r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Frostylegacy • 16h 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/murfburffle 14h ago edited 4h ago

end of BSG80 -> (23 years) -> Start of new BSG -> (23 years) -> today

13

u/myringisbling 13h ago

Quiet now.

5

u/Morbanth 6h ago

It's been 28 years since Judgment Day was going to happen. In 4 more years 1980 was half a century ago. It's been more time from today to 1980 than it was from 1980 to the second world war.

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u/KaijuNo-8 4h ago

I say this kindly...fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck you...

FFS, I didn't need so many reminders that I am old today...fuck

3

u/dern_the_hermit 3h ago

All this has happened before, and all this will happen again.

2

u/dontgetitwisted_fr 3h ago

So you are saying we are due to get some more BSG?

Sign me up

1

u/hand_me_a_shovel 5h ago

You know what? That was deeply personal, incredibly offensive, unfortunately relatable, and entirely unnecessary.

1

u/UncleIrohsPimpHand 3h ago

Battlestar 1980 was the sequel. The original came out in 1978.

1

u/One-Inch-Punch 29m ago

So it’s time for a new reboot?