History Main / DropPod

* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront: Elite Squadron'', one may utilize the escape pods on capital ships as a quick way of getting to the planet's surface to attack.

* Though it it not designed to inflict damage, [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles Mr. Incredible]] is launched from Mirage's plane in one of these.

** Even the Imperial Guard gets in on this, having Tetrarch Class Heavy Landers, meant to carry whole squads from orbit to the ground. Unlike SpaceMarine Drop Pods, though, these have a tendency to break down in-flight. [[BlatantLies The Guardsmen are told that they have nothing to worry about if the pod's engines fail.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOOSE MOOSE]] was a 1960s concept for a real-life orbit to ground emercency drop pod which consisted of a heat shield, polyurethane foam and a plastic bag (to shape the foam). It was partially tested but never fully developed before the program was ended.

* During the Halloween invasion of SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy in the WhateleyUniverse, [=ARC=] provided support by sending a couple dozen fighters in power armor using drop pods from a space station overhead.

* The titular player-characters in "VideoGame/Helldivers Helldivers" are deployed in this manner, along with most of their gear and weapons.

* The titular player-characters in "VideoGame/Helldivers" are deployed in this manner, along with most of their gear and weapons.

* The pods used by the Saiyans and Frieza's troops in ''DragonballZ''.

* The pods used by Frieza's troops in ''DragonballZ''.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' story ''ComicBook/LastSon'', the kryptonian criminals escape the Phantom Zone in interdimensional pods that have no engine.

* In the ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' and ''VideoGame/QuakeIV'' universe, the drop pods are almost identical as how they are in ''Literature/StarshipTroopers''. In ''II'', the player starts when he misses his drop zone and ends up and the far side of enemy territory. In Quake IV, the player uses a drop pod to make a pin-point attack on a Strogg command centre. Coincidentally, both landings are crash landings due to malfunctions in the pods' systems after they're clipped by another pod[[note]]which, in ''II'''s case, saves Bitterman's life, most of the other pods being shot down by the Big Gun's {{EMP}}[[/note]].

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' gives us the SOEIV (Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle), or HEV (Human Entry Vehicle), each designed to deliver a single soldier at the battlefield. These are launched in large numbers; the idea is that if one gets shot down, you lose one troop rather than the dozens that would be aboard a dropship. The troops who use this are the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST), with their most famous division known as "Helljumpers", and are the second best the human military has to offer, after the [[SuperSoldier Spartans]]. In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'', the ''In Amber Clad'' deploys the Chief and a squad of Helljumpers onto Halo Installation 05 this way, prompting this remark from Cortana:
--> "Could we possibly make any more noise?" ''[[CrowningMomentOfFunny (Chief pulls out a rocket launcher)]]'' "... [[RhetoricalQuestionBlunder I guess so.]]"

->'''"Er ... Boss? Remember on Borsk when da sky caught fire and we saw them comet-fings with da Emperor's Boyz in 'em? Well, here they come again..."''
-->--'''Grudley, assistant to Big Mek Ognutz''', ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000: Planetstrike'' supplement

[[quoteright:187:[[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dropodlanding_7686.jpg]]]]

-->--'''Grudley, assistant to Big Mek Ognutz''', ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: Planetstrike'' supplement

* In the ''{{Superman}}'' story ''ComicBook/LastSon'', the kryptonian criminals escape the Phantom Zone in interdimensional pods that have no engine.

* ArtemisFowl inverts this by having fairies that live near the Earth's core climb into metal pods and ride magma flares up to the surface.

* {{Atari}}'s ''Pinball/MiddleEarth'' pinball has futuristic explorers use bulb-shaped chrome pods to land on a LostWorld filled with dinosaurs and monsters.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''

* ''{{Champions}}'' supplement ''Gadgets''. One of the title items was the "Jump Shell", said to be used by the U.S. Marine Corps to insert troops into the battlefield from orbit. Less advanced interim models would be dropped from supersonic transport planes.
* Classic ''{{Traveller}}'' Adventure 1 ''The Kinunir''. Some of the Marine troops on board the title ship are trained to use jump capsules to descend from orbit and land on a planetary surface.

* The mundane version doesn't have a GroundShatteringLanding, but is effective; during WorldWarII military gliders were used to drop troops, jeeps, light artillery and even light tanks, achieving a superior concentration of forces with better support assets than a parachute drop.

* SidMeiersAlphaCentauri featured Drop Pods/Gravity Pods as a potential tech add-on for land units, allowing one which hasn't acted yet that turn to air drop ''itself'' to another position within a certain range. Great for jumping across bodies of water, rough terrain, or just cutting off an enemy from behind when they thought they had you penned in.

* In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' the Japanese have been deploying Flying Lotus Drop Ships in support of various tribes in the jungles of Venus, giving them a vicious edge.

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' gives us the HEV, or Human Entry Vehicle, designed to shoot one soldier at the battlefield. These are launched in large numbers; the idea is that if one gets shot down, you lose one troop rather than the dozens that would be aboard a dropship. The troops who use this are the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST), with their most famous division known as "Helljumpers", and are the second best the human military has to offer, after the [[SuperSoldier Spartans]]. In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'', the ''In Amber Clad'' deploys the Chief and a squad of Helljumpers onto Halo Installation 05 this way, prompting this remark from Cortana:

** [[ScaryDogmaticAliens The Covenant]] also have their own drop pods; apart from the single-occupant one used by Elites, there are also pods that can hold multiple soldiers, including instantly reusable versions which fly back up into orbit after dislodging their personnel.

** However, in 1980s the Soviets developed ([[AwesomeButImpractical but never flew]]) the 14F70 Zarya, a much larger landing capsule, with up to 8 seats if the lower cargo deck was occupied. And instead of parachutes, it used 24 landing rockets. More interestingly, it was designed to fit into the bay of the Buran shuttle - and it didn't rely on Earth's atmosphere.[[/folder]]