Portals in science fiction
Encyclopedia
A portal in science fiction
and fantasy
is a magic
al or technological
doorway that connects two distant locations separated by spacetime
. It usually consists of two or more gateways, with an object entering one gateway leaving via the other instantaneously.
Places that a portal will link to include a different spot in the same universe (in which case it might be an alternative for teleportation
); a parallel world (inter-dimensional portal); the past or the future (time portal
); and other planes of existence, such as heaven
, hell
or other afterworld
s. A parallel world, such as C. S. Lewis
's Wood between the Worlds
in his Chronicles of Narnia, may exist solely to contain multiple portals, perhaps to every parallel world in existence.
Portals are similar to the cosmological concept of a wormhole
, and some portals work using wormholes.
, in Star Trek
. The device could open spacetime
portals to any point in history on any world in the universe. It was ring-shaped, with a watery event horizon. This device was used in the Star Trek: The Original Series
episode "The City on the Edge of Forever
" in 1967. Star Trek also showed portals with angular frames and ripple effects such as the one in the Star Trek: The Next Generation
episode "Contagion
".
The Stargate
franchise often uses portals, in the form of large stone rings that are placed on planets throughout the galaxy. One must only "dial" the respective address, and a wormhole will be formed.
Other examples include the warp gates in Jak 3
, which are rings containing a rippling blue substance used for transportation. A portal in ReBoot
, created by the villainous character Megabyte, displays a rippling event horizon. The StarCraft series
features warp gates that are similar in style and function. In Star Trek: Voyager
and the game Star Trek: Armada II
, the Borg have a device known as a Transwarp Conduit. The aperture of the conduit at the transwarp hub resembles the event horizon of a Stargate crossed with the wormhole effect created by the Stargate.
Another science fiction example is the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon
, where the dimensional portals allow fast transportation between distant locations, and some portals are even used to travel in time. The portals are connected to machines and often look like a pulsating light in different colors.
In the anime
Cowboy Bebop
, hyperspace gates allow for faster—though not instantaneous—travel between the planets and colonies of our solar system. These gates, however, were imperfect when constructed.
Portals were also seen on television even earlier. They appeared in the series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
(1979–1981), where travel between stars was also accomplished by a Stargate network.
A more lighthearted use of portals can be found in the Japanese comic and anime series Doraemon
, where the Anywhere Door is used to travel from any point to another. This door looks like and operates like an ordinary household door.
In the Diana Wynne Jones
novel Howl's Moving Castle
and its animated film version
, the titular castle's main entrance is a door with a four color dial above it, with each color setting leading to a different location upon opening the door, only one of which is the actual surroundings of the castle.
novel series, Dan Simmons
imagines a network of portals called "farcasters" which connect most human-inhabited planets. The form these portals take can vary, and they may be opaque, completely transparent, or semi-transparent. The completely transparent variety is very commonly used and effectively turns all connected places into one giant WorldWeb where distance becomes almost meaningless. Some of the more opulent occupants may have houses where each room is built on a different planet, and some rooms themselves may be partially built in several different physical locations but be joined by farcaster portals to form one complete room.
Stephen Robinett's book Stargate
(1976) revolves around the corporate side of building extra-dimensional and/or transportational stargates. In the novel, the stargate is given the name Jenson Gate, after the fictional company that builds it. Andre Norton
's 1958 novel Star Gate may have been the first to use that term for such portals. The plot of Robert A. Heinlein's
Tunnel in the Sky
(1955) uses a portal. Raymond Jones' Man of Two Worlds
(aka Renaissance) (1944) employs a portal that turns out to be a fraud.
The Shi'ar
, an extraterrestrial race introduced by Marvel Comics
in 1976, also utilize a network of stargates. The Shi'ar utilize both planet-based stargates (for personal travel) and enormous space-based versions (equivalent to the Ori supergate and used as portals for spaceships), though both are usually depicted without any physical structure to contain the wormhole. They are used for travel across great distances.
Since the introduction of the stargate on the big screen other authors have referenced the stargate device. Authors Lynn Picknett
and Clive Prince also write of The Stargate Conspiracy: The Truth About Extraterrestrial Life and the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt. The book details an alternative theory links the term stargate with Egypt's past: Either the pyramid itself is a gateway to the stars (because of the shafts pointing to a star) or a construction of Heaven on Earth based on geographical location of the great and outlying pyramids (see: Orion
).
The game Portal and its sequel, Portal 2
created by Valve Corporation
features a portal-creating device as a central game mechanic which is used to solve puzzles and reach otherwise-inaccessible destinations. The portals are depicted with few special visual effects; instead, they are shown as representations of the destination, bordered by blue or orange particle effects. In the video game Half-Life, portals are displayed as glowing balls of energy which instantly teleport the user to an inversely colored exit point.
In the game called Minecraft
, it is possible to build a portal to a place called "The Nether" by making a frame of obsidian
, with a 3×2 rectangle in the centre, then setting it on fire using Flint and Steel. When lit, the frame will be filled with blocks resembling whirlpools. If a player stands in the portal for long enough, he or she will be transported to "The Nether," an alternate in-game universe consisting of mainly caves, lava, ruins, mushrooms, neutral zombie pigmen, Magma-slime creatures, and fire shooting "Ghasts" and "Blazes".
The role of a portal serves the tunnel network of GLA
in the game Command and Conquer Generals. This is a building that can garrison some units. These units can exit from every tunnel network of their base without any relay. It is supposed that they travel underground with relatively high velocities, but they seem to be teleported.
Portals are often used in science fiction to move protagonists into new territory. In video games the concept is often used to allow the player to cover territory that has already been explored very quickly. A related book plot that is commonly used is the struggle to get to the opposite end of a new gate for the first time, before it can be used. The 1998 film Lost in Space
featured a space-bound hypergate system. The premise of the film is that the Robinson family will pilot a spaceship to Alpha Centauri
, in order to complete construction of another hypergate there, which will allow instantanous travel between Earth and Alpha Centauri.
In the cartoon series Jackie Chan Adventures
, eight demons were sealed away using portals to trap each of them in a different realm. The portals could be opened again, and all were. The demons were released but later sealed back into the netherworld. A spell was used on each portal to seal it forever, insuring that the demons could never escape again. In Transformers
, the Decepticons built the Space Bridge, which serves a similar purpose. A large round ring built on Earth
(lying flat) would create a subspace tunnel to a destination tower on Cybertron
. One key difference in function was that matter was not broken apart for transport.
Stargate-like devices are abundant in video games, as they can be used to split a game neatly into levels
. The video games Primal
and Turok the Dinosaur Hunter
feature gateways allowing instantaneous travel between locations to this effect. In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
, a number of ring-shaped dimensional portals allow the main character to travel between Light and Dark versions of the planet Aether. In the game EVE Online
, a large object called a "stargate" lets the player travel between solar systems, and in Homeworld 2
, Hyperspace Gates serve as the centerpiece of one of the game's final missions, in which massive rings create wormholes capable of transporting matter great distances. In Super Mario 64
and its follow up, Super Mario Sunshine
, various paintings and warp pipes lead to levels, all connected by a bigger level that houses these portals.
In Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, the alien race Scrin uses portals to transport their armies onto and across the battlefields. The description of their Gravity Stabilizer states that the structure compensates for Earth's intense gravity and magnetic field, "allowing Alien spacecraft to execute short-range teleportation jumps directly to the battlefield".
In a few MMORPG
s, portals are very widespread. In RuneScape
, portals can be used domestically. Players can install portal chambers in their houses that link to different cities in the world, allowing free transport to these places for both them and any visitors to their houses. In World of Warcraft
, mages can summon portals that can teleport the mages and their group members to various cities.
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...
and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
is a magic
Magic (fantasy)
Magic in fiction is the endowing of fictional characters or objects with magical powers.Such magic often serves as a plot device, the source of magical artifacts and their quests...
al or technological
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
doorway that connects two distant locations separated by spacetime
Spacetime
In physics, spacetime is any mathematical model that combines space and time into a single continuum. Spacetime is usually interpreted with space as being three-dimensional and time playing the role of a fourth dimension that is of a different sort from the spatial dimensions...
. It usually consists of two or more gateways, with an object entering one gateway leaving via the other instantaneously.
Places that a portal will link to include a different spot in the same universe (in which case it might be an alternative for teleportation
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
); a parallel world (inter-dimensional portal); the past or the future (time portal
Time portal
Time portals are doorways in time, employed in various fiction genres, especially science fiction and fantasy, to transport characters to the past or future....
); and other planes of existence, such as heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
or other afterworld
Afterworld
Afterworld may refer to:* Afterworld, a collectible card game from Score Entertainment* "Afterworld", a song on Tiger Army's 2007 album Music from Regions Beyond* "Afterworld" , a song by the alternative metal band CKY...
s. A parallel world, such as C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
's Wood between the Worlds
Wood between the Worlds
The Wood between the Worlds is a linking room location in The Magician's Nephew, part of The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis.-The Magician's Nephew:...
in his Chronicles of Narnia, may exist solely to contain multiple portals, perhaps to every parallel world in existence.
Portals are similar to the cosmological concept of a wormhole
Wormhole
In 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...
, and some portals work using wormholes.
Film and television
In film and television, a portal is often portrayed using a ripple effect. One of the earliest examples is the Guardian of ForeverGuardian of Forever
The Guardian of Forever is a time portal portrayed in the fictional universe of Star Trek.-Fictional origins:In the Star Trek universe, analysis of the ruins on the Guardian's home world suggests it may be billions of years old but no one knows who built the Guardian...
, in 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...
. The device could open spacetime
Spacetime
In physics, spacetime is any mathematical model that combines space and time into a single continuum. Spacetime is usually interpreted with space as being three-dimensional and time playing the role of a fourth dimension that is of a different sort from the spatial dimensions...
portals to any point in history on any world in the universe. It was ring-shaped, with a watery event horizon. This device was used in the Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
episode "The City on the Edge of Forever
The City on the Edge of Forever (TOS episode)
"The City on the Edge of Forever" is the penultimate episode of the first season of the television series Star Trek. It is episode #28, production #28, first broadcast on April 6, 1967. It was repeated on August 31, 1967 and marked the last time that NBC telecast an episode of the series on...
" in 1967. Star Trek also showed portals with angular frames and ripple effects such as the one in the Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
episode "Contagion
Contagion (TNG episode)
-Overview:Picard and company try to protect the Enterprise against a catastrophic malfunction and simultaneously unlock the secrets of the once-powerful Iconian empire while keeping those secrets from the watchful Romulans.-Plot:...
".
The Stargate
Stargate
Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
franchise often uses portals, in the form of large stone rings that are placed on planets throughout the galaxy. One must only "dial" the respective address, and a wormhole will be formed.
Other examples include the warp gates in Jak 3
Jak 3
Jak 3 is a platform game for Sony's PlayStation 2 console developed by Naughty Dog. It is the third game in the main Jak and Daxter series. Jak 3 was completely localized and dubbed in Japanese, but was not released in Japan due to Jak IIs poor sales...
, which are rings containing a rippling blue substance used for transportation. A portal in ReBoot
ReBoot
ReBoot is a Canadian CGI-animated action-adventure cartoon series that originally aired from 1994 to 2001. It was produced by Vancouver-based production company Mainframe Entertainment, Alliance Communications, BLT Productions and created by Gavin Blair, Ian Pearson, Phil Mitchell and John Grace,...
, created by the villainous character Megabyte, displays a rippling event horizon. The StarCraft series
StarCraft (series)
StarCraft is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series centers on a galactic struggle for dominance between three species—the adaptable and mobile Terrans, the insectoid Zerg, and the enigmatic Protoss—in a...
features warp gates that are similar in style and function. In Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
and the game Star Trek: Armada II
Star Trek: Armada II
Star Trek: Armada II is a real time strategy computer game published by Activision in 2001, based upon the Star Trek universe. The game was developed by Mad Doc Software. It is the sequel to Star Trek: Armada. Star Trek: Armada II was released by Activision a year after they acquired the full...
, the Borg have a device known as a Transwarp Conduit. The aperture of the conduit at the transwarp hub resembles the event horizon of a Stargate crossed with the wormhole effect created by the Stargate.
Another science fiction example is the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American animated television series produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson. The pilot was shown during the week of December 28, 1987 in syndication as a five part miniseries and began its official run on October 1, 1988...
, where the dimensional portals allow fast transportation between distant locations, and some portals are even used to travel in time. The portals are connected to machines and often look like a pulsating light in different colors.
In the anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop
is a critically acclaimed and award-winning 1998 Japanese anime series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto, and produced by Sunrise. Its 26 episodes comprise a complete storyline: set in 2071, the series follows the adventures, misadventures and tragedies of five bounty...
, hyperspace gates allow for faster—though not instantaneous—travel between the planets and colonies of our solar system. These gates, however, were imperfect when constructed.
Portals were also seen on television even earlier. They appeared in the series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios. The series ran for two seasons between 1979–1981, and the feature-length pilot episode for the series was released as a theatrical film several months before the series aired....
(1979–1981), where travel between stars was also accomplished by a Stargate network.
A more lighthearted use of portals can be found in the Japanese comic and anime series Doraemon
Doraemon
is a Japanese manga series created by Fujiko F. Fujio which later became an anime series and an Asian franchise...
, where the Anywhere Door is used to travel from any point to another. This door looks like and operates like an ordinary household door.
In the Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones was a British writer, principally of fantasy novels for children and adults, as well as a small amount of non-fiction...
novel Howl's Moving Castle
Howl's Moving Castle
Howl's Moving Castle is a young adult fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones, first published in 1986. It won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and was named an ALA Notable Book for both children and young adults. In 2004 it was adapted as an Academy Award-nominated animated film by Hayao...
and its animated film version
Howl's Moving Castle (film)
is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli and based on the novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones...
, the titular castle's main entrance is a door with a four color dial above it, with each color setting leading to a different location upon opening the door, only one of which is the actual surroundings of the castle.
Literature
In his Hyperion CantosHyperion Cantos
The Hyperion Cantos is a series of science fiction novels by Dan Simmons. Set in the far future, and focusing more on plot and story development than technical detail, it falls into the soft science fiction category...
novel series, Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons is an American author most widely known for his Hugo Award-winning science fiction series, known as the Hyperion Cantos, and for his Locus-winning Ilium/Olympos cycle....
imagines a network of portals called "farcasters" which connect most human-inhabited planets. The form these portals take can vary, and they may be opaque, completely transparent, or semi-transparent. The completely transparent variety is very commonly used and effectively turns all connected places into one giant WorldWeb where distance becomes almost meaningless. Some of the more opulent occupants may have houses where each room is built on a different planet, and some rooms themselves may be partially built in several different physical locations but be joined by farcaster portals to form one complete room.
Stephen Robinett's book Stargate
Stargate
Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
(1976) revolves around the corporate side of building extra-dimensional and/or transportational stargates. In the novel, the stargate is given the name Jenson Gate, after the fictional company that builds it. Andre Norton
Andre Norton
Andre Alice Norton, née Alice Mary Norton was an American science fiction and fantasy author under the noms de plume Andre Norton, Andrew North and Allen Weston...
's 1958 novel Star Gate may have been the first to use that term for such portals. The plot of Robert A. Heinlein's
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
Tunnel in the Sky
Tunnel in the Sky
Tunnel in the Sky is a science fiction book written by Robert A. Heinlein and published in 1955 by Scribner's as one of the Heinlein juveniles. The story describes a group of students sent on a survival test to an uninhabited planet...
(1955) uses a portal. Raymond Jones' Man of Two Worlds
Man of Two Worlds
Man of Two Worlds is a novel written by Brian and Frank Herbert.-Plot summary :On the distant planet Dreenor lives the most powerful species in the Galaxy. All of the Universe is the creation of the Dreens, who possess the power of "idmaging", turning their thoughts into reality. They can create...
(aka Renaissance) (1944) employs a portal that turns out to be a fraud.
The Shi'ar
Shi'ar
The Shi'ar are a fictional species of aliens in the Marvel Comics universe. The Shi'ar Empire also called the Aerie, is a vast collection of alien species, cultures and worlds situated close to the Skrull and Kree Empires, and alongside them, is one of the three main alien empires...
, an extraterrestrial race introduced by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
in 1976, also utilize a network of stargates. The Shi'ar utilize both planet-based stargates (for personal travel) and enormous space-based versions (equivalent to the Ori supergate and used as portals for spaceships), though both are usually depicted without any physical structure to contain the wormhole. They are used for travel across great distances.
Since the introduction of the stargate on the big screen other authors have referenced the stargate device. Authors Lynn Picknett
Lynn Picknett
Lynn Picknett is a writer, researcher, and lecturer on the paranormal, the occult, and historical and religious mysteries.-Life:Born in Folkestone, Kent, England in April 1947, Picknett grew up in a haunted house in York, attending Park Grove Junior School and Queen Anne Grammar School...
and Clive Prince also write of The Stargate Conspiracy: The Truth About Extraterrestrial Life and the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt. The book details an alternative theory links the term stargate with Egypt's past: Either the pyramid itself is a gateway to the stars (because of the shafts pointing to a star) or a construction of Heaven on Earth based on geographical location of the great and outlying pyramids (see: Orion
Orion (constellation)
Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky...
).
Games
Portal 2
Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle-platform video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The sequel to the 2007 video game Portal, it was announced on March 5, 2010, following a week-long alternate reality game based on new patches to the original game...
created by Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
features a portal-creating device as a central game mechanic which is used to solve puzzles and reach otherwise-inaccessible destinations. The portals are depicted with few special visual effects; instead, they are shown as representations of the destination, bordered by blue or orange particle effects. In the video game Half-Life, portals are displayed as glowing balls of energy which instantly teleport the user to an inversely colored exit point.
In the game called Minecraft
Minecraft
Minecraft is a sandbox-building independent video game written in Java originally by Swedish creator Markus "Notch" Persson and now by his company, Mojang, formed from the proceeds of the game. It was released as an alpha on May 17, 2009, with a beta version on December 20, 2010...
, it is possible to build a portal to a place called "The Nether" by making a frame of obsidian
Obsidian
Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock.It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimum crystal growth...
, with a 3×2 rectangle in the centre, then setting it on fire using Flint and Steel. When lit, the frame will be filled with blocks resembling whirlpools. If a player stands in the portal for long enough, he or she will be transported to "The Nether," an alternate in-game universe consisting of mainly caves, lava, ruins, mushrooms, neutral zombie pigmen, Magma-slime creatures, and fire shooting "Ghasts" and "Blazes".
The role of a portal serves the tunnel network of GLA
GLA
GLA may refer to:Institutions:* Gangmasters Licensing Authority, a UK regulatory body for gangmasters* General Lighthouse Authority, the generic term for national lighthouse authorities...
in the game Command and Conquer Generals. This is a building that can garrison some units. These units can exit from every tunnel network of their base without any relay. It is supposed that they travel underground with relatively high velocities, but they seem to be teleported.
Common functions
Lost in Space (film)
Lost in Space is a 1998 American science fiction film starring Gary Oldman and William Hurt. The film was shot in London and Shepperton, and produced by New Line Cinema. The plot is adapted from the 1965–1968 CBS television series Lost In Space...
featured a space-bound hypergate system. The premise of the film is that the Robinson family will pilot a spaceship to Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus...
, in order to complete construction of another hypergate there, which will allow instantanous travel between Earth and Alpha Centauri.
In the cartoon series Jackie Chan Adventures
Jackie Chan Adventures
Jackie Chan Adventures is an animated television series chronicling the adventures of a fictionalized version of action film star Jackie Chan. Many of the episodes contain references to Chan's actual works. This series ran on Kids' WB! from September 9, 2000 to July 7, 2005 for a total of 95...
, eight demons were sealed away using portals to trap each of them in a different realm. The portals could be opened again, and all were. The demons were released but later sealed back into the netherworld. A spell was used on each portal to seal it forever, insuring that the demons could never escape again. In Transformers
Transformers
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling.Transformer may also refer to:* ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet computer manufacturer by Asus...
, the Decepticons built the Space Bridge, which serves a similar purpose. A large round ring built on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
(lying flat) would create a subspace tunnel to a destination tower on Cybertron
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
. One key difference in function was that matter was not broken apart for transport.
Stargate-like devices are abundant in video games, as they can be used to split a game neatly into levels
Level (computer and video games)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
. The video games Primal
Primal (video game)
Primal is an action-adventure video game released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2. It was developed by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe aka SCE Studio Cambridge. It tells the story of Jennifer Tate, a 21-year-old woman searching for her boyfriend through a series of demonic realms...
and Turok the Dinosaur Hunter
Turok
Turok is a fictional American comic book character initially in comics from Western Publishing published through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in Four Color Comics #596 , then graduated to his own title, Turok, Son of Stone...
feature gateways allowing instantaneous travel between locations to this effect. In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, known as in Japan, is a first-person, action-adventure video game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the GameCube video game console. It is the seventh game in the Metroid series, a direct sequel to Metroid Prime, and the first game in the series with...
, a number of ring-shaped dimensional portals allow the main character to travel between Light and Dark versions of the planet Aether. In the game EVE Online
EVE Online
Eve Online is a video game by CCP Games. It is a player-driven, persistent-world MMORPG set in a science fiction space setting. Characters pilot customizable ships through a galaxy of over 7,500 star systems. Most star systems are connected to one or more other star systems by means of stargates...
, a large object called a "stargate" lets the player travel between solar systems, and in Homeworld 2
Homeworld 2
Developed 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...
, Hyperspace Gates serve as the centerpiece of one of the game's final missions, in which massive rings create wormholes capable of transporting matter great distances. In Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64
is a platform game, published by Nintendo and developed by its EAD division, for the Nintendo 64. Along with Pilotwings 64, it was one of the launch titles for the console. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and later in North America, Europe, and Australia. Super Mario 64 has sold over...
and its follow up, Super Mario Sunshine
Super Mario Sunshine
is a platforming video game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube. It was released in Japan in July 2002, in North America in August 2002, and in Europe and Australia in October 2002...
, various paintings and warp pipes lead to levels, all connected by a bigger level that houses these portals.
In Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, the alien race Scrin uses portals to transport their armies onto and across the battlefields. The description of their Gravity Stabilizer states that the structure compensates for Earth's intense gravity and magnetic field, "allowing Alien spacecraft to execute short-range teleportation jumps directly to the battlefield".
In a few MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
s, portals are very widespread. In RuneScape
RuneScape
RuneScape is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in January 2001 by Andrew and Paul Gower, and developed and published by Jagex Games Studio. It is a graphical browser game implemented on the client-side in Java, and incorporates 3D rendering...
, portals can be used domestically. Players can install portal chambers in their houses that link to different cities in the world, allowing free transport to these places for both them and any visitors to their houses. In World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
, mages can summon portals that can teleport the mages and their group members to various cities.