Line #27 PlayingWith/SovietSuperscience


1	'''Basic Trope''': Soviet Union in the story having technology too advanced compared to RealLife in the same time period.
2	* '''Straight''': Thanks to [[TheProfessor Professor Kravchenko's]] research into magnetism, USSR has [[MagneticWeapons coilguns, railguns]], fusion power, and Maglev propulsion by 1970s.
3	* '''Exaggerated''': Prof. Kravchenko's research enables the Soviets to breach and conquer an entire AlternateUniverse while no-one is looking during World War II.
4	* '''Downplayed''': Prof. Kravchenko invents advanced computing technologies that allow the USSR to manufacture desktop [=PCs=] and cell phones in the 1970s.
5	* '''Justified''':
6	** Professor is just reverse-engineering [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum alien technology]] from a crashed starship.
7	** The Party is ready to greenlight experiments [[PlayingWithSyringes that would be considered unethical]] and forbidden in other countries, as long as the results are solid.
8	* '''Inverted''':
9	** The USSR is depicted as technologically backwards due to ideology and/or bureaucracy getting in the way of science.
10	** The US in the 70s has advanced technology, such as ArtificialLimbs, PoweredArmor, {{Uterine Replicator}}s, [[DesignerBabies genetically engineered humans]], the oldest of who are now teenagers, and monstrous hybrid "attack dogs" capable of shrugging off rifle fire even before they put armor on.
11	** The USSR in the story has reached unfathomable heights... in utilizing FunctionalMagic and the supernatural, via SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic. By 1970s, Soviet schools are teaching [[MagicAIsMagicA the basic laws of magic]] [[UrbanFantasy alongside physics and chemistry]], the [[AlchemyIsMagic alchemical transmutation of metals]] has been industrialized, and UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev [[DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu has had tea with the Elder Gods]] on national TV.
12	** In a WeirdHistoricalWar setting in which all other sides are equipped up the wazoo with super-science and sorcery, the Soviets (who [[MugglePower refuse the fantastic for a variety of reasons]]) [[DavidVersusGoliath fight with nothing]] but [[ZergRush a human wave of conscripts]] armed with bolt-action rifles, [=PPSh=]-41 sub-machine guns, T-34 tanks [[PatrioticFervor and a whole lot of love for the Motherland in their hearts]], and [[RockBeatsLaser that is all]] [[MugglesDoItBetter they need]].
13	* '''Subverted''':
14	** Prof. Kravchenko speaks of bringing railguns and fusion power into reality, but the level of technology does not allow these plans to go beyond theories and failed experiments.
15	** The magnetism research "superscience program" produces no results, [[CorruptBureaucrat as it's actually a sham by corrupt officials]] for the purposes of embezzling state money.
16	* '''Double Subverted''':
17	** However, once Soviet officials assemble groups of geniuses of Prof. Kravchenko's caliber and place them under his command as well as funding them generously they are able to produce more than even Prof. Kravchenko thought theoretically possible.
18	** However, the program being a sham is not the fault of Kravchenko and his research group, [[AchievementsInIgnorance who are not told about the embezzlement scheme]] and duly create scientific miracles that they don't even get funding to produce [[DudeWheresMyRespect or any acknowledgement for creating]].
19	* '''Parodied''': Prof. Kravchenko steals Lenin's preserved body from the Mausoleum to turn it into a nuclear-powered [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombie cyborg]] armed with EyeBeams.
20	* '''Zig Zagged''': Some disciplines of science are favored by the Soviet government and develop rapidly, while others are proclaimed "false sciences" and forbidden, resulting in SchizoTech across the board.
21	* '''Averted''': USSR in the story has the tech level appropriate for the time it's set in.
22	* '''Enforced''':
23	** "Soviet industrial design is so much cooler than American! Why not give the Commies some awesome super-tech to show it off?"
24	** The work is a Soviet propaganda film designed to inspire faith in the achievements of socialism, and takes a few liberties with reality for this purpose.
25	** The base premise of the story: ''[[AlternateHistory What if [Insert failed Soviet project here] was viable?]]''
26	* '''Lampshaded''': "Seriously? Soviets with railguns and hover tanks?! I thought that was just in [[RedScare bad war propaganda films!]]"
27	* '''Invoked''': ScaryDogmaticAliens favor the USSR and aid their technological development in secret.
28	* '''Exploited''':
29	** The Soviet leadership uses Prof. Kravchenko's breakthroughs to start - and win - WorldWarIII.
30	** The US has sent spies to steal and/or copy the products of Soviet research to reverse engineer and created their own version.
31	* '''Defied''': American spies kill or bribe super-geniuses like Kravchenko to prevent USSR from being able to win in potential WorldWarIII.
32	* '''Discussed''': "Fusion power? But that's amazing!" "Amazing? Believe me, [[GratuitousRussian tovarisch]] - you haven't seen nothing yet."
33	* '''Conversed''': "The idea that the USSR could have super-technologies doesn't hold any water. Why does it keep popping up in fiction?" "Because it's [[RuleOfCool cool]], duh."
34	* '''Implied''': The story is told from the point of view of the Western defense contractors, and though spies constantly bring news about the products of Soviet Superscience that motivate the protagonists into action, the superscience itself isn't shown on screen.
35	* '''Deconstructed''':
36	** The tech is massively impractical either through being too heavy to use or being so hilariously overpowered that there's no way to use it without friendly fire...
37	** The huge amounts of money and resources being poured into such projects means that much less for other aspects of the Soviet economy. The quality of life of the average Soviet citizen suffers as a results.
38	** In relation to "stereotypical CommieLand" bullet points below, the superscience exists and is perfectly viable, but restricted to use in the military (which will either never see combat, [[WorldWarIII or might destroy the world]] if it does) and by top-level Party officials (whose numbers are vanishingly thin), while all the regular citizens have to do with period-accurate 1970s tech and living standards - modest at best, dismal at worst. And since most people will never get to benefit from the superscience, [[ReedRichardsIsUseless it might as well not exist at all]].
39	* '''Reconstructed''':
40	** ...But the Soviets don't mind that, they have reserves and happen to be the ones who built the biggest heavy-lift choppers, transport planes, and amphibious landing craft in the world, so they can compensate.
41	** However, the dip in the quality of life for the Soviet people is only temporary, and soon cheap energy and improvements in the production of various goods make the quality of life even better than it was before.
42	* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': SovietSuperscience is the first sign that the story is set in an AlternateUniverse.
43	* '''Played For Laughs''':
44	** Soviets have advanced technology - [[MisappliedPhlebotinum that they massively misapply]].
45	** The Soviet Union possesses incredible technology, but remains the same old [[NationalStereotypes stereotypical]] CommieLand full of {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s, SkewedPriorities, and [[JustAStupidAccent ridiculous accents]].
46	** Professor Kravchenko's obsession with showcasing Soviet society is superior reflects in superscience projects that enhance Soviet stereotypes, such as a sonic DeathRay that only works if its user sings "Katyusha". [[StopBeingStereotypical Most users decide that the technology is too much of a hassle, sooner or later]], regardless of [[AwesomeButImpractical how awesome its power is]].
47	* '''Played For Drama''':
48	** The advance of Soviet technology causes the UsefulNotes/ColdWar to heat up abroad, and totalitarianism to get many new powers at home, and the story asks - can the cast of heroes, inside the USSR and out, successfuly push back?
49	** The Soviet scientists are tasked to create technology far beyond their time to SaveTheWorld (for example, by deflecting a massive asteroid or stopping an interdimensional AlienInvasion)... but no-one knows if they can succeed, not even the scientists themselves.
50	** The Soviet Government can only create such advanced technology by diverting large amounts of money and resources into such projects. Said budget is cannibalized from various civilian agencies, leaving the people without basic needs.
51	** The "stereotypical CommieLand" of the bullet point above is most definitely made worse, not better, by the advent of superscience. Most of its use is restricted to military or high-priority Party member use only, increasing the divide between the haves and the have-nots.
52	** The superscience gives unimaginable power to the Soviet Union, allowing it to swiftly TakeOverTheWorld... but all its historical contradictions, blunders, and evildoing swiftly catch up to it, and a global civil war erupts between [[NiceGuy the idealists]], [[KnightTemplar the fanatics]], [[CorruptPolitician the opportunists]], and [[StrawHypocrite the power-hungry egomaniacs]] over what the future should look like; with the fate of mankind [[UncertainDoom very much up in the air]].
53	* '''Played For Horror''':
54	** The Soviet experimental research ends up causing a series of [[SciFiHorror horrific calamities]] - because the ability of Soviet scientists ''to create'' hyper-advanced technologies [[GoneHorriblyWrong does not equal the ability]] ''[[GoneHorriblyRight to control them]]''.
55	** The Soviet superscience is PoweredByAForsakenChild, a fact that everybody involved in the project do not care about because they believe (or pretend to believe) it's worthy sacrifices to the Communist ideal - of course, most of said HumanResources come from people who were sentenced to Gulags.
56	** The Soviet superscience is utilized for a swift and total Communist conquest of the world and every horrible thing "Uncle Joe" and his inner circle did in RealLife is enhanced by KGB agents with MindRape machines and Spetsnaz with DeathRay weapons.
57	----
58	Back to SovietSuperscience with you, capitalist pig-dog!

Context PlayingWith / SovietSuperscience