Line #74 Main/SpacePeople


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9	[[quoteright:300:[[Literature/AllTomorrows https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spacers.jpg]]]]
10	[[caption-width-right:300:[[Music/PeterSchilling Earth below us, drifting, falling, floating weightless...]]]]
11
12	->''The crews of the starships are funny that way\
13	When they're not on a deck they do not like things quiet\
14	They'll turn first a glass then a whole tavern over\
15	Get thrown in the lockup, confined to the field,\
16	And then, in a rush of filled forms and paid prices,\
17	They exit, all quickly, with nothing to say''
18	-->-- '''Sestina: Midnight stations''', ''TabletopGame/{{Gurps}} TabletopGame/{{Traveller}} Starports''
19
20	In most SpaceOpera settings, [[CasualInterstellarTravel space travel is commonplace and routine]], but in some settings there are people who spend almost their entire lives in space. These people were born and raised on a starship or space station and can't imagine living on a planet or natural satellite. They often act as [[IntrepidMerchant traders]], with an [[TheClan extended family]] owning and operating a ship.
21
22	Recently, with knowledge of the ill effects of extended periods in space, Spacers are increasingly portrayed as [[HumanSubspecies a genetically engineered subspecies]] specially adapted for [[LifeInZeroG life in permanent freefall]], which does not experience muscular and skeletal degeneration from zero-gravity, is immune to radiation, has [[HandyFeet prehensile toes]], and so on. In softer settings, however, they may still be portrayed as normal humans who happen to live in space, perhaps thanks to ArtificialGravity. Even if they may be {{Transhuman}}, their main reason for living in space is usually cultural: they consider it their own place. Even if they visit planets occasionally, they do not feel particularly attached to them, and may even consider them unpleasant.
23
24	If a FantasyCounterpartCulture, they may be comparable to Romani or other nomadic Earth-cultures. They often make excellent engineers and pilots. They usually won't have any government beyond clan elders.
25
26	Compare GenerationShips, where multiple generations are born and live out their entire lives on board a slow-moving ship headed for a distant planet.
27
28	SpaceNomads are a common subtrope, as are TranshumansInSpace.
29	----
30	!!Examples:
31
32	[[foldercontrol]]
33
34	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
35	* ''Manga/TwoThousandOneNights'' has an entire generation of people born in space, known as Tachyonians, who have better reaction time and intellect. [[spoiler:In fact, 5000 of them decided to leave on a {{Generation Ship\|s}} to explore the galaxy in contrast to human civilization's retreating away from the frontier.]]
36	* ''Anime/GargantiaOnTheVerdurousPlanet'': The Galactic Alliance of Humanity ''wants'' to find a planet to live on, but none are habitable; thus, everyone lives in ships, with a SpaceStation called Avalon serving as the capital and some SpaceNomads who are not yet under the government's control. However, most of the series is set on Earth, [[EarthThatWas which the protagonist accidentally rediscovers]] in [[FirstEpisodeTwist the first episode]].
37	* ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'': Scott from the "New Generation" portion has never been on a planet until he reached adulthood and is surprised when he experiences rain for the first time.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Comic Books]]
41	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'':
42	** [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Volume 1]]: The "Gremlins" had a home planet before being abducted and enslaved by the Ytirflirks, but the Ytirflirks devastated it in their invasion. Following their SlaveRevolt the "Gremlins" are happy to live on the stolen Ytirflirk mothership They note it is a bit tight but they also stole a bunch of other Ytirflirk ships so they can spread out and explore at will with the Mothership acting as their new home.
43	** [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Volume 2]]: The vast majority of the kreel nobility, the ruling class of the Sangtee Empire, live out most of their lives in the Empire's spacebound capitol cities.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Fan Works]]
47	* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager'': The ship's [[TheNavigator astrogator]], Annika Hansen, is one of the Spaceborn. She was born on a multi-year deep-space mission to Pluto by her Norwegian explorer parents, and her body is [[{{Cyborg}} extensively modified by artificial prosthetics]] so she can work in outer space without the clumsy space armor used by other astronauts. However, she requires an atomic-powered exoskeleton under Earth-like gravity, connected to surgically implanted waldo nodes.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
51	* ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'': The entire human race ends up as this after Earth's destruction. Some people, such as Cale, live as second-class citizens on space stations and (presumably) planets, but the Drifter colonies adhere closely to this trope and even lash ships together for more living space.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
55	* ''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'': Gelt says he doesn't have a homeworld -- he was born in space, which is appropriate for a [[SpaceIsCold cold-blooded killer]], but also reflects his need to live on a planet [[ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest where no one is going to shoot him in revenge for his past deeds]].
56	* ''Film/Serenity2005'': Kaylee refers to the ''Serenity'' as the crew's home. They don't really seem to have another. Mal really ''doesn't'' anymore; his homeworld was Shadow, an Independent stronghold, which suffered such intense OrbitalBombardment from the Alliance during the Unification War, the entire planet was left a "[[ApocalypseHow black rock]]" afterwards. Similarly, Zoe was born on a ship, not dirtside; she literally has no homeworld.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Literature]]
60	* ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown'': The Arachne are an entire alien race of these. Earth's allies the Jan assure us we need not fear an invasion from the Arachne, because the Arachne don't want planetary real estate anyway. They prefer low and zero-G environments. They're all cyborgs who change their bodies as need be, favoring insect and spider-like shapes to move more easily in gravity-free environments.
61	* ''Literature/AllianceUnion'' has humanity divided culturally into planet-siders, stationers, and spacers. Spacers are usually organized into merchant clans owning one or more ships. They also have one-night stands in ports to prevent inbreeding.
62	* ''Literature/AllTomorrows'': The Starborn, who went into deep space to escape [[ScaryDogmaticAliens the Qu]], heavily adapted themselves for their new home, developing extremely spindly limbs and digits for movement in zero-G, as well as pressurized guts and circulatory systems (which allowed them to develop a form of jet propulsion in the bargain). Their Asteromorph descendants took this to even greater lengths.
63	* ''Literature/AngelStation'': The main characters hail from a space-dwelling culture which considers planets dirtballs -- hostile, filthy and depressing. Honestly, what else could be said of a place at the very bottom of a deep gravity well?
64	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'':
65	** Mention is made of a species called the Ongachic, who abandoned their homeworld long ago for unstated reasons. They seem to be SpaceNomads, with a group attacked by the Yeerks working as minstrels.
66	** The Ketrans become this after their planet, Ket, is attacked by the Capasins. They actually want to find a new planet, but are holding out for one with the very specific, unlikely atmospheric conditions of their homeworld, where everyone lived on [[FloatingContinent giant crystals floating in the sky]].
67	* ''Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark'': The Lo'ona Aeo are a race of SpaceElves who have voluntarily left their homeworld and colonies to live aboard large artificial orbital habitats called "astroids" (sic.). Some of those worlds (namely, those in the border regions) are given to their Defenders as part of the payment for their services. The core worlds are kept as preserves and museums. Being extremely xenophobic (but also a race of {{Technical Pacifist}}s), they never directly interact with members of other races, preferring to deal with them through their genetically engineered ServantRace called Servs. Each Lo'ona Aeo clan typically has its own astroid, the climate of which can be adjusted to any preference. PopulationControl is in place to prevent inbreeding and to keep "undesirable" genetic lines from propagating.
68	* ''Literature/{{Boojumverse}}'': Christian cultists, Arkhamers and gillies are mentioned, although not explained in detail. They're the subject of prejudice and distrust, and they're implied to have been driven off Earth as a result of religious or government persecution, taking on roles that enable them to be useful and therefore tolerated. Christians have [[BioAugmentation modified their bodies]] to be capable of working in space -- in "Mongoose", Izrael passes one in a corridor who has replaced her arms with four sucker-tipped tentacles. [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Arkhamers]] are all {{Mad Scientist}}s -- the [[PetMonstrosity Cheshires]] they breed are used to hunt extra-dimensional predators. "Gillies" are FishPeople; good for extreme environments but subject to FantasticRacism.
69	* ''Literature/CaptainFrenchOrTheQuestForParadise'': The titular character and other space traders like him spend most of the time aboard their ships. In fact, laws hard-wired into all ship computers is that, if a space trader spends more than a year on any single world without traveling elsewhere, his ship becomes fair game for anyone wishing to take his place. There are also people living in zero-g (or very low-g) space habitats. When French shows the picture of one to his wife, the person looks barely human. The titular captain explains that when he became a space trader (the first of his kind), he quickly realized that someone like that can't ever be truly wealthy (i.e. have tons of money in banks, own companies, live in castles, etc.) due to the nature of interstellar travel. Since traveling between stars takes at least decades from the viewpoint of anyone planet bound (while only a split-second for the traveler), it wouldn't make sense to trust the locals of any planet to remain stable for this period of time. After all, economies can crash, banks can go out of business, and property can be seized by a corrupt and/or dictatorial government. Thus, a space trader must subscribe to the old adage "Omnia mea mecum porto" ("I carry my things with me") and keep all his/her property aboard the ship.
70	* ''Literature/CitizenOfTheGalaxy'': The Free Traders live in nomadic clans whose homes are their starships. They are noted for being [[FantasticRacism somewhat disdainful of planet-dwellers]], whom they sometimes refer to as "fraki".[[note]]"A fraki is a small, shapeless, semi-saurian scavenger of Alpha Centauri Prime III... It is ugly, almost mindless, and has disgusting habits... [Fraki as an insult] means a groundhog, an earthcrawler, a dirt dweller, one who never goes into space, not of our tribe, not human, a goy, an auslander, a savage, beneath contempt."[[/note]]
71	* ''Literature/CrestOfTheStars'': The Abh are a genetically engineered race adapted to life in space, with key modifications being a third eye to better navigate in three dimensions and the ability to withstand both high acceleration and microgravity.
72	* ''Literature/{{Eldraeverse}}'': Close to three-fifths of the population consists of spacers, and most of them are modified in various ways to be better at space-dwelling.
73	* ''Literature/TheExpanse'': The Belters. Given that the series is hard sci-fi, they are {{Lightworlder}}s even with bone-growth increasing medicine.
74	* ''Literature/FormicWars'': Clans of AsteroidMiners compete with corporate ships. Many of them have lived in microgravity so long they couldn't stand on Earth or even Mars. Luckily, Victor arrives to Luna (i.e., the Moon), where gravity is even lower than on Mars. He does spend a considerable amount of time prior to his trip exercising his leg muscles, but he is then forced to spend several months in a tiny cockpit without much chance to move around.
75	* ''Literature/GreatShip'': The Remoras reside on the exterior hull of [[PlanetSpaceship the Great Ship]], and are [[HumanSubspecies descended from a human]] Captain who was ReassignedToAntarctica on the hull to repair damage from meteorite impacts. Their bodies have been twisted by the hard radiation impacting it, but rather than cure it, they [[BioAugmentation actively cultivate the mutations and cherish them]], while their {{Transhuman}} HealingFactor keeps them alive. Remoras are born in {{Uterine Replicator}}s that become the spacesuit that they live their entire lives in; to ask a Remora to take off their suit is the most offensive thing one can say, and [[ClingyCostume probably outright impossible without a fusion torch]].
76	* ''Literature/HyperionCantos'': Ousters have been living in space for so long that they're no longer able to survive on Earth-like planets or under Earth-normal gravity without supportive equipment.
77	* ''Literature/TheIntegralTrees'' features the descendants of stranded astronauts who live in a cloud surrounding a star. They are extremely tall (around 3m) and slim and have elongated toes, as well as a high infant mortality rate due to the lack of gravity.
78	* ''Literature/LucifersStar'': People who live predominately in Space are called "Spacers". They are implied to live generationally on ships and have a FreeLoveFuture attitude to sex [[{{Polygamy}} as well as relationships often becoming group based]]. They're also people who tend to get cheap but effective genetic enhancements to permanently make zero-g space travel better for their bones.
79	* ''Literature/ManAfterManAnAnthropologyOfTheFuture'': The Vacuumorphs are exoskeletal humans designed to be living space probes, with all of their vulnerable parts sealed up so they can survive the natural elements of outer space without the need of a ship. It's never mentioned that anyone from Earth retrieves them. In other words, the Vacuumorphs are cursed to stay in high orbit without any way of directly seeing or communicating with the outside universe (except through their surgically attached planetary surveying equipment) and are (presumably) forced to consume nothing but their own recycled natural waste until finally accidentally falling towards and burning up in a random planet's atmosphere. They cannot even travel through space -- it's stated that they are high-orbit spaceship engineers only. Their bodies cannot operate or even survive in gravity at all -- and that includes the artificial gravity of an accelerating spaceship. [[WoobieSpecies They're stuck in near-Earth space]].
80	* ''Literature/TheMartianWay'': Men who make a living from salvaging space junk live mostly in space. Despite having gravity on the spacecraft, they still suffer from ill-effects from living in space, such as being scrawny and being exposed to too much U.V radiation.
81	* ''Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy'': The Edenists reside in {{sapient\|Ship}} [[OrganicTechnology bitek]] space stations orbiting gas giants, which harvest gases and refine it into fusion reactor fuel. The Adamists, which makes up most of the human population and lacks the Edenists' [[HumansArePsychicInTheFuture Affinity Gene]], often build outposts on asteroids and other smaller objects, and live there. Cosmoniks are the logical conclusion of Adamist space people; their bodies have atrophied from microgravity to the point where they [[CyborgHelmsman are more robotic than flesh]]; many cosmoniks are so augmented that they can survive for days -- or effectively indefinitely -- in vacuum with nothing more than an oxygen bottle.
82	* ''Literature/ThePolity'': The first book, ''Gridlinked'', introduces some of these living on a space station. This being a PostCyberpunk series in which every human has BioAugmentation and at least limited cybernetics, the group have much more fragile bodies than normal humans, living their whole lives in zero gravity. It's noted that a normal human simply bumping into them would risk breaking their bones, so they are very careful around them.
83	* ''Literature/ThePrideOfParahumans'': The titular Parahumans are transgenic constructs designed for life in space. Their bones are a titanium alloy that doesn't suffer osteoporosis, their skin is toughened against vacuum, and their blood and muscles retain more oxygen than natural marine mammals.
84	* ''Literature/RevelationSpaceSeries'': Many of the [[{{Transhuman}} Ultranauts]] have never set foot on anything that isn't man-made. They're a loose and decentralized faction of humanity that are part this trope, and part LoveableRogue [[AntiHero antiheroes]] (or, sometimes outright [[AntiVillain antivillains]] or villains). Though small in their total population, Ultranauts are a very disparate group of people, ranging from normal humans to cyborgs, and from wanderers or traders to the equivalent of SpacePirates.
85	* ''Literature/RiteOfPassage'': The protagonist was born and lives on a spaceship, and the spaceship dwellers have far more advanced technology than planet dwellers, who have agrarian societies and resent the much higher lifespans and standard of living aboard ships; space dwellers are appalled by planet dwellers being "free birthers" (not strictly limiting childbearing). Spaceship children refer to planet dwellers as "mudeaters"; planet children call spaceship dwellers "grabbies".
86	* ''Literature/TheThreeMinuteUniverse'' features a race of SpaceNomads called Sackers who live almost their entire lives in space. The only stop on planets to [[UterineReplicator grow new Sackers in vats]]; once the newborns are old enough to survive space travel, they're [[{{Teleportation}} beamed up]] to their ship and live out the rest of their days there.
87	* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': There are a number of these.
88	** Elli Quinn, who was born on a SpaceStation, regards actual planets as dirty and uninviting.
89	** An entire HumanSubspecies known as "Quaddies", who were genetically engineered with an extra set of hands where their legs would normally be and with a number of other genetic modifications to make them capable of surviving indefinitely in microgravity or freefall, are kind of an enforced example. They're also a former SlaveRace rendered surplus to requirements by the invention of ArtificialGravity and fled to a remote asteroid-laden system to escape being sterilized and dumped on a lifeless planet.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Live-Action Television]]
93	* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' has the Travelers, who fled the Wraith in a fleet of starships centuries ago and now wander the stars, keeping one step ahead from the Wraith. They did try to start a colony on a planet late in the series though, but unfortunately, [[spoiler:due to the [[ForgottenSuperweapon Attero device]] being reactivated, [[YankTheDogsChain their Stargate ended up going critical and also destroying their largest ship]]]].
94	* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': Part of Travis Mayweather's backstory is that he comes from such a family, and thus has a [[InformedAbility lot more experience in space]] than most of the crew. Naturally, his family (when they show up) fit as well. One of the reasons is because those 22nd century freighters could only safely cruise at warp 1.5, about 4-5 times the speed of light. This means that even the trip to a nearby star would take many months, if not years. When warp 3 drives become more available, freighter captains begin to upgrade.
95	%%* An argument can be made for Scotty from ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' fitting this. He may not have been born in space, but Scotty is never more at home than when he's aboard a starship, and preferably the Enterprise. He's been known to turn down Shore Leave to read technical manuals. And in an episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', he is gifted a shuttlecraft by the crew of the Enterprise-D, supposedly to let him get to a colony where he'd been planning on retiring, but he hinted he might use it to meander about space a bit for his own amusement.%%Examples aren't arguable or ambiguous; there's no such thing as "argument can be made". Is he an example or not?
96	* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': Deanna speaks wistfully about her late son Thad, who was born on a starship and became fascinated with the idea of homeworlds. He created elaborate imaginary worlds in his journals and [[{{Conlang}} constructed languages]] for each of them.
97	* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': Naomi Wildman is a HalfHumanHybrid born while ''Voyager'' was trapped in the Delta Quadrant. As she grows up, she feels different from the others on the ship who have fond memories of the Alpha Quadrant and long to return home. This brings her closer to Seven Of Nine, who also has no memories of "home".
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	%%[[folder:Radio]]
101	%%* ''Radio/TheSpaceGypsyAdventures'': The eponymous characters.
102	%%[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
105	* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'':
106	** Since it's not the focus of the game, it doesn't get much attention, but "spacers" are ubiquitous in the game's fiction, with civilian populations that spend their whole lives in space stations, dropships, and jumpships and never visit planets for any reason. They tend not to have much use for Mechwarriors as Battlemechs are not terribly effective in such environments, and Mechwarriors in turn tend not to have high opinions of them.
107	** Most of Clan Sea Fox reside in "arcships" converted from warships and mercantile jumpships, especially following their forced migration to the Inner Sphere.
108	* ''TabletopGame/BluePlanet'': Developed in 2102 to help Luna and Mars manage their populations and exploit the asteroid belt, spacers are genetically redesigned to have metabolism boosts, double-jointed legs, and prehensile feet with opposable grip. Most stay in orbit, but those that come "downside" often excel in Long John mining on [[SingleBiomePlanet Poseidon]]; they have a lot of transferable experience with claustrophobic habitats, pressurized work suits, and airless hostile environments.
109	* ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'': People who were either born in or who spend most of their lives in space are referred to as "highriders." These were workers in space who live aboard space stations and gradually developed a unique shared culture, dialect customs and traditions, mostly derived from East Africa. In 2022, during the Fourth Corporate War, they declared independence from all Earthside governments and corporations as the Highrider Confederation, seizing control of all orbital stations and the two lunar colonies from the ESA. Since then, they've remained neutral toward all affairs on Earth.
110	* ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'': The majority of transhumanity lives in space habitats [[AfterTheEnd following the Fall]] (although there are significant populations on Mars, Venus, and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn). In addition, one faction, the Scum, live on converted colony ships.
111	* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'':
112	** ''TabletopGame/TranshumanSpace'' has the libertarian Duncanites, who invented a parahuman template for life in microgravity, as well as a number of groups that live around the Lagrange points in oftentimes poorly maintained habitats.
113	** ''TabletopGame/GURPSBioTech'' also has a Spacer parahuman template. One of the recurring characters in the vignettes is a Spacer called Zeke Morrigan, captain of the Free Trader ''Anterides''.
114	* ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'': There are a number of people like this including one human minor race. Free Traders are implied to often live like this. While not the same thing, there's also a large number of people who while living on planet have more connection to interstellar life then their homeworld. ''Traveller'' assumes ArtificialGravity and other high-tech perks. The chief annoyance would be the crowding and the closed space; a Traveller starship would be no more uncomfortable then a ship on the ocean.
115	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' features several examples:
116	** The Tau [[FantasticCasteSystem Air Caste]] is an entire caste of air and space pilots, who spend most of their lives aboard spacecraft and space stations. Their bodies [[{{Lightworlder}} have adapted to living outside of planetary gravity]], becoming spindly and long-limbed and causing them to have become the physically weakest caste.
117	** The Eldar are remnants of their fallen empire, and most of them reside in massive Craftworlds, moon-sized spaceships which hold millions of Eldar.
118	** Spaceship-centric supplements such as ''TabletopGame/BattlefleetGothic'' and ''TabletopGame/RogueTrader'' explain that "voidborn" are common in the Imperium, due to the massive crews of Imperial vessels and the centuries, if not millennia, that they spend in service. This results in bloodlines that have served aboard a specific ship for generations, as well as the occasional feral tribe forming on seldom-used or forgotten decks, the inbred, cannibalistic descendants of people who got lost or even built the ship. For that reason, most Imperial ships nerve-gas all compartments every century or so.
119	[[/folder]]
120
121	[[folder:Video Games]]
122	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
123	** This is one of Shepard's possible backgrounds. [[MilitaryBrat A Spacer Shepard's parents were both in the Alliance Navy]], meaning s/he was raised onboard starships for most of their life. It's implied that this is actually common among Alliance personnel, with Joker mentioning that he was born and raised aboard Arcturus Station, headquarters of the Alliance Parliament, while {{defied}} with Ashley's family, whose father intentionally transferred to a planetary colony because he ''didn't'' want their childhood to be spent cramped aboard starships and without a proper home.
124	** There are also the Quarians who live entirely in space, the Migrant Fleet having fled their homeworld centuries previously after a RobotWar nearly wiped them out. Living in a sterile environment led to their already weak immune systems atrophying, meaning they are now forced to wear isolation suits even on their own ships as a result.
125	* ''Videogame/StarRuler2'': The Nylli do not utilize planetary surfaces at all [[MechanicallyUnusualClass unlike the other races]], instead residing in orbital habitats which mine the surface. Their population only grows on vast Motherships, which build the habitats and function as {{Mobile Factor\|y}}ies, building all of the race's ships until orbital shipyards can be constructed. In [[Videogame/StarRuler the original game]], players typically evolved their empires into almost entirely space-bound civilizations, with only research and shipping taking place on planets.
126	* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}:''
127	** Marauders are sci-fi equivalents of {{Barbarian Tribe}}s, violent confederations based in ancient, overcrowded space stations in out-of-the-way star systems. They don't claim new systems or colonize planets, preferring instead to shake down their neighbors for tribute or go on raids against someone a third party bribed them to attack... unless a Great Khan arises to unite them into TheHorde, in which case the Marauders will become a mid-game crisis and start conquering and subjugating worlds.
128	** With ''Federations'', the "Void Dwellers" empire origin starts you off with three habitats orbiting planets in your home system, because your home planet was destroyed in some ancient catastrophe. Your species will have a unique trait that lets it get the most out of such habitats' infrastructure, at the cost of a massive habitability penalty when it comes to settling on planets.
129	* ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'': Male Morrigi spend their entire lives after the age of three in space, only "descending" upon a planet to trade or mate. Probably accounts partially for the size difference between males and the planet-bound females.
130	* ''VideoGame/UFOAfterblank'': You start ''Aftershock'' on a giant SpaceStation called Laputa (no, not [[Anime/CastleInTheSky that one]]) that orbits the Earth. Its inhabitants have been living on the station long enough to even forget where they came from.
131	* ''VideoGame/WildStar'': The Exiles, particularly Humans and Granoks, are born and raised aboard a fleet of starships after being driven off by the Dominion. As a result, the populace rarely experienced ailments and mental disorder from long periods of time in space.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Webcomics]]
135	* ''Webcomic/CrimsonDark'': About one in ten children raised in space will develop Spacer Syndrome, which is basically an inability to tolerate natural gravity. It causes symptoms similar to extreme motion sickness for the entire time that they're on the surface. Most people who live on space stations will make a concerted effort to keep their kids planetside for their first few years, in order to avoid this.
136	* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': Winston Thurmad's parents live in a SpaceStation and gave him [[DesignerBabies gene mods]], including anti-atrophy measures and the inability to grow hair, in the belief that future generations would be primarily spacefaring. Ironically, he has a phobia of space travel and moved straight to a planet.
137	* ''Webcomic/RunawayToTheStars'': Spacers are a major human cultural bloc based around Jupiter and its moons and orbital habitats. There's also a clade of [[HumanSubspecies GMH]] Spacers designed for low-gravity environments and engineered with hand-feet, prehensile tails, [[{{Hermaphrodite}} unisex reproductive systems]], and hirsutism (don't call them monkeys, though).
138	* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': The Gatekeepers are aliens who have, as a result of 100,000 years of genetic engineering, more limbs than can be easily counted and the ability to survive vacuum for short periods.
139	* ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'': Spacers have [[http://www.poisonedminds.com/d/20131111.html cybernetic]] and [[http://www.poisonedminds.com/d/20131115.html genetic]] augmentations to better withstand space travel, including prosthetic limbs that can't get osteoporosis. Even then the radiation means that they regularly need to get tumors cut out that are replaced with more implants.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Web Originals]]
143	* ''Literature/ChakonaSpace'': While the most well-known race of near-perfect, genetically engineered {{hermaphrodite}} [[OurCentaursAreDifferent centaurs]] prefer terrestrial environments, there are also Starwalker Stellar foxtaurs who are designed to withstand microgravity and survive vacuum for about an hour.
144	* ''Website/OrionsArm'': A number of clades exist that were adapted for lives spent in deep space. The exact degree of modification varies, ranging from people simply adapted for life in 0-g to ones meant to live in hard vacuum.
145	** [[https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/47f6ce3a74e30 Space Adapted People]] are the less extreme kinds, generally being meant to live permanently in ships and space stations with gravity or centrifugal force. The first ones, named ''Homo cosmoi'', emerged fairly early, a few centuries into the near future as increasing numbers of habitats were established in orbit around the Earth and Moon. They tend to have immunity to osteoporosis and circulatory problems, enhanced spatial awareness for three-dimensional movement and prehensile feet like those of chimps. They spread quickly during the early space era, becoming very wealthy through their ability to all but monopolize space shipping.
146	** [[https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/47f6f4568b9da Vacuum Adapted People]], such as ''Homo cosmosapiens spatialis'', were developed about a century later and meant to live their lives in the vacuum of space. In addition to the original ''Homo cosmoi'' adaptations, they have thickened skin covered in enamel scales, eyes protected by transparent lenses, membranes that seal their orifices when in space and the ability to store extra oxygen in their tissues. The first versions were only able to live in space for an hour or so at a time, and so mostly lived like regular Space Adapted People while relying on their vacuum adaptations as contingency measures in case of mechanical failure, hull breaches or needing to perform external repairs. They would later be used as bases for much more throughly modified clades, which required {{Transhuman}} technology to be created.
147	** [[http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/47f597011eb3c Sailors of the Ebon Seas]] are an extremely derived line of humans capable of staying in hard vacuum for almost all their lives. They can efficiently recycle their biological wastes into useful material, possess wings that they can use as both solar sails and to collect radiant energy, can see from the ultraviolet into microwaves, can utilize radio waves and UV lasers to communicate with one another and artificial radios, and can live entirely on ice and vacuum-adapted lichen. They're extremely successful at their lifestyle, needing to return to air-filled environments only to give birth and receive surgery, and dislike living in enclosed habitats or on bodies from which they can't launch off on their own.
148	** [[https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/5773b2e0069f1 Jötunn]] are another strain of deep-space people named after their immense size and their preference for living in the icy rings of gas giants. They're essentially living spaceships, possessing redundant storage organs to hold metabolic and air stores for extended stays in space and orifices that act as organic airlocks to keep the inner body pressurized. They mostly move by pushing off against hard surfaces, but can store [=CO2=] and methane from digestion to use for limited jet propulsion.
149	* ''Literature/VoidDogs'' has "space gypsies" as well as a parahuman whose feet are more like hands.
150	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SpacePeople