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Inertial Dampening is generally ''not'' [[Tim Taylor Technology]]. An overloading IDF [Inertial Dampening Field] has the opposite effect of most [[Applied Phlebotinum]], causing a greater inertial effect, usually culminating in a [[Star Trek Shake]]. Generally, however, the [[Star Trek Shake]] has no relation to the ''direction'' of inertia; i.e., the ship is traveling forward, but the crew feels a right-to-left effect.
Though often left unmentioned,
In hard [[Sci Fi]], especially written but occasionally not, a more realistic method is used to cushion acceleration shock. Immersion in a fluid equal in density to the body would theoretically cause buoyancy forces to act counter to any accelerations; this is sometimes coupled with [[Human Popsicle|cryonics]]. Some method to allow the subject to continue to breathe in the fluid would be required, be it oxygenated liquids or a circulatory gas-exchange system. Since people riding around in bathtubs are not interesting on-screen (except from a voyeur's point-of-view) this has only rarely trickled down to the big and small screens; the exploration ship in ''[[Event Horizon]]'' and presumably the cryonics pods in the ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]'' series are the exceptions.
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== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', the LCL fluid filling the Eva units' cockpits protects the pilots from the G-forces involved in piloting a [[Humongous Mecha]]
* Averted in ''[[Starship Operators]]''. All the crews need to strap themselves in before acceleration, and acceleration ranges to at most around 10g for some ships. {{spoiler|Played a bit straight later when Amaterasu fights 5 Kingdom ships. Shinon devise a plan to quickly turn the ship to fire on enemies, and generate this effect by using its own warp drive to create gravity field that will protect its crew. It does protect its crew, but results in several decks wrecked, antimatter container being cracked, and several other massive damages on the ship. Quite a suicide tactic, actually}}.
* Barely addressed in ''[[Code Geass]]''. The flying [[Humongous Mecha
{{quote|'''[[Ace Pilot|Kallen]] :''' Will those increase the synchronization rate ?
'''[[Hot Scientist|Rakshata]] :''' No. But they will increase the survival rate. }}
** Not exactly. Those pilot suits are for stopping the pilot from dying when their mecha explode. Of course, when their mecha explode, they're launched from the exploding hulk in rocket-powered cockpits, so you really do want your pilot suit to inflate and stop you from breaking your neck when your head smashes into your control panel.
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== Comic Books ==
* Averted: In the [[Tintin]] adventures ''[[Tintin/Recap/Destination Moon|Destination Moon]]'' and ''[[Tintin/Recap/Explorers on the Moon|Explorers on the Moon]]'', the crew of the Moon-Rocket faints from the pressures caused by take-off and landing.
* Depending on the writer, this is often the reason why [[Iron Man]] can suddenly rocket off, take huge punches, fall from orbit and just crawl out of the crater. Other times it is simply [[Hand Wave
* One of [[Don Rosa]]'s [[Disney Ducks Comic Universe|Scrooge McDuck
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* Subverted in ''[[Spaceballs]]'': When the Eagle 5 comes out of "hyperactive", we see that Vespa's luggage is strewn about all over the place (of course, a crash landing will also do that, but the hyperdrive probably helped). Of course, we've just been exposed to the reason why you should buckle up in Ludicrous Speed. Smoke em if you've got em!
** Also subverted when coming out of ludicrous speed causes Dark Helmet to fly across the bridge and crash into the front of the ship.
* The 2009 ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' film has Sulu as helmsman forgetting to turn
* In [[Alien]], as the Nostromo is landing, Dallas warns the crew that the inertial damping is switching off and they should be prepared for "a little jolt". Turns out to be no so little...
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* In the ''[[Halo]]'' novel ''Ghosts of Onyx'' this is actually a plot point at one point. Dr. Halsey takes and unconscious Kelly (a SPARTAN) and commandeers a ship for them. Unfortunately, Halsey does not have armor like Kelly and ends up nearly dying from the effects of their taking off since she didn't have time to reinstall the ship's inertia dampening system. Halsey is fine, but in rough shape for a while.
* In [[Michael Crichton]]'s ''[[Sphere]]'' (At least the book, possibly the movie too) the spaceship discovered at the bottom of the ocean features water-filled chair systems to help counteract high g-forces.
* [[Justified Trope]] in [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s ''[[Humanx Commonwealth]]'' series by the unique method of [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|FTL propulsion]]. The ship generates an artificial gravity field ahead of it, to which the ship is then attracted. This motion pushes the field further in front of the ship, which pulls it forward, and so forth. (How this removes the problem of Newton's Third Law is [[Hand Wave|left unstated]].) Since this force acts equally on all parts of the ship, including the crew, there's no ''differential'' of acceleration and therefore no issue with G forces splattering everyone. A variant use of the drive provides the sensation of gravity so the crew can walk around, and combat vessels use a more sophisticated version of it to provide real
* [[Hyperion|Endymion]] plays with this in the most [[Squick
* This is standard (and indeed essential) technology in the ''[[Perry Rhodan]]'' universe, where starships routinely feature acceleration rates of hundreds of kilometers per second squared (or in other words, tens of thousands of Gs). A portable device is installed on the protagonists' original rocketship as early as their impending return to Earth from the moon, in order to protect the ill alien scientist that they're also taking along.
* In [[Sergey Lukyanenko]]'s ''[[A Lord From Planet Earth]]'' trilogy, all [[Human Aliens]] (there are no [[Starfish Aliens]] in that universe) use black spheres of [[Applied Phlebotinum]] that absorb extra G-forces by increasing in density. The catch is the crew then has to spend weeks to months in higher-than-normal gravity, while the spheres "give back" the absorbed gravity (the "give back" is usually set to 1.5g). An alternative is to jettison the dense spheres. This is the last resort, as the spheres are expensive. Also, their gravity field can cause them to become a navigational hazard. A ship may have several dozen of these devices onboard.
** This is [[Precursors|Seeder]] technology, though, so nobody quite understands how it works. Of course, the Seeders are actually {{spoiler|22nd century humans who have seeded the galaxy with alien life using time-traveling probes in order to create an instant (from their viewpoint) army for an intergalactic war}}.
* The [[Star Trek]] novel Federation, (Which was written well before First Contact) has Zefram Cochrane's first FTL trip taking the better part of a year, even though he only spent a few weeks actually going FTL, the rest of the time was used for accelerating and decelerating since inertial dampening hadn't been discovered yet. Upon returning to the solar system (specifically the moon Titan) he's told that the book's [[Big Bad]] has recently left Earth headed to Titan, and he has only
** On a later return to Earth, he rides in a hover limo with inertial dampeners, and later [[Cool Ship|travels on a sublight spacecraft whose only means of propulsion is inertial control]].
{{quote|"Inertial control!" Sir John boomed out delightedly, tapping his cane on the floor. "I still say it's impossible, but, by God, it's exceedingly useful."}}
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** Also shown in ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', when Shepard is in a [[Old School Dogfighting|dogfight]] '''IN SPACE''' with McKay onboard. After feeling the G's from a few hard turns, he asks 'I thought these things had inertial dampers on them'. Apparently they do, but considering how many sudden changes in acceleration are involved in dogfighting, it probably takes a bit to catch up.
** There was also the time Sheppard intentionally accelerated a starship ''without'' the inertial dampers activated, because he was the only one who could fly the ship, but was being held hostage by people who wanted it. He was sitting down, but they were standing up, and were sent flying.
{{quote|'''Sheppard''': "What you said was: 'Fire up the engines.' [[Literal Genie|What you should have said was]]: 'Turn on the inertial dampers.'"
'''Everyone else''': [[Oh Crap]]! }}
** The Puddle Jumpers are also 10,000 years old. It's possible the inertial dampers aren't at peak operating condition, probably having missed a few state inspections.
** In the episode where O'Neill becomes a teenager ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]), he is scheduled to give Air Force pilots a presentation in dogfighting Goa'uld Death Gliders using F-302s. He points out that the inertial dampers only compensate about 90% of the acceleration during tight maneuvers, especially during a climb.
* ''[[Andromeda]]'' has "GFG Lenses" (Gravity Field Generator) that reduce the ship's ''effective'' mass down to about 1
** One episode has the ''Eureka Maru'' stuck in a mine shaft of sorts. They end up literally getting out and pushing the ship after reducing the ship's effective mass to almost nothing.
* In a rare non-spaceship example from ''[[Doctor Who]]'' the brakes on the Doctor's [[Cool Car]] Bessie apparently work by "absorbing inertia, even yours."
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== Tabletop Games ==
* Averted in the roleplaying game ''[[Jovian Chronicles]]''. Most ships in the setting are actually built with their decks vertically arranged so that the g-force of acceleration (or deceleration for the second half of the trip) simulates gravity. (not unlike ''[[Tintin]]'''s rocket)
* Necron ships in [[Warhammer
* Gravitic Compensators in ''[[GURPS]]: Spaceships'' negate 99% of the force of acceleration, which is good for empires with extremely powerful engines because ''GURPS'' [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything|accounts for the effect of extreme changes in speed on characters]].
* The standard Ion Drive engines in ''[[Starfire]]'' can bring a ship from a dead stop to 1/10 of light speed instantly, and stop the ship again just as quickly. Presumably, they suspend the ship's inertia in a manner similar to the Inertialess Drive of the ''[[Lensman]]'' series, except that the ship and all aboard it still behave in an inertial manner while they're at speed.
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* The reason the pilot capsules in [[EVE Online]] are filled with liquid is partly because it reduces inertia and partly because it allows the pilot to better mindlink with the ship (as the capsule is essentially a sensoty deprivation tank).
* One of many components in your fighter, in the ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]]'' series, that can fail as you take damage, though the games don't model any actual effects of its loss other than ''any'' collision being fatal. In [[Wing Commander (novel)|the novels]], it's noted to be fast, but not instantaneous.
* In ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'', the Liir use a specialized drive to prevent
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' avoids this trope handily. Using the eponymous technology, ships engines form a field that changes the mass of everything within it, allowing travel at light speed, while everything within stays still because of its relative mass within the field. Of course, this doesn't change what happens when a ship is struck by projectiles.
** It should be pointed out that, in the case of dreadnoughts, the projectiles they fire have the kinetic force in the kiloton range (i.e. equivalent to a nuclear blast), while the people inside of the target ship, even if mass effect generators are off-line, get ''slightly'' buffeted to the side.
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[[Category:Futuristic Tech Index]]
[[Category:Applied Phlebotinum]]
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