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{{tropeJust for Fun}}
{{examples|'''Note to Tropers: --All of the original entries come from ''[http://www.geocities.ws/evilsnack/cliche.html The Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Clichés]''. The list item text and order should not be changed. Adding relevant links to tropes shouldis be fineencouraged, as long as they don't change the displayed text.'''}}
 
__TOC__
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'''==Section II: Overused Settings and Characterizations'''==
 
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Starfish Aliens|Aliens whose thinking is so different from ours that no communication is possible.]]
# [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] Alien races that [[Mars Needs Women|find our women attractive]], while we find theirs to be repulsive.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Rubber Forehead Aliens|Alien races who differ from us only in skin color and/or facial features.]] <ref>''Added by someone: [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] [[Multi Boobage|Extra breasts]] on the alien women.''</ref>
# [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]][[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] Aliens that are [[Bilingual Dialogue|incomprehensible to humans but understand humans perfectly]].▼
# [[Multi Boobage|Extra breasts]] on the alien women.
# [[File:Racism icon-fr.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Alien species depicted as having [[Planet of Hats|no ethnic, religious, cultural, philosophical or political variance]], especially:▼
▲# Aliens that are [[Bilingual Dialogue|incomprehensible to humans but understand humans perfectly]].
▲# Alien species depicted as having [[Planet of Hats|no ethnic, religious, cultural, philosophical or political variance]], especially:
## [[Crystal Spires and Togas|Wise mystics]]
## [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Stoic warriors]]
## [[Arcadia|Pastoral innocents]]
## [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil|Cowardly sneaks]]
## [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] [[Hot Amazon|Amazon babes]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Planet of Hats|Alien species with personality traits or cultural mores that are treated as invariable laws of nature.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Law of Alien Names|Alien races whose names all have lots of hard consonants.]] <ref>''Added by someone:'' Alien women whose names coincidentally end in 'a' or 'ia'.</ref>
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Punctuation Shaker|Lots of apostrophes]] are packed into alien words and phrases for no apparent reason.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Humans of the future have no [[In the Future, Humans Will Be One Race|ethnic]], [[Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions|religious]], cultural, philosophical or [[The Federation|political]] variance.
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]] Cities of future are depicted [[Used Future|as though sanitation workers have been on strike from now until then]].
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] The entire story setting is dominated by [[Mega Corp|huge impersonal business conglomerates]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Planets with the [[Single Biome Planet|same exact climate]] planet-wide (planets without atmosphere excepted).
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] [[Improbably High IQ|Super-intelligent AIs]] that [[Ridiculously -Human Robots|speak, behave, and act in a manner indistinguishable from the human characters.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] [[The Ace|The incredibly competent man-of-action]] with more skills/degrees than you can shake a blaster at.
# [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] [[Action Girl|The incredibly competent woman-of-action]] with [[Boobs of Steel|large breasts]], [[Ethical Slut|no sexual inhibitions]], and more skills/degrees than you can shake a blaster at.
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] Shadowy malevolent [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] officials.
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] [[Dysfunction Junction|Each and every character has a tainted history.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] A society that manages to remain at a high technological level consists of:
## A handful of [[The Beautiful Elite|ultra-powerful ultra-rich]];
## Criminal lords who control everything not controlled by the ultra-rich;
## [[Police Are Useless|Police whose only principle of operation]] is [[Move Along, Nothing to See Here|maintenance of the status quo]];
## [[Wretched Hive|Hordes of poor people starving in the streets]];
## [[Urban Segregation|Absolutely no middle class whatsoever.]]
{{quote|#: Nonetheless, the society manages to remain at a high technological level.}}
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] Societies where [[Scavenger World|all technology has been destroyed except automobiles and their equivalents]], which are still running yet there are [[Ragnarok Proofing|no mechanics, workshops, or gas stations.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] Heroes who are [[The Stoic|so emotionally stunted]] that they [[Forgotten Fallen Friend|don't care about close friends/relatives that die]] as long as they complete some mission.
# [[File:Green x.svg|11px]] Any character with a [[Perma -Stubble|perpetual two-day growth of beard]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] Futuristic societies where only the ultra-rich can afford quality healthcare, and everyone else is reduced to selling their bodily organs.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Energy Beings|Beings of pure energy]].
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] A society in which everyone is [[DeathsDeath's Hourglass|required to die on his or her Nth birthday]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] Creatures from our mythology (e.g., centaurs, dragons) [[Misplaced Wildlife|occur among the wildlife native to an alien planet]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Aliens [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|whose sociology, values and beliefs are indistinguishable from those of an Earth culture]], e.g., [[Far East|feudal Japan]].
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Mad Scientist|Eccentric scientists]].
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] The [[The Igor|assistant]] to the scientist who is either deformed or dating the [[Mad ScientistsScientist's Beautiful Daughter|scientist's daughter.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] [[Days of Future Past|Future societies that have relapsed into feudalism.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Alternative Earths where society is [[Schizo -Tech|just like some society of the past, with some technodoodads added]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] [[The Guards Must Be Crazy|Palace guards]] who are ineffectual due to ineptitude or inattentiveness.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] Fantastic but non-viable creatures ([[Biological Mashup|men with tortoiseshell backs]], [[Attack of the 50 -Foot Whatever|gigantic insects]]) made possible by [[I Love Nuclear Power|high levels of radiation]], and which don't suffer any ill effects from it.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Aliens Speaking English|Aliens that speak human languages without error, having taken no pains to learn how.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] An alien tongue is [[Translator Microbes|translated]] [[Conveniently Precise Translation|into perfect English]]; that is, except for [[Pardon My Klingon|profanity]] and [[Two of Your Earth Minutes|units of measurement]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Aliens whose vocal apparatus is just like ours, so that they can speak human languages [[Just a Stupid Accent|with only a slight accent]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] [[Technical Pacifist|Omnipotent pacifist aliens]] who impose [[Perfect Pacifist People|their philosophy]] on us without bothering to protect us from the races they have left alone.
# [[OneFile:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[One-Gender Race|Men and women live in separate societies]] (and we're not talking [[Mars and Venus Gender Contrast|Mars and Venus]], either).
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] [[Cloning Blues|Clones are inexplicably different from regular people in a particular manner (mentally unstable, don't mind being used as cannon fodder, etc.).]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The vast majority of alien races consider 20º°C to be room temperature.
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Societies that are [[Utopia|utopianutopia]]n in every regard except for one serious drawback that completely outweighs the utopian aspects, such as [[All Crimes Are Equal|having the death penalty for some really minor offence]].
# [[BraininaFile:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Brain In a Jar|Disembodied live brains living in tanks]].
# [[File:Green x.svg|11px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Glowing Eyes of Doom|Eyes that glow]] (sometimes accompanied by minor-key chords in TV and film).
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Sentient artificial intelligences that [[Kill All Humans|wish to eliminate the human race]].
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Sentient artificial intelligences that select a human figure to [[Projected Man|holographically represent]] themselves.<ref>''The original list didn't have the [[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] icon, but this does apply to the EMH on ''Voyager''.</ref>
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Computers with voice synthesizers either use a sensuous female contralto, a threatening male baritone, or a nasally tinny neutral voice.
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy|Bad guys who miss everything they shoot at.]]
# [[BeginnersFile:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] [[Beginner's Luck|Beginning warriors who hit everything they shoot at.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Anything That Moves|Characters who are always ready for intimate relations]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] All [[Evolutionary Levels|genetically superior]] humans have [[Social Darwinist|an innate drive to rule, conquer, or kill everyone else.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Our Vampires Are Different|Alien vampires]] that feed on brainwaves/life-force/exotic biochemicals/psychic energies that can only be obtained from sentient life forms.
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] [[After the End|Post-cataclysmic societies]] that treat items of the [[Lost Technology|lost technology]] as [[Cargo Cult|holy relics]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] Alien monsters that [[To Serve Man|find humans edible, tasty]], and [[No Biochemical Barriers|non-toxic.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The [[Evil Twin|evil duplicate]] of the hero, sidekick, [[Mirror Universe|universe]], etc.
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Language Equals Thought|The grammatical differences between the languages used by humans and aliens are cited as conclusive proof of radically different ways of thinking.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Sentient AIs that communicate with other sentient AIs via their voice synthesizer.
# [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] The intelligent and confident woman who [[Distracted Byby the Luxury|can be bribed with a dress]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Androids with intelligence equal to [[You Fail the IQ Test|an IQ of around 1000]] who can't seem to figure out [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?|human emotions]], humor, or [[Spock Speak|verbal contractions]].
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] [[Space Clothes|Everyone in the post-catastrophic future dresses like heavy metal musicians.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] [[Malaproper|A common proverb gets "translated" into more generic terms]], resulting in obfuscation of the meaning.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] An alien race has a trait that greatly complicates interacting with them, but even after centuries of contact with humans [[The Masquerade|they still manage to keep it secret]].
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Precursors|The ancient spacefaring alien race]] that:
## [[Time Abyss|Has existed for zillions of years]];
## Went into hiding, [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence|left this universe/dimension]], or went extinct so long ago that no current spacefaring race has ever met them;
## [[Shrouded in Myth|Is known solely through legends]], [[Lost Technology|ancient artifacts]] of amazing technological advancement, and/or evidence that they created one or more (sometimes all) currently living races.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] Aliens whose language is [[The Unpronounceable|not pronounceable by humans]], but who can still speak human languages with relative ease.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] The villain who can [[Xanatos Roulette|infallibly predict]] how the protagonists will react to a given turn of events.
# [[File:Racism icon-fr.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Strawman Political|All religious figures]] are:
## [[Religion of Evil|Intolerant hatemongers who make Hitler look like Jesus;]]
## [[The Messiah|All-tolerant lovemongers who make Jesus look like Hitler;]]
## [[Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions|Ignorant, unwashed rabble.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] A society of aliens and/or villains that are [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|amazingly similar to an infamous human political movement.]]
# [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Societies wherein gender roles and attitudes are [[Gender Flip|completely reversed]].
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Teen Genius|Whiz kids.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Most aliens breathe oxygen, just like humans do.
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Great Gazoo|Bored, omnipotent, immortal beings.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|An immortal being that wants to die.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] People with cyborg implants will [[Mundane Utility|needlessly exhibit the benefits of this hardware just to relieve boredom or show off]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] [[Improbable Age|Children with access to the highest levels of military planning, scientific research, and governmental decision-making.]]
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] [[Christmas Cake|A smart, courageous, gorgeously attractive woman who is rarely]] [[Hollywood Dateless|if ever asked out]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[All Planets Are Earthlike|Every planet seems to have a surface gravity of 9.8 meters per second squared and rotates around its axis in about 24 hours, just like Earth]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] All of the spacefaring races have roughly the same [[Technology Levels|level of technology]].
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] Aliens that [[Everything Fades|transform into a colorful puddle when they die]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Eternal Sexual Freedom|The Free Love Utopia, populated only by fabulously good-looking people, that somehow remains free of sexually transmitted diseases, has no relationship turmoil, and is not inundated with hordes of people looking for easy sex]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] The untrained, [[Right Man in Thethe Wrong Place|average Joe]] who can [[Action Survivor|take on and defeat highly trained and well-equipped operatives]].
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]] The [[Precursors|Wise Race of Ancients]] who [[Neglectful Precursors|do nothing]] for the protagonists except offer advice.
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]] [[Precursors|The Wise Race of Ancients]] [[Hero Secret Service|that secretly supports the protagonists.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] [[Retired Badass|The former Great Man of Action]] who is now just [[Drowning My Sorrows|a washed-up drunk.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] [[Feudal Future|An interstellar realm]] is ruled by [[Blue Blood|a handful of powerful families]], [[Divided We Fall|each scheming to eliminate the rest, instead of forming alliances]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Red Right Hand|Except for the distinguishing marks on aliens and bad guys]], everyone has perfect skin.
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Eternal English|Upon arrival in a distant epoch, the time travelers can speak the local language without accent.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Everything Is Online|The city's main computer can be accessed from any of a number of public-access terminals located conveniently throughout the city.]]
# [[File:Racism icon-fr.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Arcadia|The less technologically advanced a culture is]], [[Closer to Earth|the more spiritually advanced it is.]]
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The modification of one custom, law, or common belief would transform Western society into Utopia.
# [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] All female [[Hot Scientist|scientists]] are good-looking; male scientists are average-looking.
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Except for full-blown dictatorships, [[Reasonable Authority Figure|government officials of the future never abuse their powers]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Cultured Warrior|Not even the soldiers or marines make vulgar jokes]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Nothing but Hits|In the future, everyone's taste in music and literature extends solely to the classics.]]
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Julius Beethoven Da Vinci|Immortals who assume many identities over the course of human history.]]
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Everyone's counterpart in [[Another Dimension|the parallel universe]] has, as his/her associates, the counterparts of the same people that the primary knows in this universe.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Whenever [[The Captain]] walks onto [[The Bridge]], [[Bridge Bunnies|the same people]] are always on duty.<ref>''The [[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] icon on this one is misleading, in that it didn't take place in TOS or TNG.''</ref>
# [[SuperheroFile:Green tick.svg|Superheroes12px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Superhero]]es wear primary colors (red, blue, and yellow).
# Supervillains[[File:Green tick.svg|12px]][[ColourFile:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Supervillains [[Color-Coded for Your Convenience|wear secondary colors]] (green, purple, and orange).
# Only[[File:Green bad guys havetick.svg|12px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[GoodGoatee Hairof Evil Hair|Only bad guys have goatees]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] In the future, [[Good People Have Good Sex|everyone is good in bed]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Entire cities whose buildings [[Copy and Paste Environments|use the same architectural design]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[The Federation|World governments]] are enlightened and efficient; nation-states are backward and primitive.
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] In the future, everyone either [[With Us or Against Us|either supports their government fully, or is engaged in a terrorist campaign to overthrow it]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] In the future, government corruption has been eradicated.
# [[File:Green x.svg|11px]] The tribal chieftain's eldest child is a defiant free-spirited youth, and [[The ChiefsChief's Daughter|if female]] is the [[Hot Amazon|sexiest member of the tribe]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] The alien's superpowers become manifest when he/she/it is exposed to Terran conditions.
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]][[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] All [[Green -Skinned Space Babe|alien females]], galaxy-wide, use cosmetics the same way that Western women do.<ref>''The [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] icon wasn't on the original list, but it also applies here.''</ref>
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Although humans still have multiple languages, each alien race has only one language.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Kindly enlightened races are native to [[Ghibli Hills|beautiful planets with congenial climate]]; cruel, benighted races arise on [[Mordor|ugly planets with brutal weather.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The ship's computer is programmed to track the location of each and every person aboard, but is never programmed to report personnel in unauthorized areas, or those who suddenly disappear.
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Among the intelligent creatures, [[Humanity Is Superior|man-sized beings predominate]].
# [[File:Racism icon-fr.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The [[Token Minority|token black guy]] is the [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|muscular scion of a Noble Warrior culture.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The entire population of the planet [[Planetville|lives in one city.]]
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The [[Energy Being]] takes the form of a mass of flickering lights.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Military spacecraft have a [[Shiny -Looking Spaceships|light-colored exterior]], making them easy to see. Only the Bad Guys [[Genre Savvy|ever appreciate the danger of this]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Identical Grandson|The time traveler meets an ancestor who looks so much like him that the same actor can play both characters.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] In the future, [[GaiasGaia's Lament|all that remains of Earth's flora is a small garden, or even just one plant.]]
# [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] [[Most Writers Are Male|All girlfriends are hotties.]]
 
# Regardless of who else is in the room, the scientist will [[As You Know|give the explanation of what happened/will happen as though talking to kindergarteners]], even though everybody else listening are also scientists. If they are actually talking to kindergarteners/mooks/[[Futurama (Animation)|Phillip J. Fry]], they will use an easily understood metaphor, usually involving balloons.▼
==Tropers' additions to this list==
# To trigger the childish explanation, one character will always say, "[[Laymans Terms|In English, Doc.]]"▼
▲# Regardless of who else is in the room, the scientist will [[As You Know|give the explanation of what happened/will happen as though talking to kindergarteners]], even though everybody else listening are also scientists. If they are actually talking to kindergarteners/mooks/[[Futurama (Animation)|Phillip J. Fry]], they will use an easily understood metaphor, usually involving balloons.
▲# To trigger the childish explanation, one character will always say, "[[LaymansLayman's Terms|In English, Doc.]]"
# Regardless of how advanced the civilization is, the assistant or the scientist will carry a clipboard and/or wear a lab coat. To show rank, the lead scientist will sign something on the clipboard.
# [[Smart People Wear Glasses|A male wearing glasses always indicates intelligence.]]
# [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] [[Meganekko|A female wearing glasses]] will usually result in a dramatic and/or sexual scene later [[The Glasses Gotta Go|that involves taking them off.]]
# Spaceships that are always named after what they are used for or what they look like, instead of people or places like seagoing vessels are.
# [[Universal DriversDriver's License|Having any experience, ever, of being "a pilot" means you can fly any spaceship ever made]], but you have to say, "It's just like my <insert model of old ship>" first.
# The proper response to [[Attack Pattern Alpha|"Let's use the X Maneuver!"]] is "Like we did at the Battle/Planet of Y?"
# [[Final Battle|All climactic space battles]] must have more ships involved than previous battles.
# [[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] If the situation appears hopeless, fire a beam at it. Frequency adjustment might be necessary.
# [[File:Racism icon-fr.svg|15px]] Aliens with a [[Hive Mind]] [[Guilt -Free Extermination War|are exempt from the "no genocide" rule]].
# [[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Everything Is an iPod In The Future|Flashing, unlabeled buttons on a flat console always indicate a more advanced technology]]. Conversely, [[Bamboo Technology|anything made out of dirt, wood or stone indicate a primitive technology]]. Computers inside caves indicate a lost civilization.
 
[[Category:{{The Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Cliches]]Clichés}}▼
{{reflist}}
{{worksubpagefooter}}
▲[[Category:The Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Cliches]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Clichés, The}}
[[Category:Overused Sci Fi Settings]]
[[Category:Trope]]
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