Starfuries, using the wing as essentially a big lever to rotate the ship faster, but a simple pole (especially a retractable one) would do the same job just as well and with greater shear strength (again, compactness helps here), making it less likely to bend or break off during high-thrust maneuvers whose direction is perpendicular to the broad planar surface of the wing. Internal gyroscopic flywheeels could do the same thing ''and'' be less visibly obvious tells to the enemy (no signal lights before a turn). Only [[Space Fighter]] craft [[Space Plane|designed to go both ways]] (atmosphere and deep space) actually need wings-- and [[wikipedia:Lifting body|some real airplanes don't even need them]].

Space wings are also often used in fiction as places to put extra weapons (like [[Macross Missile Massacre|missiles]]), and to store things (extra electronic equipment or fuel) inside them, although putting those things on or in the main hull makes more sense for a nonatmospheric [[Space Fighter]], as spreading out the ship's mass makes little sense for a vessel designed to maneuver in vacuum in three dimensions-- better to keep it compact, to conserve angular momentum. You ''can'' increase maneuverability by putting thrusters on the tips of them a la ''[[Babylon 5]]'' Starfuries, using the wing as essentially a big lever to rotate the ship faster, but a simple pole (especially a retractable one) would do the same job just as well and with greater shear strength (again, compactness helps here), making it less likely to bend or break off during high-thrust maneuvers whose direction is perpendicular to the broad planar surface of the wing. Internal gyroscopic flywheeels could do the same thing ''and'' be less visibly obvious tells to the enemy (no signal lights before a turn). Only [[Space Fighter]] craft [[Space Plane|designed to go both ways]] (atmosphere and deep space) actually need wings-- and [[wikipedia:Lifting body|some real airplanes don't even need them]].

See also [[Standard Sci-Fi Fleet]]

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== [[Film]] ==

* Originally, the ''Discovery'' in ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' was going to have large heat radiators to dissipate the heat from the nuclear reactor ([[Shown Their Work|and indeed did in the novelization]]). However, Stanley Kubric decided he didn't want to have to [[Reality Is Unrealistic|explain why a ship in space had what looked like wings]]. One of the very few instances in the movie they went with [[Rule of Cool]] over scientific accuracy.

* ''[[Starship Troopers (~~Film~~)|Starship Troopers]]'' seems to follow this school of design.

* ''[[Starship Troopers (film)|Starship Troopers]]'' seems to follow this school of design.

* ''[[Star Wars]]'' has spacecraft starting off as an [[Elegant Weapon for A More Civilized Age]] in the prequel trilogy, then evolving into the gray, straight-lined, utilitarian war machines of the original trilogy. Strangely, almost all the spacecraft in the SW universe, even thousands of years back, [[Continuity Porn|resemble in some way the ones from the original trilogy]].

* ''[[Star Wars]]'' has spacecraft starting off as an [[Elegant Weapon for a More Civilized Age]] in the prequel trilogy, then evolving into the gray, straight-lined, utilitarian war machines of the original trilogy. Strangely, almost all the spacecraft in the SW universe, even thousands of years back, [[Continuity Porn|resemble in some way the ones from the original trilogy]].

* The mile-long ''ISV Venture Star'' from ''[[Avatar (~~Film~~)|Avatar]]'' is designed to be realistic from a presently envisaged engineering standpoint, as a pure starship, never intended to enter an atmosphere. It's optimized for minimal mass, and thus has a wiry hollow look focused around the pair of giant front-mounted antimatter annihilation engines, with huge radiator panels glowing visibly to dissipate the engines' heat produced, and massive spherical fuel tanks carrying fuel and reaction mass for the relativistic ship. The relatively tiny habitation and cargo modules, pair of ''Valkyrie'' shuttles and even tinier artificial-gravity crew compartments are all dragged along behind. The Valkyries themselves are SSTOs, designed for atmospheric flight, and are thus fairly sleek winged designs.

* The mile-long ''ISV Venture Star'' from ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'' is designed to be realistic from a presently envisaged engineering standpoint, as a pure starship, never intended to enter an atmosphere. It's optimized for minimal mass, and thus has a wiry hollow look focused around the pair of giant front-mounted antimatter annihilation engines, with huge radiator panels glowing visibly to dissipate the engines' heat produced, and massive spherical fuel tanks carrying fuel and reaction mass for the relativistic ship. The relatively tiny habitation and cargo modules, pair of ''Valkyrie'' shuttles and even tinier artificial-gravity crew compartments are all dragged along behind. The Valkyries themselves are SSTOs, designed for atmospheric flight, and are thus fairly sleek winged designs.

== [[Literature]] ==

* Lampshaded in [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Acorna]]'' series, where the Linyaari are openly baffled as to why human spaceships only come in one color. Slightly subverted in that Linyaari ships are, to human eyes, painted in loud and garish colors.

* Deliberately averted, avoided, hell, run away from in Darren Aronofsky's ''[[The Fountain]]'', where the Astronaut's spaceship --carrying only him and the Tree of Life within it-- is a huge transparent bubble that moves easily across space in its long, long journey from Earth to the star Xibalba. [[Word of God]] says that they chose this simple, but appealing design because not all spaceships have to look like “trucks in space.”

* In [[David Weber]]'s ''[[~~Honor Harrington (Literature)|~~Honor Harrington]]'' series it's mentioned that all of the major powers use reactive pigments to give their ships a primary color to distinguish them in visual inspections, but it's also noted how easy it is to change the paint-scheme.

* In [[David Weber]]'s ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' series it's mentioned that all of the major powers use reactive pigments to give their ships a primary color to distinguish them in visual inspections, but it's also noted how easy it is to change the paint-scheme.

** As for the shapes, given the physics of the universe, they tend towards a generally cylindrical design, with all warships having “hammerheads” on both ends to allow room for chase armament ([[Space Is an Ocean|similar to those on old-fashioned sailing warships]]).

* Subverted in [[David Drake]]'s ''Reaches'' trilogy, where the main characters' ships have ceramic hulls to resist the corrosive atmosphere of their native Venus. Every other spacefaring culture uses metal hulls, and it's noted that when the stresses of [[Subspace or Hyperspace|Transit]] become too great, a ceramic ship falls apart all at once, with a total loss of life (one ship is seen to have come out of Transit looking like a cloud of gravel), while a metal ship's hull might hold together long enough for some of the crew to be rescued. Also, ''everybody's'' hulls tend to be rounded, usually more-or-less cigar-shaped, although they fly or land with the long axis parallel to the ground, unlike “rocketships.”

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== [[Live Action Television]] ==

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]''

* ''[[Babylon ~~Five~~]]'' : Humorously lampshaded in “Legend of the Rangers” with the human design of the [http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Valen_(ship) Valen] looking like “a flying brick.” ([[Flying Brick|No relation]].) The later [http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Valen_class_cruiser Valen] class was made by the Minbari, further reinforcing the trope.

* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' : Humorously lampshaded in “Legend of the Rangers” with the human design of the [http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Valen_(ship) Valen] looking like “a flying brick.” ([[Flying Brick|No relation]].) The later [http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Valen_class_cruiser Valen] class was made by the Minbari, further reinforcing the trope.

{{quote| '''Ranger Dulann''': ''If human military designers had their way every colour of the spectrum would be removed except for grey, green and black and we would all live in windowless boxes.''}}

** Averted with ''[[Crusade]]'''s [http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Excalibur Excalibur], although it must be said it was a joint human/Minbari project.

*** You can see both design philosophies incorporated in it. You have the Minbari traditional triple-fin hull structure, but it's also dark grey similar to the ''Omega''-class destroyers. Interestingly, the human ''Hyperion''-class heavy cruisers are brightly-colored with white and blue. However, those (as mentioned in the fluff) were designed by a different military contractor than the ''Nova''e and the ''Omega''s.

* ''[[~~Firefly (TV)|~~Firefly]]'' mostly averts this trope, with the majority of ships seen having either a large cylindrical design or a smaller, more agile (but still not blocky) design, such as with Serenity herself. However, the ships do tend to have very metallic appearances, and several of the ships briefly shown do fit the trope better than the larger Alliance vessels and Serenity.

* ''[[Firefly]]'' mostly averts this trope, with the majority of ships seen having either a large cylindrical design or a smaller, more agile (but still not blocky) design, such as with Serenity herself. However, the ships do tend to have very metallic appearances, and several of the ships briefly shown do fit the trope better than the larger Alliance vessels and Serenity.

* The [[~~Red Dwarf (TV)|~~Red Dwarf]] is painted red, but that only serves to make it look ''more'' like a giant, flying brick.

* The [[Red Dwarf]] is painted red, but that only serves to make it look ''more'' like a giant, flying brick.

* Generally followed to a T in ''[[Space: 1999]]'', with the show's signature Eagles being entirely utilitarian shuttles designed to function in the absence of an atmosphere, in lunar gravity. They were mostly grey, although some had orange details. The alien spaceships, on the other hand, were often brightly-coloured, in the style of contemporary sci-fi artists such as Chris Foss and Peter Elson.

* ''[[Stargate]]'' : The [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/stargate/images/c/c0/F302.jpg F-302] is essentially a forward-swept flying wing with jet and rocket engines. The [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/stargate/images/2/2a/X-303.jpg X-303 class battlecruiser Prometheus] and the [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/stargate/images/3/3e/ApolloOverEarth.jpg BC-304 class deep-space carriers] however, being built out of a naquadah/trinium alloy, fit this trope perfectly.

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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* ''[[~~Battle Tech~~]]'' has mostly rounded ships, but otherwise adheres.

* ''[[BattleTech]]'' has mostly rounded ships, but otherwise adheres.

** One model of [[Drop Ship]] in particular, the Leopard, was even called “the Brick” in the canon itself. Its slab-sided appearance, coupled with a small bridge, stubby wings and massive engines on what amounts to a nigh-rectangular chunk of steel means it falls squarely within this trope.

* ''d20 Future'' ([[Science Fiction]] expansion to ''[[~~D 20~~ Modern]]'') generally presents this as the “default” look for spaceships.

* ''d20 Future'' ([[Science Fiction]] expansion to ''[[D20 Modern]]'') generally presents this as the “default” look for spaceships.

* [[Traveller]] : There is no standard for traveller; it depends on function and aesthetic taste and there are myriads of possible ship designs(indeed some traveller fans mainly like designing ships). Ships made to actually land on and take off from a planet generally have a "needle/wedge" design which looks something like a space shuttle. However this requires sacrifice in payload and the heaviest ships are generally serviced in orbit.

** The Lightning-class ships a multipurpose merchant/scout/privateer built by the Terrans for viking like voyages into Vilani space is a handsome ship that looks like a long wedge with short stubby wings.

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* ''[[Free Space]]'' does this with all Terran ships (and with the [http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/images/Gtvacolossus.jpg Colossus], which was a combination Terran and Vasudan ship). For the [http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v423/kc1991/VasCruis2.png Vasudan] and [http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/images/Sjsathanas.jpg Shivan] ships, tendencies are to have more curved and smooth designs instead of blocky ones--the ships still tend to be paint free, but colored differently to give them a more alien look.

* ''[[Halo]]'', the UNSC ships are boxy in shape, in contrast to the curvy purple flowing aesthetics of the Covenant. Acts as a visual reference for both how far advanced the Covenant ships are compared to the clumsy human vessels, as well as their [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens]] status verus the practical human military.

* ''[[~~Homeworld (Video Game)|~~Homeworld]]'' with the exception of the Mothership.

* ''[[Homeworld]]'' with the exception of the Mothership.

* ''[[Infinite Space]]'': mostly averted, especially in Adis, where the ships are both extremely funky-looking and pink, but it does happen: the Freedom and Nebula in particular are both grey, flying bricks.

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' averts this: the ''Normandy'' SR-1 and SR-2, the main ships in the series so far, are non-conventionally shaped, though vaguely reminiscent of rocket ship designs, and always brightly painted white. This is sort of justified, however, by the fact that visual recognition in space is almost impossible, so it doesn't really matter what color the ship is painted. Other ships featured in the series tend to follow the same philosophy, and the ''Destiny's Ascension'' is essentially a [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091227112424/masseffect/images/e/e8/DestinyAscensionFlyby.png big flying cross] [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090207040549/masseffect/images/2/2b/MassEffect_2008-08-13_12-37-43-71.png with an oval cut out of the middle.]

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* Terrans of ''[[Starcraft]]'' operate these kinds of spaceships and put very little effort, if any, into making them look pretty. This is in stark contrast to the whimsical [[Crystal Spires and Togas|Protoss]] designs which seem to feature no straight lines or right angles whatsoever, and to the Zerg [[Organic Technology]].

* ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'' plays this straight. Human ships are oblong and consists of blocks riveted to a central frame and are the most utilitarian-looking of all the species: The only off part is the very noticeable ring structure around the engines (it's their faster-than-light drive). Because of this engine, human ships also have poor turret coverage on the back and tend towards front-heavy ships with forward-and-side firing arcs. While paint schemes for different sides makes some of the colour variable, the default ship colour for humans tends towards the grey with some red and green mixed in (by contrast, Tarka's ships are mostly bright red and deep green, the Hivers use beige, the Liir use turquoise, the Zuul blood red and the Morrigi deep purple).

* In the ''[[Wing Commander (~~Video~~ ~~Game~~)|Wing Commander]]'' games, the human ships have varied between the utilitarian, blocky gray designs of ''[[Wing Commander (~~Video~~ ~~Game~~)|Wing Commander]] III'' and onwards, and more curvy designs of the earlier games. (''Wing Commander III'' and ''IV'' used a primitive polygon [[Game Engine]], as opposed to the first two installments' bitmap sprite graphics.) In all the games featuring the [[Mega Neko|Kilrathi]], most of the designs have a base tan color with various “warm” colors used for markings, but [[All in The Manual|the manual notes that the color is the color of the metals used for their armor]].

* In the ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]]'' games, the human ships have varied between the utilitarian, blocky gray designs of ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]] III'' and onwards, and more curvy designs of the earlier games. (''Wing Commander III'' and ''IV'' used a primitive polygon [[Game Engine]], as opposed to the first two installments' bitmap sprite graphics.) In all the games featuring the [[Mega Neko|Kilrathi]], most of the designs have a base tan color with various “warm” colors used for markings, but [[All in The Manual|the manual notes that the color is the color of the metals used for their armor]].

* In the ''[[X (~~Video~~ ~~Game~~)|X]]-Universe'' games, the [[Humans By Any Other Name|Argon]], [[Planet Terra|Terran]], and [[Proud Merchant Race|Teladi]] ships all follow this. The Argon capital ships are flying gray boxes with red stripes while their fighters are ''Star Wars''-esque. The Terran capital ships are flying (blindly) white boxes with red and blue highlights while their fighters are futuristic Space Shuttles. Teladi capital ships are [http://i.imgur.com/SOsO2.jpg flying off-gray boxes] with protruding fuel tanks, engines, power lines, and greebles likened to "Flying junkyards", while their fighter designs resemble Star Wars mixed with a 1930s movie.

* In the ''[[X (video game)|X]]-Universe'' games, the [[Humans by Any Other Name|Argon]], [[Planet Terra|Terran]], and [[Proud Merchant Race|Teladi]] ships all follow this. The Argon capital ships are flying gray boxes with red stripes while their fighters are ''Star Wars''-esque. The Terran capital ships are flying (blindly) white boxes with red and blue highlights while their fighters are futuristic Space Shuttles. Teladi capital ships are [http://i.imgur.com/SOsO2.jpg flying off-gray boxes] with protruding fuel tanks, engines, power lines, and greebles likened to "Flying junkyards", while their fighter designs resemble Star Wars mixed with a 1930s movie.

** In particular the Terran '[[Elite Army|AGI Task Force]]' or ATF seem to have taken this trope to heart with the Tyr Destroyer, and Odin Carrier, both gunmetal grey boxes with engines.

* ''[[X-COM]] Interceptor'' tends to avert this, with the human ships actually using functional, forward-swept-wing designs, or in the case of the second-tier ship, rounded wings. All ships are also painted, and in the case of the X-1A tier one ship, even whimsical, with shark teeth painted on the nose.

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* The Terrans in ''[[Galactic Civilizations]]'' by default have a ship aesthetic midway between ''[[Star Trek]]'' and ''[[Babylon 5]]'', with mainly rectangular shapes and stuff taken from this trope's catalogue with bluntly triangular wings, chunky radar dishes, large and blocky externals. Unless you reset the colour scheme, Terran vehicles come painted white and blue. When [[Design It Yourself Equipment|building your own]], you can use far weirder-looking alien components to make them less blocky.

* ''[[Civilization]] III'', true to its fame of having everything dead realistic, lets you build an UN Unity spaceship that more or less looks like an extremely huge rocket. This has a practical reason though: the Unity requires an aerodynamic shape in order to cut through the Earth's atmosphere.

* Played straight for the Colonials in ''[[~~Battlestar Galactica Online (Video Game)|~~Battlestar Galactica Online]]''. Cylons, on the other hand, tend to use more sleek lines and curves.

* Played straight for the Colonials in ''[[Battlestar Galactica Online]]''. Cylons, on the other hand, tend to use more sleek lines and curves.

== Western Animation ==