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{{Useful Notes}}
[[File:Mars.jpg|frame|[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NeQ1h6lzLI&t=0m57s Dun-dun-dun-dun, dun,] [[Crowning Music of Awesome|dun-dun-dun]]]]
Ah, Mars. Its vivid red soil has entranced the imaginations of humans since it was first identified.
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However, when the Mariner 4 probe flew past Mars in 1965, it was conclusively shown that the canals didn't actually exist. When the Viking probes landed (the Soviets got there first with Mars 3, but the lander was taken out by a dust storm 14.5 seconds after landing), the planet was shown to be lifeless, and the concept of Martians quickly became discredited. More recent observations suggest that Mars may have supported life in the distant past, and some people still cling to hope that life may reside underground, no matter how unlikely it is. However, the red planet has had such a hold on human imagination for so long that it is not going to be lost as a setting any time soon.
Mars regained its prominence in human imagination in 1976 when the [[wikipedia:Viking 1|Viking 1]] probe reached the planet; equipped with more advanced technology, it was able to take a number of impressively high resolution photographs. [[wikipedia:Cydonia
More modern stories tend to have Mars being colonized, either as a plot point or part of the Back Story. This isn't an unlikely scenario in real life; it has more of the basic elements needed for life than any other non-Earth world in the solar system and its quite similar to Earth in several aspects, including day length (24h 39m 35.244s), temperature (-2 to -87 °C, chilly, but overlaps a fair amount with Earth), and an atmosphere (although Martian "air" is mostly carbon dioxide and averages about 1/100th of the Earth's pressure). It's also our neighbor along with Venus (which we have yet to keep a probe functioning on for [[Death World|more than a few minutes]]). For these reasons, Mars is the planet that is most frequently subject to [[Terraform|Terraforming]]. Strangely, regardless of how otherwise Earth-like it may be, Mars tends to retain its distinct red soil.
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== [[Literature]] ==
* HG Wells' ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]'' is one of the best-known examples of a Martian invasion of Earth.
* ''The Sands of Mars'', by [[Arthur C. Clarke]], which interestingly is one of the more realistic stories to be set on Mars. Indeed, quite a few of Clarke's novels and short stories involve Mars in some way.
* The ''[[Barsoom]]'' series by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]], who went on to write ''[[Tarzan]]''.
** [[The Mockbuster]] (which came out while the regular movie was in [[Development Hell]]) moved it to a "Mars" in another solar system.
** Unusually for the time period, [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] did take into account existing hypotheses on the livability of Mars, and turned it into a dying world supported by a technological atmosphere plant to keep the air breathable, and a polar ice extraction system to keep the canals filled.
* ''[[Out of the Silent Planet]]'' by [[C. S.
* [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Stranger in
** Unknown to many, ''Stranger'' is actually a prequel of sorts to RAH's excellent juvenile book called... wait for it.. ''[[
** When it was finally discovered that Mars and other planets in our Solar System are lifeless, Heinlein points out ''his'' alternate universes have life on them and one of his characters expresses disappointment in our universe's Solar System.
*** The [[Animated Adaptation]] moved this to a planet "New Ares", which wasn't in our solar system but resembled pre-Mariner Mars.
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== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* The Ice Warriors in ''[[Doctor Who]]'' were originally from Mars, even after Martian life was discredited (they were originally from the distant past preserved as [[Human Popsicle|Alien Popsicles]], and later from colonies in outer solar systems). The new series initially only mentioned Mars in passing, for the sake of a few jokes, before eventually setting an episode there.
* ''[[My Favorite Martian (TV)]]'', which started a couple of years before the Mariner, and ended shortly afterwards. The 1999 movie obviously was well post-Mariner, but played with its blatant scientific inaccuracy in a funny opening sequence which shows scientists looking at the wrong part of the planet and missing, by about half a mile, a gigantic Martian city.
* Disney's ''Mars and Beyond.''
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** Another watery Mars can be seen in a game and anime [[Mars Daybreak]], which, interestingly, is set in the same universe with the [[Gunparade March]] series.
* Mars plays a major role in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam|Gundam F90]]'': {{spoiler|the remnants of Neo-Zeon from [[Chars Counterattack]] retreated there, and thirty years later have built a giant railcannon for the purpose of destroying Earth.}}
** The strange thing is that this is the only UC Gundam work it appears in. This may be due to the aborted ''Turn A Space'' series plan, which eventually became ''[[Turn
*** But then, no Gundam series really ever ventured away from the Earth Sphere. F90 and Crossbone series are a little known spinoffs, and any other series paid the Outer System only a mention at best. Even ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam|Zeta Gundam]]'', which featured a Jovian, Paptimus Scirocco, still have him visit the Earth Sphere.
** Mars gets a couple of mentions in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Wing|Gundam Wing]]'', as [[The Ojou|Relena]] makes terraformation her pet project after becoming Vice Foreign Minister near the end of the series. The sequel novel ''Frozen Teardrop'' gives Mars a much larger role: the planet is terraformed a couple of decades after the anime ended thanks to miraculous algae from Jupiter's moon Europa, leading [[The Rival|Zechs Merquise]] to become the first President of the Martian Federation, and war clouds may be stirring between the red planet and Earth.
** Finally, the Red Planet is the home of the series villains in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam
* Whenever asked, Chao Lingshen of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' would claim that she was from Mars. Thanks to events in chapter 257, {{spoiler|this no longer seems so random with the confirmation of [[Magic World|Mundus Magicus]] being located on Mars itself}}.
** ...sort of. {{spoiler|Mundus Magicus is essentially "[[Another Dimension|out of phase]]" with Mars. It occupies the same area and the geographic features more or less line up, but it's not "really" Mars. Just [[Layered World|layered]] on top of it.}}
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* Most of ''[[Total Recall]]'' takes place there.
** ''Very loosely'' based on the [[Philip K. Dick]]'s short story ''We Can Remember It For You Wholesale''.
* ''[[Mars Attacks
* ''[[Mr. Nobody]]''. In one of the possible realities, it's being gradually and realistically colonized by humans who travel there in cryosleep.
* The year 2000 saw [[Dueling Movies]] ''[[Mission to Mars]]'' and ''[[Red Planet (film)|Red Planet]]''.
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In ''[[Warhammer
== [[Video Games]] ==
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** Justifiable in the original Doom, as Deimos is {{spoiler|hovering over hell}}.
* In ''[[Mass Effect]]'', humans don't reach Mars until the ''22nd'' century, and take another four decades to unlock its secrets - a base left by [[Ancient Astronauts]] filled with their technology. Immediately afterward they explode across the stars, becoming a galactic power just four decades after the discovery. The main characters don't visit it till the beginning of ''[[Mass Effect 3]]''.
* The third game in the ''[[UFO:
* The second and last game in the ''[[Ultima]] Worlds'' was titled ''Martian Dreams''. Despite all the knowledge that we had about Mars at the time the game was created, the game is set on an ''extremely'' fictionalized version of the Red Planet. For one thing, you don't need a space suit to breathe. For another, you can get there in a ship that's launched like a bullet from the Earth. And finally, the resident ''plant life'' is desperately trying to kill you. However, the game ''is'' set in the late 19th century, with the common misconceptions of the time being true.
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== [[Web Original]] ==
* Mars held an important position in the ''[[
* Played with in ''[[Genius: The Transgression]]'', where the Martian Empire came into existence and began invading Earth [[Science Marches On|the moment the Viking probe landed and found Mars uninhabited]]. That version of Mars is a [[Another Dimension|Bardo]], populated by [[The Heartless|Manes]] who insist on continuing to exist despite the fact that they shouldn't.
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* The [[Filmation]] cartoon ''[[Animated Adaptation|My Favorite Martians]]'', circa 1970.
* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' featured a lost Martian civilization who were wiped out because they put all their efforts into <s> things like building the Face</s> turning the planet ''into a ship''.
{{quote|
'''Martian hologram''': Because it was [[Rule of Cool|cool]]. }}
* In the 80's animated series ''[[Star Com]],'' Mars was long ago the home to a vanished advanced civilization, and archaeologists are diligently exploring any buried ruins they can find.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Useful Notes]]▼
[[Category:Mars]]
▲[[Category:Useful Notes/Space]]
[[Category:The Solar System]]
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