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#REDIRECT [[Extrasolar planets in fiction#List]]
'''Planets in science fiction''' are fictional [[planet]]s that appear in various media, especially those of the [[science fiction]] genre, as story-settings or depicted locations.
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==History==
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Before [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]] turned his [[telescope]] to the heavens, the planets of the [[Solar System]] were not recognized as potential locations or worlds. They were visible to observers merely as bright points of light, only distinguishable from stars by their motion.
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In the [[Ptolemaic system|system]] of [[Claudius Ptolemy]] (''fl. c.'' 150), the Alexandrian astronomer whose works were the basis of all [[Europe|European]] [[astronomy]] throughout the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Renaissance]], the planets were lights set into a series of transparent spheres turning around the Earth, which was the center of the one and only universe. [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]] (1265-1321), in his [[Divine Comedy#Paradiso|Paradiso]], describes the ascent of his narrator through the spheres of the [[Moon]], the planets (from [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] to [[Saturn]], and thence to the sphere of the fixed stars and the heavens of the [[angel]]s. Dante implies that the light of the planets is a combination of light imparted by Divine will and the radiance of the blessed souls that inhabit the spheres. These planets are, however, entirely ethereal; they have light but no physical form and no geography.
[[Ludovico Ariosto]], in his epic [[Orlando Furioso]] (1513), jestingly sent his hero to a Moon where everything lost on Earth eventually turns up; but it was not until Galileo discovered (1609-1610) that the Moon had surface features, and that the other planets could, at least, be resolved into disks, that the concept that the planets were real physical bodies came to be taken seriously. In 1543, [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] had already posited that the planets orbited the [[Sun]] as the Earth does; combined, these two concepts led to the thought that the planets might be "worlds" similar to the Earth. Public expression of such concepts could be dangerous, however; [[Giordano Bruno]] was martyred in 1600 for, among other things, imagining an infinite number of other worlds, and claiming that "Innumerable suns exist; innumerable Earths revolve about these suns ... Living beings inhabit these worlds" in ''De l'infinito universo e mondi'' ("Concerning the Infinite Universe and Worlds", 1584).
At the time, such speculation was of a rather rarefied sort, and was limited to astronomers like [[Christiaan Huygens]] who wrote a book, ''Cosmotheoros'' (1698)<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.phys.uu.nl/~huygens/cosmotheoros_en| title=Cosmotheoros (1698)| accessdate=2006-06-28}}</ref> considering the possibility of life on other planets; or to philosophers like [[Tommaso Campanella|Campanella]], who wrote in defense of Galileo. The concept of life on distant planets was not, however, much utilized in fiction. The most popular target of 17th century "science fiction" was the Moon ("visited" in fiction by [[Johannes Kepler|Kepler]], [[Francis Godwin|Godwin]], [[Cyrano de Bergerac|Cyrano]], and [[Daniel Defoe|Defoe]]). Oddly, none of these fictions made use of the lunar maps contemporaneously created by [[Johannes Hevelius|Hevelius]], [[Giovanni Battista Riccioli|Riccioli]] and others.
It was quite some time before such "extraordinary voyages" went beyond the lunar sphere. Eberhard Kindermann sent an airship to the planets in 1744 in ''Die Geschwinde Reise auf dem Lufft-schiff nach der obern Welt'' ("The Airship's Speedy Journey to the Upper World"); while a traveller from the star [[Sirius]] passes inward through the Solar System, stopping at various planets in [[Voltaire]]'s ''[[Micromégas]]'' (1752); followed by another outward voyage in Marie-Anne de Roumier-Robert's ''Voyage de Milord Céton dans les Sept Planètes'' ("Lord Seton's Voyage Among the Seven Planets", 1765). These stories were generally unscientific and tended towards the satirical rather than the purely entertaining; their subject-matter was probably inspired by the popular writings of [[Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle|Fontenelle]], notably his ''Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes'' ("Conversations on the Multiplicity of Worlds", 1686).
With the rapid developments in the magnifying and resolving power of telescopes in the course of the 19th century, it finally became possible to distinguish surface features on other planets and even to draw maps of some of them, notably [[Mars]]. In 1877, [[Asaph Hall]] reported two moons of Mars and [[Giovanni Schiaparelli]] found the surface of Mars to be adorned with continents, seas, and canals, and a very suitable habitat for life. From the beginning of the 1880s, fictions – some more, some less scientific – involving travels to and from Mars began to be produced in great quantities, even though the observations of [[Percival Lowell]] required reassessment of Mars as a more marginal [[desert planet]]. Mars remained a favored destination for fictional travellers down to the early 1960s (see [[Mars in fiction]]). Since probes revealed the absence of any indications of intelligent life on Mars, the science fictional Mars has changed to a possible future home for the human race, e.g. through [[terraforming]].
[[Venus]] was never quite so popular as Mars, probably because it obdurately refused to display any surface features (it is covered with sulfuric acid clouds only dimly translucent to visible light), making any statement about its nature disturbingly speculative. In 1918, chemist [[Svante Arrhenius]], deciding that Venus' cloud cover was necessarily water, decreed in ''The Destinies of the Stars'' that "A very great part of the surface of Venus is no doubt covered with swamps" and compared Venus' humidity to the tropical [[rain forest]]s of the [[Congo]]. Venus thus became, until the early 1960s, a place for science fiction writers to place all manner of unusual life forms, from quasi-dinosaurs to intelligent carnivorous plants, and where hostile interactions with Venusian natives were reminiscent of European [[colonialism|colonial]] projects in Africa and Asia (see [[Venus in fiction]]). In fact Venus's surface is hot enough to melt lead, and it is extremely hostile to life.
Various other planets of the Solar System were used as settings for science fiction stories in the first half of the 20th century; but dissatisfaction with the limits imposed by science led many writers early on to forsake the Solar System for fictional planets around distant stars. As increasing knowledge of the Solar System made the prospects of life in the vicinity of Earth marginal at best, the [[extrasolar planet]] has become almost the only venue for contemporary science fiction.
In many works of science fiction, planets are only described casually, as points of origin and departure, or as interchangeable backdrops for space battles. This is particularly true of [[space opera]]. In other works, the planet takes center stage as the primary scene of events, and particular attention is paid to its environment and any culture that may exist on it. Adventure stories that stick to a single, well-described planet are sometimes called [[planetary romance]]s; some of these planets are not very realistic and are effectively [[fantasy world]]s.
Planets may be treated in different ways depending both on the interests of the author and the genre he or she is writing in. In some stories, a planet is mainly considered as an object in space: the interest of the fiction depends upon its astronomical characteristics, such as its mass, its geological composition, its atmosphere, how many moons it has and what size they are, how close it is to its sun (or suns) and how hot they are. Such considerations are found prominently though not exclusively in the [[hard science fiction]] genre.
In other stories, a planet is considered as a world or setting. Such a planet will be described from the point of view of a person dwelling on it, rather than from the point of view of an outside observer: the fiction may describe its geography, its history, and the social and cultural characteristics of its civilizations. Since authors usually adopt human protagonists, such planets are typically described as very hospitable to human life and, other than in geography, nearly indistinguishable from Earth; [[Brian Stableford]] calls such planets "Earth-Clones".
Other planets appear in humorous or comical settings, sometimes spoofing more conventional science fiction. Such planets are often described with no pretense to scientific accuracy; their strange characteristics are primarily intended to amuse.
For the ''[[Star Trek]]'' universe, a detailed [[memoryalpha:Planetary classification|planetary classification system]] has been devised; it is not actually used by scientists.
== Planet lists ==
For planets from specific fictional milieux, use the following lists and categories, or use Wikipedia's search box on this page:
=== Literature ===
* '''[[Hal Clement|Clement, Hal]]''' – [[Hal Clement#Planets]]
* '''[[CoDominium]]''' ([[Jerry Pournelle|Pournelle]]) – [[CoDominium#Planets of the CoDominium and the Empire of Man]]
* '''[[Cthulhu Mythos]]''' ([[H.P. Lovecraft|Lovecraft]] ''et al.'') – [[Cthulhu Mythos celestial bodies]]
* '''[[Childe Cycle|Dorsai]]''' ([[Gordon R. Dickson|Dickson]]) – [[Childe Cycle#Planets of the Childe Cycle]]
* '''[[Dune universe|Dune]]''' ([[Frank Herbert|Herbert]]) – [[:Category:Dune planets]], [[List of Dune planets]]
* '''[[Ekumen]]''' ([[Ursula K. Le Guin|Le Guin]]) – [[Ekumen#Planets of the Ekumen]]
* '''[[Ender's Game series|Enderverse]]''' ([[Orson Scott Card|Card]]) – [[List of Enderverse planets]]
* '''[[The Foundation Series|Foundation Series]]''' ([[Isaac Asimov|Asimov]]) – [[:Category:Foundation universe planets]], [[List of Foundation universe planets]], [[List of minor Foundation universe planets]]
* '''[[Heritage Universe]]''' ([[Charles Sheffield]]) - [[Heritage Universe#Planets]]
* '''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Hitchhiker's Guide]]''' ([[Douglas Adams|Adams]]) – [[Places in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]
* '''[[Honorverse]]''' ([[David Weber|Weber]]) – [[List of planets in the Honorverse]]
* '''[[Humanx Commonwealth]]''' ([[Alan Dean Foster]]) – [[List of Humanx Commonwealth planets]]
* '''[[Hyperion Cantos|Hyperion]]''' ([[Dan Simmons|Simmons]]) – [[Hyperion Cantos#Planets of the Hyperion Cantos]]
* '''[[Known Space]]''' ([[Larry Niven|Niven]]) – [[Known Space#Locations]]
* '''[[Leigh Brackett]] [[Leigh Brackett Solar System|Solar System]]''' – [[Leigh Brackett Solar System#The Worlds of Leigh Brackett]]
* '''[[Lensman|Lensman Series]]''' ([[E. E. Smith|Smith]]) – [[Lensman#Planets and Places]]
* '''[[The Night's Dawn Trilogy|Night's Dawn]]''' ([[Peter F. Hamilton|Hamilton]]) – [[The Night's Dawn Trilogy#Planets]]
* '''[[Noon Universe]]''' ([[Boris and Arkady Strugatsky|Strugatsky]]) – [[Noon Universe#Planets]], [[Minor Planets of Noon Universe]]
* '''[[Demon Princes|Oikumene]]''' ([[Jack Vance|Vance]]) – [[Demon Princes#Worlds of the Oikumene]]
* '''[[Alastair Reynolds|Revelation Space]]''' (Reynolds) – [[Locations in Revelation Space]], [[List of Revelation Space locations]]
* '''[[Starship Troopers]]''' ([[Robert A. Heinlein|Heinlein]]) – [[Starship Troopers#Locations]]
* '''[[The Three Worlds]]''' ([[Ian Irvine|Irvine]]) – [[The Three Worlds#The Three Worlds]]
* '''[[Madeleine L'Engle#Kairos|Time Quartet]]''' (L'Engle) – [[A Wrinkle in Time#Locations]]
* '''[[Uplift Universe|Uplift]]''' ([[David Brin|Brin]]) – [[List of Uplift Universe planets]]
* '''[[Vorkosigan Saga]]''' ([[Lois McMaster Bujold|Bujold]]) – [[List of Vorkosigan Saga planets]], [[:Category:Vorkosigan saga planets]]
=== Comics ===
* '''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''' – [[Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes character)#Spaceman Spiff's planets]]
* '''[[DC Universe|DC Comics]]''' – [[:Category:DC Comics planets]], [[List of locations of the DC Universe#Planetary systems]]
* '''[[Marvel Universe|Marvel Comics]]''' – [[Features of the Marvel Universe#Planets]]
* '''[[Sigilverse]]''' – [[Sigilverse#Major planets]]
=== Film and television ===
* '''[[Andromeda (TV series)|Andromeda]]''' – [[:Category:Andromeda (TV series) planets]], [[List of Andromeda star systems]]
* '''[[Babylon 5]]''' – [[:Category:Babylon 5 planets]], [[Civilizations in Babylon 5]]
* '''[[Battlestar Galactica]]''' – [[:Category:Battlestar Galactica planets]]
* '''[[Blake's 7]]''' – [[Blake's 7#Locations]]
* '''[[Doctor Who]]''' – [[:Category:Doctor Who planets]], [[List of Doctor Who planets]]
* '''[[Farscape]]''' – [[:Category:Farscape planets]]
* '''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]''' – [[List of Firefly planets and moons]]
* '''[[LEXX]]''' – [[List of LEXX planets]]
* '''[[Power Rangers]]''' – [[:Category:Power Rangers planets]], [[List of Power Rangers planets]]
* '''[[Star Trek]]''' – [[:Category:Star Trek planets]], [[List of Star Trek Planets]]
* '''[[Star Wars]]''' – [[:Category:Star Wars planets]], [[List of Star Wars planets]], [[List of Star Wars moons]]
* '''[[Stargate]]''' – [[:Category:Stargate planets]], [[List of Stargate planets]]
=== Animation ===
* '''[[Dragon Ball]]''' – [[:Category:Dragon Ball planets]], [[List of Dragon Ball planets]]
* '''[[Exosquad]]''' – [[Exosquad planets]]
* '''[[Futurama]]''' – [[:Category:Futurama planets]], [[List of planets in Futurama]]
* '''[[Invader Zim]]''' – [[:Category:Invader Zim locations]], [[List of planets in Invader Zim]]
* '''[[Space Battleship Yamato]]''' – [[Space Battleship Yamato planets]]
* '''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]''' – [[Tenchi Muyo!#Locations]]
* '''[[Transformers universes|Transformers]]''' – [[:Category:Transformers planets]]
=== RPGs and miniature games ===
* '''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''' and '''[[Spelljammer]]''' – [[List of Spelljammer crystal spheres]]
* '''[[Warhammer 40,000]]''' – [[Planets of Warhammer 40,000]]
=== Computer and video games ===
* '''[[Descent (computer game)|Descent]]''' – [[Descent (computer game)#Levels and robots]]
* '''[[Earthworm Jim]]''' – [[Earthworm Jim Universe#Important Locations]]
* '''[[Freelancer (computer game)|Freelancer]]''' – [[Freelancer (computer game)#Gameplay universe]]
* '''[[Halo (video game series)|Halo]]''' – [[Halo universe#UNSC Planets and Locations]]
*'''[[Jet Force Gemini]]''' - [[Jet Force Gemini#Levels]]
* '''[[Meteos]]''' – [[Meteos#Planets]]
* '''[[Metroid series|Metroid]]''' – [[Areas in the Metroid series]]
* '''[[Phantasy Star series|Phantasy Star]]''' – [[Algol (Phantasy Star)#The planets]]
* '''[[Ratchet & Clank series|Ratchet & Clank]]''' – [[Areas in the Ratchet & Clank series]]
* '''[[Sonic the Hedgehog series|Sonic the Hedgehog]]''' – [[:Category:Sonic the Hedgehog planets]]
* '''[[Star Fox series|Star Fox]]''' – [[List of Star Fox planets and locations]]
* '''[[Star Ocean]]''' – [[:Category:Star Ocean planets]], [[Star Ocean: Till the End of Time#Planets]]
* '''[[StarCraft]]''' – [[StarCraft universe#Planets of StarCraft]], [[StarCraft universe#Outlying Worlds]]
* '''[[Xenosaga]]''' - [[List of planets in Xenosaga]]
== Alphabetical list ==
=== A ===
* [[Altair IV]] — From the movie ''[[Forbidden Planet]]'', formerly inhabited by the mysteriously extinct race of [[Krell]].
* [[Athos (Stargate)]] - From the sci-fi show ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', was populated by the Athosians. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by the ''[[Wraith]]''.
* [[Aurelia and Blue Moon]] — An attempt at theorising what a [[Planetary habitability|habitable planet]] orbiting a red dwarf star would actually be like.
* [[Azeroth (world)|Azeroth]] (formerly [[Kalimdor]]) — In the [[Warcraft]] series, it is the home of [[humans]] and the main setting of the [[Warcraft]] games.
=== B ===
* [[Crystal Singer|Ballybran]] — A planet in [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''Crystal Singer'' series. Ballybran is a toxic world where the inhabitants must form a symbiotic relationship with a spore in order to survive.
* [[Downward to the Earth|Belzagor]] — A planet colonized by Earth, whose natives are the elephant-like ''nildoror'', in ''Downward to the Earth'' by [[Robert Silverberg]].
* [[Big Planet]] — An enormous but not very dense planet, settled by Earth colonists and divided into a large number of colorful social groupings, in the novels ''Big Planet'' and ''Showboat World'' by [[Jack Vance]].
* [[Catteni Series|Botany]] — An Earth-like agricultual world to which prisoners and slaves are transported in the ''Catteni Series'' by [[Anne McCaffrey]].
* [[When Worlds Collide|Bronson Alpha and Bronson Beta]] — Planets that enter the solar system in [[Philip Gordon Wylie]] and [[Edwin Balmer]]'s novel ''When Worlds Collide''. Bronson Alpha collides with the Earth, destroying it. Bronson Beta is settled by survivors of the catastrophe in the sequel ''[[After Worlds Collide]]''.
=== C ===
* [[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri|Chiron]] — A planet (usually called "Planet") orbiting the star [[Alpha Centauri]] in the computer game ''Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri''.
* [[Chthon (novel)|Chthon]] — The titular prison planet in [[Piers Anthony]]'s novel ''Chthon''.
* [[Crematoria (Fictional Planet)|Crematoria]] — A hell-world with extreme variations in temperature and a flammable atmosphere in the movie ''[[The Chronicles of Riddick]]''.
* [[Cyteen]] — A planet notable for its cloning research, from [[C. J. Cherryh]]'s [[Alliance-Union universe]] novels.
=== D ===
* [[Darkover]] — [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]'s Darkover series (medieval culture and psi powers)
* [[Darwin IV]] — Planet in the art of [[Wayne Douglas Barlowe]]
* [[Dosadi]] — The setting for [[Frank Herbert]]'s novel [[The Dosadi Experiment]].
* [[Downbelow (planet)|Downbelow]] — The planet in [[C. J. Cherryh]]'s novel ''Downbelow Station'' and home of the Hisa.
* [[Draenor]] — Homeworld of the Orcs in the game [[Warcraft]].
* [[Dragon's Egg]] — Not, strictly speaking, a planet, but a [[neutron star]] on which intelligent life develops in the book of the same name by [[Robert Forward]].
=== E ===
* [[Erna (planet)|Erna]] — A seismically active planet with psychically malleable quasi-sentient natural forces called the ''Fae'' in [[Celia S. Friedman]]'s ''[[Coldfire trilogy]]''.
* [[Erra]] — Planet invented by [[Billy Meier]], UFO enthusiast.
* [[Erythro (Asimov)|Erythro]] — Barren planet in [[Isaac Asimov]]'s ''[[Nemesis (Asimov)|Nemesis]]'' novel.
* [[Eshraval]] — Earth-like planetary setting for a nation simulation game.
* [[Eternia]] — [[He-Man]]'s planet in ''[[Masters of the Universe]]''.
* [[Etheria (She-Ra)|Etheria]] — [[She-Ra]]'s planet in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power''.
=== F ===
* [[Commonwealth Saga#Pandora's Star|Far Away]] — A planet in [[Peter F. Hamilton]]'s [[Commonwealth Saga]] which has been sterilized by a solar flare and is characterized by a triangle of stratospheric mountains. The alien known as the ''Starflyer'' originated here when a ship called the ''Marie Celeste'' crashed on Far Away.
* [[Fhloston]] — Planet in the movie ''[[The Fifth Element]]''.
* [[Finisterre universe#Finisterre|Finisterre]] — A hostile planet in [[C. J. Cherryh]]'s [[Finisterre universe]] novels.
* [[Fiorina 'Fury' 161]] — Mining station penal colony on which ''[[Alien3]]'' is set.
=== G ===
* [[Syreen|Gaia]] — The first planet of the star [[Betelgeuse]], inhabited by the Syreen people in the [[Star Control]] computer game series.
* [[Earth 2 (TV series)#Planet G889|G889]] — A planet 22 [[light-year]]s from Earth in the television series ''Earth 2''.
* [[Gor]] — An inhabited [[counter-Earth]] in [[John Norman]]'s Gor series, marked by slavery and rigid gender roles.
* [[Destroy All Humans!#Furons|Gorta]] — A planet circling Proxima Centauri, home of the hostile alien Furons in the video game ''Destroy All Humans!''.
=== H ===
* [[Halvmörk]] — A twilight planet in [[Harry Harrison]]'s novel ''Wheelworld''.
* [[Helliconia]] — A planet orbiting a binary star in the trilogy of the same name by [[Brian Aldiss]]. On Helliconia, with a 3000-year "Great Year", civilizations rise and fall with the change of seasons.
* [[Hiigara]] — In the computer game ''[[Homeworld]]'', the lost home planet of the [[Kushan (Homeworld)|Kushan]].
* [[The Face of the Waters|Hydros]] — A water-covered planet, whose population lives only on artificial floating islands, in [[Robert Silverberg]]'s novel ''The Face of the Waters''.
=== I ===
*[[Dinosaur Planet (novel)|Ireta]] — A planet in [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Anne McCaffrey#The Dinosaur Planet and Planet Pirates Series|Planet Pirates series]]'', inhabited by both people and [[dinosaur]]s, and so also called ''Dinosaur Planet'' – the name of the novel in which it first appears.
*[[Fire Time|Ishtar]] — A planet in orbit around three suns, whose northern hemisphere undergoes catastrophic heating every thousand years as it draws near to one of them. From [[Poul Anderson]]'s novel ''Fire Time''.
*[[The Houses of Iszm|Iszm]] — A planet in [[Jack Vance]]'s novel ''The Houses of Iszm'', a world on which bioengineering of plants is the dominant technology form (as opposed to mechanical engineering on Earth). Houses on Iszm are trees with room-sized pods; all furnishings are integrated as part of the growth.
=== J ===
* [[Freefall (webcomic)|Jean]] — A "colony planet" that is the setting for Mark Stanley's webcomic ''Freefall''.
=== K ===
* [http://www.infoshop.org/sf/index.php/Kalapriya Kalapriya] — twice human settled planet where bacteriomats are harvested in Margaret Ball's ''Disappearing Act''.
* [[Kharak]] — ''[[Homeworld]]'' (desert planet), destroyed by an enemy race after space travel is developed
* [[K-PAX]] — A [[utopia]]n planet in the novel and [[K-PAX (film)|film]] of the same name, which is quite possibly the delusional invention of a madman who claims to be from the planet.
* [[Planet Prince|Krankor]] — The planet of the supervillain Phantom in the Japanese television series ''Planet Prince''.
* [[Dray Prescot series|Kregen]] — An earthlike planet orbiting [[Antares]], in [[Kenneth Bulmer]]'s ''Dray Prescot'' series.
=== L ===
* [[Maetel Legend|La Maetelle]] — A dying planet whose orbit changes drastically once in a millennium; the home of Queen Promethium and her daughters in the manga and anime of [[Leiji Matsumoto]].
* [[Nightfall (Asimov)|Lagash]] — A planet in the story ''Nightfall'' by [[Isaac Asimov]], in a globular cluster, and in a system with six suns. The orbit of the planet is such that all sides of it are almost always illuminated by at least one sun; only once in every 2,049 years is Lagash oriented in such a way that one of the suns is eclipsed by a dark companion body. Only at such times are the stars visible from Lagash's surface. In the novel developed from the short story, the planet was called ''Kalgash''.
* [[Eon (novel)#Legacy|Lamarckia]] — A planet [[Greg Bear]]'s novel ''Legacy'', whose continent-sized superorganisms mimic [[Lamarckism|Lamarckian evolution]].
* [[Land and Overland]] — Twin planets revolving about a common center of gravity, sharing a common atmosphere and connected by an hourglass-shaped atmospheric tunnel. The setting for [[Bob Shaw]]'s ''The Ragged Astronauts'', ''The Wooden Spaceships'' and ''The Fugitive Worlds''. Travel between the two planets occurs by hot air balloon.
* [[A Case of Conscience|Lithia]] — A planet peopled by an alien species with a well-developed natural ethics but no form of religion, in [[James Blish]]'s novel ''A Case of Conscience''.
* [[Luclin]] —Moon of [[Norrath]] in the [[EverQuest]] online RPG universe.
* [[Space Patrol (1962 TV series)|Lumen]] — the Planet of Light in the British puppet TV series ''Space Patrol''.
* [[LV-426]], or ''Acheron'' — The planet on which the derelict ship and its deadly cargo are found in the movies ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'' and ''[[Aliens (1986 film)|Aliens]]''.
* [[LV-1201]] — Planet in the [[Aliens versus Predator 2]] video game.
* [[Lythion]] — Home planet to the Great Tyrant from the comic book and movie ''[[Barbarella (film)|Barbarella]]''.
=== M ===
* [[Majipoor series|Majipoor]] — A large planet which is the setting for a [[science fantasy]] series by [[Robert Silverberg]].
* [[Medea: Harlan's World|Medea]] — [[Harlan Ellison]]'s worldbuilding project
* [[Vandread#Universe|Mejare and Tarak]] — Warring planets in the anime ''Vandread'': Mejare is populated entirely by women, Tarak entirely by men.
* [[Merseia]] — Planet that becomes the center of an interstellar empire in [[Poul Anderson]]'s ''Technic History''.
* [[This Island Earth|Metaluna]] — A war-torn planet visited in the '50s B-movie cult classic ''This Island Earth''.
* [[Midkemia]] — Planet on which the events of the [[Riftwar]] books of [[Raymond E. Feist]] take place.
* [[Mongo (planet)|Mongo]] — The planetary setting for the ''[[Flash Gordon]]'' adventure comic.
* [[Dimension X (TMNT)#Morbus|Morbus]] — Planet in [[Dimension X (TMNT)|Dimension X]] in the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures]] comics.
* [[Mor-Tax|Mor-Tax, Morthrai and Qar'To]] — Planets named in the television series ''[[War of the Worlds (TV series)|War of the Worlds]]''. ''Mor-Tax'', a planet orbiting a dying star in the [[Pleiades (star cluster)|Pleiades]], is a paradise planet, the homeworld of the aliens invading Earth. ''Morthrai'', first mentioned in the second season, may be another name for Mor-Tax. ''Qar'To'' is another planet in the same system as Mor-Tax, inhabited by a different species.
=== N ===
* [[Of Man and Manta|Nacre]] — A planet populated primarily by [[fungus|fungi]], including an intelligent variety; from [[Piers Anthony]]'s novels ''Omnivore'', ''Orn'' and ''OX''.
* [[Planet Nemesis|Nemesis]] — A planet appearing in the anime [[Sailor Moon]].
* [[Outpost 2#New Terra|New Terra]] — In the computer game [[Outpost 2]], New Terra is the world chosen by humanity as its last hope for survival, colonized by the last survivors of Earth in starship ''Conestoga''.
* [[Nidor]] — A cloudy, oceanic planet in stories by [[Robert Silverberg]] and [[Randall Garrett]].
* [[Beyond the Spectrum|Nihil]] — An additional planet of Earth's solar system; due to a flaw in space, the planet is invisible except at close range, although it can see most of the other planets. The inhabitants attempt to conquer Earth during the 30th century. From the novel ''Beyond the Spectrum'' by Martin Thomas.
* [[Nirn]] — The setting for the computer game [[The Elder Scrolls]].
* [[Norrath]] — The setting for the [[EverQuest]] online RPG.
=== O ===
* [[Oa the Living Planet]] — A sentient planet in the [[Amalgam Comics]] series.
* [[The Status Civilization|Omega]] — A prison planet where one the only way to get ahead in society - or survive - is by committing murder and other crimes. From [[Robert Sheckley]]'s ''The Status Civilization''.
* [[Optera]] — The homeworld of the [[Invid (Robotech)|Invid]] in the anime ''[[Robotech]]''.
* [[Orthe]] — A post-holocaust planet that has reverted to a quasi-medieval way of life, in [[Mary Gentle]]'s ''Golden Witchbreed'' and ''Ancient Light''.
=== P ===
* [[Storm (Don Lawrence)|Pandarve]] — A living, sentient planet, considered to be a goddess, in the ''Storm'' comic book.
* [[Les Maîtres du temps|Perdide]] — A planet that serves for much of the setting of the 1982 French animated science fiction movie ''Les Maîtres du Temps'' (Time Masters), by [[Rene Laloux]].
* [[Pern]] — A planet pelted by a deadly spore (called [[Thread (Pern)|Thread]]), capable of eating anything but rock and metal, for periods of fifty years every two to four centuries in [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]'' novels. The people of Pern live in caves and ride genetically-engineered flying reptiles ("dragons") capable of incinerating the spore in midair.
* [[Petaybee Series|Petaybee]] — A living planet, becoming sentient, in [[Anne McCaffrey]] and [[Elizabeth Ann Scarborough]]'s ''Petaybee Series''.
* [[Placet]] — A planet that revolves in a figure-8 orbit around the twin suns Argyle I and Argyle II, and is subject to several different spatio-temporal anomalies in [[Fredric Brown]]'s ''Placet is a Crazy Place''.
* [[Prism (fictional world)|Prism]] — A planet in [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s [[Humanx Commonwealth]] populated by crystal-based lifeforms.
* [[Prysmos]] — A planet orbiting three stars in the cartoon [[Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light]].
* [[Planet Purple|Purple]] — A dull planet described in [[Mister Rogers' Neighborhood]].
* [[Deathworld|Pyrrus]] — An inhabitable planet whose ecosystem, consisting of psychic plants and animals, seems to be unremittingly hostile to human life. From [[Harry Harrison]]'s ''Deathworld'' trilogy.
=== R ===
* [[The Invincible|Regis III]] — A planet populated by evolving machines in [[Stanisław Lem]]'s novel ''The Invincible''.
* [[The Artificial Kid|Reverie]] — A planet with extreme social division between the haves and have-nots, in [[Bruce Sterling]]'s ''The Artificial Kid''.
* [[Riverworld]] — The title planet of [[Philip José Farmer]]'s Riverworld series, where all humans in history are reincarnated along a spiral river.
* [[Rocheworld]] — A pair of twin planets that almost touch in the book of that name by [[Robert Forward]].
* [[The Circles of Power#Settings|Rubanis]] — A megalopolitan planet plagued by constant traffic congestion, appearing in several volumes of the French comic book ''[[Valérian: Spatio-Temporal Agent]]'', particularly in ''The Circles of Power''.
=== S ===
* [[Sangre]] — A planet ruled by a cannibal elite in [[Norman Spinrad]]'s ''The Men in the Jungle''.
* [[Gears of War|Sera]] — A once-glorious civilized world devastated by war in the [[Xbox 360]] [[video game]] ''Gears of War''.
* [[Shikasta]] — [[Doris Lessing]]'s ''[[Shikasta]]'' (cosmic consciousness)
* [[Shora]] — [[Joan Slonczewski]]'s ''A Door into Ocean'' (waterbound culture)
* [[The Integral Trees|Smoke Ring]] — Not a planet, but a habitable gas ring around a neutron star in [[Larry Niven]]'s novels ''[[The Integral Trees]]'' and ''[[The Smoke Ring]]''.
* [[Solaris (novel)|Solaris]] — A planet covered by a single sentient organism in the book of that name by [[Stanisław Lem]].
* [[Planet of the Apes|Soror]] — The "Planet of the Apes," in the book of that name by [[Pierre Boulle]] and the related films and television shows.
=== T ===
* [[Mercenary (computer game)|Targ]] — The planet on which the computer game ''Mercenary'' and its sequels take place.
* [[Tei Tenga]] — A planet in the computer game [[Terminal Velocity (computer game)|Terminal Velocity]].
* [[The Songs of Distant Earth|Thalassa]] — A watery planet colonized by Earth, and revisited by a ship travelling to the planet ''Sagan 2'' in [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s novel ''The Songs of Distant Earth''.
* [[Thra]] — The world of [[The Dark Crystal]].
* [[Thundera]] — Home planet of the [[ThunderCats]].
* [[The Snow Queen (novel)|Tiamat]] — An oceanic planet whose sun orbits a black hole, socially divided into two moieties (Summer and Winter), ruled by a queen with abrupt changes in social conditions every 150 years. From [[Joan D. Vinge]]’s ''The Snow Queen''.
* [[Tirol (fictional planet)|Tirol]] — The homeworld of the [[Robotech Masters]] in the anime [[Robotech]].
* [[Titan (world)|Titan]] — The setting of the [[Fighting Fantasy]] gamebooks; not to be confused with the Saturnian satellite [[Titan (moon)|Titan]].
* [[Tralfamadore]] — A planet populated by the phlegmatic [[Tralfamadorian]]s in the works of [[Kurt Vonnegut]].
* [[Troas (planet)|Troas]] — An Earthlike planet featured in the stories "[[Sucker Bait]]" by [[Isaac Asimov]] and "[[Question and Answer]]" by [[Poul Anderson]].
* [[Twinsun]] — A planet lit by two fixed suns, both fixed relative to it, in the ''[[Little Big Adventure]]'' computer games. Twinsun has three climates: the poles are hot and desert, the equator is cold and arctic, and between them lie temperate lands.
=== V ===
* [[Vekta]] — Setting of the video game [[Killzone]].
=== W ===
* [[TigerSharks|Water-O]] — The water-covered planet from the cartoon series ''TigerSharks''.
* [[Rifts (role-playing game)#Other settings|Wormwood]] — In the role playing game ''[[Rifts (role-playing game)|Rifts]]'', a chaotic planet in another plane. Wormwood is alive, and its inhabitants can draw on its life force.
=== Z ===
* [[World Without Stars#Settings|Zahir]] — A hollow planet appearing in the comic book series ''[[Valérian: Spatio-Temporal Agent]]''.
* [[Zeelich]] — A planet covered by a thick layer of gas clouds above a sea of lava in the computer game ''[[Little Big Adventure 2]]''. Vegetation and civilisation occur only on mountains rising above the cloud layer.
*[[Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left|Zyrgon]] — A planet ruled by the galactic "Law-Enforcers" in novels by [[Robin Klein]], adapted as a television series.
=== Fictional planets in comedy ===
These planets are not so much carefully constructed worlds as they are humorous backgrounds or gag references in various comedy shows and games:
* [[Spaceballs|Druidia]] — Home of the Druids, ruled by King Roland and Princess Vespa in the movie ''Spaceballs''.
* [[Loonatics Unleashed|Freleng]] — Zadavia's and Optimatus' homeworld in the animated series ''Loonatics Unleashed''. The name is an homage to animator [[Friz Freleng]].
* [[List of Red Dwarf episodes#Series 3 (1989)|Htrae]] — A version of Earth in which everything is backwards, in the scifi television comedy ''[[Red Dwarf]]''.
* [[Koozebane]] — A mysterious planet full of weird aliens, encountered several times in the television puppet comedy ''[[The Muppet Show]]''.
* [[Fictional races in South Park#Marklar|Marklar]] — A planet that appeared in four episodes of [[South Park]], most prominently in [[Starvin' Marvin in Space]], where all nouns are replaced by the word 'Marklar'.
* [[Melmac (planet)|Melmac]] — The home planet of the alien Gordon Shumway in the television comedy ''[[ALF (television)|ALF]]''.
* [[Mork & Mindy|Ork]] — The home planet of the humanoid alien Mork in the television [[situation comedy]] ''Mork & Mindy''.
* [[Pop Star (Kirby)|Pop Star]] — A planet in the [[Kirby (Nintendo)|Kirby]] series of video games
* [[The Coneheads|Remulak]] — The home planet of the aliens in the comedy sketches (and movie) ''The Coneheads''.
* [[Kang & Kodos#Rigel 7|Rigel 7]] — The home planet of drooling aliens Kang and Kodos on the animated comedy ''[[The Simpsons]]''.
* [[List of Red Dwarf episodes#Series 6 (1993)|Rimmerworld]] — A planet populated by millions of clones of [[Red Dwarf characters#Arnold Rimmer|Arnold Rimmer]] who had spent six hundred years alone on this planet, creating clones of himself in a failed attempt to create a girlfriend. From ''[[Red Dwarf]]''.
* [[Shroob]] planet — The (assumed) homeworld of the alien ''Shroobs'' in the video game ''[[Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time]]''.
* [[Skyron]] — Planet in the [[Andromeda Galaxy]], home of immense blancmanges, in a ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' comedy sketch.
* [[Spaceballs|Spaceball]] — Planet of the Spaceballs, ruled by President Skroob in the movie ''Spaceballs''.
* [[Duck Dodgers|X]] — Planet X was the source of ''Alludium Phosdex'', the shaving cream atom, in the animated short comedy film ''Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century''.
* [[Space Quest|Xenon]] — The home planet of Roger Wilco, janitor, in the humorous computer game series ''Space Quest''.
* [[Mark Chang#Yugopotamia|Yugopotamia]] — A comic "opposite" planet mentioned in the animated comedy ''[[The Fairly Oddparents]]''.
=== Parallel Earths ===
These planets are identical or nearly identical to Earth physically, but have a history that differs to some degree from that of our Earth.
* [[Earth Prime (Sliders)|Earth Prime]] — From the [[Sliders]] television program.
* [[Terra Obscura]] — In the ''Terra Obscura'' comic book.
=== Fictional artificial planets ===
In addition, some writers, scientists and artists have speculated about [[artificial world]]s or planet-equivalents; these planets include:
* [[Dyson sphere]] by [[Freeman Dyson]]
* [[Gaea trilogy|Gaea]] by [[John Varley (author)|John Varley]]
* [[Globus Cassus]] by [[Christian Waldvogel]]
* [[Hegira (novel)|Hegira]] — An artificial planet in the novel of the same name by [[Greg Bear]].
* [[Pendor]] by [[Elf Sternberg]]
* [[Ringworld]] by [[Larry Niven]]
* [[Strata (novel)|Strata]] — a novel by [[Terry Pratchett]], includes an unnamed artificial flat world.
* [[Well World]] — [[Jack L. Chalker]]'s ''Well of Souls'' series (surface divided in thousands of different ecosystems, each one with a different sentient race)
=== Fantastic planets ===
Some invented planets have physically impossible shapes, and may be regarded as [[fantasy world]]s:
* [[Discworld (world)|Discworld]] — A flat, disk-shaped "planet", supported on the backs of giant elephants riding on a [[Turtles all the way down|turtle]], in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' series.
* [[World of Tiers]] — A planet-sized [[step pyramid]] with a different environment on each step, in [[Philip José Farmer]]'s book series of the same name.
=== Fictional variants of real planets ===
Several planets of the solar system have, at various times, been the basis for fictional worlds with characteristics more or less distinct from those of the actual planet, as presently understood; an early example is [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]' [[Barsoom#Barsoom|Barsoom]], a [[heroic fantasy]] version of [[Mars]]. For more examples, see the links to the various planets at ''[[Solar System in fiction]]''.
== Books ==
* {{cite book| first=Neil F.| last=Comins| title=What If the Moon Didn't Exist}}
* {{cite book| first=Stephen| last=Gillette| title=World-Building| publisher=Writer's Digest Books}}
* {{cite book| authorlink=Brian Stableford| first=Brian| last=Stableford| title=The Dictionary of Science Fiction Places}}
== See also ==
* [[Artificial world]]
* [[Desert planet]]
* [[Extrasolar planet]]
* [[Hypothetical planet]]
* [[Planetary habitability]]
* [[Terrestrial planet]]
===Similar fictions===
* [[Archive of fictional things]]
* [[Fantasy world]]
* [[Fictional country]]
* [[List of fantasy worlds]]
* [[List of fictional universes]]
* [[List of fictional planets by medium]]
* [[List of sentient fictional planets]]
* [[List of socially unusual fictional planets]]
* [[Stars and planetary systems in fiction]]
==References==
<references/>
== External links ==
* [http://www.world-builders.org/ Worldbuilding Class]
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[[Category:Planets]]
[[Category:Fictional planets|*]]
[[Category:Lists of planets]]
[[Category:Lists of fictional things]]
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[[ja:架空の惑星一覧]]
[[fi:Fiktiivinen planeetta]]
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