Uranus in fiction

The planet Uranus has appeared in various forms of fiction:

Literature

• An anonymous author writing as a Mr. Vivenair published A Journey Lately Performed Through the Air in an Aerostatic Globe, Commonly Called an Air Balloon, From This Terraquaeous Globe to the Newly Discovered Planet, Georgium Sidus in 1784.
• In the Buck Rogers series (1928–), Uranus is portrayed as having biodomes and robots.
• In Stanley G. Weinbaum's 1935 story "The Planet of Doubt", Uranus' North pole is shrouded in a perpetual fog.
• R. R. Winterbotham's "Clouds over Uranus" was published by Astounding in March 1937
• In Ramsey Campbell's The Insects from Shaggai (1964), a Cthulhu Mythos story, Uranus is known as L'gy'hx and is inhabited by cubical metallic many-legged creatures who worship Lrogg. They entered in religious conflict with the Shan.
• Fritz Leiber's 1962 short story "Snowbank Orbit" has three Earth-ships, fleeing from interstellar invaders, attempt a desperate aero-braking maneuver in the atmosphere of Uranus at 100 miles per second.
• The novels #5 (Vorstoß zum Uranus, 1972) and #22 (Raumposition Oberon, 1982) in the Mark Brandis SF book series take place on and around Uranus.
• In Larry Niven's novel A World Out of Time (1976), Uranus is outfitted with a massive fusion motor and used to gently move the Earth outward from an artificially brightening sun caused by a civil war between Earth and its colonies.
• Uranus is featured quite heavily in the popular Captain Underpants series of science-fiction epics. In Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets (1999) by Dav Pilkey, on the orders of the novel's protagonists George and Harold, The Incredible Robo-Plunger hides the battered remains of the eponymous Talking Toilets and their leader, the Turbo Toilet 2000, on Uranus after the toilets wreck George and Harold's school and eat some of the staff. Then in Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants (2000), the main antagonist, the titular Professor Pippy Pee-Pee Poopypants reads a copy of the US Today, and on the front page is the story that scientists found the Robo-Plunger and the Toilets on Uranus, with accompanying pictures featuring the Robot stood atop a large pile of them, triumphantly. In the same book a robot duplicate of Harold, The Harold 2000, kicks a ball into space and straight towards Uranus. Also, in Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 2: The Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers(2003), scientists of the Piqua Order of Professional Space and Interplanetary Explorers (POOPSIE) go on a mission to explore Uranus. From their space shuttle they discover the Robo-Plunger atop the toilets and then are hit by the three Robo-Boogers (Carl, Trixie and Frankenbooger), who had been spat into space earlier in the novel by Sulu the bionic hamster. When ordered to come back to Earth, the space crew unknowingly bring back the Robo-Boogers.
• Geoffrey A. Landis's short story "Into the Blue Abyss," part of his short-story collection Impact Parameter and other Quantum Fictions (2001) discussed an expedition to Uranus in search of life.
• In Zombie Bums from Uranus (2003) by Andy Griffiths, it is stated that the zombie butts came from Uranus. It is also the setting of one of the chapters.
• In Larklight (2006) by Philip Reeve, Uranus is called Georgium Sidus, 'Star of George'. It has Sprout islands on it, and is also inhabited by a four-armed merman-like race, who live in the Sprout's floating bladders beneath the surface along with other aquatic races.
• Robert Gibson's "Uranian Gleams", published in 2015, gives a history of a Uranian civilization, plus six novellas set at various stages in the history.

Film and television

• In the 1962 film Journey to the Seventh Planet, astronauts on Uranus encounter a strange intelligence that projects illusions of a beautiful woman.^[1]
• In the Doctor Who (1963–) serial The Daleks' Master Plan, Uranus is described as being the only location in the universe where the mineral Taranium can be acquired.
• In Space Patrol (1962) episode: The Dark Planet - Professor Heggerty and his daughter Cassiopeia are baffled by a plant sample from Uranus with a mind of its own. Following the disappearance of a 20 strong survey team on Uranus, Colonel Raeburn dispatches the Space Patrol crew to locate larger versions of the plant, where they discover the adult specimens of the plant are far from friendly. In another episode, The Invisible Invasion - On Uranus, the Duo's are planning to seize power on Earth by taking over the minds of everyone at Space Headquarters, including Colonel Raeburn. The one person seemingly unaffected by the Duo's power is Professor Heggerty, who is installed beneath his electronic hair-restorer!
• In the 90's Nickelodeon series, Space Cases, the character of Bova, played by Rahi Azizi, is from Uranus. He has a distinction from other characters in the series, having an antenna growing from his forehead.^[2]

Comics and anime

• In Planet Comics the Red Comet goes to Uranus and finds a race of Ice-Men, and an awful magician who has shrunken the rightful Queen down.
• In Grant Morrison's DC One Million (1998), each planet of the solar system is overseen by one member of the future descendants of the Justice League. Uranus is overseen by the Starman of the 853rd century from his floating citadel, after having replaced the Green Lantern.
• The Eternals, a fictional race of superhumans in the Marvel Comics universe, had a colony on Uranus. Most left Uranus and went on to Saturn, while those who remained behind were eventually wiped out by natural disasters. During the Kree-Skrull War the Kree Empire established an outpost on Uranus which acted as a supply depot for their weapons.
• In All-Star Comics #13 the JSA are gassed by Nazis and rocketed to different planets. Sandman finds himself heading toward Uranus, a planet so cold that the population's brains are housed in bodies of crystal. When Sandman lands on the planet, the lack of oxygen nearly kills him until a citizen rescues him with an oxygo-tank. In gratitude, Sandman agrees to help the King of the planet battle his nemesis, Kafta, the evil one, and defeats him. The King presents Sandman with a crystal that cures brain cancer and books that explain its use, which come in handy for reading on the long trip back to Earth.
• In a Superman comic Uranus' inhabitants are actually small mechanical robots. Their civilization is quite advanced, they can tour the solar system in circular space ships and although having weapons like "lance throwers" and "flame cannons", they have other advanced technologies like "transporta-rays" (which transport things and animals) and an interplanetary zoo.

In September 1949, referring to a book called "Children's Picture Book of Animals", they try catching an earth animal from each page, including a human man and woman. Superman deceives them into thinking all humans are robots, which they have no interest in (WF No. 6, September 1949: "The Alphabetical Animal Adventure").

• In Sailor Moon (Anime/Manga), a female protagonist named "Sailor Uranus" (Haruka Tenoh in human appearance) makes an appearance in the Sailor Moon Franchise. Sailor Uranus has lived on Miranda (One of Uranus' Moons) before she was sent to Earth. Sailor Uranus doesn't appear in Sailor Moon until halfway through the Sailor Moon Franchise; she disappears from the Sailor Moon Series for quite some time before she does a re-appearance in the final season of the Sailor Moon Franchise. Although, the explanation of what her powers are based on (sky and wind) are very clear in the franchise with her only introducing three powers in the franchise than more.

Games

• In the role-playing game Transhuman Space, China has begun preliminary harvesting of helium-3 from Uranus' atmosphere to compete against American helium-3 harvesting on Saturn.
• In the video game Mass Effect, the Human Systems Alliance has mined Uranus for Helium-3. In the sequel, Mass Effect 2, should the player attempt to use the planet scanning mechanic to launch a probe to extract resources from Uranus ("probing Uranus"), the starship's AI will respond "Really, Commander?" before deploying the probe. A second probe triggers a deadpan "Probing Uranus" response, after which the voice switches to stock lines used for all other planets.

Uranus' moons in fiction

Ariel

• "Dead Men Walking" by Paul McAuley (2007). Story of an android assassin on Ariel, which houses cities, penal colony and a prison farm.
• First Contact? (1971) by Hugh Walters features two spaceships sent to investigate alien radio signals emanating from Ariel.

Titania

• Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1997) contains a description of a colony on Titania, where humans have adapted to the low gravity and light levels.
• In Earth 2160, the Eurasian Dynasty (ED) had a military Prison on Titania, until it was destroyed by rogue LC forces.

Miranda

• G. David Nordley's novella "Into the Miranda Rift," in Analog Science Fiction, was set on Miranda.
• In the computer game Descent, level 18 takes place in a mine on Miranda.
• In the novels of Rob Grant and Doug Naylor based on their sitcom Red Dwarf, Miranda is the site of a large, congested spaceport where Dave Lister takes shore leave to get over being dumped by his girlfriend Kristine Kochanski and adopts a cat which he names Frankenstein.
• In Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1997), two characters visit Miranda, which is being preserved by the colonists of the Uranian system as a primal wilderness; the other sizable moons of Uranus are being ambitiously colonised at the time with the help of fusion lanterns placed in Uranus' upper atmosphere to provide more light.

Oberon

• In "Treasure on Thunder Moon" (1942) by Edmond Hamilton, Oberon is the volcanic world, home of the semi-sentient alien race of "Flame-Throwers".
• Three levels of the computer game Descent take place in mines on Oberon. Levels 19, 20, and 21 take place in an unidentified mine, an iron mine, and a platinum mine, respectively.
• In Paolo Aresi's novel Oberon there is a secret Russian base on Oberon (which plays an important part in the plot).
• In the 1978 Russian novel (and film) Lunar Rainbow (Лунная радуга), written by S.I. Pavlov (Сергей Павлов), astronauts on Oberon become infected with a strange disease that gives them supernatural powers, but which ultimately turns out to be intelligent alien microorganisms from another planetary system.^[3] The sequel "Soft Mirrors" (1983) features other Uranus moons as well.
• In the PC real-time strategy game Earth 2160, the UCS evacuation ship Phoenix was hidden among a Shield generator and a small UCS Base on the surface, in orbit around Oberon.
• In the Starhunter TV series episode "Cell Game" (2000), a maximum security prison has been established below the Oberon surface to keep the worst of the worst in an environment from which there is no hope for escape. Series hero Percy (Tanya Allen) is imprisoned there on false charges as bait to draw her bounty hunter uncle Dante Montana to the hostile world and her rescue. Action in Starhunter is restricted to the solar system, its planets and moons.
• The Doctor Who story "Revelation of the Daleks" introduces an order of knights called the Grand Order of Oberon. Later original novels place the Order as based on Oberon.

Umbriel

• In Donald A. Wollheim's short story "Umbriel" (1936), this moon is really a gigantic dead animal, who came to die in an orbit around Saturn. The protagonist, an astronaut, discovers huge worms appearing from the ground, and he concludes they are eating the flesh of the immense corpse. Before he leaves he realises the worms have metal collars, which mean there is a species of intelligent beings living in the interior of the corpse, and they are the worms' masters.
• In a Lieutenant Jon Jarl story in Captain Marvel Adventures #113 Umbriel has become a new version of the Old West.

See also

• List of real astronomical locations in fiction

References

1. "Journey to the Seventh Planet". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2006-03-05.
2. Space Cases
3. "Lunnaya Raduga". Artist direct. Retrieved February 3, 2009.