There are a lot of examples in the Literature section alone that don't fit because they aren't set in alternate universes: Terminal World, The War in the Air, The Big Lifters, The War Against the Chtorr, the Red Mars trilogy, The Diamond Age, The Windup Girl, the Titan trilogy and Caliphate.
Surely "Zeppelins from Another World" shouldn't be a dumping ground for every appearance of an airship in fiction - we have airships today, after all.
Zeppelins from another world is not just because Zeppelins are a quick way to say "Oh, alternate universe similar to out own". The article should be expanded to include more categories.
Zeppelins are an extraordinarily striking symbol of dystopia. Zeppelins just have that intimidating reek of Fascism about them. They are perfect for staying up indefinitely and spying on the abused populace, a constant reminder of the power of the State. If the State doesn't particularly care about the safety of the Zeppelins, they'll stick huge telescreens spouting constant propaganda on them and have them patrol low altitudes. If they do, bet on them also being filled with Hydrogen to give the Big Damn Heroes their establishing character moment.
They could be used to indicate a particular time period. Fullmetal Alchemist is a good example of this, the period being London during an Imperial German raid.
Zeppelins also can indicate the situation of a future or parallel worlds. Zeppelins are more useful in a time of crisis because they are extremely efficient and can carry more than airplanes, but aren't used widely today because they're slow. But when you're a fuel-strapped world in crisis, speed is not a priority.
Lastly, they are useful for indicating if a society is rebuilding after being torn down by some sort of cataclysm. Zeppelins are more simple and basic than airplanes, so tend to come first in the "evolution" of aircraft..
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- I am starting to think that this trope needs to be split into two different tropes. One is "Zeppelins from another world", yeah, but also lumped in here are numerous fictional fascistic settings that have airships, but aren't a part of a canonical alternate reality at all. "Zeppelins from another world" should only apply to alternate realities as the characters or the audience sees them, for example the 'His Dark Materials' series or "Dr. Who." Things like "Blade Runner" and so on and so forth that haven't an inkling of alternate reality should be deferred to a brand new page about the airships that no good dictatorship could survive without. The new page? "Dystopia Dirigible," of course! It sure would be a long page... Seriously, why does everyone connect airships with totalitarianism?
Well, we need SOMEPLACE to put My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic I think.
Christian Furry Brony D&D gamemaster & homebrewer
Article says "More recently airships have made a bit of a comeback for limited applications such as..." and then goes into a dozen modern uses of airships. At what point are they no longer "limited applications"?
Also, someone should add that "Hybrid Airships" are now in development by a few companies and could represent the natural progression of technology that should have happened after the 1940's. (and perhaps did in the alternate universes)
One company (Aeros Corp) is even promising luxury cruise ships in the sky.
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Well, I'm forced to agree, mostly because 90 years ago a Zeppelin could carry as much cargo as the world's largest cargo plane can today. However, it will remain a "limited" comeback until the Army and companies actually finish some ships this year! I would call it a comeback when Manhattan looks like it does in "Fringe."
Number of applications is beside the point. "Limited" would refer more to "market share".
Christian Furry Brony D&D gamemaster & homebrewer
I think this conversation in the Timeshift example had wandered off-topic.
- ...no, the guy with the Beta Suit on the gun turret doesn't count among those features. Even if he was pretty much the only reason they made it.
- As for weird and out of place stuff, let's not forget the crossbow with time-delay exploding bolts, the laser-sighted sniper rifle, and the plasma guns. Oh, and the machine-pistol-sized flamethrower that shoots incendiary bullets or gouts of fire.
- That can be partly chalked up to Executive Meddling on the part of the publisher, who wanted to take the almost finished game in a more cyberpunky direction.
I seriously love this trope title. I don't know why, it just makes me laugh every time.
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How about Everything Is Better With Zeppelins
I pretend to be a troll because it makes it easier for you to dismiss my opinion.
Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Needs a rename
, started by SantosLHalper on Oct 17th 2011 at 2:05:32 AM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman