History Literature / RoburTheConqueror

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: In RealLife, ramming an airship with a rotary-wing craft would result in the complete destruction of both. That wouldn't really help illustrate the [[AnAesop whole scientific point of the novel]], though, so out it goes.

* TheSkyIsAnOcean: This book may well be the TropeCodifier. Not only is the ''Albatross'' essentially a ship with propellers instead of sails, but the narration keeps using phrases like "aerial sea," and the balloon ''Go Ahead'' is actually compared with an [[SpaceWhale airborne whale]].

* ShooOutTheClowns: Frycollin, who's given the burden of supplying most of the comic relief, is [[PresentAbsence notably absent]] during the two most dramatic moments in the book. The first time, his absence is itself PlayedForDrama and ends up being a minor ChekhovsGun; the second time, it's just explained that he's [[OptOut tired of all the hullaballoo and decided to stay home]].

* UncleTomfoolery: The servant Frycollin, portrayed as an abject coward who's not particularly bright, is the victim of some of the most uncomfortably racist humor in Verne's entire oeuvre.

* CanonWelding[=/=]MassiveMultiplayerCrossover: The first chapter mentions the cannon from ''Literature/TheBegumsMillions''.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: The ''Albatross''.

* AntiHero[=/=]AntiVillain: Robur. (That's right, he could be described as either one. It's surprisingly hard to tell which trope describes him better at any given point.)

* AntiHero[=/=]AntiVillain: Robur.

* AnAesop: The whole deconstruction of the CoolAirship trope. At the end, when the kidnapped bigwigs escape and return home to finish their airship, the ''Albatross'' [[http://blogs.monlegionnaire.com/media/blogs/Bishopkiller/Robur2.jpg suddenly shows up once again]], has an aerial battle with the airship, and skewers its balloon. Robur saves the airship's entire crew, safely carries them back to the audience, makes a little speech about the awesomeness of heavier-than-air machines and flies away, leaving the group of airship fanboys completely embarrassed. (See also "Fantastic Aesop" below.)

* AcceptableBreaksFromReality:
** The ''Albatross'' is carried by storm between Mount Erebus and Mount Terror and narrowly misses by a lucky helm handling the flames spewing from Mount Erebus' crater. The tone of the story makes people think it as some [[StarWars dashing flight through a canyon of fire]]. In RealLife the mountains are separated by more than 15 miles, Mount Terror has been extinct for at least 800,000 years and Mount Erebus' flames never jump for thousands of yards into the atmosphere.
** In RealLife, ramming an airship with a rotary-wing craft would result in the complete destruction of both. That wouldn't really help illustrate the [[AnAesop whole scientific point of the novel]], though, so out it goes.

InAWorld where repeating sightings of an unidentified flying object are confusing the heck out of everybody, the balloon enthusiasts at the Weldon Institute are more concerned about finishing their CoolAirship. Just as their plans are reaching fever pitch, two of their top bigwigs are kidnapped by the mysterious Robur, who takes them around the world on his [[CoolPlane ridiculously cool flying machine]] ''Albatross'',[[note]]Yep, you guessed it, the ''Albatross'' was the UFO that had caused all the commotion.[[/note]] just to prove that [[AnAesop heavier-than-air travel is the way of the future]] and that airships [[ItWillNeverCatchOn will never catch on]]. Adventure, intrigue, and (in classic Verne style) [[ShownTheirWork gobs and gobs of lovingly detailed scientific and geographic exposition]] all ensue.

InAWorld where repeating sightings of an unidentified flying object are confusing the heck out of everybody, the balloon enthusiasts at the Weldon Institute are more concerned about finishing their CoolAirship. Just as their plans are reaching fever pitch, two of their top bigwigs are kidnapped by the mysterious Robur, who takes them around the world on his [[CoolPlane ridiculously cool flying machine]] ''Albatross'',[[note]]Yep, you guessed it, the ''Albatross'' was the UFO that had caused all the commotion.[[/note]] just to prove that [[AnAesop heavier-than-air travel is the way of the future]]. Adventure, intrigue, and (in classic Verne style) [[ShownTheirWork gobs and gobs of lovingly detailed scientific and geographic exposition]] all ensue.

InAWorld where repeating sightings of an unidentified flying object are confusing the heck out of everybody, the balloon enthusiasts at the Weldon Institute are more concerned about finishing their CoolAirship, the ''Go Ahead'', which is designed to prove for once and for all that lighter-than-air travel is the way of the future. Just as their plans are reaching fever pitch, they're interrupted by the mysterious Robur, who [[BadassBoast harangues them with a ridiculous claim]] that heavier-than-air flying machines are better, and that [[TrustMeImAnX he should know, because he's conquered the air with one]]. The next thing you know, he's kidnapped two Weldon Institute bigwigs and is taking them around the world on his flying machine ''Albatross'', just to prove that [[ArkhamsRazor his ridiculous claim was true after all]].[[note]]Yes, you guessed it, the ''Albatross'' was the unidentified flying object everybody had gotten so flustered by.[[/note]] Adventure, intrigue, and (in classic Verne style) [[ShownTheirWork gobs and gobs of lovingly detailed scientific and geographic exposition]] all ensue. At the end, when the kidnapped bigwigs escape and return home to finish their airship, the ''Albatross'' [[http://blogs.monlegionnaire.com/media/blogs/Bishopkiller/Robur2.jpg suddenly shows up once again]], has an aerial battle with the airship, and skewers its balloon. Robur saves the airship's entire crew, safely carries them back to the audience, makes a little speech about the awesomeness of heavier-than-air machines and flies away, leaving the group of airship fanboys completely embarrassed.

InAWorld where repeating sightings of an unidentified flying object are confusing the heck out of everybody, the balloon enthusiasts at the Weldon Institute are more concerned about finishing their CoolAirship, the ''Go Ahead''. Just as their pedantic arguments about the details of the airship are reaching fever pitch, they're interrupted by the mysterious Robur, who [[BadassBoast harangues them with a ridiculous claim]] that heavier-than-air flying machines are better than balloons, and that [[TrustMeImAnX he should know, because he's conquered the air with one]]. The next thing you know, he's kidnapped two Weldon Institute bigwigs and is taking them around the world on his flying machine ''Albatross'', just to prove that [[ArkhamsRazor his ridiculous claim was true after all]] and show that heavier-than-air vehicles are the real thing of the future. And yes, you guessed it, the ''Albatross'' was the unidentified flying object everybody had gotten so flustered by.

The kidnapped bigwigs eventually escape and return home, but they're still pretty convinced that airships are just better and take their long-developed giant blimp on a major public demonstration. The Albatross [[http://blogs.monlegionnaire.com/media/blogs/Bishopkiller/Robur2.jpg suddenly shows up]], has an aerial race with the airship and then defeats it by skewering its balloon. Robur saves the airship's entire crew and safely carries them back to the audience, makes a little speech about the awesomeness of heavier-than-air machines and flies away, leaving the group of airship fanboys completely embarrassed.

InAWorld where repeating sightings of an unidentified flying object are confusing the heck out of everybody, the balloon enthusiasts at the Weldon Institute are more concerned about finishing their CoolAirship, the ''Go Ahead''. Just as their pedantic arguments about the details of the airship are reaching fever pitch, they're interrupted by the mysterious Robur, who [[BadassBoast harangues them with a ridiculous claim]] that heavier-than-air flying machines are better than balloons, and that [[TrustMeImAnX he should know, because he's conquered the air with one]]. The next thing you know, he's kidnapped two Weldon Institute bigwigs and taken them on a journey around the world on his flying machine ''Albatross'' just to prove that [[ArkhamsRazor his ridiculous claim was true after all]] and show that heavier-than-air vehicles are the real thing of the future. The kidnapped bigwigs eventually escape and return home, but they're still pretty convinced that airships are just better and take their long-developed giant blimp on a major public demonstration. The Albatross [[http://blogs.monlegionnaire.com/media/blogs/Bishopkiller/Robur2.jpg suddenly shows up]], has an aerial race with the airship and then defeats it by skewering its balloon. Robur saves the airship's entire crew and safely carries them back to the audience, makes a little speech about the awesomeness of heavier-than-air machines and flies away, leaving the group of airship fanboys completely embarrassed.

The protagonists of the novel are members of an airship enthusiast club who get kidnapped by Robur and taken on a journey across the world on the ''Albatross'' just so Robur can make a point about heavier-than-air vehicles being the real thing of the future. Even after the protagonists escape and return home, they're still pretty convinced that airships are just better and take their long-developed giant blimp on a major public demonstration. The Albatross [[http://blogs.monlegionnaire.com/media/blogs/Bishopkiller/Robur2.jpg suddenly shows up]], has an aerial race with the airship and then defeats it by skewering its balloon. Robur saves the airship's entire crew and safely carries them back to the audience, makes a little speech about the awesomeness of heavier-than-air machines and flies away, leaving the group of airship fanboys completely embarrassed.

* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: The ''Albatross'', [[http://aerostories.free.fr/dossiers/ADAV/robur.JPG as this miniature model suggests,]] is a sort of giant helicopter with a ship-like hull, built from a SteamPunk analogue of modern laminate/composite materials.

* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: The ''Albatross'', [[http://aerostories.free.fr/dossiers/ADAV/robur.JPG as the illustrations suggest,]] is a sort of giant helicopter with a ship-like hull, built from a SteamPunk analogue of modern laminate/composite materials.

The protagonists of the novel are members of an airship enthusiast club who get kidnapped by Robur and taken on a journey across the world on the ''Albatross'' just so Robur can make a point about heavier-than-air vehicles being the real thing of the future. Even after the protagonists escape and return home, they're still pretty convinced that airships are just better and take their long-developed giant blimp on a major public demonstration. The Albatross [[http://blogs.monlegionnaire.com/media/blogs/Bishopkiller/Robur2.jpg suddenly shows up]], has an aerial race with the airship and then defeats it by skewering its balloon[[note]]more of AnAesop, since in RealLife ramming an airship with a rotary-wing craft would result in the complete destruction of both[[/note]]. Robur saves the airship's entire crew and safely carries them back to the audience, makes a little speech about the awesomeness of heavier-than-air machines and flies away, leaving the group of airship fanboys completely embarrassed.

* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: The flying ship is carried by storm between Mount Erebus and Mount Terror and narrowly misses by a lucky helm handling the flames spewing from Mount Erebus' crater. The tone of the story makes people think it as some [[StarWars dashing flight through a canyon of fire]]. In RealLife the mountains are separated by more than 15 miles, Mount Terror has been extinct for at least 800,000 years and Mount Erebus' flames never jump for thousands of yards into the atmosphere.

* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: Majorly subverted in ''Literature/RoburTheConqueror'' and its sequel. The ''[[AwesomeMcCoolName Albatross]]'' of Robur and his band of [[SkyPirate sky pirates]] [[http://aerostories.free.fr/dossiers/ADAV/robur.JPG is more like]] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot a giant helicopter with a ship-like hull]] built from a SteamPunk analogue of modern laminate/composite materials. The protagonists of the novel are members of an [[SeriousBusiness airship enthusiast club]] who get kidnapped by Robur and taken on a journey across the world on the ''Albatross'' just so Robur can make a point about heavier-than-air vehicles being the real thing of the future. Even after the protagonists escape and return home, they're still pretty convinced that airships are just better and take their long-developed giant blimp on a major public demonstration. The Albatross [[http://blogs.monlegionnaire.com/media/blogs/Bishopkiller/Robur2.jpg suddenly shows up]], has an aerial race with the airship and then defeats it by skewering its balloon[[note]]more of AnAesop, since in RealLife ramming an airship with a rotary-wing craft would result in the complete destruction of both[[/note]]. Robur saves the airship's entire crew and safely carries them back to the audience, makes a little speech about the awesomeness of heavier-than-air machines and flies away, leaving the group of airship fanboys completely embarrassed.