History Main / DreadZeppelin

* In the {{Elseworld}} miniseries ''ComicBook/Marvel1602: Fantastick Four'', [[ComicBook/DoctorDoom Otto Von Doom]] has an airship that is literally a sailing ship with a balloon over the top. He uses it to kidnap William Shakespeare.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': [[MadScientist Dr. Eggman]] loves building flying battleships. He had the Wing Fortress in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'', the Flying Battery in ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', the Sky Fortress in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4'', the Egg Carrier (and backup Egg Carrier 2) in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', and more. In chronologically later games, such as ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', he has an entire ''fleet'' of airships.

%% * [[spoiler:Hellywood]] from ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere'' is a prime example of this trope. We don't actually see it fly until the 10th episode of the show, though.

* King Hamdo's flying fortress, Hellywood, from ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere''

Part of the reason why this trope is so pervasive has to do with the history of the airship, starting with UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. During that war, Germany used Zeppelins as bombers against Britain and France, and although they did relatively little damage they terrified Allied civilians. After the war, zeppelins were used as passenger carriers by UsefulNotes/NaziGermany up until 1937. On the civilian side, blimps are often used for advertising, which ties into fears of {{CorruptCorporateExecutive}}s and dictators with massive egos.

Part of the reason why this trope is so pervasive has to do with the history of the airship, starting with UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. During that war, Germany used Zeppelins as bombers against Britain and France, and although they did relatively little damage they terrified Allied civilians. After the war, zeppelins were used as passenger carriers by UsefulNotes/NaziGermany up until 1937. On the civilian side, blimps are often used for advertising, which ties into fears of CorruptCorporateExecutives and dictators with massive egos.

There's something about airships that makes them the go-to flying vehicles for bad guys (at least when [[BlackHelicopter black helicopters]] aren't available). Want to establish that a villain is extremely powerful and wealthy in a way that even a [[EvilTowerOfOminousness personal skyscraper]] or [[CoolPlane private jet]] won't? Simple: show him looking down upon his puny subjects from an airship!

Part of the reason why this trope is so pervasive has to do with the history of the airship, starting with UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. During that war, Germany used Zeppelins as bombers against Britain and France, and although they did relatively little damage they terrified Allied civilians. After the war, zeppelins were used as passenger carriers by UsefulNotes/NaziGermany up until 1937. On the civilian side, blimps are often used for advertising, which ties into fears of propaganda and dictators with massive egos.

* Airships are a recurring vehicle of choice for Bowser and his Koopalings across the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series, and are typically used as siege weapons when Bowser tries to take over the Mushroom Kingdom or kidnap Princess Peach. As a general rule of thumb, if boss levels in the 2D games (at least the ones since they were introduced in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'') don't take place in a castle or fortress, they're typically on an airship. For reasons unknown, the Mushroom Kingdom is rarely seen using air travel of their own, though Mario, Peach, and (sometimes) Luigi have been seen occasionally riding in much smaller, unarmed hot air balloons in the prologue or epilogue of a handful of games.

* ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'': Don Karnage and his SkyPirates operate out of the Iron Vulture, a cross between an airship and an Airborne Aircraft Carrier.

* In ''Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]] and Literature/FuManchu set out to attack VictorianLondon with their [[AppliedPhlebotinum cavorite]]-powered {{Cool Airship}}s. The page image shows Moriarty's ship (which is the only one of the two that acutally sees action due to Moriarty stealing the cavorite).%% -- a huge black ship with a batlike gargoyle atop the hull.

* In ''Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]] and Literature/FuManchu attack VictorianLondon with their [[AppliedPhlebotinum cavorite]]-powered CoolAirship. The page image shows Moriarty's ship (which is the only one of the two that acutally sees action due to Moriarty stealing the cavorite) -- a huge black ship with a batlike gargoyle atop the hull.

* In ''Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]] and Literature/FuManchu attack VictorianLondon with their [[AppliedPhlebotinum cavorite]]-powered CoolAirship -- a huge black ship with a batlike gargoyle atop the hull.

* [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]] and Literature/FuManchu attack [[VictorianLondon London]] with their {{Cool Airship}}s in ''Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' -- a huge black ship with a batlike gargoyle atop the hull.

* In ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'', BigBad Ratigan has a sinister-looking blimp with [[SpikesOfVillainy sharp, flaring metal tailfins]]... driven by a [[HamsterWheelPower bicycle-powered]] propeller and rudder.

* Mok has one in ''WesternAnimation/RockAndRule''.

* In the [[Film/TheThreeMusketeers2011 2011 version of ''The Three Musketeers'']], Cardinal Richelieu's forces get a huge airship (based on an in-universe design by Leonardo da Vinci) near the end of the film and use it to combat the one that the musketeers had hijacked.

* [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]] and Literature/FuManchu attack [[VictorianLondon London]] with their {{Cool Airship}}s in ''Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen''.
* In ''[[ComicBook/{{Marvel1602}} Marvel 1602]]: Fantastick Four'', Doom has an airship that is literally a ship with a balloon over the top. He uses it to kidnap William Shakespeare.

* [[Creator/VincentPrice Ratigan's]] pedal-powered blimp from ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective''.
* The Gyro-evac from ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire''.

* The Nazi Zeppelin from ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': [[MadScientist Dr. Eggman]] loves building flying battleships. He had the Wing Fortress in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'', the Sky Fortress in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4'', the Egg Carrier (and backup Egg Carrier 2) in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', and more. In chronologically later games, such as ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', he has an entire ''fleet'' of airships.

* [[spoiler:Hellywood]] from ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere'' is a prime example of this trope. We don't actually see it fly until the 10th episode of the show, though.

* The [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2 second]] and [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3 third]] installments of the ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlertSeries Command and Conquer: Red Alert]]'' series give the Soviet faction the Kirov Airship heavy-bomber rigid/semirigids. While the Soviets aren't always ''evil'', they do tend to be the "bad guys".

Another reason for this is that airships just ''look'' intimidating, in a way that airplanes and helicopters don't. Their massive size and slow, silent flight give them an ominous air, which naturally makes many writers and filmmakers fix upon them as vehicles for fictional bad guys.

* Airships are a recurring vehicle of choice for Bowser and his Koopalings across the [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros]] series, and are typically used as siege weapons when Bowser tries to take over the Mushroom Kingdom or kidnap Princess Peach. As a general rule of thumb, if boss levels in the 2D games (at least the ones since they were introduced in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'') don't take place in a castle or fortress, they're typically on an airship.

Airlords of the Ozarks," an adventure for ''TabletopGame/{{Twilight 2000}}'', had the players, having returned to the U.S.A., recruited to investigate what turned out to be a neo-fascist movement using airships for raids to build a power base.