List of ships (The Culture)

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This is a list of ships found in the Culture novels by Iain M Banks. Except where indicated, all ships in this list are members of the fictional society known as 'The Culture'.

Contents

[edit] Naming

The artificial intelligences called Minds (and, as a consequence, the Culture starships that they inhabit) usually bear names that do a little more than just identify them. The Minds themselves choose their own names, and thus they usually express something about a particular Mind's attitude, character or aims in their personal life. Warship names are similar in retaining the whimsical nature, though the humour tends to be more cynical and threatening.

Banks composed many of the Culture ships' names very carefully to express the attitude of the ship's Mind, and a few names contain puns where both meanings are appropriate to the ship's attitude. A few of the ship names are also installments in running gags.

[edit] Common ship types

Main article: Ship types (The Culture)
Class Acronym Description
General Systems Vehicles GSV Mobile habitats and / or factory ships, largest Culture ship type
Medium Systems Vehicles MSV Smaller versions of the above
Limited Systems Vehicles LSV Smaller versions of the above
General Contact Vehicles GCV Larger versions of the below GCU (or possibly a misprint in novel)
General Contact Units GCU Ambassadors, scouts and light transports; also main warship in peacetime
General Offensive Units GOU Dedicated main warships, larger than most Culture ship types
Rapid Offensive Units ROU Dedicated fast warships
Limited Offensive Units LOU Dedicated warships, smaller than GOUs
Demilitarized ROUs (d)ROU Civilianised ROUs used as courier ships, all or most weaponry removed
Very Fast Pickets VFP An euphemism for (d)ROU, used in the same role.

[edit] Novels

[edit] Consider Phlebas

Ship Type Name Class Comments
GCU Nervous Energy Mountain
GCU Prosthetic Conscience n/a
GSV Bora Horza Gobuchul Ocean (later Range)
GSV Determinist System
GSV Eschatologist (temporary name) n/a Sent by the Culture to destroy Vavatch orbital.
GSV Irregular Apocalypse n/a
GSV No More Mr Nice Guy n/a
GSV The Ends Of Invention n/a (Ulterior)
LSV Profit Margin n/a
ROU Revisionist Killer
ROU Trade Surplus Killer
(Ex-Hronish) Clear Air Turbulence Armoured assault Pirate ship, one of the main settings of the book.
(Idiran) The Hand of God 137 Light cruiser Advance force invading the planet Sorpen to rescue Horza.

[edit] The Player of Games

Ship Type Name Class Comments
n/a Screw Loose Clipper
GCU Flexible Demeanour n/a
GSV Just Read The Instructions n/a
GSV Of Course I Still Love You n/a
GOU Limiting Factor Murderer Jernau Morat Gurgeh's ship to the planet Azad.
GSV Cargo Cult n/a
GSV Little Rascal n/a 'Throughput'-ship (ship assembly and crewing)
GSV So Much For Subtlety n/a
GSV Unfortunate Conflict Of Evidence n/a
RSV Youthful Indiscretion n/a
LOU Gunboat Diplomat n/a (Special Circumstances)
dROU Zealot n/a
n/a Kiss My Ass Superlifter
n/a Prime Mover Superlifter

[edit] Use of Weapons

Ship Type Name Class Comments
GCU Just Testing n/a
dROU Xenophobe n/a
GCU Very Little Gravitas Indeed n/a
GSV What Are The Civilian Applications? n/a
GSV Congenital Optimist n/a
GSV Size Isn't Everything n/a
GCU Sweet and Full of Grace n/a

[edit] Excession

Ship Type Name Class Comments
GCU Different Tan Mountain
GCU Fate Amenable To Change River
GCU Grey Area (AKA Meatfucker) n/a (Eccentric) Ostracised for nonconsensual mindreading.
GCU It's Character Forming n/a
GCU Jaundiced Outlook Ridge
GCU Problem Child Troubadour Early (vs Excession-contemporary) GCU, historical mention.
GCU Reasonable Excuse n/a
GCU Recent Convert n/a
GCU Tactical Grace Escarpment
GCU Unacceptable Behaviour n/a
GCV Steely Glint Plains
n/a Highpoint n/a (Ulterior)
n/a Shoot Them Later Gangster Class (Eccentric, Ulterior)
LOU Attitude Adjuster Killer
ROU Killing Time Torturer
dROU Frank Exchange Of Views Psychopath
GSV Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The Plate
GSV Death and Gravity n/a
GSV Ethics Gradient Range
GSV Honest Mistake n/a
GSV Limivourous Ocean
GSV No Fixed Abode Ex-Equator (Sabbaticaler)
GSV Quietly Confident,
later GSV Sleeper Service		 Plate (Eccentric, Ulterior) Known as storage ship for souls in stasis.
GSV Uninvited Guest n/a
GSV Use Psychology n/a
GSV What Is The Answer and Why? n/a
GSV Wisdom Like Silence Continent
GSV Yawning Angel Range
GSV Zero Gravitas n/a
LSV Misophist n/a
LSV Serious Callers Only Tundra
MSV Not Invented Here Desert
(Zetetic Elench) Appeal To Reason n/a
(Zetetic Elench) Break Even n/a
(Zetetic Elench) Long View n/a
(Zetetic Elench) Peace Makes Plenty n/a
(Zetetic Elench) Sober Counsel n/a
(Zetetic Elench) Within Reason n/a
(Affront) Kiss the Blade n/a
(Affront) Frightspear n/a
(Affront) Furious Purpose Light Cruiser (Meteorite Class)
(Affront) Riptalon n/a
(Affront) Wingclipper n/a
(Affront) SacSlicer II n/a
(Affront) Xenoclast Battleship
(Homomdan) Full Refund (Ex-'MBU 604') Main Battle Unit (Empire Class) (Ship types (The Culture)#Convertcraft)
n/a Charitable View Superlifter, Cliff
n/a Just Passing Through Cruise Ship, n/a

[edit] The State of the Art

Ship Type Name Class Comments
GSV Bad for Business n/a
GCU Arbitrary n/a
GCU Cantankerous n/a
GCU Only Slightly Bent n/a
GCU I Thought He Was With You n/a
GCU Space Monster n/a
GCU A Series Of Unlikely Explanations n/a
GCU Big Sexy Beast n/a
GCU Never Talk To Strangers n/a
GCU Funny, It Worked Last Time... n/a
GCU Boo! n/a
GCU Ultimate Ship The Second n/a
GCU It'll Be Over By Christmas n/a
n/a A Ship With A View n/a
n/a Ablation n/a
n/a Arrested Development n/a
n/a Credibility Problem n/a
n/a Dramatic Exit n/a
n/a Excuses And Accusations n/a
n/a God Told Me To Do It n/a
n/a Halation Effect n/a
n/a Happy Idiot Talk n/a
n/a Helpless In The Face Of Your Beauty n/a
n/a Heresiarch n/a
n/a Just Another Victim Of The Ambient Morality n/a
n/a Minority Report n/a
n/ Not Wanted On Voyage n/a
n/a Perfidy n/a
n/a Sacrificial Victim n/a
n/a Stranger Here Myself n/a
n/a Synchronize Your Dogmas n/a
n/a Thank you And Goodnight n/a
n/a The Precise Nature Of The Catastrophe n/a
n/a Unwitting Accomplice n/a
n/a Undesirable Alien n/a
n/a Well I Was In The Neighbourhood n/a
n/a You Would If You Really Loved Me n/a
n/a You'll Thank Me Later n/a

[edit] Look to Windward

Ship Type Name Class Comments
(Chelgrian) Winter Storm n/a
(Chelgrian) Piety n/a (Temple ship)
(Chelgrian) Soulhaven n/a (Temple ship)
ROU Nuisance Value Torturer
n/a Vulgarian Superlifter
GSV Sanctioned Parts List n/a
VFP Resistance Is Character-Forming Gangster
OU All Through With This Niceness And Negotiation Stuff n/a
n/a Someone Else's Problem n/a
n/a Lacking That Small Match Temperament n/a
GCU Poke It With A Stick n/a
OU I Said, I've Got A Big Stick n/a
n/a Hand Me The Gun And Ask Me Again n/a
n/a But Who's Counting? n/a
n/a Germane Riposte n/a
n/a We Haven't Met But You're A Great Fan Of Mine n/a
n/a All The Same, I Saw It First n/a
n/a Ravished By The Sheer Implausibility Of That Last Statement n/a
n/a Zero Credibility n/a
n/a Charming But Irrational n/a
n/a Demented But Determined n/a
n/a You May Not Be The Coolest Person Here n/a
n/a Lucid Nonsense n/a
n/a Awkward Customer n/a
n/a Thorough But ... Unreliable n/a
n/a Advanced Case Of Chronic Patheticism n/a
n/a Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory n/a
n/a Conventional Wisdom n/a
n/a In One Ear n/a
n/a Fine Till You Came Along n/a
n/a I Blame The Parents n/a
n/a Inappropriate Response n/a
n/a A Momentary Lapse Of Sanity n/a
n/a Lapsed Pacifist n/a
n/a Reformed Nice Guy n/a
n/a Pride Comes Before A Fall n/a
n/a Injury Time n/a
n/a Now Look What You've Made Me Do n/a
n/a Kiss This Then n/a
GSV Lasting Damage n/a Later mind-state copied into other ships, becomes Masaq orbital.
GSV Lasting Damage I n/a
GSV Lasting Damage II n/a
GSV Experiencing A Significant Gravitas Shortfall n/a

[edit] Guardian Interview

The following ships have not appeared in any books, however they were named by Iain M. Banks in an interview with The Guardian.[1] These ships obtained their names as a result of another (unnamed) involved civilization criticizing Culture ship naming policy, claiming that such powerful ships ought to have names with a little more gravitas.

  • Stood Far Back When The Gravitas Was Handed Out
  • Gravitas, What Gravitas?
  • Gravitas... Gravitas... No, Don't Help Me, I'll Get It In A Moment...
  • Gravitas Free Zone
  • Low Gravitas Warning Signal
  • Absolutely No You-Know-What

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Interview - Iain M. Banks, originally published in The Guardian, 2000
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