Earth in science fiction

Although nearly all fictional work features the Earth, this page describes its fictional place in the Universe.

It is common, in science fiction set far in the future, for Earth to fall into one of four categories:

Earth could be a member of whatever interstellar community exists in the work, whether as a minor or major player. This is by far the most common option, and Earth (no doubt due to anthropocentrism) is usually a major power-broker. Perhaps the most notable example of this is Star Trek. Also, this scenario sometimes uses Earth as a corrupt empire, as in Poul Anderson's Dominic Flandry series where "The [[barbarians in the long ships waited at the edge of the Galaxy for the ancient Terran Empire to fall (...) The brillant Starship Commander Flandry fought tosave the empire even as he scorned it" (from the preface to "The Rebel Worlds"). Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series, too, has a brooding Terran Empire maintianing a colonial enclave on the planet Darkover where the plot takes place, and on countless others.
Earth's location could have been lost to the sands of time and with the planet presumed destroyed or rendered uninhabitable or even no one (human or otherwise) caring where it is. This scenario is expressed in the Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov, among others. In the numerous books of the Dumarest series by E.C. Tubb, the adventurer protagonist was born on a "galactic backwater" Earth and at a young age had stowed away on a rare spaceship touching down on the planet; having seen more than enough of the galaxy he wants to go back, but no one else had ever heard of the planet.
Earth's location could be unknown except for the few who live there. One of the most prominent examples of this is Battlestar Galactica.
Earth could have been completely destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, but its location (or at least its former location) is well-known. This last scenario is also popular, and was featured in the movie Titan A.E., as well as in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

There is also fiction that never mentions Earth.

Hitchhiker's Guide

In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, the Earth is destroyed to make room for an interstellar bypass. One of the only two surviving Earthmen, Arthur Dent, is affronted to find that his planet's entry in the Guide is simply "Harmless." The Guide researcher reassures him that the next edition will improve upon this. The new entry will read "Mostly Harmless." Dent also learns of the creation of Earth by inhabitants of the planet Magrathea, as a giant supercomputer built to find the question behind the answer to life, the universe, and everything. The computer was so large that it was often mistaken for a planet. It also mentions that humans are descended from a convoy of middlemen (bureaucrats, telephone sanitizers, and the like), tricked into leaving another planet. The Earth was located in sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha. An alternate version of Earth is the planet NowWhat, which is probably located at an improbable location along the probability axis.

Half-Life

In the Half-life series of science-fiction/action video games, a disastrous experiment at the Black Mesa Research Facility leads to a physical anomaly referred to as a "Reasonance Cascade" which opens a rift into another dimension. This incident causes Earth to be noticed by a massive interstellar empire known as the Combine, which subsequently invades Earth and defeats the combined Military might of Humanity in a conflict known as the 7 Hours War. Under the leadership of Dr. Breen, one of the lead scientists of the Black Mesa project, Earth is put under a collaberationist administration centered in the citadel, an enourmous military facility at the centre of the crumbling City 17. Humanity's prospect for salvation comes from Gordon Freeman, another scientist from Black Mesa who is an almost messianic figure to the surviving Human resistance. In actual gameplay Freeman is the player's character and is notable for never speaking or interacting with other characters, leaving the player with a greater sense of immersion. Earth is presented as a dystopian terror state under the rule of the Combine's Overwatch (effectively an Earth-based branch of their Military) and Civil Protection forces. Dangerous alien creatures roam the wastelands between the crumbling urban centres and Humanity is subject to the surpression field, a device that prohibits Human reproduction. The planet's ecology appears to be in total disarray with fallen sea levels evident and pollution and irradation prevalent as the Combine strips the globe of natural resources.

Star Trek

In the Star Trek universe, Earth was one of the founding members of the United Federation of Planets. Several major federal organizations are found on Earth, such as the Federation Council which meets in the Palais de la Concorde in Paris. The Federation President also keeps offices in Paris, and Starfleet Headquarters is located in San Francisco. Major events on Earth included first contact with the Vulcans (Star Trek: First Contact), barely averted attacks by the Borg (in "The Best of Both Worlds" and Star Trek: First Contact), Founder infiltration ("Homefront"), and numerous attempted coups. Like most other major Federation worlds, Earth is a near-paradise where poverty and war have been eradicated and environmental damage has been reversed.

In the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "The Forge", we learn that the name of the planet's actual government is United Earth. According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Attached", United Earth was formed in the year 2150. The episodes "Demons" and "Terra Prime" imply that United Earth is a parliamentary system of government: we meet various government officials who are referred to as Ministers (such as Minister Nathan Samuels, played by Harry Groener). United Earth's leader is most likely a Prime Minister, but is probably someone other than Samuels since a Prime Minister is customary referred to by that full title, not simply 'Minister'.

In the Mirror Universe, Earth is the capital of the despotic Terran Empire which rules over large portions of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants and is generally seen as the most powerful interstellar empire. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine revealed that the Empire had collapsed and fallen to a Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. The fate of Earth after the fall of the Empire and its role during this era are never revealed.

Firefly

In the Joss Whedon series Firefly, Earth is long since uninhabitable. It is referred to with awe as "Earth-That-Was", having been abandoned centuries ago due to overpopulation and depletion of the planet's natural resources. After fleeing the planet, the remnants of humanity travelled in generation ships for decades (many humans lived their entire lives within a spaceship's walls) until finding a new star system. Collection of Earth-That-Was artifacts is a popular hobby, and ancient Earth artifacts are known to be very valuable.

It is unknown whether Earth has actually been destroyed, or if the planet still physically exists; in the feature film Serenity, ancient starships are shown leaving Earth, but its ultimate fate has never been revealed. A puppet show in the episode "Heart of Gold" implies that Earth has in fact been obliterated, but this has yet to be actually confirmed on screen.

It is also unknown whether the Alliance, the governing body of human society on the show, existed while humans still lived on Earth, or if it only formed after the planet was abandoned.

Battlestar Galactica

A major plot point in all versions - both the remake and original - of Battlestar Galactica is the quest to find Earth, which is long thought to be the location of a 13th colony of Man. Both shows are similar in that initially, Earth's location is completely unknown, but clues to its location are gradually discovered over long years since the destruction of the Twelve Colonies. Most Colonial historians assume that Kobol is the homeworld of all humanity, and that tribes of humans fled that world to found the Twelve Colonies - with a 13th colony heading for Earth (some fans theorize that in the remake, Kobol contains such detail regarding Earth and its location as to suggest that Earth, not Kobol, was the true homeworld of humanity; other fans disagree and maintain that humanity originated on Kobol.) Only in Galactica 1980 is Earth actually discovered; it is unknown whether, or how, Earth might be found in the remake of the series.

Dune

In Frank Herbert's Dune series of novels, Old Earth/Old Terra is how Earth is referred to by the time of the original novel (the Sun is called Al-Lat). After the Butlerian Jihad, Earth had been devastated. Humanity left Old Earth and spread out to millions of other worlds. Some of the worlds humans migrated to included Caladan, Giedi Prime, and Kaitain.

In the time of Paul Atreides, the Earth is a forgotten, uninhabited legend. It is a wilderness and is recovering an ecosystem of its own as humans have abandoned it. The artifacts of Homo sapiens have for the most part crumbled back into the planet, though a more than casual observer can find many traces of the old civilizations.

The God Emperor Leto II refers to the Earth many times in his journals. The God Emperor seemed particularly fond of the ancestors he had from the Western sections of Eurasia. He makes references to Israel, Urartu, also called Armenia, Edom, Damascus, the plains of Central Asia, and the Greeks. He seems to have had ancestors among the Turks or the Mongols as he says that one of his memories involves a horse plain with felt yurts. Leto also has the memories of a famous politician from the United States whose name was Jacob Broom.

His father Paul Atreides in Dune Messiah refers to Hitler and Genghis Khan, in comparing the destructiveness of his Jihad to their wars.

The prequel novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson provide significant details on the lead-up to and aftermath of the decimation of Earth. In these books, humans used nuclear weapons to render the Earth uninhabitable by anyone.

Stargate

In the Stargate television series (Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis), Earth (Stargate Address:) is described as one of countless inhabited worlds, and is revealed to be the origin of humans. In ancient history many groups of humans were kidnapped and enslaved by powerful malevolent alien races, primarily the Goa'uld. Others remained to form present day Earth societies, which interact covertly with other extra-terrestrial races and civilizations, many of them human.

Humans who are from Earth are referred to as the Tau'ri by most other life forms in the galaxy, including the Goa'uld. Earth is a relatively important player on account of the radical change it unwittingly brought about when American troops under the command of Col. Jack O'Neill killed Goa'uld Supreme System Lord Ra. However, its importance pales in comparison to the power of the System Lords before their collpse, or that of the Free Jaffa Nation after it.

The main interaction between Earth and the rest of the Universe is via three organisations:

The International Oversight Advisory (IOA) co-ordinates funds and control between the nations of the Earth Stargate; the Atlantis Expedition was sent to the Pegasus Galaxy under its authority. The key players are the Big Five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: the United Kingdom, the United States, France, the People's Republic of China, and the Russian Federation; also important are Canada, on account of its special relationship with the United States and the services of Dr. Rodney McKay, and other nations, such as Japan, Austalia, and Germnay, which have also been involved; Germany in particular has sent secuity personnel to Atlantis.

Stargate Command, under the control of both the United States Air Force and the IOA, sends through teams to other worlds on missions of diplomacy, tactical strikes, research and exploration. Control of the Stargate not just by the United States, but by the United States military, is a constant bone of contention with the Chinese, who take every opportunity to express their displeasure at the situation at IOA meetings where the future of Stargate Command is an issue. Nevertheless, the SGC remains the primary interface between the humans of Earth and the outside world, including the galactic human diaspora.

The Atlantis Expedition is based in the great city of the Ancients in the Pegasus Galaxy. An international team, with personnel from at least 23 countries, interacts with the other humans of the Pegasus Galaxy (seeded by the Ancients, not taken by the Goa'uld) and the dangerous Wraith. They mostly have to rely on Earth technology, but have been able to harness the great advances of the Ancients integrated into the city of Atlantis, even if they don't fully understand them.

CoDominium

In Jerry Pournelle's CoDominium series (now largely alternate history) the Earth comes under the control of the CoDominium, an alliance between the United States and Soviet Union, in the year 1990. The CD imposes its control over all other nations of the Earth, halting scientific development and warfare. The CD is ruled by a Grand Senate located on the Moon, and eventually constructs interstellar colonies for the joint goal of economic gain and a means of exiling troublesome elements of society. Eventually in 2103, the CD dissolves, with the US and USSR engaging in the nuclear "Great Patriotic Wars" which destroy almost all of Earth (it is mentioned that Jamaica and the Tyrolean Alps are untouched).

The CD Space Navy escapes to the planet Sparta, which eventually becomes the nucleus of the "Empire of Man." During the Empire's Formation Wars the Earth is once more hit hard, but is eventually incorporated into the Imperium as the "honorary capital." When the Empire dissolves in the Secession Wars in the 27th century, Earth is once more subjected to nuclear attacks, but by the early 31st century has been reclaimed by the Second Empire. By that time, the Earth city of "New Annapolis" is a training center for the Imperial Space Navy.

To inhabitants of planets newly contacted planets, such as Prince Samual's World in "King David's Spaceship", the condition of the still largely desolate Earth is presented as an object lesson for the prohibitive price of war and a justification for Empire's claim to universal rule.

Earth and Outer Planets in Asimov's Future Histories

In much of Isaac Asimov's fiction, the future Earth is an underpriveleged planet - impoverished, overcrowded and disease-ridden - which is regarded with disdain by the arrogant Spacers of the "Outer Planets" (at this stage, there are about fifty of them).

In the Robot Series the inhabitants of these planets are still aware that their ancestors came from Earth, but this does not make them fond of the place. Rather, they develop a racist theory by which "the best strains" had left Earth to colonise the other planets and left "the inferior strains" behind. However, they have no choice but to ask the help of the protagonist, a detective from the despised Earth, to solve murder mysteries which baffle their own police.

By the end of this part, Earth embarks on a major new campaign of space colonization, with the pious hope that the new colonists will prove more faithful to the Mother Planet than the earlier ones. But apprently it does not remain so for long. The Galaxy is being steadily settled, and Earth is gradually forgotten, and has undergone further grave misfortunes and disasters.

In the Galactic Empire series, taking place thousands of years later (originally conceived as completely separate but made by Asimov in his later career into the direct sequel of the Robot Period), Earth has a largely radioactive crust with only patches of habitable land in between, and its people have to undergo compulsory euthanasia at the age of sixty. It is a backwater province of an empire ruled from distant Trantor, and among inhabitants of other planets there is a prevalent prejudice known as "Anti-Terrestrialism", (obviously modeled on antisemitism), with the main negative streotype having to do with the radiation-induced diseases prevalent on Earth.

By this time, Earth people still believe themselves to be the orignial home of Humanity, but nobody else shares this belief. Fanatical priests, based in a mysterious Temple erected on the ruins of Washington, D.C., cultivate the mystique of Earth's ancient glories and conceive a plot to spread a Terrestrial disease throughout the Galaxy and in this way take over the Empire (and incidentally, act out the stereotype). The plot is foiled by a middle-aged tailor from the Twentieth Century, who possess powerful psychic abilities as a result of experiments performed upon him when he arrived in the future. Schwartz, the tailor, is often described as being Jewish, though his religion is never stated within the novel.

Other fiction

In many stories, Earth is the target of an alien invasion. While reasons vary, in most stories, it is because extraterrestrials are looking for a new world. In the H. G. Wells story The War of the Worlds, perhaps the first depiction of an alien invasion in fiction, Earth is simply a neighbouring planet of the inhabitants of Mars. With their world coming into its end, they target the younger and richer Earth for migration. This plot is repeated with varying degrees of differences in many of its adaptations, but Earth's place largely remains the same. The notable exception is in the War of the Worlds TV series, where the aliens look to Earth for more specific reasons, as it features many of their old world's characteristics (such as both being the third planet in their respective systems, the number 3 playing a large role in their beliefs). However, in other stories, such as Independence Day, the planet is nothing particularly special, simply one in a long line the aliens have used to its end.
In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Earth has been united into a single geopolitical entity, The World State.
In David Weber's Honorverse, Earth is the capital planet of the Solarian League, the largest and wealthiest political institution ever created by man. Prior to the League's creation, a large portion of humanity departed for other planets and solar systems in what came to be known as the Diaspora, leaving those who remained to rebuild from the effects of pollution, resource exhaustion, and the cataclysmic Final War. They did so, and Earth once again became the political, economic, and cultural center of humanity.
The Earth also plays a major part in the Doctor Who universe.
See also: Earth (Babylon 5).
In Warhammer 40,000, Earth, known as Holy Terra, is the Homeworld of Humanity and the central point of the Imperium of Man. It is the site of the Golden Throne, where the God-Emperor resides.
In the Noon Universe, Earth is a utopic world of immense power and the initial homeplanet of all humans scattered over the Universe.
In the alternate future universe of The Longest Journey, Earth has been divided into two twin worlds - technology-driven Stark, the world as we know it, and the magic world of Arcadia for over thirteen millennia.
In Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World, The Stainless Steel Rat travels to Earth, 1975, and then to Napoleonic France, to stop a madman known as He from destroying the timeline.
In the animated television series Exosquad, Earth is the center of the Homeworlds, the core of both Human and Neosapien Empires (at different times).
In the Alien series of films, Earth is depicted as being the centre if an interstellar commercial empire effectively run by a souless megacorporation referred to as "the Company". Nothing is seen of the planet itself with the exception of several shots of the planet from orbit, which appear to show it in a similar state to the present. In the fourth installment of the series, Alien: Resurrection, Earth the is emergency destination to which Military vessels automatically direct themselves. By the time of Resurrection, Earth is part of an entity known as the "United Systems". One of the film's characters, Jonas (portrayed by Ron Perlman) remarks "Earth... what a shithole," upon learning where the ship is going.
The television series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda differs from the usual portrayal of Earth as a dominant power in galactic civilization. The series' Systems Commonwealth was founded thousands of years in the past by the Vedran species in the Andromeda Galaxy, with Earth joining in the twenty-second century. Humans go on to become a major player in the Commonwealth, but Earth itself has no special importance (although the final two episodes of the series retcon this). Following the fall of the Commonwealth, Earth becomes one of many Nietzschean slave worlds.
In the video game universe of, Halo, Earth is the center of all human government, military and technology. Earth and its colonies are governed by the UNSC, or the United Nations Space Command. During the Human-Covenant War, the Cole Protocol was implemented, stating that ships must self destruct rather than let the Covenant find the location of Earth. Furthermore, any ship heading to Earth must take several random slipspace jumps rather than head straight for it. In October of 2552, Earth was attacked by the Covenant and successfully defended by the UNSC Military, only to have the Covenant come back a few days later with more firepower.
In the StarCraft universe, Earth is ruled by a fascistic government called the United Earth Directorate. When the UED becomes aware of the presence of aliens hostile to humanity in the Koprulu Sector, it sends a large Expeditionary Force to defeat the aliens, conquer the sector, and reintegrate the banished human colonists who reside there into its political fold. The Directorate's initial progress in the sector was promising, as it managed to invade and conquer the homeworld of both the Terran Dominion and the bizarre alien Zerg, kidnapping the Zerg Overmind and using it to control most of the Zerg swarms. The UED eventually failed to neutralize the threat represented by Kerrigan. The end result for Earth's forces was a crushing defeat which amounted to the loss of all ships and personnel in the Koprulu Sector. It is unclear if the UED is planning to return to the wartorn sector, or indeed if Earth will be featured at any point in the future of the Starcraft series.
In author Peter F. Hamilton's The Night's Dawn Trilogy, Earth is the heart of an economical empire, its biosphere wrecked by global warming to such an extent that any unfortified structure would be torn apart in a matter of days by colossal, supersized versions of modern tropical hurricanes.
In the video game Metroid series, Earth is the (assumed) headquarters of the Galactic Federation, formed in the year 2000 as a pact between many different kinds of races.