History Main / PlanetaryRomance

SpaceOpera is closely related, but the action and adventure tend to take place more in space and on differing planets. Usually it involves at least InterplanetaryVoyage. One distinction is that Planetary Romances come from the JungleOpera tradition whereas {{Space Opera}}s come from the [[SeaStories nautical]] tradition.

%%* ''Film/JohnCarter''.%%ZCE
* The two Ewok movies spun off from the ''Franchise/StarWars'' franchise, which featured sci-fi versions of giants, orcs, and witches.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' has elements of this at times, albeit ''much'' DarkerAndEdgier. On the MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness, it's as soft as wet mud; gods, deities, and demons are more of an active threat than the realistic concerns of space travel; most of mankind's enemies are SufficientlyAdvancedAliens, the SingleBiomePlanet is the default and ''everything'' is RatedMForManly. If any piece of 40k artwork doesn't look like it could be the cover art of a planetary romance-themed heavy metal concept album from the 80s, it's probably no longer canon.

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_jcmarspic.jpg]]]]

* The ''VideoGame/{{Oddworld}}'' video games are set on the titular planet of Oddworld, Oddworld is an exotic planet populated by many bizarre alien species, each with their own unique culture. It is a Dystopian story about the environmental destruction of the planet caused by industrialized species and the effects that out-of-control business excesses with no morals have on the more vulnerable races. There's plenty of [[SlaveRace Slave Races]] and LastOfHisKind to go around with a heavy GreenAesop.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Oddworld}}'' series takes place on the titular Oddworld, and is a Dystopa story about the endless destruction caused by industrialized species and the effects that out-of-control business excesses with no morals have on the more vulnerable races. There's plenty of [[SlaveRace Slave Races]] and LastOfHisKind to go around with a heavy GreenAesop.

Contrast with SingleBiomePlanet. See also PulpMagazine, {{Swashbuckler}}, ThudAndBlunder, TwoFistedTales.

* ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' by Frank Herbert. The book, while perfectly serviceable as a straight example, is actually a DeconstructorFleet of the genre's conventions. [[Film/{{Dune}} David Lynch's]] FilmOfTheBook plays the tropes much straighter.

SpaceOpera is closely related, but the action and adventure tend to take place more in space and on differing planets. Usually it involves at least InterplanetaryVoyage. One distinction is that Planetary Romances come from the JungleOpera tradition whereas {{Space Opera}}s come from the [[SpaceIsAnOcean nautical]] tradition.

However, the [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness science is largely handwaving]]. Visitors may arrive on the world by spaceship, and there might be items of LostTechnology present, but overall the world will feel like LowFantasy -- a {{feudal|Future}} society with small-scale magic but no BigBad -- and it will share most of the same tropes. Sometimes the genre is even called "Sword and Planet", in reference to SwordAndSorcery. Because the "romance" in the title stems from ChivalricRomance, a LoveInterest is not in fact required.

However, the [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness science is largely handwaving]]. Visitors may arrive on the world by spaceship, and there might be items of LostTechnology present, but overall the world will feel like LowFantasy -- a {{feudal|Future}} society with small-scale magic but no BigBad -- and it will share most of the same tropes. Because the "romance" in the title stems from ChivalricRomance, a LoveInterest is not in fact required.

* The ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' setting of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has a fair bit of this flavour, with its DyingEarthSubgenre-inspired desert setting, emphasis on psionics over conventional magic, and preference for [[OurMonstersAreWeird weird, alien-seeming monsters]] over the more iconic ''D&D'' creatures. This was also the setting most commonly associated with the mantis-like thri-keen race, whose [[MultiArmedAndDangerous four arms]] invoke the Green Martians of the ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' series.

* ''VideoGame/{{Albion}}'' kicks off with the heroes crash landing on a planet. They first arrive in an alien world inhabited by cat people who use magic and OrganicTechnology, but later regions accessed in the game could easily look like medieval europe, complete with celts as inhabitants who worship ancient celtic deities.

* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' in contrast to the other games in the series takes place on a singular planet inhabited by sentient dinosaurs.

* ''JourneyToTheSavagePlanet'' is all about exploring a, well, savage planet, fighting the wild animals left after the local PreCursors vanished aeons ago.

* ''Journey to the Savage Planet'' is all about exploring a, well, savage planet, fighting the wild animals left after the local PreCursors vanished aeons ago.

* The ''WebVideo/{{Artifexian}} Podcast'' features regular worldbuilding segments set in a solar system where the three inhabited planets are based on different worldbuilding paradigms, one of them being a planetary romance. It has .6 earth gravity, meaning that humans who grow up there are much taller, humans who reach there from other worlds are comparatively far stronger, and [[CoolAirship airship]] technology is much easier to develop with pre-industrial technology.

%%* The second half of ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire''.%%ZCE

* Ray Cummings' ''Tama of the Light Country'' is a surprisingly feminist work for 1930. It also zilches the one-culture-per-planet rule. Tama is a very young woman who leads a revolt of "winged virgins" against a long-established law that women must have their wings amputated (sans anesthesia) upon marriage.

%%* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures''%%ZCE

* ''ComicBook/FlashGordon'': The planet Mongo and it's various moons are as much characters as the main cast.

* ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' is a deliberate throwback to the genre. Much of the action takes place on Sakaar, a chaotic LandfillBeyondTheStars ruled by a mad EvilOverlord, populated by countless alien species and located at a [[PortalCrossroadWorld nexus of wormholes]], all constantly [[SuperSargassoSea dumping the lost junk of the universe onto its surface]]. Director Creator/TaikaWaititi cited the cult '80s movie Film/FlashGordon1980 as a major influence on ''Ragnarok''.

* ''Literature/Radiance'' is a combined homage to this subgenre and to the roughly-coincident [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood Golden Age of Hollywood]], set in a solar system in which all worlds are inherently hospitable to Earth-like life and colonised by humans.

May involve WeirdScience. SchizoTech may occur. Even if the planet has futuristic transportation, expect, however irrationally, large parts of it to be unexplored, and it to be easy to be out of contact with one's home (and government). Prone to use MedievalEuropeanFantasy tropes, or feature a FeudalFuture. Overlaps heavily with the Dying Earth subgenre pioneered by Creator/JackVance's [[Literature/DyingEarth eponymous novel]].

* ''Manga/{{ARIA}}''
* ''Anime/LastExile''
* ''Anime/{{Simoun}}''
* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}''

* ''ComicBook/{{Den}}'' by Creator/RichardCorben.

* ''ComicBook/TheWarlord''.

* The second half of ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire''.

* ''Film/JohnCarter''.

* ''Film/ATripToTheMoon'' and several other of Creator/GeorgesMelies's longer films.

* ''The Book of Ptath'' by Creator/AEVanVogt.
* The ''Bunduki'' series by Creator/JTEdson.
* ''Literature/{{Coyote}}'' by Creator/AllenSteele (though it's technically a moon, not a planet. Lunar romance?)
* ''Literature/TheDarkangelTrilogy''.
* ''Literature/{{Darkover}}'', Creator/MarionZimmerBradley
* ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'', the entire series by Anne [=McCaffrey=], [[HighConcept features]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] [[InSpace on an alien world]].

* ''Literature/{{Gor}}''
* Creator/JackVance
** ''Literature/DyingEarth'',
** ''Literature/PlanetOfAdventure''
** ''Big Planet'' series
* Brian Aldiss's ''Literature/{{Helliconia}}'' series.
* ''Ivory'', Doris Egan.

* ''Kregen'', Alan Burt Akers

* ''Literature/MajipoorSeries'', Creator/RobertSilverberg

* Gary Poulsen's ''Literature/TheTransallSaga'', although it has no magic.
* Creator/SheriSTepper's ''Literature/TheTrueGame'' series.

* ''Jane Carver of Waar'', intended as a DistaffCounterpart to ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars''.

[[folder:Music]]
* The Sword's ''Warp Riders'' is this as a ConceptAlbum.
[[/folder]]

* ''TabletopGame/EmpireOfThePetalThrone''

* Bungie's ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}''

* ''VideoGame/LesbianSpiderQueensOfMars''.

* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures''
* The ''VideoGame/StarOcean'' series.
* ''VideoGame/UltimaWorldsOfAdventure2MartianDreams''

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''[[http://www.perilsonplanetx.com Perils on Planet X.]]''
* ''Webcomic/{{Pibgorn}}'' [[http://www.gocomics.com/pibgorn/2003/02/05/ Drue is dropped in one.]]
[[/folder]]

* The ''Den'' and ''Taarna'' segments from ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal.''
* ''WesternAnimation/TheHerculoids''
* ''WesternAnimation/ThundarrTheBarbarian''