History Main / CrystalSpiresAndTogas

* UsefulNotes/{{Dubai}}

* In PeterFHamilton's ''VoidTrilogy'', humans finally hit this stage around 1500 years into the future: most technology is sleek, hidden, implanted or only ''partially'' made of matter, and fashion is dominated by "toga-suits" made of smart nanomaterials that reflect and refract light in interesting patterns. [[PerfectPacifistPeople Peace]], on [[HumansAreWarriors the other hand]], is nowhere in sight...
** And from the same author, the Edenists in ''Night'sDawn'' are a civilization of super-advanced genetically engineered telepathic superhumans who dress in antiquated clothes like robes, tunics, and togas and live in giant, sentient floating space stations. Heck, they're entire lifestyle is based around clean, sentient or semi-sentient organic bio-tech and they believe themselves to be superior to the more traditional "Adamist" civilizations. Sort of a subversion, insofar as their society is clearly NOT perfect, and a pretty big portion of the books is about this. Hamilton LOVES subverting this trope, and does a really good job of it.
* Creator/WilliamGibson's short story ''The Gernsback Continuum'' is about a photographer who, while on commission to shoot some old Fifties-art-deco buildings (all magnificent examples of {{Zeerust}}), suddenly begins to see glimpses of an alternate reality that contains all the weird architecture, drapery clothing, and amazing technical advances predicted by the pulp-SF writers of the 1920s-1950s. Gibson actually specifies that the alternate-Earth dress code includes a toga. Gibson states in various places that it is meant as a deconstruction of this trope.

* The ''VampireHunterD'' novels mention a rare example of a post-Crystal Spires and Togas UsedFuture: the capital city, built out of crystal by the Vampires and then fallen into disrepair once they were driven out.

* Subverted in HGWells' ''TheTimeMachine'' in which the Eloi seem to live in this kind of future but are actually little more than sentient (barely) cattle for their underground dwelling Morlock masters.

* Most of [[IainBanks Iain M. Banks']] novels, especially those set in the fictional universe known as TheCulture.
* Played with/averted in Stephen King's ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series, as [[SadClown jokester]]-qua-[[YoungGun gunslinger]] Eddie Dean abandons the last of his naivete in realizing that that city of "wise ****ing elves" isn't going to magically appear to help [[FiveManBand the heroes]] on their [[TheQuest quest]].

* The elite top two classes live like this in ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''. Everyone else lives in squallor and the top two classes are barely one percent of the population.
* The upper classes of the Third Imperium in ''{{Traveller}}''. Even more the Vilani in the volume ''Intersteller Wars''.

* ''MetalArms'', a game set on a planet where all the inhabitants are robots, has the equivalent with the underground-dwelling [[{{Precursors}} Morbots]]. The Droids and Mils on the surface seem to have conventional (if advanced) technology and architecture, with industrial and mechanical styling all built out of metal (duh), whereas the Morbot Region is all purple, white, and glowing, very sleek, and with bridges and doors that assemble or shift out of the way in little flying pieces, and TronLines everywhere.

** The asari homeworld Thessia itself in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' fits the trope much better... [[spoiler:If it weren't in the process of being Reaped.]]

After passing the "[[RaygunGothic big, shiny and sciencey!]]" period, a highly developed civilization can enter a stage where technology continues to advance, but becomes a lot sleeker and subtler. At the same time, society gets epic. Jumpsuits will start being replaced by togas, robes and such garments, bustling [[MegaCity mega-cities]] by [[ShiningCity brilliant]] arcologies. There will be [[PowerCrystal crystals]]. Lots and ''lots'' of [[DataCrystal crystals]]. This world of tomorrow may end up looking much like Ancient Greece while still enjoying ultratech comforts.

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/StarWars http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robesnsiht_354.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:You can tell it's [[ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway a long time ago]] since everyone looks like they're in AncientRome.]]

* When [[RobotWar Skynet]] is erased from history at the end of ''RobocopVsTerminator'', the new future heavily resembles this trope.

->''Johnny groped through the pristine folds of his toga, wondering how Mankind could touch the stars yet fashion-wise be stuck in the days of Imperial Rome.''

* FinalFantasyX's Spira is this in spades. At least it ''was'' before [[EldritchAbomination Sin]] destroyed almost every major settlement (periodically terrorizing the small remaining ones too). The only major city left, Bevelle, is mainly experienced by the player via a few cut-scene at one point in the game, but its appearance fits the trope perfectly.

* The nation of Esthar in ''FinalFantasyVIII'', which is actually a gigantic (and initially ''invisible'') city, is all crystal and glass tubes and antigravity technology. Even the people (save its president) wear ankle-length robes.

* Many depictions of {{Superman}}'s home world of Krypton fit this trope. Post-crisis, though, Krypton was more dystopian despite all the crystal-toga trappings. When ''SupermanBirthright'' {{retcon}}ned Krypton's society back to something closer to the PreCrisis version(i.e. a more general super-advanced civilization without a specific, dominant theme), the togas changed back to SpaceClothes.

* This is somewhat present in the elven architecture in ''WorldOfWarcraft''.
** Night Elves have a lot of Greek-style columns and spires and their racial leader changed from a {{Stripperific}} warrior getup in ''WarCraftIII'' to a toga-ish dress.

** The highborne night elves where a (evil) textbook example of this at their time, excepting the lack of council. Queen Azshara palace even has a runway and a platarform made purely of magic glass

* The home world of the Piersons' Puppeteers in LarryNiven's ''KnownSpace'' setting.
** Sort of. The technology is very advanced, what with teleportation that lets you easily "walk" anywhere on the planet, furniture that extrudes itself from walls and floors, and nigh-indestructible building material. Also, because the Puppeteers are cowards (and proud of it) almost nothing on the planet can hurt you. However, the planet is extremely crowded (the population is 1 trillion, yes, trillion) and heavily industrialized, with virtually every inch of land covered in one massive city. Breeding requires permission from the government, and their heat management problem is so extreme that [[spoiler: they had to move their planet away from its sun to keep their oceans from boiling in the waste heat of their civilization]]. Despite very efficient biological "recycling" of waste to produce food, they still must constantly import food from four agricultural worlds to prevent mass starvation. Puppeteers, being herd animals, actually enjoy living among many others of their kind, but they have had to adapt and take drastic measures to cope with their population. Their civilization is extremely advanced, but it requires massive, very visible industry and constant upkeep to support it. Also, they appear to be a pacifistic race...[[spoiler:but they mainly avoid fighting because they fear any danger. They have no problem manipulating other species into nearly genocidal wars if it helps protect their own.]]
*** The Puppeteers aren't pacifist as much as they are incredibly afraid of everything. A Puppeteer who actually attacks someone is proof that they are certifiably insane. Just leaving their home planet is proof that a Puppeteer is crazy.

-->-- '''Plan 7 of 9 from Outer Space'' by Odon

* The Ancient race in the ''{{Stargate}}'' television series, especially ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', are an example of a crystal spires and togas race which has "[[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended]]" to a higher plane, leaving their crystal city (actually a metal-alloy spaceship the size of Manhattan) deserted.

** In ''StargateContinuum'' we see that following the downfall of the System Lords, the Tok'ra apparently stopped hiding and now have a city made of crystal skyscrapers. They are also fond of wearing toga-like clothing.

!!Examples:

While there's a definite trend towards giant and architecturally impressive glass towers in the modern era, the trope hasn't quite made it to the status of TruthInTelevision yet -- aside from a conspicuous lack of togas, robes, or unisuits, these shiny new buildings aren't part of the sort of sweeping social movement this Trope describes but individual corporations jockeying to display their wealth[[hottip:*:Of course, this trope WOULD apply if all the individual corporations and members of the population were sufficiently wealthy to live in a Crystal Spires and Togas world; for example in a post-scarcity civilization.]]. Utopian cities they are not; very real slums crowd their feet.

!Examples:

!!Examples

* In SilverSurfer's past, when he was still just Norrinn Radd living on Zenn-La, his planet was very much like this. Their world was so nearly perfect, with beautiful and exotic architecture and clothing, that everyone was bored, and Norrinn most of all.
* In Watchmen, [[PhysicalGod Doctor Manhattan]] invokes this with his floating glass tower during his stay on Mars.

[[folder:Film]]
* ''BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure'', with [[TotallyRadical totally excellent]] music to boot.
* The 1978 ''Film/{{Superman}}'' movie and its sequels invoke this trope with Krypton (and Argo City in the spinoff ''{{Supergirl}}''). Krypton's spires are giant crystals. The walls are made of crystal. The canyons are lined with crystal. The clothes are made of some form of wearable, highly-reflective crystal. But, because so little of Kryptonian society is glimpsed, it is left up to the viewer's interpretation whether this is a utopia or a dystopia.
* Discussed and parodied in the narration of Film/{{Idiocracy}} with some accompanying images of a futuristic world showing bearded guys in togas among the crystal spires of their city. The camera pulls back to reveal that these images are all part of a mural at a carnival, in front of which a bunch of not-too-bright and decidedly non-futuristic-looking people are waiting in line to get into some kind of exhibition or maybe carnival ride.

* In ''[[ForbiddenPlanet The Forbidden Planet]]'', the Krell civilization is supposed to have been an example of this, with "cloud-piercing towers of glass and porcelain and adamantine steel".

* This aesthetic is featured in the last sequence of ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal''.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In the ''{{Blackadder}}'' special "Back and Forth," Blackadder visits a future world that matches this trope.

* ''[[Series/WonderWoman Wonder Woman]]'': All the immortal amazons from Paradise Island use multicolor vaporous dresses and use bows and arrows even if they live in an AdvancedAncientAcropolis

* Atlantis in ''AtlantisTheLostEmpire''.
* ''FamilyGuy'' pokes fun at this at a history museum, where a shiny, utopian city is presented as an ''ancient'' Ireland before whiskey was invented.
* The Nibblonians in ''{{Futurama}}'' did use jumpsuits and conventional tech, but their leaders had impressive robes and monoliths.

** Though as with the ''MassEffect'' example above, it's misleading: Hallifax is a LawfulNeutral meritocracy, where [[ForScience scientists are revered]] and the proles are [[HappinessInSlavery content to serve their "betters"]].

* The Edenists from Peter F. Hamilton's ''Literature/{{Night's Dawn}}'' are a civilization of super-advanced genetically engineered telepathic superhumans who dress in antiquated clothes like robes, tunics, and togas and live in giant, sentient floating space stations. Heck, they're entire lifestyle is based around clean, sentient or semi-sentient organic bio-tech and they believe themselves to be superior to the more traditional "Adamist" civilizations. Sort of a subversion, insofar as their society is clearly NOT perfect, and a pretty big portion of the books is about this.

* In MassEffect2, Illium looks like this, minus the togas; presumably, it's standard asari architecture. Of course, [[CrapsaccharineWorld the looks are deceiving]]; Illium is a [[SceneryPorn very well disguised]] WretchedHive where everything is legal if you've got the right paperwork, and being a CorruptCorporateExecutive is necessary if you want to get anywhere.
** The asari homeworld Thessia itself in MassEffect3 fits the trope much better... [[spoiler:If it weren't in the process of being Reaped.]]

* Played with/averted in Stephen King's ''TheDarkTower'' series, as [[SadClown jokester]]-qua-[[YoungGun gunslinger]] Eddie Dean abandons the last of his naivete in realizing that that city of "wise ****ing elves" isn't going to magically appear to help [[FiveManBand the heroes]] on their [[TheQuest quest]].