Space marine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Space marines are fictional soldiers that operate in outer space. Space marines are common in military science fiction-themed action movies and action games.
The concept of "space marines" originated in the stories and books of Robert A. Heinlein, with the phrase itself appearing as early as his "Misfit"[1] (1939) and "The Long Watch"[2] (1940). They were given center stage in his novel Starship Troopers, where they were called the Mobile Infantry, and characterised as an exceptionally heavily armed and armoured mobile ground force.
Later uses of the concept would tend to avoid the use of the term "space marine" in favour of something related but individual, such as the "Colonial Marines" of the film Aliens; many science-fiction settings simply talk of "the Marines". However, Heinlein's concept of a heavily equipped mobile infantry force remained.
The concept was popularized in the 1980s by the ceramite-armoured, bolter-wielding crusading Space Marines of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, who first appeared in 1987's Rogue Trader; the term is currently a trademark owned by Games Workshop for their table-top game Warhammer 40,000 and its derivatives.
Not so fictional, however, is the United States Marine Corps's desire to expand into space. Project Hot Eagle considers the use of spacecraft to deliver marines to a target on the ground. "Within minutes of bursting into the atmosphere beyond the speed of sound – and dispatching that ominous sonic boom – a small squad of Marines could be on the ground and ready to take care of business within 2 hours."[3]
[edit] Fictional space marines
- Lensman series (1937) - Galactic Marines
- Starship Troopers (1959) - Mobile Infantry
- The Mote in God's Eye (1975) and related novels - Imperial Marines
- Falkenberg's Legion series (1976-1993) - The CoDominium Marines
- Star Blazers (1974)
- Dune (1977) - the Sardaukar (Dune universe)
- Traveller (1977)
- Star Wars (1977) - the Clone Troopers and the Imperial Stormtroopers
- Moonraker (1979)
- Aliens (1986) - United States Colonial Marines
- Metroid (1986) - Federation Troopers
- Warhammer 40,000 (1987) - the Space Marines and the Imperial Guard
- Exosquad (1993-1995) - Exotroopers (E-frame pilots) and Jumptroopers
- Honorverse (1993)
- Doom (1994) - the United States Marine Corps
- Marathon (1994)
- Babylon 5 (1994) - EarthForce Marine Corps (also known as "Gropos" or "GROund POunderS")
- Space: Above and Beyond (1995) - United States Marine Corps Space Aviator Cavalry
- Quake series (1996)
- Alien: Resurrection (1997) - United Systems Military
- StarCraft (1998) - Terran Confederacy Marines
- Halo (2001) - United Earth Space Corps (serves as "Marine Corps" for the United Nations Space Command)
- Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) - the MACOs
- Battlestar Galactica (2004) - Colonial Marine Corps, Colonial Marine Corps Reserve
