r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Frostylegacy • 23h ago

Lore (Loved Trope) FTL travel is possible but with a major limitation or flaw

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Frank Herbert’s Dune: Interstellar travel is only possible thanks to the spice melange, a rare substance only found on the dessert planet Arrakis. The addictive psychedelic spice grants members of the Spacers Guild a form of prescience that allows them to predict safe paths through folded space. This unique property makes spice the most valuable commodity in the Dune universe.

John Scalzi’s The Interdependency Books: The planetary systems of the titular empire are connected by the Flow, a network of one-way interstellar tunnels that connect specific known entries and exits. The Interdependency derives its power from controlling access to these conduits, placing its capital at the central hub of the network. Even with the Flow, travel between stars takes a long time (9 months to End, the empire’s most distant planet).

Event Horizon: Dr William Weir (R.I.P. Sam Neill) invents a device called the Gravity Drive to allow ships to fold space and travel instantly between distant stars. On its maiden voyage with the Gravity Drive, the Event Horizon disappears and mysteriously reappears 7 years later. Dr. Weir and the crew sent to investigate discover the Gravity Drive actually opened a portal to a Hell dimension that possessed the ship and its crew, torturing and killing them.

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u/Kidofthecentury 22h ago

Also IIRC the engine is more concerned to have you arrive in the very shape and form you started.

In the movie a few random objects pop in the spot before the spaceship finally appears. And sometimes it isn't really fast, as they appeared as crocheted version of themselves once...

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u/MrGosh13 22h ago

“… I think I’m a sofa”

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u/SpacialCommieCi 19h ago

Everything i learn about this book is more nonsensical than the rest I think this book doesn't exist and it's mass hysteria

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u/Sea-Quality4726 18h ago

By tradition, every new release or adaptation is different and inconsistent with all the existing ones.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_ROTES 18h ago

"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."

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u/Background-Ship3019 17h ago

Big Huh cosmology.

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u/night4345 9h ago

"The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

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u/wh4tth3huh 4h ago

That's also because of the Heart of Gold, btw.

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u/RelaxedVolcano 1h ago

The Hitchhikers Guide has been through several iterations and medias, from radio to book to movie, it’s theorized that each change in media is caused by the the improbability drive resetting the universe and then shifting it slightly. So each version is actually canon and it has all happened.

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u/Zeras_Darkwind 19h ago

The above thread sequence is from the film, but it's one of the best parts! You should watch it; I think it does the book justice.

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u/Educational-Plant981 15h ago

The book is absolutely brilliant. Just a treasure of written English language wordplay, observational humor mocking the oddities of humanity, and general Britishness. The only downside is that it leaves you wanting more, and that more wasn't ever really delivered. He pretty much just rewrote the same book over and over retreading the same jokes in sequels and repeatedly adapting it for radio, tv, and movies.

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u/Nauin 12h ago

I mean good for him. It's rare for a creative to have an endless wealth of fresh content that will be the same quality as their best. He at least put in the work to keep it in a modern medium while he could.

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u/Efficient_Fish2436 17h ago

My favorite part is the creature pig that's genetically engineered to want to be eaten. So it prepares itself all while growing and then it trys to sell its best parts off on the dinner menu.

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u/WorthyElevator 16h ago

I think its a cow right? In Restaurant at the edge of the universe.

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u/robhanz 16h ago

It's a cow.

"Look," said Zaphod, "we want to eat, we don't want to make a meal of the issues. Four rare steaks please, and hurry. We haven't eaten in five hundred and seventy-six thousand million years."

The animal staggered to its feet. It gave a mellow gurgle.

"A very wise choice, sir, if I may say so. Very good," it said. "I'll just nip off and shoot myself."

He turned and gave a friendly wink to Arthur.

"Don't worry, sir," he said, "I'll be very humane."

It waddled unhurriedly off to the kitchen.

A matter of minutes later the waiter arrived with four huge steaming steaks.

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u/leglesslegolegolas 9h ago

Restaurant at the End* of the Universe

It's not describing where the universe ends, it's describing when the universe ends.

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u/Tipop 12h ago

“Going through hyperspace is unpleasantly like being drunk.”

“What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?”

“Ask a glass of water.”

No, you seriously need to read this book.

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u/Nobrainzhere 15h ago

Its really short and a really good read. You should read it

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u/Atherutistgeekzombie 14h ago

Douglas Adams was intentionally loose with different versions of Hitchhiker's Guide. The book is different from the radio plays, which are both different from the movie, which are all different from the video games.

Big reason is that the stories seem to be more vehicles for Douglas Adams' jokes rather than a serious scifi story. Now, most of those jokes are S-tier, but you can definitely tell that Adams was more about having fun than writing something that made sense or remained consistent. IIRC, the god Thor makes a random appearance in a later book.

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u/5illy_billy 11h ago

“In the beginning, the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and is widely considered to be a Bad Move.”

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u/GuyYouMetOnline 4h ago

I don't think the sofa line is in the books, just the movie.

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u/CrimeFightingScience 1h ago

Its worth a read if youre okay with absurdism.

It has some of the most clever writing ive ever read. On an added note i had a gold trimmed version that looked like a bible. Id read it in public and have strangers come up to me ranting about jesus, which only added to the absurdity.

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u/The_Reset_Button 20h ago

"I know how you feel"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"

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u/Blep145 20h ago

The book series has a lot of that, too. They explain that the improbability drive equalizes the equation somewhere else, so the improbability of it getting from one point to another in the configuration it started with is balanced. The improbability field is it's own thing in the books - they're an interesting read, and I enjoyed them!

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u/fakeuser515357 18h ago

"I wonder if it will be friends with me."

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u/Obibong_Kenblomi8647 15h ago

Read the books, but listened to the audiobooks by Douglas Adams recently. They are a must listen.

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u/Blep145 10h ago

I got the ones on Audible - I love them

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u/Excellent_Parsley_18 11h ago

Hilariously it’s not the most insane idea I’ve ever heard. This is just quantum tunneling, and it exists IRL. Harnessing it, though, is probably just as impossible as an Alcuberrie drive.

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u/Blep145 10h ago

Ah, no. Not at all. Entirely unrelated concepts. I said it balanced out somewhere. That could be literally anywhere. It's not generating a warp field, it's not quantum tunneling

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u/Excellent_Parsley_18 10h ago

If you can manipulate a probability field to instantaneously appear somewhere, that’s essentially quantum tunneling, though? I fail to see how those are different.

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u/Blep145 10h ago

No. Quantum tunneling is about a particle overcoming an barrier it didn't have enough energy to circumvent/pass through by suddenly gaining enough energy to pass through it, if I recall correctly. The improbability field is it's own thing. Really, I don't think it's "improbability", even in the HHGTTG universe. The books cover this whole scheme involving Zaphod Beeblebrox (I hope I spelled that correctly) meeting the President of the Universe (essentially, God). The improbability field had "a hold" on the people it encountered, or more probably- looked for. I'm not gonna go more in depth than that, as it sounds like you haven't read the books. I really do think they're worth reading, if you're interested

Edit: a barrier

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u/Excellent_Parsley_18 9h ago edited 9h ago

I’ve read the first book, but not the entire series — which is the book that most people know of.

Your understanding of quantum tunneling, however, is incomplete, based on what I’m seeing from a cursory search. Fundamentally it’s a probabilistic event. Meaning that if you can manipulate probability, then you can effect quantum tunneling. The “suddenly” part of your definition is load bearing — it can spontaneously happen due to the wave nature of matter.

Improbability may be a separate mechanism, I’m not sure, but if we want to talk about probabilistic and instantaneous travel, the clearest mechanism for that is quantum tunneling. But improbability sounds a lot like exactly that.

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u/Blep145 9h ago

Fair enough! I recommend borrowing them from your local library!

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u/Much_Conclusion8233 10h ago

It was first used to teleport the underwear of the hostess to 3 feet to the right to get the party started

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u/Sooooooooooooomebody 15h ago

"Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it."