Science Fiction And Fantasy "Tropes" In The Bible

These are not meant to be exact identical references of the trope, though some arguably are, but rather the essence of each trope.

Advanced Ancient Precursor Race:
Pre-Flood world

Artificial Intelligence and Super AI:
Revelation 13:15
“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”

Singularity and Hive Mind:
Revelation 17:13
"12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast."

We could take this literally to an extent that one mind here is talking about a singular hive mind.

We know the churches are of to be of one mind:

1 Corinthians 2:16
"16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ."

Philippians 2:2

"2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." 

1Corinthians 12

"24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: 

25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 

26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 

27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."

 

Since today our churches are not of one mind perfectly except when the Spirit intervenes, a more perfect one mindedness will come in the future.

Omega Point (Universe Singularity):
1 Corinthians 15:28
"28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."

Apocalypse and Post-Apocalypse: 
Revelation, duh?

Ascension to Energy Beings:
The Rapture
1 Corinthians 15
"50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."

Human-Alien Hybrids:
Nephilim

Genesis 6:2-4
"2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Human-Animal Hybrids (Mermaids, Centaurs, etc.):
Genesis 6:11-12
"11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."

Jude
"6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."

Implying all flesh, not just humans, were subject to angelic reproduction. And hence why Noah had to get an Ark for animals.

Insectoid Invaders (Starship Troopers, Zerg, Tyrranid):
Revelation 9:7-10
"7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months."


Metallic Megapolis:
New Jerusalem
Revelation 21

Reincarnation:
Luke 1:17
“And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Matthew 17:12-13
“12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.”

If we are body, soul, spirit, and John the Baptist is in the spirit of Elias/Elijah, then that can be reincarnation to some degree.

Space Travel:
Obadiah 4 "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord."

A possible reference to Apollo 11 ("The Eagle Has Landed"). And a reason why space colonization before the end is not realized by humanity, God is literally against it.

Space Empires and Space Colonization:
New Jerusalem
Revelation 21
"2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."

Revelation 22
"2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."

Deuteronomy 4:19 “And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.”
God has divided all the stars for each of the Gentiles nations, implying there will be a space empire.

Holy Terra:
Hosea 2:23
“And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.”
Deuteronomy 32:8 “When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.”
 
Israel will become a planetary priesthood.

Space War:
Revelation 12:7
"7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,"

Star Gods:

Job 38:7

When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Revelation 12:4

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

Supersoldiers/Superheroes:
Joel 2 (whole chapter)
"4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief."

Context is Tribulation.

Revelation 19:14 "And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean."

Implying that the saints of God will perform feats of superheroism at the end of time.

Teleportation:
Acts 8
"39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
40 But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea."

Time Travel:
Revelation 1:10
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,"

Notice the same mode of transportation, the Spirit, is used in Acts 8 for the Teleportation trope.

UFOs and Alien Encounters:
Ezekiel 1 (whole chapter)
"16 The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
17 When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went."


This is one of the reasons that Christianity believes that UFOs and alien encounters are demonic in nature, as the Bible records a similar angelic encounter.


Zombies and Immortality Science Gone Wrong:
Revelation 9:6 “And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.”

Not counting resurrections as they do not fit the zombie archetype of the undead, such as Lazarus or Jesus Christ.

Wormholes:
2 Samuel 22:10-12
"10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.
11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies."

Fanfiction: Jack And The Magic Bean

Read Jack And The Magic Bean by Karthey M

This fanfiction story about a Doctor Who/Stargate crossover is short but sweet. Composed of six chapters, it details the meeting of Jack O'Neill and the Doctor in what looks like to be a planet with original alien lifeforms, the Arnak.

Apparently, the Doctor is a Tollan ambassador, or rather, Earth's ambassador to the Tollans. I do think the latter is the case, but if the its the former it would be unclear what the relation of the Tollans, a Stargate civilization, is to Gallifrey, the planet where the Doctor hails. If parallels can be made, the Gallifreyan civlization is very similar to the Tollan civilization. One, they are both ancient and possess more advanced technology than the other races. Two, they both are isolationist, enigmatic, and arrogant. I'd imagine though that the Ancients have more in common with the Gallifreyan Time Lords.

The relationship of the Doctor to the American SG-1 is also a bit unclear, knowing that the Doctor also worked for the global UNIT in various circumstances, but enough about the ambiguities.

The author (whom I've known for quite some time and she can be a bit stubborn ;) presents the Doctor's eccentricities rather efficiently and accurately. I would think however that his conversational-style that he uses on the story does not always match up to Matt Smith's acting on the TV show. To be fair, the author manages to capture the fast-paced tone of the conversations.

The Doctor's companions, the Ponds, could've used a bit more character development. They hardly interact with the other characters, and somewhat seems to be there simply to explain what the Doctor is all about to the SG-1 team and to ask questions about Stargatey stuff in return.

I do think Stargate was more presented better than the Doctor Who part. The mannerisms of the Stargate characters were what I expect from the TV show.

The alien lifeforms, Arnak, are described as humanoid giants. Knowing both shows' obsessions of seeding humans around the galaxies with genetic anomaly, it shouldn't be a surprised. The threat of the Arnak dominating Earth and enslaving is not as compelling as I'd like. My sense of belief was shattered when a giant goose is introduced in the story. I know it was supposed to be like the story, and Doctor Who usually has a ridiculous animal aliens sometimes, but it just didn't fit, I think.

The story is supposed to be the origin of Jack and the Magic Bean legend on Earth. The best I can summarize the story without spoiling it for you ("Spoilers!"). Anyways, it was a fun read, but with a bit of tweaking and research, it would be a bit more enthralling. But excellent job, Karthey! :D

NaNoWriMo: Ciprus

November is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month! I started writing a novel called Ciprus: A Tale of Revolution. It is a chronicle of an immortal, lesser noble trying to incite a political revolution to benefit the masses. I am at about three thousand words as I write this post.

Here is an excerpt:
There is one sure way to become immortal in this world. The test of Pillars. Only the aristocrats of Ulden know and keep this secret. It is but a legend to the serfs. Sometimes, the one of the nobles would tell their most favorite servant of the tale and his adventure in gaining an everlasting life to erect such a pillar, granting the servant entry to the aristocracy. But most of the time, only the Ulden children are taught, and the masses kept in ignorance.

In the darkest of the ancient ages, when the Empress Supreme was not Empress yet, she climbed a mountain and erected a pillar with magics unknown and lost to history. Granted, those before her erected such pillars. But it was only by her that others would come and build upon her pillar. She broke tradition-she passed this knowledge down to her children, the uninitiated. It was supposed to be a quest one would discover for oneself. But knowledge cannot be held in an iron cage.

And thus she became Empress for her wisdom was great. Her children created a kingdom on Ciprus, the kingdom of Ulden. It stood above the ashes of the immortal Ascein, the previous and mythical kingdom, brought down to its knees by an eternal winter.

The Empress cried tears for her people the Ascein, and thus took on winter as her guardian, though it was the destroyer of old. She was not the only Ascein one who has survived, but she was the only one able to rebuild, along with Kailymur, the Modux of that age. Then entered a Golden Age of Ciprus under her fair rule. It came about by giving people choice and knowledge of the Pillars. Many pilgrimages went in year after year.

The novel is set in a fantasy world, but elves and other mainstays of it are nowhere to be seen. Magic seems more or less granted. Political revolutions are almost unheard of in this setting. I plan to focus on intrigue instead of violence.

If you are interested in writing for NaNoWriMo, sign up in this website!: http://www.nanowrimo.org