Spaceship Girl: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A walking, talking female avatar of a [[Sapient Ship]].

 

 

The tendency to see great vessels as female could have something to do with the crew and passengers feeling that they're being carried in its belly through hostile environment and subconsciously seeing it as motherly. [[All Psychology Is Freudian|Maybe.]] Note, however, that the use of the feminine is not universal. Latin did, and thus romance languages directly and English indirectly do the same; on the other hand, in Russian, the word "ship" is masculine.

Nowhere do they go so far, though, as when the ship ''is'' a girl. She may be a [[Hologram|holographic projection]] by the ship's computer, or she may be a physical manifestation created by [[Black Box]] technology, she may be a [[Wetware CPU]] running the ship, or she may simply [[MacGuffin Girl|turn into a human]] [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|when she wants to]]; but she ''is'' the ship, and thus requires special handling. Spaceship girls range from the deadly serious to the outright wacky, but they are never just machines. Hint: don't make her angry when you're parsecs away from the nearest planet...

 

 

* [[Arpeggio of Blue Steel]]

* ''[[Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl]]'': the ship [[media:1143698982844.jpg|Jan-puu]], who crashes into Hazumu, is the ditzy and affectionate type. She considers the crash that killed Hazumu and set the series in motion to be her first kiss.

* ''[[Lost Universe]]'': [[media:1142146262764.jpg|Canal]], [[Meido]]-outfitted hologram.

* ''[[Narue no Sekai]]'': Bathyscaphe, Kanaka's ship and guardian, is a serious and matronly type...but she has her softer side.

*** In one instance Haruna gets overexcited and summons her ship form to welcome some visitors to the hotel she works at, much to the chagrin of everyone there.

* ''[[Outlaw Star]]'': Melfina, who seems at first to be a shy teenage girl, is soon revealed to be the living navigation system for a very advanced starship. The rest of the ship's functions, however, are controlled by Gilliam II, the ship's male computer system.

* A variation of this was done in [[Vandread]] with the character of Bart. Though he just [[Synchronization|synchronizes]] with ''Nirvana'', not ''becomes'' her.

* ''[[GaoGaiGar]]'s'' {{spoiler|Penchinon}} is a subversion. {{spoiler|After Pasdar is destroyed, it is revealed that he is the AI system for Soldat-J's J-Ark. All Penchinon really is...is an eye.}} Also subverted because, even in his 'old' form, {{spoiler|Penchinon}} is some kind of... {{spoiler|anchor-eyed, boat-person with a spinning head (but no neck), big teeth, a sailor uniform, and a tendency to go '' '''"BREEEEEEEEE!!"''' ''.}}

* Then there's that whole [[wikipedia:Mecha Musume|Mecha Musume]] trend.

* In ''[[Zone of the Enders]] Dolores, i'', the titular Dolores has a ridiculously advanced AI making her a [[Humongous Mecha]] girl. She develops a crush on her pilot, and day-dreams of being in storybooks and a waitress, among other things. {{spoiler|At the end of the series, when her body is destroyed, they transfer her AI to a ship. She complains that makes her feel fat, since her consciousness isn't stored on [[Applied Phlebotinum|Metatron]] anymore. }}

* If [[Epileptic Trees]] are to be trusted (and ridiculously advanced AI is a qualifying trait for this trope, natch), Yukikaze from [[Sentou Yousei Yukikaze]] can be this. That is, minus the human avatar and all.

* Eve in ''[[Megazone 23]]''.

* In the 11th Pokémon movie, Giratina and the Sky Warrior, Infi is a holographic projection of the navigational systems for main villain Zero's ship, the Megarig.

* Kate Rose from [[Trinity Blood]] she is the basically the AI of the [[Flying Ship]] "The Iron maiden", although she's also a [[Wetware CPU]] whose body is commatose, she's been inside the ship for so long that she often refers to the parts of the ship as if they were her own appendages

 

* In [[Runaways]], when the group gets back together after {{spoiler|the death of the Pride}}, Chase insists that the Leapfrog is a he, as there is enough estrogen on the team already, thank you very much.

* In ''[[Power Pack]]'', the kids argue over whether Friday is male or female.

** In the ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' strip "A Life of Matter and Death", the TARDIS manifests a mental projection of herself in the form of a veiled grey lady.

 

 

== [[Film]] ==

 

== [[Literature]] ==

** ''The Ship Who Searched'' by [[Mercedes Lackey]] {{spoiler|featured a brainship who financed the creation of a remote-operated android accessory so she could be her human partner's... [[Robosexual|partner]]}}.

** Another book from that series has a brainship who had gone through a terrible traumatic event; in [[There Are No Therapists|therapy]] a counselor had her channel her emotions and frustrations into art, and eventually had her create a self portrait. He expected her to paint a projection of herself as a human, if she hadn't had the genetic defects that landed her in a brainship, but she painted her shipself with some anthropomorphic elements.

* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] novels, ultra-advanced TARDISes from the future could use their chameleon circuits to take human form. The one we meet appears as an attractive young woman (in an amusing [[Continuity Nod]] we're told she was once stuck as a 1960s policewoman). The Doctor's cyborg companion Compassion later takes on characteristics of the TARDIS and became the prototype for the class.

* In the ''[[Star Trek: New Frontier]]'' portion of the [[Expanded Universe]]:

** Later in the series, {{spoiler|Robin Lefler's mother, Morgan}} becomes ''Excalibur's'' computer. {{spoiler|Extra poetic because Morgan Primus is identical to all characters from the TV shows who were played by Majel Barrett Roddenberry. All Federation ships have a [[Computer Voice]] that is ''also'' done by Barrett.}}

* Darcy in ''[[Vampirates (novel)|Vampirates]]'' "describes herself as "Figurehead by day, figure of fun by night!"

* Joked about in the book, ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]'', when it stated that American ships are shes, Russian ships are hes, and the intelligence community calls them both its.

* In [[Robin Hobb]]'s ''The Liveship Traders'' series, there are sentient ships with animate figureheads. Some of them are males, though. They are mostly considered as persons, with one captain actually ''courting'' his female ship to the point that his sexual partner and the ship consider each other love rivals. Not played for laughs at all.

 

* ''[[Andromeda]]'' and the titular starship, with her holographic and robotic avatars: Rommie, the ship's AI given an android body. The ship's AI also looks like Rommie, though the two became separate characters to a degree. Most of the High Guard ships of her class seen in the series had female avatars (with the explanation being that humans and a number of other species prefer female avatars), though we have had several on-screen examples of male AIs, usually portrayed by someone who appeared on [[Stargate SG-1]] or [[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]].

** And if you're wondering if there was ever an episode where a High Guard captain got [[Robosexual]] with his ship's android... Yep. (It wasn't Dylan.)

* Holly, the AI interface aboard the ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', starts off as male but undergoes a virtual-sex change (as part of an [[The Nth Doctor|Nth Doctor shift]]) between the second and third series. She disappears after series five along with the ship itself, and the male Holly returns at the end of series seven (twofold! The ship is actually a nanite recreation of the ship and its crew from a time before the accident, so its Holly serves Captain Hollister and has no relationship with the Boys from the 'Dwarf. The version of Holly on the watch Lister found, on the other hand, knows them but is suffering from 'computer senility' and is a bit less useful than Holly of old.

* In an episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'', an "upgrade" to the ''Enterprise'''s computer causes it to start talking flirtatiously and calling the captain "Dear". Kirk said that the folks the repairs had been outsourced to thought the computer needed a personality, "so they gave it one." [[Star Trek: The Next Generation]] and [[Star Trek: Voyager]] both had female voices for the ships computer- logical, since they were voiced by Gene Roddenberry's wife. The ships were never completely sentient, though.

*** In the TOS episode "Elaan of Troyius" the women of the planet Elas have tears that make every man the tears touch fall madly in love with them. Kirk is infected, but okay by the end of the episode. Spock explains what happened: "The antidote to a woman of Elas, Doctor, is a starship. The Enterprise infected the captain long before the Dohlman did."

** "Alice" in ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]''. [[Clingy Jealous Girl|To]] [[Stalker with a Crush|a]] very uncomfortable [[Ax Crazy|extent]].

*** There was a similar episode where B'Elanna had to persuade a rogue Interplanetary Missile Girl that it was [[Colony Drop|targeting a noncombatant world]]. It wasn't just any girl, either - she'd reprogrammed it herself, and given it her own voice (the old voice was a Cardassian male which annoyed her).

* ''Moya'' on ''[[Farscape]]'' is a Leviathan, one of a race of [[Organic Technology|living ships]]. She even gives birth to a bouncing baby spaceship. Other Leviathans, of both genders, (with mixed-gender pilots, sometimes) also showed up.

* In one episode of the original 1978 ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'', Starbuck flew the Recon Viper, which had extra engine power but no weapons. It was fitted with C.O.R.A., an intelligent computer controller that not only talked in a feminine voice, but also acted like an overprotective girlfriend.

* The Cylon ships in the Re-Imagined Series have Hybrids as their central computer hub. Hybrids take the form of women laying in a cloudy tub similar to a regenerating tub. Hybrids are not supposed to be sentient and generally their speech is a string of ship operations. {{spoiler|Some models and humans believe that the Rebel Hybrid also spouts prophecy.}}

* Gypsy from [[Mystery Science Theater 3000]], who was directly wired into the Satellite of Love and controlled its higher functions. A more literal example was the Magic Voice.

* Sandstrom from [[Hyperdrive]].

 

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* Arguably, Cortana in the first ''[[Halo]]'' video game, though the ship in question doesn't last as long as she does (although [[Player Character|Master Chief]]'s armor is apparently very similar to a spaceship, and the time she inhabits a Halo ring would probably count).

* The main character from ''[[The Guardian Legend]]'' is a female cyborg who can turn from an [[Breast Plate|improbably clothed]] soldier into a miniature spaceship with her face where the cockpit would be.

* Karan Sjet from ''[[Homeworld]]''. In truth, she is a scientist that sacrificed herself to become the Mothership's core, and is now the Mothership's voice and "soul" through the entire game. In the sequel she continues being the Mothership, but the ship itself changes.

* The SNES [[Widget Series]] ''Cho Aniki'' features a literal spaceship girl as one of the playable characters, a flying steam-driven machine-girl, [http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/fursecutioner/cho-aniki-bakaretsu2.gif Mami,] with three little crewmen on her back who can be used as weapons.

* The Japanese PC game Gadget Trial has been described as a fusion of turn based tactics games and mecha musume, and has the player control tank, artillery, and other girls who personify military hardware.

* the 100-Series Observational Realians on the Durandal from [[Xenosaga]]

* The Aphelion in ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]''.

* Averted in ''[[Albion]]'', where the computer of the spaceship Toronto is represented by a masculine android "AI body" known as Ned. Later it turns out there's a whole bunch of armed Neds hidden on the ship in case anyone gets rebellious. At the very end, you see the core AI itself, a very decidedly neuter mechanical thing inside an indestructible black tin.

* Titania from [[Starship Titanic]], who's sorry about the parrot, really she is.

*** Given that the VI is voiced by [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1065454/ Tricia Helfer], it's understandable.

*** Oddly enough, though, the simple avatar avoids the [[Uncanny Valley]] issue and instead becomes [[Moe Moe]].

** In ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', EDI is {{spoiler|[[Ascended Extra|promoted to full squad status]] by virtue of taking over an experimental Cerberus robot form. Shepard can play matchmaker with her and Joker, if the player likes.}}

** While we're on the subject of [[Other M]], we have {{spoiler|MB, the Mother Brain [[Expy]].}} She built an android body for herself, and she looks exactly like a normal human. {{spoiler|She manages to fool both Samus and the player into thinking that she's Madeline Bergman, the head scientist.}}

* [[Air Rivals]] has the Akron First Fleet Flagship, which can be owned by the brigade of a certain nation after a war that takes place every 6 days. The main computer of the battleship manifests itself as a hologram of a seemingly female robotic head. The hologram itself doesn't interact with you apart from giving you management options for the base you own, though. Although one has to admit, according to the storyline, the Akron was built by Barkians, and Bark city was destroyed around 140 years prior to the player's timeline, [[Fridge Logic|which means that the poor hologram girl has been trapped alone for 140 years]], maintaining an abandoned ship that gets some nasty wars between ANI and BCU every 6 days and then it has to cope with brigade members that are possibly not nice people ''over and over again''. I would probably not enjoy it very much.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Only tangentially related, but too funny not to mention: Captain Star of ''Captain Star'' insists that his ship the ''Boiling Hell'' is a he.

* A.L.E.X., the ''Xcalibur's'' AI hologram from [[The Xtacles]], who is constantly fending off advances from her dim-witted crew.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

* The Russians dodge it entirely. Russian ships can be female, male or neutral, depending on which grammatical gender the ship's name falls into.

** As the rule is "use the pronoun (adjective, past tense form) that is grammatically correct", the gender of the ship can vary depending on what you call it. For example, missile cruiser "Moskva" can be denoted with male pronoun if you call it cruiser, or female if you call it "Moskva". Oscar-class submersible cruiser "Tomsk" can be denoted with male pronoun, if you call it submersible cruiser or "Tomsk", and female if you call it submarine. Research vessel "Vityaz" can be denoted with male pronoun, if you call it "Vityaz" or steamship, or neutral, if you call it vessel.

* Military computers (when required) are almost universally female voiced. It seems sensible that this would continue when we develop AIs and they get personalities and avatars. Research showed that pilots pay better attention to an annunciator when the voice is female. Hence the female voices.

** Air Force tests also indicate that a female voice is easier to hear and understand under high stress situations (like getting shot at while doing mach 1)

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Otherness Tropes]]

[[Category:Robot Roll Call]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:Travel Cool]]