Raygun Gothic: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:tom-swift-moon.jpg|frame|''[[Tom Swift]] Jr. in The Race to the Moon''. That is one beautifully hideous spaceship.]]

 

''"Welcome to '''<small>THE WORLD OF TOMORROW!</small>'''"''

 

 

And of course, [[Applied Phlebotinum|futuristic fancy-pants technology]] [[Department of Redundancy Department|of the future]] is ubiquitous. [[Ray Gun]]s, [[Rocket Boots|jet packs]], [[Flying Car|flying cars]], [[Video Phone]]s, [[Space Clothes]], atomic-powered everything, cigar-shaped [[Retro Rocket]]s and other [[Shiny-Looking Spaceships]], and "electronic brains" capable of calculating complex equations in ''mere minutes'', all decorated with [[Cow Tools|little blinking lights that don't really serve any purpose (but they sure look futuristic!)]].

 

 

The [[Mad Scientist Laboratory]] and [[Shiny-Looking Spaceships|Spaceship]] are among the most commonly used locations in a Raygun Gothic setting. The most commonly used monsters tend to be [[Nuclear Nasty|nuclear mutants]] and [[Alien Tropes|aliens in general]].

 

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Project Blue Earth SOS]]''

* ''[[Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo]]'' definitely has a Raygun Gothic feel.

* ''[[Cyborg 009]]'' has shades of this, mainly in the Cyborgs' uniforms and their rayguns.

* ''[[Astro Boy]]'': Is the one of the first anime to use this aesthetic.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* ''[[Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire]]'', which has a lovely ''[[Zeerust]]'' feel to it, and was published "late in the 20th century".

 

* Too many '50s sci-fi movies to list.

* ''[[Buck Rogers]]''

* ''[[Forbidden Planet]]''.

* ''[[Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow]]'' is a funny corner case. It's set in an alternate-universe version of the 1930's, so it's often cited as an example of [[Dieselpunk]], but the aesthetics and optimistic worldview are much closer to Raygun Gothic.

 

* The [[Trope Namer]], William Gibson's "The Gernsback Continuum", is about a freelance photographer hired to take pictures of buildings inspired by this aesthetic, who either slowly finds himself being sucked into an alternate timeline where it was all [[Canon]] or is [[Unreliable Narrator|hallucinating the whole thing.]]

* Gibson's story refers to [[wikipedia:Hugo Gernsback|Hugo Gernsback]], the "Father of Science Fiction," who founded the first science fiction magazine, created science fiction fandom (by encouraging readers who wrote to him to interact with each other directly), wrote very early examples of the genre, such as ''Ralph 124C 41+'', and ''coined the term "[[Trope Namer|science]] [[Science Fiction|fiction]]."''

* E3 in Ian McDonald's ''Planesrunner'' is an Alternate History that combines aspects of this trope and [[Steampunk]]. Zeppelins are the main form of air transport but thri bags are woven of carbon nanifibers. The main motive power are coal powered (because there's no oil in this world) electric motors, which were invented before the steam engine. Their computers are pf the vacuum tube and punch card vareity. There's radio but not TV but they use monofilament wire.

 

* Any [[Eager Young Space Cadet]] show aired in the 50's, from Tom Corbett to Captain Video.

* ''Star Trek'' [[Star Trek: The Original Series|The Original Series]], the last unselfconscious example. Subsequent visual media followed the leads of ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' and the [[Real Life]] [[NASA|space program]].

* The alien message decoded in the final episode of ''[[Dark Skies]]'' had elements of this, presumably as a nostalgic in-joke, since the rest of the series's aesthetics and mythology were much more modern ''X-Files''-inspired sci-fi.

* On ''[[The Flash]]'', 1950s villain the Ghost adheres to this motif, and is rather dismayed to find that 1990 isn't like this when he awakens from [[Human Popsicle|cryogenic sleep]].

 

* [[Doctor Steel]] plays with this aesthetic in his music and interactive Fandom community.

* [[Stereolab]] played "Space Age Bachelor Pad Music".

* ''[[Flash Gordon (comic strip)|Flash Gordon]]'', of course.

** Which, in turn, was inspired by ''[[Buck Rogers]]''.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* [[GURPS]]:

* ''Tales of the Solar Patrol'' is a more fleshed out version of the concept, set in a universe consciously modeled after Flash Gordon and 50's era Young Adult science fiction stories.

* [[World of Darkness]]:

* [[Space Channel 5]] uses more of a 60's and 70's take on this design.

 

* In ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', the plot inside the [[Hard Light|simulator]] features a spaceship, a [[Death Ray]], and [[Latex Space Suit|Latex Spacesuits]] straight out of 1950's pulp sci-fi.

** [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=167 See the poster] and following pages.

* ''[[Dresden Codak]]'' is in love with this trope, married it, and now has a house in the suburbs with two kids and a dog with it.

 

* The hero of [[Syfy]]'s online [[Dieselpunk]] series ''[[The Mercury Men]]'', Jack [[Danger Deadpan|Yaeger]], is dressed as a typical Raygun Gothic pilot: Bomber jacket, flight cap and goggles, jodpurs and jackboots and carrying a raygun.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** ''[[Futurama]]'' itself is an inversion of this trope, using the Raygun Gothic style as a backdrop for a [[Crap Saccharine World]] where what would normally be helpful technology is instead [[Everything Trying to Kill You|trying to kill you]].

* ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]''.

* The classic ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' short "[[Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century]]"

* The TV show ''[[Jonny Quest]]'' features hints of this design style in the design of the vehicles and guns.

* And its sardonic successor ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' continues the tradition of "super-science" and [[Zeerust|retro-looking technology.]]

* ''[[The Incredibles]]'' takes place in an alternate-universe version of [[The Seventies]], and features a strong mid-sixties take on how wonderful the future nearly was.

* ''[[Pinocchio In Outer Space]]''.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

* Also the [http://www.paleofuture.com/ Paleo-Future] website.

* The Tomorrowland sections of Disney parks were redesigned in 1998 to look like this, Disney having (perhaps wisely) given up on trying to [[Zeerust|keep up with present-day visions of the future]].

* These space travel posters by [http://www.zazzle.com/stevethomas Steven Thomas].

* Much artwork associated with the various World's Fairs. For example, [http://lileks.com/30s/worldsfair/1933/33chicagobus/index.html this map cover] which manages to make [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|a bus]] look absolutely glorious.

* [http://www.raygungothicrocket.com/blog/ Guess what's staying] at Pier 14 in [[San Francisco]] for 14 months starting in August 2010?

 

{{reflist}}