Thespace marine is anarchetype ofmilitary science fiction describing a kind ofsoldier who operates inouter space or on alien worlds.[1]
The earliest known use of the term "space marine" was byBob Olsen in hisshort story "Captain Brink of the Space Marines" (Amazing Stories, Volume 7, Number 8, November 1932), a light-hearted work whose title is aplay on the song "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines", and in which the protagonists were marines of the "Earth Republic Space Navy" on mission to rescue celebrity twins from aliens onTitan. Olsen published anovella sequel four years later, "The Space Marines and the Slavers" (Amazing Stories, Volume 10, Number 13, December 1936), featuring the same characters using a spaceship withactive camouflage to free hostages fromMartianspace pirates onGanymede.[2]
A more widely known early example wasE. E. Smith'sLensman series. While the first story,Triplanetary and most later sequels (Second Stage Lensmen,Children of the Lens andThe Vortex Blaster) do not mention them, passing mentions of marines are made inGalactic Patrol[a] (Astounding Stories, September 1937–February 1938) andGray Lensman[b][c] (Astounding Stories, October 1939–January 1940), and a more direct mention is made inFirst Lensman (1950): "Dronvire of Rigel Four in the lead, closely followed by Costigan, Northrop, Kinnison the Younger, and a platoon of armed and armored Space Marines!".
The phrase "space marines" appears inRobert A. Heinlein's "Misfit"[d] (1939) and is again used in "The Long Watch"[e] (1949) which expands on a story from his earlier novelSpace Cadet (1948), in all cases before Smith had used the phrase. Heinlein'sStarship Troopers (1959) is considered the defining work for the concept, although it does not use the term "space marine". The actors playing the Colonial Marines inAliens (1986) were required to readStarship Troopers as part of their training prior to filming.[3] Heinlein intended for the capsule troopers of the Mobile Infantry to be an amalgam of the shipborne aspect of theUS Marine Corps relocated to space and coupled with the battlefield delivery and mission profile ofUS Armyparatroopers.
As a gaming concept, space marines play a major role in theWarhammer 40,000 miniatures wargame, in which they are genetically altered super-soldiers and the most powerful fighting forces available to the Imperium of Man.[4] In computer games, playing a space marine in action games was popularized byid Software'sDoom series, first published in 1993. It is a convenient gameback-story as it excuses the presence of the character on a hostile alien world with littlesupport and heavy weaponry. Some critics have suggested it has been overused to the point of being an action gamecliché.[5]
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In December 2012, online retailerAmazon.com removed thee-bookSpots the Space Marine byM.C.A. Hogarth at the request of games companyGames Workshop. They claimed the use of the phrase "space marine" infringed on theirtrademark of the term for their gameWarhammer 40,000.[6] In February 2013, the row received a lot of publicity, with authors such asCory Doctorow,Charles Stross andJohn Scalzi supporting Hogarth, and Amazon.com then restored the e-book for sale.[7][8]
In film and television space marines often appear insquads, while in video games the protagonist Marine is usually alone or in very small squads.[citation needed] Depending on the mission, they may be deployed viadropship or another specialised insertion craft.[citation needed] Theirbattledress varies between media, ranging from equipment comparable to modern-day fatigues (or just being contemporary, such as the equipment of Colonial Marines in there-imaginedBattlestar Galactica) toenvironmentally sealedsuits of powered armour. Equipment and weaponry is similarly varied, often incorporating various fictional technologies.Directed-energy weapons are common, though conventional firearms are also used, like the M41A Pulse Rifles the Colonial Marines inAliens use (which are projectile weapons that use an electric pulse to shootcaseless ammunition). If the marines' armour is particularly bulky, their weapons may be similarly scaled up such as inWarhammer 40,000 whereSpace Marines carry "boltguns," effectively rocket-propelled grenade launchers, as a standard firearm.
TheUnited States Air Force'sProject Hot Eagle considers the use ofspacecraft to deliver Marines to a target on the ground. "Within minutes of bursting into the atmosphere beyond the speed of sound – and dispatching that ominous sonic boom – a small squad of Marines could be on the ground and ready for action within 2 hours."[9][10]
4. There shall be no...space marines