Portals in science fiction
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A common theme in science fiction is some form of portal allowing rapid travel from one location to another, often originating from some combination of natural phenomenon and technological device. The most recent and prominent example is that of the Stargate, found in the Stargate franchise.
The basic concept of a Stargate did not originate with the movie Stargate. Arthur C. Clarke first coined the term "Star Gate" in his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) as a fictional device allowing rapid travel between distant locations. Clarke’s "Star Gate" does not resemble the one seen in Stargate media; nevertheless, Stargate SG-1 paid homage to Clarke in the two episodes "2001" and "2010," which correspond to the first two books in his Space Odyssey series: 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: Odyssey Two.
Portals were also seen on television well before the movie Stargate. They can be seen in the series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979-1981), where travel between stars was also accomplished by a Stargate network. Each Stargate carries a designation such as "Stargate 4." These Stargates however were only shown as a diamond-shaped quartet of stars that shimmered when a vessel was making transit.
Writers of both novels and comics have also used the name prior to the Stargate movie. Stephen Robinett's book "Stargate" (1976) revolves around the corporate side of building extra-dimensional and/or transportational Stargates. In the novel, the Stargate is given the name "Jenson Gate," after the fictional company which builds it. The Shi'ar, an extraterrestrial race introduced by Marvel Comics in 1976, also utilize a network of Stargates. The Shi'ar utilize both planet-based Stargates and enormous space-based versions (equivalent to the Ori supergate), though both are usually depicted without any physical structure to contain the wormhole.
Since the introduction of the Stargate on the big screen other authors have referenced the Stargate device. Authors Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince also write of "The Stargate Conspiracy: The Truth About Extraterrestrial Life and the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt." The book details an alternative theory which ingrains the term Stargate with Egypt's past: either the pyramid itself is a gateway to the stars (because of the shafts pointing to a star) or the building of Heaven on Earth based on geographical location of the great and outlying pyramids (see: Orion[disambiguation needed]).
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[edit] Common envisioning
There is a widespread conception within science fiction culture of what a "portal" should look like, with a large proportion of such devices bearing resemblances to a Stargate. The "ripple effect" is the most common part of this conception. One of the earliest examples is the Guardian of Forever, an artefact of the Star Trek universe. The device could open spacetime portals to any point in history on any world in the universe, and was ring-shaped with a watery "event horizon." It was first seen in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" (1967) and later in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "Yesteryear" (1974). Again in Star Trek, portals (with angular frames) and ripple effects are seen in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "To The Death."
Other examples include the "warp gates" in Jak 3 which are rings containing a rippling blue substance used for transportation; a portal in ReBoot, created by the characters Megabyte and Dot displays a rippling "event horizon" (generated by a ring that closely resembled the Stargate in appearance, making it an obvious reference to the movie); and the "Waygates" in Warcraft III which bear a shimmering portal. Also, in the fictional StarCraft universe, Warp Gates exist, which are similar in both style and function. Protoss warriors created Warp Gates to travel great distances instantaneously, rather than using the slower process of space travel. The knowledge involved in their creation was lost, but on some planets like in Stargate, these gates still remain.
In Star Trek: Voyager and the game Star Trek: Armada II, the Borg have a device known as a Transwarp Conduit. The aperture of the conduit at the transwarp hub resembles the event horizon of a Stargate crossed with the wormhole effect created by the Stargate.
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil features a Hell Portal device that looks like a demonic version of the movie Stargate, with satanic markings replacing the constellation symbols. The event horizon resembles water, but in the form of a vortex.
The series Prehistoric Park features a "time portal" which main character Nigel Marven uses to travel back in time to save now-extinct ancient animals. The portal, which also seems to function as a geographic portal, consists of two small generators which generate between them a translucent, rippling event horizon, much like a Stargate.
In the video game Metroid Prime 2: Echoes the protagonist Samus Aran travels between the dark and light dimensions or versions of the games' setting through "Dimensional portals." These are semi hoop shaped structures in both dimensions though the actual portal surface differs depending on which side of the portal you happen to be on. Also, while the portal will transport you to an analogous location in the destination dimension, there is rarely an analogous portal at the destination point.
In the video game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion the Oblivion gates have a transparent, red "event horizon" with the same rippling water effect as seen in Stargate.
The opening cutscene of the video game Soul Reaver 2 features a time portal similar to a Stargate in several respects, including a similar "Kawoosh" effect.
The Time Portal in Timesplitters 2 which makes the centerpiece of the level select screen bears a major resemblance to a Stargate (including a similar "Kawoosh" effect), However due to the large number of jokes the game contains based on parts of pop cluture it is highly likely it was directly based on the stargate.
In the single player campaign of the video game The Settlers II progression to the next level becomes possible when the player's territory is extended to include the "Gateway", a stone arch structure containing a rippling water effect.
In the Expanded Universe of Star Wars, two hula hoop-sized devices, capable of instantainiously transporting matter from one to the other are depiced in the "Star Wars Guide of Technology and Devices" as being part of a magician's act.
[edit] Common functions
The concept of "gates" that can span huge distances are used abundantly in science-fiction to cast protagonists into new territory. The 1998 film Lost in Space featured a space-bound hypergate system. The premise of the film is that the Robinson family will pilot a spaceship to Alpha Centauri, in order to complete construction of another hypergate there, which will allow instantanous travel between Earth and Alpha Centauri.
Stargate-like devices are abundant in video games as they can be used to neatly split a game into levels. The video games Primal and Turok the Dinosaur Hunter feature gateways that allow instantaneous travel between locations to this effect, and in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, a number of ring-shaped dimensional portals allow the main characters to travel between a "Light" and "Dark" version of a planet. More commonly, however, any game set in space will feature something like a Stargate purely to allow the game to function. In the game EVE Online, a large object called a Stargate lets you travel between solar systems, and in Homeworld 2, "Hyperspace Gates" serve as the centerpiece of one of the game's final missions; these are massive rings that create wormholes capable of transporting matter great distances.
In the cartoon series The Transformers, the Decepticons built the Space Bridge, which serves a similar purpose. A large round ring built on Earth (lying flat) would create a subspace tunnel to a destination tower on Cybertron. One key difference in function was that matter was not broken apart for transport.
