Rigel in fiction

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rigel (Beta Orionis), the brightest star in the constellation Orion, is a well-known star in Earth's northern hemisphere night sky and hence a popular science fiction setting or feature.

Contents 1 Literature 2 Film and television 3 Comics and anime 4 Games

[edit] Literature

• Some sci-fi short stories of the 1940s and 1950s gave Rigel as the home system of various aliens.
• In "Doc" Smith's Lensman series, Rigel IV is home to the Rigellians, one of the most important member races of Civilization.
• In Jack Vance's Demon Princes novels, Rigel is the parent star to a system of twenty-six habitable planets, the Rigel Concourse.
• Rigel is a planet with a robotic culture in Isaac Asimov's Empire series.

[edit] Film and television

• In the Star Trek Universe, Rigel is orbited by at least twelve planets, many of which have been colonized by the Federation. It is unclear which, if any, of these planets is home to the Rigellians, a reptilian race seen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
  • Rigel II, mentioned by Dr. Leonard McCoy in the TOS episode Shore Leave as home to a cabaret where he met a couple of chorus girls.
  • Rigel III, mentioned in TNG episode "All Good Things...".
  • Rigel IV, mentioned in the TOS episode "Wolf in the Fold".
  • Rigel V, mentioned in TOS episode "Journey to Babel".
  • Rigel VII, mentioned in TOS episode "The Cage" as home to a race of humanoid barbarians who are not allied with the Federation, at least not as of the time of the episode.
  • Rigel X, mentioned in Enterprise episode "Broken Bow".
  • Rigel XII, featured in the TOS episode "Mudd's Women".
• In the Simpsons universe, Rigel 7 is the home of Kang and Kodos.
• Rigel 7 is mentioned during the twenty-second episode of the third season of Friends.

[edit] Comics and anime

• In the universe of Marvel Comics, the Rigellians (short large-headed humanoids) are rulers of the largest and most powerful interplanetary empire in the Milky Way Galaxy. The thunder god Thor has frequently become involved in their activities.

[edit] Games

• In Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters, Beta Orionis is the homeworld of the joke obsessed, blob-like Umgah race. However, it is interesting to note that both "Beta Orionis" and "Rigel" are not one and the same ingame: the star named Rigel is infact quite a distance away from the Orionis star group.