130
votes
Accepted
Is there a term for the science fiction trope where a character lists two historical things and a future thing?
TV Tropes calls it "Famous, Famous, Fictional." The trope description does not cite any other name, which means there almost certainly is not another commonly used term for it. (The trope ...
- 95.3k
93
votes
Accepted
Were the Smurfs the first to smurf their smurfs?
It is hard to say for certain, as the search terms to apply for "smurfing" aren't very clear. However: Although there's likely to be many stories for children where a character replaces a ...
- 826
82
votes
Sol Ⅲ = Earth: What is the origin of this planetary naming scheme?
The naming convention has been in common usage forever in science fiction. E.E. Smith from the first Galactic Patrol serial in 1937 referred to planets such as Velantia III, Rigel IV, and Palain VII, ...
- 21.2k
79
votes
Accepted
Where does the "aging backwards" trope originate?
Theopompus (c.380-315 BC) wrote a history of the reign of Philip II of Macedon, including a digression concerning the fabulous island of Meropis. We don't have the full text of this work, but the ...
- 726
61
votes
Accepted
Why do magically shrunken people speak with such high voices?
In the real world smaller versions of things tend to make higher sounds than big things.
Think of :
a double bass vs a violin
a big drum vs a small drum
a big drill vs a small drill
the bong of a big ...
- 16.7k
57
votes
If the ship's self-destruct is such a great idea why don't real Navies do this?
On the One Hand: Often self-destruct is not a feature of the ship, but is more of an option inherent in the power / propulsion system. If you turn off all the safeties and let the warp core / nuclear ...
- 114k
55
votes
Accepted
What is the origin of the “clerics can create water” trope?
A lot of cleric spells in early D&D were explicit Bible references; the one that comes immediately to mind is Sticks to Snakes, which is based on Exodus 7:12 (thanks to @RossThompson for this ...
- 1,049
48
votes
Were the Smurfs the first to smurf their smurfs?
Like the Smurfs I am Belgian, French-speaking native and also a comic fan since my childhood. I grew reading the smurfs, in their original version. I emphasis on this because it has an importance in ...
- 589
41
votes
If the ship's self-destruct is such a great idea why don't real Navies do this?
Historically, scuttling ships has been fairly common. Warships are expensive and valuable assets, if you have one of your ships destroyed then you have just lost one, if it is captured not only do you ...
- 3,198
41
votes
Accepted
Origin of genies (from lamps) having a three wish limit?
According to Wikipedia:
"The Fisherman and the Jinni" is the second top-level story told by Sheherazade in the One Thousand and One Nights.
According to the synopsis, in the third century that ...
- 39.4k
36
votes
Accepted
Is there special symbolism of evil and undead in the north?
Your examples are different.
The North - in our Northern hemisphere setting - is colder, and cold symbolizes death in a lot of our cultures, simply because winter means death :
People becomes sick ...
- 1,224
35
votes
What is the origin of the "being immortal sucks" trope?
(OK, let's not work ourselves into a place where everything is like everything else.)
Although TVTropes provides some examples of sucky immortality from ancient mythology, these are really just ...
- 15.3k
34
votes
What was the earliest depiction of the angel/devil on your shoulder trope?
As comments have pointed out, the idea of having good and bad angels is ancient.
However, the literary work that popularised the trope is probably Christopher Marlowe's play The Tragical History of ...
- 16.7k
33
votes
What is the origin of the "self-destruct sequence"?
Rockets have range safety systems, which you could also call self-destructs. They are typically pyrotechnic (explosive) devices arranged to do things like split open fuel tanks. The idea is that a ...
- 10.9k
30
votes
Accepted
Does the Disney canon of Star Wars include any multiple-biome planets?
Ryloth seems a pretty good fit. It has a wide range of 'biomes' seen in the canon Clone Wars series including some rugged mountain areas seemingly devoid of life as well as jungles.
TERRAIN: Jungles, ...
- 676k
29
votes
Accepted
Who was the first to make use of the joke "You mean, when are we?"
1919: The earliest usage I've come across is in "The Runaway Skyscraper" by Murray Leinster, originally published in Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine, February 22, 1919, republished in ...
- 121k
29
votes
Why do magically shrunken people speak with such high voices?
There's a bit of artistic license I'd say due to Pete's answer that we expect small things to sound higher pitched than big things.
But actually, the character has smaller vocal chords now, so they ...
- 6,708
28
votes
Sol Ⅲ = Earth: What is the origin of this planetary naming scheme?
This is a naming scheme that has been used for moons since they were discovered. For example, since their discovery all the way to the 20th century, Jupiter's moons were known simply as Jupiter I, ...
- 1,175
27
votes
What is the origin of the "being immortal sucks" trope?
Hercules, a.k.a. Heracles, hit his master Chiron the centaur with a poisoned arrow as friendly fire during a battle. Chiron was immortal in the sense that he would never age and would live forever, ...
- 6,582
25
votes
Accepted
First non humanoid intelligent alien depiction in television?
The The Quatermass Experiment was a multi-part live-action broadcast by the BBC in 1953.
By "live-action" I mean it wasn't pre-recorded, but broadcast live.
Its first episode aired on 18 July 1953, ...
- 6,187
23
votes
Accepted
What was the first published SF story to use the surprise twist "and these characters were the original Adam and Eve!" at the end?
1942: "The Cunning of the Beast" by Nelson S. Bond, first published as "Another World Begins" in The Blue Book Magazine, November, 1942. I don't know if it's the earliest, but I ...
- 159k
22
votes
If the ship's self-destruct is such a great idea why don't real Navies do this?
Why don't real navies use dedicated mechanisms to allow for quick self destruction when the need arises?
Every naval force still trains its men to scuttle ships, and has in-depth protocols for such a ...
- 69.4k
22
votes
Does the Disney canon of Star Wars include any multiple-biome planets?
Naboo
I know that you disqualified Naboo already, but I think that you failed to consider that we know that Naboo has large marshy forests (where the Jedi first met Jar Jar), and it also has large ...
- 7,803
21
votes
If the ship's self-destruct is such a great idea why don't real Navies do this?
Credit to @CBredlow (I had no idea): "They do implement a self-destruct on real spacecraft. If a launch is off of intended trajectory and is a potential danger they will order the rocket to self ...
- 5,986
20
votes
What is the origin of the "self-destruct sequence"?
Automated self destructs are a real world thing, apparently. According to this technical manual I found on google, the idea of a self-destruct sequence, including a big red button, dates back to at ...
- 8,870
20
votes
What is the origin of the "self-destruct sequence"?
A closer look at the film reveals that the lever which blows up the castle is not designed for that purpose. It appears that the lever is just part of the machinery that they used to give the Bride ...
- 909
20
votes
What's the first instance in published fiction that shows an item from the future traveling back through time by itself?
Let's try "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" 1943 to begin with.
"Mimsy Were the Borogoves" is a science fiction short story by Lewis Padgett (a pseudonym of American writers Henry ...
- 16.7k
19
votes
What was the earliest depiction of the angel/devil on your shoulder trope?
An illustration for a 1468 edition of City of God (De civitate Dei) by Augustine of Hippo depicts angels and demons surrounding a writer, trying to influence what he writes. An angel floats above his ...
- 1,622
17
votes
Were the Smurfs the first to smurf their smurfs?
I don't know if the Smurf language was the first to use a lot of Smurfing, but it seems that that author Pierre "Peyo" Culliford didn't knew about any similar language.
Here is a link to the story of ...
- 1,876
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