Military Science Fiction: Difference between revisions

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[['''Military Science Fiction]]''' is a subgenre of both [[Science Fiction]] and [[Military and Warfare Tropes|Military Fiction]], commonly sliding into the [[Space Opera]] territory. At its most basic, [['''Military Science Fiction]]''' is [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|Science Fiction that focuses on the military]], but the genre has more specific nuances than that.

[[The Protagonist]] in this genre is normally part of the chain of command (or [[Field Promotion|becomes part of it in progress]]), while an ensemble cast is [[The Squad]]. The story is usually set against the backdrop of a large-scale (space) war but war is optional. The [[Science Fiction]] part mostly manifests in futuristic weaponry and vehicles (first of all, [[Cool Starship|Cool Starships]]s), while the organization structure is mostly based upon contemporary [[Yanks With Tanks|US]] or [[The UK Armed Forces|Commonwealth military]].

=== Tropes commonly used in MSF (in addition to most [[Military and Warfare Tropes]]): ===

* [[Putting Onon the Reich]]

=== Works with notable [[Military Science Fiction]] elements include : ===

* ''[[Alien (Filmfranchise)|Alien]]'' -- Primarily—Primarily the second film, although the fourth had some elements of this.

* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' had its fair share of various nasty [[War Is Hell|conflicts]]

* The original ''[[Battlestar Galactica Classic(1978 TV series)|attlestar Galactica]]''

** ''The [[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)|2004 reboot]]''

* ''[[Battle Tech (Tabletop Game)|Battle TechBattleTech]]''

** And by extension, the [[Battle TechBattleTech Expanded Universe]].

* [[CarrerasCarrera's Legions (Literature)|Carreras Legions]], by [[Tom Kratman]]

* The [[Childe Cycle]] by [[Gordon R. Dickson]], notably ''Dorsai!!'' and ''Tactics of Mistake''.

* The [[Co DominiumCoDominium]] series is the best-known of [[Jerry Pournelle]]'s works, but is hardly the only example of the exquisitely [[Shown Their Work|well-researched]] military SF he writes. His bibliography also includes the lesser-known but no-less loved ''Janissaries'' series, co-authored with Roland Green.

* The [[Command and Conquer (Video Game)|Command and& Conquer]] ''Tiberium'' series of games drifts in this direction, beginning [[Twenty Minutes in The Future]] and ending with all manner of sci-fi trappings. Especially in [[Fanfic|fic]]; double-especially in ''[[Tiberium Wars (Fanfic)|Tiberium Wars]]''.

* [[David Drake]] does quite a bit of MilSF. Like with Ringo, below, he's also written in the ''[[HonorverseHonor (Literature)Harrington|Honorverse]]'' (Drake's Honorverse short story ''A Grand Tour'' influenced what became the [[RCN (Literature)|RCNSeries]] series, with [[The Captain|the dashing Captain]] and his [[Badass Bookworm|librarian from Hell]] friend/sidekick as the primary focus). Notable Drake series (an incomplete listing):

** ''[[Hammers Slammers (Literature)|HammersHammer's Slammers]]''

** ''[[RCN (Literature)|RCNSeries]]''

*** ''[[Ranks of Bronze]]''

* ''[[Ender's Game (Literature)|Ender's Game]]'', by Orson Scott Card

* ''[[Exo Squad (Animation)|Exo Squad]]''

* ''[[First Encounter Assault Recon (Video Game)F.E.A.R.|First Encounter Assault Recon]]''

* ''[[Gears of War (Video Game)|Gears of War]]''

* [[Gundam]], pretty much every incarnation of it, except ''[[Mobile Fighter G Gundam (Anime)|G Gundam]]'' and ''[[After War Gundam X (Anime)|Gundam X]]''

* The ''[[Halo (Franchiseseries)|Halo]]'' games, books and comics.

* ''[[Iji (Video Game)|Iji]]''

* The ''[[Lacuna (Literature)|Lacuna]]'' series by David Adams is basically this.

* The [[Lensman]] series, by [[EEE. E. "Doc" Smith]], is mostly about the adventures of individual Lensmen, but it also features major military actions involving enormous starship formations (usually laden with an overexuberant description of the scale of energies being hurled back-and-forth).

* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Striker S (Anime)StrikerS|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Striker S]]'', which takes the franchise's ''Gundam'' influences to its logical conlcusion as the title character grows up to become a captain in Mid-Childa's military.

* The ''[[Mass Effect (Franchise)|Mass Effect]]'' series is a mixed bag: part one is pretty clear cut, with military regulations and chain of command playing a major role in the story. In part two, however, Shepard cuts all ties to the Alliance military and goes rogue with the Cerberus, who give their agents full autonomy and only care that the job gets done--thedone—the whole "military" aspect of sci-fi quietly leaves the room. In part three, Shepard is back with the Alliance but with the Reapers attacking the galaxy, s/he is left to run around unsupervised, only occasionally reporting back to [[Big Good|Admiral Hackett]], like s/he did to the Illusive Man in the previous game.

* ''[[Metroid (Video Game)|Metroid]]'', occasionally. Samus is established as having been in the Galactic Federation Army, and ''[[Metroid Prime]]'' ''2'', ''Prime 3'', and ''[[Other M]]'' feature GF soldiers and marines as characters.

* ''[[Old MansMan's War]]''

* ''[[Red vs. Blue (Machinima)|Red vs. Blue]]''

** ''[[Red vs. Blue: theThe Blood Gulch Chronicles (Machinima)|Red vs. Blue the Blood Gulch Chronicles]]''

** ''[[Red vs. Blue: theThe Recollection (Machinima)|Red vs. Blue the Recollection]]''

* [[John Ringo]]'s writing currently spans multiple genres, but he started his literary career writing [[Military Science Fiction]]. The MilSF works:

** ''[[Troy Rising (Literature)|Troy Rising]]''

* ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]''

* ''[[Sea QuestSeaQuest DSV (TV)|Sea Quest DSV]]''

* ''[[Shadow Ops (Literature)|Shadow Ops]]''

* ''[[Sixth Column (Literaturenovel)|Sixth Column]]''

* ''[[Space: Above and Beyond]]''

* ''[[Starcraft (Video Game)|StarcraftStarCraft]]''

* ''[[Stargate (Filmfilm)|Stargate]]'', and its spin-offs, first of all, ''[[Stargate SG-1 (TV)|Stargate SG-1]]''

* ''[[Starship Troopers (Franchise)|Starship Troopers]]''

* ''[[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]]'' drifts in and out of the subgenre; later entries in the franchise tend to make it more explicitly military, a tendency which its original creator violently opposed.

** ''[[Star Trek Online (Video Game)|Star Trek Online]]'' is ''very'' militaristic, so much so that it took fan outcry to get the developers to patch diplomatic solutions into missions.

* ''[[Star Wars (Franchise)|Star Wars]]'', obviously.

* [[Traveller (Tabletop Game)|Traveller]] RPG series. A large part of it has to do with the military aspects.

* ''[[Warhammer 40000 (Tabletop Game)|Warhammer 4000040,000]]'', and most of its spin-off literature, notably ''[[GauntsGaunt's Ghosts]]'' and ''[[Ciaphas Cain]]'' '''[[Memetic Mutation|HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!]]'''.

** ''[[HellsHell's Gate]]''

** ''[[Honor Harrington (Literature)|Honor Harrington]]''

** The four ''[[Starfire (Tabletop Game)|Starfire]]'' novels with Steve White (''Crusade'', ''In Death Ground'', ''The Shiva Option'', and ''Insurrection'').

* ''[[Wing Commander (Franchise)|Wing Commander]]'', particularly [[Wing Commander (Literaturenovel)|the novels by William Forstchen]], and ''[[Wing Commander Academy (Animation)|Wing Commander Academy]]''.

* ''[[X-wing WingRogue Series (Comic Book)Squadron|X Wing Series]]''

Special mention must be made of [[Baen Books]], which publishes Weber, Drake, Ringo, Pournelle, and Bujold, among others. Baen is probably the foremost [[Military Science Fiction]] publisher in literature. Many of Baen's authors, including Drake, Ringo, Michael Z. Williamson, and more, are former or current military.

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