Tron Lines: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
When your technology isn't just bleeding-edge, but laser-edged, disruption-fielded-with-motorized-teeth high-tech. [[Power Glows]], and now so does your tech. A common design scheme used for this glow is a series of lines along the edges or between panels of the machine. Others will have flat surfaces crossed by circuit-like lines that glow when activated, or have occasional pulses of light race down their length in tandem. Others have glowing components such as engines, weapon barrels, forcefield projectors and the like.
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"Tron Lines" are strongly influenced from the [[wikipedia:Wire-frame model|wireframe graphics]] used in early video games, especially as it appeared in Atari's "Quadrascan Display"-based games such as ''Tempest'', ''Battlezone'' and ''Asteroids''. As 3D modeling transitioned from empty frames to solid polygons, the edges were still rendered, ergo, "Tron Lines".
If taking place in a physical world, this is all pretty inefficient. A big waste of power to maintain the glow (assuming this was electricity and not some power source that glowed on its own), and impossible to conceal, but damn, [[Rule of Cool|it looks cool]]. When your tech uses this, [[Hard Light]] systems and [[Holographic Terminal
Of course, Tron Lines are [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]. Usually blue is "good" or at least standard; if they turn red or purple the [[
The ultimate expression of [[Shiny-Looking Spaceships]]. See also [[Instant Runes]], essentially the [[Functional Magic|Magic]] version, and [[Volcanic Veins]], an organic equivalent seen among [[Elemental Embodiment
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* ''[[Tower of God
* In ''[[GaoGaiGar
* In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'', whenever the 4 main Gundams go into the [[Super Mode|super powered Trans-Am mode]], they gain Tron Lines and a healthy red glow.
* In ''[[Infinite Ryvius]]'', the Ryvius lights up with Tron Lines when first activated.
* ''[[Kiddy Grade]]'': Lumiere emits these when she invokes her [[Technopath|machine-controlling powers]].
* Appears on ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (anime)|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'''s [[Magic Wand|Boost Devices]], such as those used by Caro and Lutecia, when they're in use.
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* People with the Boson Jump-enabling [[Nanomachines]] in ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'' get glowing Tron Lines over their body when they activate them.
* ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'' both have some on their suits that light up whenever they use their Hundred Power.
== Card Games ==▼
* In ''[[The Spoils]]'' [[Collectible Card Game]], the Gearsmith artifacts such as the Runic Cannon or the Runic Whale often have curly glowing runes of power running around their surface.▼
* from the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' OCG, any paraphernalia coming from the 5D's era (Deckboxes, Binders, Sleeves, Deckmats, etc.) would have Tron Lines all over it, designed so that it looks like a microchip. ▼
== Comic Books ==
* Non-Technological example: the runes on ''[[Hellboy]]'
* ''[[Iron Man]]'' has had at least one armor with this feature.
* Grant Morrison's redesign of DC's ''[[New Gods]]'' feature this, particularly Darkseid, Metron, and Mister Miracle.
* In honor of ''[[Tron: Legacy]]'', Marvel made a [http://io9.com/5667163/what-if-iron-man-captain-america-and-thor-starred-in-tron series of illustrations] for heroes such as [[Iron Man]], Wolverine, Spider-Woman, and a Lightcycle-riding [[Ghost Rider]] done ''TRON''-style.
* The latest big Marvel storyline has some ancient evil Norse god creating a bunch of knockoffs of Mjolnir and giving them to carious characters such as Hulk and Juggernaut, [http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/7251/ff1legioncps037038.jpg with varying levels of Tron Lines accompanying them].
* The current ''[[Buck Rogers]]'' comic book has the heroes wearing uniforms with Tron Lines.
== Films -- Animation ==
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* In ''[[Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs]]'', Flint invokes this trope by painting Tron lines all over his inventions.
* [[Megamind]] has blue Tron Lines on his "Black Mamba" outfit.
== Films -- Live-Action ==
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** It's worth pointing out that one shot in TRON in the real world includes a black Encom helicopter with fluorescent red paint stripes, effectively real-life Tron lines.
* It shouldn't seem surprising that ''[[Tron: Legacy]]'', the movie sequel, uses this. What is surprising is how controlled this effect is.
** Interestingly, [[Technology Marches On|Technology Marched Sufficiently Onward]] that what was expensive visual effects in the original film was replaced by ''actual glowing light strips'' sewn into the costumes. Yes, you now can have [[Tron Lines]] in the real world with relatively little effort.
* Based on the [https://web.archive.org/web/20131028131221/http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/07/15/green-lantern-ryan-reynolds/ first image], it seems Ryan Reynolds will sport lines that look a bit like muscle striations on his uniform in the ''[[Green Lantern (film)|Green Lantern]]'' film.
* The Fallen from ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen]]''.
* [[Busby Berkeley]] used an early version of this aesthetic during the "Shadow Waltz" sequence in ''[[Gold Diggers of 1933]]'', by outlining a few dozen violins with neon lights; unfortunately, the visible electrical cords coming from each violin (which apparently shocked more than a couple dancers, who were wearing dresses that were lined with metal wire) undermines the effect.
== Live-Action TV ==
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* Present in all the riders of the ''[[Kamen Rider Faiz]]'' universe, which powers all the gears. The lines only glow during the [[Transformation Sequence]], although the [[Finishing Move|finishers]] all involve a pulse of energy traveling from the [[Transformation Trinket|Rider Belt]] to an arm or leg. The [[All There in the Manual|supplementary materials]] say that these lines carry a substance known as [[Applied Phlebotinum|Photon Blood]], which may explain why [[Justified Trope|they need actual 'lines' to carry it]]. It's part of Faiz's the slightly more "realistic" idea of the way a Rider suit works. Energy is always seen traveling from the power source to the place it's going to be used (not just the arm or leg, but specific devices on it). For Rider Kick finishers, it's the circle on the boot with the Rider's emblem.
* ''[[Power Rangers]]''
** In ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'', Ecliptor's body is covered with green Tron Lines. The Dark Fortress is also half-solid and half-green Tron Lines (as in, half of it seems to be ''made'' of green Tron Lines) in many scenes. Interestingly, most establishment shots make it appear to be in another dimension, and when it's in normal space, the Tron Line half becomes solid before it actually interacts with the outside world (such as sending out fighters or putting the Rangers' ship in that web thing). It stays Tronified during [[Make My Monster Grow]] scenes, though.
** In ''[[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive]],'' the in-scene non-[[Transformation Sequence]] morphs and demorphs are very much like ''[[Kamen Rider Faiz]]'', though a lot faster and with optional dramatic use of [[Sigil Spam|the Overdrive logo]].
* In ''[[Star Trek:
== Music Videos ==
* ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' + ''[[Tron]]'' = [https://web.archive.org/web/20081015000540/http://terminal71.com/flash/future.php This music video].
* A rap song by [[Caparezza]] with lots of videogame citations in the lyrics + ''[[Tron]]'' = [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AFI0LYzSIw This other music video].
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPAVDHo1Elc "12:51" by The Strokes.]
* Another video clip heavily influenced by ''[[Tron]]'': "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0EBqZFhfOY From Paris to Berlin]". The Tron Lines are even on the bikinis.
* No surprise: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4cgLL8JaVI the clip for "Derezzed"], the main score for ''[[Tron: Legacy]]'', by [[Daft Punk]].
== Tabletop Games ==
=== Board Games ===
* ''[[BattleTech]]'' has the Enhanced Imaging system, a cybernetic interface between the pilot and his Mech. One side effect of the system is that the user's body is covered in what looks like full-body tattoos, but are in fact cybernetic
* The Necrons in ''[[Warhammer
▲=== Card Games ===
▲* In ''[[The Spoils]]'' [[Collectible Card Game]], the Gearsmith artifacts such as the Runic Cannon or the Runic Whale often have curly glowing runes of power running around their surface.
▲* from the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' OCG, any paraphernalia coming from the 5D's era (Deckboxes, Binders, Sleeves, Deckmats, etc.) would have Tron Lines all over it, designed so that it looks like a microchip.
== Video Games ==
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* Several ships, especially [[Lost Technology]], in the ''[[Galaxy Angel (video game)|Galaxy Angel]]'' gameverse.
* Added to most of the Balmarian/Aerogater mecha in ''[[Super Robot Wars]] Original Generation: Divine Wars''.
* The Stonehenge base in ''[[
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]''
** The Tower of the Gods boss in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker]]'', as well as the controllable statues from the same dungeon.
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* Justified in ''[[Phantasy Star]] Universe'', as the "Tron Lines" woven into all clothing are part of a protection system called a "line shield" they perform the same effect of looking cool as most Tron Lines, but also perform the function of being the means by which energy barriers are projected, the game's form of armour.
* The agents' suits in ''[[Crackdown]]'' display this, as do vehicles in the process of upgrading.
* In ''[[Fable (video game series)|Fable]]'', powerful magic-users naturally have glowing-blue tattoos. They seem to break through your skin more and more as you attain more magical power. Possibly hinting at a potential Energy Being
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' tech has this as well.
** Specifically: VI holograms have brighter lines going through them. Additionally, the Geth Armory Medium and Heavy suits for the Krogan Wrex has glowing cables and lines.
** In ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', some of the suits or armor have these. A few glowing lines are present on the back of all of Shepard's N7 armor, and glowing lines are especially noticeable on some of the krogan armors, particularly Gatatong Uvenk's suit. The downloadable Kestrel Armor features a number of these lines as well, on each of the armor components. A couple of the alternate appearance packs also feature armor with glowing lines, most notably Garrus and Grunt's. Jack even gets a leather jacket that has a couple of bright red lines down the back.
** Also from ''Mass Effect 2'' is Shepard's glowing orange scars. A case of [[Evil Is Sexy]] (YMMV), [[Evil Is Cool]], and [[Made of Evil]] all wrapped into one if you pursue the renegade path.
* Beowulf from ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' has these, but [[Light Is Not Good]].
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* The tutorial and final levels of ''[[System Shock]] 2''.
* Digital Circuit and Mad Matrix in ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog (video game)|Shadow the Hedgehog]]'', both cyberspace levels which aesthetics are pretty much [[Shout-Out|ripped off from]] ''[[Tron]]''.
* In ''[[
* The main character in ''[[Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne]]'' gets as version that looks like ordinary full-body tattoos, but then they start glowing in the dark! Apparently becoming mostly-demon does that to ya.
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]''
** The "VR Training" level of the "[[
** There's also an unlockable skin and helmet that are clearly evocative of ''TRON''; they even glow in the dark!
* Some of the instances and bosses in the Ulduar area of ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' have these of one sort or another. It's arguable whether they are Tron Lines or [[Instant Runes]] since Ulduar is Titan architecture and represents something between technology and magic. (but closer to technology)
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* The Cuotl units and buildings from ''[[Rise of Legends]]'' combine this trope with [[Mayincatec]] deisgns for some [[Rule of Cool|really cool looking stuff]]
* ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]] III'', oddly enough, gives Poseidon these. They flicker on and off after wounding him.
* ''[[
** Ghosts and Spectres have these. [[Cold Sniper|Ghosts]] are blue and [[Psycho for Hire|Spectres]] are red; which ones are "good" and "evil" is largely a question of your [[Grey and Gray Morality|perspective]].
** Protoss technology also tends to include glowing blue bits, although they seem to have an aversion to straight lines.
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** Umbreon has Tron ''Rings''. And (in the anime at least) they glow in the dark.
** The Embedded Tower in ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver|Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver]]''.
** Opelucid City in ''[[Pokémon Black and White|Pokémon Black]]''.
* The "Aegis" ship equipment set in ''[[Star Trek Online]]'' has optional Tron Lines for the player's starship. It's even [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: the glow on Starfleet ships is blue, and that on Klingon ships is red.
* All of ''[[Homeworld]] 2'''s [[Precursors|Progenitor]] space warships that are frigate-sized and larger emit Tron Lines along the side of their hulls either when powering a [[Wave Motion Gun|Phased Cannon Array]], or in one particular case, when [[Mercy Invincibility|temporarily resisting enemy fire]].
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* Shows up a lot on ancient [[Magitek]] manipulated by the heroes in ''[[Golden Sun]]'' games.
** A recurring puzzle is a broken circut, and a few movable blocks lying around that happen to have corresponding circut lines etched on them. When finished, the circut glows, and [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|a door opens]].
** ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn|Dark Dawn]]'' takes this a few notches further; summons such as Tiamat and Coatlicue now involve towers covered in Tron Lines, and a [[Mineral MacGuffin]] material, zol, apparently is covered in such lines naturally. Plus the "fix the circut" puzzle shows up several times.
** Zol nothing, the Mountain Roc's ''guts'' have Tron Lines on them.
* In ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'', all the tech left behind by [[Precursors|Those Who Came Before]] features this, particularly the {{spoiler|Temple of Juno underneath the Colloseum in Rome}}.
** {{spoiler|Desmond himself gains them in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene at the end of ''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''.}}
* The [[Save Point|Spirit Stones]] and the titular Ark in ''[[Ys]]: The Ark of Napishtim''.
* It's subtle, but Spider-Man 2099 in ''[[Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions]]'' and ''[[Spider-Man Edge of Time|Spider-Man: Edge of Time]]'' has glowing blue lines on his costume.
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* ''[[Borderlands]]'' has them on some of the [[More Dakka|many]], [[Up to Eleven|many]], weapons the game has, as well as on large rocks lying around, typically related to [[MacGuffin Location|The Vault]].
* ''[[Saints Row: The Third|Saints Row the Third]]'' features a gang made up entirely of cyber punks, whose clothing was all black with neon blue Tron Lines. Also, {{spoiler|their story-arch culminates with a mission where the player character is transported inside their user mainframe to stop their hacking/money laundering schemes, and render the gang powerless. This entire mission's design was a clear reference to Tron, and finishing it unlocks two vehicles with Tron Lines as a major design point, as well as the Cyber Blaster used throughout the mission}}.
* Nezha from [[Warriors Orochi]] has these.
=== Visual Novels ===▼
▲== Visual Novels ==
* Lisa Basil from ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney|Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney]]: Trials and Tribulations'' has a futuristic suit with flashing lights running up and down the sides and front of it. It's implied that she may or may not be a robot (yes, the game is that vague).
== Web Comics ==
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* ''[[Goblins]]'': Anyone wielding the Axe of Prissan gets a magical armor whose design was directly inspired by the outfits in ''[[Tron]]''.
* Trawn from ''[[Electric Wonderland]]'' has these on her traditional outfit.
== Web Original ==
* ''[[Fate Nuovo Guerra]]'' has the sword Clarent, owned by the heroic spirit Mordred. The red lines very well reflect his... erm... [[Gender Bender|her]] status as an antihero.
== Western Animation ==
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* The kids' fluorescent costumes give off this effect in the dark.
* In ''[[Monster Buster Club]]'', parts of the kids' costumes are fluorescent and give off a Tron Line effect in the dark.
== Real Life ==
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** This has even bled into the world of computing, there is no modder unfamiliar with blue CCFLs.
* The Luxor casino/hotel in Las Vegas was designed as a huge black glass pyramid with Tron Lines flowing to and from the giant column of light at the peak.
* The [https://web.archive.org/web/20051127090340/http://bradley.csail.mit.edu/~bradley/cm5/ Connection Machine], a supercomputer which was never as amazing as its price would indicate, but which looked damn cool.
** Though those are more [[wikipedia:Blinkenlights|Blinkenlights]], actually.
** The Connection Machine is one of the most beautiful computers ever made, but pretty much every supercomputer made after the '70s looks pretty awesome. After all, if a machine's going to cost over a million dollars, why not throw a few thousand into the case?
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* [[Truth in Television]]: Try looking at your feet next time you ride an escalator. They are actually there to warn you not to put your feet there as you may fall, but still pretty cool.
* The [[wikipedia:Corpus Clock|Corpus Clock,]] which ironically uses no computers whatsoever. (Everything is controlled by [[Steampunk|bleeding edge clockwork]], including the [[Nightmare Fuel|evil blinking grasshopper]] on top.)
* The Wii console: the disc slot has a steady blue glow around the edge when powered on, and will pulse when a system upgrade is availible or a new message is in your inbox. Possible connection of [[Everything Is an iPod In The Future]].
* This trope is practically the reason EL-wire exists.
* [http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-10-flexible-implanting-skin.html Waterproof LEDs that can be implanted underneath your skin].
* [http://www.razerzone.com/ Razer products], particularly the company's logo, a glowing blue or green triquetra made of
**
* The Motorola RAZR cellphone has this on its keypad.
* While neon accents on buildings have existed well before this trope came into existence Metreon in San Francisco is clearly inspired by it with plenty of lines to showcase how high-tech and cyberpunk it was intended to be.
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[[Category:Cyberpunk Tropes]]
[[Category:Spectacle]]
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