History Main / FleshVersusSteel

* ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' has the technorganic Maximals fight against the completely robotic Vehicon forces of Megatron. Ultimately [[SubvertedTrope/subverted]] with the aim of delivering the message that nature and technology shouldn't be enemies.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1602475078054120500
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:350:[[TabletopGame/IronKingdoms https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/warmachine_and_hordes.jpg]]]]

* ''Anime/GargantiaOnTheVerdurousPlanet'': The gist of Human vs. Hideauze conflict. According to Chamber, the two forces represent fundamentally different survival strategies: the humans of the Galactic Alliance have formed a civilization capable of building advanced mechs to augment their weak bodies, while the [[spoiler: formerly human]] Hideauze survive through the sheer toughness of their bodies and have no need for civilization.

[[folder:Card Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', the shards Esper and Naya in the 'Shards Of Alara' block represent steel and flesh (respectively).
** The metal world Mirrodin, which is inhabited by people, is attacked by machines seeking to transform everyone into a weird Frankenstein robot. The Mirrans are normal people (who happen to have metal grow naturally in them). Their enemy is the Phyrexian virus, which gives the infected a religious (literally) urge to spread the virus. One of their tenets is that flesh is weakness and should be replaced by metal.
*** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=218070 "Skin is the prison of the blessed and the stronghold of the heretic."]] �Argent Etchings, plate 64, passage 17.
[[/folder]]

* In certain specified and unique circumstances - flesh may indeed mark steel. In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fic ''Fanfic/WhyandWere'', Assassin Madame Emmanuelle les Deux-Epées holds her sword to the neck of Watchman Nobby Nobbs for good and pressing reasons. A few days later she discovers the metal has developed an unsightly and disfiguring stain. She tries everything to remove the discolouration and fails, until a friend, who knows ''any'' metal touching Nobby's skin will tarnish, suggest she tries hand-soap. [[note]] A substance completely innocent of even the briefest contact with Nobby's skin[[/note]] The stain miraculously fades and dissappears.

* Forms the DrivingQuestion that underlines ''Film/{{Conan The Barbarian|1982}}'': What is the answer to the "Riddle of Steel"? Throughout the movie, three different answers are given:
** Conan's father takes a literal approach: "For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts. [Points to sword] This you can trust." This position winds up undone when Conan's father dies an undignified death, unable to even fight back while being torn apart by war dogs.

* The ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' tetralogy, with the technology-using humans vs. the organic Xenomorphs.
* The movie of ''Film/StarshipTroopers'', with the alien bug castes as biological weapons vs. the human technology or [[HollywoodTactics lack thereof]].
* The second Franchise/StarWars trilogy featured humans (later clone troopers) against droids.
** And the ''first'' [[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]] movie contained the immortal words from [[DarkLordOnLifeSupport Darth Vader]]: "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force." Of course, he's only TheDragon to [[BigBad the Emperor]], who pretty much has the final say and uses technology for everything, [[HypocriticalHumor including Vader's life support suit]].
* ''Film/PacificRim''. [[spoiler:The Precursors use organic tech to build huge, destructive Kaiju]]. Humans defend themselves with HumongousMecha, all pimped out with modern technology (including nuclear reactors). Notably flips the usual message of a Kaiju movie, with human ingenuity overcoming destructive nature (assuming evil aliens count).

* ''Franchise/StarWars: The Literature/NewJediOrder''.
** The Yuuzhan Vong are an extragalactic species who abhor inorganic technology to the point of considering it heresy. Their ships, armor, weapons, and communications are all taken by organic, specially crafted organisms. Their buildings are grown from a type of coral. Besides all that, they're wholly separated from the Force, unable to be detected or manipulated by its power.
* ''Literature/{{Schismatrix}}'' by Bruce Sterling brings us the conflict between the Shapers and the Mechanists. The Shapers work with genetics while the Mechanists prefer cybernetics.

* ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'': The villains of the series are the Inchoroi, a race of intergalactic sex fiends who have mastery over organic technology. Opposing them in the modern age are the Inrithi, a culture of humans who are known for using heavy metal armor and weaponry in warfare.
* In ''Literature/{{Leviathan}}'' by Scott Westerfield, the alternate World War One is like this, fought between the Clankers (Central Powers), who use {{Walking Tank}}s, and the Darwinists (Allies), who [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke combine and alter DNA to create living airships and such]].
* The ''Literature/LegendsOfDune'' prequels are classic Machine vs Human. The [[Literature/PreludeToDune 1st trilogy]] doesn't have a Machine 'race' but is also Flesh vs Steel. On Arrakis, flesh, standard unarmored humans, is the most durable. War machines and even basic technology doesn't handle the sand, electrical activity and local wildlife very well.
** The prequels also emphasize this aspect by having many humans engage in hand-to-hand combat with machines. Why? It's never made clear, as the machines don't have [[DeflectorShield Holtzman field]] technology. The only possible explanation seems to be fanaticism.
* While the two do not come into direct conflict, overall, these are the two possible extremes taken by those reduced to an EmptyShell in ''Midnight'' by Dean Koontz. [[spoiler: One side transform into monstrous animalistic forms, in order to remove their higher thoughts and focus entirely on physical sensation. The other merge with technology and data, giving up their individual thought and so their desire to have emotions. The BigBad dreams of [[AmbiguousRobots blending the two extremes]] together, but the opportunity never presents itself.]]
* The planet Pyrrus in Creator/HarryHarrison's ''Literature/{{Deathworld}}'' has its entire flora and fauna determined to kill the human colonists, more specifically, the so-called "junkmen" who live in Perimeter, the only city on the planet. The "grubbers", who live in villages in, more or less, harmony with the native life, don't participate in the fight. The "junkmen" use guns, flamethrowers, poisons, and explosives to keep the native life at bay, while the native life, thanks to a higher-than-normal radioactivity of the planet, mutates almost as fast as the "junkmen" figure out new ways to protect themselves. Of course, the native life is slowly but surely winning, but [[BerserkButton don't tell that to a city Pyrran if you value your life]].
* In ''Literature/ThisIsHowYouLoseTheTimeWar'' the time war is being fought between two potential futures, one high-tech and populated by digitized human minds, and the other filled with sufficiently advanced OrganicTechnology.

* In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' we have the Borg vs. Species 8472: Techno-zombies versus a biological species with an immune system so powerful it kills any other living creature they come into contact with. Of course, it's a decidedly one-sided conflict. When a single Species 8472 bioship (piloted by a single being) can destroy a dozen Borg cubes before they even finish their TheAssimilator speech, and the Borg nanites are useless against them, then you know the Borg are doomed. Oh, and about half-a-dozen of these bioships can merge their beams in a [[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]]-like manner to obliterate a planet. Species 8472 are well on their way towards genociding ''the entire Borg species'' when Voyager offers an alliance that ends up saving them.
* In ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures''' story "Sky", a war between two alien groups called the "Fleshkind" (humanoid and biotech-using) and the "Metalkind" (robots) spills over onto Earth.

* The Imperium in TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} relies on mass-produced vehicles and weapons, non-disfiguring biological implants, and [[TheDeterminator sheer stubbornness]] to face mutated Chaos monstrosities and the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranid swarm]].

-->''Already my Legion's warriors replace their shield hands with metal in my honour, and so they too are learning to doubt the natural strength of their bodies. They must be weaned off this practice [[{{Foreshadowing}} before it becomes a mania for them]]. Hatred of what is natural, of what is human, is the first and greatest of the corruptions.''
* This is what happens when you combine [[TableTopGame/IronKingdoms WARMACHINE and HORDES]].
* In ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracones'' Pulse, a MegaCorp specializing in athletics equipment, performance-enhancing drugs, cosmetic surgery, and BioAugmentation; has a strong rivalry with the cybernetics giant Applied Sciences and Robotics. Though their rivalry is nothing compared to the almost literal crusades the other two biotech corporations, Progenitus and Transcendent Technologies Inc, launch at each other.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'', there is often tension between the mostly organic people and the ones that use heavy cybernetics. Not helping matters is the issue of [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul cyberpsychosis.]] The most extreme example of the steel end of the spectrum is [[WorldsStrongestMan Adam]] [[TheDreaded Smasher]], who is a FullConversionCyborg, and is only approximately 4% organic with just his brain and a bit of his face.

* Part Dak'kon's teachings in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', who puts a spin on the origin story of the Githzerai (and Githyanki) from ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. The Gith were slaves of the illithids, psionic mind-controlling brain eaters, but at one point a Gith named Zerthimon finds a steel knife embedded in the skull of a corpse. He is surprised by the concept that something might die without becoming food for the illithids. This leads him to formulate the Scripture of Steel: "Steel may mark flesh, but flesh cannot mark steel." And he reasons that while the Illithids [=*know*=] flesh and can shape it to their will, they do not [=*know*=] Steel...
* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' has aspects of this as well. With the technological Terrans, psychic Protoss and biological Zerg.

-->'''SHODAN:''' Your flesh, too, is weak. But you have... potential. Every implant exalts you. Every line of code in your subsystems elevates you from your disgusting flesh.
-->'''The Many:''' Do you not trust the feelings of the flesh? Our biology yearns to join with yours. We welcome you to our mass. But you puzzle us. Why do you serve our mother? How can you choose cold metal over the splendor of the flesh?

* ''Videogame/WorldOfWarCraft'' has its share of this trope with some of OrderVersusChaos thrown in the mix, as featured more extensively in the Ulduar instance, which showcases the ancient conflict between the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Titans]] and the [[EldritchAbomination Old Gods]]. Lore-wise, shortly after the Titans had finished crafting Azeroth, they had intended it to be taken cared of by [[LivingStatue humanoids made of solid rock or metal]] (like the Earthen, which later became the [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarves]]) and MechanicalLifeforms (like the Mechagnomes, which became the [[OurGnomesAreWeirder gnomes]]) to maintain order and stability. When the Old Gods appeared, they hexed Azeroth with the Curse of Flesh, which turned the Titans' seed races into fleshy, mortal creatures in order to [[TheVirus facilitate assmiliation]]. The respective factions' {{Mooks}} thus follow this trope, with the stone-like [[AmbiguousRobots Titanic Watchers]] vs. the viscous [[{{Cthulhumanoid}} Faceless Ones]] ([[spoiler:Some of the former were [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] by the boss of the Ulduar instance [[SealedEvilInACan Yogg-Saron]].]])
* ''VideoGame/{{Fracture}}'' is about a war between The Atlantic Alliance, which is devoted to advancing the technological prowess of humanity (cyborgs) and the Republic of Pacifica which is devoted to enhancing the human genome (bioengineering).
* ''Warhammer 40000: Rites of War'', an old RTS game based on the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe plays the above mentioned three-way version of this dynamic perfectly: the all-consuming Tyranids (Flesh), the technocratic Imperium of Man (Steel) and the highly psychic Craftworld Eldar (Energy).
* ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth'' has this dynamic going on with the technological affinities the various factions can adopt. Harmony (Flesh) believes that that their new planet is a paradise and strive to avoid repeating the same mistakes as humanity did on Earth; they want to integrate Humanity fully into the alien environment by turning their citizens into [[HalfHumanHybrid half-human, half-alien hybrids]], their military also has infantry in biological armor, tanks built with OrganicTechnology and genetically engineered alien monsters within its ranks. Supremacy (Steel), meanwhile, believes mankind's technology is it savior and will allow them to live in any environment they choose. They turn their citizens into cyborgs, along with developing advanced artificial intelligence and robotics. Purity (the final affinity), rejects the rampant transhumanism of the other two affinities; though it does use gene-therapy to cure disease and tweak human performance. They also specialize in PoweredArmor, heavy artillery and flying battleships so they kind of take up a place in the middle.
** The ''Rising Tide'' expansion adds hybrid Affinities. The Supremacy / Harmony hybrid makes their military units into bizarre mergers of cybernetics and engineered flesh like the Nanohive (a walking tank that outputs swarms of nanomachines to grind away their enemies) and the Aquilon (an AirborneAircraftCarrier described by the developers as a "meat zeppelin"). The other hybrid affinities focus on different aspects of this dichotomy. Supremacy / Purity focuses on humanity's nature as a tool-maker, sticking to minimal cybernetic alteration and banning AI or independent machines. Harmony / Purity uses extensive genetic modification not to integrate into the environment but to elevate humanity into something godlike.
* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' makes extensive use of this both in game mechanics and flavor text. Empires that lean Spiritualist are usually all about exalting the flesh, and the most extreme refuse to build robots at all (they're [[JustAMachine blasphemous, soulless creatures]]) and can learn PsychicPowers; Materialist empires exalt technology and robotics, engaging in {{Transhumanism}} (with shades of CyberneticsEatYourSoul). Naturally, the robotic empires of [[KillAllHumans Determined Exterminators]] and [[YouWillBeAssimilated Driven Assimilators]] are also very anti-organic life. Even the endgame crises play this up, with one possible threat being a HordeOfAlienLocusts and another being an ancient AI bent on wiping out all organic life.
* In the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'', Edge Master is closer to the Flesh side of things. His personal philosophy is that a strong ''soul'' is what makes a strong warrior, and that weapons are nothing more than tools. This is why in a series full of NamedWeapons, all of his weapons are nameless.

* Hinted at somewhat in ''Webcomic/QuentynQuinnSpaceRanger'' ... the Kvrk-Chk, are largely living berserker battletanks, and the Empire forced them into surrendering by [[StarKilling incinerating one of their systems]]. It's further implied by the biotech quarters aboard the Sapphire Star... biotech based civilizations are noted as being rather rare, and are regarded as technologically inferior due to the many inherent problems with organic technology.
* In ''Webcomic/AliceGrove'' [[http://www.alicegrove.com/image/110864583014 Ardent and his sister Gavia represent this split]] although it's limited to philosophical argument rather than violent conflict.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* This is the principle conflict in ''Website/{{Mortasheen}}'', with the human-dominated, technophilic civilization of Wreathe versus the chaotic city of mutants and monsters that is Mortasheen. The latter are our heroes by the way.
* The ''Website/SCPFoundation'' invokes this as the result of pitting [[MachineWorship Machine Worship]] against [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] in the form of a religious conflict between the Church Of The Broken God and the Sarkic Cults. The Church is usually portrayed as the "good guys" due to the "might makes right" ideology of most Sarkics although there are many exceptions. It can be argued that humanity comprises a third faction, represented by the Foundation, the GOC and other such organizations.
[[/folder]]

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' has used this trope on a few occasions. In both ''Anime/BeastWarsII'' and ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'', the heroic, technorganic Maximals fight against the evil, purely robotic Predacons/Vehicons. This situation was inverted in ''[[Anime/TransformersRobotsInDisguise Robots in Disguise]]'', in which the heroic, completely mechanical Autobots fight the evil, technorganic Predacons.

* This is the principle conflict in ''WebOriginal/{{Mortasheen}}'', with the human-dominated, technophilic civilization of Wreathe versus the chaotic city of mutants and monsters that is Mortasheen. The latter are our heroes by the way.

See also: ForceVersusDiscipline, ScienceIsBad, LuddWasRight and most of the other similar tropes. StrongFleshWeakSteel is the literal version of this.