Do spaceships belong on a Character page?

The character page for Star Trek: The Original Series lists the USS Enterprise as a character. Does that mean any spaceship with a name can be considered a character?

I don't see why not

Simply having a name means little. Are they actually alive in the sense that they talk/have personality?

Like the Megaship in Power Rangers in Space clearly talks. It gains even more personality early on, even if it's hacked in.

It still has to have some form of characterization, even if small, to be treated as an actual character. Even if it simply is just a Yes-Man, doing whatever its told to do without hesitation. It's still a personality, boring as it may be.

edited 14th Jul '15 3:19:52 AM by Irene

The Enterprise is not a living ship. The ship's computer can talk, but it doesn't have a will of its own. Furthermore, the ship's computer is always addressed as "Computer" and not as "Enterprise".

On the other hand, the Enterprise can be controlled by the player in several video games, which would make it a Player Character. The Enterprise is occasionally referred to as "she".

http://www.multiversitycomics.com/interviews/star-trekgreen-lantern-interview/ In this interview, the writer of the Star Trek/Green Lantern crossover Mike Johnson refers to the Enterprise as a character.

So I'm not sure if starships should be counted as characters. Which is why I asked the question.

edited 14th Jul '15 3:21:15 AM by NetSpiker

I think you're looking at this the wrong way: The point of character pages isn't so much listing characters as organizing tropes. Meeting exacting criteria of being a character is less important than looking at them as a character being useful

Eh, the Enterprise is a plot device... and tropes related to plot devices go on the main article.

edited 14th Jul '15 4:56:53 AM by Fighteer

That. The logic presented by making the Enterprise a character means that any work that features anything that's piloted can consider its vessels characters if they are featured enough in the work, which is silly.

edited 14th Jul '15 6:12:53 AM by Willbyr

It's an interesting question. There are ships that are clearly just vehicles and ships that are clearly characters, but where exactly does the line go? What does a ship need to be a character? A voice? A humanoid avatar? Emotions? An episode exploring it's social awkwardness?

Is Literal-Minded Emotionless Girl (=the typical starship computer) a personality?

Admittedly, the line is fuzzy. To compare two examples that I'm familiar with, the Enterprise is clearly an object; although characters may anthropomorphize her in their language, they are not imagining that she is a sapient being. However, the TARDIS is most definitely sapient; we have explicit confirmation of this at several points in Doctor Who, including one episode in the revival series when she is briefly embodied in a human.

If the spaceship has an AI personality that is an actual character — that is, conversed with, given characterization tropes, and such, then it counts as a character, no matter how "emotionless" it may be. HAL 9000 is one such.

edited 14th Jul '15 8:48:54 AM by Fighteer

Basically, is it treated as a character or as a set-piece?

Was going to mention the TARDIS, actually. Even without that embodiment, she's still treated as a character.