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[[File:SGUTVlogo.jpg|framethumb|350px]]
{{quote| ''Where will ''Destiny'' take you?''}}
 
The installment of the ''[[Stargate Verse|Stargate]]'' franchise that began in 2009.
 
A team of soldiers and scientists on an off-world base have finally cracked the secrets surrounding the, until now, unused ninth chevron of the Stargates (seven chevrons are used for regular trips, eight are used to travel between galaxies). With it, they are able to connect a wormhole to an [[Precursors|Ancient]] [[Generation Ships|ship]] called the ''Destiny''. This comes at a very bad time as [[The Remnant|remnants]] of ''[[Stargate SG -1]]'' villains attack the outpost. In a desperation maneuver they travel to ''Destiny'' without a proper recon of the area and about 80 people are stuck on a very old ship that is falling apart.
 
Because the mission was not planned, many of the main characters are not the typical specialist team that has been in the previous shows of ''[[Stargate SG -1]]'' and ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]''. Besides a handful of leaders, the rest are young, inexperienced and many of whom are civilians who are caught up in a situation ''far'' outside what they expected.
 
The show was canceled midway through its second season. [[Kick the Dog|The cast and crew only learned of the cancellation via Twitter.]]
 
The [[TV Tropes]] general [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=k9pny2pt6guwe1lqopi0hz1y discussion forum for the show is here]. Also, check out the [[Stargate Universe (TV)/Characters|Character Sheet]]. And [[Stargate Universe (TV)/Recap|recap page]].
 
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=== This shows uses the following tropes: ===
 
{{tropelist}}
== A-G ==
* [[Accidental Pervert]]: There's an episode where Chloe is using the Ancient equivalent of a shower when the power goes out. She calls out for Eli, he comes running... and just ''happens'' to shine his flashlight on her, getting a full frontal before realization hits and he stutters an apology while looking away. [[Fan Service|Too bad the camera's positioned behind her]].
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*** The trope is inverted and subverted by Rush in the same episode. Telford asks Rush for help in communicating with the alien they just found, since he's the only one among them to actually have contact with aliens. Rush dryly notes, "Different aliens."
* [[All Love Is Unrequited]]: Where do we begin; Vanessa James and Scott, Eli and Chloe, Perry and Rush, Volker and Park, TJ doing this to more than one guy. This show loves to create ships and then sink them.
* [[All There in the Manual]]: The Season 1 [https://web.archive.org/web/20131007220956/http://stargate.mgm.com/view/character/171/index.html Kino webisodes] cover some of the little details in each episode and give background information. Some are just there for a little humor/fanservice. Others help fill in the blanks, such as the accompanying webisode for "Time".
** An in universe "manual" occurs in the form of a series of video lectures hosted by SG-1's Daniel Jackson. They appaear to cover basics like what the stargate is and how it works as well as a number of other topics.
* [[Almost Out of Oxygen]]: The subject of "Air", specifically the CO2 poisoning variety.
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** Dr. Brightman, a one-shot character in ''SG-1'', is a semi-recurring character in this series.
* [[Ascended Fanboy]]: Eli, definitely.
* [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence]]: Maybe. Franklin, the idiot who sat in the chair in "Justice" and fried his brain, regains just enough mobility to try it again in "Sabotage". This time, he seems to freeze the entire room, and by the time they come back to check on him, the man is gone. We can't be sure if he ascended, though. The machine might just have vaporized him. It's probably relevant that every time someone ascends in the previous two series, they leave their clothes behind. Not the case with Franklin.
** Nope. He was uploaded to Destiny's computer.
*** [[Word of God]] is that it wasn't even really him; the ship's AI absorbed him and used his brain patterns as a template for the AI and [[A Form You Are Comfortable With|used his form for interacting with the crew]].
* [[Attack Drone]]
* [[Awesome McCoolname]]: Armando Elsinor von Spelker III. Not named on the show, but on [http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/june-13-2010-world-cup-round-up-mailbag/ Joseph Mallozzi's blog].
* [[Ax Crazy]]: ''Dannic''. Strangling one of your only scientists [[You Have Failed Me...|for not being able to correct a problem on the spot]], getting rid of a third of your remaining men just because the guy they were loyal to ''wasn't'' [[Ax Crazy]], utterly refusing to surrender in the face of horrible death? He hits the qualification line full speed, then kills it for getting in his way. His defeat exemplifies this. In most other similar situations, his defeat would come about as a result of a Heel Face Turn or at least a Noble Villain. Dannic? He gets defeated because his men (including above scientist) aren't as crazy as he is. That is, they don't like the protagonists, they don't want them to win, but they also aren't willing to fly as far off the deep end as Dannic.
* [[Back for Thethe Dead]]: {{spoiler|The people who stayed on the "Eden" planet.}}
* [[The Bad Guy Wins]]: End of first season. [[Cliff Hanger|Or is it]]? It wasn't.
* [[Bad Future]]: Subjective future, actually the past. The crew abandoned ''Destiny'' and their mission, settled on alien planet and never got home nor found "God". Turns out they had accidentally been sent 2,000 years back in time, and their present day duplicates ([[Timey-Wimey Ball|wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey]]) learn what happened to their alternate selves.
** Subverted in the following episode, "Epilogue". Despite having lost ''Destiny'' and being forced to start over from scratch on a brand new world, the alternate Destiny crew are shown to have lived far richer, happier lives. What's more, their descendants went on to build a great Ancient-esque civilisation based the strong work ethic, curiosity and optimism of the characters. Except for that whole Cold War period they went through, but luckily extinction proved a bigger motivator than their petty differences.
{{quote| '''Old Camille''': When we first arrived here, we thought we had failed. We didn't achieve the mission on ''Destiny''. But now, looking at all your smiling faces, at this beautiful new school, I can't help but feel a great sense of pride. And success. Because as we discovered, our mission is -- and '''always''' will be -- [[It's the Journey That Counts|the journey itself]].}}
* [[Bathos]]: When exploring the archives on Novus, the dead planet of the alternate crew's ancestors, there is a brief scene in an elevator with the crew appropriately baffled by the cheesy muzak.
* [[Beauty Is Never Tarnished]]: TJ, the medic, seems to have brought a hefty tub of styling gel and lipstick.
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* [[Berserk Button]]: Greer really isn't very happy about Telford attacking Young. He sprints into the room and takes him apart in under six seconds. Hurting TJ is also this for Young, as is the general suggestion that he cannot protect the people under his command.
** When it comes to Rush, keep your hands off Amanda Perry. Simeon found out the hard way.
* [[Big Breasts, Big Deal]]: James clocks in at a Type 3, with a hint of annoyance.
* [[Big Creepy -Crawlies]]: This is shaping up to be ''Universe's'' hallmark. They've already had chestbursters/chest''burrowers'' and a [[Giant Spider]], and there's more on the way. Seems without the Ancients around the rest of the universe evolved some creepy shit.
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: {{spoiler|Telford and the Ursini}} in "Resurgence".
* [[Big Damn Villains]]: {{spoiler|The catfish aliens}} in "Deliverance". However, they were really more of a diversion than actual help.
* [[Big Fun]]: Eli: Big (Nerdy) Fun.
* [[Big Good]]: O'Neill, to the best that he is able, back on Earth.
* [[Bluffing the Murderer]]: Young does this to Rush after he learns Rush made Sgt. Spencer's suicide look like a murder and tried to implicate Young as the perpetrator simply to get him out of the way.
* [[Boarding Party]]: The Lucian Alliance.
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* [[Brainwashed]]: Telford.
* [[Brain Uploading]]: well, consciousness uploading, the neural interface chair can do that {{spoiler|and has done that with Franklin, Ginn and Amanda Perry}}
* [[Break the Cutie]]: Ongoing for Chloe, what with being trapped on ''Destiny'' with everybody else, her father dying, having no useful skills to help out right off the bat, kidnapped by aliens, stranded offworld twice in a row, getting shot in the season one finale, and then {{spoiler|being slowly transformed into an alien and being ostracized by all of her friends because of it}}. TJ, too, starting from "Faith" onwards. Even Wray has a few moments, though it's more of a [[Break the Haughty]] with her. Eli is starting to stack up emotional problems, too, especially after "Malice", what with {{spoiler|his new girfriend having been [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]]}}. Finally, talking about [[Break the Haughty]], Rush in the same episode.
* [[Breather Episode]]: "Faith" and "Visitation", both dealing with the god-like aliens, are non-action episodes which focus more on the difference between science and faith/religion. They come after the action-packed episodes. "Cloverdale" consists of Scott, infected by an alien organism, hallucinating a normal life in an idyllic rural town. This one leads into an action episode.
* [[Brick Joke]]: As well as one heck of a [[Tear Jerker]]. In "Air Part 1" we see Rush break down in private as he listens to a piece of classical music, we only later learn in "Human" this was his deceased wife's favourite piece to play on the violin.
** Eli's t-shirt. In "Lost" they get stranded in an underground labyrinth and Eli laments the race that built it didn't think to put a map with a big red dot marking your location, like they have a malls. He opens his jacket and points at his t-shirt;
{{quote| '''Eli''': "You are here!" How hard is that?}}
* [[The Bridge]]: ''Destiny'' has one, and it follows the classic layout, but it doesn't show up until season 2. Season 1 averted the trope with the control room fulfilling the role of the bridge.
* [[Brilliant but Lazy]]: According to the casting sheet that went out Eli is this, saying that he's brilliant at anything he puts his mind to, but that he's rarely excited enough to actually use this. Seen in a flashback where it is implied he put off going to an interview to sleep in.
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* [[Book Ends]]: {{spoiler|The show begins with ''Destiny'' powering up its interior systems, and ends with them shutting down. Almost in perfect reverse order.}}
* [[Broken Pedestal]]: After "Seizure" Eli seems to have stopped looking at Rush as a surrogate father-figure.
* [[Butt Monkey]]: Volker was initially this, Adam Brody seems to have taken this role as of season 2.
* [[Came Back Wrong]]: {{spoiler|Everyone on the shuttle in "Visitation".}}
** {{spoiler|But not in any of the classic forms of this trope.}}
* [[Catch Phrase]]: Young: "Lotta work." -- particularly in regards to Rush. Seems to have dropped it in later season one episodes. Came back with a vengeance in season two.
* [[The Champion]]: Ronald Greer frequently acts as one towards the crew on ''Destiny'', whether it be single-handedly [[You Shall Not Pass|holding off]] a horde of hostile alien plants in "''Cloverdale''" or immediately volunteering to undergo a risky transplant surgery to give Volker one his kidneys in "''Hope''".
* [[Character Development]]:
** As of "Space", Lt. James has made the jump from generally useless [[Power Perversion Potential|Kino magnet]] to semi-sympathetic third stringer, complete with CMOA and basic character insight. In an episode that didn't even focus on her for more than 5 minutes.
** Greer started off looking like he would be the short tempered [[Loose Cannon]]. But thanks to much needed character moments he has shown humor, loyalty, and insight as well.
** Young has developed quite a bit from the somewhat overly cautious and by-the-book guy he started off as into someone quite a bit better equipped to handle the weight of command. As a sign of this, over the course of the show, his hair has gotten progressively longer from the standard crew cut. {{spoiler|This is somewhat ironic, as later episodes will have him question his ability to command while he's been quite adamant in doing so up till now.}}
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** [[Chekhov's Gun|Chekhov's Memory Sharing]]: The bleed-over from Telford to Scott becomes much more relevant in "Subversion".
** [[Chekhov's Boomerang|Chehkov's Alien Spittle]]: The venom of the Squigglers has been useful in three different episodes: first being the cure for the water-based disease afflicting the characters, second as an anesthetic on Rush while removing the tracking device from his chest, and finally being used as an anesthetic on the alien ticks that attach themselves to the crew. Showed up and didn't help any in "Cloverdale" while dealing with an offworld infection.
** [[Chekhov's Gun|Chekhov's Sled]]: Eli's hover sled, which he invented in "Water", comes back in "Cloverdale" as a way to carry supplies and an injured Scott. Also makes an appearance in "Deliverance" in order to carry a drone on board. Same episode also gives it an official name: [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|kino sled]]. Eli apparently also made multiples.
** [[Chekhov's Gunman|Chekhov's Iguana]]: Openly focusing on the there-for-no-apparent-reason alien reptile halfway through "Malice". {{spoiler|A herd of them are used by Rush to trample a wounded Simeon in the denouement.}}
** [[Chekhov's Gun|Chekhov's Robot]]: Averted in "Air" when they need some way to push a button to close a door sealing the button pusher inside. Despite Kinos featuring prominently in the episode, and we're shown they have lots, nobody considers of using one to push the button turning the whole episode into an [[Idiot Plot]].
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** Mid-season 2 finale: How is ''Destiny'' going to survive the drone armada? What did Chloe do to the ship at the end?
** Season 2 finale: {{spoiler|How will Eli survive the jump to the next galaxy? Will he fix the pod? Will he find another way? Are his calculations correct or are they screwed for good?}}
<!-- %% Rhetorical questions. Do not answer. -->
* [[Cloning Gambit]]: An unintentional example with {{spoiler|Telford}} who, through the power of the [[Applied Phlebotinum|stargate]] and [[Timey-Wimey Ball|time travel]], becomes a clone of himself, which becomes handy when the "real" {{spoiler|Telford}} dies shortly thereafter.
* [[Colonel Badass]]: For the first few episodes, Col. Young appeared as if his his character should've been named Col. [[Peanuts|Charlie Brown]]. But... after finally deciding "enough is Enough," he hauled off and kicked three kinds of ass. And he did it to the show's two resident [[Jerkass|Jerkasses]], using some pretty neat cunning to pull it off, too. Yep, he's officially a [[Badass]].
* [[Continuity Drift]]:
** The ''Daedalus''-class starship ''Hammond'' can make the Milky Way-Atlantis trip (2 million light years) in three weeks (the ZPM-powered ''Odyssey'' can do it in four days). Going 21 light-years from Earth to the Icarus planet, by that measure, should only take thirty seconds, although someone may have decided to take it slow to give the [[Naive Newcomer|civilians new to the Stargate Program]] enough time to be given a Daniel Jackson video [[Info Dump|crash course]] in SG-101, and there's evidence of an efficiency factor to speed vs. distance.
* [[Continuity Nod]]:
** Anyone who has seen the later seasons of the previous SG shows knows what's coming when O'Neill threatens to beam Eli up to his spaceship. More subtly, later in the scene Rush alludes to the memory-altering technology used in ''SG-1''.
** A few musical cues in the premiere homage the previous ''Stargate'' shows:
*** As the names of the ''SG-1'' guest stars appear during the opening credits, a version of the ''SG-1'' theme plays.
*** As Rush explains [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence|Ascension]] to Eli, the ''Atlantis'' motif plays in the background.
** O'Neill's run-in with the Ancient database downloader has been brought up a few times in the wake of finding a similar device aboard the ''Destiny'', as has the Asgard [[Deus Ex Machina|saving his life]], or more specifically how they're not around to save anyone (figuratively and literally) should this chair prove fatal to humans too.
** Alisen Down reprises her one-off character (Dr. Brightman) from an episode of SG-1 five years previously, now as the occasional guest character whenever they need an Earth doctor.
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*** Brought up again in "Trial And Error" when Scott asks why Wray or Rush don't assume command.
** O'Neill's reaction to the Lucian Alliance base.
{{quote| '''O'Neill''': Pyramid? That takes me back.}}
* [[Convenient Miscarriage]]: And it happened for the same meta reasons as normal, of course.
* [[Cool Chair]]: The captain's chair on the ''Destiny's'' bridge. Rush, Eli, and Young have monopolized it, likely because it is more like a pilot's chair rather than a command chair like in ''[[Star Trek]]''.
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*** The seed ships really become impressive when you remember that gates are unbelievably powerful, durable and dangerous objects that humanity wouldn't be able to manufacture for centuries at least, and this ship can churn them out in a fully automated process, as well as find habitable planets in the galaxy and deploy the gates there. There have to be some robots aboard...
* [[Courtroom Episode]]: "Justice".
* [[Crack Pairing]] / [[Ships That Pass in Thethe Night]] / [[Pair the Spares]]: In-universe. Eli was shocked to find out that his alternate self married corporal Barnes.
** Alternate James and Varro also got married; but they have at least some interaction. The two of them teaming up to destroy a Drone stands out.
* [[Crapsack World]]: Note how many characters are listed as [[The Woobie]] on the character sheet. The entire world seems to be out to get these poor schlubs.
* [[Crush Parade]]: {{spoiler|Simeon gets run over by a stampede of two-legged, dinosaur-like creatures triggered by Rush. Doesn't kill him, but he could barely move after.}}
* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: It looks like war between Ursini and Drones was very one-sided and eventually Drones killed them all.
* [[Curse Cut Short]]: Eli at the beginning of "Time".
{{quote| '''Eli''': What. The. *Title Card*}}
* [[Cut Short]]: The series was canceled in the middle of season 2, which means many of the main plot points are left unresolved, including the cliffhanger at the end of the season finale.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: The focus of the show is on bare means of survival more than exploration. There are [[Anyone Can Die|multiple deaths throughout the show]], including one [[Driven to Suicide|suicide]]. Even the hovering Kino camera probes have a grit filter on them.
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* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]: Used as a jokes. "It wasn't funny the first three times".
* [[Diabolus Ex Machina]]: In "Gauntlet", {{spoiler|there happens to be ''just enough'' stasis pods for the entire crew, except ''just one'' is too damaged to function properly, meaning that one of the crew has to stay out of stasis to try and fix it}}.
* [[Die Hard Onon an X]]: The season 1 finale to season 2 premiere story-arc with the Lucian Alliance. It's a little more complicated than the basic version, since there's Scott and Greer climbing on the outside of the ship and running the classic McClane, Eli and Chloe are out of contact but in position to help, Telford working as a [[Reverse Mole]], and Rush trying to gain leverage by taking control of the ship's systems. And Rush honestly doesn't give a shit about the hostages, so while Young surrenders quickly, he doesn't. And then there's several splintering factions of the Lucian Alliance. [[Up to Eleven|And then there's a pulsar that will fry everyone on the ship into a pile of ash.]]
* [[Directed Byby Cast Member]]: [[Robert Carlyle]] directed the season 2 episode "Pathogen".
** David Blue directed a number of planet scenes in the first season episode "Time".
* [[The Dog Bites Back]]: Dannic, the crazed replacement leader of the Lucian Alliance after {{spoiler|Kiva dies}}, tries to strangle Ginn for [[You Have Failed Me...|failing to correct a problem]] as fast as he wants. {{spoiler|When he completely loses it, she shoots him in the back four times.}}
* [[Double Standard]]: Apparently LGBT activists got angry that a scientist using Wray's body was going to have sex with Rush, causing it to be cut from the episode, yet it's ok for Wray to have sex with her girlfriend using a (presumably) straight woman's body.
** Also, Rush is unwilling to sleep with Perry when she is in Wray's body (partly because she is in Wray and partly because he's still grieving over his wife); but has no problems sleeping with her when she's inhabiting Ginn. This doesn't go over well with Eli.
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** The cast's initial entrance onto the ''Destiny'' through the Stargate was also rather dynamic. Particularly Young, who does an impressive flight across the entire room. There's a good reason he's limping around up until "Water". Essentially repeated when the Lucian Alliance arrives.
* [[Dysfunction Junction]]: [[Up to Eleven|Hoo boy]], so far we have Scott's parental/religious issues, Young's troubled marriage, TJ's shattered hopes of going to medical school (and now her pregnancy), Young and TJ being stuck on the ship after trying to break off their affair, Greer's anger issues which had him imprisoned for striking Telford on-duty, Chloe [[Break the Cutie|watching her father die]], and Dr. Rush's insufferable nature. It's almost funny how Eli was a misfit on Earth and yet here he's portrayed as the ''normal'' one along with the side and supporting cast.
* [[Earthshattering Kaboom]]:
** During an attack by the Lucian Alliance on the Icarus Project base, they finally get the ninth chevron working. Six minutes later, after a massive power drain, the entire planet goes boom very spectacularly. Justified in that the planet's core was already unstable. Plugging it into the gate and having the Lucian Alliance bombard the base didn't help.
** Repeated in a role reversal in the finale when the ''Hammond'' attacks the Lucian Alliance base as they attempt to reach ''Destiny''. They skipped out on the big boom, though, just showing surface eruptions.
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** Also in Deliverance: {{spoiler|Destiny with the catfish aliens versus the drones}}.
* [[Ensemble Cast]]
* [[Eternal English]]: The descendants of the crew sent back in time still speak perfect English (complete with modern slang) 2000 years later, but a couple episodes later we learn that spelling did change when we see abandoned storefronts and a newspaper. They apparently spelled "Attack" as "Atak" and "Market" as "Markit", among other things.
** Justified though. They have original recordings of the original crew so while the spelling might change due to initial lack of written documentation, they would have a lifetime and more of video recording with spoken word. In other words, the language became more of a phonetic (spelt as it sounds) language since they only had verbal records and only later, written.
* [[Everybody Has Lots of Sex]]: Well, not ''everybody'', but Lisa Park has sex with whoever she feels like, and Scott and Chloe waste no time in having a sexual relationship as soon as they admit their attraction (despite there presumably being a very short supply of condoms and birth control pills).
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** [[Happily Married|Alternate Greer and Alternate Park]] had a ''lot'' of kids... and its implied even when they're older and have a bucket-load of grandkids, they're still very "active".
* [[The Everyman]]: Eli, mostly. But part of the point of this show is that, with the exception of Dr. Rush, these characters are not prepared for this.
* [[Everything's Better Withwith Spinning]]: The Stargates installed on the ''Destiny'' and on the planets seeded by the ships ahead of it all spin. That is to say ''the entire Stargate spins''.
* [[Everything Trying to Kill You]]: ''Everything.'' The ''Destiny'' is mind-bogglingly old and thus falling apart at the seams, virtually every planet they've been to has either vicious creatures or deadly parasites, and the first alien race they've encountered seems to view them as little more than an infestation. The second nearly drained ''Destiny's'' power, but that was arguably self-defense given the context.
* [[Explosive Decompression]]:
** Averted. When the senator sacrifices himself to seal a hull breach in the shuttle, there's no implied "[[Squick|pop]]." It's actually portrayed as kind of a peaceful death. They even mention that his body is still there, which they eventually get to. However, it was more like decompression on an airplane, since the shuttle's weakened shield should be able to hold back a small amount of atmosphere from escaping.
** Also averted in "Space" when the aliens cut holes in ''Destiny''. A nearby soldier had to hold on tight to avoid the strong wind, but other than that was fine. ''Destiny'' was able to seal the relatively small leak with a shield in short order anyway.
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* [[Failsafe Failure]]: Averted. In addition to having technology way ahead of its time, ''Destiny'' also has manual-power breakers in each section in case a nasty power surge turns it into an electrified deathtrap. In the S1 finale, there are also manual switches on the shield generators/projectors (which are on the outside of the hull) of all things. They really did think of everything.
* [[Fake Shemp]]: Kiva appears in "Intervention" for a single shot, from the shoulders down.
* [[Family-Unfriendly Death]]: Goes hand in hand with their use of [[Big Creepy -Crawlies]]. Victims of said things tend to die in really unpleasant ways. Then there's the guy in "Incursion" who gets burned into ashes by the gamma radiation of a binary pulsar.
* [[Fan Service]]: Chloe in the shower and a pond, Greer in his quarters, and Lt. James in... anything. Someone attempted to use a Kino to [https://web.archive.org/web/20130519003647/http://stargate.mgm.com/view/othercharacter/87/embed_vid/1054/index.html spy on Lt. James] in the shower, so now she's fan service for the ''Destiny'' crew, as well. Although she's developed into a stronger character lately, she also has appeared to have lost her uniform top and walks around in either a tan t-shirt or tank top. The ship also seems to be a little cold. Unlike a lot of fanservice characters though, James dresses appropriately as the situation dictates such as full combat apparel in the Season 1 finale.
* [[A Father to His Men]]: Young, especially towards Greer, Scott, and Eli.
* [[Five-Man Band]]: Though through characterization given to those outside the band, it's becoming less and less of a five man band. At this point, the list below includes practically everyone that's gotten a spoken line save for the ones that got killed off.
** [[The Hero]]: Col. Young
** [[The Lancer]]: Scott
** [[The Big Guy]]: Greer
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* [[For Science!]]: Dr. Rush, we understand you want to open the ninth chevron, but you don't cut off everyone's escape to Earth and strand 80 people in uber-deep space aboard a broken ship just to see where it goes. Not cool man, not cool. He tries to excuse it, but it's obvious he's just trying to justify his desperate move to dial the ninth chevron.
* [[Foreshadowing]]: in the pilot "Wow, that is a ''big'' gun..."
* [[Franchise Killer]]: On his February 11th 2011 blog, [[Word of God|Joseph Mallozzi]] mentioned that SGU's cancellation puts a definite hiatus to plans for further [[Stargate Atlantis]] and [[Stargate SG -1]] films.
** Though they were also cancelled for the same reasons as Atlantis, that the network decided they didn't want to pay the cost of the series with the current recession, and generally didn't inform the producers of the status of the series at any point along the line.
*** The cast were informed of the cancellation by ''fans'' via Twitter, who actually had heard it before they did... which pretty much sums how [[Screwed Byby the Network]] Universe was treated.
* [[Freeze -Frame Bonus]]: In the final episode, when Rush is busy scribbling on the walls with chalk, "Fuck the French" can be seen written on the wall at the left edge of the screen. Apparently a production oversight rather than an intentional bonus - when fans pointed out this shot, the producers were not amused and profusely apologized.
* [[Friday Night Death Slot]]: Friday is actually Syfy's best night, so moving ''SGU'' to Tuesday was essentially the Syfy equivalent for the trope.
* [[Fridge Brilliance]]: Of ''course'' the inhabitants of Novus have {{spoiler|a cure for Motor Neuron Disease}}. A sizable portion of the population is {{spoiler|descended from TJ}} after all, thus {{spoiler|it must have been a lot more common on Novus than on Earth.}}
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** Telford's was a double-blind gambit actually being run by the Lucian Alliance, and his "de-programming" at the end of the first season derailed that, but it was already too late.
* [[Genre Savvy]]: Eli, being a sci-fi geek, often assumes some alien creature will kill them on an alien planet, especially if it looks nice. He was actually right in "Time", right down to the chest-bursting aliens reference.
* [[Ghost in Thethe Machine]]: Franklin turns into this after he sits in the interface chair for the second time. Rush and Eli do so deliberately to Ginn and Amanda Perry after it turns out that their minds have been floating around in the ether waiting for someone to connect to.
* [[Giant Spider]]: There's one in "Human". Greer wastes very little time shooting it.
{{quote| '''Scott:''' There was... a spider.<br />
'''Young:''' (flatly) A spider.<br />
'''Scott:''' It was a ''sizable'' spider. }}
* [[Going Critical]]: Icarus Base; the Lucian planet; ''Destiny'' in the [[Unwinnable Training Simulation]] below.
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== H-M ==
* [[Heal It Withwith Fire]]: Simeon does this with a butane lighter and a combat knife.
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Future!Rush has one during "Twin Destinies". Rightly so though considering he saw almost the entire crew die. The experience seems to have greatly affected him considering the looks he gives to Present!Rush's smarmy comments.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: For a ship with a limited crew, the number of Heroic Sacrifices in this show is rather startling:
** First, Senator Armstrong, suffering from internal bleeding due to his heart medication being a blood thinner, enters a shuttle attached to the ''Destiny'' that is venting atmosphere, as the only way to close the door is from the inside. Also note that his sacrifice pre-empted Col. Young's sacrifice.
** Hunter Riley almost does one trying to prevent a hull breach, but he pulls through.
** Rush does one in "Time", or rather tries. He jumps through an unstable wormhole and is sent back in time. [[Reset Button|More time travel fixed it.]]
** Lt. Scott: in "Time", when his entire squad is slaughtered by the very creatures needed to save the ship, he realizes that [[Failure Is the Only Option|he does not have the manpower or time to save the ship]], and thus decides that [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong|it's time for another go-round]], knowing that it will [[Apocalyptic Log|cost him his life]]. Dude's hardcore.
** Franklin in "Sabotage". We don't know where he went, but using that chair was a one-way trip as far as the crew knew.
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** {{spoiler|1=The final fate of Eli Wallace, if you interpret his final interaction with Rush and Young to be an acknowledgement that he was lying to everyone about being able to fix the last stasis pod, because he wished all of his friends to survive. This certainly would cast light on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYnCuXQF6nQ the look of peaceful resignation he displays during his last scene, staring out of Destiny's viewing deck at the stars].}}
* [[Hidden in Plain Sight]]: The US Air Force hid an Ancient equation in a ''[[World of Warcraft]]''-like [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]] and monitored anyone who tried to solve it for the purposes of recruiting them for the Stargate Program. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Eli:
{{quote| '''Eli Wallace''': So you guys really embedded a top-secret problem into a game, hoping someone like me would solve it?<br />
'''General O'Neill''': Yep. }}
* [[Hot Chick Withwith a Sword|Hot Chick With A Gun]] Lt. James is particularly badass.
* [[Hotter and Sexier]]: Some of the promos for the show outright said it would be sexier than the other series. To prove the point, there's a sex scene in the ''first episode'', and several more spaced out over the episodes aired thus far. Of course, everybody forgets that ''[[Stargate SG-1|SG-1]]'' kicked off with full frontal nudity in the first episode, though it should be noted that ''SG-1'' started on Showtime. This aspect of the show was downplayed not long into the series, instead playing up the interpersonal conflicts.
* [[Human Popsicle]]: Happens to Brody when he gets trapped in a stasis pod.
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** In his defense, he thought he could still vent the compartment after trying to negotiate a surrender from the Lucian Alliance (the doors were locked, and nobody knew the Alliance had keys). Dying twice in one day is rather bad for your health; venting the room when other options to save him are available seems a bit rash.
** Morrison in "Blockade" freaks out that the Drones are on the planet they're on. Naturally, as they search and destroy any technology they come across, and can track an active Stargate, [[Too Dumb to Live|he attempts to dial]]. He is promptly punched out by James who quickly shuts it off.
* [[I Just Shot Marvin in Thethe Face]]: Averted from the get-go; someone taught the actor soldiers pretty well. Specifically averted in "Time" when Greer is showing Eli how to fire their firearms. He is shown not having his finger on the trigger, lifts the weapon only waist high to demonstrate aiming and explicitly tells Eli the same as well as making sure Eli fires his practice burst in the complete opposite direction as the group to avoid ricocheting bullets. You can even see Eli lowering the weapon away from Greer when the soldier passes in front of him.
* [[I Know Mortal Kombat]]: Eli is familiar with the Ancient language because of an SGC-made MMORPG. Which is actually [[Truth in Television]], as the game they show him playing is in fact [[Stargate Worlds|the actual Stargate MMO]] that was in production at the time.
* [[Ill Girl]]: Amanda Perry, a recurring character from Earth, who has been a quadriplegic since an accident when she was 9.
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* [[Insufferable Genius]]: Dr. Rush.
** Lampshaded with McKay in "Seizure":
{{quote| '''Telford:''' What is it with genius and social skills?}}
* [[Internet Backdraft]]: There have been some complaints about the perceived oversexualization of Lieutenant James. This may have, itself, have been due in part to a recent [[Internet Backdraft]] that is ''almost'' entirely unrelated, over whether science fiction has become [[Fan Dumb|too feminine and soapy]] (with ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'' and ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' presented as examples). Some unfortunate comments were made along with some noting that ''SGU'' looked like it was about to get science fiction TV "back on track." Naturally, the offended other side jumped at the opportunity to attack ''SGU''. Part of the problem is that the franchise is sending mixed signals, as ''Universe'' is using elements of [[Teen Drama]], which is the very thing that ''[[Stargate SG -1]]'' parodied in "200" with their "Young SG-1" scene. This is exemplified in the characters of Lt. Scott, who is [[The Pornomancer]] when off-duty, and Chloe, who apparently leaves [[Love Triangle|Love Triangles]] wherever she goes. One wonders why people are complaining about her being sexy ''and'' a secondary character, despite Scott being on the main cast and having more ''actual'' sex than her. Brought up in-universe as James [[All Love Is Unrequited|is still holding a candle]] for Scott even though he jumped ship on her, and jumped right back with Chloe. And she specifically says that she doesn't [[Really Gets Around|really get around]], throwing the audience's perception for a loop.
* [[Irony]]:
** In "Time", Rush finds his own skull.
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* [[It Has Been an Honor]]: Young does this as he toasts the crew in "Gauntlet", shortly before they {{spoiler|go into stasis}}.
* [[It's the Journey That Counts]]: An alternate timeline Camile makes a speech to this effect after she and the rest of the crew have been stranded on an alien planet and forced to make a new civilization. The trope also applies to ''Destiny'' itself, somewhat more literally: it's not about getting to the end of the universe, but picking up the pieces of the puzzle along the way.
* [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique]]:
** Aplenty in "Subversion". And not just by the Lucian Alliance. O'Neill himself says yes to it at the end of the episode.
** Twist in the next episode makes it a subversion. It's not like they actually intended to gain some information this way. And it's not like this is the first time he's approved, reluctant or not. See "Threshold" in ''SG-1''.
* [[Jittercam]]: While ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' probably was an influence, the producers have mentioned shows like ''[[Firefly]]'' and even ''[[The Shield]]'' when discussing this element. They even had ''The Shield'''s director of photography working on the pilot to help them establish it. There's one bit where Eli manages to find a remote-controlled hovering camera, and he looks into the lens in [[The Office|much the same way Jim does]]. The later episodes seem to tone down the use of the jitter save for instances where they're trying to establish a certain feel such as when the crew does EVAs on the hull of the Destiny.
* [[Jerkass]]: Telford is a definite one of these. His unreasonable nature notwithstanding, he earned the spot when {{spoiler|he started driving a wedge between Young and his ex-wife right after Young reconciled with her. Telling her that Young is still sleeping with TJ, along with who knows what else? Not cool}}. [[Handwaved]] later when it's revealed he was brainwashed; he's a lot more reasonable after that.
** Then we get "Twin Destinies" and he seems to have reverted to being a jerkass. Ends up getting almost the entire crew killed, himself and Rush sent back in time and gets his past self killed as a result. Telford is just as bad as his future self and is partly at fault for his own death.
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* [[Jerkass Woobie]]: Rush and Greer, each in their own way.
** The Ursini count as well. {{spoiler|Sure, last of your kind as a result of a hostile automated war machine... but then drag strange aliens in a ship you know is heavily damaged into a fire fight? Not cool.}}
* [[Journey to Thethe Center of Thethe Mind]]: Rush does this to himself as part of a process to access ''Destiny's'' database and learn the master code to the ship.
* [[Just Friends]]: Poor Eli regarding Chloe.
** And poor Volker.
** And Varro with TJ for a while in ''Epilogue''.
* [[Just in Time]]: Subverted. In "Lost", Eli, Chloe, and Scott ''just'' manage to get the gate in time to get to ''Destiny'', but are cut off because Rush's team dials in even [[The Same but More|Justier In Time]]. Whoops.
* [[Kick the Son of Aa Bitch]]: Literally in the first episode from Greer to Rush after some insensitive remarks by Rush about Scott. Happens again in "Justice", though not literally, when Colonel Young beats the living hell out of Rush for attempting to frame him and being totally unapologetic about it.
** Seeing {{spoiler|Simeon getting stampeded in "Malice" after he killed Ginn and Amanda Perry. Since he was the one who caused it, this counts as Rush's [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] so far}}.
* [[Kid From the Future]]: "Common Descent" features the descendants of the ship's crew from the alternate timeline in "Twin Destinies".
* [[Kill It Withwith Fire]]: Greer's proposed solution to water-stealing alien bugs on the ship. The fact that he had to construct a functioning flamethrower in the first place should speak to his belief in the trope. Seen again in the season two episode where Greer is more than a little excited while wielding a flamethrower against fungus tree tentacles.
* [[Kink Meme]]: [http://fyrewyre.livejournal.com/524.html We have one.]
* [[Leaning Onon the Fourth Wall]]: In the episode "Cloverdale", Scott hallucinates that he and Chloe go to the movies. The logo seen on screen as they enter the theater is that of MGM.
* [[Left for Dead]]: Dr. Rush, and later Greer. Both get saved, but only the latter intentionally.
* [[Let's Get Dangerous]]: O'Neill seems to have cast off most of the [[Flanderization]] he acquired in the last few seasons of ''[[Stargate SG -1]]'', generally limiting his silliness to a one-liner or two per appearance, but otherwise getting down to business.
* [[Limited Wardrobe]]: [[Zig -Zagging Trope|Zigzagged.]] The crew, generally speaking, never change their clothes, since they only have the clothes they came on-board with. However, when a scientist body-swaps with Eli, the guy manages to find a fitting shirt by some means after expressing his distaste for Eli's regular attire. Mind you, Eli wears much bigger clothing than everyone else, though he is slimming down somewhat. They also have fitting gym clothing for what appears to be at least a quarter of the crew, including Eli, though this might be justified as being part of the expedition supplies. Likewise with the extra military apparel, which Telford specifically asks for in one episode. Chloe also manages to find an exact duplicate of her regular outfit after losing the first (the aliens who kidnapped her in "Space" put her into a diving suit for her stay in the water tanks), despite the fact that, obviously, there shouldn't be any. Rush, though part of the same scene, can be excused because he was last seen wearing a desert uniform, so his regular clothes would still be on board. Also at the end of "Space", Young has started sewing holes in his socks.
* [[Lipstick Lesbian]]: Camile and her girlfriend.
* [[The Load]]: Chloe, in the sense that she has arguably the least-useful skill set out of the entire crew given the situation. She tried to address the problem in "Human" and "Lost" by trying to take up the role of archeologist, but it didn't really pan out since they don't find enough places like that for it to matter. While she was mutating into an alien, she gained the ability to do complex equations but became even more of a load since they had to guard her and confine her to quarters. After getting fixed up she seems to have shaken off most of the "Load" status, since she managed to keep a good bit of the knowledge gained from the experience and can help run the ship.
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* [[Lost Colony]]: With [[Time Travel]] for your confusion.
* [[The Main Characters Do Everything]]: They do. However, due to a much larger number of main characters it almost look like an aversion in comparison with previous series. It's also much more justified this time; there's hardly anyone else qualified to do the work. It's averted heavily in the second seasons; while the primary characters tend to be the leaders, the other characters play prominent supporting roles and often get rather significant amounts of dialogue and screen time, often as much as with the primary characters as with each other.
* [[Make Room for Thethe New Plot]]: The issue of the stranded team in "Human" and "Lost" is resolved ten minutes into "Sabotage", by coincidence no less, so they can get on with the plot.
* [[Male Gaze]]: Especially in "Darkness". [[Justified Trope|Justified]] since it's from the [[POV Cam|Kino's POV]], and Eli's controlling the Kino.
* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: [[Alternate Character Interpretation|A lot of people see Telford as one of these.]]
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* [[Mercy Kill]]: {{spoiler|Young suffocates Riley on request, since he's got both legs pinned, can't be moved without dying of blood loss, and is in terrible pain.}}
* [[Mind Screw]]: Was TJ's dream in the season 2 premiere just a dream or did it really happen? There are arguments that could support it or deny it. There's no telling, really, at least for now. {{spoiler|Unfortunately for her, it looks like it probably wasn't real.}}
** [[Word of God]] is that the ship's AI created a plausible scenario to help TJ get over her child's death faster, I guess even the ship didn't expect the crew [[Put Onon a Bus]] to return half a season later.
** Dear god, this series just went full Mind Screw. {{spoiler|''Destiny'' has the ability to actively affect the dreams of anyone on the ship, apparently at will. If it can do that, there's just no telling what it is capable of.}}
* [[The Mirror Shows Your True Self]]: When using the communication stones, both sides keep a mirror or camera nearby so the host knows their actual physical appearance. As with both series before it, the viewer always sees the person occupying the body, not the body being occupied. Reflective surfaces and monitors, however, do show the body that is being physically inhabited.
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* [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate]]: Dr. Rush.
* [[Ms. Fanservice]]: Second Lieutenant James' role has been mostly limited to secondary character one-liners, and being large breasted. Though that's been countered a few times, such as her long standing deal with [[Triang Relations|Scott and Chloe]], her saving people from electrified corridors by ''[[Crazy Awesome|running straight through them]]'', and a subplot dealing with some inadequacy issues around Colonel Young and her own abilities in the back half of the season.
* [[The Mutiny]]: In the aptly named "Divided", orchestrated by Rush and Camille, who want power away from the military. Suffice it to say it doesn't go so well. TJ even points out the stupidity of a bunch of civilians going up against US Air Force Colonel.
* [[My Eyes Are Up Here]]: James says this to McKay. In a previous episode, she implies it's not the first time.
* [[My Future Self and Me]]: {{spoiler|Rush and Rush in "Twin Destinies". It doesn't last. Likewise, though unseen on screen, Telford and Telford. It also doesn't last.}}
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* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: In "Seizure", Earth tries to use Langara as a staging point to send supplies to ''Destiny'', but the Langaran ambassadors feared that the dialing attempt would result in an [[Earthshattering Kaboom]] like the last two times. When Earth suspects the Lucian Alliance is making a deal with Langara, though, they concoct a plan to take over the facility and dial ''Destiny'' to show that the plan is safe. {{spoiler|Turns out the Lucian Alliance had tried to make a deal... which Langara rejected out of hand every time to preserve their alliance with Earth. [[Oh Crap|Oops.]] They're forced to abandon the attempt and ended up using their original bargaining chips for the use of the Langaran facility just to return home safely.}}
* [[No Ending]]/[[Bolivian Army Ending]]: "Time" ends on a technical cliffhanger, not showing the events after the last Kino recording, leaving it unclear if they actually solved the problem. A Kino webisode covers what happened after the end, revealing that they found both time-looped Kinos and are working on a cure. See [[All There in the Manual]] above. Though, interestingly, even the Kino webisode does not go all the way to asserting that a cure was actually found, perhaps to leave open the possibility of additional time loops. Eventually dealt with in "Divided", when they use the same venom as an anesthetic and explain to the surgeon how it saved the lives on everyone on the ship.
** Can be applied to the second finale, due to the whole series ending on {{spoiler|the ''Destiny'' crew going into stasis for anywhere from 3 years to eternity, no guarantee that they'll ever complete ''Destiny'''s mission, and Eli left to fix the last remaining stasis pod or die when the life support shuts down}}. [[Screwed Byby the Network|And then the series got canceled.]]
* [[Not So Different]]: Rush and Young.
* [[Not So Harmless]]: This show took the ineffectual Lucian Alliance and [[Took a Level Inin Badass|made them legitimately badass]].
** The Ursini, the race that controls the Seed Ship, are essentially a race the size of small children and are equally as fragile-looking. The ''Destiny'' crew underestimating them manages to screw them over in some pretty big ways.
* [[Novelization]]: Of the pilot, "Air", by veteran Stargate author James Swallow.
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* [[Only a Flesh Wound]]: Averted. Injuries are usually portrayed realistically. Franklin was shot in the shoulder at the end of third episode, and was suffering from the consequences episodes later. Wray somewhat plays the trope straight, in that while she was stabbed in the shoulder by a screwdriver and had her arm in a sling, she's fine by the next episode. Of course, it's unclear how much time passed. In the season finale, Chloe gets shot in the leg and the bullet goes straight through. For the rest of the finale, Eli has/wants to carry her. She's also bleeding to death. Young was limping for a decent chunk of the first season. Greer spends a few episodes with an arm sling after getting shot.
* [[Only Sane Man]]: Eli and Greer, who seem to be the only people trying to keep everyone alive on the ship, instead of attempting to seize power.
** Varro and Ginn are this to the [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil|Lucian Alliance.]]
* [[Open-Heart Dentistry]]: A milder, alternate discipline version as TJ is assigned the task of giving psych evaluations to the crew despite being a medic and only doing undergraduate level psychology during college, something lampshaded by her as she mentions how it hardly makes her qualified to carry them out. A straighter example happens when TJ is asked to perform surgery on Rush. She isn't qualified, so a surgeon from Earth is called in using the stones. They fail, so TJ has to finish the job.
* [[Opening Narration]]: "''Destiny''. The design is clearly Ancient."
* [[Other Me Annoys Me]]
* [[Pants-Positive Safety]]: Telford does this throughout "Incursion". While it's justified in that he doesn't have a holster to put it in and there's no real alternative, it stands out since he's the only one doing it and he's a military officer.
* [[Pet the Dog]]: Rush to Eli, [[Butch Cassidy and Thethe Sundance Kid|"For a moment there, I thought we were in trouble."]]
** [[Jerkass|Telford]] gets one of these every once in a while - he's not exactly a pleasant person, but it's still clear that he cares about the Destiny's crew every bit as much as Young does, just in a different way.
** Young to Wray in ''Blockade'' after she jokingly asked for a new dress earlier in the episode.
{{quote| "Hopefully this is your new outfit. I couldn't find you a gunstore or a grocery store, but I did find a dry-cleaner".}}
** In ''Seizure'', after experiencing the Destiny simulation, which allows for true-to-life physical interaction, Rush notes that maybe he should let Eli use the program so he can ''physically interact'' with Ginn, who like Amanda Perry, is likewise trapped inside the computer.
* [[POV Cam]]: The Kinos.
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* [[Pair the Spares]]: Eli in ''Epilogue''.
* [[Noodle Implements]]: Some awful tasting fruit that the crew came across apparently found a use, but we don't learn it beofre the ship comes under attack.
* [[Put Onon a Bus]]: {{spoiler|Telford}}, left on a bus full of aliens.
** [[The Bus Came Back]]: "Resurgence"
** The finale: {{spoiler|With grim prospects for Destiny's survival in the current galaxy, the crew plan a continuous, three-year, FTL jump into the adjacent one Destiny had intended to visit next. With only a month's worth of supplies, and rather than waiting out the journey, the crew instead man the ship's stasis pods, effectively putting the whole show on a bus.}}
* [[Quit Your Whining]]: {{spoiler|When Young locks himself in his quarters after the ship tortures him with visions of ''Destiny's'' destruction, combined with the [[Trauma Conga Line]] he had already gone through, Scott invokes this to snap Young out of his funk.}}
** After {{spoiler|Simeon kills Amanda and Ginn}}, Eli begins suiting up in fatigues to {{spoiler|hunt Simeon down}} in a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]. Colonel Young catches Eli and points out that {{spoiler|Simeon has killed three people so far and used booby traps to injure two of the trained military personnel sent to capture him}}. Young also explains to Eli that killing someone profoundly changes you-no matter who you are. After considering Colonel Young's words, Eli returns to his station.
* [[Race Against the Clock]]: Happens in virtually every episode. Whenever ''Destiny'' stops, it brings up a countdown clock with a random amount of hours for the crew to do whatever it is they need to do. Once the countdown ends, the ship jumps back to FTL, regardless of whether or not the crew has made it back to the ship. When there's not a Race Against The Clock scenario, that usually means something is wrong.
* [[Ragnarok Proofing]]: For a ship that's been actively traveling the universe for over a million years apparently without maintenance, the ''Destiny'' is actually in amazingly good condition. Well... sorta. It's more that it's simply amazing that it works at all, and systems are going to be crapping out every episode for most of the first season. ''Still'', that's amazingly good condition for a million plus year old ship that's totally unmaintained.
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* [[Ratings Stunt]]: A mild case. Usually invoked whenever Jack, Sam, or Daniel put in a guest appearance. Jack was established in the canon as head of Homeworld Command before ''SGU'' was even a concept, so he's justified, but Daniel's first appearance is hyped per the trope.
* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: Alaina Huffman was pregnant during filming, so it was worked into the plot.
** More depressingly, MGM financial woes were one of the main factors that contributed to being SGU cancelled. Likewise, due to the immense momentum behind WWE's Friday Night Smackdown (which [[Sy FySyfy]] acquired the rights to broadcast), [[Sy FySyfy]] had to pick only one show to keep on Fridays. They picked Sanctuary which did strongly enough to gain additional seasons while SGU was moved to Tuesday with no other original programming to support it and going up against the likes of [[Dancing With the Stars]] and NCIS.
* [[Reality Ensues]]: A small group of people were left behind on a planet with an approaching winter, as they felt the aliens that created the planet would provide for them. {{spoiler|They all died horribly of hypothermia because they didn't have the skills to survive. Except Val, who got a tree dropped on her.}}
* [[Really Gets Around]]: Park has slept with most of the Marines to deal with the stress of being stuck across the universe.
** Averted by Lt. James, who despite being [[Ms. Fanservice]], openly states that she doesn't get around.
* [[Refusal of the Call]]: Eli is [[You Have Got to Be Kidding Me!|completely unconvinced]] when [[Deadpan Snarker|O'Neill]] and [[Insufferable Genius|Dr. Rush]] show up on his doorstep, informing him that he is their [[Chosen One]]. Unlike most examples, however, this doesn't end all that badly for him. Well, other than the whole stranded on the other side of the universe thing, but that has nothing to do with him ''refusing'' the Call.
* [[Remember the New Guy?]]: [[Preacher Man|Dr. Caine]] never appears before "Justice". Averted in the case of Ginn (Julie [[Mc Niven]]) and Simeon (Robert Knepper). You can see them in various shots and sequences throughout "Incursion"; however, the show averts [[Narrowed It Down to Thethe Guy I Recognize]] by not focusing on them at all.
* [[Retool]]: With respect to the rest of the Stargate franchise. Apart from the whole [[Darker and Edgier]] aspect to SGU, choosing a setting that's billions of light-years away from Earth and all of its advanced alien tech helped to curb the [[Plot Leveling]] that had set in over the years.
* [[Retroactive Precognition]] [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] in ''Common Descent'' when {{spoiler|TJ discovers that she has Motor Neurone Disease from a recording of an alternate version of herself who had been sent into the past and died from it}}
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** Averted in "Epilogue". {{spoiler|Since the crew of the last Novus ship had no FTL drives, they would take a few hundred years to reach their destination. This trope applies because Eli has to point out that due to the distance, even though they know where they're going and how, they can't reasonably meet up since the other ship would basically be a pin prick in space. Which means that the cure for ALS that TJ needs is out of reach.}}
** Lampshaded and averted by Eli at one point. He says there certainly are not Stargates on every planet in the galaxy, as galaxies are far bigger than most people realize.
* [[Screwed Byby the Network]]: Moving the series (Stargate has always been a Friday tradition) to Tuesday nights, with no significant lead-ins (twenty year old Star Trek TNG episodes after Caprica was canned), in the middle of the Fall season, in the same timeslot as two of the most popular shows on television? There was no way that would go wrong! [http://www.gateworld.net/news/2010/12/six-reasons-sgu-was-cancelled/ This] sums it up well.
* [[Serkis Folk]]: The blue catfish aliens and the brown Ursini.
* [[Sergeant Rock]]: Master Sergeant Ronald Greer. Should Greer die, the crew's chances of getting home will drop by 64.6%.
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** Also, {{spoiler|"Twin Destinies"}}.
* [[Ship Sinking]]: If Eli being symbolically shown as Chloe's 'brother' in ''[[Adventures in Coma Land|Cloverdale]]'' didn't do enough to convince viewers that pairing was sunk, ''Epilogue'' torpedoed it then dropped some depth charges on the wreck just to be sure.
* [[Ship Tease]]: The Novus versions of Young and TJ get married and have two kids.
* [[Shoot Out the Lock]]: Standard sci-fi example with Greer in "Pain". Semi-justified since it's been established that one does need to push the button for the doors to work, but doesn't explain why the other side was disabled along with it.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Eli, being the resident geek, is fond of these.
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** "Water" contains one for ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'' when Eli mentions that they've "entered the Hoth system," in which he also takes a jab at the prequel films by refusing to call it "Episode V".
** In "Earth", Eli, having taken over the body of a scientist back home, goes to his mother's house and (not expecting her to understand the mind-swap thing) tells her his name is [[Futurama|Philip Fry]].
** Dr. Rush, surprisingly, does one in "Time" with ''[[Butch Cassidy and Thethe Sundance Kid]]'', saying Butch's famous last line as he dives through an unstable wormhole, then again when it is revealed they're all going to die soon. Young recognizes the quote and explains that the film is a favorite of his, too. The quote itself is also sheer [[Fridge Brilliance]], since it foreshadows the [[Bolivian Army Ending]] to the episode. In keeping with the role reversal, Eli does not get the reference.
** Getting to the point where this might need its own page. Eli has another in "Life", referencing ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' when he describes the catastrophic effects attempting to dial home as "dogs and cats living together."
** In "Faith", Eli yells out "[[Star Trek II: theThe Wrath of Khan|the Genesis device]]" when a planet is suggested to have been built by aliens. He's rather annoyed that no one in the room gets it.
** In "Human", when Rush realizes that the number 46 has some significance, Daniel Jackson comments that it's not [[Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy|the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything - that would be 42]]. Which he then ruins by [[Don't Explain the Joke|explaining the reference]].
** When Eli is carrying a wounded Chloe through the unexplored parts of ''Destiny'', he says he once "climbed the Redridge Mountains with a full pack on his way to Stonard." Chloe doesn't recognize the names, so Eli has to confess that they're areas in ''[[World of Warcraft]]''.
** Eli again ([[Sarcasm Mode|surprise]]) jokingly refers to an energy signature in "Resurgence" as [[Two2001: ThousandA OneSpace Odyssey|a black monolith]].
*** In the same episode, when Young orders Eli to send a signal out to what appear to be attacking aliens, Eli asks whether it should be in Ancient. Young responds, "Ancient, English, [[Batman|Bat-Signal]], and whatever else you've got."
** Rush's backstory, which involves his terminally-ill spouse, who's death causes him to let his work become an obsession, ending with him on a starship travelling to a distant region of space, where he is comforted by visions of his dead wife? Perhaps merely a coincidence, but the strong parallels to the plot of ''[[The Fountain]]'' are definitely there.
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* [[Someone Has to Die]]: {{spoiler|Senator Armstrong in "Air" to seal off an atmosphere leak.}}
** {{spoiler|The possibility is invoked in the series finale when the final stasis pod fails, leaving the odd one out with two weeks to try to repair it or die when the life support gives out. Eli volunteers to take the risk.}}
* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: In "Hope", just before dangerous surgery. Mixed with [[Sorry I Left the BGM On]].
* [[Space Friction]]: Averted. Every time ''Destiny'' drops out of FTL, it maintains its forward momentum. The shuttle is shown adjusting its attitude and velocity in a realistic manner with maneuvering thrusters, though this may be less a case of [[Shown Their Work|showing their work]] than adopting the style of the 2000s ''[[Battlestar Galactica|BSG]]'', in which ships maneuvered in a similarly realistic fashion.
** In "The Greater Good" Rush states that the ship he and Young are stranded on has "gone ballistic" after the engines fire for a brief period. In fact, that's the premise of the episode - what happens when you have space friction and your engines crap out!
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== T-Z ==
* [[Temporal Paradox]]: Like its predecessors, ''Stargate Universe'' uses this. First, there's the Kino(s) in "Time". "[[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|Twin Destinies]]" takes this [[Up to Eleven]]: {{spoiler|the crew salvages everything they can from a temporal duplicate of ''Destiny'', and even get its duplicate shuttle. ''Destiny'' is literally being repaired with itself. "[[Futurama|Choke on that, causality!]]"}}
** It becomes even more zanier in the following episode "Alliances" where {{spoiler|Future!Telford is now back on Earth, having gated back from the Future!Destiny}}. Did I forget to mention that {{spoiler|Present!Telford is ''dead''}}?
*** Then even zanier in "Common Descent": {{spoiler|the crew of the other destiny didn't die, they reappeared about 2000 years in the past and started a prospering civilization.}}
* [[Temporary Blindness]]: {{spoiler|Park}} in "Blockade". At least, {{spoiler|Rush}} sure hopes it will be temporary.
* [[Through the Eyes of Madness]]: Half of the episode "Pain", when the P.O.V. switches to a person bitten by the alien bugs. Sometimes [[Dead Person Conversation|it's obvious]], [[Tomato Surprise|sometimes not]].
* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: A group of particularly religious civilians decides to stay behind on a habitable planet despite the fact that there is an oncoming winter and they lack the necessary survival skills and equipment to weather it. Even the shuttle Young leaves behind for them doesn't help much.
** That they didn't even consider building shelter around the shuttle, creating a basic roundhouse with a fire pit to redistribute warmth is incredibly ridiculous, when you consider that these people were mostly ''scientists.''
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** Morrison, who attempts to dial the Stargate even though he is aware that the Drones are able to sense them when they're active. James punches him out for this.
** Chloe, when an alien race attacks the ship and cuts a hole in the hull, do not stand in front of it like a deer in headlights. ''Run!''
* [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]: Sadly for our heroes, it seems the Lucian Alliance, last seen in SG-1 has gone from being a loose alliance of criminals, to have become an equivalent of the IRA and are quite willing and capable of kicking Earth's ass.
* [[Trailers Always Spoil]]: ''SGU'' is bad about this. The three trailers for season two not only defuse most of the suspense from the season 1 finale, but give away several of the big plot twists later on.
** The promo for "Malice" is incredibly awful with this.
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* [[Tricked-Out Time]]: Pretty much the plot of "Time": with each iteration the crew get things a little more right with the help of the information left behind by the crew in the previous iteration, and eventually they avert the crisis all together.
* [[Trickster Mentor]]: Rush is this to Eli.
* [[Twist Ending]]: "Time". See [[One Hundred Percent Completion]]. Bet you didn't see it coming.
* [[Two Scenes, One Dialogue]]: Used to explain the life support situation to the injured Colonel and the Senator in "Air".
* [[Tyrant Takes the Helm]]: Telford nearly every time he's on the ship in Season 1, especially in "Earth". Far less so in season 2 {{spoiler|especially once he comes back with the ursini. In fact, at this point, he defers to Young as the ship's commanding officer, acting as an advisor.}}
* [[Unexplained Recovery]]: Chloe is shot in the leg in the first season finale and losing blood. {{spoiler|She miraculously recovers in the premiere, turns out she's been [[Touched Byby Vorlons]], [[The Virus|and the change is slowly taking her over...]]}}
* [[The Unfettered]]: Rush. Almost the whole point of his character.
* [[Unusual User Interface]]: The communicator back to Earth involves [[Grand Theft Me]].
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* [[The Virus]]: {{spoiler|Chloe finds out the aliens infected her with something early in season 2.}}
* [[The Watson]]: Eli.
* [[We Come in Peace, Shoot Toto Kill]]: Type 2. When the opening word is "Surrender.", sent in English no less, you know talks aren't going any further.
** You also know that when they tell you "No Escape", {{spoiler|having traversed into another Galaxy to chase Destiny,}} they definitely mean it.
* [[Wham! Episode]]: SG:U seems to be particularily fond of these. Best example though might be 2x07 "The Greater Good". {{spoiler|We learn Destiny's true mission, the rest of the crew finds the bridge, and Rush and Young appear to have hashed things out... and the ending? Lucian Alliance baddie Simeon has slipped his guard and looks about to [[Incredibly Lame Pun|kill two birds with one stone.]]}} {{spoiler|He does.}} And then, right after that one, we have [[Tear Jerker|"Malice"...]]
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* [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?]]?: A debatable example occurs in "Seizure". {{spoiler|Amanda Perry builds a simulation in ''Destiny's'' computer so she and Rush can actually touch each other. Rush ends up trapped in the simulation because one of the base parameters was the condition that he loves Perry as she loves him. Rush insists that the program is simply wrong about his feelings, which is where the debatable part comes in. The first possibility is that Rush really doesn't love her, and thus the trope is averted because ''Destiny'' not only knows what love is but can measure it. The second possibility is that Rush does love her, and thus the computer is inherently incapable of judging this on a case by case basis. The most likely explanation in this case is that it used Perry's feelings as a baseline, and couldn't get the same reaction from Rush.}}
* [[What Have I Done]]: Future!Rush has one in "Twin Destinies" when Present!Telford accuses him of being the person responsible for the disaster that wiped out the entire crew of the Alternate!Destiny.
{{quote| '''Future!Rush''': Take your hands off me!<br />
*''Pushes Telford against the wall''*<br />
'''Future!Rush''': YOU are the coward! YOU are the one who didn't believe in the mission! YOU are the one that killed them!<br />
*''Rush suddenly notices that Telford has landed on the conduit he'd earlier warned that had 1000 volts passing through it.''*<br />
'''Future!Rush''': *''Utterly horrified''* Oh no... }}
* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]:
** Rush's own subconscious pulls this on him through the form of his wife during his [[Journey to Thethe Center of Thethe Mind]].
** In "Subversion", Telford pulls this on O'Neill and Young in regards to Earth's "protect ourselves first" policy, arguing that toppling the System Lords without concern for the fate of their slaves led to the creation of the Lucian Alliance. While he's arguably right on a base level, YMMV on whether or not he has a valid point.
** Rush gets these from all sides in "The Greater Good". {{spoiler|Perry calls him on hiding the bridge from the crew, Young calls him on getting Riley killed, and Eli actually says "What the hell?" when he discovers Rush knew about the bridge.}}
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** It's not so much they ''can't'' go home, as it is the fact that the only way they have of getting enough available power to dial the Stargate all that distance is ''horrendously'' complicated, and even one tiny hitch can screw you over entirely. See "Twin Destinies" for exactly how badly it can screw up.
* [[You Had Us Worried There]]: In "Aftermath", a shuttle is about to enter the atmosphere of a planet with possibly shuttle-destroying turbulence. Rush informs them and they decide to give it a go. After a tense few seconds, the shuttle calls back to tell Rush they're ok... then drops out of the sky like a stone.
* [[You Have Failed Me...]]: Kiva is fond of this, being Lucian Alliance, but she's at least pragmatic about it. Dannic will do it to his scientists on the spot if they can't get the job done instantly.
* [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]]: Kiva again. Of course in some cases for her, usefulness includes 'dead'. Poor Airman Rivers.
* [[You Look Familiar]]:
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