History Main / SpaceCadet

A DiscreditedTrope from the early PulpMagazine days of media science fiction (peaked in the 1950's in movie serials and TV shows), involving a hero who was part of [[SpacePolice an organization that handles law and order in outer space]], much like in a [[SpaceWestern Western... in space]]. Frequently the titular SpaceCadet was a child or teen who was a new recruit or a sidekick to [[CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth an older hero]]. May be the equivalent of WalkingTheEarth with isolated outposts and frontier planets; especially strange when the KidHero seems not to have a family at home. His training place would be the SpaceCadetAcademy. His great goal in life is to someday become CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth. These days you're more likely to see SpacePolice.

* ''Literature/SpaceCadet'': By Creator/RobertAHeinlein. Notably interesting for being perhaps the UrExample, and showing what modern readers will easily recognize as a cell phone in the opening pages. It inspired the creation of ''Tom Corbett, Space Cadet''.
** His earlier story ''Literature/{{Misfit}}'' also fits the trope, and makes the ''inspiration'' from the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps more explicit.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/TheCompleteAdventuresOfLuckyStarr'': David "Lucky" Starr is a young member of Earth's [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction Council of Science]], and is in his early twenties. Rather than being a {{sidekick}}, ''he'' has one in the form of John Bigman Jones, his unofficial buddy in their quest to keep the solar system safe for the average citizen and foil the plots from [[UsefulNotes/LocalStars the Sirian colony]].
* Creator/IsaacAsimov and Creator/JanetAsimov's ''Literature/TheNorbyChronicles'': Jefferson Wells is a cadet at Space Academy, training to become a member of Space Command. He purchased Norby to be a [[RobotBuddy teaching robot]], who was [[MedalsForEveryone made an Honorary Cadet for helping to defeat a terrorist]]. Norby tries to teach Jeff school subjects the normal way, but they keep getting drawn into interstellar, pan-dimensional, and TimeTravel adventures instead.
* Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/HonorHarrington'':

For those of you who came here looking for the term's idiomatic meaning, that's a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}.

As for actual space cadets:

For the Creator/RobertAHeinlein novel, see ''Literature/SpaceCadet''. For the virtual pinball table, see ''VideoGame/FullTiltPinball''.

A DiscreditedTrope from the early PulpMagazine days of media science fiction (peaked in the 1950's in movie serials and TV shows), involving a hero who was part of [[SpacePolice an organization that handles law and order in outer space]], much like in a [[SpaceWestern Western... in space]]. Frequently the titular SpaceCadet was a child or teen who was a new recruit or a sidekick to [[CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth an older hero]]. May be the equivalent of WalkingTheEarth with isolated outposts and frontier planets; especially strange when the KidHero seems not to have a family at home. His training place would be the SpaceCadetAcademy. His great goal in life is to someday become CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth.

** ''Literature/TheStarKingdom'': Stephanie Harrington and several of her friends are Probationary Rangers with the Sphynxian Forestry Service. Sort of a {{Reconstruction}} of the trope, as Stephanie was made the first such Probationary Ranger to justify the Forestry Service keeping tabs on her to [[LeeroyJenkins keep her out of trouble.]]

[[folder:AudioDramas]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* [[Creator/WilWheaton Wesley Crusher]] represents the best example in the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' universe. As a child prodigy, he represented an AudienceSurrogate for a young viewer and could be considered a "sidekick" to Picard. Later in the series, Wesley became a literal cadet in Starfleet.
** The elite cadet group "Red Squad" featured in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' is something of a {{Deconstruction}} of the trope -- especially in the episode "Valiant", which shows what happens when a group of cocky cadets get to fly their own ship without adult supervision. [[spoiler:They attack [[TheDreadedDreadnought a Dominion battleship]] and [[CurbStompBattle get blasted to hell]].]]
** Nog becomes a cadet in Season 3 of ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine [=DS9=]]]'' before his RankUp to Ensign.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''
** Icheb becomes a long-range version (as in 30,000 light years from Starfleet Academy) in Season 7, being instructed by the command staff of ''Voyager''.
** The ShowWithinAShow ''Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainProton'' has Buster Kincaid, though in the novelization he's a TagalongReporter.
* Sylvia Tilly in ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' is introduced as an Academy cadet on field duty before her RankUp to Ensign.

** In "Quality of Mercy", Bree Tristan tells Major John Skokes that she is a cadet 2nd class who was assigned to [[UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfJupiter Europa base]] and that she was captured by the aliens while on a training mission with her instructor Commander Hartley. [[spoiler: In the final scene, it is revealed that Tristan is in fact an alien in disguise. It is not made clear whether Tristan was a real person whose identity the alien assumed or whether she was merely a creation of the aliens.]]
** In the sequel "The Light Brigade", the cadet (also played by Creator/WilWheaton) was assigned to the ''Light Brigade'' during its mission to destroy the aliens' homeworld with a subatomic bomb due to the influence of his father, a member of the UNDF Council. [[GlorySeeker He wanted to be one of the 600 heroes who would save Earth from the aliens]]. It doesn't go according to plan.

[[folder:Film]]

* What Jim becomes in ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet''.

* Buzz Lightyear from ''Franchise/ToyStory'' is an homage/parody of this trope. He later received his own spinoff ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'', in which he plays the trope straight.