Single-Biome Planet: Difference between revisions

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Earth is a wonderfully varied place with an amazingly diverse biosphere. On this single planet, you can find jungles, mountains, forests, deserts, prairies... we must be the most varied planet in the universe. Or you'd think so after seeing so many alien worlds trapped in solitary, homogeneous landscapes.

Planets in outer space will often be defined by a single setting. It doesn't matter if the events of the story only take place in on a small portion of the ~~planet -- we~~ are still told the entire planet has one climate; specifically, the same climate as where the story takes place. Very rarely does any planet have the same level of environmental diversity as Earth, despite being as large and having a normal orbit. An ecological equivalent to the [[Planet of Hats]]. The locals will often [[Planet of Hats|have a hat]] that [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|resembles the human cultures that inhabit similar environments]].

Planets in outer space will often be defined by a single setting. It doesn't matter if the events of the story only take place in on a small portion of the planet—we are still told the entire planet has one climate; specifically, the same climate as where the story takes place. Very rarely does any planet have the same level of environmental diversity as Earth, despite being as large and having a normal orbit. An ecological equivalent to the [[Planet of Hats]]. The locals will often [[Planet of Hats|have a hat]] that [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|resembles the human cultures that inhabit similar environments]].

A creature well-suited to the local environment may be [[Horse of a Different Color|upgraded to horse status]], if it's big enough.

It should perhaps be noted that we usually only get very small views of these planets. Many times there are lines to the effect that it is a fairly standard planet. Almost never are we shown or told that a planet is ''entirely'' a [[Single Biome Planet]] in television or movies, and the ones that are are almost always either very temperate, tropical, desert, ice, or water worlds, which all have a statistical probability of existing. We have several of them in our own solar system in fact, missing only a breathable atmosphere.

It should perhaps be noted that we usually only get very small views of these planets. Many times there are lines to the effect that it is a fairly standard planet. Almost never are we shown or told that a planet is ''entirely'' a '''Single Biome Planet''' in television or movies, and the ones that are are almost always either very temperate, tropical, desert, ice, or water worlds, which all have a statistical probability of existing. We have several of them in our own solar system in fact, missing only a breathable atmosphere.

Earth itself could fairly be considered a Water Planet. In its history, it has been an Ice planet more than once, though, as well as periods when most of the landmass was Desert (early Mesozoic) and of nearly uniform lush growth (mid-Mesozoic). By similar standards, Mercury could be a Desert Planet, Venus a Cloud/Volcano Planet, and Mars another Desert Planet (a cold desert this time). If you allow the moons of the gas giants, you also have Io (a Volcano Planetoid - it has been said that the entire surface of the moon is repaved in just 3 years by volcanic activity) and numerous Ice Planetoids (such as Europa & Enceladus). Most of the outer solar system dwarf-planets are also Ice Planetoids.

Note that a [[Single Biome Planet]] is not necessarily a Single ''Climate'' Planet. Even on planets and moons lacking atmospheres, there are bound to be variations in temperature due to latitude if the planet or moon receives a significant amount of radiant heat from a star. A planet or moon with atmosphere will of course have much more complex weather patterns due to wind and precipitation.

Note that a '''Single Biome Planet''' is not necessarily a Single ''Climate'' Planet. Even on planets and moons lacking atmospheres, there are bound to be variations in temperature due to latitude if the planet or moon receives a significant amount of radiant heat from a star. A planet or moon with atmosphere will of course have much more complex weather patterns due to wind and precipitation.

'''Notable classifications:'''

* [[City Planet|City Planets (Ecumenopolis)]] ~~-- Urban~~ sprawl has taken over the entire surface of a world. Only possible with extreme technology and a constant inflow of resources from off-world. May serve as home base to a culture of [[Planet Looters]]. Often has a population in the trillions. The concept supposedly first appeared in the writings of 19th century spiritualist Thomas Lake Harris. The first recognised usage in science fiction would be Trantor in [[Isaac Asimov]]'s ''Foundation'' trilogy. The planet Coruscant in the ''Star Wars'' movies would probably be the most familiar to modern audiences. The logistics of such ~~worlds -- how~~ they get food, dissipate excess heat and so ~~forth -- can~~ be a subject of geeky speculation, as shown in multiple ''[[Irregular Webcomic~~|Irregular Webcomics~~]]''. See also [[Planetville]].

* [[City Planet|City Planets (Ecumenopolis)]]—Urban sprawl has taken over the entire surface of a world. Only possible with extreme technology and a constant inflow of resources from off-world. May serve as home base to a culture of [[Planet Looters]]. Often has a population in the trillions. The concept supposedly first appeared in the writings of 19th century spiritualist Thomas Lake Harris. The first recognised usage in science fiction would be Trantor in [[Isaac Asimov]]'s ''Foundation'' trilogy. The planet Coruscant in the ''Star Wars'' movies would probably be the most familiar to modern audiences. The logistics of such worlds—how they get food, dissipate excess heat and so forth—can be a subject of geeky speculation, as shown in multiple ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]s''. See also [[Planetville]].

* Cloud ~~Planets -- The~~ land is not where Newton wants it. If something or someone lives here, either the ground [[Floating Continent|floats through the sky in chunks]], or there are hover-cities. Either way, watch that first step. Sometimes [[Hand Wave~~|Hand Waved~~]] by making them Jovian planets, although no known gas giants are anywhere ''near'' habitable. Venus again is a prime example, as some levels of its upper atmosphere would be pretty nice and potentially ~~habitable -- if~~ not for these pesky [[Death World|sulfuric acid clouds]] around.

* Cloud Planets—The land is not where Newton wants it. If something or someone lives here, either the ground [[Floating Continent|floats through the sky in chunks]], or there are hover-cities. Either way, watch that first step. Sometimes [[Hand Wave]]d by making them Jovian planets, although no known gas giants are anywhere ''near'' habitable. Venus again is a prime example, as some levels of its upper atmosphere would be pretty nice and potentially habitable—if not for these pesky [[Death World|sulfuric acid clouds]] around.

* Dark ~~Planets -- Like~~ the Desert, but owe their lack of plant life to perpetual night; usually due to constant opaque cloud cover or spooky ominous fog. If inhabited, this might be the product of [[Gaia's Lament|industrialization run amok]], with the clouds being clouds of pollution. Home of the [[Big Bad]], look for the [[Evil Tower of Ominousness]] with the perpetual lightning storm. It's like Planet [[Mordor]]. This is kind of like the real-life Venus, which even comes complete with the lightning storms. However, such planets in fiction are invariably described as "barely habitable", whereas the real version is of course ''completely uninhabitable''. Dark Planets could also be Rogue Planets that do not orbit any star, although then there is the issue of what is keeping the atmosphere warm enough and replenishing the oxygen. Some of these planets could be tidally locked to their star with one side permanently facing it, rendering the facing side uninhabitable due to temperature and the dark side extremely cold, usually with a small habitable strip on the divide. These worlds also generate extreme weather, which can add to this atmosphere.

* Dark Planets—Like the Desert, but owe their lack of plant life to perpetual night; usually due to constant opaque cloud cover or spooky ominous fog. If inhabited, this might be the product of [[Gaia's Lament|industrialization run amok]], with the clouds being clouds of pollution. Home of the [[Big Bad]], look for the [[Evil Tower of Ominousness]] with the perpetual lightning storm. It's like Planet [[Mordor]]. This is kind of like the real-life Venus, which even comes complete with the lightning storms. However, such planets in fiction are invariably described as "barely habitable", whereas the real version is of course ''completely uninhabitable''. Dark Planets could also be Rogue Planets that do not orbit any star, although then there is the issue of what is keeping the atmosphere warm enough and replenishing the oxygen. Some of these planets could be tidally locked to their star with one side permanently facing it, rendering the facing side uninhabitable due to temperature and the dark side extremely cold, usually with a small habitable strip on the divide. These worlds also generate extreme weather, which can add to this atmosphere.

* [[Death World~~|Death Worlds~~]] ~~-- Not~~ a biome in and of itself, but can be any of the aforementioned types. This is a world where [[Everything Is Trying to Kill You]], but you still have compelling reasons to go there. After all, except Earth (and, possibly, Mars) all other Solar System planets are unquestionably those (though Venus takes the cake, as if it's some sort of planetary Australia), and there is thriving research activity around, with a regular expedition and terraforming proposals popping up.

* [[Death World]]s—Not a biome in and of itself, but can be any of the aforementioned types. This is a world where [[Everything Is Trying to Kill You]], but you still have compelling reasons to go there. After all, except Earth (and, possibly, Mars) all other Solar System planets are unquestionably those (though Venus takes the cake, as if it's some sort of planetary Australia), and there is thriving research activity around, with a regular expedition and terraforming proposals popping up.

* Desert ~~Planets -- These~~ [[California Doubling|look like the cheaper parts of California]], and are thus very common. May have aliens that act like Bedouin or Touareg, and a thriving black market on water. Multiple suns are common. Mars is sort of a desert planet, but with no breathable atmosphere, although recent discoveries pretty reliably show that it's an Ice Planet as ~~well -- it~~'s just that all that ice is ''under'' the desert.

* Desert Planets—These [[California Doubling|look like the cheaper parts of California]], and are thus very common. May have aliens that act like Bedouin or Touareg, and a thriving black market on water. Multiple suns are common. Mars is sort of a desert planet, but with no breathable atmosphere, although recent discoveries pretty reliably show that it's an Ice Planet as well—it's just that all that ice is ''under'' the desert.

* Farm ~~Planets -- If~~ a Planet City is lucky, there will be another planet in the same system which is dedicated entirely for food production. Most of these are like a giant version of an American Midwest wheat farm. Complete with hicks. Technology level may range from highly advanced (in which case they are often largely automated with a population as low as hundreds or thousands) to feudal.

* Farm Planets—If a Planet City is lucky, there will be another planet in the same system which is dedicated entirely for food production. Most of these are like a giant version of an American Midwest wheat farm. Complete with hicks. Technology level may range from highly advanced (in which case they are often largely automated with a population as low as hundreds or thousands) to feudal.

* [[Landfill Beyond the Stars|Garbage Planets]] ~~-- The~~ entire planet is being used as a dumping ground for useless waste. Likely to act as home for scavengers looking to make a quick buck, treasure hunters seeking some long-lost treasure, and large numbers of mercenaries and criminals. The actual surface conditions can range from desert-like to incredibly hostile if the Phlebotinum is leaking out of ships.

* [[Landfill Beyond the Stars|Garbage Planets]]—The entire planet is being used as a dumping ground for useless waste. Likely to act as home for scavengers looking to make a quick buck, treasure hunters seeking some long-lost treasure, and large numbers of mercenaries and criminals. The actual surface conditions can range from desert-like to incredibly hostile if the Phlebotinum is leaking out of ships.

* Ice ~~Planets -- Planets~~ whose entire surfaces look like Greenland glaciers. Somewhat [[Justified Trope|justified]], as there actually are frozen over planets and moons (for example, several moons of Jupiter & Saturn). Planets that normally have large oceans (like Earth) can look like this during a ''really deep'' [[Ice Age]], and paleontologists believe that this may have happened to Earth in the past in a controversial scenario known as "[[wikipedia:Snowball Earth|Snowball Earth]]". The obvious question on an Ice planet is how it sustains life if there are so few plants to provide oxygen and a food chain; this paradox can be somewhat solved by allowing for a narrow equatorial band warm enough to support plant life, or by limiting life to the sea and having the food chain be based on geothermal energy/chemosynthesis (i.e. how we think life on Europa would work).

* Ice Planets—Planets whose entire surfaces look like Greenland glaciers. Somewhat [[Justified Trope|justified]], as there actually are frozen over planets and moons (for example, several moons of Jupiter & Saturn). Planets that normally have large oceans (like Earth) can look like this during a ''really deep'' [[Ice Age]], and paleontologists believe that this may have happened to Earth in the past in a controversial scenario known as "[[wikipedia:Snowball Earth|Snowball Earth]]". The obvious question on an Ice planet is how it sustains life if there are so few plants to provide oxygen and a food chain; this paradox can be somewhat solved by allowing for a narrow equatorial band warm enough to support plant life, or by limiting life to the sea and having the food chain be based on geothermal energy/chemosynthesis (i.e. how we think life on Europa would work).

* Jungle ~~Planets -- Mind~~ the bugs, they are positively ''[[Big Creepy-Crawlies|enormous]]''. Often home to the [[Cargo Cult]] and vulnerable to a [[God Guise]]. Expect most things that crop up in [[Hungry Jungle]] stories. Equivalent in video games is the [[Jungle Japes]].

* Jungle Planets—Mind the bugs, they are positively ''[[Big Creepy-Crawlies|enormous]]''. Often home to the [[Cargo Cult]] and vulnerable to a [[God Guise]]. Expect most things that crop up in [[Hungry Jungle]] stories. Equivalent in video games is the [[Jungle Japes]].

* Ocean ~~Planets -- These~~ tend to have few, if any, mountains tall enough to breach the surface and make islands; if there are, they're prime beachfront vacation spots. Earth is arguably an Ocean Planet, just one with a lot of tectonic activity to create islands and continents (and even so, the average elevation of the Earth's surface is still well below sea level). This was even more true 500 million years ago, when the only life that existed was in the sea, and there was much less land above water than there is today. An extrasolar planet, [http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/super-earth/ GJ 1214b], has cropped up practically next door to us (a mere 42 light-years), which does appear to be an ocean planet, albeit a very hot one, and extremely non-livable.

* Ocean Planets—These tend to have few, if any, mountains tall enough to breach the surface and make islands; if there are, they're prime beachfront vacation spots. Earth is arguably an Ocean Planet, just one with a lot of tectonic activity to create islands and continents (and even so, the average elevation of the Earth's surface is still well below sea level). This was even more true 500 million years ago, when the only life that existed was in the sea, and there was much less land above water than there is today. An extrasolar planet, [http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/super-earth/ GJ 1214b], has cropped up practically next door to us (a mere 42 light-years), which does appear to be an ocean planet, albeit a very hot one, and extremely non-livable.

* Swamp ~~Planets -- Like~~ the Jungle, but easier to lose your shoe. ([[The Empire Strikes Back|Or your ship. Just ask Luke Skywalker.]])

* Swamp Planets—Like the Jungle, but easier to lose your shoe. ([[The Empire Strikes Back|Or your ship. Just ask Luke Skywalker.]])

* [[Lethal Lava Land|Volcano Planets]] ~~-- Defined~~ by earthquakes, smoke, rivers of lava, and lots and lots of unchained mountains you ''don't'' want to climb. Featured in ''[[Star Wars|Revenge of the Sith]]''; the Y-class planet in the ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' episode "Demon" is also similar to this. Equivalent in video games is [[Lethal Lava Land]]. In the real-life solar system, this is a fair description of Jupiter's moon Io. Earth used to look a bit like this, too. Planetologists expect that ''any'' rocky planet will look like this in the first few hundred million years of its formation, so expect to see a lot of them. The air almost certainly won't be breathable, though, so bring your ventilator mask.

* [[Lethal Lava Land|Volcano Planets]]—Defined by earthquakes, smoke, rivers of lava, and lots and lots of unchained mountains you ''don't'' want to climb. Featured in ''[[Star Wars|Revenge of the Sith]]''; the Y-class planet in the ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' episode "Demon" is also similar to this. Equivalent in video games is [[Lethal Lava Land]]. In the real-life solar system, this is a fair description of Jupiter's moon Io. Earth used to look a bit like this, too. Planetologists expect that ''any'' rocky planet will look like this in the first few hundred million years of its formation, so expect to see a lot of them. The air almost certainly won't be breathable, though, so bring your ventilator mask.

Contrast [[Patchwork Map]]. Near the polar opposite of [[All Planets Are Earthlike]]. May overlap with [[One Product Planet]]. See also [[Planetville]].

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== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Galaxy Express 999]]'' visited a Dark Planet, subverted in that it's actually a rather pleasant place with lush forests, pretty flowers, low crime rates, and genial people and it's lovely to visit apart from the difficulty of finding your way around. At least it ''was''...until a native [[Mad Scientist]], having decided that her people's way of life was [[Anvilicious|archaic and hopelessly out of step with the rest of the galaxy]], shut off the planet's natural light-dampening field and shot an artificial light source into orbit. Everyone and everything on the planet (herself included) promptly [[Downer Ending|dropped dead from photosensitivity]].

* Justified on ''[[Outlaw Star]]'' with the explanation that since the planet in question is a ''resort'' planet, they [[~~Terraform|terraformed~~]] it that way on purpose.

* Justified on ''[[Outlaw Star]]'' with the explanation that since the planet in question is a ''resort'' planet, they [[terraform]]ed it that way on purpose.

** Heck, it's not even a [[Single Biome Planet]], given the existence of snow-capped mountains.

** Heck, it's not even a Single Biome Planet, given the existence of snow-capped mountains.

* ''[[The Five Star Stories]]'' has only two of these, out of the half-dozen or so habitable planets that orbit the titular stars. There's Juno, which is a relatively young planet currently in a jungle-covered mid-mesozoic phase & Pestako, a tiny, clapped out mining planet that has no natural atmosphere & is slowly being terraformed into a city planet, complete with roads so big you can see them from space. The rest are Earthlike, with some minor variations in their average temperature & terrain.

* Terraformed planets and moons in ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' (e.g. Ganymede seems to be a water moon, Europa a kind of Western Prarie Moon, Titan a Desert Moon...)

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* Although [[Jerry Pournelle]] famously parodied this trope with the phrase "It was raining on Mongo that morning", the original planet Mongo in the old ''[[Flash Gordon (comic strip)|Flash Gordon]]'' comics is actually an aversion. It's specifically Earth-like, in that humans and near-humans can live comfortably there indefinitely without life support systems, which means it should be expected to have the full variety of potential environments as Earth...and it ''does''. Jungles, forests, deserts, glaciers, etc. It's not a bad example of a relatively realistic habitable world, in ''some'' ways.

* The 1980's British science fiction comic ''Starblazer'' had a variety of such planets.

** [[City Planet~~|City Planets~~]]: See that page

** [[City Planet]]s: See that page

** Cloud Planets: Pelion (issue 167). The factories of Cybeset industries are suspended above the poisonous acidic atmosphere.

** Dark Planets: Largos (issue 56). It lost its sun long ago and is in an almost permanent state of darkness.

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**** There are geothermal vents and underground (underice?) cavern systems that have liquid water and support lichens and other hardy plants, which the herbivores feed on, which feed the omnivorous tauntauns and carnivorous wampas. The tauntauns and some smaller animals regularly trek out across the surface to find new territory, mates and food. The wampas find the thermal areas too hot and are the only creatures to spend all their time in the ice and snow, only going into the warmer places to quickly grab a meal if they can't ambush one out on the ice.

** Subverted in the second [[Knights of the Old Republic]] game. You travel to the desolated Telos. Most of the planet has been bombed, and it's in the process of being terraformed. At first you land in a temperate forest, only to find out later that what you're really looking for is in the polar ice caps.

** This trope is lampshaded in the second [[Star Wars]] parody episode of [[Robot Chicken]]. One sketch features a krayt dragon and his wife as sea serpents in a body of water on Tatooine; when the husband expresses his desire to explore the world beyond, his wife insists that, as far as they know, there's nothing but desert on this planet. The husband then retorts that a [[Single Biome Planet]] is patently ridiculous, describing several planets [[Dramatic Irony|that happen to exist in the universe]] as proof of his position and asking what kind of a cruel god would make a planet with a single topographical fsOeature? About a week later his remains are passed by R2-D2 and C-3PO (in a scene taken directly from ''A New Hope''). A water-adapted creature in a vast desert it has no idea how to traverse likely would end up dead in short order.

** This trope is lampshaded in the second [[Star Wars]] parody episode of [[Robot Chicken]]. One sketch features a krayt dragon and his wife as sea serpents in a body of water on Tatooine; when the husband expresses his desire to explore the world beyond, his wife insists that, as far as they know, there's nothing but desert on this planet. The husband then retorts that a Single Biome Planet is patently ridiculous, describing several planets [[Dramatic Irony|that happen to exist in the universe]] as proof of his position and asking what kind of a cruel god would make a planet with a single topographical fsOeature? About a week later his remains are passed by R2-D2 and C-3PO (in a scene taken directly from ''A New Hope''). A water-adapted creature in a vast desert it has no idea how to traverse likely would end up dead in short order.

** Another exception is Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld. Famous for its forests that greatly resemble Endor's, but in Episode Three, there's a battle on a beach. It is still often regarded as a jungle planet though.

*** The [[Legacy of the Force]] novels have gone and shown that the wroshyr forests range from very short, to half a kilometer tall, to many kilometers tall.

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* Played straight for dramatic purposes in ''[[Animorphs]]''. One Yeerk in book 6 mutters about the insane number of species Earth has, while the Yeerk character in book 19 is even more impressed with Earth...

** Another ''Animorphs''-example that both does and doesn't fit the planet archetypes is Ket, homeworld of The Ellimist. At first glance it looked just like a standard volcanic planet. But it was in fact a low-gravity world with a very dense atmosphere, which allowed for giant crystals to float freely in the atmosphere. The planet's civilisation of winged aliens lived entirely on (and off) those crystals. One character calls it "the rarest of all environments".

*** Saturn's moon Titan has 150% of Earth's atmospheric pressure and one-seventh the gravity; a human could strap on wings and fly there. Pity it's all at -180ºC.

*** Saturn's moon Titan has 150% of Earth's atmospheric pressure and one-seventh the gravity; a human could strap on wings and fly there. Pity it's all at -180 °C.

** The Hork-Bajir homeworld is a valley planet (sort of. It's [[Justified Trope|justified]] by a catastrophic impact in the past which left a ring of steep valley around the equator as the only habitable part of the planet. Come to think of it, between the valleys, the Outside, and the Deep, it's got quite a bit of diversity over quite a small habitable area). It's also stated that the Yeerks artificially make the planets they conquer ~~[[Single Biome Planet|~~Single Biome Planets]] because (as stated above) they find millions of species on one planet far too complicated and pointless.

** The Hork-Bajir homeworld is a valley planet (sort of. It's [[Justified Trope|justified]] by a catastrophic impact in the past which left a ring of steep valley around the equator as the only habitable part of the planet. Come to think of it, between the valleys, the Outside, and the Deep, it's got quite a bit of diversity over quite a small habitable area). It's also stated that the Yeerks artificially make the planets they conquer Single Biome Planets because (as stated above) they find millions of species on one planet far too complicated and pointless.

*** The Hork-Bajir world apparently was once closer to Earth's atmosphere, just with less oxygen and more nitrogen. After the impact the 'real' race of the planet realized that the small equator, while liveable, was highly unstable. Unable to terraform but masters of genetics they created the Hork-Bajir (who feed on bark) and gave them a diet that would make THEM take care of the trees and the environment. The Deep, an area with numerous monsters, was created by the original race to keep the Hork-Bajir from bothering them (they live on the other side)

* Parodied in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/The Restaurant At The End of The Universe|The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'' (the second ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Hitchhiker's Guide]]'' book), where the planet Ursa Minor Beta has not only a homogeneous geography (subtropical coast) but a perpetual Saturday afternoon.

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** ''Night of Masks'' takes place mostly on a world whose star radiates only in the infra-red.

* Justified in the ''To The Stars'' trilogy by [[Harry Harrison]]. An imperialistic Earth has terraformed a number of planets (with a [[Planet of Hats|custom-made culture]] as well), each one dedicated to farming, production or mining of one particular resource. The idea being that none of them have the diverse resources [[The War of Earthly Aggression|needed to launch a revolt]].

* Dan Simmons' ''[[Hyperion]]'' novels include several of these : The ecumenopolises of Tau Ceti Center and Renaissance Vector, the ocean planet of Maui-Covenant, the forest planet of God's Grove, etc. Because all the planets are connected together in a single WorldWeb this doesn't appear to be a problem, though the ecological absurdity of this becomes a plot point when {{spoiler|the network of [[Portal Network|Farcasters ]]connecting the planets collapse, causing single-city planets to starve...except for Renaissance Vector, which conveniently got its food from Renaissance Minor, an agricultural world in the same system.}}

* Dan Simmons' ''[[Hyperion]]'' novels include several of these : The ecumenopolises of Tau Ceti Center and Renaissance Vector, the ocean planet of Maui-Covenant, the forest planet of God's Grove, etc. Because all the planets are connected together in a single WorldWeb this doesn't appear to be a problem, though the ecological absurdity of this becomes a plot point when {{spoiler|the network of [[Portal Network|Farcasters]] connecting the planets collapse, causing single-city planets to starve...except for Renaissance Vector, which conveniently got its food from Renaissance Minor, an agricultural world in the same system.}}

* Deeply averted in [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[Ravenor]]'' novels, where the villains speak with Ravenor after he comes through [[Cool Gate|a gate]]. He has to go back the same way, but he can identify the location: not just the planet, but the actual location, down to a small sector, by the plants he sees.

* The Puppeteer homeworld in [[Larry Niven]]'s ''[[Known Space]]'' [[The Verse|'verse]] was a city world. To deal with the heat dissipation problem, they moved the planet increasingly far away from its star, with other farm worlds growing food. Then they discovered that the center of the galaxy was exploding, so they organised their five planets into a "Fleet of Worlds" and fled.

** ''[[Known Space]]'' is also home to the sunflower plant, a genetically engineered lifeform that is capable of focusing solar rays to ''[[Frickin' Laser Beams]]'' in order to burn all other life to ashes, thus creating worlds solely populated by sunflowers.

** There's also Planet Beanstalk, seen in one ''Man-Kzin Wars'' story set in the same universe, which is actually maintained as a pole-to-pole "gardened" forest planet by the ancient immortal Bandersnatchi because they just like it that way.

* Inverted for several worlds in the ''[[Known Space]]'' setting: they were settled after being found by ramrobots (computer-controlled interstellar ramjets) with a slight bug: they were programmed to look for a "habitable spot" only. So Plateau gets settled: a Venus-type hellhole with just one large ~~40km~~ high tabletop mountain extending into breathable atmosphere, or [[We Made It]] whose surface gets blasted with super-hurricane-force winds except for short periods in spring and autumn, or Jinx, a moon in close orbit around a superjovian planet, whose tidally deformed surface extends into vacuum at the near and far ends, with an equatorial region of crushing air pressure and only two narrow habitable bands in between.

* Inverted for several worlds in the ''[[Known Space]]'' setting: they were settled after being found by ramrobots (computer-controlled interstellar ramjets) with a slight bug: they were programmed to look for a "habitable spot" only. So Plateau gets settled: a Venus-type hellhole with just one large 40 km high tabletop mountain extending into breathable atmosphere, or [[We Made It]] whose surface gets blasted with super-hurricane-force winds except for short periods in spring and autumn, or Jinx, a moon in close orbit around a superjovian planet, whose tidally deformed surface extends into vacuum at the near and far ends, with an equatorial region of crushing air pressure and only two narrow habitable bands in between.

* [[Alan Dean Foster]] is ''addicted'' to this trope.

** Many [[Humanx Commonwealth]] novels were set on his own versions of [[Death World]] (Prism in ''Sentenced to Prism''), Desert Planet (Jast in ''Sliding Scales'', Pyrassis in ''Reunion''), Ice Planet (Tran-Ky-Ky in ''Icerigger'', Treetrunk on ''Dirge''), Ocean Planet (''Cachelot''), [[Up to Eleven|Jungle Planet]] (''Midworld''), Jungle In A Swamp Planet (Fluva in ''Drowning World''), Even Soggier Than Vancouver Pine Forest Planet (Moth in ''For Love Of Mother-Not''), etc. He's even got Cave Planet (Longtunnel) and Vacation Paradise Planet (New Riviera) thrown into the mix.

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* In almost every drawing or painting of Earth created prior to the famous [[wikipedia:The Blue Marble|Blue Marble]] photos, the Earth was apparently a single-weather-system planet, with not a cloud to be seen anywhere.

* Beachworld, a short story by [[Stephen King]], is a very creepy deconstruction of an all-desert planet.

* Trantor isn't the only [[Single Biome Planet]] in the [[Foundation]] series: ''Foundation and Earth'' features the planet Alpha, which is completely covered by water except for a single (though large) [[Terraforming|artificially created]] island.

* Trantor isn't the only Single Biome Planet in the [[Foundation]] series: ''Foundation and Earth'' features the planet Alpha, which is completely covered by water except for a single (though large) [[Terraforming|artificially created]] island.

* [[Larry Niven]]'s short story "The Soft Weapon". One of the planets in the Beta Lyrae star system is a "icy little blob of a world", AKA an Ice World.

== Live Action TV ==

* ''[[Star Trek]]'' has a tendency to either have totally Earth-like planets (class M) or ~~[[Single Biome Planet|~~Single Biome Planets]]. At least in the Original Series, they used so many Class M planets in order to keep production costs down. Most planets home to advanced civilisations have some degree of weather control, although the extent this is used to change the biome varies with some simply using them to prevent dangerous weather.

* ''[[Star Trek]]'' has a tendency to either have totally Earth-like planets (class M) or Single Biome Planets. At least in the Original Series, they used so many Class M planets in order to keep production costs down. Most planets home to advanced civilisations have some degree of weather control, although the extent this is used to change the biome varies with some simply using them to prevent dangerous weather.

** Ferenginar, the Ferengi homeworld, is a class M planet that's home to virtually constant, planet-wide torrential downpours, due to weather control technology and the Ferengi's preference for rainy days.

** Andoria, home of the Andorians, is an Ice Moon.

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* [[Deconstruction|Deconstructed]] in ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'', which takes place on a Desert Planet. The thing is, three years before the series takes place, it was earthlike - and the series takes place in a [[Please Insert New City Name]] version of ''Boston'', most certainly not in a desert region, showing just how much of the planet is sandy wasteland. The cause of the mass desertification is subtly implied to be ''nuclear carpet-bombing''. The background radiation is so high that long-distance communication is all but impossible, and orphans with cancer are prevalent.

* Lampshaded on the episode of ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' where the cast of Star Wars are the guest stars. "Seems we've landed on some sort of comedy variety show planet!"

* Usually in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', we are only shown a small part of any given world so it is not possible to generalise about the entire planet. However, there are a few cases were a world is explicitly stated as being a [[Single Biome Planet]]: Aridus from "The Chase" (a desert planet) is one example.

* Usually in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', we are only shown a small part of any given world so it is not possible to generalise about the entire planet. However, there are a few cases were a world is explicitly stated as being a Single Biome Planet: Aridus from "The Chase" (a desert planet) is one example.

* At the end of the ''[[Firefly]]'' episode "The Message", it snows at Tracy's funeral, which is on an Ice Planet.

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** It's noted that City Planets, if cut off by a Warp storm are essentially screwed since it prevents food from being transported in, unless they are lucky enough to have an agricultural world in-system - hive worlds (see below) may well have a problem even if they do.

** The homeworld of the Vespid is an interesting one - an entire world of stone islands floating in the upper atmosphere of a gas giant.

** It also has a [[Single Biome Planet]] that doesn't technically fit. Hive Worlds are worlds where, for various reasons, humans have been forced to live into massive city-buildings that can house billions of people, usually because the rest of the planet has been rendered uninhabitable by untold eons of industrialization and rampant pollution. The most atypical Hive World is [[Necromunda]]; about ten thousand skyscraper-based Hives scattered amidst an endless desert of ancient ash and chemical dust, but there are many others. Valhalla, for example, suffered a cosmic collision that knocked it out of orbit, rendering it an Ice World- huge subterranean cities were promptly bored into the heart of the planet and the depths of the glaciers in order to escape the cold. ''Earth'' is a Hive World, with no remaining recognisable features.

** It also has a Single Biome Planet that doesn't technically fit. Hive Worlds are worlds where, for various reasons, humans have been forced to live into massive city-buildings that can house billions of people, usually because the rest of the planet has been rendered uninhabitable by untold eons of industrialization and rampant pollution. The most atypical Hive World is [[Necromunda]]; about ten thousand skyscraper-based Hives scattered amidst an endless desert of ancient ash and chemical dust, but there are many others. Valhalla, for example, suffered a cosmic collision that knocked it out of orbit, rendering it an Ice World- huge subterranean cities were promptly bored into the heart of the planet and the depths of the glaciers in order to escape the cold. ''Earth'' is a Hive World, with no remaining recognisable features.

* Classic ''[[Traveller]]'' had desert planets (hydrographic % = 0), ocean planets (hydrographic % = 100, called "water worlds" long before the Kevin Costner movie), and ice planets (such as Mithril in Double Adventure 2 Mission on Mithril).

* ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'' supplement ''Curse of the Chthonians'', adventure "The City Without A Name". If the investigators are very unlucky they can go through a Gate to the home planet of the Chthonians, which is a "monstrous violent world of volcanic upheavals and earthquakes", i.e. a Volcano Planet.

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''

** [[Planescape]] setting solved this by splitting planes into layers and realms, each of which is easy to describe, because the areas that stand out would rather form a separate layer. E.g. [http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/45536ba641a897edcc85536f05a293fe97906a7c.jpg The Nine Hells of Baator] - the whole place is [[Death World]], and most layers are quite uniform, but the whole gets more diverse the further "down" you go - the only constant being that it gets considerably more horrible with each level. The surface Avernus is along the lines of a volcanic wasteland under dark red skies, the second layer is the iron city of Dis where petitioners are slaves raising and tearing down structures with bare hands, and it's scalding hot there; the third is Minauros - a foul bog with ridges of volcanic glass scoured with razor-sharp hail and corrosive rain; then there's fiery Phlegetos, frozen sea of Stygia, endless pile of rocks Malbolge, Maladomini - land of ruins, mine pits and so on, glacier mountains of Cania, and finally Nessus - the place of extremes: a plain shattered with botomless rifts, with fires and ice and everything.

** The [[Spelljammer]] setting featured a number of ~~[[Single Biome Planet|~~Single Biome Planets]]. At least, in "at a glance" supplements; detailed ones tend to give more details - e.g. Anadia is [[Forgotten Realms|Realmspace]] equivalent of Venus with breathable air, thus while two little areas (where a more hospitable world would have icecaps) are habitable for typical humanoids - and even then, only halflings actually live there - the rest of surface is not.

** The [[Spelljammer]] setting featured a number of Single Biome Planets. At least, in "at a glance" supplements; detailed ones tend to give more details - e.g. Anadia is [[Forgotten Realms|Realmspace]] equivalent of Venus with breathable air, thus while two little areas (where a more hospitable world would have icecaps) are habitable for typical humanoids - and even then, only halflings actually live there - the rest of surface is not.

* Mongoose Publishing

** ''[[Starship Troopers]] RPG''

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** Farm: Agria's name suggests it is one of these, and the terrain does indeed have numerous farms.

** Garbage: Deadma's port.

* ''[[Super Mario Bros.|Super Mario Galaxy]]'' has plenty of [[Single Biome Planet]] s, in single biome GALAXIES. You've got the Good Egg Galaxy, which is mainly grass planets, Melty Molten Galaxy which is all lava planets, Beach Bowl/Drip Drop/Bonefin Galaxy which is all water planets and quite a few more strange single biome ones including a haunted house galaxy (Ghostly Galaxy), [[Hailfire Peaks]] (Freezeflame Galaxy), two battlestation themed galaxies/planets (Battlerock and Dreadnought Galaxies) and one where all the planets are autumn themed. Might be justified in that the so-called "galaxies" are (at best) a collection of several small planetoids. Just chant the [[MST3K Mantra]]...

* ''[[Super Mario Bros.|Super Mario Galaxy]]'' has plenty of Single Biome Planet s, in single biome GALAXIES. You've got the Good Egg Galaxy, which is mainly grass planets, Melty Molten Galaxy which is all lava planets, Beach Bowl/Drip Drop/Bonefin Galaxy which is all water planets and quite a few more strange single biome ones including a haunted house galaxy (Ghostly Galaxy), [[Hailfire Peaks]] (Freezeflame Galaxy), two battlestation themed galaxies/planets (Battlerock and Dreadnought Galaxies) and one where all the planets are autumn themed. Might be justified in that the so-called "galaxies" are (at best) a collection of several small planetoids. Just chant the [[MST3K Mantra]]...

* ''[[Thunder Force]] series'' often has each stage a separate single biome planet. Sole exception is ''V'' where it take place on Earth.

* Poor ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star Fox]]'' can't seem to get anything remotely spacey right, though being [[Funny Animal]] and all, science isn't really a priority. But wait, in is this an aversion in the planet of Fortuna? In [[Star Fox (series)|Star Fox]] 64, it was icy, but in Assault, it's a jungle level? Maybe they got this different biomes thing right ... oh, wait, turns out Fortuna is all jungle, and the ice planet Fichina was the one that we were supposed to see in 64, they just got the names confused in the American version.

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*** Before biomes were added to the game, however, the trope was in full effect.

* Both played straight and spectacularly averted in [[Myst]] IV: Revelation. Spire is revealed to be a literal Cloud World, a series of floating towers apparently orbiting a cometlike body; while Haven has seacoast, jungle, savanna, and swamp within a few minutes' walk of each other.

* [[Knights of the Old Republic]] goes along with the [[Star Wars]] mentions ~~above--while~~ you only ever see one biome of the planets you travel to (in the first game, at least), most of them are at least implied to have other biomes, or have their single biome explained away. Tatooine was {{spoiler|bombed from orbit by the Rakatan,}} turning it into a desert, the "unknown world" {{spoiler|(Rakata)}} is mostly ocean with small islands because of ancient wars, etc.

* [[Knights of the Old Republic]] goes along with the [[Star Wars]] mentions above—while you only ever see one biome of the planets you travel to (in the first game, at least), most of them are at least implied to have other biomes, or have their single biome explained away. Tatooine was {{spoiler|bombed from orbit by the Rakatan,}} turning it into a desert, the "unknown world" {{spoiler|(Rakata)}} is mostly ocean with small islands because of ancient wars, etc.

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== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Futurama]]'' frequently makes fun of this, and the [[Planet of Hats]], as every world the crew visits seems to have a single defining characteristic; Dr. Zoidberg's home planet of Decapod 10 is all beaches (referred to as "the Mud Planet" by its ambassador), Kif's is all swamp, etc. A notable example is the Nude Beach Planet, the entire planet apparently a coastline.

* Nearly every planet in ''[[War Planets]]'' was a [[Single Biome Planet]]. Admittedly, this was largely because [[Merchandise-Driven|the play-sets were designed first]], but the writers have nobody but themselves to blame for the set-up whereby the inhabitants of the desert planet could only ~~survive -- on~~ the planet on which they had ~~evolved -- by~~ stealing water from the ice planet. This case, however, is [[Justified Trope|justified]] by virtually every planet being designed and built, not evolved. The Cluster in particular was created as a quartet of interdependent worlds.

* Nearly every planet in ''[[War Planets]]'' was a Single Biome Planet. Admittedly, this was largely because [[Merchandise-Driven|the play-sets were designed first]], but the writers have nobody but themselves to blame for the set-up whereby the inhabitants of the desert planet could only survive—on the planet on which they had evolved—by stealing water from the ice planet. This case, however, is [[Justified Trope|justified]] by virtually every planet being designed and built, not evolved. The Cluster in particular was created as a quartet of interdependent worlds.

** The adaptation took it a lot further. Bone provides food, Rock provides minerals, and Fire provides energy. They even have world engines inside.

* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' has Zim banished to the planet of Foodcourtia, an entire planet of fast-food outlets. Similarly, Zim avails himself of the services offered by the planet Callnowia, which is devoted to the taking of catalogue orders and the shipping of products. Other Irken-dominated planets include Conventia, the convention center planet, recently-dominated Blorch, now a parking structure planet, and Dirt, the garbage dump.

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* [[wikipedia:CoRoT-7 b|Look at Corot-7b]], which is even being called "the lava planet".

* [http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2009/pr200924.html GJ 1214b] appears to be a prime candidate for an ocean planet. It's estimated that the ocean on its surface would be roughly three to four ''thousand'' miles deep. Yes, the ocean depth is a large percentage of the total radius of the planet. Additionally, because the planet is definitely hotter than boiling point, the ocean doesn't have a defined surface. Instead the atmosphere just gets thicker and thicker as you go down until it becomes as dense as water, which can't compress anymore, meaning the ocean and atmosphere just blend together.

* Today, Earth is the ''only'' aversion in the solar system. In the very early stages of formation, Earth was a lava planet, and if the [[wikipedia:Giant impact hypothesis|Giant Impact Hypothesis]] of the Moon's origin is correct, the Earth and the Moon were balls of magma for a while after the impact. It was probably a kind of ice planet at various points in the [[wikipedia:Cryogenian|Cryogenian]] era (850-625 million years ago), particularly during the Marinoan Glaciation. This hypothesis is called ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|fittingly]]) "[[wikipedia:Snowball Earth|Snowball Earth]]". During Earth's Pangaea period, it was largely one huge desert surrounded with one gigantic ocean. Later, There was a period when the entire planet was a warm, moist planet covered with jungles - ''even Antarctica''. This is how most of our coal reserves were created, by the way. Possibly the closest fit to the above archetypes would be an Ocean World, as the surface is over 70% water~~.<br /><br />As for the other planets..~~.

* Today, Earth is the ''only'' aversion in the solar system. In the very early stages of formation, Earth was a lava planet, and if the [[wikipedia:Giant impact hypothesis|Giant Impact Hypothesis]] of the Moon's origin is correct, the Earth and the Moon were balls of magma for a while after the impact. It was probably a kind of ice planet at various points in the [[wikipedia:Cryogenian|Cryogenian]] era (850-625 million years ago), particularly during the Marinoan Glaciation. This hypothesis is called ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|fittingly]]) "[[wikipedia:Snowball Earth|Snowball Earth]]". During Earth's Pangaea period, it was largely one huge desert surrounded with one gigantic ocean. Later, There was a period when the entire planet was a warm, moist planet covered with jungles - ''even Antarctica''. This is how most of our coal reserves were created, by the way. Possibly the closest fit to the above archetypes would be an Ocean World, as the surface is over 70% water.

As for the other planets...

** Venus has an extremely dense atmosphere that distributes heat very efficiently around the planet, so its [[Death World|surface of volcanoes and sulfuric acid]] is hot enough to melt lead from equator to pole and through the 60-Earth-day ''night''.

** Mars is basically a desert world. A very cold desert world. It does have polar glaciers ~~though--made~~ of frozen ''carbon dioxide''.

** Mars is basically a desert world. A very cold desert world. It does have polar glaciers though—made of frozen ''carbon dioxide''.

** Jupiter through Neptune are pretty much all Cloud Planets.

** Everything else (Mercury, most moons, asteroids, etc.) are pretty much airless rocks or ice balls.