Lensman: Difference between revisions

 

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* [[Action Girl]] - Clarissa Kinnison is surprisingly badass, given the time period.

** Especially later on, Clarissa is quite badass for ''most'' time periods.

** That is, initially. Once they [[Let's Get Dangerous|gear up for total war]], this ceases to apply.

* [[Bastard Understudy]] - Among Boskone (and their controllers, e.g. the Eddorians) it is regarded as quite acceptable, even praiseworthy, for [[The Starscream|an underling to scheme]] to [[You Kill It, You Bought It|supplant their superior]] – the idea being that if he's successful the superior is no longer fit (e.g. not cunning and ruthless enough) to hold their position anyway.

* [[Beam Spam]] - on a regular basis, escalating throughout the series.

* [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy]]: Several tyrants throughout Earth history, including Nero, [[Genghis Khan]], and [[Adolf Hitler]], were actually guises used by Gharlane of Eddore. Also, an in-universe example with the scientist Bergenholm. In the second book, he comes up with the breakthrough to make the Inertialess Drive safe and efficient. Later, they find out that {{spoiler|he was an Arisian}}.

** On at least one occasion, Kinnison notes that the previous life on that planet had been exterminated to make way for the base; this is hinted at as being standard Boskonian technique.

* [[Explosive Overclocking]]: Primary beams.

* [[Faster-Than-Light Travel]] - the "inertialess drive" and later, [[Our Wormholes Are Different|Hyperspatial tubes]].

* [[Fake Memories]] - supplied by the Boskonians whenever their agents bite {{spoiler|the amnesia pill}} and on one occasion more benignly by Kim Kinnison in order to rehabilitate one of those agents, who had been their puppet [[Squick|since she was fourteen.]]

* [[Finish Him!]]

* [[Florence Nightingale Effect]] - The Chief Surgeon and the Port Admiral try to set this up between Clarissa and Kinnison, only for the two of them to [[Belligerent Sexual Tension|annoy the hell out of each other]] at first. Later, of course, they do fall in love. As {{spoiler|the Arisians had intended them to do all along. They were the penultimates in their breeding program.}}

* [[Friend or Foe]]

* [[Future Slang]] - Lots of it, including "zwilnik" as mentioned above, but the most prevalent is "QX" as a replacement for "OK."

* [[Jack of All Stats]] - Of the five Children of the Lens, Christopher. More generally, humans compared to other races of the Galaxy.

* [[Judge, Jury, and Executioner]]: The Lensmen generally don't bother with trials or due process.

* [[Loyal Phlebotinum]] - The Lenses, which kill anyone other than their owners who tries to wield them.

* [[Mad Mathematician]] - Sir Austin Cardynge. (Not actually insane, just... focused. Or perhaps Heinlein would call him ''un''sane.)

** A few human races are the opposite, as well, with clothing rules that cover everything, like the Tomingans.

* [[Outside Context Villain]]: The Nevians in ''Triplanetary'' - when they first show up wreck both the patrol and the pirate fleets. Once the ''Boise'' gets the proper upgrades, however...

* [[The Power of the Sun]]: The Sunbeam is a set of satellites in solar orbit. When it's activated, people outside the satellites' orbit notice the sun dim - unless they're in line with the beam, in which case they're exposed to the entire energy output of the Sun. This is enough to melt the multi-foot thick metal hulls of the ships caught in the beam.

* [[Powered Armor]]: According to many, the [[Ur Example]], certainly a very early one (decades before [[Starship Troopers (novel)|''Starship Troopers'']]). Includes [[Deflector Shields|protective force-fields]], [[Inertial Dampening|inertial dampening tech]], [[Jet Pack|rocket thrusters]], a generous [[Frickin' Laser Beams|heat ray]], and [[Really Heavy Armor|the multi-kilohorsepower engines required to move it around]].

* [[Power of Love]]: This is what enables Clarissa to {{spoiler|find and bring back Kinnison after he went through the [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|Hell Hole]] and was trapped in a far off dimension that not even Mentor and the children could find.}} The chapter's even ''called'' "The Power of Love".

** Given the early publication date, would that make this the [[Trope Namer]]?

* [[Psychic Block Defense]]

* [[Purple Prose]] - Each space battle seems to be a test to see if Smith can one-up himself.

{{quote|"And from the mouth of that gargantuan cone [of battle] there spewed forth a miles-thick column of energy so raw, so stark, so incomprehensibly violent that it had to be seen to be even dimply appreciated. It simply cannot be described." (... And he was only up to the second book in the series by this point!)}}

* [[Ray Gun]]

** This is a species that {{spoiler|tortures its victims slowly to death in order to enjoy their agonies and then consume their life-force as they die. Little wonder that the Velantians' allies saw fit to help them destroy it.}}

{{Quote|'''Harkleroy''': Thionite - two kilograms! Where and how did you ''get'' it?

'''Kinnison (aka "Bradlow Thyron")''': I asked the Lensman on Trenco to make it for me, special, and he did.}}

* [[Sleep Cute]] - Costigan and Clio Marsden

* [[So Last Season]] - The powers of Civilization, Boskone, and the Lensmen keep going up and up and up.

* [[Space Pirates]]

* [[State Sec]]: The Galactic Patrol in ''First Lensman'' is a heroic example. They function as [[Secret Police]] and spy on Boskone's organization, but also quickly absorb the Triplanetary Service (a regular military outfit) and other military forces of Civilization, as well as building their own military fleet. By the time of ''Galactic Patrol'', they have completely subsumed Civilization's government.

* [[Starfish Aliens]] - The Nevians, Palainians and Rigellians, among many others. Thoroughly inhuman and occasionally monstrous aliens who (at least insofar as the named examples are concerned) are either humanity's allies from the start or become so.

* [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] - Arisians and Eddorians. Arguably the Ploorans. All three races appear to be {{spoiler|naturally evolved Level Three telepaths.}}

* [[Super Prototype]] - numerous [[Cool Ship|Cool Ships]], from the ''Brittania'' to the ''Chicago''

* [[Taking You with Me]]: When fighting a losing battle, Boskonian gun crews purposely overload their weapons. This burns out the gun and kills the gun crews, but the resulting high powered beam is enough to break through the shields of the Patrol's defensive cruisers. [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain|It backfires when Patrol scientists figure out a way to safely use method]], creating the devastating primary beam.

* [[Telepathic Spacemen]] - The point of the story.

"You consider yourself cold, hard, ruthless. Compared to me, you are weak, soft, tender, as helpless as a newborn child. That you may learn and appreciate that fact is one reason why you are living at this present moment. [[Mind Rape|Your lesson will now begin]]." }}

** Later, one of the lesser Guardians does the same to a couple of trespassing Eich.

* [[Touched by Vorlons]] - several characters are touched by the Arisians to varying degrees, particularly the second-stage Lensmen in the later books.

** In fact, the Arisians were largely the inspiration for the Vorlons in ''[[Babylon 5]]'', as the Eddorians were for that series' [[Big Bad]], the Shadows.

* [[Twin Switch]] - First Lensman Samms does a variation on this so he can [[Reverse Mole|infiltrate a drug cartel]] while under Patrol protection.

* [[Types of Naval Ships]]: Played with. Speeders are smallest (room for one or two people) and fastest. Covettes, frigates, and destroyers aren't used at all. Cruisers are generally designed for specialized tasks, such as prevent hostile ships from going "free", scouting, or launching negabombs. Battlecruisers are used for commerce raiding (by the Boskonians), or for fighting commerce raiders (by the Patrol). Battleships and super-dreadnoughts are front-lime combat units although we see far more of the later then former. Finally, the slow maulers and super-maulers were designed for planetary bombardment, although thanks to the strength of theater shields they proved more successful in ship to ship combat.

* [[Uncanny Valley]] - In-Universe. Both Grey Roger's robot slaves, and Roger himself, receive comments to this effect by various characters.

* [[The Unfettered]] - Gray Lensmen, officially called Unattached Lensmen, are free to pursue whatever avenues they desire in pursuit of their moral duty to protect Civilisation, and answer to no one in the field. Technically they are answerable to the Galactic Council and the Port Admiral of the Galactic Patrol.

* [[Your Princess Is in Another Castle]] - Except for the two prequels that he is not in, all of the novels end with Kim thinking that [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil|THIS time he's finally obliterated Boskone's leadership for sure...]] Although in ''Children...'' he begins to think that "there IS no top."

 

* [[Conspicuous CG]]: For several spacecraft, a holographic Helmuth communicating to his minions, an illusionary chase sequence, and the Lens. The anime was one of the first uses of CG for the mass market.

* [[Doomed Hometown]]: Boskone destroys Anime!Kimball's peaceful farm world practically as soon as the Lens is on his hand.