History Main / SwirlyEnergyThingy

* The 2009 ''Film/StarTrek'' film shows the evil Romulan mining ship traveling through time by way of a giant swirling lightning storm in space. Bonus swirling vortex when the planet Vulcan is absorbed by a black hole bomb in the planet core.

** The episode "Real Life" had a RecycledInSpace tornado draw a shuttle into an EldritchLocation before AcePilot Tom Paris could figure a way out. And yes, [[FollowTheLeader this episode did air a year after]] ''Film/{{Twister}}''...

[[caption-width-right:350:Real life swirly energy thingy.[[note]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Norwegian_spiral_anomaly Generally agreed to be a Russian missile test gone WAY the hell out of control]], but [[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories where's the fun in that?]] Image ©Jan Petter Jørgensen/Rex Features [[/note]] ]]

** In "Twisted", Voyager becomes an EldritchLocation after passing through an UnknownPhenomenon similar in appearance to this trope. All the cabins and decks become mixed up yet the episode ends without any damage to the ship or crew, or [[RiddleForTheAges even an explanation about what happened]].

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. The episode "Real Life" had a RecycledInSpace tornado draw a shuttle into an EldritchLocation before AcePilot Tom Paris could figure a way out.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' had a million of these over the course of its run. The other ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series weren't above using them either.

[[caption-width-right:350:Real life swirly energy thingy.[[note]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Norwegian_spiral_anomaly Generally agreed to be a Russian missile test gone WAY the hell out of control]], but [[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories where's the fun in that?]] Image ©Jan Petter Jorgensen/Rex Features [[/note]] ]]

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. In "Breakdown", the Liberator enters a ForbiddenZone against the advice of their MasterComputer, which shuts down all automatic systems in a futile attempt to stop them. They discover why it's forbidden on encountering a swirling 'gravitational vortex'. Fortunately AcePilot Jenna is able to manually pilot the Liberator [[DoNotTouchTheFunnelCloud right through the middle]].

** That last part [[WordOfGod has later been confirmed]] to be canon. When shifting into the small form he kept while facing the Toa, Makuta placed the rest of his mass into the swirly cloud as a way of dealing with ShapeshifterBaggage. It helped him avoid the problem he had faced some years before, where he had to absorb mass and energy from things around him after having disguised as a smaller character for some time. This energy absorption [[http://biosector01.com/wiki/images/e/ec/LoMN_Great_Cataclysm.PNG also took the form a Swirly Energy Thingy]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Real life swirly energy thingy.[[note]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Norwegian_spiral_anomaly Generally agreed to be a Russian missile test gone WAY the hell out of control]], but [[ConspiracyTheory where's the fun in that?]] Image ©Jan Petter Jorgensen/Rex Features [[/note]] ]]

* The Speed Force of ''TheFlash'' fame, an energy field from which all speedsters draw their power, is described as one of these.

* Where two or more {{Ley Line}}s meet in ''ElfBlood'', they will push up against each other to form an Eyrie which is a valuable magical resource.

* In the WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E19RoswellThatEndsWell Roswell that Ends Well]]", the Planet Express crew is sucked into the past by a Time Rift, a sort of red whirlpool in space caused by the interaction of radiation from a supernova and an exploding microwave oven.

* In ''SlightlyDamned'', the portals to Medius in Heaven were ''black'' swirly energy thingies.

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[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

* ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'': at one point, one of these spit out a giant golden [[Franchise/StarWars TIE Fighter]] that was a boss.

* The wormholes in ''EveOnline'' are the inverse of this, being understated translucent spheres in space that go 'blib' when you go through them. Irritatingly, this is quite possibly what a real wormhole might look like, ie, boring.

[[folder:TabletopGames]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', a certain quest leads the player to encounter a [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Wretched Abyss]], a swirling, purple-ringed hole in space. This turns out to be [[spoiler:a manifestation of [[EldritchAbomination Hermaeus Mora]], the Daedric Prince of the Unknown]]. Any [[OurDemonsAreDifferent daedric]] summon uses a portal that manifests as a Swirly Energy Thingy. Also, the portal to [[spoiler:Sovngarde located in Skuldafn]] is also a Swirly Energy Thingy. In ''Dawnguard'', the portal to [[spoiler:the Soul Cairn, the realm where all souls trapped in Black Soul Gems go after being used up]] is also a Swirly Energy Thingy.

* The Jump Holes in ''{{Freelancer}}'' (essentially natural [[CoolGate Jump Gates]]) appear as swirling, red-and-blue SpaceClouds with white specks.
* The superportal from ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}: Episode 2''

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* ''WebComic/{{Homestuck}}'' has this in the form of [[Characters/HomestuckSprites Kernelsprites]], swirling orbs which can adopt the traits of the first two things they touch.

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[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* ''Film/FantasticFour'' had this trope to a T, complete with surprise special effect of re-rolling your stats/DNA for you.

* Jupiter's Great Red Spot has been swirlin' for the last few hundred years, though it's less of an energy thing and more of a gigantic tornado.

* The pre-ComicBook/{{Crisis|on Infinite Earths}} {{Superman}} story "Superman's Secret Afterlife!" had the hero being caught by a LifeEnergy sucking creature called a Helix in space, that looked like a miniature galaxy. It trapped him in [[LotusEaterMachine an illusion of his possible future life]] (with a little help from the PhantomZone Villains). Superman destroys it, appropriately enough, by [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome spinning it towards a nova]].
* The [[TheFlash Speed Force]], an energy field from which all speedsters draw their power, is described as one of these.

* The "time rip" in Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheLangoliers'' is this.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' had a million of these over the course of its run. The other ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series weren't above using them either.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', in particular, used this visual effect for the wormhole that the primary plot centered around.

* A major plot point right through ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. In fact, one of these kicked off the plot in the first place. Farscape wormholes usually just send you through space, but can do time as well. John has the distinction of being pretty much the only person who can predict when and where they will open, which paints a huge target on his back.
* The first two seasons of ''{{Series/Eureka}}'' have this calling it the "Artifact" which may or may not have been the thing that caused both the Big Bang AND intelligence...
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' is another big fan of this trope. Most notably, the Time Vortex through which the TARDIS travels, first featured in the 70s title sequence, and reborn in the new series for both the titles and occasionally within the series itself.

* The Molecular Mixmaster from ''Pinball/DrDude''.

* The Jump Holes in ''{{Freelancer}}'' (essentially natural [[CoolGate Jump Gates]]) appear as swirling, red-and-blue SpaceClouds with white specks.
* The [[FasterThanLightTravel jump points]] in the later installments of the ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' series are depicted, in video {{cutscene}}s, as opening into these, then reversing the effect after the ship has passed into {{hyperspace}}.

* The wormholes in EveOnline are the inverse of this, being understated translucent spheres in space that go 'blib' when you go through them. Irritatingly, this is quite possibly what a real wormhole might look like, ie, boring.

* In ''VideoGame/MysteryOfMortlakeMansion'', these are located behind each PortalDoor, allowing travel between the real-world mansion and the "shadowy" version.

* Regarding the Swirly Thingy over Norway, self-admitted MadScientist Tony Flaansas of Webcomic/RealLifeComics pointed out that it could also be a villain trying to hypnotize Norway. When asked if he had tried to hypnotize Norway, his response was "Of course not, that's silly. I tried to blow it up, but my missile failed."

* Makuta's floating swirl of {{LEGO}} parts and some other stuff in the early ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'' on-line clips. Fans tend to call it "the Void", but that's most likely a misinterpretation of one of his lines. In fact, it's never cleared ''what'' it is, and it isn't represented in subsequent media. Could be where he kept his spare parts...

* The Void from the ''WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM'' continuity of ''SonicTheHedgehog''.
* Doc Terror's "Neutron Vortex" from the ''WesternAnimation/{{Centurions}}'' episode "To Dare Dominion".
* When Megatron destabilizes history in the second season finale of ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', a huge time-swirl starts spreading out into space with Earth at its center.

* The ''TransformersGeneration1'' two-part episode "Dinobot Island" featured various swirly energy time vortexes dropping historical animals, people, and objects into the present day.
* If their [[LargeAndInCharge stature]] didn't give it away, you could pick [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Princesses Luna and Celestia]] as powerful from their manes and tails being composed not of hair but of a nebula and an aurora respectively.
* In the WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} episode [[Recap/FuturamaS3E19RoswellThatEndsWell Roswell that Ends Well]], the Planet Express crew is sucked into the past by a Time Rift, a sort of red whirlpool in space caused by the interaction of radiation from a supernova and an exploding microwave oven.

* Makuta's floating swirl of {{LEGO}} parts and some other stuff in the early ''{{BIONICLE}}'' on-line clips. Fans tend to call it "the Void", but that's most likely a misinterpretation of one of his lines. In fact, it's never cleared ''what'' it is, and it isn't represented in subsequent media. Could be where he kept his spare parts...

* ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'': at one point, one of these spit out a giant golden TIE-Fighter that was a boss.

** the portals from cookie clicker that were part of a mini-event.

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* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', there's a warp rift called the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Eye of Terror]], and it's roughly the size of a small spiral galaxy. It's technically an area of space where there realspace and [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace warpspace]] overlap, though that's just another way of saying that it's just [[NegativeSpaceWedgie where ''hell'' itself has spewed into reality]]. Although the Eye of Terror is the largest and most notorious, there are others: the Maelstrom, the Maw, the Storm of the Emperor's Wrath, the Screaming Vortex...you get the idea. In the Fifth Edition rulebook, during its description of the Orks, the book gives a (not-to-scale) map of a [[KillEmAll WAAAAGH!]] from beginning to end. One of the [[NegativeSpaceWedgie topographical anomalies]] on the map is literally titled [[FunetikAksent "Da Big Swirly Fing"]]
** In ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'', the chaos Mutalith Vortex Beast carries a smaller one around on its back. As you'd expect from something that spends so long close to one, the Vortex Beast looks [[OurMonstersAreWeird very, very weird.]]

* If their [[LargeAndInCharge stature]] didn't give it away, you could pick [[MyLittlePony:FriendshipIsMagic Princesses Luna and Celestia]] as powerful from their manes and tails being composed not of hair but of a nebula and an aurora respectively.

* There have been several spirals appearing all over the place such as these.

* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' has "Spiral Energy", the force of will of mankind made manifest, often depicted as and accompanied by swirling wind and glowing spirals. Power taking the form of a spiral swirl is used as something of a metaphor for mankind's development and determination to advance as well as a visual cue that [[HolyShitQuotient awesome crap is about to go down.]]

* If their [[LargeAndInCharge stature]] didn't give it away, you could pick Princesses Luna and Celestia as powerful from their manes and tals being composed not of hair but of a nebula and an aurora respectively.