History Main / PlutoIsExpendable

* In a ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' sketch where the planets were alive Pluto is kicked out of their party eventually they agree to let him back in in exchange for sexual favors.

The reason Pluto was downgraded from a planet[[note]]A word which, prior to 2006, had no formal definition[[/note]] to a dwarf planet is based on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAU_definition_of_planet 2006 formalization of the definition.]][[note]]Which itself sparked a lot of still-ongoing controversy and criticism, both within and without the astronomical community, for several reasons that include and go beyond Pluto's reclassification.[[/note]] To qualify, an astronomical body has to have four characteristics:

For Pluto's ''namesake'' being a punching bag for ''authors'', see EverybodyHatesHades.

* In an episode of ''Animation/KikoRiki'', resident MadScientist Losyash goes on a hunger strike after learning of Pluto's demotion. Seeing this, the Plutonians cancel their plans to attack Earth in retaliation.

* "Did you hear about Pluto? That's messed up!" -- Burton "Gus" Guster, ''Series/{{Psych}}''.

* In the ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar'' DC Comics miniseries, ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} manages to take over Pluto, hollow it out, and turn it into a brand new Warworld. All without being noticed by the many and various interstellar agencies on Earth, Darkseid and his lieutenants on Apokolips (somehow relocated to the same solar system by Darkseid's badassery), or Imperiex and his many many miniaturized forms. It apparently stays that way until the 31st century, becoming a plot-point in ''ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}''. Although there's been a CrisisCrossover or four since then, and ''that'' version of the Legion isn't the main future anymore, so it's probably been [[CanonDiscontinuity quietly forgotten]].

Pluto has become the ButtMonkey of [[UsefulNotes/TheSolarSystem the solar system]], and not just because it's named for [[EverybodyHatesHades the Butt Monkey of the Greek-Roman pantheon of gods]]. Want to get someone's attention? Show that things are serious? That a villain can put his money where his mouth is? Screw the {{status quo|IsGod}}! This time, change is happening, and it's something big! Something cosmic! Something on a large-scale level that would shock the world if it happened in RealLife! A change that will alter the universe! ...er, well, at least the galaxy... The solar system?

Pluto has become the ButtMonkey of [[UsefulNotes/TheSolarSystem the solar system]]. Want to get someone's attention? Show that things are serious? That a villain can put his money where his mouth is? Screw the {{status quo|IsGod}}! This time, change is happening, and it's something big! Something cosmic! Something on a large-scale level that would shock the world if it happened in RealLife! A change that will alter the universe! ...er, well, at least the galaxy... The solar system?

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': This is the B-plot of "Something Ricked This Way Comes", where it is revealed that Pluto ''used'' to be a planet, but the mining of Plutonium from its core is slowly causing it to shrink, which will eventually lead to an EarthShatteringKaboom. Jerry's belief that Pluto is still a planet attracts the attention of a Plutonian politician, who recruits him to assure the masses that there is nothing wrong with Pluto by telling them it is still a planet and keeping them in the dark about the truth. A scientist shows Morty the truth and has him speak out about it, but Jerry's desire to be right and wanting people to like him outweighs doing the right thing. However, when the politician has the scientist arrested, who turns out to be his own son, has Jerry tell the masses that Pluto is not a planet, this causes public outrage and Jerry and Morty to be booted from the planet, leaving the fate of the Plutonians ambiguous.

* As noted in the intro, Pluto was delisted in 2006 by new standards (new in that before, there were ''no'' standards). In fact, in ancient times, the Sun and Moon were planets while the Earth was ''not'' a planet because the word "planet" came from the Greek word for "wanderer".[[note]]Remember, back then Earth is considered the center of the solar system, not the Sun.[[/note]] This was inverted with Ceres: It too was made a dwarf planet (an upgrade from simply being a "large asteroid") because it is the only spherical object in the Asteroid Belt, as with Haumea, Makemake, and Eris since they were all discovered after Pluto was recognized. Pluto's reclassification has been averted in Illinois and New Mexico (The home state of the man who discovered Pluto), where the state legislatures have passed laws reclassifying Pluto as a planet. In fact, after the New Horizons flyby of Pluto, [[http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3852044.shtml#.Vae2UPDdVKb the mayor of Alamogordo, New Mexico immediately declares that Pluto is a planet]]. [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/11739763/Pluto-I-still-call-it-a-planet-says-head-of-Nasa.html Even the head of NASA says that Pluto is a planet for him]]. However, this has yet to occur in Arizona, where the discovery was made.

On the other hand, one might be inclined to wonder how it relates to the death of [[Anime/SailorMoon Meio Setsuna]]....

* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'': Pluto hasn't exactly had the most comfortable career as a Sailor; it gets lonely guarding the Gates of Time after a few centuries. Pluto's demotion as a planet [[HilariousInHindsight became a joke]] among the ''Sailor Moon'' fandom. Ironically, the original [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]] had a Sailor Ceres among a group of asteroid based Sailors. Like Pluto, Ceres is now considered a dwarf planet (see the Real Life section).

* In ''Anime/DragonautTheResonance'' Pluto is destroyed when the EldritchAbomination Thanotos plows right through it on it's way to Earth.
* ''Manga/SgtFrog'' has a Plutonian native visit Earth in one episode. Her species needs to be remembered to exist, and it's downgraded status is causing them to vanish. [[spoiler:She doesn't succeed in the end, and is forgotten.]]
* ''Anime/GundamBuildDiversReRise'' introduces the PLANETS system, with the hero's Core Gundam [[MechaExpansionPack able to switch between whole sets or parts of addon armor systems]], and as the name indicates, they are all named for planets of the solar system. By the end of season 1 we've seen Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter; by the series finale they've added Uranus, Saturn and Neptune. That's all.

* In the ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar'' DC Comics miniseries, ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} manages to take over Pluto, hollow it out, and turn it into a brand new Warworld. All without being noticed by the many and various interstellar agencies on Earth, Darkseid and his lieutenants on Apokolips (somehow relocated to the same solar system by Darkseid's badassery), or Imperiex and his many many miniaturized forms. It apparently stays that way until the 31st century, becoming a plot-point in ''ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}''. Although there's been a CrisisCrossover or four since then, and ''that'' version of the Legion isn't the main future any more, so it's probably been [[CanonDiscontinuity quietly forgotten]].

* During the climatic caper of ''Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol'', the team uses planets in the solar system as their callsigns. Benji, the local ButtMonkey, ends up as Pluto.

--->"Model I blew up during field testing and destroyed half of Pluto. No-one cared -- it was a boring planet anyway... I'm kidding, Lieutenant."
* Averted in ''Literature/RedDwarf''. Humanity decides to turn one of the nine planets into a gigantic rubbish dump, with a Series/EurovisionSongContest style contest deciding the loser. It comes down to a fight between Earth and Pluto. Earth loses, and becomes a ''literal'' CrapsackWorld.

* In ''[[Literature/JudyMoody Stink: Solar System Superhero]]'', Stink fails a test about the planets when Judy teaches him the "My Very Educated Mother Just Ate Nine Pizzas" mnemonic to help him remember the name of the planets, blissfully unaware that Pluto has been reclassified. Despite getting all of the other planets right, he gets a big red X on his paper. The, he and a classmate start developing new mnemonics, like "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nothing."
* In Creator/RosemaryWells's book and the AnimatedAdaptation of [[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17htoz_emilys-first-100-days-of-school_shortfilms "Emily's First 100 Days Of School"]] which has 100 pages which has events related to the number. Was the 8th page, where Emily and her the other students tell how many planets for the Solar System. Pluto is inculuded in it, this was made years before Pluto was no longer a planet.

* Averted (staggeringly) in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Sun Makers", in which the last of humanity in a resource-stripped Solar System are relocated to Pluto, which now has six artificial suns. In the episode's defense, it was broadcast less than ten months before the discovery of Pluto's moon Charon, which revealed how ridiculously small Pluto really was. No excuse for the atrocious grasp of Newtonian mechanics, however.

* In an episode of ''Series/TheThundermans'', Billy and Nora finds a box with a button labelled "Push to Destroy Pluto" in Max's MadScientist room. They push the button... and Pluto explodes. Of course, this happening so far away, the kids conclude that the gizmo isn't working.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuNScgUPYdI 134340 Pluto]] by Music/TallyHall that's sung from the veiwpoint of the titular planet, expressing confusion and frustration at its new classification.

* Some post-2006 productions of ''WesternAnimation/SchoolhouseRock Live!'', a show that features a song that mentions Pluto ("Interplanet Janet") have a scene where after the line is sung, the characters all act confused before someone comes in and tells them that Pluto has been decomissioned as a planet. Shulie wonders how Pluto itself would feel about such a situation, before Tom notices that it looks deflated. Then, [[AudienceParticipation George decides to have the audience vote on whether Pluto should be a planet for the rest of the show.]]

* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsW'', Pluto has become all but forgotten (foreshadowed in a scene in which [[Anime/MazingerZ Boss]] can't even remember it's name), until it's revealed that the BigBad's base is there. To make matters worse, one of the penultimate boss' attacks features it skewering the victim so hard they go through the planet and out the other side.

* One of the story books in ''VideoGame/{{Puppeteer}}'' has Pluto lamenting it's not a planet anymore when the Sun Princess visits the furthest planets.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'', there exists a model of the planet Pluto. Examining it will lead to the PlayerCharacter to drop their two cents about the whole dwarf planet business.

* ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' inverts the trope, as Pluto serves as a WarpWhistle for easy transportation, becomes a mentor figure to Kel, and can be challenged to a fight at several points in the plot. Pluto was originally part of Space Boyfriend's back room decoration, and two of the Space Pirates are freaking out about his escape because Pluto is Space Boyfriend's favorite planet. When Space Boyfriend regains his senses and is later informed of the news, he doesn't dismiss Pluto, and instead believes that Pluto was destined for greater things than mere decoration with the other planets.

-->She threw me me out yelling, "You don't say those words. Not in this house." It's been two years. I thought the wounds had healed. But I stand by what I said: Pluto should never have been a planet.

* [[WebVideo/BumReviews Chester A. Bum]] blows up Pluto with nukes in an installment of ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'', just to get WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic to take him seriously. The Critic is unimpressed. (He got more reaction from blowing up Hollywood, Rome and France.) This happened during a "Previously on Atop the Fourth Wall" segment, meaning that the above didn't really happen in the Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses universe. Also when he reviews ''Anime/SailorMoon'', he points out this trope and then proceeds to shoot poor Sailor Pluto.

'''Wanda and Cosmo:''' Hey! That's not nice!\\

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheReplacements'' has the family playing a mini golf course, where they must hit the ball past some obstacles, among them a rotating windmill of planets that block a hole. Mr. Daring puts his ball which gets deflected by one of the planets. Riley then tells him it was deflected by Pluto, to which he retorts that it is not even a real planet anymore.

* This gets referenced in ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' when Pickles is guest-starring on a game show and is asked which celestial body is not longer considered a planet. Pickles, being extremely drunk, guesses the earth instead.
* In "The Planet Name Game" on ''WesternAnimation/TheCatInTheHatKnowsALotAboutThat'', the Cat, Nick and Sally travel into space and name the eight planets. Neither Pluto nor the controversy surrounding it are mentioned. Incidentally, this may be the first series of its type to touch the subject of naming the planets since the 2006 decision.

* ''WesternAnimation/SidTheScienceKid'' gives Pluto a similar treatment to ''The Cat...'' when the show covers the planets. It simply isn't mentioned - Teacher Susie simply teaches the kids about the eight planets, the four terrestrial planets and the four outer planets.

* As noted in the intro, Pluto was delisted in 2006 by new standards (new in that before, there were ''no'' standards). In fact, in ancient times, the Sun and Moon were planets, while the Earth was ''not'' a planet, because the word "planet" came from the Greek word for "wanderer".[[note]]Remember, back then Earth is considered the center of the solar system, not the Sun.[[/note]] This was inverted with Ceres: It too was made a dwarf planet (an upgrade from simply being a "large asteroid") because it is the only spherical object in the Asteroid Belt, as with Haumea, Makemake, and Eris since they were all discovered after Pluto was recognized. Pluto's reclassification has been averted in Illinois and New Mexico (The home state of the man who discovered Pluto), where the state legislatures have passed laws reclassifying Pluto as a planet. In fact, after the New Horizons flyby of Pluto, [[http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3852044.shtml#.Vae2UPDdVKb the mayor of Alamogordo, New Mexico immediately declares that Pluto is a planet]]. [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/11739763/Pluto-I-still-call-it-a-planet-says-head-of-Nasa.html Even the head of NASA says that Pluto is a planet for him]]. However, this has yet to occur in Arizona, where the discovery was made.
* Interestingly, Ceres played the trope straight before inverting it: upon discovery in 1801, it was classified as a planet, along with Pallas, Juno and Vesta, until further researches shrunk their size while countless small, similar bodies kept popping up. Thus, they were all re-categorised as "minor planets" (asteroids), [[OlderThanTheyThink which is pretty much exactly what happened to Pluto one hundred-fifty years later]]. With the new classification standards in 2006, Ceres was re-categorized again, so it was "demoted" from planet to asteroid, and then "promoted" from asteroid to dwarf planet.

* Due to the distance and size of Pluto, it can be destroyed with little more effect than a visible light in the sky. If we assume for simplicity that blowing up Pluto is inefficient enough that just as much energy goes into light, the energy that reaches the Earth would be roughly what we get from the sun in a fifth of a second. Destroying a true planet would most likely wipe out all life on any of the other planets. This is less about that Pluto is expendable as that it's small and far enough that we don't have to worry about being caught in the cross fire.

* In the ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar'' DC Comics miniseries, ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} manages to take over Pluto, hollow it out, and turn it into a brand new Warworld. All without being noticed by the many and various interstellar agencies on Earth, Darkseid and his lieutenants on Apokolips (somehow relocated to the same solar system by Darkseid's badassery), or Imperiex and his many many miniaturized forms. It apparently stays that way until the 31st century, becoming a plot-point in ''ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}''. Although there's been a CrisisCrossover since then, and ''that'' version of the Legion isn't the main future any more, so it's probably been [[CanonDiscontinuity quietly forgotten]].

#It has cleared its orbit of all similar-sized objects;

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Subverted in ''Manga/{{Remina}}'', as the titular PlanetEater [[EldritchAbomination Cosmic Horror]] may eat it first, but then proceeds in a few weeks to eat ''every other planet in turn'' (including Jupiter, [[OhCrap despite it being much larger than Remina]]), from outermost to innermost. And by the time it enters our solar system, it's already eaten several other stars and presumably their planets. [[FromBadToWorse And then it gets to Earth…]]

* In the ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar'' DC Comics miniseries, Comicbook/{{Brainiac}} manages to take over Pluto, hollow it out, and turn it into a brand new Warworld. All without being noticed by the many and various interstellar agencies on Earth, Darkseid and his lieutenants on Apokolips (somehow relocated to the same solar system by Darkseid's badassery), or Imperiex and his many many miniaturized forms. It apparently stays that way until the 31st century, becoming a plot-point in ''ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}''. Although there's been a CrisisCrossover since then, and ''that'' version of the Legion isn't the main future any more, so it's probably been [[CanonDiscontinuity quietly forgotten]].

* Defied (in more ways than one) in ''ComicBook/Trinity2008''. When [[ComicBook/GreenLantern John Stewart]] arrives ([[JustInTime almost]]) late to stop an alien spacecraft from crashing on a city, he mentions in narration that he was delayed because he was stopping a comet from destroying Pluto.
-->'''Stewart (in narration)''': It's still a planet to me.

* Averted in Creator/HPLovecraft's works, as Pluto -also known as Yuggoth- is an outpost of the powerful and devious [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Mi]]-[[StarfishAliens Go]].
* Averted in a young adult novel titled ''No Passengers Beyond This Point'' in which a little girl views Pluto's demotion as representative of things being unstable and shifting - she's clearly psychologically bugged by it.

* Inverted in Fatimah Asghar's poem "[[http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/250212 Pluto Shits On The Universe]]".
-->My name means hell, bitch. I am hell, bitch. All the cold\\
you have yet to feel. Chaos like a motherfucker.\\
And you tried to order me. Called me ninth.\\
Somewhere in the mess of graphs and math and compass\\
you tried to make me follow rules. Rules? Fuck your\\
rules. Neptune, that bitch slow. And I deserve all the sun\\
I can get, and all the blue-gold sky I want around me.

* ''Series/SonnyWithAChance'': The cast of So Random is working on a modal of the solar system. Sonny is about to tell her friends that she is dating Chad. However, since they were already mad at her for watching Mackenzie Falls, she can't go through with it. Instead, she insists on counting Pluto as a planet and Zora disagrees her

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLEPgos2pOE "Requiem For Pluto"]] by 8bit bEtty is essentially a dirge for the former planet.
--> Let's take a moment to bow our heads
--> We've lost our dear friend Pluto
--> I know he was not large
--> and 4.6 billion miles is far away
--> but we loved him

--> My name was Pluto \\
As a planet I was known \\
What did I do \\
To anger the unified IAU?

[[folder:Theater]]

* ''WebComic/{{xkcd}}'' [[http://www.xkcd.com/1551/ proposes an unorthodox solution]] by reclassifying it as "''dwarf Pluto''".

-->'''Cosmo''': Well, sure! [[ExactWords He never said]] ''[[ExactWords which]]'' [[ExactWords planet it blew up]].\\
'''Timmy''': Who cares? It's Pluto.\\
'''Wanda and Cosmo''': Hey! That's not nice!\\
'''Cosmo''': [[BrickJoke That's where I keep my corn!]]

--> '''Mikey:''' ''[munching]'' What? It's Pluto. Who cares about Pluto?

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': This is the B-plot of "Something Ricked This Way Comes", where it is revealed that Pluto ''used'' to be a planet, but the mining of Plutonium from its core is slowly causing it to shrink, which will eventually lead to an EarthShatteringKaboom. Jerry's belief that Pluto is still a planet attracts the attention of a Plutonian politician, who recruits him to assure the masses that there is nothing wrong with Pluto by telling them it is still a planet and keeping them in the dark about the truth. A scientist shows Morty the truth and has him speak out about it, but Jerry's desire to be right and wanting people to like him outweighs doing the right thing. However, when the politician has the scientist arrested, who turns out to be his own son, has Jerry tell the masses that Pluto is not a planet. This causes public outrage and Jerry and Morty to be booted from the planet, leaving the fate of the Plutonians ambiguous.

---> '''Hades:''' ''Pluto?'' They wanna call me "Pluto?" What kind of name is that? [[MythologyGag I wouldn't call my]] ''dog'' "[[WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup Pluto]]!"

* As noted in the intro, Pluto was delisted in 2006 by new standards (new in that before, there were ''no'' standards). In fact, in ancient times, the Sun and Moon were planets, while the Earth was ''not'' a planet, because the word "planet" came from the Greek word for "wanderer" [[note]] Remember, back then Earth is considered the center of the solar system, not the Sun [[/note]]. This was inverted with Ceres: It too was made a dwarf planet (an upgrade from simply being a "large asteroid") because it is the only spherical object in the Asteroid Belt, as with Haumea, Makemake, and Eris since they were all discovered after Pluto was recognized. Pluto's reclassification has been averted in Illinois and New Mexico (The home state of the man who discovered Pluto), where the state legislatures have passed laws reclassifying Pluto as a planet. In fact, after the New Horizons flyby of Pluto, [[http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3852044.shtml#.Vae2UPDdVKb the mayor of Alamogordo, New Mexico immediately declares that Pluto is a planet]]. [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/11739763/Pluto-I-still-call-it-a-planet-says-head-of-Nasa.html Even the head of NASA says that Pluto is a planet for him]]. However, this has yet to occur in Arizona, where the discovery was made.
* Interestingly, Ceres played the trope straight before inverting it: upon discovery in 1801, it was classified as a planet, along with Pallas, Juno and Vesta, until further researches shrunk their size while countless small, similar bodies kept popping up. Thus, they were all re-categorised as "minor planets" (asteroids), [[OlderThanTheyThink which is pretty much exactly what happened to Pluto one hundred-fifty years later]]. With the new classification standards in 2006, Ceres was re-categorised again, so it was "demoted" from planet to asteroid, and then "promoted" from asteroid to dwarf planet.

->'''Apex Protector:''' "I do not understand this human obsession with this minor and insignificant dwarf planet."\\

* Subverted in ''Manga/{{Remina}}'', as the titular PlanetEater [[EldritchAbomination Cosmic Horror]] may eat it first, but then proceeds in a few weeks to eat ''every other planet in turn'' (including Jupiter, [[OhCrap despite it being much larger than Remina]]), from outermost to innermost… [[FromBadToWorse And then it gets to Earth…]]

* In an episode of ''Animation/{{Smeshariki}}'', resident MadScientist Losyash goes on a hunger strike after learning of Pluto's demotion. Seeing this, the Plutonians cancel their plans to attack Earth in retaliation.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Smeshariki}}'', resident MadScientist Losyash goes on a hunger strike after learning of Pluto's demotion. Seeing this, the Plutonians cancel their plans to attack Earth in retaliation.

* ''UltramanDyna'' centres its GrandFinale on a hole in space sucking things in, with only Pluto being shown to vanish into it before [[spoiler: Asuka makes a HeroicSacrifice to close it]].

* [[http://www.weebls-stuff.com/onthemoon/On+The+Moon+ep.9/ This episode]] of ''OnTheMoon''.

* In a ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' sketch where the planets were alive Pluto is kicked out of their party eventually they agree to let hhim back in in exchange for sexual favors.