Line #106 Main/DramaticSpaceDrifting


1	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=c93f5kc43234da7rw9pvjl4v
2	%% Don't remove or replace without starting a new thread.
3	%%
4	[[quoteright:349:[[WebAnimation/TheDrift https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spacedrift_3526.jpg]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:349:[[https://youtu.be/JQK4UG4FSkU Nothing to do now but count the stars.]]]]
6
7	->''"It's cold outside\
8	There's no kind of atmosphere\
9	I'm all alone\
10	More or less..."''
11	-->-- '''Ending theme''', ''Series/RedDwarf''
12
13	So you're watching a good old SpaceOpera or your favorite CyberPunk TV series. There's been a grand battle and within all the excitement, you forget that in an intergalactic space war so big there must have been at least a few casualties. It is of course, the writers' jobs to remind of this eventually so as to add to the drama whilst slowing the pace a little.
14
15	Next you, the casual viewer, will be shown images of the debris left behind in the battle. It will only be a matter of time before you're shown a body (or parts thereof) floating within the wreckage.
16
17	This is Dramatic Space Drifting.
18
19	Common in ScienceFiction, this is when a spaceship blows up in a battle and relatively important characters are visible drifting through the debris, usually with all body parts intact. This is a trope based mostly in aesthetics rather than adherence to scientific fact, though a lot of modern depictions manage to accurately portray the effects of decompression on human beings (namely that a person does not [[ExplosiveDecompression explode]] nor [[SpaceIsCold freeze]], instead suffocating in vacuum). Characters are usually dead, thus emphasizing the tragic consequences of the battle at a human level, but there are occasions in which characters are still alive and such occasions can either have the same effect or achieve a more comedic one.
20
21	See also ThrownOutTheAirlock. ImprovisedMicrogravityManeuvering may be used to escape this situation.
22
23	No relation at all to MultiTrackDrifting.
24
25	----
26	!!Examples
27
28	[[foldercontrol]]
29
30	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
31	* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': When the ''Bebop'' runs out of or fuel, which happens [[BrokeEpisode a few times]] over the course of the series, they will just drift to their destination.
32	* ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' had living characters drift through space on at least two occasions
33	* ''Manga/OutlawStar'' sort of does this in the episode "Cats and Girls and Spaceships" though a flower was used instead of a human.
34	* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' often features this, usually with a character's battered mecha, although the pilot's often still alive inside. An episode of ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' begins with the body of a soldier from the One Year War having drifted out somewhere around Saturn. Early episodes showed the drifting corpse of Kamille's mother. TheStinger of the final episode shows Char's Hyaku Shiki floating by, with its hatch open, letting us know that he survived.
35	* ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'' has several examples during its many battles. The most common usage is by showing corpses drifting ''inside'' the wreckage of depressurized ships, often trailing blood behind them.
36	* ''[[Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada Mospeada]]'' and its western adaptation ''[[Anime/{{Robotech}} Robotech: The New Generation]]'' had an introductory scene with a single corpse floating among the wreckage of the first expedition fleet sent to liberate Earth from Inbits/Invids.
37	* ''Anime/GallForce'' had many scenes, particularly in the introductory battle scene when the ship's hull breach would [[ThrownOutTheAirlock have the crews sucked out into space]] or an occasional corpse in a sealed-off area, but the most iconic being [[spoiler: the aftermath of Luffy's HeroicSacrifice where she was left drifting in space]].
38	* ''Manga/KnightsOfSidonia'' had a single page depicting [[spoiler: Hoshijiro's demise, which her mutilated corpse was adrift in space as she was consumed by Gauna]].
39	* ''Anime/SoltyRei'' has Solty floating in the debris of space above Earth after destroying Eirene. She spends the next few years stuck up there barely functioning until Roy manages to get up there and find her, with the final shot of him tearfully embracing her as they float in space.
40	* ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199'': The first episode and the aftermath of Second Battle of Mars has spaced out crews floating around the debris of destroyed starships.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Comic Books]]
44	* "The Short, Happy Life of Roons Sewell", a comic arc in the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'', ended with Roons' death; the front of his Y-Wing exploded, sending shrapnel through his flight suit and ejecting him into space. There's an image of him still out there during his eulogy, frozen dead with a manic smile on his face. Unusually for this trope, it's a relatively uplifting thing - he gave his life, he saved people in doing this, his sacrifice had meaning. If we cannot celebrate the moments we hold back a dark tide, why fight it at all?
45	* In ''Rogue Leader'', an ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'' comic, it was shown that a week after the Battle of Endor, the sanctuary moon's skies are still crowded with ships and bodies (and pieces of both). Some pilots, including Wedge, signed up for salvage duty, because [[DueToTheDead even Imperials deserved a proper funeral]].
46	* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': At the end of "Dark Justice", three of the Dark Judges are blasted into the vacuum of space (the fourth having been previously captured in spirit form with a suction trap) when Dredd, Anderson, and the survivors of the ''Mayflower'' escape in the aquatic dome. Dredd quips that floating forever might at least be some kind of justice.
47	* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
48	** ''ComicBook/TheGreatDarknessSaga'': After one Servant of Darkness blows a Legion cruiser up, the bodies of several Legionnaires are seen floating among the wreckage of their starship, temporarily protected from the vacuum of space thanks to one of White Witch's spells.
49	** ''ComicBook/TheKillersOfKrypton'': After the climatic battle between the Omega Men and the Citadel, Harry Hokum's body is seen floating through space.
50	** ''ComicBook/TheImmortalSuperman'': In the year 801,970, Superman finds five astronauts floating in life-preserving spheres in deep space. After rescuing them, they explain their "preservo-spheres" are emergency safety devices which turned on when their spaceship broke down.
51	* ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': In Issue 8 from Volume 5, [[spoiler: frozen dead bodies of Nova Corps were shown in a panel after the Universal Church of Truth mind controlled them into removing their helmets and exposing them to vacuum]].
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
55	* The 1960s science fictional "Moon Period" in ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'' is quite justifiably called an AudienceAlienatingEra, but it did give Chester Gould a chance to do some spectacular artwork that he couldn't have done otherwise. The scene where a murderer tosses a body out of the space coupe and leaves it drifting in the black sky is pretty chilling.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
59	* ''WesternAnimation/DeadSpaceDownfall'' ends with [[spoiler:Vincent]]'s body floating through space, as the series' theme song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" plays.
60	* The haunting ending of "Magnetic Rose", the first segment of ''Anime/{{Memories}}''.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
64	* ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' when [[spoiler:Frank Poole's body is drifting.]]
65	* An underwater version of this is seen in the wreckage of the USS Montana in ''Film/TheAbyss''.
66	* ''Film/{{Alien}}'' - [[spoiler:Kane's dead body]] is shot from an airlock as if out of a cannon.
67	* An early example: George Pal's 1955 film ''Film/ConquestOfSpace'' has a crew member who is attached to a rope and hanging of the side of the ship after shards from an asteroid puncture his suit. The rest of the crew quickly become unnerved by having the body dangling off the side so the commander eventually decides to release him.
68	* The opening shot of the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' film ''Film/{{Damnatus}}'', including a human skull for no discernible reason other than {{Grimdark}}ness.
69	* The ending of ''Film/DarkStar''. Completely PlayedForLaughs, especially given [[SoundtrackDissonance the music playing at the time]].
70	* George Pal's earlier film ''Film/DestinationMoon'' had a mid-mission crisis where one of the crew accidentally falls off the side of the rocket and is stuck floating off the back. Fortunately his partners are able to save him.
71	* ''Film/EnemyMine'' begins with a closeup of a dead pilot amidst the wreckage of his fighter during the battle.
72	* ''Film/EuropaReport'': James Corrigan provides a HeroicSacrifice by letting himself drift off into space when a failed maintenance job sprays a toxic substance over his spacesuit and he runs the risk of poisoning the atmosphere of the ship.
73	* The rock monster in ''Film/GalaxyQuest''.
74	* The plot of ''Film/{{Gravity}}'' is about two such characters, knocked free after their space shuttle is destroyed by a cloud of space debris. The question is then, how do you get back to Earth?
75	** There's also a few drifting corpses in some of the early scenes, some of whom aren't even wearing spacesuits.
76	** Also [[spoiler: the ultimate fate of Matt Kowalski]].
77	* ''Film/JupiterAscending'': [[BondVillainStupidity When Caine is spaced by Titus Abrasax for 'betraying' him]] [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim instead of just being killed outright]] - [[BondVillainStupidity but not before explaining to Caine the entirety of his]] EvilPlan. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain it works out exactly as you'd expect for Titus.]]
78	* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
79	** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'', after TheMutiny against Yondu ends with his loyalists ThrownOutTheAirlock, we're treated to a shot of the line of bodies trailing behind the ship.
80	** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': When the Guardians arrive at the location of the [[spoiler:Asgardian]] distress call, they find nothing but debris and bodies floating in space. [[spoiler:Thor is among them, but still alive.]]
81	** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' opens with Tony Stark recording a final message for Pepper Potts, since the ''Benatar'' has suffered engine failure and is running out of food, water and oxygen, leaving them drifting through deep space. [[spoiler:Captain Marvel finds them and single-handedly tows the ship to Earth.]]
82	* [[spoiler: Hugo Drax]] in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'', after being ejected by Bond with the classic [[PreMortemOneLiner quip]] "Take a giant step for mankind."
83	* ''Film/ThePhantomPlanet'' has the lead character's co-pilot ending up like this after a HeroicSacrifice. His last line is reciting the Lord's Prayer while drifting away from his spaceship.
84	* Parodied in ''Film/SpyHard'', where General Rancor is launched into space aboard his rocket, and then floats around until he slams into an Apollo-type spacecraft, prompting a voiceover of "Houston, we have a problem".
85	* A deliberate version in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' when an unarmed Captain Picard is facing a Borg drone while EVA on the hull of the Enterprise. Picard releases his magnetic boots so he floats away over the Borg's head. It's downplayed though as he's able to grab onto something further on and regain his footing. However several other drones play the trope straight during the same scene; for instance when a drone is advancing towards one character he shoots a conduit, releasing a cloud of gas that blasts the drone into space.
86	* ''Film/StarTrek2009'' shows us how one ends up with dramatic space drifting when it depicts a person hurtling out of a breach in the hull of the ''Kelvin''. Played straight when USS Enterprise warps into Vulcan's orbit and finds the fleet that arrived shortly before has been massacred.
87	* A quick flash during the opening space battle above Coruscant in ''Franchise/StarWars Episode III: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', when the Clone fighters escorting Anakin and Obi Wan are blown up.
88	* ''Film/SuperNova'', 2000 Sci-Fi Horror film, had this with [[spoiler: the fate of Danika, who was ThrownOutOfTheAirlock by Troy and later see her body flailing for a moment before dying from asphyxiation. Her lover, Yerzy, also had this, though was already struck in the head with a blunt object by Troy beforehand.]].
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Literature]]
92	* This is the plot of the Creator/RayBradbury short story (and play) ''Kaleidoscope''. Most of them are live (for now), and able to talk to each other by radio till they get out of range.
93	** Also ''No Particular Night or Morning'', which ends with an insane astronaut jettisoning himself out into space, though unlike most examples he actually finds such a fate rather comforting.
94	* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'':
95	** The last chapter of ''Literature/ShardsOfHonor'' focuses on a shuttle crew recovering bodies in Escobar orbit after the big battle.
96	** In ''Literature/{{Komarr}}'' a precise analysis of the trajectory of drifting debris is used to help determine the cause of a space accident.
97	* In ''[[Literature/HyperionCantos The Fall of Hyperion]]'' by Dan Simmons, one of the characters passes through a portal onto a warship that's been destroyed in the fighting -- it's open to space and full of the dead bodies of its crew.
98	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
99	** Happens in ''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}'' with the troop complements of a number of destroyed [[DropShip Drop Ships]] -- infantry, grenadiers, and the like. Except because they're in environment suits, they're still alive. And because they're clones, ''they keep fighting''. In fact, the associated short story "Equipment" is told through the eyes of one of these troopers. [[spoiler: [[EarnYourHappyEnding He lives]]]].
100	** The end of ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: Spore'' has a Star Destroyer torn apart in the middle of an AsteroidThicket, scattering its mind-controlled crew out into the vacuum. [[spoiler: Spore's primary host is killed. It survives, but it's harmless without air and a living primary host.]]
101	* In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' Arthur and Ford are tossed off the Vogon ship. They float free for a few seconds before the Infinite Improbability Drive brings the ship to save them.
102	* ''Avengers of the Moon'', by Creator/AllenSteele. The ''Comet'' is coupled to a [[SolarSail laser sail]] spaceship to be ferried to Mars, but a saboteur tries to detach them from the support cradle mid-way, so the crew will die of starvation before they can get to a planet. Literature/CaptainFuture goes EVA to stop him and succeeds, but during the struggle his safety line is cut and the [[LawOfInverseRecoil recoil]] from his RayGun throws him clear. [[spoiler:There's no way anyone can go back for him so Captain Future resigns himself to dying, but fortunately a SpacePolice cruiser has been secretly following them and picks him up.]]
103	* ''Chindi'' by Creator/JackMcDevitt
104	** Literature/PriscillaHutchins gets caught outside the hull when a spacecraft jumps out of hyperspace, gets disoriented and lets go of her tether, and worse throws up in her spacesuit so has the added risk of drowning. She has to be saved by a media cameraman who was filming her heroics.
105	** Someone else makes the mistake of crouching down while on the outside of a spacecraft, losing the grip on his StickyShoes. Fortunately he has the presence of mind to remember there's an incline behind him, shoves his foot backwards and regains his grip. Earlier the expedition commander wasn't so lucky--when the BigDumbObject he's on takes off at LudicrousSpeed, he's killed after he becomes detached and another part of the BDO collides with him.
106	* Creator/ArthurCClarke's short story "Maelstrom II" revolves around an astronaut named Cliff Leyland drifting in a low orbit around the moon after an accident with his capsule's launch. Much of his time is spent waiting to see if he can be rescued and reunited with his family, or is doomed to crash and die.
107	* ''Literature/LaszloHadronAndTheWargodsTomb'': Isis Lagato reaches SecretGovernmentWarehouse Sel'Akis by jumping out of her ship's cargo bay as it flies over the planetoid's surface, giving her a few moments of this.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
111	* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', when Commander Sinclair finally remembers what happened at the Battle of the Line: his squad member Mitchell is ambushed and killed, and the next thing we see is his ''helmet'' drifting away, past Sinclair's front view in his Starfury.
112	* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' has Lee floating through space after the destruction of the Blackbird, watching ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' tear two Cylon basestars to pieces. Ron Moore got the idea from the story of Ensign George Gay, the only survivor of his squadron who watched the climax of the Battle of Midway while floating in the Pacific.
113	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
114	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E2FourToDoomsday "Four to Doomsday"]]: Happens when the Doctor's safety line was untied while he was trying to jump through space into the TARDIS. Fortunately, he had a cricket ball in his pocket.
115	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS20E5Enlightenment "Enlightenment"]] gives us Turlough's PG suicide attempt.
116	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E8TheImpossiblePlanet "The Impossible Planet"]]: Scooti's body, when everyone else discovers she's been blown into space, as she's sucked into the black hole.
117	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E3UnderTheLake "Under the Lake"]] has an underwater variant. The other characters discover Pritchard is dead when they see his body floating outside the cafeteria windows.
118	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E5Oxygen "Oxygen"]] opens with two spacesuited corpses tumbling through the void, as the Doctor gives a voiceover ChekhovsLecture on the dangers of outer space.
119	* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' did several varieties of this several times; one notable instance is D'argo and John floating in space after jumping out a ship which they'd loaded with explosives to [[spoiler:ignite an inhabited moon's atmosphere, destroying Scorpius' gammack base]].
120	** Another point in the series, John had to jump from a ship that was being destroyed ([[ItMakesSenseInContext after he had sabotaged it with him still on it]]), to another ship that was drifting some hundred yards away. The kicker? He did it ''without a spacesuit''.
121	** There was also at least two cliffhangers involving John being stranded alone in space after incidents with wormholes. The first time Moya was sucked into a wormhole while he was outside, leaving him alone in the middle of deep space, the second time he was left in orbit around Earth.
122	* Several times in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'':
123	** In the episode "[[Recap/FireflyE03Bushwhacked Bushwhacked]]" when ''Serenity'' encounters a derelict ship and then a dead body smacks into the cockpit windshield, startling Wash ([[JumpScare and the audience]]).
124	** In the episode "[[Recap/FireflyE14ObjectsInSpace Objects in Space]]" when [[spoiler:Jubal Early is spaced and left to die]]. Played for comedic value at the end of the episode, as even Jubal recognizes he is performing some excellent Dramatic Space Drifting.
125	--->'''Early:''' Well, here I am.
126	* Happens all the time on ''Series/TheExpanse''. A common variation is corpses still held to the deck by their mag-boots, their arms floating surreally.
127	* ''Series/ForAllMankind'': In "Bent Bird", Apollo 25 is sent up to replace a damaged computer on Apollo 24. Unfortunately when the computer is replaced it executes the last command it was given and fires off the main booster while Apollo 25 is still tethered to it. Its commander Molly Cobb is forced to [[CutTheSafetyRope release the tether]] to save her ship, leaving her adrift in space. Fellow astronaut Tracey Stevens is able to find her again despite Molly orbiting through the night side of the Earth [[TenSecondFlashlight when her flashlight goes out]]. Unlike some other fictional examples, orbital mechanics and fuel are important factors; Apollo 25 doesn't have the fuel to do the intercept and is at first ordered to return to Earth instead, only for Tracey to [[YouAreInCommandNow exercise her command authority now Molly is off the ship.]]
128	* One satirical special by Rory Bremner ended with UsefulNotes/TonyBlair and UsefulNotes/BillClinton, wanting to conquer the final frontier, heading out on a space walk... only to drift away into space, as the other end of their tether wasn't attached to anything.
129	* ''Series/Space1999'': In the episode "War Games", Commander Koenig ejects from his Eagle just before it is destroyed and is left floating helplessly in space, though he [[FaceDeathWithDignity does eventually come to terms with the destruction of Moonbase Alpha and his own impending demise]]. Luckily [[spoiler:it all turns out to be an illusion]].
130	* In an episode of ''Series/StargateSG1'' a bad guy gets beamed out into space for holding a gun on someone. When the former hostage asks what happened to him, he drifts towards the bridge window and actually gets a shot off before smacking into it and sliding off.
131	* Two examples in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', both involving Asuran replicators (nanite robots).
132	** The first is after an Asuran scientist does a HeelFaceTurn. When the other replicators detect this they wirelessly reprogram him, causing him to attack the Atlantis team. They beam him into outer space, with the episode closing on a shot of him floating around.
133	** The second is of [[spoiler:Dr. Weir (now turned replicator) and her Ascension-seeking brethren]] floating in space after she tricked them into following her through the Stargate to protect the rest of the expedition.
134	* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
135	** [[Franchise/StarTrek The franchise]] does this pretty often, but one of the standouts is in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2]]", when we see an incredible amount of debris after the battle with the Borg at Wolf 359 -- nearly forty Federations ships all blasted to pieces, amounting to ''11,000'' deaths. Of course, many would have preferred [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome actually seeing the battle]]... which we finally do in ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'''s [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E01E02Emissary pilot]].
136	** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E24TheNextPhase The Next Phase]]", Geordi and Ro fight a Romulan who's in phase with them, but out of phase with normal matter, thus all of them having intangibility. The Romulan attacks the pair, but is sent flying through the bulkhead and out into space, where we see him quickly drift out into space, motionless.
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Radio]]
140	* ''Radio/JourneyIntoSpace'': In ''The Red Planet'', Mitch almost drifts off into space but he is rescued by Jet and Lemmy.
141	[[/folder]]
142
143	[[folder:Video Games]]
144	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'': Rinoa is left drifting in space after [[spoiler:Ultimecia possesses her body and uses it to turn off the machine that was keeping the sorceress Adel sealed]]. Although she almost runs out of oxygen, Squall leaves the escape pod he's in to rescue her, and the two manage to survive by making it to the abandoned ship Ragnarok.
145	* ''VideoGame/QuakeIV'' brutally featured this in its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMRBb00z8bg intro]].
146	* ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'' had a scene in the Terran ending, showing an arm drifting amidst debris, blood trailing from the stump on one end, and smoke trailing from the cigarette still held between its fingers on the other.
147	* Sprinkled throughout the zero-gravity sections of ''VideoGame/DeadSpace1''. Can be expected or a horrifying surprise depending on how well orientated you are.
148	** The cover also features an example; what appears to be Isaac's severed arm, floating away.
149	* In one of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}: Anniversary'' terminals, the corpses of several Marines are shown floating alongside the wreckage of several UNSC ships, demonstrating what happens to any human fleet that tries to get in Thel 'Vadamee's way.
150	* Played with in ''VideoGame/LEGOStarWars'': the animation of the destruction of the first Death Star shows all sorts of exploding starship parts flying straight at you, ending with a flailing Stormtrooper minifig.
151	* ''VideoGame/EveOnline'' will have this at the site of any major PVP battle, at least until some macabre scavenger scoops up the corpses for his trophy collection.
152	** Anything smaller than a capital-sized vessel will look like a generic large, medium, or small-sized piece of sparking space-flotsam, depending on the size of the destroyed ship in question. Capital-sized ships, however, look like actual wrecks: they retain the appearance of the original ship while being scorched, hollow, and dark, with several sections of the outer hull missing.
153	* In the beginning of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', during the attack on the ''Normandy'' SR-1, Shepard is separated from the ship and thrown out into space. His/her suit begins to leak and Shepard flails wildly as he/she falls into the atmosphere of a nearby planet and burns up. Fun fact: when done with male Shepard, the scene is a shot-for-shot reconstruction of [[spoiler:Frank Poole's death]] in ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.
154	* ''VideoGame/MoonsOfMadness'' ends this way, with the protagonist having stopped the awakening of [[EldritchAbomination some creatures]] capable of ending reality as we know it, but having sacrificed himself in the process, leaving him drifting in space.
155	* ''VideoGame/WingCommander'':
156	** One NonStandardGameOver of ''[[VideoGame/WingCommanderTheKilrathiSaga Wing Commander I]]'', gained after your carrier is destroyed in a defend-the-base mission, shows your fighter drifting in space with the words, "With your carrier destroyed, you drift endlessly through the void."
157	** In the winning ending of ''[[VideoGame/WingCommanderTheKilrathiSaga Wing Commander II: Special Operations 2]]'', the empty helmet of [[spoiler:the traitor Zach "Jazz" Colson]] is shown floating in space.
158	** On rare occasion, after shooting down a ship in ''VideoGame/WingCommanderPrivateer'', you can see a body part (often a hand or booted foot) floating in space.
159	** When investigating the transport destroyed in the intro of ''VideoGame/WingCommanderIVThePriceOfFreedom'', you may see [[StrippedToTheBone a charred skeleton]] floating around in space.
160	* In ''VideoGame/Portal2'', you are at one point treated to the picture of [[spoiler:Wheatley doing this in the ending. Well, all right, not terribly ''dramatic'' since he's an AI and is invulnerable to the effects of spacing, and he's got the Space Module for company]].
161	* In ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'', this happens to [[spoiler: Starkiller]] at one point. You can also send enemies to this fate by breaking the windows on ships and getting them sucked out into space.
162	* It's possible to do this to yourself (or, well, the kerbalnaut you're controlling) in ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' if you run out of EVA pack fuel before you can reach your spaceship's capsule.
163	* In the first episode of ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands'', Vasquez boasts about [[KlingonPromotion double-crossing his old boss Henderson and taking his job]], when Henderson's frozen corpse drifts pass the window of the space station. Vasquez even [[LampshadeHanging points out]] the appropriateness of the timing.
164	* ''VideoGame/SpaceEngineers'' features fully destructible spacecraft, zero gravity, and player ragdolls. This results in exactly what you'd expect.
165	* One scene occurs in the starting area, Quarantine Zone, from ''VideoGame/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2021'', where a long dead Nova Corps member would be floating among debris during Milano's venture into the area where entire area was covered by forcefield and goo to prevent debris from affecting interstellar travel after a massive battle.
166	[[/folder]]
167
168	[[folder:Webcomics]]
169	* Happens to Jones in ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt''. This is notable because it's not the result of a battle ''in'' space, she was thrown ''into'' space by an enemy on the ground. Also notable because this is mostly just an annoyance for her, since as far as we know she is [[NighInvulnerable indestructible]] and also [[TheNeedless doesn't need to eat, drink, or breathe.]]
170	* ''Webcomic/MyImpossibleSoulmate'': When Chiaki undertakes the Observation to know what her alignment is, she temporarily ends up [[https://cubeupload.com/im/Custard11Onion/ChiakiFloatingInSpac.png floating in space]].
171	* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary''. Most people you see doing this survive, however, due to PowerArmour or BizarreAlienBiology.
172	* This is [[https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider014.html Alex's fate]] until his unlikely rescue in ''Webcomic/{{Outsider}}''.
173	[[/folder]]
174
175	[[folder:Western Animation]]
176	* Similar to the first ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' entry, above, in the episode "The Last One Left" of ''WesternAnimation/WingCommanderAcademy'', you see the empty helmet of [[spoiler:Daimon Karnes]] floating in space, at the end of the episode.
177	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Bender does this after being fired out of a torpedo tube in which he was napping.
178	* Happens to ''WesternAnimation/BlackDynamite'', after his crappy space ship falls apart. Dynamite is saved thanks to his gun and a stereotypical black voice AI.
179	* The ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E24Bubbled Bubbled]]" consists almost entirely of this, as Steven and Eyeball Ruby, having been ThrownOutTheAirlock in the previous episode, drift through space together.
180	* The ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS3E7TheRicklantisMixup The Ricklantis Mixup]]" closes on the bodies of several Ricks and Mortys drifting around the Citadel of Ricks after being ThrownOutTheAirlock [[spoiler:by the newly elected president, Evil Morty]].
181	* ''WesternAnimation/LoveDeathAndRobots'': In "[[Recap/LoveDeathAndRobotsHelpingHand Helping Hand]]", an astronaut is adrift in space, so she removes her glove and [[LawOfInverseRecoil throws it in the opposite direction]] to propel herself back towards her spaceship. Her hand [[SpaceIsCold freezes up in less than a minute]], so when she misses her chance to grab the spaceship [[LifeOrLimbDecision she breaks off the frozen arm]] and throws it away as well.
182	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'':
183	** In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E2RisingMalevolence Rising]] ''[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E2RisingMalevolence Malevolence]]"'', the first escape pod that Plo Koon and the clones encounter in the debris field is facing away from them; when Koon turns it around, it's shown that it's been attacked and cut open, with a dead clone floating in the hole in the viewport. Later, after fighting off a squad of battle droids trying to breach their escape pod, Plo Koon and his men float outside in space, exhausted and low on oxygen until Ahsoka senses them and rescues them.
184	** After narrowly preventing a deadly explosive ship from killing everyone at a meeting, Artoo is caught in the premature explosion and is retrieved from space afterwards.
185	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' parodies this with AP-5 at one point, who was stranded in space after a scuffle. As he starts monologuing about being alone in the dead of space and how he actually ''enjoys'' it, [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter baby neebray]] suddenly appear out of nowhere and start flying around him like a flurry of birds, and he's about to break out into song until the ''Ghost'' finds him and rescues him, much to his disappointment.
186	* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': Every episode in the first season opens with Gary [[InMediasRes In Medias Res]] floating among the wreckage of a battle as his spacesuit's oxygen slowly runs out, with each episode's opening showing the next minute until his oxygen depletes. The reason for how he ends up like this is ultimately shown in [[Recap/FinalSpaceS1E10Chapter10 the season finale.]]
187	[[/folder]]
188

Context Main / DramaticSpaceDrifting