History Main / SpaceBattle

Not to be confused with the website Website/SpaceBattlesDotCom, although as the name says, they do like a good battle there.

* Some space-themed video games live on the concept of SpaceBattle, and since this genre is going in a pretty bad way, the ones that done it right have gained a cult status among their geeky fans, becoming the 'Space Battle Generator' to fuel their unending needs of SpaceBattle. Expect a huge amount of GameMod to spice things up... ''a lot''. Some of them are ''{{VideoGame/Freespace}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'', ''{{VideoGame/Freelancer}}'', ''VideoGame/SinsOfASolarEmpire'', ''VideoGame/TachyonTheFringe'', ''VideoGame/StarTrekBridgeCommander'', with honorable mentions to ''VideoGame/StarWarsEmpireAtWar'', ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII'', ''VideoGame/GratuitousSpacebattles'', ''VideoGame/NexusTheJupiterIncident'' and ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'', despite being set in a wasteland with small hints of alien life features one of these in VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} with the Mothership Zeta add-on, complete with a DeathRay. It's a mostly static affair but the first time can be considered quite tense due to you being unfamiliar with the controls. In fact the wiki advises you to perform ButtonMashing to make the battle better. If you go through it again it becomes a pretty predictable "Full power to weapons, reroute power to shields!" etc. Does feature a nice explosion at the end.

* ''VideoGame/GalacticCivilizations'' handles space battles as a short video with no player input beyond the forces they commit. A bit like VideoGame/{{Civilization}} in space really.

* As per the trope image, these do appear in ''Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic''. They tend to be more along the lines of space skirmishes, however, and the non-[[PlayerVersusPlayer PvP]] ones usually involve the player's small ship [[OneManArmy slaughtering everything]].

* ''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 in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.
** Even more examples abound thanks to the post-Lucas films. As of this writing both ''Film/RogueOne'' and ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' have one.

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' has planty of these (often in humorous manner though). To name a few: Battle against Omicron Persei invasion fleet, and big surprisingly epic battle against fleet of golden Death Stars in Bender's Big Score.

* The heroes will have a time limit in which they have to win, they will always achieve this with a second to spare.

* The last few episodes of season 4 of ''Series/BabylonFive'' are full of these. Huge three way battle between the Shadows, Vorlons and Everybody Else; Huge assault on Earth with Earth Defense satellites acting as the giant killing machines that's going to kill everybody and everything.

* ''Literature/EdisonsConquestOfMars'' by Garrett P. Serviss, a sequel to ''Fighters from Mars'', an unauthorized adaptation of ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', is the TropeMaker, featuring two space battles between the Martians and Thomas Edison's "[[YouKeepUsingThatWord cars]]".

* Space battles are a staple in ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'', and their causes and consequences are major plot points.

* In Literature/ASymphonyofEternity space battles are a main focus of the series, with fleets that number in the tens of thousands each set in a universe where magic instead of technology is what is used in war. No wonder since it was inspired by Anime/LegendofGalacticHeroes

* ''VideoGame/MissionCritical'' is a ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}''-style adventure game, but you do have to engage in ship-to-ship combat one at mid-game and once during the climax. All combat is done with the capital ships hanging in orbit and acting as bases, rearming and repairing AttackDrones. These drones are the ones that do all the fighting. Capital ships do have some weapons, like anti-ship missiles (that are fairly easily swatted by a single drone) and [[PointDefenseless point-defense]] lasers that are fairly useless against the fast-moving drones. The game notes that the primary reason why TheAlliance is losing to the [[UnitedNationsIsASuperPower UN]] is because the UN has better (and more) drones. Normally, all battles are computer-controlled due to humans being too slow to match their speed. However, the Alliance has developed a top-secret substance that temporarily boosts a human's reaction UpToEleven, allowing the player to control drones and beat the more predictable enemy computers. Visually, the battles employ [[OurGraphicsWillSuckInTheFuture vector graphics]]. Additionally, while there is no StealthInSpace, enemy ships will often be hiding on the other side of the planet, requiring drones to be sent to scout beyond the horizon.

One of the cornerstones of a SpaceOpera is for there to be a Space Battle somewhere along the line, where the heroes take part in an event that will change the fate of everything, then stop for a VictoryDance and a SpotOfTea if the battle is won.

** ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' had several of large-scale battles as early as episode 2, with the Battle of the Binary Stars between 12 Starfleet ships and nearly 30 Klingon ships. The season 2 finale also includes a battle between [[spoiler:the ''Enterprise'', the ''Discovery'', and over a hundred armed shuttles and pods on one side and about 30 [[AIIsACrapshoot Control]] ships with hundreds of AttackDrones on the other. Klingons and Kelpiens (flying Ba'ul fighters) join to support Starfleet halfway through the battle]].

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

* ''Literature/{{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.

* ''WesternAnimation/IlEtaitUneFois' ''Space'' has a few, most notably by far the epic [[CurbStompBattle Curb-stomping]] of the [[spoiler:Cassiopeian fleet at the hands of the Great Computer's one]]

The SpaceBattle can also be the FinalBattle depending on when it starts in the show. Can also overlap with DecisiveBattle depending on if it takes place before the FinalBattle. {{Space Battle}}s often involve {{Standard Starship Scuffle}}s.

* ''Videogame/{{Rimworld}}'''s Vanilla Events Expanded mod reminds you that there are civilizations out there beyond the space age, by including Space Battles as a random event. Naturally, you don't get to participate, but [[RealityEnsues you get to deal with a portion of the spaceship fragments, missed shots and escape shuttles/pods that crash into the planet as a result]]. Dangerous, as no one wants a giant chunk of ship crashing into their house, but profitable once its over and you can recycle the parts. And sweep up whoever survived the crashes.

[[quoteright:349:[[VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/starwars-oldrepublic-spacebattle-001_6733.png]]]]

One of the cornerstones of a SpaceOpera is for there to be a Space Battle somewhere along the line, where the heroes take part in an event which will change the fate of the everything, then stop for a VictoryDance and a SpotOfTea if the battle is won.

Well, it's not exactly as simple as that, [[LampshadeHanging almost.]] It is meant to be the occasion in a movie, game or TV series where it can show off where most of the budget probably went and why it took as much time as it did. It provides jaw dropping visuals, tons of [[SlowLaser Slow Lasers]], a lot of tense edge-of-your-seat action, advanced iconic vehicles or weapons, and a totally awesome end sequence.

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 ''Franchise/StarWars'' ''[[Film/ANewHope Episode IV: A New Hope]]'', 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.

* There will be hundreds of soldiers or vehicles running amok to show the scale of it (in most productions made after the late 1990s they will all be computer generated).

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 ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars: A New Hope]]'', 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.

* Some space-themed video games live on the concept of SpaceBattle, and since this genre is going in a pretty bad way, the ones that done it right have gained a cult status among their geeky fans, becoming the 'Space Battle Generator' to fuel their unending needs of SpaceBattle. Expect a huge amount of GameMod to spice things up... ''a lot''. Some of them are ''{{VideoGame/Freespace}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'', ''{{VideoGame/Freelancer}}'', ''VideoGame/SinsOfASolarEmpire'', ''VideoGame/StarTrekBridgeCommander'', with honorable mentions to ''VideoGame/StarWarsEmpireAtWar'', ''VideoGame/GratuitousSpacebattles'', ''VideoGame/NexusTheJupiterIncident'' and ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron''.