Planet killer
Encyclopedia
In science fiction
, a planet killer, planet buster, or similar variations on that meaning, is a fictional object or device capable of either destroying an entire planet or otherwise rendering it uninhabitable - a variety of a doomsday device
.
Examples of such devices include the Death Star
from the Star Wars
film franchise, the "Doomsday Machine" seen in the original Star Trek
television series or the atomic powered stone burners from Frank Herbert's Dune books.
The term "planet-buster" has also come into use with reference to major natural disasters such as significant asteroid
impact event
s.
use a directed energy weapon capable of obliterating a planet in moments. In the game Spore, the planet killer is an antimatter bomb that is inserted in the center of the planet, causing the planet's center gravity to give away and split into countless fragments. Other weapons, such as the Shadow Planet Killer
in Babylon 5
and Covenant warships in the Halo series
, render a planet uninhabitable. The Shadow Planet Killer does so by firing missiles which burrow into the planet's core and detonate, causing planet-wide volcanic activity which renders the planet lifeless. Covenant warships use plasma weapons to superheat the surface of the planet creating a situation where the planet is "glassed". The crust is turned into a glass like substance rendering it uninhabitable. In Star Blazers
, missiles that can destroy a planet (and even a star) with a single hit exist.
Some devices can destroy entire solar systems. Nova bombs in Andromeda
, the Sun Crusher and Centerpoint Station in the Star Wars novels, and Dr. Tolian Soran's trilithium torpedo in Star Trek Generations, are all capable of causing a supernova
, obliterating every planet in the solar system.
Vogon civil services are not only able to demolish entire planets, but have means and cause to do so regularly (to create and maintain hyperspace by-passes). The Earth falls victim to one such fleet in the beginning of the story to make way for a hyperspace expressway.
The radio and book versions of the story refer to demolition beams, though the mechanism is not shown distinctly in the 2005 film.
There is also the ultimate weapon designed by Hactar (a giant space-borne computer). It is a very small bomb that when activated will join the heart of every major sun with the heart of every other major sun turning the universe into one gigantic hyperspatial supernova. The weapon was designed for a race of extinct aliens but was taken up again by the inhabitants of the planet Krikkit so as to wipe out all other life in the universe and permit them to be the only remaining inhabitants.
Halo
The Halo installations themselves only kill sentient life, leaving planets and their biospheres-as well as any creature without sufficient biomass to support The Flood-otherwise intact.
Sins of a Solar Empire
Warhammer 40,000
Kiddy Grade
Sailor Moon
One of the Outer Senshi, Sailor Saturn, can destroy an entire planet by just dropping her weapon (the Silence Glaive) with the intent to destroy, no attack calling necessary.
Gall Force
In the first 3 Gall Force movies both sides the Solnoid and Paranoid Axis forces have had both their home worlds destroyed in a war of mutual assured destruction
. They plan on using the last of their planet destroyers and include the new system destroyers in their final battle plans.
"Space Battleship Yamato
Throughout the series, movies, all adaptations, rebirth and the recent live action version is the Yamato and her fleet mates Wave motion gun capable of obliterating most moon and planetary sized objects. Also included would be the Dessler (Desslock) cannon, built on the same principle (Tachyon
Compression), the Gamilon planet bombs, and the Comet empire's weapon deployed at the end of season 2.
Eureka seveN
At the end of the series, it is established that the Coralians have the ability to engulf a planet and form their own version of a planetary crust, although they did not exercise it with the purpose of making a planet uninhabitable.
as belonging to the class of "Doomsday device". Secondary literature can also use terms like "planet-cracker" or "planet-busting superweapon".
, a 1962 article examined various means "to put an end to the world", concentrating on "Doomsday Bombs".
As astronomer Phil Plait has pointed out, the amount of energy necessary to shatter an Earth-sized planet is mindbogglingly large: "about 2 x 1032 Joules.... about as much energy as the sun puts out in a week."
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...
, a planet killer, planet buster, or similar variations on that meaning, is a fictional object or device capable of either destroying an entire planet or otherwise rendering it uninhabitable - a variety of a doomsday device
Doomsday device
A doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon, or collection of weapons — which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly the Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing "doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth...
.
Examples of such devices include the Death Star
Death Star
The Death Star is a fictional moon-sized space station and superweapon appearing in the Star Wars movies and expanded universe. It is capable of destroying a planet with a single destructive super charged energy beam.-Origin and design:...
from the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
film franchise, the "Doomsday Machine" seen in the original Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
television series or the atomic powered stone burners from Frank Herbert's Dune books.
The term "planet-buster" has also come into use with reference to major natural disasters such as significant asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
impact event
Impact event
An impact event is the collision of a large meteorite, asteroid, comet, or other celestial object with the Earth or another planet. Throughout recorded history, hundreds of minor impact events have been reported, with some occurrences causing deaths, injuries, property damage or other significant...
s.
Overview
Planet killers function in a variety of ways depending on the series. Weapons such as the Death Star and the titular ship in LexxLexx
Lexx is a science fantasy television series that follows the adventures of a group of mismatched individuals aboard the organic space craft Lexx. They travel through two universes and encounter planets including a parody of the Earth....
use a directed energy weapon capable of obliterating a planet in moments. In the game Spore, the planet killer is an antimatter bomb that is inserted in the center of the planet, causing the planet's center gravity to give away and split into countless fragments. Other weapons, such as the Shadow Planet Killer
Shadow Planet Killer
A Shadow Planet Killer is a fictional machine from the Babylon 5 television show and films, which was used to destroy planetary ecosystems....
in Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
and Covenant warships in the Halo series
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
, render a planet uninhabitable. The Shadow Planet Killer does so by firing missiles which burrow into the planet's core and detonate, causing planet-wide volcanic activity which renders the planet lifeless. Covenant warships use plasma weapons to superheat the surface of the planet creating a situation where the planet is "glassed". The crust is turned into a glass like substance rendering it uninhabitable. In Star Blazers
Star Blazers
Star Blazers is an American animated television series adaptation of the Japanese anime series, . Star Blazers was first broadcast in the United States in 1979. Significantly, it was the first popular English-translated anime that had an over-arching plot and storyline that required the episodes to...
, missiles that can destroy a planet (and even a star) with a single hit exist.
Some devices can destroy entire solar systems. Nova bombs in Andromeda
Andromeda (TV series)
Andromeda is a Canadian-American science fiction television series, based on unused material by the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, developed by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and produced by Roddenberry's widow, Majel Barrett Roddenberry. It starred Kevin Sorbo as High Guard Captain Dylan Hunt...
, the Sun Crusher and Centerpoint Station in the Star Wars novels, and Dr. Tolian Soran's trilithium torpedo in Star Trek Generations, are all capable of causing a supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
, obliterating every planet in the solar system.
Andromeda
- All Commonwealth warships were equipped with a limited stock of "Nova-bomb" warheads for their missiles, one of which is sufficient to cause a star to nova, thus destroying its planets.
Babylon 5
- Babylon 5: The Lost TalesBabylon 5: The Lost TalesBabylon 5: The Lost Tales is an anthology show set in the Babylon 5 universe. It was announced by J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5, at the San Diego Comic Con in July 2006...
- Centauri Superweapons, hinted at by a dream sequence set 30 years into the future that Sheridan experiences. While only NYC is destroyed in the scene, it is implied that all of Earth gets wiped out. - Shadow Planet KillerShadow Planet KillerA Shadow Planet Killer is a fictional machine from the Babylon 5 television show and films, which was used to destroy planetary ecosystems....
- Vorlon Planet Killer
- Mass Drivers used by the Centauri against the Narn homeworld in the episode The Long, Twilight StruggleThe Long, Twilight Struggle"The Long, Twilight Struggle" is an episode from the second season of the science fiction television series Babylon 5. Its title alludes to a speech given by John F. Kennedy of the same name.-Synopsis:...
- Starships and orbital platforms were supposedly also capable of laying waste to a planet, such as the Shadow Battlecrab, a Minbari Sharlin Cruiser, the Narn-Drazi fleet that leveled Centauri Prime, and the Global Orbital platforms in Earth orbit.
Lexx
- The Lexx - Capable of entirely destroying planets.
- The ForeshadowLexxLexx is a science fantasy television series that follows the adventures of a group of mismatched individuals aboard the organic space craft Lexx. They travel through two universes and encounter planets including a parody of the Earth....
- predecessor of the Megashadow. Reduces the surface of Brunnis-2 into molten slag, using a large scale version of the "Black Pack" weapon often seen in the LEXX series. - The Megashadow - Annihilates an Ostral-B asteroid base and the surrounding field in a single shot.
- MantridMantridMantrid was the main antagonist of the second season of Lexx. He was played by Dieter Laser.When he was alive, he was the supreme Bio-Vizier of His Divine Shadow , until His Shadow exiled him to a barren snow-covered world...
Drones - They consume all forms of matter (including planets) to replicate themselves.
DC Comics
- In Justice League: Crisis on Two EarthsJustice League: Crisis on Two EarthsJustice League: Crisis on Two Earths is a 2010 original direct-to-video animated film released on February 23, 2010. It is based on the abandoned direct-to-video feature, Justice League: Worlds Collide, which was intended as a bridge between the then-concluding Justice League animated television...
, the Quantum Eigenstate Device (QED) is a planet-killing or possibly universe-killing weapon. - Most cosmic beings and even some heroes or villains have the power to destroy a planet.
Stargate SG-1/Stargate Atlantis
- A tainted Zero Point Module can explode with enough energy to destroy a portion of a solar system.
- Project Arcturus, an abandoned Ancient project capable of extracting energy from the Stargate universe, would create exotic particles with unpredictable properties and would overload to actually destroy approximately 5/6 of a solar system.
- The Stargates themselves are composed of Naqahdah, and, if caused to detonate, would cause considerable damage.
- Anubis's AncientAncient (Stargate)The Ancients are a humanoid race in the fictional Stargate universe. They are called "Ancients" in the Milky Way, but are also known as Lanteans or Ancestors in the Pegasus galaxy and as the Alterans in their home galaxy, and they sometimes call themselves Anquietas in their language...
weapon that charges a StargateStargate (device)A Stargate is a portal device within the Stargate fictional universe that allows practical, rapid travel between two distant locations. The devices first appear in the 1994 Roland Emmerich film Stargate, and thereafter in the television series Stargate SG-1 and its spin-offs...
powerfully enough that it explodes. - A wormhole passing through a star is capable of introducing super-heavy elements into it, thus destabilizing fusion processes and changing, possibly catastrophically, the climates of planets orbiting it.
- P3W-451 has fallen into a black hole; an in-bound wormhole to its stargate propagates the gravitational influence back to the dialing gate. Initially this caused time distortion effects near the gate, but as P3W-451 got closer to the black hole objects were pulled into the gate, as of ExodusExodus (Stargate SG-1)"Exodus" is the Season 4 finale episode of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. This episode was nominated for an Emmy in the category "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series".-Plot:...
a gate dialing from a star would exert such a pull that it could not only remove matter from the star, but do so fast enough to cause it to go supernova. The effect of dialing from a planet at this point was not described.
- Anubis's Ancient
- The Dakara Superweapon in the Temple of Dakara can return all matter in its range to its component molecules. Its range is normally limited to Dakara and its surrounding space, however the wave will propagate through the wormhole of an active Stargate (unimpeded by either iris or Goa'uld shield technology) and expand on the far side to cover the planet's surface, but unlike Dakara itself, the wave will not propagate into orbit. Ba'al however modified the Dakara Stargate, using a 'hack' of the DHD's correlative update function to dial every Stargate in the Galaxy simultaneously, turning the weapon from a strategic threat to a Galactic scale superweapon against all planets within the Milky way Stargate network.
- A Tauri Mark 9 Naqahdah-enhanced nuclear weaponNuclear weaponA nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
has a "Multi Gigaton" yield. - Anubis's mothership, powered with the Eye of RaEye of HorusThe Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, royal power and good health. The eye is personified in the goddess Wadjet...
as well as four other "eyes", in "Full CircleFull Circle (Stargate SG-1)"Full Circle" is the season finale for season six of the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. It was originally intended to be the last episode of Stargate SG-1.The episode was written by executive producer Robert C. Cooper and directed by Martin Wood...
" - Goa'uld System Lord Sokar used a fleet of Goa'uld Hatak Class Motherships to terraform the moon Ne'tu to serve as his prison.
- The Asgard managed to destroy Halla by causing Halla's sun to become a black hole.
- The Asgard destroyed their home planet, to commit mass suicide, by unknown means.
- The Replicators have spread across the surface of an entire planet and converted everything on it into replicator blocks.
- The Ori Priors can turn planets into Point Singularities (Black Holes) to power their supergates, and did so twice.
- The Tok'ra have shown to possess Thermonuclear Induction explosives capable of burrowing to a planet's core and igniting a reaction to which the planet would explode; as shown when they used it to destroy Netu. "The Devil You Know"
- Gadmeer terraforming ship - see Genesis device below.
Star Trek
- Genesis Device (a terraforming project; not really intended as a weapon but if used against an existing biosphere it will destroy it in favor of a new one)
- Species 8472Species 8472Species 8472 is a fictional extraterrestrial race in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. They inhabit another dimension called fluidic space. These beings are rendered by animation from Foundation Imaging, Inc...
starships - The Doomsday Machine
- Krenim temporal incursion ship: capable of erasing entire civilizations as if they never existed
- General Order 24. Starfleet order for a starship to destroy all life on an entire planet
- Planetcracker weapons and sunkiller bombs (Diane DuaneDiane DuaneDiane Duane is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Her works include the Young Wizards young adult fantasy series and the Rihannsu Star Trek novels.-Biography :...
's novels) - Reman warbird Scimitar: Emits a specific type of radiation that will kill every living thing on a planet in seconds
- Son'a collectorStar Trek: InsurrectionStar Trek: Insurrection is a 1998 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes, written by Michael Piller , and with music composed by Jerry Goldsmith. It is the ninth film in the Star Trek franchise, and the third to feature the cast from the television series Star Trek: The Next...
(intended to strip radiation surrounding a planet thus rendering it uninhabitable) - The Crystalline Entity that would feed by stripping planets of all organic life.
- The Xindi superweapon
- Tox Uthat (A weapon from the future that would stop all fusion operations in a sun)
- Trilithium torpedo. Used by Dr. Tolian Soran in Star Trek Generations to stop all the fusion reactions in a star, causing it to go nova, much like the Tox Uthat.
- Nomad. A small spacecraft resulting from the combination of two unrelated craft that was able to "sterilize" entire planetary populations (The Changeling).
- Red Matter. A material capable of creating black holeBlack holeA black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
s. It could be used as a planet-killer by being injected into a planet's core, creating a black hole that imploded the planet by consuming it from the core outward. Red Matter is also potentially strong enough to consume a star. An example of a ship that used this is SpockSpockSpock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek...
's ship, the Logical Jellyfish. The Narada also used the supply on Spock's ship when they captured it. (Star Trek (film)).
Star Wars
- Centerpoint station (Expanded UniverseStar Wars Expanded UniverseThe Star Wars Expanded Universe encompasses all of the officially licensed, fictional background of the Star Wars universe, outside of the six feature films produced by George Lucas. The expanded universe includes books, comic books, video games, spin-off films like Star Wars: The Clone Wars,...
) - Galaxy GunDark EmpireDark Empire is a Star Wars comic book metaseries produced by Dark Horse Comics. It consists of a six-issue limited series written by Tom Veitch and drawn by Cam Kennedy , followed by a second six-issue limited series by Veitch and Kennedy and a two-issue limited series written by Veitch and drawn...
(EU) - Mass Shadow Generator (EU)
- Eclipse-class Star DestroyerStar DestroyerStar Destroyers are capital ships in the fictional Star Wars universe. The Imperial Star Destroyer, which first appears in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , is "the signature vessel of the Imperial fleet"...
(EU) - Sovereign-class Star DestroyerStar DestroyerStar Destroyers are capital ships in the fictional Star Wars universe. The Imperial Star Destroyer, which first appears in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , is "the signature vessel of the Imperial fleet"...
(EU) - Sun Crusher (EU)
- World Devastator (EU)
- The Death StarDeath StarThe Death Star is a fictional moon-sized space station and superweapon appearing in the Star Wars movies and expanded universe. It is capable of destroying a planet with a single destructive super charged energy beam.-Origin and design:...
s - Darth Nihilus (EU)
- The Old Republic/Imperial order Base Delta ZeroSpace weaponSpace weapons are weapons used in space warfare. They include weapons that can attack space systems in orbit , attack targets on the earth from space or disable missiles travelling through space...
, also known as BDZ (EU) - Yo'gand's Core (EU)
Other film and television
- In John CarpenterJohn CarpenterJohn Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
's sci-fiScience fictionScience 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...
film Dark StarDark Star (film)Dark Star is a 1974 American comedic science fiction motion picture directed by John Carpenter and co-written with Dan O'Bannon.-Backstory and plot:...
, intelligent and philosophically capable "Exponential Thermostellar Bombs" are used to destroy "unstable planets" which might threaten future colonization. - In the Mel BrooksMel BrooksMel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
feature film spoof SpaceballsSpaceballsSpaceballs is a 1987 American science fiction comedy parody film co-written by, directed by, Mel Brooks and starring Bill Pullman, John Candy, Mel Brooks & Rick Moranis. It also features, Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, and the voice of Joan Rivers. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on...
, the Spaceballs' starship, Spaceball One, is capable of transforming into "Mega Maid", a robot maid in the shape of The Statue of LibertyStatue of LibertyThe Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
holding a giant vacuum cleaner, which can suck the air from an entire planet and thus make it uninhabitable. - In the film The Chronicles of RiddickThe Chronicles of RiddickThe Chronicles of Riddick is a 2004 American science fiction film which follows the adventures of Richard B. Riddick, as he attempts to elude capture after the events depicted in the 2000 film Pitch Black, and details his meeting with Jack and Imam, his escape from the prison planet Crematoria, and...
, the NecromongersThe Chronicles of RiddickThe Chronicles of Riddick is a 2004 American science fiction film which follows the adventures of Richard B. Riddick, as he attempts to elude capture after the events depicted in the 2000 film Pitch Black, and details his meeting with Jack and Imam, his escape from the prison planet Crematoria, and...
cull potential recruits from planets and kill all those who remain on the surface by executing their "Final Protocol", a series of gravity-based weapons that flatten everything on the surface of the planet, save for the series of monuments that produce them. - Hugo DraxHugo DraxSir Hugo Drax is a fictional character created by author Ian Fleming for the James Bond novel Moonraker. Fleming named him after his friend, Sir Reginald Drax. For the later film and its novelization, Drax was largely transformed by screenwriter Christopher Wood. In the film, Drax is portrayed by...
's space stationSpace stationA space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
in MoonrakerMoonraker (film)Moonraker is the eleventh spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The third and final film in the series to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, it co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Clery, and Richard Kiel...
, which launches poisonous globes that would have wiped out mankind. - The Pirate PlanetThe Pirate PlanetThe Pirate Planet is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 September to 21 October 1978. It forms the second serial of The Key to Time...
in Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. Additionally, the DalekDalekThe Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s and TARDISTARDISThe TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
es have both been shown to be capable of moving planets, and would thus be capable of relocating a planet into a star, nova, black hole, or other inhospitable location that would destroy it. Daleks have also been stated to have been responsible for the destruction of The DoctorDoctor (Doctor Who)The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
's home planet of GallifreyGallifreyGallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...
, though at other points in the series the impression is given that the world has, rather, been removed from reality. In Planet of the DeadPlanet of the Dead"Planet of the Dead" is the first 2009 special of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was simultaneously broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 11 April 2009. It was the second of five special episodes broadcast throughout 2009 and early 2010, which served as lead actor...
, the Swarm is shown to annihilate all life on a planet's surface. In The End of the WorldThe End of the World (Doctor Who)"The End of the World" is the second episode of Series One of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Russell T Davies and directed by Euros Lyn, the episode was first broadcast on 2 April 2005....
, technology is shown holding the Earth together and preventing the sun from exploding, and thus the Earth is destroyed simply by deactivating this technology. In various episodes, The Doctor and his companions manage to stop threats that would destroy the Earth or other planets, with the indication that those threats are valid. - "Q Bomb" from Starship Troopers 3: Marauder
- UnicronUnicronUnicron is a fictional character from the Transformers universe and toyline. Created by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie as the film's main antagonist. Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also...
, a robotic, predatory planet from the animated feature film, The Transformers: The MovieThe Transformers: The MovieThe Transformers: The Movie is a 1986 animated feature film based on the animated series of the same name. It was released in North America on August 8, 1986 and in the UK on December 5, 1986....
. Unicron is a rarity among the Planet Killers on this list in that he is one of the few which is sentient and can act and think for himself. - In the FuturamaFuturamaFuturama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
episode "I Dated a RobotI Dated a Robot"I Dated a Robot" is the fifteenth episode in season three of Futurama. It originally aired on May 13, 2001.-Plot:After the crew sees an episode of The Scary Door, Fry decides to do all the things he always wanted to do and the Planet Express crew obliges...
," Fry blows up a planet with a planet blowing-up machine. Also in Futurama: The Beast with a Billion BacksFuturama: The Beast with a Billion BacksFuturama: The Beast with a Billion Backs is an animated science-fiction comedy film, the second of the four Futurama straight-to-DVD films. The film was released in the United States and Canada on June 24, 2008, followed by a UK release on June 30, 2008 and an Australian release on August 6, 2008....
, a weapon is used in a duel between Bender and another robot Calculon called a "Planetary Annihilator". Throughout there is also numerous references to Professor Farnsworth's doomsday devices which are hinted at being powerful enough to destroy planets or more. - In the British sci-fi series The Tomorrow PeopleThe Tomorrow PeopleThe Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer...
, an alien race known as the Thargons have a weapon known as a "Ripper Ray" which is allegedly capable of destroying a planet. - In the Kurt Russell film SoldierSoldier (film)Soldier is a 1998 science fiction-action film directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. The film stars Kurt Russell as Sgt. Todd, a soldier trained from birth...
, one portable explosive device nicknamed a Planet Killers is used, devastating the planet. - In the Roger Corman film Battle Beyond the StarsBattle Beyond the StarsBattle Beyond the Stars is a Roger Corman-produced science fiction film, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami and released in 1980. The film, intended as a "Magnificent Seven in outer space," is a pastiche of The Magnificent Seven, the Western remake of Akira Kurosawa's film Seven Samurai...
, the evil Sador's mothership has a planet killing superweapon called the Stellar Converter, which seems to have the effect of superheating the core of the planet causing a delayed explosion where it incinerates from the inside/out. - In the TV series Earth: Final ConflictEarth: Final ConflictEarth: Final Conflict is a Canadian science fiction television series based on story ideas created by Gene Roddenberry, and produced under the guidance of his widow, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry. It was not produced, filmed or broadcast until after his death...
, the Jaridians have a planet killer and have destroyed thousands of Taelon-occupied planets including their homeworld. The video archive of all the planets destroyed one after another is seen by William Boone but at the time he doesn't understand what it is until the circumstances are explained to him later by Da'an. - In the science fiction feature film The CoreThe CoreThe Core is a 2003 American disaster film loosely based on the novel Core by Paul Preuss. It concerns a team that has to drill to the center of the Earth and set off a series of nuclear explosions in order to restart the rotation of Earth's core...
, Project DESTINI was designed as a tactical weapon, but had the unforeseen effect of ceasing the rotation of the Earth's magnetic core, causing catastrophe, and threatening to end all life on Earth, unless the rotation could be restarted. - In the science fiction feature film Men in Black IIMen in Black IIMen in Black II is a 2002 science fiction action comedy starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. The film also stars Lara Flynn Boyle, Johnny Knoxville, Rosario Dawson and Rip Torn...
, Serlena's ship is seen making vengeful blasts on searched planets, causing an icy one to shatter and another to implode. - Several attacks used in the manga/anime franchise Dragon BallDragon Ballis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...
, such as the Death Ball technique as used by Frieza to destroy Planet Vegeta, are capable of destroying a planet. - The Displacement Engine in the TV series FarscapeFarscapeFarscape is an Australian-American science fiction television series filmed in Australia and produced originally for the Nine Network. The series was conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by Jim Henson Productions and Hallmark Entertainment...
is a device which employs a wormholeWormholeIn physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that would be, fundamentally, a "shortcut" through spacetime. For a simple visual explanation of a wormhole, consider spacetime visualized as a two-dimensional surface. If this surface is folded along a third dimension, it...
to draw a large mass of fusing plasma from the core of a star, and then deploys it against a target. The device is described as being able to destroy a solar system. - A major plot of the series FarscapeFarscapeFarscape is an Australian-American science fiction television series filmed in Australia and produced originally for the Nine Network. The series was conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by Jim Henson Productions and Hallmark Entertainment...
is that the knowledge of wormholes contained in the head of John Crichton can be used to create a planet-killing weapon; in Farscape: The Peacekeeper WarsFarscape: The Peacekeeper WarsFarscape: The Peacekeeper Wars is a television science fiction mini-series written by Rockne S. O'Bannon and David Kemper and directed by Brian Henson. Following the Farscape series' unexpected cancellation in September 2002, it aimed to wrap-up the season four cliffhanger and tie up some elements...
Crichton finally builds and activates such a weapon to show that it is much worse; it is in fact a galaxy-killer. Under threat of everyone being consumed by the weapon, he convinces the Peacekeepers and Scarrans to pursue peace negotiations in return for him turning it off. - The Hand of OmegaHand of OmegaThe Hand of Omega is a fictional device from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.In Remembrance of the Daleks the Seventh Doctor explains that the "Hand of Omega" is the mythical name for the remote stellar manipulator invented by Omega, the first of the Time Lords of the...
in the TV series Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
can be used to destroy planets, as demonstrated on the Dalek homeworld Skaro. - The Osterhagen Key allows UNIT to destroy the world in The Stolen EarthThe Stolen Earth"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
on Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. - In the German TV series Raumpatrouille, a weapon called Overkill was used to destroy an object the size of a planetoid. The explosion seems to be strong enough to destroy a planet as well.
- Blue-colored bomb with small red spheres floating around inside. Consisting of a 3-dimensional matter shell and an 9th-dimensional matter inside. Featured in Supernova (2000).
- In the Stanley KubrickStanley KubrickStanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
film Dr. Strangelove, the Doomsday Machine. - The Drej MothershipMother shipA mother ship is a vessel or aircraft that carries a smaller vessel or aircraft that operates independently from it. Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental aircraft to altitudes where they can conduct their research , or ships that carry small submarines to an area of ocean to be...
in the animated feature film Titan A.E.Titan A.E.Titan A.E. is an American animated post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman released in 2000. The title refers to the spacecraft that is central to the plot, with A.E. meaning "After Earth."...
, destroyed the planet Earth. - In the frenchFrenchFrench is the adjective form of France and usually refers to:* Something of, from, or related to the nation of France** French culture** French cuisine** French people, inhabitants of France or people having family origins in France...
animated TV series Once Upon a Time... SpaceOnce Upon a Time... SpaceOnce Upon a Time… Space was a French animated TV series from 1982, directed by Albert Barillé.-Synopsis:Once Upon a Time... Space differs from the rest of the Once Upon a Time titles in the sense that the series revolve on a dramatic content rather than an educational premise...
, the androidsAndroidAn android is a robot or synthetic organism designed to look and act like a human, and with a body having a flesh-like resemblance. Although "android" is used almost universally to refer to both sexes, and those of no particular sex, "Android" technically refers to the male form, while "Gynoid" is...
of the planet Yama use ships that connect themselves to form a much larguer one, that fires a laser with enough firepower to destroy a planet. - In Spaced InvadersSpaced InvadersSpaced Invaders is a 1990 science fiction comedy directed by Patrick Read Johnson and starring Douglas Barr, Royal Dano and Ariana Richards.-Plot:...
the D.O.D. (Doughnut Of Destruction) is an ring-shaped device which the aliens claim would destroy Earth but leave them unharmed as they would be in the center of the blast. Upon activation the device fails to detonate, but instead falls apart having been improperly assembled. - The Illudium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator In the classic Bugs BunnyBugs BunnyBugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
short Haredevil Hare in 1948. Marvin the MartianMarvin the MartianMarvin the Martian is a fictional character appearing in the Looney Tunes cartoons. Marvin's likeness appears in miniature on the Spirit rover on Mars.-Conception and creation:...
wanted to use it to blow up Earth because, as he said, "It obstructs my view of VenusVenusVenus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
". The explosive was in the form of a small red stick that resembled DynamiteDynamiteDynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
that was screwed into a large telescope-like machine. - The 'Sun Harvester' in Transformers: Revenge of the FallenTransformers: Revenge of the FallenTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...
. This is hidden inside one of the pyramids in Egypt and uses the Matrix to power up, destroying the sun to turn it into energon. - In the Tokusatsu Kaiju Film Ghidorah, The Three-Headed MonsterGhidorah, the Three-Headed MonsterGhidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, released in Japan as and originally released in the US as Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster, is a 1964 science fiction kaiju film, and is the 5th film in Toho's Godzilla series...
, King GhidorahKing Ghidorahis a kaiju, a fictional Japanese monster featured in several of Toho Studios' Godzilla films...
attacked Venus (Mars on the English dub), leaving the planet uninhabitable. A variant version of King Ghidorah from the Rebirth of Mothra film trilogy sees the creature wiping out all dinosaurs on Earth, effectively acting as a Planet Killer in this respect, though life returns to the planet, and is eventually dominated by humanity. King Ghidorah. like Unicron (listed above), stands out from others on this list for being a living creature, something few other planet killers on this list have in common with it.
Dune universe
- Obliterators used by Honored MatresHonored MatresThe Honored Matres are a fictional matriarchal organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. They are described as an aggressive cult obsessed with power, violence and sexual domination...
in Frank HerbertFrank HerbertFranklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...
's Chapterhouse: Dune (1985) and later sequelSequelA sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s by other authors are capable of combusting the entire atmosphere of a planet, and ultimately its full surface. - Stone burners, a type of nuclear weapon which could potentially destroy a planet by burning into and destroying a planet's core.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Vogon Constructor Fleets
Vogon civil services are not only able to demolish entire planets, but have means and cause to do so regularly (to create and maintain hyperspace by-passes). The Earth falls victim to one such fleet in the beginning of the story to make way for a hyperspace expressway.
The radio and book versions of the story refer to demolition beams, though the mechanism is not shown distinctly in the 2005 film.
There is also the ultimate weapon designed by Hactar (a giant space-borne computer). It is a very small bomb that when activated will join the heart of every major sun with the heart of every other major sun turning the universe into one gigantic hyperspatial supernova. The weapon was designed for a race of extinct aliens but was taken up again by the inhabitants of the planet Krikkit so as to wipe out all other life in the universe and permit them to be the only remaining inhabitants.
Other literature
- The Inhibitor machines from Alastair ReynoldsAlastair ReynoldsAlastair Preston Reynolds is a British science fiction author. He specialises in dark hard science fiction and space opera. He spent his early years in Cornwall, moved back to Wales before going to Newcastle, where he read physics and astronomy. Afterwards, he earned a PhD from St Andrews, Scotland...
' Revelation Space series of novels, were capable of consuming worlds over time to convert to copies of themselves, or to create weapons capable of utilizing stars to destroy planets e.g. venting stellar core material in a collimated beam to burn away planetary crusts. In the same series, the "Greenfly" machines, developed by humans as terraformers, instead go rogue and start eating planets by reducing them to their atoms and rebuilding them into more such machines, as well as numerous domes filled with vegetation. - The SpacerSpacer (Asimov)In Isaac Asimov's Foundation/Empire/Robot series, the Spacers were the first humans to emigrate to space. About a millennium thereafter, they severed political ties with Earth, and embraced low population growth and extreme longevity as a means for a high standard of living, in combination with...
nuclear reaction intensifier in 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...
's Robots and EmpireRobots and EmpireRobots and Empire is science fiction novel written by the American author Isaac Asimov and published by Doubleday Books in 1985. It is part of Asimov's Robot series, consisting of many short stories and novels....
(1985) - Stephen BaxterStephen BaxterStephen Baxter is a prolific British hard science fiction author. He has degrees in mathematics and engineering.- Writing style :...
's Moonseed: a virus-like microscopic object (or substance made from it) that transforms substances into more copies of itself - and thus consumes Venus and then the Earth by doing so. (Baxter has also employed geomagnetic stormGeomagnetic stormA geomagnetic storm is a temporary disturbance of the Earth's magnetosphere caused by a disturbance in the interplanetary medium. A geomagnetic storm is a major component of space weather and provides the input for many other components of space weather...
s (see SunstormSunstorm (novel)Sunstorm is a 2005 science fiction novel co-written by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. It is the second book in the series A Time Odyssey. The books in this series are often likened to the Space Odyssey series, although the Time Odyssey novels ostensibly deal with time where the...
) and larger universal constructorMolecular assemblerA molecular assembler, as defined by K. Eric Drexler, is a "proposed device able to guide chemical reactions by positioning reactive molecules with atomic precision". Some biological molecules such as ribosomes fit this definition. This is because they receive instructions from messenger RNA and...
s (see Evolution) as planet killers.) - In Stephen BaxterStephen BaxterStephen Baxter is a prolific British hard science fiction author. He has degrees in mathematics and engineering.- Writing style :...
's Xeelee Sequence, the Xelee have a handgun-sized weapon capable of destroying stars and neutron stars. Also, at one period, the Xeelee built giant dyson shells around every single star in the Milky way, causing life around those stars to cook to death. - The glass clock built in Terry Pratchett's DiscworldDiscworldDiscworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....
novel Thief of TimeThief of TimeThief of Time is the 26th Discworld novel written by Terry Pratchett, a 2002 Locus Award nominee.-Plot summary:The Auditors are upset because the human race are living their lives in - what the Auditors consider to be - an unpredictable way...
, was effectively a doomsday device. Although its intended effect was to permanently freeze time on an entire world, rather than outright destroying it. - The Neutronium Alchemist (Peter F. HamiltonPeter F. HamiltonPeter F. Hamilton is a British author. He is best known for writing space opera. As of the publication of his tenth novel in 2004, his works had sold over two million copies worldwide.- Biography :...
's The Night's Dawn TrilogyThe Night's Dawn TrilogyBritish author Peter F. Hamilton's The Night's Dawn Trilogy consists of three science fiction novels: The Reality Dysfunction , The Neutronium Alchemist , and The Naked God...
) - Quantumbusters in Peter F. HamiltonPeter F. HamiltonPeter F. Hamilton is a British author. He is best known for writing space opera. As of the publication of his tenth novel in 2004, his works had sold over two million copies worldwide.- Biography :...
's Commonwealth SagaCommonwealth SagaThe Commonwealth Saga is a series of science fiction novels by British science fiction writer Peter F. Hamilton. This saga consists of the novels Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained , as well as Misspent Youth . The events of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained take place 340 years after his... - At least six methods in E. E. "Doc" SmithE. E. SmithEdward Elmer Smith, Ph.D., also, E. E. Smith, E. E. "Doc" Smith, Doc Smith, "Skylark" Smith, and Ted was a food engineer and early science fiction author who wrote the Lensman series and the Skylark series, among others...
's Lensman saga:- "super-atomic bombs"
- rendering a planet "loose" (inertialess) and directing it into a star
- a "nutcracker", maneuvering two loose planets to crush a third
- a "negasphere," an antimatterAntimatterIn particle physics, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles...
planet - "Nth space planets" from other dimensions which travel at superluminalFaster-than-lightFaster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....
speeds and can be used to ram planets or stars (creating supernovas) - there was even the worrying possibility that these could cause the Big CrunchBig CrunchIn physical cosmology, the Big Crunch is one possible scenario for the ultimate fate of the universe, in which the metric expansion of space eventually reverses and the universe recollapses, ultimately ending as a black hole singularity.- Overview :...
in zero time - a "sunbeam", a way of concentrating most of a sun's energy output into a narrow beam—this one a defensive-only weapon against nutcrackers and negaspheres
- Of these, the Nth-space planet is considered the most lethal as its speed and inter-dimensional nature leaves no means to defend against it; this knowledge precipitates the final battle in Children of the LensChildren of the LensThe Children of the Lens are characters in the fictional Lensman universe created by E. E. "Doc" Smith.One male and two pairs of twin females, they are the children of Kimball Kinnison and Clarissa Kinnison, both of whom are second-stage lensmen...
.
- Device Ultimate in The Xenocide Mission
- In Kevin J. AndersonKevin J. AndersonKevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
's Saga of the seven sunsSaga of Seven SunsThe Saga of Seven Suns is a series of seven space opera novels written by Kevin J. Anderson and published between 2002 and 2008. The series is set in a not-too-distant future where mysterious alien benefactors, the Ildirans, have helped humanity to spread out among the stars, colonizing a number of...
, the ongoing war between the Faeros and Hydrogues see entire suns having their cores frozen. - In Orson Scott CardOrson Scott CardOrson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
's Ender's GameEnder's GameEnder's Game is a science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. The book originated as the short story "Ender's Game", published in the August 1977 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. Elaborating on characters and plot lines depicted in the novel, Card later wrote additional...
, the MD (Molecular Disruption) Device, or "Little Doctor", generates a field inside in which it is impossible for atoms to coexist in a molecule. The field propagates in a chain reaction, and essentially destroys all matter until it reaches pure space. This was intended for ship to ship combat, but was eventually used to destroy an entire planet. - In E. E. Smith's The Skylark of SpaceThe Skylark of SpaceThe Skylark of Space by Edward E. "Doc" Smith was written between 1915 and 1921 while Smith was working on his doctorate. Though the original idea for the novel was Smith's, he co-wrote the first part of the novel with Lee Hawkins Garby, the wife of his college classmate and later neighbor Carl Garby...
series various planet-killers are used or discussed. Throwing planets and moons out of orbit, incredibly high-yield atomic or copper bombs, near-instantaneous dematerialization of physical objects and the teleporting of close to fifty billion stars in order to wipe out a Galaxy-wide alien civilization are all used. - In Greg Bear's The Forge of GodThe Forge of GodThe Forge of God is a 1987 science fiction novel by American writer Greg Bear. Earth faces destruction when an inscrutable and overwhelming alien form of life attacks....
, alien aggressors inject two high-mass weapons made of neutronium and antineutronium into the Earth which orbit the Earth's core until they meet and annihilate, destroying the planet. - L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield EarthBattlefield Earth (novel)Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 is a 1982 science fiction novel written by the Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. He composed a soundtrack to the book called Space Jazz....
(1982) features a device which, when activated, causes all matter it touches to break down into its constituent molecules. This device was used on a moon, which was consumed faster than ships based on that moon could launch. - In the GorGorGor , the Counter-Earth, is the alternate-world setting for a series of 30 novels by John Norman that combine philosophy, erotica and science fiction...
novel series by John NormanJohn NormanJohn Frederick Lange, Jr. , better known under his pen name John Norman, is a professor of philosophy and an author. He is best known for his Gor novel series.-Biography:...
, specifically Tribesmen of Gor, the alien Kurii deploy a weapon, apparently housed in a small space craft, to the eponymous planet. If it had been put to use, it would have to have rendered the planet uninhabitable not only to humans, but also to the Priest-Kings, who were sheltered deep inside a mountain range. - Nova Bombs (Starship TroopersStarship TroopersStarship Troopers is a military science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published hardcover in December, 1959.The first-person narrative is about a young soldier from the Philippines named Juan "Johnnie" Rico and his...
) - Relativistic projectiles (Charles 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...
's The Killing Star) - The ElectronElectronThe electron is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton...
Pump (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...
's The Gods ThemselvesThe Gods ThemselvesThe Gods Themselves is a 1972 science fiction novel written by Isaac Asimov. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1972, and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1973....
). Not precisely a weapon per se; the destruction it produces is a side effect (albeit one the creators are aware of and consider acceptable, since it will also produce a great deal of usable energy). - The Dahak-class Planetoid-of-the-Line (David WeberDavid WeberDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
's Heirs of EmpireHeirs of EmpireHeirs of Empire is 1996 military science-fiction novel by David Weber. It is the third novel in the Dahak trilogy, after the de facto duology of Mutineers' Moon and The Armageddon Inheritance...
trilogy) - Two of David WeberDavid WeberDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
's books; The Armageddon InheritanceThe Armageddon InheritanceThe Armageddon Inheritance is a science fiction novel written by David Weber in two books containing a total of 27 chapters. It is the second book in his Dahak trilogy...
, and The Shiva OptionThe Shiva OptionThe Shiva Option, published by Baen Books, is the sequel to David Weber and Steve White's military science fiction novel In Death Ground.-Plot summary:...
, feature inhabited planets destroyed by the impact of asteroids or moons on deliberately modified intersecting orbits. - S.T.A.R Platforms (The Blank Horizon), originally used for faster than light communication by artificially generating a molecule-sized wormhole, are capable of focusing over 1000 km square of a stars surface output into a beam a little over 2 cm wide, reaching temperatures in excess of 4.2 billion degrees, which could theoretically cut a planet apart and combust its atmosphere. This is never put into practice however, as the platforms are self-destructed to prevent them from being captured and used against their creators.
- In the Looking Glass series by John RingoJohn RingoJohn Ringo is an American science fiction and military fiction author. He has had several New York Times best sellers. His books range from straightforward science fiction to a mix of military and political thrillers...
and Travis S. Taylor, the alien Dreen possess an explosive powerful enough to destroy planets, and the alien black box starship drive will generate a field capable of destroying entire star systems if exposed to high voltage electricity. - The Demolio is a bomb which can shatter planets in Brian Herbert's Timeweb Chronicles.
- The Supernova (Matthew ReillyMatthew ReillyMatthew John Reilly is an Australian action thriller writer. His novels are noted for their fast pace, twisting plots and intense action.- Biography :...
's TempleTemple (novel)Temple is a thriller novel written by Australian author Matthew Reilly and first published in 1999. Like Reilly's other books, Temple's major attractions are the fast pace and the complexity of the action scenes....
) - Arkon-Bombs from the Perry RhodanPerry RhodanPerry Rhodan is the name of a science fiction series published since 1961 in Germany, as well as the name of the main character. It is a space opera, dealing with several themes of science fiction. Having sold over one billion copies worldwide, it is the most successful science fiction book series...
Books "ignite" all matter near it to burn away in a fission like effect. This can not be stopped but it is not very fast, giving the chance to evacuate the planet. - Ice-nineIce-nineIce-nine is a fictional material appearing in Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle. It is supposed to be a more stable polymorph of water than common ice which instead of melting at 0 degrees Celsius , melts at 45.8 °C...
in the novel Cat's CradleCat's CradleCat's Cradle is the fourth novel by American writer Kurt Vonnegut, first published in 1963. It explores issues of science, technology, and religion, satirizing the arms race and many other targets along the way...
by Kurt VonnegutKurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
is a solid form of water at ambient temperature. It causes the end of the earth when some of it falls into the ocean, causing a chain reaction that transforms all the water on Earth into ice-nine. - Quark bombs in the novel Lord from the Planet Earth by Sergey LukyanenkoSergey LukyanenkoSergei Vasilievich Lukyanenko is a science fiction and fantasy author, writing in Russian, and is arguably the most popular contemporary Russian sci-fi writer...
. A group of radical cultists from another planet wanted to destroy Earth with a quark bomb, but are foiled by the protagonists. - The Q-bomb, a prototype doomsday device that could destroy the world if triggered in The Mouse That RoaredThe Mouse That RoaredThe Mouse That Roared is a 1955 Cold War satirical novel by Irish-American writer Leonard Wibberley, which launched a series of satirical books about an imaginary country in Europe called the Duchy of Grand Fenwick...
, a 1955 novel by Irish American writer Leonard Wibberley. - In Chris WalleyChris WalleyChris Walley is a geologist, author, and tertiary education lecturer- Biography :Chris Walley was born in Wales in 1954; however, he grew up in northern England. He received a Bachelor of Science in geology from Sheffield University and a Phd from the University of Wales, Swansea...
's Lamb Among the Star novels, a polyvalent fusion bomb is capable of rendering a planet inhospitable due to radiation if detonated in a solar system. Project Daybreak was intended to inject one into the core of a star, with an estimated blast radius of several dozen light-years. - In M. Andrew Sprong's book Haley Cork and the Blue Door two forms of planet killers are employed. In one case the Enemy uses an anti-mercury bomb to destroy half of the planet's population in order to blind the sensors of its guardian moon. In another, Haley, as a personified biomechanical weapon, teleports billions of copies of herself using quantum foam technology to the same exact location in order to convert herself into a blackhole and destroy the Enemy's planetary armada.
HaloHalo (series)Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
series
- UNSC NOVA Bomb (a group of nukes clustered around a core that forces the fissionable material together, magnifying the explosion)
- Covenant Warships (starships equipped with plasma weapons used to vitrify (commonly called glassing) the surface of a planet)
The Halo installations themselves only kill sentient life, leaving planets and their biospheres-as well as any creature without sufficient biomass to support The Flood-otherwise intact.
Sins of a Solar EmpireSins of a Solar EmpireSins of a Solar Empire is a science fiction real-time strategy computer game developed by Ironclad Games and published by Stardock Entertainment for Microsoft Windows operating systems...
- Novalith Cannon (the TEC's super weapon), while does not destroy a planet, can wipe out an unprotected colony in one shot. even the best-fortified do not survive the second round.
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...
- Abaddon the Despoiler's ship, Planet Killer destroys planets through a concentrated beam that bores through a planet's crust causing a catastrophic eruption of planetary material.
- C'tan (the Necron's Gods)
- Necron Fleets
- TyranidTyranidsThe Tyranids are a fictional race from the Warhammer 40000 tabletop game and its spin-off media. They are known to the Imperium generally as Tyranids, because Tyran is the first known planet they devoured and where they were first encountered...
Hive Fleets - The ImperiumImperium (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....
's means of carrying out an order of ExterminatusWarhammer 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...
, including:- VirusVirusA virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
Bombs. These contain a mutating virus which cause basic chemical bonds in organic and some non-organic materials to break, causing these materials to "liquify". - Cyclonic Torpedoes
- Orbital Bombardment
- Virus
- One Blackstone FortressWarhammer 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...
can destroy a planet - Three Blackstone FortressWarhammer 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...
or more can destroy a star
Other games
- Hammer of Dawn in the Gears of warGears of WarGears of War is a military science fiction third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios...
Series could wipe out the entire civilization with a few shot. - Khaak Mothership (X²: The ThreatX²: The ThreatX²: The Threat is a computer game developed by Egosoft for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. It is part of the X Computer Game Series. It was released in 2003 and is a sequel to X: Beyond the Frontier...
) - Heartless (Kingdom Hearts seriesKingdom Heartsis an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...
) (Actually a race of creatures that devour, not only the hearts of men, but also of worlds, thus destroying them) - Mycon Deep children (Star Control 2)
- The Omega System (XenosagaXenosagais a series of science fiction video games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco Bandai. Xenosaga's main story is in the form of a trilogy of PlayStation 2 video games. There have been three spin-off games and an anime adaptation. The Xenosaga series serves as a spiritual successor to...
) - Apocalypse-class Interplanetary Missiles (StarCraftStarCraftStarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
) - TiberiumTiberiumTiberium or Ichor is a fictional substance that is central to the plot of much of the Command & Conquer series of real-time strategy video games...
in the Command & ConquerCommand & ConquerCommand & Conquer, abbreviated to C&C and also known as Tiberian Dawn, is a 1995 real-time strategy computer game developed by Westwood Studios for MS-DOS and published by Virgin Interactive. It was the first of twelve games to date to be released under the Command & Conquer label, including a...
franchise slowly eats the earth turning it into tiberium. - Atmospheric deprivation missiles in HomeworldHomeworldHomeworld is a real-time strategy computer game released on September 28, 1999, developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment. It was the first fully three-dimensional RTS. In 2003, Relic released the source code for Homeworld...
are used by the Taiidan (or Kushan, depending on the player's choice of race), while (unknown to them) the Mothership was held up by raiders on the outskirts of the system. Afterwards, the northern hemisphere was blackened and fires were visible from high orbit. In Homeworld 2Homeworld 2Developed by Relic Entertainment and released in 2003 by now defunct publisher Sierra Entertainment, Homeworld 2 is a real-time strategy computer game sequel to Homeworld. It takes place after the events in Homeworld and concerns Hiigara's response to a new enemy called the Vaygr. Its gameplay...
, the main antagonists (the Vaygr) attempt to use similar technology in the final mission - one of the mission's objectives is to intercept the missiles before they reach their target. However, the planet is not 'killed' after one missile strike; each missile kills approximately half of the current surviving population, and the mission is failed if too many slip by (it takes approximately 5 to fully depopulate the planet). The T-MAT Motherships and the Progenitor ship, the Sajuuk, are also considered as Planet Killers. - Black Sun (Supreme CommanderSupreme Commander (video game)Supreme Commander is a real-time strategy computer game designed by Chris Taylor and developed by his company, Gas Powered Games. The game is considered to be a spiritual successor to Taylor's 1997 game Total Annihilation,, alongside the Spring remake...
), an extremely powerful laser weapon that utilizes a gate network to target and burn multiple planets in a single firing. Fired from the Black Sun facility located in HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. - Mechanoid motherships (RiftsRifts (role-playing game)Rifts is a multi-genre role-playing game created by Kevin Siembieda in 1990 and published continuously by Palladium Books since then. Rifts takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, deriving elements from cyberpunk, science fiction, fantasy, horror, western, mythology and many other genres.Rifts...
) - Jenova in Final Fantasy VIIFinal Fantasy VIIis a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
, a parasiticParasitismParasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
being which drains life from any planet that it lands on. Described by Vincent ValentineVincent Valentineis an optional player character in Square Enix's console role-playing game Final Fantasy VII. Designed by Tetsuya Nomura, he also appears in various titles from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, a series of prequels of and sequels of Final Fantasy VII, and is the protagonist in the third-person...
as being "Heaven's Dark Arbiter." - Meteor (Final Fantasy VIIFinal Fantasy VIIis a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
); it should be noted that the intention of its caller in the game required the Planet to survive. - Protoss Warships (StarCraftStarCraftStarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
) - Shivan Juggernaut Sathanas could, as a group, create a gigantic ripple in the subspace field surrounding a star, causing the star to become unstable and go nova, ostensibily destroying all planets in the system.(FreeSpace 2FreeSpace 2FreeSpace 2 is a 1999 space combat simulation computer game developed by Volition, Inc. as the sequel to Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War. It was completed ahead of schedule in less than a year, and released to great critical acclaim...
) - Shivan Super Destroyer Lucifer used three "flux cannons", which are more popularly known as "beams", to obilterate the surface of an entire planet, rendering it invulnerable. However, in the cutscene, the Lucifer used only one, which could release an expansive blast which could burn away a small fraction of a planet. (Descent: FreeSpace — The Great War)
- Star Generator (Space Quest 1Space QuestSpace Quest is a series of six comedic science fiction computer games that follow the adventures of a hapless janitor named Roger Wilco, as he campaigns through the galaxy for "truth, justice and really clean floors"....
) - Stellar Converters (Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares), plasma cannons of immense size and power that are capable of tearing straight through virtually anything in the line of fire.
- The Kilrathi Dreadnought Sivar (Wing Commander: The Secret Missions)
- TCS Behemoth and the Temblor Bomb (Wing Commander III)
- Terror Star, a parody of the Death Star (although a fully funtional star killer)from Galactic CivilizationsGalactic CivilizationsGalactic Civilizations is a turn-based strategy computer game developed by Stardock and released in March 2003. The game is a remake of a vintage OS/2 series of the same name. An expansion pack entitled Altarian Prophecy was released in July 2004...
- The "Iron HelixIron HelixIron Helix is the name of an adventure video game made for the Windows, Mac, and the Sega CD. It was an early example of a CD-based game, including video elements integrated with conventional 2D maps and controls...
" (used to destroy Calliope if you fail the mission) - The "Nova Bomb" in X-COM: InterceptorX-COM: Interceptor-External links:*: An extensive wiki containing information, analysis, strategy, and other resources for the X-COM series...
- this was a missile carried on fighters which, rather than being used against a planet directly, was fired at the star inside the system. According to in-game details, the Nova Bomb slowly accelerates to light speed and burrows itself into the core, causing the star to go supernova, completely destroying the whole system. After the Doomsday Weapon built by the aliens is located (on the other side of a black hole), the player is told that it can only be destroyed with a Nova Bomb. The technology was considered so dangerous the scientific community asked for all knowledge of the bomb to be stricken from records so it would not fall into the wrong hands. - The "Weak nuclear force decoupler" from Perfect DarkPerfect DarkPerfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
(Nintendo 64Nintendo 64The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
) - The Space Colony ARKSonic Adventure 2Sonic Adventure 2 is a platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Dreamcast video game console. It was released in North America on June 19, 2001 and in Japan on June 23, 2001 to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game. It is the sequel...
' s Eclipse Cannon from Sonic Adventure 2Sonic Adventure 2Sonic Adventure 2 is a platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Dreamcast video game console. It was released in North America on June 19, 2001 and in Japan on June 23, 2001 to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game. It is the sequel...
and Shadow the HedgehogShadow the Hedgehog (video game)Shadow the Hedgehog is a 2005 video game developed by Sega Studio USA, the former United States division of Sega's Sonic Team. Featuring the titular fictional character Shadow the Hedgehog from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series, the game was revealed at the March 2005 Walk of Game inauguration of... - The Utwig Bomb (Star Control 2)
- The Alphacore (Omega BoostOmega BoostOmega Boost is a three dimensional shoot 'em up developed by Polyphony Digital for the Sony PlayStation.In the game, players take control of the Omega Boost, a giant robot. The player is charged with travelling back in time to stop an artificial intelligence called Alpha Core from altering ENIAC,...
) - The Ancient Planetary Bombardment Platforms (Homeworld 2Homeworld 2Developed by Relic Entertainment and released in 2003 by now defunct publisher Sierra Entertainment, Homeworld 2 is a real-time strategy computer game sequel to Homeworld. It takes place after the events in Homeworld and concerns Hiigara's response to a new enemy called the Vaygr. Its gameplay...
) - The Biologic Space Labs research station in Metroid FusionMetroid Fusion, also known as Metroid 4, is an action-adventure video game published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It was released in North America, Europe, and Australia in November 2002, and in Japan in February 2003. The game is the fourth main installment in the Metroid series...
(Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy AdvanceThe is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
) is equipped with a self-destruct system capable of destroying a planet within its blast radius. In addition, the planet Zebes was equipped with a planetary self-destruct mechanism in 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...
(Super Nintendo Entertainment SystemSuper 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...
) - The Black Egg and Mulligan artifacts (StarflightStarflightStarflight is a computer game published by Electronic Arts and developed by Binary Systems in 1986. Originally developed for DOS and Tandy, it was later released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Macintosh and Commodore 64...
) - The Crest of Annihilation (Star Ocean: The Second StoryStar Ocean: The Second Storyis a action role-playing PlayStation video game developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix. It is the second game in the Star Ocean series and the first game in the series to be released in North America and Europe , courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment...
) (this device completely obliterates a planet, but it is allegedly powerful enough to wipe out the entire known universe) - The Death Egg from Sonic the Hedgehog 2Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 16-bit 1992 platform video game that was developed by Sonic Team members working at the Sega Technical Institute, and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1992 and in North America and Europe on November 24, 1992...
and Sonic & KnucklesSonic & KnucklesSonic & Knuckles is a 1994 platform video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It was developed in the United States at Sega Technical Institute by members of Sonic Team, and was published by Sega worldwide on October 18, 1994.As well as working as a standalone...
, a parody of the Death Star and a caricature of Dr. Robotnik. Armed with two ion cannons (supposedly) forming the "eyes" on the "face", it is damaged and repaired throughout the early Sonic the Hedgehog series. - The Sa-Matra from Star Control 2.
- The Galactic Implosion Device (Total AnnihilationTotal AnnihilationTotal Annihilation is a real-time strategy video game created by Cavedog Entertainment, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and released on September 30, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. It was the first RTS game to feature 3D units and terrain...
) - The 'PlanetBuster Maximus' in the video game Ratchet & ClankRatchet & ClankRatchet & Clank is a 3D platformer/shooter video game for the PlayStation 2, developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Released in 2002, it is the first game in the Ratchet & Clank series....
, a skyscraper-sized bomb "capable of reducing an entire planet to subatomic particles". There was another device named 'The DePlanetizer', referred to as "The most powerful laser ever invented". It consisted of a giant football field-sized platform with a large rotating laser cannon on the bottom and a giant red button on the top. It served as an arena during the final fight with Chairman Drek. - The 'RYNO4ever in Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction was a weapon so dangerous it was made illegal for sales.
- The Ragnarok space station is capable of destroying anything off of the face of the Earth. (Mega Man ZeroMega Man ZeroThe Mega Man Zero series, known as in Japan, is the series succeeding the Mega Man X story-line, and the fifth series in Capcom's Mega Man video game franchise, co-produced by Keiji Inafune, and directed by Mega Man Legends series director Yoshinori Kawano...
) - The Moon Dagger from Terminal VelocityTerminal velocityIn fluid dynamics an object is moving at its terminal velocity if its speed is constant due to the restraining force exerted by the fluid through which it is moving....
. This largue warship used a huge missile that cycled on the target a Fussion Transference Wave, whose effects are described as similar to what a sawed-off shotgunSawed-off shotgunA sawed-off shotgun also called a sawn-off shotgun and a short-barreled shotgun , is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel and often a shorter or absent stock....
causes to a human. - The trih xeem in the Marathon TrilogyMarathon TrilogyThe Marathon Trilogy is a science fiction series of first-person shooter computer games from Bungie, originally released for the Macintosh. The name Marathon is derived from the giant interstellar colony ship that provides the setting for the first game; the ship is constructed out of what used to...
. Name literally means, "early nova." - The Void (Super Paper MarioSuper Paper Mariois a platform style console role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. Originally developed for the Nintendo GameCube, it was released for the Wii in 2007. The style of gameplay is a combination of the previous Paper Mario titles and Super Mario Bros. titles...
) (this consumes worlds completely, leaving bleak, endless white plains in their place) - Vegnagun in (Final Fantasy X-2Final Fantasy X-2is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square for Sony's PlayStation 2. It was released in 2003 and is the sequel to the best-selling 2001 game Final Fantasy X...
) can be seen instigating the destruction of Spira in a "bad ending". - Smoke's Destroy-The-Earth fatalityMortal Kombat 3Mortal Kombat 3 is a fighting game developed by Midway and released in 1995, first as an arcade game. It is the third game in the Mortal Kombat series...
and Grey-Goo endingMortal Kombat: ArmageddonMortal Kombat: Armageddon is the seventh game in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. The PlayStation 2 version was released in stores on October 11, 2006 while the Xbox version was released on the October 16, with a Wii version released on May 29, 2007 in North America.The game was not released...
(Mortal Kombat) - Planet Busters of (Sid Meier's Alpha CentauriSid Meier's Alpha CentauriSid Meier's Alpha Centauri is the critically acclaimed science fiction 4X turn-based strategy video game sequel to the Civilization series. Sid Meier, designer of Civilization, and Brian Reynolds, designer of Civilization II, developed Alpha Centauri after they left MicroProse to join the newly...
) destructive power ranges from destroying a city to a continent depending on their power source. When used, these weapons increased the chance of the planet's native life seeking to annihilate humanity. In the novelizations, four Gravitational singularityGravitational singularityA gravitational singularity or spacetime singularity is a location where the quantities that are used to measure the gravitational field become infinite in a way that does not depend on the coordinate system...
powered Planet Busters used by the Believer's trigger such an event. - Cannon Seed (Galaxian 3Galaxian 3Galaxian 3 is an arcade game released by Namco in 1994. It is a walk-in style arcade game run on a hybrid of laserdisc and traditional arcade hardware and it uses two synchronized laserdisc players to create the pre-rendered backgrounds of the game...
) - Sorcery Globe (Star Ocean: The Second Story) disrupts a planets 'Expel's' orbit and causes it to crash into Energy Nede.
- Planet Buster in SporeSpore (2008 video game)Spore is a multi-genre single-player god game developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. The game was released for the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems in September 2008 as Spore...
(Space stage), a superweapon feared by all, capable of destroying an entire planet with a single blast. Using it near another empire is considered to be an act of war. - The USG Ishimura in Dead SpaceDead Space (video game)Dead Space is a survival horror third-person shooter video game, developed by EA Redwood Shores for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was made available on Steam on October 20, 2008...
, a deep space mining vessel that extracts minerals from a planet by ripping away large chunks of the crust, and the other planet cracker vessels built after it. The Ishimura herself is said to have cracked 34 planets during her 62-year service. Also, the pre-Ishimura space stations used to "harvest" TitanTitan (moon)Titan , or Saturn VI, is the largest moon of Saturn, the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found....
. - The Parasite Machine that sucks energy from the Earth's core in Urban AssaultUrban AssaultUrban Assault is a combined first-person shooter and real-time strategy computer game developed by the German company TerraTools and published by Microsoft. It was released on July 31, 1998....
- In Mass EffectMass EffectMass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows by Demiurge Studios. The Xbox 360 version was released worldwide in November 2007 published by Microsoft Game Studios...
, mass accelerators are the primary weapon design, ranging from small arms to multi-kilometer capital ship cannons. One weapon's projectile was powerful enough for a glancing blow to result in a large rift on a planet's surface, comparable to Valles MarinerisValles MarinerisValles Marineris is a system of canyons that runs along the Martian surface east of the Tharsis region...
. Also, various planet-grade WMDs are listed: nuclear weapons of varying yield, asteroids and space stations, and invasive species. Mass Effect 2: Arrival DLC offers the penultimum of kinetic weaponry: an asteroid equipped with a faster-than-light drive can match the power of a supernova; that's how much damage it takes to destroy a mass relay. - The Giant of Bab-il in Final Fantasy IVFinal Fantasy IVis a role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1991 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game was originally released for the Super Famicom in Japan and has since then been rereleased for many other platforms with varying modifications. An enhanced remake with 3D graphics...
is teleported to the Blue Planet/Earth for the express purpose of annihilating all life on the planet. - In Final Fantasy VFinal Fantasy Vis a medieval-fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1992 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game first appeared only in Japan on Nintendo's Super Famicom . It has been ported with minor differences to Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance...
, Exdeath unleashes the power of the Void on the world; Neo-Exdeath (an amalgamation of Exdeath and all the creatures trapped in the Rift) clearly implies that the Void could destroy all life in the universe. - In Final Fantasy IXFinal Fantasy IXis a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the ninth title in the Final Fantasy series. The game introduced new features to the series like the 'Active Time Event', 'Mognet' and a unique equipment and skill system.Final Fantasy IXs...
, Kuja destroys everything within his homeplanet with a Ultima spell.
Dragon Ball Z
Most of the fighting characters in Dragon Ball Z have the power to destroy a planet, with the exception of ordinary human supporting characters.Kiddy GradeKiddy Gradeis a 24 episode science fiction anime series produced in 2002 and created by gímik and Gonzo Digimation and directed by Keiji Gotoh. The series is licensed and distributed in North America by FUNimation Entertainment. The series currently airs on the FUNimation Channel in both its "syndicated...
- Geo-Sort technology has the ability to reconfigure large amounts of matter at the molecular level; thus it can not only destroy entire planets, but make hostile planets habitable through terraforming.
- The Deucalion presumably has this capability as well, since it is outfitted with Geo-Sort technology (but this is never demonstrated in the series).
Sailor MoonSailor MoonSailor Moon, known as , is a media franchise created by manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a team of magical girls, and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical-girl genre itself...
One of the Outer Senshi, Sailor Saturn, can destroy an entire planet by just dropping her weapon (the Silence Glaive) with the intent to destroy, no attack calling necessary.Gall ForceGall Forceis a metaseries of science fiction anime OVA by the studio Artmic, with production by Youmex and AIC. The original character designs were by Kenichi Sonoda, though these were dropped for the Gall Force Revolution remake .-Star Front Gall Force:This was the origin and precursor to the Gall Force...
In the first 3 Gall Force movies both sides the Solnoid and Paranoid Axis forces have had both their home worlds destroyed in a war of mutual assured destructionMutual assured destruction
Mutual Assured Destruction, or mutually assured destruction , is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons of mass destruction by two opposing sides would effectively result in the complete, utter and irrevocable annihilation of...
. They plan on using the last of their planet destroyers and include the new system destroyers in their final battle plans.
Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love
In the final battle with Kain, who is apparently powerful enough to destroy a planet on his own. Washu decides to have Kiyone make use of a "Dimensional Cannon". In spite of Kiyone's protests that you shouldn't even use it on a city because it is made for taking out small galaxies."Space Battleship YamatoSpace Battleship Yamatois a Japanese science fiction anime series featuring an eponymous spacecraft. It is also known to English-speaking audiences as Space Cruiser Yamato; an English-dubbed and heavily edited version of the series was broadcast on North American and Australian television as Star Blazers...
(Star Blazers)"
Throughout the series, movies, all adaptations, rebirth and the recent live action version is the Yamato and her fleet mates Wave motion gun capable of obliterating most moon and planetary sized objects. Also included would be the Dessler (Desslock) cannon, built on the same principle (TachyonTachyon
A tachyon is a hypothetical subatomic particle that always moves faster than light. In the language of special relativity, a tachyon would be a particle with space-like four-momentum and imaginary proper time. A tachyon would be constrained to the space-like portion of the energy-momentum graph...
Compression), the Gamilon planet bombs, and the Comet empire's weapon deployed at the end of season 2.
Eureka seveNEureka SevenEureka Seven, known in Japan as , is a mecha anime TV series by Bones. Eureka Seven tells the story of Renton Thurston and the outlaw group Gekkostate, his relationship with the enigmatic mecha pilot Eureka, and the mystery of the Coralians....
At the end of the series, it is established that the Coralians have the ability to engulf a planet and form their own version of a planetary crust, although they did not exercise it with the purpose of making a planet uninhabitable.Other media
- Buster Machine IIIBuster Machine IIIBuster Machine III Buster Machine III Buster Machine III (バスターマシン三号）, also known as the Black Hole Bomb（ブラックホール爆弾）, is a superweapon of megastructure scale that appears in the science fiction anime OVA Aim for the Top! Gunbuster.-Description:...
, aka the Black Hole Bomb in GunbusterGunbusterGunbuster, known in Japan as is a six episode anime OVA series created by Gainax in 1988. It was the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, best known as the director of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The title is a combination of the titles of classic tennis anime Aim for the Ace!, whose plot inspired...
uses the mass of a gas giant planet (specifically, JupiterJupiterJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
) to create a black hole which ultimately destroys the center of the Milky Way galaxy. - GalactusGalactusGalactus is a fictional character appearing in comic books and other publications published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character debuted in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue story later known as "The Galactus...
, a being from the Marvel Comics UniverseMarvel UniverseThe Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
, specifically the Fantastic FourFantastic FourThe Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
books, consumes planets for their energy in order to sustain himself. He is often aided in this process by one of his heralds, the most famous among them being the Silver SurferSilver SurferThe Silver Surfer is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Jack Kirby. The character first appears in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue arc that fans call "The Galactus Trilogy"....
. His name is given to Galactus Syndrome. Also, there exists a great number of characters capable of planet busting. - In DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, the WarworldWarworldWarworld is a fictional artificial planet published in several stories by DC Comics, most of which feature Superman. It first appeared in DC Comics Presents #27 , and was created by Len Wein and Jim Starlin.-History:...
is a planet killer. As in Marvel, there is a great number of characters who can destroy planets. - The GamilonSpace Battleship Yamato planetsThis is a list of fictional planets and other significant celestial bodies featured in the anime series Space Battleship Yamato and its American dub, Star Blazers....
planet bombs and Wave motion gun from the TV series Space Battleship YamatoSpace Battleship Yamatois a Japanese science fiction anime series featuring an eponymous spacecraft. It is also known to English-speaking audiences as Space Cruiser Yamato; an English-dubbed and heavily edited version of the series was broadcast on North American and Australian television as Star Blazers...
(a.k.a. Star Blazers in the U.S.). - Big Venus (The Big OThe Big Ois a Japanese animated television series created by director Kazuyoshi Katayama and designer Keiichi Sato for Sunrise Studios. The writing staff was assembled by the series' head writer, Chiaki J. Konaka....
). - Serpentera from Power RangersPower RangersPower Rangers is a long-running American entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live action children's television series featuring teams of costumed heroes...
. - Erdammeru the Void-Hound (DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
) - In Getter Robo ArmageddonGetter Robo Armageddon, often simply referred to as Change!! Getter Robo in Japan, is an original video animation released in 1998 by Bandai Visual, based on the manga and anime series Getter Robo, created by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa...
, the protagonists manage to create a massive Getter Beam Tomahawk powerful enough to slice through planets. Likewise, in some Getter Robo manga, an entire fleet of impossibly enormous Getter Emperors exist. These super-mecha are so large, they create their own gravity field that can actually shatter planets as they pass. - In VandreadVandreadis a Japanese anime series directed by Takeshi Mori and created by Gonzo and Media Factory animation studios. It also utilizes well-animated characters and cleanly rendered CG action sequences....
, A special variant of harvest ship can destroy planets that are not needed by Earth anymore. - In the Eek! The CatEek! The CatEek! The Cat is an American and Canadian animated series, created by Savage Steve Holland and Bill Kopp and produced by Fox Kids and Savage Studios with animation by Nelvana, that ran from September 11, 1992, to August 1, 1997.-Premise:Eek! the Cat is about a purple cat named Eek whose motto is...
episode Eek vs. The Flying Saucers, aliens called Zoltarians threaten to blow up the earth using a death ray powered by Eek's 300 pound girlfriend, Annabelle, and want to do so because Earth "obstructs our view of Uranus." - In the 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...
episode A Night Before Doomsday an antimatter bomb capable of destroying all life on earth is revealed and its activation by the NeosapienNeosapienThe Neosapiens , featured in the science fiction animated television series Exosquad, are a fictional race of genetically engineered sentient humanoids.-Background:...
leader Phaeton dying of Automutation Syndrome is prevented in the episode Abandon Hope. - In Saint SeiyaSaint Seiya, also known as Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac or simply Knights of the Zodiac, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada and serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1986 to 1991, and adapted into an anime TV series by Toei Animation from 1986 to 1989.The story follows...
a great amount of characters can destroy Planets - In the cartoon Invader ZimInvader ZimInvader Zim is an American animated television series created by Jhonen Vasquez. It was produced by and subsequently aired on Nickelodeon. The series revolves around an extraterrestrial named Zim from the planet Irk, and his ongoing mission to conquer and destroy Earth...
, the Planet Jackers tried to feed the Earth to their sun to keep it from going out. - In GunbusterGunbusterGunbuster, known in Japan as is a six episode anime OVA series created by Gainax in 1988. It was the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, best known as the director of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The title is a combination of the titles of classic tennis anime Aim for the Ace!, whose plot inspired...
, Buster Machine #7 and #19 work in tandem to destroy an Earth-sized life form and a black hole which it carries in tow. - In Gunbuster's sequel series: DiebusterDiebusterDiebuster, known in Japan as is a six episode anime Original Video Animation series created by Gainax in 2004.The first episode was aired on October 3, 2004, while the final episode was released on August 14, 2005. A movie, officially titled retells and recaps the end of the first Gunbuster OVA...
, the android Buster Machine #7 splits the moon Titan in half. - The Super RobotSuper Robotis a term used in manga and anime to describe a giant robot or mecha, with an arsenal of fantastic super-powered weapons, extreme resistance to damage unless the plot calls for it, sometimes transformable or combined from two or more robots and/or vehicles usually piloted by young, daring heroes,...
MazinkaiserMazinkaiseris an anime OVA series, inspired by Go Nagai's Mazinger series. The OVA follows Kouji Kabuto, Tetsuya Tsurugi and the rest of the "Mazinger Team" as they fight against Dr. Hell's Mechanical Beasts....
is said to be capable of blasting a hole right down to a planet's core with a full-powered Fire Blaster. - The VokVokThe Vok are a race of fictional aliens from the Transformers universe.-Beast Wars:In Transformers history, the Vok were mysterious and powerful aliens who had evolved beyond the corporeal world. Their base of operations—be it another planet, location in space, or entire dimension—is dubbed "Nexus...
second MoonMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
(Beast Wars: Transformers) (could only destroy energon-rich worlds) - The Annihilatrix from Frisky DingoFrisky DingoFrisky Dingo is an American animated cartoon series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Adult Swim. The series revolved around the conflict between a supervillain named Killface and a superhero named Awesome X, and much of the show's humor focuses on parodying superhero and action movie...
is designed to launch Earth into the sun.. - The Beast Planet in Shadow RaidersShadow RaidersShadow Raiders is an animated television series produced by Mainframe Entertainment that aired from 1998 to 1999. The show was loosely based on the Trendmasters toy line, War Planets. The original character designs were created by ReBoot designer, Brendan McCarthy...
. - The Desiccator in Dark Reign.
- The Ideon Sword (capable of slicing a planet in half) and the Ideon Gun (capable of cutting large swaths of destruction encompassing thousands of ships and celestial bodies) from Space Runaway IdeonSpace Runaway Ideonis a 1980 anime television series produced by Sunrise.-Production:Ideon was created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, and was the series he produced immediately following his most famous work, Mobile Suit Gundam....
. In addition, when ultimately destroyed, the resulting force caused by the detonation of its power source could potentially destroy the universe. - The Planet and System Killers in Gall ForceGall Forceis a metaseries of science fiction anime OVA by the studio Artmic, with production by Youmex and AIC. The original character designs were by Kenichi Sonoda, though these were dropped for the Gall Force Revolution remake .-Star Front Gall Force:This was the origin and precursor to the Gall Force...
. - The Dark Heart in Justice League UnlimitedJustice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
. - In the MacrossMacrossis a series of science fiction mecha anime, directed by Shōji Kawamori of Studio Nue in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth/Humanity after the year 1999. It consists of three TV series, four movies, six OVAs, one light novel and five manga series, all sponsored by Big West...
Saga segment of RobotechRobotechRobotech is an 85-episode science fiction anime adaptation produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. and first released in the United States in 1985...
, when the entire ZentradiZentradiThe are a fictional, militastic race of alien, humanoid giants and often the main antagonist in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross anime series and its Robotech adaptation....
main fleet was brought together it could destroy the entire surface of a planet through large bombardments of its energy weapons. In Robotech continuity, the Neutron-S missile is thought to be an extremely powerful bomb, but it turns out to be a planet killer since it creates artificial singularities and hence turns any target into a black hole. - Rave MasterRave Master, is a manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. The manga was serialized in Shōnen Magazine from July 1999 through July 2005, and published in thirty-five tankōbon by Kodansha. The manga series was licensed for an English release in North America by Tokyopop until Kodansha allowed...
describes two powers capable of wiping out all life: the power of Etherion contained in the body of ElieElie (Rave Master)Elie whose real name is Resha Valentine, is a fictional character of the Studio Deen anime and manga series, Rave Master. She is voiced by Ayako Kawasumi in the original Japanese version and by Michelle Ruff in the English dub.-Elie:...
and the being called Endless. - The largely undescribed cascade missile in Sluggy FreelanceSluggy FreelanceSluggy Freelance is a popular, long-running daily webcomic written and drawn by Pete Abrams. The comic has over 100,000 daily readers and premiered on August 25, 1997...
(in the science fictionScience fictionScience 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...
parodyParodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
in chapter 24, "GOFOTRON Champion of the Cosmos"). It's designed to destroy a single planet, but it's theorized that firing it into a star could initiate a chain reaction capable of destroying all life in the entire universe. - In the Manga Keroro Gunsou, there is a character who is related to Keroro who can destroy planets.
Secondary literature
In his discussion of the tradition of apocalyptic cinema Mitchell exemplifies what the film Doomsday Machine or Escape from Planet Earth characterizes as a "planet-buster"as belonging to the class of "Doomsday device". Secondary literature can also use terms like "planet-cracker" or "planet-busting superweapon".
Science journalism
In the field of science journalismScience journalism
Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically involves interactions between scientists, journalists and the public, and is still evolving.-Aim of science journalism:...
, a 1962 article examined various means "to put an end to the world", concentrating on "Doomsday Bombs".
As astronomer Phil Plait has pointed out, the amount of energy necessary to shatter an Earth-sized planet is mindbogglingly large: "about 2 x 1032 Joules.... about as much energy as the sun puts out in a week."