ISO Standard Human Spaceship: Difference between revisions

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Despite living in several unrelated continuities, it seems that human engineers in science fiction have managed to agree on two standards for ship designs.

The first design, the [[Retro Rocket]] (often referred to as a “rocketship” and now a mostly [[Discredited Trope]] due to [[Zeerust]]) is (or was) a cigar-shaped needle with three or so large fins on the base. These are often either brightly coloured or chromed to make a [[Shiny Looking Spaceships]]. This initial design is now usually found in parodies or homages to classic sci-fi.

The first design, the [[Retro Rocket]] (often referred to as a “rocketship” and now a mostly [[Discredited Trope]] due to [[Zeerust]]) is (or was) a cigar-shaped needle with three or so large fins on the base. These are often either brightly coloured or chromed to make a [[Shiny-Looking Spaceships]]. This initial design is now usually found in parodies or homages to classic sci-fi.

The second design, mostly based on newer works and the “realistic” age of spaceflight, follows some simple rules:

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See also [[Standard Sci Fi Fleet]]

== Anime and Manga ==

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* ''[[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.

* The [[Red Dwarf (TV)|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.

* 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.

* The rectangular aspect is averted in ''[[Star Trek]]'', but they're definitely grey metal plates.

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* ''[[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.]

** Other races' ships are shown and generally avoid this trope. Even the quarians, who claim to salvage any ship they come upon appear to have the exact same design (a cross between the Euro symbol and the letter Q) in the third game's cutscenes, except for their massive spherical liveships. The [[AI Is a Crapshoot|geth]] ships, for some reason, have an insectoid look, despite most geth platforms being humanoid in shape. Turians have ship designs similar to humans, although they prefer grey to human white-and-blue.

* ''[[Sins of a Solar Empire]]'': Played straight with the TEC, who modifed their ships from cargo and civilian vessels, but averted with the Advent(who are also humans, just psychic ones with a different culture). Advent ships are sleek, [[Shiny Looking Spaceships|shiny]], and definitely non-utilitarian in appearance.

* ''[[Sins of a Solar Empire]]'': Played straight with the TEC, who modifed their ships from cargo and civilian vessels, but averted with the Advent(who are also humans, just psychic ones with a different culture). Advent ships are sleek, [[Shiny-Looking Spaceships|shiny]], and definitely non-utilitarian in appearance.

* 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).