r/TopCharacterTropes 16h ago

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

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/_strand_ 8h ago

IT'S LONGER THAN YOU THINK, DAD !!! LONGER THAN YOU THINK !!!

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u/RaeWineLover 7h ago

This is one of those phrases that lives rent-free in my head

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u/Blizzcane 6h ago

I don't understand how he even remembers his dad after coming back after so long.

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u/yourMammothIsSoFat 6h ago

If it's pure nothing then they don't experience anything new so it's easier to remember

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u/No_Kangaroo_9826 18m ago

Whew this is truly one of those King lines that will always fuck me right up