Ceres in fiction
Encyclopedia
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
, the dwarf planet
Dwarf planet
A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be spherical as a result of its own gravity but has not cleared its neighboring region of planetesimals and is not a satellite...
Ceres (formally "1 Ceres") frequently appears in science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
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Literature
- In Garrett P. ServissGarrett P. ServissGarrett Putnam Serviss was an astronomer, popularizer of astronomy, and early science fiction writer. Serviss was born in upstate New York, and majored in science at Cornell. He took a law degree at Columbia, but never worked as an attorney...
' Edison's Conquest of MarsEdison's Conquest of MarsEdison's Conquest of Mars, by Garrett P. Serviss, is one of the many science fiction novels published in the 19th century. Although science fiction was not at the time thought of as a distinct literary genre, it was a very popular literary form, with almost every fiction magazine regularly...
, published in 1898, the MartiansMartian (War of the Worlds)The Martians, also known as the Invaders, are the fictional race of extraterrestrials from the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds. They are the antagonists of the novel, and their efforts to exterminate the populace of Earth and claim the planet for themselves drive the plot and present...
from The War of the WorldsThe War of the WorldsThe War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
are engaged in a war with giant beings from Ceres. - "Mummies of Ceres" is a 1936 storyline in the Buck RogersBuck RogersAnthony Rogers is a fictional character that first appeared in Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan in the August 1928 issue of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. A sequel, The Airlords of Han, was published in the March 1929 issue....
comic strip. - Ceres is mentioned in some of the stories of Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
, who usually situates an observatory on Ceres, as for example in the juvenile novel Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the AsteroidsLucky Starr seriesLucky Starr is the hero of a series of science fiction books by Isaac Asimov, using the pen name "Paul French". Intended for juveniles, the books were written in the middle of the Cold War and the series shows traces of this, both in educational intent and in the nature of the social forces involved...
(1953) and the Wendell Urth mystery "The Dying NightThe Dying NightThe Dying Night is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the July 1956 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and was reprinted in the collections Nine Tomorrows , Asimov's Mysteries , and The Best of Isaac Asimov...
". - In Alfred BesterAlfred BesterAlfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books...
's book The Stars My DestinationThe Stars My DestinationThe Stars My Destination is a science fiction novel by Alfred Bester. Originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in four parts beginning with the October 1956 issue, it first appeared in book form in the United Kingdom as Tiger! Tiger! – after William Blake's poem "The Tyger", the first verse...
(1956), the main character claims to be a wealthy lord from Ceres. - Mentioned in passing in Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's The Cat Who Walks Through WallsThe Cat Who Walks Through WallsThe Cat Who Walks Through Walls: A Comedy of Manners is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1985. Like many of his later novels, it features Lazarus Long and Jubal Harshaw as supporting characters.-Plot summary:...
, Podkayne of MarsPodkayne of MarsPodkayne of Mars is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialised in Worlds of If , and published in hardcover in 1963...
, Red PlanetRed Planet (novel)Red Planet is a 1949 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein about students at boarding school on the planet Mars. It represents the first appearance of Heinlein's idealized Martian elder race...
, Time for the StarsTime for the StarsTime for the Stars is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published by Scribner's in 1956 as one of the Heinlein juveniles. The basic plot line is derived from a 1911 thought experiment in special relativity, commonly called the twin paradox, proposed by French physicist Paul Langevin...
and The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones (novel)The Rolling Stones is a 1952 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein....
. - In Larry NivenLarry NivenLaurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
's Known SpaceKnown SpaceKnown Space is the fictional setting of some dozen science fiction novels and several collections of short stories written by author Larry Niven. It has also in part been used as a shared universe in the Man-Kzin Wars spin-off anthologies sub-series....
stories (1964 onward), the asteroid beltAsteroids in fictionAsteroids and asteroid belts are a staple of science fiction stories. Asteroids play several potential roles in science fiction: as places which human beings might colonize; as resources for extracting minerals; as a hazard encountered by spaceships traveling between two other points; and as a...
has a government based on Ceres. It is also the site of the narrow but deciding victory against the KzinKzinThe Kzinti are a fictional, very warlike and bloodthirsty race of cat-like aliens in Larry Niven's Known Space series....
Fourth Fleet during the First Man-Kzin War. - In The Killing StarThe Killing StarThe Killing Star is a hard science fiction novel by Charles R. Pellegrino and George Zebrowski, published in April, 1995. It covers several familiar speculative fiction ideas such as sublight interstellar travel, genetic cloning, virtual reality, advanced robotics, alien contact, and interstellar...
by Charles R. PellegrinoCharles R. PellegrinoCharles R. Pellegrino is the controversial author of several books relating to science and archaeology, including Return to Sodom and Gomorrah, Ghosts of the Titanic, Unearthing Atlantis and Ghosts of Vesuvius....
and George ZebrowskiGeorge ZebrowskiGeorge Zebrowski is a science fiction author and editor who has written and edited a number of books. He lives with author Pamela Sargent, with whom he has co-written a number of novels, including Star Trek novels.Zebrowski won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1999 for his novel Brute Orbits...
, some of the few humans who survive the initial alien attempt to exterminate the species hide out inside of Ceres. - In Jerry PournelleJerry PournelleJerry Eugene Pournelle is an American science fiction writer, essayist and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte and has since 1998 been maintaining his own website/blog....
's Exiles to GloryExiles to GloryExiles to Glory is a short science fiction novel by Jerry Pournelle, published in 1978. It is a sequel to the stories in the collection High Justice. As with those stories, it weaves the story of pioneering individuals in space with considerations of the technical and financial challenges facing them...
(1974, republished 2007) Ceres is the site of an interplanetary mystery involving the theft of asteroid-mined super-heavy metals. - In L. Neil SmithL. Neil SmithL. Neil Smith , also known to readers and fans as El Neil, is a libertarian science fiction author and political activist. He was born on May 12, 1946 in Denver...
's novel The Venus Belt (1981), Ceres contains a large underground city and several small settlements and stations, connected by a network of inverted highways. It is also the focus of his novel Ceres. - In Bob ShawBob ShawBob Shaw, born Robert Shaw, was a science fiction author and fan from Northern Ireland. He was noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980...
's book The Ceres Solution (1981), extraterrestrials attempt to use Ceres to destroy Earth's moon thereby removing the effect of "third-order forces" that have been stunting human development since the dawn of civilization. - In The Dune Encyclopedia (1984), Ceres becomes the "Seat of the Empire" (i.e. capital) after Earth is hit by an asteroid.
- In The Doomsday Effect (1986) by Thomas WrenThomas Thurston ThomasThomas Thurston Thomas, also writing as Thomas T. Thomas and Thomas Wren, is a science fiction author.-Books:*The Doomsday Effect Winner of the Compton Crook Award in 1987.*First Citizen...
, Ceres is used to capture a small black hole which was slowly devouring the Earth. - In Joe HaldemanJoe HaldemanJoe William Haldeman is an American science fiction author.-Life :Haldeman was born June 9, 1943 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His family traveled and he lived in Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Bethesda, Maryland and Anchorage, Alaska as a child. Haldeman married Mary Gay Potter, known...
's novel Buying Time (1989; U.K. title The Long Habit of Living), Ceres is the home of a stateless society, which becomes important because of a secret research project to reinvent the Stileman rejuvenationRejuvenation (aging)Rejuvenation is the hypothetical reversal of the aging process.Rejuvenation is distinct from life extension. Life extension strategies often study the causes of aging and try to oppose those causes in order to slow aging...
process. - In S. M. StirlingS. M. StirlingStephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.-Personal:Stirling was born on...
's DrakaThe DominationThe Domination of Draka is a dystopian alternate history series by S. M. Stirling. It comprises a main trilogy of novels as well as one crossover novel set after the original and a book of short stories...
novel The Stone DogsThe Stone DogsThe Stone Dogs by S. M. Stirling is the third book in the alternate history series, The Domination. The Stone Dogs details the life of Eric von Shrakenberg's niece, Yolande Ingolfsson, and Chantal Lefarge's children, Frederick and Marya...
(1990), the Alliance for Democracy has a large base on Ceres. - In Ben BovaBen BovaBenjamin William Bova is an American science-fiction author and editor. He is the recipient of six Hugo Awards for Best Professional Editor for his work at Analog Science Fiction in the 1970's.-Personal life:...
's series Asteroid WarsGrand Tour (novel series)-Summary:The novels present a theme of exploration and colonization of the solar system by humans in the late 21st century. Most of the books focus on the exploration of one particular planet or planetary moon....
(2001–2007), a small mining base is established on Ceres. - In Sandy Sandfort's, Scott BieserScott BieserScott Bieser is an illustrator and writer of comics, and a former computer game animator.His credits for Interplay Productions include the Amiga version of Battle Chess, Chinese Battle Chess, Battle Chess 4000 , Total Recall , Booger-Man, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek: The 25th Anniversary Game,...
's and Lee Oaks's Webcomic Escape from Terra, Terran forces attempt to conquer the free human colony on Ceres. - In the fictional book The Unincorporated War (2010) by Dani & Eytan Kollin, Ceres is the capital and command base of the newly formed Alliance headed by Justin Cord.
- In James S.A. Corey's Leviathan Wakes, it is the setting of a large colony.
Film and television
- In the movie The American AstronautThe American AstronautThe American Astronaut is a 2001 space-western/musical, directed by and starring Cory McAbee. The film was released on DVD in Spring of 2005. The band Billy Nayer Show, helmed by McAbee, wrote and performed the film's soundtrack.- Plot Summary :...
(2001) Ceres has a bar called the Ceres Crossroads, where a dance contest is held. - In the TV series ExosquadExosquadExosquad is an American animated television series created by Universal Cartoon Studios as a response to Japanese anime. The show is set in the beginning of the 22nd century and covers the interplanetary war between humanity and Neosapiens, a fictional race artificially created as workers/slaves...
(1993–5), Ceres is the assumed location of the first Neo Mega breeding facility. - In the episode "The LonelyThe Lonely (The Twilight Zone)"The Lonely" is an episode of the American television series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:In 2046, an inmate, named Corry is sentenced to solitary confinement on a distant asteroid for 50 years. In the fourth year he is visited by a spacecraft that regularly brings him supplies and news from the...
" of The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
, Ceres is used as a prison colony.
Games
- In the SNESSuper Nintendo Entertainment SystemThe Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
video game Super MetroidSuper Metroid, also known as Metroid 3, is an action-adventure video game and the third game in the Metroid series. It was designed by Nintendo Research & Development 1, programmed by Intelligent Systems, and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console...
a Space colony named "Ceres" appears as the first playable area. It is unknown if it is related to the actual dwarf planet, though it appears to be surrounded by asteroids, implying that it too is in an asteroid belt. - In the computer game Zone of the EndersZone of the EndersThe soundtrack to Zone of the Enders was released April 25, 2001 on the album Zone of the Enders Z.O.E Original Soundtrack by Konami Music Entertainment. Almost all the music was composed by the trio , and . Also, composed "Global 2 " and , "City ". The theme song "KISS ME SUNLIGHTS" was composed...
there is a space colony on Ceres. - In the PC role-playing gameRole-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
Countdown to Doomsday (1990), Ceres is the location of an abandoned RAM (enemy) research base. - In the PC Star ControlStar Control IIStar Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters is a critically acclaimed science fiction computer game, the second game in the Star Control trilogy. It was developed by Toys for Bob and originally published by Accolade in 1992 for PC; it was later ported to the 3DO with an enhanced multimedia presentation,...
series, Ceres Base is the place where formal contact with an alien species (the Chenjesu) is first made. Following the Ur-Quan war, the destruction of Ceres Station by the invading Ur-Quan fleet signifies the defeat of the human race, leading to their subsequent enslavement. - In the PC Game DescentDescent (video game)Descent is a 3D first-person shooter video game developed by Parallax Software and released by Interplay Entertainment Corp. in 1995. The game features six degrees of freedom gameplay and garnered several expansion packs...
(1995), one of the secret levels takes place on Ceres. - In the PC Game Descent 3 (1999), one of the missions requires the player to extract virus data samples from an underground research laboratory.
- In the PC game Terminal Velocity (1995), one of the missions involves the player destroying a machine that would cause Ceres to crash into Earth.
- In the fictional Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
universe, the Adeptus Mechanicus renews its alliance with the Imperium of ManImperium (Warhammer 40,000)The Imperium of Man is a fictional galactic empire of over a million planets that contains the vast majority of humans in the forty-first millennium, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop....
with the Treaty of Ceres, following the Age of Apostasy. - In the tabletop card-and-dice game Champions of the Galaxy, Ceres is home to futuristic wrestling superstars Massif and Earthquake (later known as Chopper Mattock and Powerhouse).
- In the RPG Mutant ChroniclesMutant ChroniclesMutant Chronicles is a pen-and-paper role-playing game set in a post-apocalyptic world, originally published in 1993. It has spawned a franchise of collectible card games, miniature wargames, video games, novels, comic books, and a film of the same title based on the game world.Mutant Chronicles...
, Ceres is the homeworld of Cybertronic Megacorporation. - In the RPG Transhuman SpaceTranshuman SpaceTranshuman Space is a role-playing game published by Steve Jackson Games as parts of the "Powered by GURPS" line. Set in the year 2100, humanity has begun to colonize the Solar System...
, it is the largest colony in the asteroid belt and is an independent state living in functional anarchyAnarchyAnarchy , has more than one colloquial definition. In the United States, the term "anarchy" typically is meant to refer to a society which lacks publicly recognized government or violently enforced political authority...
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