History Main / FeudalFuture

* ''Series/OhsamaSentaiKingOhger'': PlayedWith. ''Kingohger'' is the first ''Super Sentai'' season to explicitly not take place on Earth, but instead the planet Tikyu - wherein a group of medieval kingdoms co-exist via various levels of SchizoTech. That is until episode #31, which ends with the revelation that [[spoiler: Tikyu's natives were actually refugees from Earth that migrated to Tikyu after the Galactinsects appeared and caused a CivilWar]]; establishing the season as this for ''[[Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger Kyoryuger]]'''s [[TheVerse reality]].

* In ''Series/{{Killjoys}}'' shares in the Company are tied to land ownership on the planet Qresh. And land ownership is hereditary, a lot of the protagonists' jobs are caused by the dynastic politics of the nine major families.

Among the commonest societies in SpaceOpera, PlanetaryRomance, and other forms of Science Fiction. It is also common in post-apocalyptic stories.

* The Systems Commonwealth of ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'' was originally the Vedran Empire, but they transitioned to a constitutional monarchy thousands of years before contact with humanity. During the Long Night several feudal and semi-feudal governments arose, most notably some of the larger Nietzschean Prides such as the Drago-Kazov and Sabra-Jaguar, who lord over enslaved populations of [[{{Muggles}} "kludges"]] and sometimes even use titles (i.e. Archduke Charlemagne Bolivar).

* ''Series/StargateSG1'' is set in the present, but the Goa'uld System Lords definitely operated under a feudal system. The main difference being that, due to their nigh-immortality, it was less about lines than about individuals, and holdings would usually pass from father to son by conquest.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'''s Klingon Empire has a very feudal feel to it, being organized into noble houses and the like. The Empire has technically always had an imperial throne, but for almost all of its history this was vacant, following the departure of the first emperor, [[CrystalDragonJesus Kahless the Unforgettable]]. Real power resided with the Chancellor of the High Council. Towards the end of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' a clone of Kahless was installed as emperor in a ceremonial role.

* The Systems Commonwealth of ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'' was originally the Vedran Empire, but they transitioned to a constitutional monarchy thousands of years before contact with humanity. During the Long Night several feudal and semi-feudal governments arose, most notably some of the larger Nietzschean Prides such as the Drago-Kazov and Sabra-Jaguar, who lord over enslaved populations of [[{{Muggles}} "kludges"]] and sometimes even use titles (i.e. Archduke Charlemagne Bolivar).
** In one episode Captain Dylan Hunt and [[TokenEvilTeammate Tyr]] are made advisers to a young planetary king, and have to protect him from the rebellious nobles who had just offed his father. [[spoiler: Dylan convinces him to reform his world as a democracy by the end of the episode. It also helps that Tyr uses the opportunity to kill all the nobles, thus freeing their lands to be distributed among the members of the military who lay down their arms.]]

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' has the Imperium of Man. The central authorities of the Imperium, the Lords of Terra and the Administratum, serves as the feudal lord and appoints one governor for each planet. That governor has three duties: Pay your tithes to the upkeep of the Imperium, turn over any [[PsychicPowers psykers]] to the [[TheCorpsIsMother black ships]], and keep your world from rebelling. As long as those three tenets are upheld, the central authority cares little for how the world is run on a day-to-day basis. Thus, one can find practically any sort of government on imperial planets, from medieval feudalism or military dictatorships to modern-day democracies. The only thing they all have in common is a ''de jure'' governor, to be held responsible by the Administratum should the planet lapse in any of its three duties.
** Along with these three basic duties there were also upholding the [[ChurchMilitant Cultus Imperialis]], submitting to the authority and supervision of Adeptus Arbites in the matter of the (admittedly few) Imperial Laws and, as a duty to ''any'' Imperial citizen, following every whim of [[StateSec the Inquisition]].
** Space Marine Chapters double in as Feudal masters and Knightly Orders. They are semi-independent yet owe their loyalty to the Imperium, and maintain their own upkeep using (usually) a Star System. The Ultramarines are particularly notable in that their dominion encompasses multiple star systems.
** Society on Knight Worlds of the Questor Imperialis[[note]]also known as the Imperial Knights[[/note]] is divided between the serf-like Drovers, who tend to herds and crops and are equipped with simple unarmed walkers; the Sacristans, a subset of the [[MachineWorship Mechanicus]] who look after the mecha and keep the peace between noble houses; and the Knightly Houses proper, who have exclusive access to the HumongousMecha and use these to rule their worlds, and who are sworn to a number of high lords. In turn, all the lords of a planet answer to a single Princeps or High King, who is sworn to either Mars or Terra, respectively.
** There's also the Martian Technocracy (also known as the Mechanicum, or Adeptus Mechanicus). They hold a weird position in the Imperium, as the Emperor guaranteed their autonomy, and virtual monopoly on high technology by treaty just before the start of the Great Crusade. The result is a sovereign [[AveMachina technotheocratic]] nation, separate and legally distinct from, yet physically co-mingled with the Imperium as a whole (and their Adeptus status makes them ''de jure'' Imperial Citizens, as opposed to merely planetary subjects). In a lot of ways, it's pretty similar to the medieval Church...
** On the Xenos side of things, society on Craftworld Saim-hann is built around Wild Rider clans, each one ruled by a single head figure, the "Chief" and the rule is passed down through hereditary tradition, while the Chief's closest relatives, the Kinsmen, form the elite. This is also true for Eldar Exodite worlds. In another case, some Ork tribes are successful enough to form small empires, such as the Ork Empires of Octarius and Charadon. These lorded over by a Warlord or Warboss, with the Nobs (larger and more combat-capable Orks) forming a sort of noble class.

* The Third Imperium of ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' is one of the earliest RPG examples. Individual planets are more or less autonomous and can have practically any form of government, but the space between them is the domain of the local nobility. This is all due to the mechanics of the setting's phlebotinum: [[FasterThanLightTravel Jump drive]] takes one week to travel between star systems regardless of distance and most drives can only travel about two parsecs per jump, so with no form of [[SubspaceAnsible superluminal communication]] available a hierarchy of nobles is one of the few political arrangements that can function across such a vast territory of space.
** The system of nobility is complex. For instance a noble's ''estate'' is not the same as his ''office''. For instance the duke of a given subsector does not hold that subsector as part of a family possession. He holds it as a sort of satrapy. At the same time he will likely have several different estates that he is a direct FeudalOverlord over. How the Third Imperium assures loyalty in it's nobles is not made clear (though it's implied the Imperial Navy and Marines have something to do with it).

* The ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonstar}}'' (third-party) campaign setting for TabletopGame/{{Dungeons and Dragons}}'s third edition is utterly dominated by the massive Dragon Empire, split into two Dragon Kingdoms of of five duchies each (the Dragon Empire was formed as a compromise to stop a devastating war between the metallic dragon-ruled kingdom of Qesemet and the chromatic dragon-ruled kingdom of Asamet, each having one duchy each for the constituent colours). The position of Emperor is rotated between the rules of the duchies on a 1000-year basis, but other than that it is a pretty standard life-long feudal space regime -- with the exception of the top nobility being true dragons and hence having natural lives well in excess of a thousand years, of course.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Lancer}}'', numerous examples of feudal colonies and states are mentioned in the background lore, with the Karrakin Trade Baronies standing notably above the rest as one of the largest factions in the setting. They draw as much from classical Greek aesthetics and mythology as they do Arthurian legend and the Medieval era, with mech pilots called Kavalieres, Kuirassers, and [[RobotAthlete Pankrati]].

* The Elites/Sangheili from ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' have a society set up in this manner, with each of their planets divided into a number of independent states ruled by their most prominent keep and led by a ''kaidon'' elected by a council of elders. However, Elites also believe in meritocracy, and serfs who prove themselves can become part of the main keep, while even Elites of noble birth are not allowed to know the identity of their parents, in order to minimize nepotism.
** The accepted way to express disapproval of a ''kaidon'' is to assassinate him. However, if it fails, then the leader has a right to kill the elder. If the elder sent assassins, instead of doing the job himself like a proper Sangheili, then the ''kaidon'' may also have the elder's entire family slaughtered for his cowardice, instead of merely exiled.
** The Elites themselves are part of the Covenant, a theocratic multi-species Empire whose government is the only thing capable of maintaining political unity between the Elites; [[spoiler:after the Covenant collapses post-''VideoGame/Halo3'', the Elites have split into a number of opposing factions]].

* ''VideoGame/DyztopiaPostHumanRPG'': The Arcdras formed the Tundrus Kingdom and the Smogs formed the Smog Empire in the post-human world, both of which utilize a traditional aristocracy. In contrast, Zeta is a completely corporate run state while Vulcanite is a puppet democracy in service of Zeta. Before Zeta took over Vulcanite, the latter was a collectivist society with no form of currency.
* The Amarr Empire in ''VideoGame/EveOnline'', complete with a theocratic government and widespread use of slavery.

* It appears that three of the four Houses in ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}'' have (at least, partly) a feudal system. Bretonia resurrects the British constitutional monarchy. [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Kusari]] has an Emperor and local lords. Even Rheinland goes back to the old days of unified Prussia and has its own aristocracy. [[EagleLand Liberty]] appears to be the only one with a purely democratic government.
** It is unclear if the nobility of Rheinland has any actual ''power'' by virtue of their titles anymore, but Rheinland at the very least ''was'' this trope, before a disastrous conflict led to a revolution that toppled the Emperor (and established a republic that may or may not have been about as democratic as Liberty, if more unstable, before [[spoiler: the Nomad infestation]]).
* In Frontier's ''VideoGame/{{Elite}}'' series, the Empire is an interstellar power that bases itself upon the Roman Empire, with patrician-like Senators that have almost unlimited legal freedom, a regulated slave trade, and a heredity ruler. The decadent Empire is the rival of the corporate Federation and the free Alliance. Solar systems can be aligned to one of the three powers or Independent, and can have any government type regardless of affiliation, such as a Federation-aligned Feudal system or an Empire-aligned Communist system.
* ''VideoGame/VegaStrike'' human faction Highborn. They seem to think of themselves as KnightInShiningArmor better than anyone including superhumans. Highborn are noticeably decadent, but there's enough of high-end jousting forces to back up their claims.
* In ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity Nova'', the Auroran Empire, the territorially largest government in the setting, is composed of five Houses of {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s who fight each other about as often as they fight {{the Federation}} and the [[FantasticCasteSystem Polaris]].
* In the ''VideoGame/CrisisOfTheConfederation'' mod for ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsII'', this is the goal of the Neo-Feudalist political ideology[[note]]as a more secular setting than the default, not-space-opera, game, the mod's uses the religion mechanics to represent political ideologies, with only a few weak ideologies being actual religions[[/note]]. At the start of the game, they are in control of the interstellar Kingdom of Avalon, which they in the backstory hijacked from a [[BioAugmentation Bio-Directionist]] statebuilding project. Some of the other ideologies can also favour shifts in this direction -- the Terran Confederation can be transformed into the Terran Empire in the hands of the Terran Imperialist ideology (who are more authoritarian than actually feudal, but in actual effect shift towards this trope due to the demands of dictatorship on the interstellar scale), and the right circumstances can lead to the Confederation being transformed into the ''Holy'' Terran Empire, complete with a state church with power and influence.
* Quite possible in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' with the "Feudal Society" civic unique to Imperial star nations. Crucially the civic allows your vassals to build their own starbases in unclaimed systems and expand outward on their own, lending a unique playstyle. Though any monarchy or dictatorship that practices Aristocracy, Caste System slavery and/or Domestic Servitude will be a quasi-example.
** "Imperial Fiefdom" origin added in the ''Overlord'' expansion is largely based around this. An empire with this origin begins the game as one of a number of vassals of another, more powerful empire. After a couple of decades, the Overlord empire falls apart due to a SuccessionCrisis, which allows some of yesterday's vassals to try to become a suzerain themselves.

* In ''VideoGame/CryingSuns'', the galaxy-spanning Empire is ruled by a collection of noble houses. The three Great Houses are House Telos (the royal family), House Akibara-Sung, and House Kosh-Buendia, each of which controls its own star cluster.

* [[http://www.bigheadpress.com/pk Phoebus Krumm]] is essentially the [[SpaceSailing Age of Sail in space]]. However the monarchs have corporate-derived titles such as "CEO" and "Drector".

* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', Gem society has shades of this. [[SocietyOfImmortals Since Gems are functionally immortal]], succession does not play a role (though you could view each Gem type as [[CloneArmy a "lineage" of sorts]]), but the Diamonds, who rule the interstellar Gem empire, are very much treated as royalty, and each have their own court composed of [[HiveCasteSystem various ranks of servant Gems]] and an "aristocracy" of Sapphires and other higher-ranked Gem types. The various Quartz sub-types serve as something like knights. There definitely seems to be a legal system underpinning Gem society and keeping the Diamonds in power, since the Diamonds explicitly want to put [[RebelLeader Rose Quartz]] on ''trial''.

Often an excuse to use MedievalEuropeanFantasy tropes or tropes from other CommonHistoricalSettings in SF.

Often an excuse to use MedievalEuropeanFantasy tropes in SF.

* ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'' takes place in a feudal future set "1,000 years after the collapse of industrial civilization", with the various monarchal states fighting over the remaining lands that have not been consumed by the toxic jungle. One of Nausicaa's goals is to prevent her small kingdom, the titular valley, from being conquered by Torumekia. The manga presents a much more complicated political situation than in the anime, which was constrained by the runtime of a film.

** Minbari society is divided into three castes: Religious, Warrior and Worker. This is the social divide used by feudalism--the Church, the aristocracy who do the fighting, and the peasants and artisans who support these two groups with their labour. In this case however all castes are supposed to be on the same social level, so it's a downplayed trope.

* Ernst Jüngers Books Heliopolis, at the marble cliffs and eumeswil are set in a future which reverted to feudalism.