Phobos and Deimos in fiction
Encyclopedia
Phobos
and Deimos
, the two moons
of Mars
, are locations frequently mentioned in works of science fiction
.
Phobos (moon)
Phobos is the larger and closer of the two natural satellites of Mars. Both moons were discovered in 1877. With a mean radius of , Phobos is 7.24 times as massive as Deimos...
and Deimos
Deimos (moon)
Deimos is the smaller and outer of Mars's two moons . It is named after Deimos, a figure representing dread in Greek Mythology. Its systematic designation is '.-Discovery:Deimos was discovered by Asaph Hall, Sr...
, the two moons
Mars' natural satellites
Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are thought to be captured asteroids. Both satellites were discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall, and are named after the characters Phobos and Deimos who, in Greek mythology, accompanied their father Ares, god of war, into battle...
of Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, are locations frequently mentioned in works of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
.
Phobos
- In part 3 chapter 3 (the "Voyage to Laputa") of Jonathan SwiftJonathan SwiftJonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
's famous satire Gulliver's TravelsGulliver's TravelsTravels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships, better known simply as Gulliver's Travels , is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of...
, a fictional work written in 1726, the astronomers of Laputa are described as having discovered two satellites of Mars. This was considerably prior to their actual discovery by Asaph HallAsaph HallAsaph Hall III was an American astronomer who is most famous for having discovered the moons of Mars in 1877...
in 1877. - In Edgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
' BarsoomBarsoomBarsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote close to 100 action adventure stories in various genres in the first half of the 20th century, and is now best known as the creator of the character Tarzan...
novels, Phobos is known by the name of Thuria, and is described as "a great and glorious orb, swinging swift across the vaulted dome of the blue-black night, so low that she seemed to graze the hills" (The Chessmen of MarsThe Chessmen of MarsThe Chessmen of Mars is an Edgar Rice Burroughs science fiction novel, the fifth of his famous Barsoom series. Burroughs began writing it in January, 1921, and the finished story was first published in Argosy All-Story Weekly as a six-part serial in the issues for February 18 and 25 and March 4,...
). In reality, Phobos actually appears smaller from Mars than Earth's Moon does from Earth. John Carter of Mars visits a miniature civilization on Thuria in the novel Swords of MarsSwords of MarsSwords of Mars is an science fiction novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the eighth of his Barsoom series. It was first published in the magazine Blue Book Magazine as a six-part serial in the issues for November, 1934-April, 1935. The first book edition was published by Edgar Rice...
. - In the novel The Sands of MarsThe Sands of MarsThe Sands of Mars is Arthur C. Clarke's first published science fiction novel. While he was already popular as a short story writer and as a magazine contributor, The Sands of Mars was also a prelude to Clarke's becoming one of the world's foremost writers of science fiction novels. The story...
by Arthur C Clarke, Mars is terraformed when Phobos is ignited as a second sun using a meson-resonance reaction. - In Clarke's short story 'Hide and Seek' (collected in Expedition to EarthExpedition to EarthExpedition to Earth is a collection of science fiction short stories by Arthur C. Clarke.There are at least two variants of this book's table of contents - in different editions of the book . Both variants include the stories History Lesson and Encounter in the Dawn...
) a man evades capture by landing on Phobos. - In the novel Phobos the Robot Planet (also known as Lost: A Moon) by Paul Capon, Phobos is an enormous computer, the last relic of a long-vanished race of Martians. Phobos learns human languages by listening to radio broadcasts, and kidnaps humans using flying saucers in order to learn about human emotions.
- The first episode of the computer and video gameComputer and video gamesA video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of...
Doom takes place in a UACUnion Aerospace CorporationThe Union Aerospace Corporation is a fictional conglomerate focused on military-industrial research in id Software's science fiction video game series Doom. The corporation is depicted to be involved in advanced weapons development, biological research, space exploration and teleportation. The...
base on Phobos, where it is erroneously depicted as having mountains and an atmosphere with an overcast sky. The moon is also featured in the Doom novelsDoom novelsThe Doom novel series is a series of four near-future science fiction novels co-written by Dafydd ab Hugh and Brad Linaweaver; Knee-Deep in the Dead, Hell on Earth, Infernal Sky, and Endgame...
. - In Kim Stanley RobinsonKim Stanley RobinsonKim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer known for his award-winning Mars trilogy. His work delves into ecological and sociological themes regularly, and many of his novels appear to be the direct result of his own scientific fascinations, such as the fifteen years of research...
's Mars trilogyMars trilogyThe Mars trilogy is a series of award-winning science fiction novels by Kim Stanley Robinson that chronicles the settlement and terraforming of the planet Mars through the intensely personal and detailed viewpoints of a wide variety of characters spanning almost two centuries...
Phobos soon becomes a source of conflict between the Arab community and the rest of the colonists after permission to build a mosqueMosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
there is refused; instead, a city is built within the crater Stickney by the first colonists. Later, the moon is taken over by multinational forces and is then de-orbited by the Martian rebels so that it impacts Mars. Much later, an asteroid that happens to look similar to Phobos is named Pseudophobos and moved into Martian orbit to replace the original body. - Phobos is the final mission in the video game Armored Core 2Armored Core 2Armored Core 2 is a Mecha video game in the Armored Core series, and a launch title for the PlayStation 2 in North America.Armored Core 2 represents the first major graphical overhaul for the series; while the three PlayStation-era games used the same engine with few changes between entries,...
. The game reveals that the moon is actually an artificial satellite created by an extinct Martian civilization. The player must battle to the center to destroy the orbit control mechanism and prevent it from crashing into Mars and destroying the newly formed Martian colonies. - In Greg BearGreg BearGregory Dale Bear is an American science fiction and mainstream author. His work has covered themes of galactic conflict , artificial universes , consciousness and cultural practices , and accelerated evolution...
's Moving MarsMoving MarsMoving Mars is a science fiction novel written by Greg Bear. Published in 1993, it won the 1994 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and was also nominated for the 1994 Hugo, Locus, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards, each in the same category...
, quantum computers allow the Martian colonists to teleport Phobos and Deimos into Earth orbit. This threat forces the Earth military to stand down from its confrontation with Mars. - Phobos is the final level in the PS2 game Zone of the Enders: The 2nd RunnerZone of the Enders: The 2nd RunnerZone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, known in Japan as , is a video game that was developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. The sequel to Zone of the Enders, the game was produced by, and is closely associated with Hideo Kojima. The game is based around mecha combat...
(2003) where it is used to build a battle station called Aumaan, capable of destroying anything in the solar system. The protagonist, Dingo Egret, fights the antagonist, Col. Noman here to stop him from activating it. - The video games Unreal TournamentUnreal TournamentUnreal Tournament is a futuristic first-person shooter video game co-developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. It was published in 1999 by GT Interactive. Retrospectively, the game has also been referred to as UT99 or UT Classic to differentiate it from its numbered sequels...
and Unreal Tournament 2004Unreal Tournament 2004Unreal Tournament 2004, also known as UT2K4 and UT2004, is a futuristic first-person shooter computer game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes...
contain a deathmatch arena located on a satellite base of Phobos. - Parts of Leather Goddesses of PhobosLeather Goddesses of PhobosLeather Goddesses of Phobos is an interactive fiction computer game written by Steve Meretzky and published by Infocom in 1986. Like many other Infocom titles, it was released for the IBM PC , Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Apple II, Apple Macintosh, Atari ST and Commodore 64 computers...
, the interactive fictionInteractive fictionInteractive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
game from InfocomInfocomInfocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....
, take place in fanciful interpretations of the environments of Phobos, Mars, and Venus. - In the Noon UniverseNoon UniverseThe Noon Universe is a fictional future setting for a number of hard science fiction novels written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The universe is named after Noon: 22nd Century, the chronologically first novel from the series...
, Phobos is discovered to be an artificial satellite, most likely, built by the WanderersWanderers (Noon Universe)Wanderers are a fictional alien race from the Noon Universe created by Strugatsky brothers. Their homeworld is unknown. No official contact between Earth and Wanderers has ever been registered, although they've contacted humans from other planets, e.g...
. - A portion of Caitlin R. KiernanCaitlin R. KiernanCaitlín Rebekah Kiernan is the author of many science fiction and dark fantasy works, including seven novels, many comic books, more than one hundred published short stories, novellas, and vignettes, and numerous scientific papers.- Overview :Born in Dublin, Ireland, she moved to the United States...
's story Zero Summer (2006) is set on Phobos. - Phobos appears in two stories by 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...
. In Great Wall of Mars where the Conjoiners secretly construct at starship to escape their imprisonment on Mars. Century RainCentury RainCentury Rain is a 2004 noir science fiction alternate history mystery novel by Welsh author Alastair Reynolds .- Plot summary :...
has Phobos as the location of a secret base which holds an ancient relic that opens a portal to the far side of the galaxy. - The first level of the PlayStation 2PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
video game RTX Red RockRTX Red RockRTX Red Rock is an action-adventure game developed and published by LucasArts for the PlayStation 2. It was announced and later canceled for the Nintendo GameCube.- Plot :...
takes place on a small space station anchored to the surface of Phobos. - Phobos is the site of Purple Hall, the abode of the ousted Imperial family, in Jack Williamson's Legion of Space novels.
- The Doctor & Lucie Miller land on Phobos in the Doctor Who audio adventure PhobosPhobos (Doctor Who audio)Phobos is an audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This audio drama was produced by Big Finish Productions and was broadcast on BBC 7 on 28 January 2007.-Plot:...
which is popular with extreme sports fans in the future. - In Dan SimmonsDan SimmonsDan 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....
's novel OlymposOlympos (novel)Olympos, Dan Simmons' novel published in 2005, is the sequel to Ilium and final part of Ilium/Olympos duology. Like its predecessor it is a work of science fiction, and contains many literary references: it blends together Homer's epics the Iliad and the Odyssey, Shakespeare's The Tempest, and has...
, Phobos is the site of a moravec base from which some of the main characters depart for Earth. - In the 1955 science fiction novel "Secret of the Martian Moons" by Donald A. Wollheim, Phobos and Deimos are actually interstellar spacecraft disguised as moonlets, built by a race of humanoid aliens from the Vega system who fled from an imagined invasion by "Marauders" who were actually the inhabitants of Mars itself on an extended journey of exploration and adventure.
- The TV show Captain Scarlet and the MysteronsCaptain Scarlet and the MysteronsCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...
features Phobos in the episode Shadow of FearShadow of Fear"Shadow of Fear" is the 18th episode of the Supermarionation television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. It was first broadcast in the UK on on ATV Midlands, was written by Tony Barwick and directed by Robert Lynn....
. In which they land a secret satellite on the moon to take pictures of the Mysterons. A mention is also made by the character Dr Breck in the episode that the Greek name of Phobos is 'Fear' and states, 'The name is appropriate. Because of the Mysterons, the whole world lives in the shadow of fear'. - In LarklightLarklightLarklight is a children's novel by author Philip Reeve. Illustrated by David Wyatt, it is the first book in the Larklight Trilogy. The hardcover edition has alternate title lines Or the Revenge of the White Spiders! or to Saturn's Rings and Back!...
, by Philip ReevePhilip ReevePhilip Reeve is a British author and illustrator. He presently lives on Dartmoor with his wife Sarah and their son Samuel.-Biography:...
, the British Empire has spread to other planets and it is mentioned that the industrialist Sir Waverly Rain has factories on Deimos and Phobos. There are so many that smoke has clouded the worlds.
Deimos
- In Edison's Conquest of MarsEdison's Conquest of MarsEdison's Conquest of Mars, by Garrett P. Serviss, is one of the many science fiction novels published in the 19th century. Although science fiction was not at the time thought of as a distinct literary genre, it was a very popular literary form, with almost every fiction magazine regularly...
, Deimos is used as a base by Edison's expedition against the MartiansMartian (War of the Worlds)The Martians, also known as the Invaders, are the fictional race of extraterrestrials from the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds. They are the antagonists of the novel, and their efforts to exterminate the populace of Earth and claim the planet for themselves drive the plot and present...
. - In Edgar Rice Burroughs' BarsoomBarsoomBarsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote close to 100 action adventure stories in various genres in the first half of the 20th century, and is now best known as the creator of the character Tarzan...
novels, Deimos is known by the name of Cluros, and is described as "stately, majestic, almost stationary, shedding his steady light upon the world below" (The Chessmen of MarsThe Chessmen of MarsThe Chessmen of Mars is an Edgar Rice Burroughs science fiction novel, the fifth of his famous Barsoom series. Burroughs began writing it in January, 1921, and the finished story was first published in Argosy All-Story Weekly as a six-part serial in the issues for February 18 and 25 and March 4,...
). - Kim Stanley RobinsonKim Stanley RobinsonKim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer known for his award-winning Mars trilogy. His work delves into ecological and sociological themes regularly, and many of his novels appear to be the direct result of his own scientific fascinations, such as the fifteen years of research...
's Green Mars (1993) includes a detailed description of a manned landing on Deimos. Deimos is later de-orbited and sent off into the asteroid belt. - The second episode of the Computer and video gameComputer and video gamesA video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of...
Doom takes place in a UACUnion Aerospace CorporationThe Union Aerospace Corporation is a fictional conglomerate focused on military-industrial research in id Software's science fiction video game series Doom. The corporation is depicted to be involved in advanced weapons development, biological research, space exploration and teleportation. The...
base on Deimos. Before the beginning of the game, Deimos disappears from Martian orbit, and is reached by the unnamed Marine after he steps into a large teleporter on Phobos. Eventually, it is discovered that Deimos is floating above HellHellIn 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...
itself. The moon is also featured in the Doom novelsDoom novelsThe Doom novel series is a series of four near-future science fiction novels co-written by Dafydd ab Hugh and Brad Linaweaver; Knee-Deep in the Dead, Hell on Earth, Infernal Sky, and Endgame...
. - The UESC Marathon of the MarathonMarathon (computer game)Marathon is a first-person shooter video game with a science fiction theme developed and published by Bungie released in December 1994 for the Apple Macintosh. The game was Bungie's second foray into the emerging genre of games with a first-person perspective, the first being Pathways into...
computer game series is a hollowed-out Deimos. - A hollowed-out Deimos is also featured in the Zone of the EndersZone of the EndersThe soundtrack to Zone of the Enders was released April 25, 2001 on the album Zone of the Enders Z.O.E Original Soundtrack by Konami Music Entertainment. Almost all the music was composed by the trio , and . Also, composed "Global 2 " and , "City ". The theme song "KISS ME SUNLIGHTS" was composed...
saga of games and animeAnimeis 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....
. In the series - notably the Idolo OVA - the moon serves as a linear catapultMass driverA mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a proposed method of non-rocket spacelaunch which would use a linear motor to accelerate and catapult payloads up to high speeds. All existing and contemplated mass drivers use coils of wire energized by electricity to make electromagnets. Sequential...
facility for launching vehicles in Mars orbit to Earth, and possibly to the Jupiter colonies as well. - Like Phobos, Deimos is discovered to be an artificial satellite in the Noon UniverseNoon UniverseThe Noon Universe is a fictional future setting for a number of hard science fiction novels written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The universe is named after Noon: 22nd Century, the chronologically first novel from the series...
, likely, built by the WanderersWanderers (Noon Universe)Wanderers are a fictional alien race from the Noon Universe created by Strugatsky brothers. Their homeworld is unknown. No official contact between Earth and Wanderers has ever been registered, although they've contacted humans from other planets, e.g...
. - In an episode of the 2003 Astro Boy series, "Destination Deimos", as the episode title suggests, Dr. O'Shay went to Deimos.
- Deimos appears in Great Wall of Mars by 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...
, as a base used to observe the Conjoiners. - In the 2010 novel ImpactImpact (novel)-Plot summary:Wyman Ford returns to investigate a mysterious source of gemstones and instead uncovers evidence of an unusual impact crater. Weaving seemingly separate stories of Wyman Ford's engagement by the government to investigate a meteorite's crater in Cambodia, a Mars Mission scientist's...
by Douglas PrestonDouglas PrestonDouglas Preston is an American author who has written seventeen popular techno-thriller and horror novels, four alone and the rest with Lincoln Child...
, the Voltaire craterVoltaire (crater)Voltaire is an impact crater on Mars' moon Deimos and is approximately across. Voltaire crater is named after François-Marie Arouet, a French Enlightenment writer who was better known by the pen name Voltaire. Voltaire crater is one of two named features on Deimos, the other being Swift crater...
on Deimos is the location of a machine built by an ancient extraterrestrial civilization. - A satellite base around Deimos is featured as a map and in the storyline of Unreal Tournament 3.