History Farscape / TropesHToN

* ItGetsEasier: Crichton gets called on this during ''Won't Get Fooled Again.'' He admits that he's changed, but people need to change to survive.
** Actually, this was "Terra Firma," where Crichton [[spoiler: finally did return home for real]], but for practical reasons- not wanting his enemies to follow him- and also because of a particularly tragic CharacterDevelopment where it was all but spelled out by other human characters that he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, [[IChooseToStay he chose to return to space aboard Moya]], and later, to [[spoiler: collapse the wormhole to Earth]].

* HoYay: Most glaring was the relationship between MagnificentBastard Scorpius and his [[TheSimpsons Smithers]], Braca. Braca shows almost puppy-like devotion to Scorpius, who in turn treats him like a faithful pet. However, [[spoiler: the roles are reversed in one episode where Braca has apparently defected to another BigBad, and has Scorpius [[FetishFuel drugged and on a leash]]]] - at one point, he's compelled to beat Scorpius, hissing "This is for every time I had to say ''yes''," and no, we never find out [[NoodleIncident what]] he had to say yes to. Pretty much everyone seems to at least guess at the nature of their relationship, as even as early as the season 3 opener, Grunchlk tells Scorpy he has a nice room for him, "very nice, very ''private''," and noticeably gives Braca a sideways glance.
** Also John/D'Argo, which was magnificently played with in "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Out Of Their Minds".
** Chiana, thanks to some ImportedAlienPhlebotinum, went on a lust bender which had her about to [[MomentKiller jump the alien-of-the-week]], and put the moves on Aeryn. Hell, Chiana hits on anyone, male, female, hermaphrodite, [[ExtremeOmnisexual different species, underage]]...
** Delvians share "unity" regardless of gender, however despite its clearly sexual side-effects, is primarily a spiritual bonding.

** Scorpius (Sebacean/Scarran hybrd) had relationships with Natira an alien of unknown origin, seemed to flirt with random aliens of the week (M'Lee, Ro'Na), had a relationshop with Sikozu, a Kalish [[spoiler: and a bioloid]] not to mention all the HoYay with Crichton and Braca...
** Jool and Naj Gil (a Scarren) seemed to be developing a close relationship, but he dies before anything comes of it. Then there's all the LesYay between Jool and Chiana...

* MauveShirt: Possibly a MostTriumphantExample, Officer, no, Lieutenant, wait, ''Captain'' Miklo Braca, officer of the Fleet, Peacekeeper Interplanetary Service. A "consummate Peacekeeper." He seems to be the only Peacekeeper who ever gets promoted over the whole series.

* MST3KMantra: Lampshaded in one episode where the crew gets shrunk after Sikozu complains about how implausible the whole situation is.

** On the other hand, plain ol' FTL technology isn't so failsafe, either. In "Though the Looking Glass", Moya somehow becomes stuck in Starburst mode and splayed out in other dimensions - one of which causes mind-splitting noise, another which causes visual pain, and a third which causes elation and euphoria, in addition to the normal one - and has to be reassembled by moving all four ships in unison through the dimension while avoiding the interdimensional gatekeeper monster... thing.
*** Starburst isn't "plain ol' FTL technology", but an evolved trait of Leviathans. It's also the first thing the control collars disable, possibly so they don't run away, but perhaps also because Starburst isn't very reliable for passengers.
*** Starburst is perfectly safe, the problem is that the direction and distance are random. It makes a fantastic emergency escape technique (since it's literally impossible for even a telepathic enemy to follow you when even you don't know where you're going) but as a way to travel, it sucks.
* HypocriticalHumor: Not necessarily a direct one, but an overall example. The rest of Moya's crew [[DudeWheresMyRespect constantly disrespect and insult Crichton]], snorting at his [[SuperiorSpecies human inferiority]]... and then when they get in trouble, it's extremely common for them to run flailing and shouting for ''him'' to help them.
--> D'argo (while [[OutrunningTheFireball racing down an exploding hallway]]): "Criiiiiiiiiiiiiichtoooooooooooon!"
* IAteWhat: In season 3, Jool was given fellip urine as as a very strange form of anesthesia (her nurses thought it was needed to treat her injury). Because of the intoxicating effects of the painkiller, Jool is too amused to be horrified... until later. It gets played for laughs, however, and eventually leads to [[BreakTheHaughty breaking her haughtiness]].

* MoralDissonance: In "DNA Mad Scientist," Zhaan, D'Argo, and Rygel [[GoodThingYouCanHeal chop off one of Pilot's arms]] without his consent in an (ultimately fruitless) attempt to get maps to their homeworlds. None of them feel the least bit hypocritical giving Crichton WhatTheHellHero speeches every time his quest for wormhole technology so much as inconveniences Moya and Pilot.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Both with humans and aliens ([[spoiler: John and Aeryn's child, also John and Katralla's]]) and with aliens and other aliens: Jothee, [[HumanAliens Sebacean]]/[[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Luxan]]; Scorpius, Sebacean/Scarran; among others. Although ''technically'' [[spoiler: Sebaceans started out as humans ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway]]. Averted with Luxans/Nebari who aren't compatible, much to the dislike of D'Argo.

* HappyPlace: Crichton goes here whenever he needs to hold conference with Harvey. The scenery varies wildly, from a [[QuentinTarantino Tarantino]]-esque gangster movie, to a ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'' crypt; whatever [[ImagineSpot best fits John's situation]].

* HehHehYouSaidX: In "Though the Looking Glass", the light coming from the 'Yellow' Moya causes the crew to become elated and giddy. While explaining to Chiana the sequence for engaging full reverse, Crichton's instruction to activate "the green knob" is enough to make her burst into hysterics. ("...green...knob?")

* HellBentForLeather: There is a reason WarrenEllis described Farscape as "one American's descent into Australia's S&M scene".

** "Harvey" has a very subtle OhCrap moment in "Liars, Guns and Money Part II" when he realises that Crichton can bring him out ''[[HeroicWillpower at will]]''.

* HelpYourselfInTheFuture: Occurs in the "The Locket", when an elderly version of Aeryn warns the crew not to get stranded in "the Mist". A disbelieving John follows her back down to the planet, only to get trapped there himself. He survives for decades as a gardener, simultaneously estimating the exact window that Moya will be accessible again (50 years to Crichton; a single day for Moya's crew). This time, it is an elderly Crichton who boards Moya to advise them on how them escape the Mist.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Crais and Talyn, Zhaan]] (who got extra mileage by sacrificing [[spoiler: herself when she was already slowing dying from resurrecting Aeryn]]), [[spoiler:one of the copies of John]], [[spoiler:D'Argo]] in ''The Peacekeeper Wars'' and [[spoiler:Sikozu]] in the comics. Yeah, ''Farscape'' likes this one.

* HoYay: Most glaring was the relationship between MagnificentBastard Scorpius and his [[TheSimpsons Smithers]], Braca. Braca shows almost puppy-like devotion to Scorpius, who in turn treats him like a faithful pet. However, [[spoiler: the roles are reversed in one episode where Braca has apparently defected to another BigBad, and has Scorpius [[FetishFuel drugged and on a leash]]]] - at one point, he's compelled to beat Scorpius, hissing "This is for every time I had to say ''yes''," and no, we never find out [[NoodleIncident what]] he had to say yes to. Pretty much everyone seems to at least guess at the nature of their relationship, as even as early as the season 3 opener, Grunchlk tells Scorpy he has a nice room for him, "very nice, very ''private''," and noticeably gives Braca a sideways glance.
** Also John/D'Argo, which was magnificently played with in "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Out Of Their Minds".
** Chiana, thanks to some ImportedAlienPhlebotinum, went on a lust bender which had her about to [[{{MomentKiller}} jump the alien-of-the-week]], and put the moves on Aeryn. Hell, Chiana hits on anyone, male, female, hermaphrodite, [[ExtremeOmnisexual different species, underage]]...
** Delvians share "unity" regardless of gender, however despite its clearly sexual side-effects, is primarily a spiritual bonding.

* [[HonestJohnsDealership Honest John's Dealership]]: Furlow's garage.

** FetishRetardant: ...followed by Rygel in a gimp suit.
* HotScientist: Male example: John Crichton from Farscape, especially after he starts wearing black and red leather in Season 2 onward. Mmmm...[[MrFanservice spacepants]]!
** Female examples would include Jool and Sikozu, the latter of which has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Leviathan-related, although to be fair she may have been [[spoiler:programmed that way]].

* HowManyFingers: In the series finale ("Bad Timing"), Rygel tries this on Chiana after her seer abilities have left her permanently-blind. The short-tempered Chiana responds by chomping down on his entire hand with her teeth. (It's nice to see the crew has [[SarcasmMode grown so close]] over the past four years).

* HumanityIsInfectious: Aeryn catches a bad case of this over the course of knowing Crichton. In the premiere episode, Aeryn literally needs him to explain the word "compassion" to her.

** The second-season finale features a massive cryogenics facility where Tocot and Grunchlk store the bodies of all the patients that didn't survive their treatments. Most of them are pretty much beyond saving, and are only kept around as donors for luckier patients; However, one or two of the frozen residents turn out to be perfectly healthy- among them being Jool and a very irritated Scarran agent.

* HumansThroughAlienEyes: Inverted int the early 'episode "I, ET" involves Crichton crashing onto a planet in which the culture resembles 1950s Americana. Partly lampshaded by the fact that the locals are RubberForeheadAliens, and are a bit disappointed that Crichton looks so much like them.
* HumanityIsInsane: Even before Crichton started going a little bit nuts, thanks to all the pop-cultural references he generally spouts, he came off as completely bonkers to his fellow crew members; since they only have Crichton as their example of humanity prior to the fourth season, they imagine Earth as ''[[WorldGoneMad a whole world full of Crichtons]]''.
* HumanityIsSuperior: TropeNamer, but said during an insane rant and not quite true. A subversion of a trope that it named... isn't ''Farscape'' awesome?
** This trope is played straight AND at the same time is used as a PreAssKickingOneLiner in the comics. And it is most glorious.
* HumanOutsideAlienInside: most of the more humanoid species have startling differences. A subtle example is the Sebacean heat sensitivity. More extreme are the Delvians, who, despite looking more-or-less like blue humans, are ''plants!''

* HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace: Wormholes in Farscape are treacherous and difficult to navigate, and cause all sorts of tricky problems with time and space and turning into liquid when you don't quite understand them, and are inhabited by bizarre and dangerous creatures- ranging from gigantic phase-shifting serpents to sentient "Pathfinders" of dubious morality.

* [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace I Don't Like The Sound Of That Place]]: '''Tormented Space''', a region of space which is tormented ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin natch]]) by electrostatic anomalies, making it harmful to Leviathans. The region is backward, barbaric, and far removed from civilization, which is why most people [[ForbiddenZone sensibly avoid it]].
* IfYouDieICallYourStuff: After Maldis puts Crichton into a temporary coma ("That Old Black Magic") Rygel goes so far as to give Crichton what seems to be the Hynerian version of the last rites, [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing declare him dead]], and claim all his possessions for himself.
** Inverted in a later episode: Crichton, about to go on a suicide mission, sourly tells Rygel he can have all his stuff. "You're a material guy, Rygel. Have some material." The tone of this is quite hurtful, and Rygel is surprisingly affected.

* ImAHumanitarian: The "calcivores" of M'Lee's tribe were forced to devour each other after being stranded on an jungle asteroid when their food supply ran out.
** "Eat Me" features a cannibalistic villain by the name of Kaarvok who duplicates his prey and eats the copy.

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The Peacekeepers are rather pathetic for such a supposedly elite force. The Scarrans and the Nebari actually match their fearsome reputation, and give a much better showing of themselves against Moya's crew. More the ConservationOfNinjutsu. The fewer Peacekeepers you have, the more competent they are. Small strike forces of Sebaceans are very deadly and competent. Aeryn Sun as the only Sebacean in a group is practically a superhero. Sebaceans in large groups are cannon fodder. The Peacekeepers are even strangely GenreSavvy about the whole thing...

* IronicEcho: "Vitas Mortis" has this Type 1 exchange between Aeryn and Chiana, who is stuck doing the crew's laundry in a knee-deep basin of Moya's amnexus fluids. She refuses to add Aeryn's clothes to the mix, remarking "Since when did I become your servant?" Chiana is soon trapped in the solidified amnexus fluid, whereupon Aeryn gleefully refuses to help her: "Since when did I become your servant?"

--->'''John''': Not in the entire universe.

* ItsAllMyFault: Pilot was originally judged too young to bond with a Leviathan by his elders. When a Peacekeeper by the name of Lieutenant Velorek offered to take him onboard Moya, Pilot [[DealWithTheDevil jumped at the chance to travel through space]]. Unbeknown to him, he had just signed the death warrant for his predecessor, Moya's original Pilot. When he finally discovers the truth, after railing at Aeryn for her part in the execution, he promptly disconnects himself from Moya, guaranteeing a slow death for himself. When Crichton and Aeryn question him, he blames himself for everything, saying that if he had refused, Velorek may have never found another Pilot willing to accept the deal.
* ItsNotYouItsMe: Aeryn plays it straight, sort of:

* IWantThemAlive: John's wormhole knowledge, the one thing keeping his enemies from tearing him limb from limb. Naturally, John abuses this fact at every opportunity.
* IWasBeatenByAGirl: Crichton, ''constantly'', by pretty much every girl he meets. And he's a buff guy, too. Justified in quite a few cases because he does meet up with a lot of Peacekeepers who happen to be women - and one-on-one, trained Peacekeepers can kick ''anyone's'' ass - the others...well... just seem to get the drop on him. [[FacePalm A lot.]]

* JokerImmunity: Scorpius just will not die, much to John's frustration. And Harvey hangs around a lot longer than John is comfortable with, as well. But at least John's not the only one who's frustrated. There is always ''at least one'' organization that is out for Scorpy's ass (and we're talking big military instillations here) and they just can't seem to kill him! To be fair though, his ability to resist a lot of torture et al. (and somehow always be needed by someone for something) could be partially due to the fact that his entire childhood was one big [[BreakTheCutie Break The Innocent Hybrid Child]] moment, leading to [[CorruptTheCutie Corrupt The Innocent Hybrid Child]], leading to him becoming a cross between a [[TheDeterminator Revenge-Driven Determinator]], a WellIntentionedExtremist and a MagnificentBastard. Apparently his entire past has taught him one thing: [[CrazyPrepared always have]] [[XanatosRoulette an escape route/contingency plan]].
* JustThinkOfThePotential: Br'Nee tries convincing John of the scientific benefits of studying a Delvian. This is only after John has seen though his trick and prevented him from absconding with Zhaan without permission.

* KissingUnderTheInfluence: In "Meltdown" Crichton and Aeryn are affected by fluids from Talyn that make them consumed with mutual lust. In one amusing scene they are interrupted from making out, frantically complete some essential repairs, then gratefully go back to snogging again.

* LaResistance: The Nebari Resistance.
* LameComeback: Once Rygel is thawed out from his cryogenic sleep ("Thank God It's Friday...Again"), he roundly mocks Aeryn's "false superiority" at thinking she's some sort of a scientist. Aeryn retorts that while she may not be a scientist, she's definitely 'superior' to him.

** Maldis combines this with LaughablyEvil, chewing the scenery with a ravenous enthusiasm that would make [[StarWars Emperor Palpatine]] proud.

** Crichton himself. View for instance his act when he successfully manages to start a bidding war between the Scarrans and the Peacekeepers...all with a thermonuclear bomb strapped to his hip.

-->T'raltixx: I am '''magnifiiiiiiiiceeeeeent!'''

* LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard: During the two cycles he's been held in Scorpius' jail, Stark cobbled together a magnetic crypt encoder from metals he's collected, which will unlock the cell door once it finds the right code.
* LosingYourHead / TakenForGranite: In a particularly grueling adventure, Crichton is roped into an ArrangedMarriage with Princess Katralla. As soon as they finish exchanging their vows, the couple is expected to voluntarily be turned into statues for the equivalent of 80 years. And just because [[TheChewToy the universe hates Crichton]], his petrified head is chopped off and thrown into an AcidPool.

* MadeOfIron: Scarrans are ''tough'' to kill.
* MagicPlasticSurgery: Matala is a female Scorvian [[TheMole spy]] who underwent genetic surgery to resemble their archenemies the Illanics (a cousin of the Luxan species).

* MamaBear: Unsurprisingly, Aeryn becomes one of these after giving birth. ''Very'' surprisingly (for her character), the safety of her as-yet unborn baby seems to be the main thing that makes Grayza agree to the peace treaty in ''Peacekeeper Wars''. Also Zhaan is this the living incarnation of this by the end of season 2/beginning of season 3. Oh, and you can't forget Moya.

-->'''Crichton''' ''(in Aeryn's body)'': No, [[ImAManICantHelpIt I'm a guy]]. A '''guy'''! Guys ''dream'' about this sort of thing!
** Inverted at the end of the episode, when it is strongly suggested that Aeryn [[HypocriticalHumor also took some liberties]] when she was stuck in Crichton's body.
* ManOnFire: After her cover as a maintenance worker is blown, Chiana manages to deflect Javio's pistol with a tank full of flammable gas. Chiana then aims the pressurized flames right at him, burning him alive.
** Played for laughs in "Liars Guns And Money." During the raid on the Shadow Depository, one of Scorpius' troops is set on fire, and is seen comically running around and screaming; very few people seem to notice or care, Scorpius least of all.

* MasterOfDisguise: Maldis first greets Crichton under a myriad of guises; these include Igg (a street-corner jester), Haloth (an aged wizard) and Kyvan (a dealer in trinkets).

* MasterOfIllusion / FakeMemories: Two particular skills learned by Delvian priests. In "Rhapsody In Blue," Tahleen orders Hasko to mess with the heads of Moya's crew by confronting them with confusing or frightening visions, while Lorana implants FakeMemories into Crichton to make him believe he has a wife.

* MediumShiftGag: In one episode, Crichton hallucinates that everything has become a LooneyTunes-style cartoon.

* TheMessiah: Zhaan fits this, as long as you don't do something stupid... like [[BerserkButton threaten her adoptive family]]. Pilot and Moya are also ''incredibly'' tolerant of pretty much anything and everything you can throw at them... until you [[BewareTheNiceOnes try to hurt their crew]] or, God help you, [[TooDumbToLive try to hurt Moya's baby]].

* MindlinkMates: Known as "Unity" in Delvian parlance, this is their preferred style of lovemaking. And since the shape of one's groin is irrelevant in such a situation, we see some implied instances of [[DiscountLesbians girl-on-girl Unity]]. (It's unknown if the same goes for males.)

* MindControlEyes: A signifier that someone is possessed by the intellant-virus.
* MindRape: The Aurora Chair, Scarran interrogation techniques, Stark in a bad mood, Tahleen in an ''ambitious'' mood...
** The Nebari are fond of doing this. Chiana was going to have it done to her before she joined the crew.
** The Kkore have their own version of the Aurora Chair. Scorpius is most impressed even as he is subjected to it.

* MonsterLord: Scarran leadership to rank and file "horse faced" scarrans.
* MonsterOfTheWeek
* MookFaceTurn: Aeryn and Gillina.

* NegateYourOwnSacrifice: Stark does this for the crew at the end of one episode. It takes a while for us to know it was negated.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Crichton and company often make the problem they're trying to solve worse -- and sometimes they have no choice but to cut and run when they can't make things better or even return to status quo.

** The episode at large as well has the group trying to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong, but each thing they do just makes things worse: first the war goes on much longer and is much bloodier, then [[spoiler: the whole planet is irradiated, killing all life]], and finally [[spoiler: the planet no longer exists at all]]. Crichton et al manage to fix everything, except for one tiny detail: instead of a cease fire, [[spoiler: the horde is so angered at losing Crichton and the others that can't control their bloodlust they slaughter the remaining nuns, including a young girl]]

* NonMammalMammaries: Despite BizarreAlienBiology. This includes Zhaan, who's a plant -- yet has by far the largest breasts on the show.

* NotSoDifferent:

** John and Crais have a moment together in the episode "Family Ties" where they acknowledge that they have come more or less full circle, with Crais in a cell and realizing how much damage he has done to the protagonists and finally admitting his true motivations for hunting them for so long. It doesn't hurt that they also look like the same species.
** In the final episode, "Bad Timing", Scorpius forces John to acknowledge that they both use, manipulate, and betray each other, making John admit that he has become much more like Scorpius than he would like to admit. Scorpius has a bad habit of claiming that they both want the same thing and trying to play on John's sympathies to get his help throughout the last two seasons but John is (quite understandably) reticent to accept Scorpius's claims of similarity.
** In the Season 3 episode "Wait For The Wheel". Zhaan (priestess and healer) says to Aeryn (former stormtrooper)
--> Don't be afraid to understand yourself. We're not so different as you assume. Violent past, no faith in the future, and then a transformative experience aboard this very ship.

** And in "Prayer," a Scarran officer aboard a research vessel disposed of a test subject's unborn child by using his heat-projection to [[MoralEventHorizon fry it alive inside the womb]]. And the holographic display also shows [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel the fetus writhing and shrivelling in the heat.]] However as the mother turns out to be [[TheMole a mole]], it's very probable they faked it to scare Aeryn.

* NoodleIncident: "That thing with Maldis and that [[PardonMyKlingon fahrbot wife]] of his" in an Unrealized Reality Crichton visits in the comics. Implied to have been enough HighOctaneNightmareFuel for Zhaan to swear off Unity forever.

* MyRevengeIsMercy: Aeryn is presented with an opportunity to kill Crais when she finds him strapped in Scorpius's dreaded Chair. Crais asserts that he is still her superior officer, and demands that she release him. Aeryn tells him she is no longer a Peacekeeper, and she lost everything because of him. Aeryn turns the Chair back on, then exits as Crais's screams echo throughout the hallways.
-->'''Aeryn:''' You know what I give ''you'', Crais? Your life. I will [[MindRape make you watch...your life.]]"
** In "Die Me, Dichotomy", Crichton finds a doctor able to remove the Neural Chip implanted in his brain by Scorpius. But it's tangled with the speech center of his brain, so removing the chip meant removing his ability to speak coherently. Midway through the operation, Scorpius waltzes in, incapacitates the surgeon, takes the chip, and leaves John strapped to the operating table, completely unable to speak.
-->'''Scorpius:''' I condemn you John Crichton... to live. So that your thirst for unfulfilled revenge will consume you! [[SoLongSuckers Goodbye]].

* NotSoDifferent: Jothee's claim he'd not let himself get recaptured at any cost... was exactly what D'Argo had said in his initial appearance.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Both with humans and aliens ([[spoiler: John and Aeryn's child]]) and with aliens and other aliens: Jothee, [[HumanAliens Sebacean]]/[[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Luxan]]; Scorpius, Sebacean/Scarran; among others. Although ''technically'' [[spoiler: Sebaceans started out as humans ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway]]. Averted with Luxans/Nebari who aren't compatible, much to the dislike of D'Argo.

* HumanMomNonhumanDad: Jothee and [[spoiler:Scorpius]]. Inverted with [[spoiler: D'Argo Sun-Crichton]] with a human dad and HumanAlien mom.

* IntangibleMan: Maldis. In both of his appearances, Zhaan must use her psychic abilities to render him solid, whichs allows Crichton to finally deck him.

* NoodleIncident: "That thing with Maldis and that [[PardonMyKlingon fahrbot wife]] of his" in the comics. Implied to have been HighOctaneNightmareFuel for Zhaan.

* MuaveShirt: Possibly a MostTriumphantExample, Officer, no, Lieutenant, wait, ''Captain'' Miklo Braca, officer of the Fleet, Peacekeeper Interplanetary Service. A "consummate Peacekeeper." He seems to be the only Peacekeeper who ever gets promoted over the whole series.

* HumanMomNonhumanDad: Jothee and [[spoiler:Scorpius]].

* MST3KMantra: Lampshaded in one episode where the crew gets shrunk after Sakozu complains about how implausible the whole situation is.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Braca. His actor played him this way, the producers noticed, and they kept him on. He started in relative obscurity as just another one of Crais' soldiers, and soon began to rise under Scorpius. He became a major recurring character.