History Main / SpaceBattle

* ''[[WebOriginal/StarWreck Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning]]'' builds up into one, although, technically, there are two.

* Battlefleet Gothic portrayed the space battles of the ''Franchise/{{Warhammer40000}}'' universe, until it was discontinued along with most of Games Workshops spin-off games.

* In ''Series/TheExpanse'', a Martian warship ends up engaged in a battle with five smaller stealth ships. They start by exchanging torpedo shots, with the Martian ship's [[PointDefenseless point-defense]] guns shooting down most of the enemy torpedoes, while its own manage to take out one of the attackers. As the remaining attackers get close, torpedoes are abandoned, since the targets are too close for a good lock. The Martians switch to railguns, only to find out, to their dismay, that the mysterious attackers have managed to fit railguns on those small hulls as well. Eventually, the Martian ship is boarded, and the Captain and her first officer initiate self-destruct to keep the ship out of enemy hands.

** StarcraftII plays it much strighter withe the "With Friends Like These..." mission, which takes place entirely in space and featuring massive battles, point-blank dogfights, and vast swarms of missiles and lasers all over the place. And is itself based on a popular custom map called "Star Battle", which is a {{MOBA}}... you guessed it, InSpace.

* The Dendarii Mercenaries and the Prince Serg (or junior and daddy Vorkosigan to put it another way) vs the Cetagandians in ''[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga The Vor Game]]''.

This trope has extended into fantasy or historical movies as well as they have become more popular, this is because use several of the same methods and cliches to bring about the same effect. ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' for example required creative use of CGI and minitures to portray and do epic battles described in the books justice.

This trope has extended into fantasy or historical movies as well as they have become more popular, this is because use several of the same methods and cliches to bring about the same effect. TheLordOfTheRings for example required creative use of CGI and minitures to portray and do epic battles described in the books justice.

* ''Starworld'' by Creator/HarryHarrison has the rebel admiral screening a space battle scene from an old movie, then pointing out how unrealistic it is. He then goes on to demonstrate that KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter.

* There are two battles in ''ComicBook/{{Pouvoirpoint}}'': The first one is lived from inside the [[WaveMotionGun vibro-cannons room]] of ''Entreprise-2061'', during the ambush by a [[BlobMonster Proximian]] swarm from outer space. The second one is seen from outside the ship, when it gets attacked by a [[SpaceFighter coastguard ship]].

* There are two battles in ''ComicBook/{{Pouvoirpoint}}'': The first one is lived from inside the [[WaveMotionGun vibro-cannons room]] of ''Entreprise-2061'', during the ambush by a [[BlobMonster Proximian swarm]]. The second one is seen from outside the ship, when it gets attacked by a [[SpaceFighter coastguard ship]].

* Creator/MikhailAkhmanov's ''[[Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark Invasion]]'' starts with the world leaders watching the recording of the battle between Admiral Timokhin's battlegroup (constituting 1/6 of the total strength of Earth's SpaceNavy) and a single [[HumanAlien Faata]] starship. Timokhin's ships launch scores of fighters and a nuclear MacrossMissileMassacre with a combined strength of 400 gigaton. The alien starship launches [[AntiMatter annihilator]]-armed combat modules that make mincemeat out of the entire battlegroup, while the starship's own DeflectorShields shrug off the nuclear barrage without even a StarTrekShake for the crew. Naturally, the Faata sent the recording to intimidate the human leaders. The story then rewinds to explain how we got to this point. More space battles take place in later novels of the series, although the novels rarely focus on them.

* ''[[WebOriginal/StarWreck Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning]]'' builds up into one.

* ''ComicBook/{{Shakara}}'': On many occasions Shakara will take on entire enemy space fleets with nothing but his (very advanced) sturdy little ship. Sometimes he got more creative: he destroyed one fleet by trapping it in range of a supernova, another by plunging them into a black hole, and another by ''turning a whole planet into giant rocket and blasting his way through''.

* You can technically have these in ''{{Starcraft}}'', if you fight on a space platform map with ships and fighters.

* The into to ''Alien Crossfire'' expansion to ''SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'' shows a battle between two Progenitor scoutships that results in one of the color-coded ships (they're identical otherwise) doing sufficient damage to the other, causing the loser to fly out-of-control and straight into the path of the other ship. The resulting explosion destroys both ships, except both manage to eject {{Escape Pod}}s that land on Chiron.

* ''{{WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars}}'' has multiple of these per season. Notable examples inclue the battle of Ryloth in Season 1 and the batle of Sullust in Season 3.

* Subverted by Creator/IainBanks in ''Literature/SurfaceDetail'' and ''The Algebraist'', in which the 'battles' involve the other side being [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] without even the chance to fire a shot.

* ''StarBlazers / SpaceBattleshipYamato,'' being a quintessential SpaceOpera, certainly has a bunch of them.

The earliest visualization of the concept of space battles on film has its roots in the rocket ship aerial combat scenes from the ''FlashGordon'' and ''ComicStrip/BuckRogers'' serials of the 1930s-40s. However, such battes were much rarer than is commonly thought (most rocket ships being unarmed) and often involved nothing more than a chase scene with [[SpaceOpera rocketships standing in for horses and buggies]]. Also, these don't quite count as space battles technically since they were generally restricted to the stratosphere of either Mongo or Earth. But these are the roots of the [[SpaceIsAir depiction of space battles as aerial dogfights]].

!! Examples:

The earliest visualization of the concept of space battles on film has its roots in the rocket ship aerial combat scenes from the ''FlashGordon'' and ''BuckRogers'' serials of the 1930s-40s. However, such battes were much rarer than is commonly thought (most rocket ships being unarmed) and often involved nothing more than a chase scene with [[SpaceOpera rocketships standing in for horses and buggies]]. Also, these don't quite count as space battles technically since they were generally restricted to the stratosphere of either Mongo or Earth. But these are the roots of the [[SpaceIsAir depiction of space battles as aerial dogfights]].

* The ''Main/TheLostFleet'' series is full with space battles as two fleets battle it out at around twenty percent light speed. Each book usually has two or more instances of combat, while always having a major one. The battles usually involve the fleets passing one another in the blink of an eye and trading shots as they pass, as a mix of naval combat and OldSchoolDogfighting.

* The new ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'''s space battles had quite a wow factor due to the outstanding special effects, despite only having a couple of big ships slugging it out (usually the ''Galactica'' versus a couple of basestars).

[[folder:Anime]]

* ''{{Robotech}}''— which is to say, ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross, [[ChoujikuKidanSouthernCross Southern Cross]],'' and ''Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada.''
* ''{{Vandread}}'' almost every episode have space battles, and it features most of all the examples mentioned above.
* Space battles are a staple in ''LegendOfGalacticHeroes'', and their causes and consequences are major plot points.

[[folder:Film]]

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Essentially, it is an opportunity to show off the special effects and a ton of ideas that the creator has come up with, to try and blow the audience away and use the potential awesome to lobotomize them into drooling masses as they enjoy the spectacle of it all. Of course making such battles have become easier as special effects have become simpler to make and have become much more advanced. The first film to really push the envelope in terms of this was ''StarWars'', during the battle against the Death Star. Virtually every battle will stick to the rule of SpaceIsNoisy, because of RuleOfCool. Now however films with huge battles are commonplace thanks to the advancement of technology.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' thrives on this, it was the first film to really showcase how to make one. Four out of the six films have an epic space battle along the line while the last two take place on a planet. Ironically one of those ground battles is the best remembered: The Battle of Hoth.