Biomechanical Ships in Science Fiction
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- Опубліковано 13 лис 2023
- Spacedock delves into animalistic bioship designs from across science fiction.
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Tyranids get most of the attention when it comes to bio ships in 40k but, in a way, Chaos warships are also often biomechanical in sort of the opposite direction of most biomechanical ships- IE, rather than taking a biological creature and augmenting it mechanically to create a ship, Chaos vessels start as wholly mechanical but the influence of the warp will often start transforming their hulls into flesh in certain areas.
There's also the infected vessels from Homeworld Cataclysm, which is on a similar vein to that. Originally hard and mechanical ships, which get corrupted and warped into biomechanical nightmares, with the crews getting converted into a distributed neural net, or warped into internal mechanisms to operate and maintain the ship.
You recently had the Conqueror, the World Eaters Flagship, basically be a full on Demon Engine possessed by Lotara Sarrin.
An excellent point!
It's also worth noting that the weirdness of 'Chaos corrupted' Machine spirits seems largely caused by poor maintenance - machine spirits largely regain their sentience after both warp exposure and long periods without adequate upkeep. I say 'regain', as whilst the gestalt consciousness of a warship or titan machine spirit is not exactly devoid of mechanical components, it is a)actually a thing, unlike those in radios or whatever and b) composed largely of human brains. See, the STC ships were largely designed to use networked AI, but as AI cores are highly illegal in the imperium, the AD mech had to improvise using a combination of abject cruelty and mindless fanaticism. Servitors litter imperial ships, directly plugged into the old AI sockets, in particular aboard the bridge and engineering decks - machine spirits aren't described as not AI because they lack intelligence, but because they aren't, intrinsically, artificial. They're just a truly monstrous thing to make, but also an utterly mundane one to most in-universe characters. No one in 40k cares that their ships require the breeding/capture and mutilation of unwilling blood sacrifices to function. If anything, chaos corruption makes the ships require fewer deaths, given it generally allows the spirits actual immortality, rather than frequently requiring the substitution of parts of their brains once infection, battle damage or wear and tear proves too much for the originals (which probably also explains why they're so frequently described as being erratic aboard less well resourced ships - without a massive supply of immunosuppressants, retro-virals and antibiotics, they're in pretty constant pain).
I think Chaos ships are more part psychic/magic than biological, due to the nature of the warp. It's well known that demons go poof if you kill one, even if they appear fleshy.
In Star Wars Legends, the whole Yuuzhan Vong fleet (and any part of their civilization) is organic. Their ships' husks are coral and they use creatures named Basal Dovins to move through gravity manipulation.
I thought about them too ! Kinda sad they didn't get mentioned in this video considering they use exclusively organic technology.
Vong ships are also interesting because they're typically several different organisms grown together rather than a single entity.
Yeah, pretty strange they got no mention whatsoever.
@@sethb3090 They're basically like the Portuguese man o' war, which despite looking like a jellyfish is actually a colonial organism, made up of various single organisms forming into a cohesive whole and specializing in function.
@@rogue_cometz9169Don’t the tyranids fit into the same category as the Vong?
Lexx feels like it should have made this list. Both the titular capital ship and the smaller dragonfly-like ships it houses.
Yes, I was fully expecting Lexx to get a mention
Once again, Lexx, the smaller dragonfly ships, even the cool bio-fighters of the Brunen-g...Actually, most of the ships.
@@ShiftyMcGoggles thumbs up for the brunen-g, may they forever be remembered.
Came to say this too.
I was sitting here, shouting "LEXX" at the screen the whole time.
If you make a video about biomechanical spaceships and forget about Lexx, you did somethibg wrong.
I hope, they will make a special video just about Lexx soon.
The Zerg leviathan would also fit in the bio side of the spectrum. Also; so happy to see the Tachikomas getting attention. Please do a break down of them.
Yes, the Zerg!, i was waiting to be mentioned
We desperately need a Tachikoma breakdown
They're basically Tyranid vessels, so I understand why he left them out. There was only one type and a bunch of lesser units.
Surprised they didn't cover the regular Zerg units. They are all 100% bio.
Many of the flying units are large enough to be considered small ships.
Evangelion's creepy, more spiritual take on biomechanics is always very interesting imo. Evas going Berserk is always handeled so well and is absolutely terrifying precicely because you see the living being within the mechanical structure awaken. And the mass production Evas use this blend between machine and living organism for maximum uncomfortableness. They give such an uncanny valley feeling.
Granted, Eva is also increadibly confusing and weird in how this looks so I get why you didn't include it 😅.
Jordan Peele acknowledged that tie final "combat" form of his alien from NOPE was inspried by Evangelion
huh, I hadn't realized that one of the multiple reasons why Evangelion made me so uncomfortable was that aspect of uncanny valleyness, but it does make sense!
the massproduction EVAs just feel wrong, somehow. ew.
great show :D
@@mini_bunneybut they look so happy!
But that wasn't biomechanics. EVAs are organic creatures, with their brain stems severed and replaced with a cockpit so a human can mind-slave them when the cockpit is installed and relinks the creature's brain to its body. That's just an animal with a control chip.
Don't know if it was my favourite but growing up with ST Voyager, Species 8472 always comes to mind. If the Borg are scared of it you better beware.
Well the Voyager is also minorly biomechanical with the gel packs and all. It even gets sick one time.
Borg arnt scared. Species 8472 was something they couldn't assimilate. They decided to kill them all instead.
@@borttorbbq2556 didn't they need help to figure out how to kill them?
@@borttorbbq2556Yes. And they were failing badly. Losing drones and sectors left and right because the Borg were outgunned.
@@RabbitShirak that too
I would add the Scrin from Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Most, if not all of their units are based off insects, and their ships are no exception.
I am not sure if anyone else mentioned them already in the comment section, but I'm surprised you didn't mention the Thargoids from Elite:Dangerous. Whilst we don't know what the Thargoids *the species* looks like, their Interceptors, Hunters, Scouts and Groupd-troups (Banshee, Revenants) are most definitely bio-mechanical. I really did miss them in this video because they would've fit perfectly!
So I'm not the only one to have thought this. :)
The Thargoid vessels are just so manifestly *different* from the obviously manufactured ships of other species.
we don't know anything about that cause they never did anything with them.. or with the rest of the game
Gomtuu from TNG is a good example of a space-born lifeform that has adapted itself or been adapted for a humanoid crew. Given its innate telepathic connection to its crew, the ship and crew essentially become one symbiotic entity.
I guess it's a good example of the idea being used at all...but it's a terrible example of the concept itself. Gomtuu doesn't behave like a living thing at all. And even if it is, it's clearly completely artificial. Not because it exists in space, but because evolution doesn't produce the kinds of traits it has, in ANY conditions...ever. That's not how mutation, conditional selection, and population genetics operate.
The Prethoryn Scourge from Stellaris definately falls into this category. They aren't ships, per-say, but they're a swarm of creatures who's largest members are capable of traveling through space and enter FTL.
i hate that crisis.
@nobody8717 You'd rather deal with the Extradimensional Invaders or the Contingency?
The flood infected ships (Halo) are a neat conversion from mechanical into biomechanical 👍
I like the tenchi muyo jurai bio ships, they look like wood and grow from trees, but the best part is a space elevator that is basically a tree.
There is also the heavy biomechanical nature of the mechanoids from War on Geminar.
The entire Tenchi Muyo universe is a great glimpse into how some races use that type of technology.
The shadow battle crab is still to this day one of the best designed organic ships for me, they still make my skin crawl with their looks and the scream as they travel!
YES. I love how the scream isn't just for effect, it's part of what everyone hears when they witness one, as it's a psi-scream caused by the pilot-ship interface.
@@ShiftyMcGoggles still gets me 30 years later !
In the distant future Humanity are the first ones and find a planet with a 1980's level civilisation on it.
Human 1 "So, how do we troll them the hardest?"
Human 2 "Let me build a Shadow Battle Crab from B5 real quick then we do a low level flyby over their biggest cities"
Human 2 "LOL that will be epic I can't wait to see what they are like a 100 years after that!"
"In Valen's name- it's AWAKE!"
@@ostlandr gonna have to go watch that episode again now !
Should have included SeaQest DSV, now that was a bio-mech inspired stunningly designed leviathan of the sea, or at least a honorable mention.
I love the way the Yggdrasil from Hyperion is described. Basically a giant bioengineered space tree
and not forget the Dyson Tree from Rise of Endymion! And the Ouster Fleets might also count to some extent
glad someone else remembers.
i thought i was the only one.
I recently heard about this and I’ve just started to listen to the Hyperion audiobook.
Good story @@TheGallantDrakehope you enjoy it
My favorite bio-ship would have to be the Martian stealth craft from Young Justice. It looked like a deep sea creature, but also had some design language of modern aircraft which made it super unique and memorable.
I don't think it was covered in the lore, but how do Martians who are afraid of fire, handle re-entry into a planet's atmosphere? And if their ships are organically similar to them, do Bioships fear re-entry?
@@boxhead6177 👀
@@boxhead6177 I would assume that the bioship's outer hull is pretty durable, especially given the prevalence of energy weapons in the setting. It could also have an ablative heat shield coating that simply regrows. Young Justice's depiction of the Martian fire weakness always seemed more like getting really tired around high temperatures rather than being psychologically afraid of fire.
Moya and Talyn might be the best representations of biomechanoids in scifi, complete integration of both halves right down to their DNA. they grow the DRD's that repair and regulate their internal systems, and they can grow and reshape their internal structures to their pilots and passengers whims.
I miss Farscape so much, damn sci-fi for cancelling it.
I have a Roku box and I am using Sling TV and there is a Farscape channel as part of Sling.
I'm actually rewatching it right now... for the umpteenth time :)
I'm glad it got some sort of planned ending at least compared to so many other shows. And four good seasons before that.
It's funny that I can think of two shows from towards the beginning of the Sci-Fi Channel's fall and they both featured living ships. Farscape, which you already mentioned and Lexx, which seems to be a bit forgotten nowadays.
@@Mirthful_Midori I forgot about Lexx. I watched Lexx when on primetime many years ago.
I should also rush to add the Taelons in _Earth: Final Conflict_ are another good example of organic ship design. Most often we see their organic buildings since most of the series takes place planetside, but we get to see their ships too. They have semi-translucent hulls with lines of bio-luminescence running down them, making them look like some creature from the deep ocean.
and eventually we saw their couterparts in the Jaridian technology.. before both species went POOF
Hey. Laconian ships from the Expanse are pretty much industrial stuff with biological component being protomolecule.
Plus the Eros asteroid once it's sufficiently converted.
I'm looking forward to the final part.
Of course Amazon cancels it just when the good stuff was starting.
@@raymondcoventry1221 We just need to wait 20-30 years so the cast wouldn't require creepy aging cgi (hello, doom patrol) for it be book accurate
@@graved1gger by that point I was more interested in the big picture of the Laconian empire. I could deal with an adaptation with new characters. Let's be honest, with a few exceptions the cast was the weakest part of the show.
There's also the geth from mass effect, who's ships and fighters take heavy inspiration from wasps and mobile platforms with their synthetic muscles that give them an organic appearance.
As annoying as they were, I'm disappointed that the Geth Stalkers never made a return in the later games. They were an interesting glimpse into Geth technology shifting towards more organic forms.
Talyn from Farscape is probably my favourite ship in Sci-fi so very happy to see him popping up
Moya too
@@GoingMetal799 Ofc I love too see mumma Moya too
Another vote for Talyn. Wished we got to see him all growed up.
The Yuuzhan Vong from Star Wars Legends are excellent example of this. All their technology, from mundane everyday appliances to their massive World Ships are biological in nature, being grown
I was just going to comment that Spacedock forgot to mention the Yuuzhan Vong...
I like the Vajra from Macross Frontier as they actually inspired a majority of the technology of Macross’ precursor race the Protoculture.
Id like to point out one of my favorites; *Rocketship Tree* from the "Saga" comic.
•Very beautiful & homely interior.
•Possess several rooms like a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, garden, and contains a spinning wheel loom to make clothing and armor.
•Runs on wood, organic or exotic matter.
•No weapons, but becomes very fond and protective of its riders.
Seriously though, i will always have a soft spot for organic & plant ships.
I think the Uplift Saga has Tree ships in it too.
The Saga of Seven Suns books had giant tree battleships that fought by squeezing and crushing things with their branches.
In Peter F. Hamilton's The Night's Dawn Trilogy, the Edenists have space habitats which are living organism and "Voidhawks" as ships which are also sentient creatures
I'm surprised the Thargoids from Elite dangerous was not mentioned. They are a very good example of both biological and mechanical combined into insectoid vessels.
My thoughts exactly!
Indeed, as an AX pilot myself this was kinda disappointing...
There are a wide range of variously biological-looking vessels in Dungeons & Dragons' Spelljammer setting, which vary a lot between being constructed vessels that merely evoke animalistic designs and ones that truly incorporate biological elements - such as Fey vessels taking the form of spacegoing trees.
For a prime example, check out the opening cinematic for Baldur's Gate 3, with its living Nautiloid vessel.
Someone may have already mentioned this, but in the "Invid Invasion" chapter of the Robotech cartoon the Invid mecha are VERY clearly inspired by crabs and crustaceans and their transport ships are nicknamed clamships for a reason. This continued in the cancelled "Sentinels" chapter that came after, but also included the "inorganics", one of which (the Hellcat) was inspired by large cats.
One of my favorites are the Zergs and the Vajra from Macross Frontier.
I think another interesting example, if only purely aesthetic, is in Macross/Robotech. The SDF-1/Macross was rebuilt by humans into a very boxy, utilitarian look. However it used to be like the Zentradi ships, much more rounded, irregular, and organic looking. It served to illustrate the tremendous differences between the humans and the Zentradi. There are some details that you can insert between the lines, like how the Zentradi don't repair anything (See Breetai's bridge dome window that remained broken after a plane smashed through it). Therefore flat panels that are simple to manufacture, handle, and replace are not a consideration.
In the Robotech adaptation of Macross, it could be said that the SDF-1 is alive in a sense because the Protoculture factory that powers it is definitely bio-mechanical and imparts some of the properties of living beings to mechanical constructs and allows biological organisms to interface with machines. This isn't mentioned at all? in the cartoon but the novelizations go into it quite a bit.
@@RedSiegfried That's a fair point. The protoculture making things somewhat alive is another between the lines thing in the series, but can be interpreted considering it's called "the flower of life". I only read The Sentinels books, but I remember it being more like The Force there.
More to the point, the organic design of the ships are influenced by the living protoculture itself, originally a terrestrial then extra-terrestrial substance. In any case this is a case of in-human design resulting in human shapes. This included the various Super Dimensional Fortress (SDF) alternative forms and the evolution of the crab-like Invid into 'people'. As mentioned in the novelizations and in the novella sequels, the Flower of Life that hosted the Protoculure reshaped people and ships to fit a specific humanoid design. (And the Biblical source of immortality taken from the Earth by a particularly narrow-minded alien being/race.)
Robotech was a mash-up of Macross, Southern Cross and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA for the heavily censored USA TV market. This was quite the inspired merging of unrelated fictions into a third, new and interesting concept. Even without the nudity, violence and Japanese cultural memes of the originals. But the ship designs from this mashing up were far out there even compared with what comes later in Babylon 5, Warhammer 40k, Farscape or Star Trek.
I have to throw the "Sea Quest DSV" into the discussion, it has a regenerating biomechanical "living" hull and looks like a really giant squid! But she isn't a spaceship but a submarine and nearly forgotten, though...
It's fair game. There are mechs on this list. Besides, SeaQuest was truly an ocean ship, and not a spacecraft ship :D
It did travel to another planet and back so it counts on technicality 😅
it's so cool that ya'll talked about Stargate and Farscape again!!! I need more of these forgotten series!!
The Borg assimilating a Wraith Hiveship would be the worst case scenario as it would give the Borg hyperdrive technology as well as give them the ability to grow their own ships and give them access to the Wraith mental projection powers which the Wraith stopped using after the first season as animating it was sucking up most of the budget.
Transport bug of starship troopers is a good example of organic living space faring being.
But yeah. Moya is a good example of biomechanical spaceship with her own temperament. It is nice when the story make the ship as a living character
The updated Cylon Raiders really made more sense than 3 robots in a cabin with life-support.
"Gomtuu knows that the star will go nova soon. That's why it's here... it wants to die."
A great example of this are the void hawks from Peter f Hamilton's nights dawn trilogy. Which is a book series so I fully understand why it wasn't included. There wouldn't have been really any visuals to use.
One of the really amazing things about them though is that Hamilton gives them really clear technological advantages and disadvantages. The purely mechanical spaceships of the adamists have their specialities and the bitek(void hawks) of the edensts have their specialities too. Plus the void hawks have their own life cycles and culture. One of the first chapters of the book series explores the simultaneous death and mating ritual of the voidhawks. It very clearly illustrates that while the edenests use biotechnology, they also revere the organisms that they create, and view them as alive... because they are.
Great video, very excited for the stealth ship discussion next week.
Can't forget the biomech vessels of the Leconian empire from The Expanse!
The Jurai tree ships and the adorable pirate battle ship Ryo-oki from the Tenchi Muyo OVA series were wonderfully unusual, at least to me when I encountered them in the '90s.
The Warframe's Sentients aren't actually biological, surprisingly enough. They are some strange nanotech based mechanical colony species. In some part how they function can be equated to the Portugese Man-o-war mixed with that of a hive type insect and I'd even pull inspiration off of The Thing.
All the smaller units we see in game are largely fragments of Hunhow, drones that carry his will by virtue of being parts stripped off of him and formed into combat units. Extra weirdness being that Hunhow is also dead, but apparently Sentients have multiple ways of being "dead".
It's just such a neat concept: Aliens of our own make. Orokin made them, set them out and then they developed a self and realized just how bad the Orokin are and turned on them. And visually they are also just "other". From a star fighter that splits in two dodge incoming fire to dropships that deploy their troops by holding open their chest cavity with very human looking arms.
The sentient drones are purely built like murexs and ships. But those sentients with higher intelligence are based as bio mechanical nanotechnology that reproduce when given kuva which like blood to them. Eidolons discovered this fact oddly enough when the great war was happening and the unum aka orokin defense tower which is bio mechanical put kuva is rodents like birds and mice to see what the sentients where doing. Sentients catched some of those rodent and took the kuva giving the sentients a feeling of life.
Kuva itself is weird but I'm pretty sure the sentients sent to tau are a based template like orokin tower technology.
@@prematurebat2365I don't think that's quite true. The Eidolon in particular plays to the part that all the little sentients we see, even the kaijus, are fragments of Eidolon.
I also doubt that Kuva was involved in their creation process. We don't know what kuva, exactly is. It is some kind of void-tech based conciousness transfer medium. And there might also be a case that this restoration of replication capability is unique to Temple Kuva. One of three versions of Kuva we know of. (There is also Blue and Crimson/normal).
We don't really know the dynamics of Sentient reproduction or even their version of biology. From Erra's words it's clear that they don't see themselves as organic beings. Hunhow directly says that the smaller drones are "his fragments".
As for the spawning pools on the Sentient ships, it's my understanding that it is a sort of base material that is adapted and formed into more complex forms. Like the undifferentiated base cells of the human body. And the ships themselves are fragments of Praghasa or individual Sentients themselves. I lean on the fragments of Praghasa hypothesis.
But they are clearly inspired by biological layouts. To the point where the nanotech "DNA" has evolved Sentients to the point where they appear weirdly biological. They truly live up to their name (how else to describe them?), and take the concept of a "robot" species/civilization to the next level.
@@DreadNought0255 I hadn't considered that the Murexes could be Praghasa's drones. It'd make sense though, with how much more space-bound and simply massive she is compared to her "mate" and children, all of whom (een Hunhow, massive lad that he is) would be too small to spawn them in the first place.
The only other candidates of sufficient size I can think of would be the Eidolons' original self, and the dead(?) Sentient we see in the clouds of Jupiter.
While completely mechanical, some of the Reaver ships from Serenity have a very biomedical feel, especially the one with "claws" that gets blasted by the AA gun mounted on Serenity, in the orbit of Miranda.
and the reaver booby trap from Buschwacked, that bled black goo when Kaylee cut it.
I always love Biomechanical creations. it's always fun to see things found in nature be used, either directly or through mimicry, by things that don't neatly fit the natural world, like Sentient Civilizations
There is also earth:final conflict… The species talon uses bioorganic technology, they don’t need a keyboard or controller, just sit in a chair and they can control the ship or station.
the Koros-Strohna worldship and other Yuuzhan Vong ships from Star Wars are my favorite bioships. They're grown, have other creatures living inside them to give them propulsion or weaponry, and follow the commands of their captain-analog, or in the case of starfighters, they're coordinated by the War Coordinator (a seperate organic being).
Star Trek also had an example of a living bio ship. In the Next Generation episode "Tin Man," featured a sentient organic spacebourne vessel called Gomtuu that existed with its crew symbiotically.
The cylon ships and the leviathans from farscape are my favorite examples of lf this trope
You could have shown some of the beautiful boron ships from X4 or thargoid interceptors from Elite dangerous
Don't mind me, just dragging asteroid mining stations with my Boron Orca so my complex looks tidy
@@AaronCorr those were the days
I would add the Voidhawks and Blackhawks from Peter F. Hamilton's _Neutronium Alchemist_ series of books.
They got their own personality, need food, their FTL jump distance can vary due to mood swings or other emotions and the Voidhawks and their captains are even born together.
The Polaris ships from Escape Velocity Nova are another example of biomechanical ships. The game describes them as starting as metal frames around which the organic shell is grown.
Voyager tried something like this. Bio neural gel packs for computing power.
I was always surprised that wasn't a bigger plot point. Like one becoming sentient in an episode or something.
@@mitwhitgaming7722 They became sick in one episode and almost destroyed the ship. After that, they were barely mentioned again. Maybe the writers realised it was stupid lol
Warframe has a lot of bio ships/ bio architecture.
ironacally, the Sentients aren't part of that list
@@Maddock_ Eh, they count as much as the Infestation does. They're technological in origin, but they function more like animals than machines. Just really, really weird animals with a totally different evolutionary tree from anything else in the setting.
For a while I’ve had the idea of a “life circuit”: a life support system that is made of a ship-borne ecosystem. Hydroponics, algae, specialized microorganisms, pets and medical companions; all selected or bred to help maintain the carbon, oxygen, and water cycles aboard the ship.
Stellaris Space Drakes
also would love to have a Hard sci fy look at the mechanics on how those would work
I would also look at pretty much all of the Feldreß and Legion designs from the anime 86. They have a wide variety of different creatures used for designs and descriptions the majority of which are bio-mimicry but a few with Biomechanical functions as well
I'm surprised that you didn't mention Mon Calamari ships in Star Wars have are very bulbous because they are organically inspired (though they don't actually look very biological).
There are also things from Stellaris (including some things that are equipment for normal ships that don't alter their appearance, like regenerating armor or hull similar to the reimagined Cylon Basestars that you did mention); the Beast from Homeworld Cataclysm/Emergence; the ships from Genesis Rising which you only showed a clip of; some of the ships (or at least concept art) in Jupiter Rising; the Zerg (I'm only a little surprised you didn't mention them since they look very similar to the Tyrannids); the Flood taking over ships; the Aquans from Firestorm Armada; the Scourge from Dropzone Commander and Dropfleet Commander; the Covenant's everything; the Andromeda from the show of the same name (looks very organic); the Zentradi from Macross and Robotech; the bad guy's ship in Galaxy Quest; the Aliens and Biomorphs (converted mechanical ships) from Star Conflict; Gallente's everything from EVE Online (and from the dead planetary battle game Dust 514 that was linked to it); maybe some of the ships from Angels Fall First, particularly some of the capital ships and especially both carriers/flagships; some of the Zeon and ZAFT ships and "vehicles" from Gundam; everything specific to the Vanu Sovereignty in Planetside 1 & 2 (though we don't see any faction specific starships); Count Dooku's solar sail ship from Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of The Clones; *EVERYTHING* about the Yuuzhan Vong from Star Wars Legends; and a LOT of stuff that the Separatists used in Star Wars (including their Battledroids).
Something else very biomechanical: BIONICLE.
They look like molluscs.
Moya from *Farscape* will always be one of my favourite designs, I especially have always loved how the golded interior is almost luminous and so rich. I have never yet seen the interior of a ship that looks so good.
Not ships per se, but a great example of biomechanical design is the Pure-Type monsters from the Panzer Dragoon series (a series I hold incredibly dear). They are living creatures (some even have bits of visible muscle), but their armor plating and energy weapons make many of them feel more like strange robots than creatures of flesh and blood.
Many battlemechs (of Battletech/Mechwarrior) end up looking at least somewhat biomechanical as an artifact of the artificial bone-and-muscle construction that makes them so efficient (in setting, at least).
The Beast of Homeworld: Cataclysm is perhaps the most frightening bio-mechanical entity in science fiction. It combines nanobots with biomass to create a hybrid "infection" capable of assimilating ships and crew into its centrally controlled intelligence, using the biologics aboard a ship as the fuel for the organic bits and the ship's own structure for the mechanical ones. They're especially frightening to the other famously bio-mechanical Homeworld group: the Bentusi (and other "unbound" who are physically integrated into their ships, like Karan Sjet of the Hiigaran mothership). Since the minds of the assimilated are preserved in perpetual torment by The Beast, and since the Bentusi are fanatical about not being bound or trapped, it's the ultimate nightmare existence for them, hence their rather self-destructive reaction to coming into contact with the infection.
The beast inspired the flood and i will die on this hill
KGC-000
if that ain't a bipedal crab, idk what is.
Missed the hero ship in Sea Quest, living exterior to protect from the depths
The 2 things that spring to mind that you missed are the Covenant ships looking aquatic, like whales, and the Klingon Birds of Pray looking very avian
Even though you did talk about some Babylon 5 ships another good example would have been the Omega-X advanced destroyer. They were just regular ships but had the same biological "skin" that the shadows used and it was very distinct as you could easily the the biological from the mechanical.
Star Wars' Yuuzhan Vong and The Zerg from Star Trek are a prime example for organic ships.
Also The Lexx - a giant living planet killing ship in the shape of a dragonfly.
*Borg from Star Trek, Zerg from StarCraft
@@marcusmanchester7095 I was shaking my head... "WTF.. zerg from Trek??" LOL
@@marcusmanchester7095 The Borg are biomechanical, but I can't say the same about their ships.
@@maxpayne2323 I don't think you followed my comment, you said "the Zerg from Star Trek," but the Zerg are not from Trek, the Borg are. Regardless, the ships are definitely using any and everything available to them; They are definitely biomechanical.
@@marcusmanchester7095 that was intentional :D
A little sad you didn't include any of the Hive ships or structures from Destiny. Theres some really cool stuff going on with them visually when you get to go inside. All made from osmium and chitin and stuff it's a really neat aesthetic
The Boron Queendom from the X series uses biomechanical ships (I'd rank them in the middle category), in the earlier forms they were filled with water since the Boron are an aquatic race but in the latest iteration of the X games (X4 Foundations) they replaced the water with air to make them lighter and more agile... (at least that's the in-universe reason).
I love the void hawks/black hawks from Peter F Hamilton's "The Reality disfunction", blends so much of the world together so well.
Kinda disappointed I had to scroll down this far to find this, but glad it was mentioned. Very much one of the more interesting ideas for how to make a biological ship. And even entire "bitek" space stations.
Birdy the Mighty: Decode has a really nice dolphin-inspired spacecraft. I believe the space-suits are also biological.
SeaQuest DSV is caked in organic looking craft.
Mostly because of nostalgia and the absolute amazing plot twists My favourite is the bionicle from bionicle
The polaris from Escape Velocity Nova are my favourite biomechanincal engineers!
They construct a metal "skeleton"/frame and grow the ship around it! With the smallest ships having the intelligence of a dog
I’m glad someone else remembers that game. I was going to mention them as well, since they have quite a distinctive and thought-out appearance.
The Vell-os could also _technically_ count, since their 'ships' are produced by unique organs within their bodies.
@@Ebalosus Vell-os ships are purely psychically generated, actually. The Vell-os storyline has the player character learn to form Vell-os ships, but it's an important plot point that they do not have the unique Vell-os organ. The Krypt pods would be a borderline example, though, given the nanites there are originally from a biological source.
Another great example of this type of ship is Starship UK from Doctor Who. Or the Tardis itself. Or you could also include the Daleks or the Cybermen, even if they are individuals rather than spaceships.
Just to add some detail, the Sentient aren't organic iirc, they're purely AI but on a hyper-advanced level. The warframes themselves and everything else infested are definitely a good example though!
Sentients are a weird one. They are created life, technological in origin but the way they appear, the way they reproduce (as seen in some of the tileset parts) is very organic. From the older, bone shaped designed to the newer insectile/bird ones to the blatant animals of the Archons, there's a lot of biologic stuff in their designs!
- hoojiwana from Spacedock
@@hoojiwana They also function more like biology than technology. They reproduce and evolve (both in the real sense, albeit at an extremely accelerated rate owing to their not so real sense of incredible automatic adaptability). They were nothing more than autonomous terraformers when they left the Origin system. But by the time Hunhow and co left to start the Old War they developed sapience and a culture which, although mostly unseen (we have after all, seen at most one family and a couple of possible hangers-on), definitively exists.
They're a fascinating take on that classic Grey Goo "what if the grey goo just kept reinforcing itself and became animals and then people" concept that you see around (and even in the Infested, as the Technocyte is itself an inorganic grey goo).
No footage that i know of to go with it, but what about the Yuuzan Vong from star wars legends? Pretty sure they used biotech to such a degree that they found conventional machinery and robots offensive.
Here are a few examples of biomechanical ships from different universes.
1) Formic Ships from Ender's Game (Those ships in the movie or the novel is seldom mentioned anywhere)
2) Space Monsters from Gunbuster (I guess)
3) Upcoming "Heart of the Tempest" Laconian Dreadnaught from the Expanse.
I always love it when my beloved GitS Think Tanks get a mention, even more so a Patlabor Mech was also shown off!
I am very happy about this video. It's very thorough. Very accurate and very well thought through. If only a video about different kinds of cyborgs or alien lifeforms would exist...
I love the Wraith ships in Stargate so much! Farscapes Moya was also awesome and almost another main character!
Not almost. Moya was definitely part of the main cast.
@RabbitShirak the reason I said almost is because technically Moya doesn't interact with anyone in an audience fashion and is often more a plot device.
Would love to see a episode or series on Mecha
Another wonderful discussion.
An important distinction can be made somewhere in the spectrum that separates the purely biological technology from all others by including the sometimes-used term “techno organic”. This meaning living creatures designed by sentient beings, such as the ships of the wraith, as mentioned, or the Yuzhang Vong from Star Wars lengends (and arguably the protomolecule from the Expanse). Thus anything that is not purely organic but still has organic parts would be described as bio mechanical or cyborgs. I also disagree with the use of the term biomechanical for the end sections of the video, as the use of “bio”-mechanical precludes anything that looks organic and is only applies to those things with living and non-living components, as I understand the term. I’d imagine there’s be a separate term for non-living tech that mimics life.
There is a word for that, it's called Biomimetics, and it has a ton of potential.
Thank you, now I know a new word!
What about the T.A.R.D.I.S if i recall correctly they are grown
Good shout. It’s far less biological but it is utterly alive, it has personality and soul. I really love it.
I'm picturing buoships that are like spacewhales and they have multiple one use uterus, that then get replaced with spaceship compartments in the only spot that can handle the modofication without damaging the creature. Gives a whole new meaning to Berths.
Amazing Nebulous fleet command OST
Yes….. YES…..
There is also Star Citizen's Banu Defender. It looks very organic as it is created from parts and a hull that is grown rather then manufactured, but in the end is still assembled in a traditional way. Its a really awesome design for a biomechanical ship with lots of details. I recommend "An Architect Reviews" if you are interested
My personal favorite biomechanical ship is the player ship in Nova Drift. You can evolve its weaponry, shielding, hull, and more. Some hull forms are optimized for weaponry, others are optimized for building constructs. There's even a hull designed to sacrifice upgrade choices for improved characteristics and a more focused build, and an upgrade that forgoes weapons and non-shield constructs entirely for secondary sources of damage, like the Firefly body's engines.
The Tripods in War of the Worlds (the one with tom cruise) are biomechanical as pure heck, they are literally cyborg titans variants of their own crew. I love this sort of design, I am a huge fan of H. R. Giger's art, for instance, which has also been displayed several times in this video, either directly (Alien movies) or inspiration (the Reaver's ground units)
I thought I had Nebulous Fleet Command running in the background.... I've spent more time in the fleet editor than actually playing it lol, that track is burned in my memory! Great vid!
I do want to point out something about B5. JMS was once asked about the Shadow ships, and replied that they are ORGANIC, but not BIOLOGICAL. Bit splitting hairs, but there is a narrow area where that is the case. Non-biological nanotechnology, for instance...
The Flood turn any mechanical ship into a biomechanical one.
Cool beans.
If you're gonna do a stealth-in-space video, try not to repeat Project Rho. Those guys make assumptions about future tech that may not hold water. Remember thermal infrared imagers generally need to be cooled, shielded from heat on the vehicle carrying them, and have resolution limitations based on wavelength, and increasing resolution by increasing size of the sensor affects the size of the vehicle that can carry it, and limitations on exposure time limit the mobility of the vehicle carrying it.
I like the idea of integrating bio tech into a mechanical ship. Like Voyager’s gel packs
6:59 The info in the top left reads "Star Trek Lower Decks" while the footage playing is from War of the Worlds
I was laughing at War of the Worlds being labelled Star Trek Lower decks. Overall great video. Biomech ships is always an interesting concept. Particularly when you have things like the Pilot or Shadow were a single person become integrated with the craft to the point they are effectively one.
Optimus Prime finding no flying Cybertronians in the entire video:
"This, *cannot* be..."
The Bug transport ship from Starship Troopers Roughnecks.
Bugs has massive beetle like ships that would land on planets or asteroids... "eat ice" or drink massive amounts of water... and use that as reaction mass
then they would either swallow, or allow other bugs into thorax openings which would close off when the bug took flight. These would often be the only way to transport Queens or Brain bugs from planet to planet.
I like the list. Another entry for the "crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside" end of the spectrum: Beast ships from Homeworld Cataclysm.
(Side note: I fully understand that no video can mention All The Settings in any real detail, and hell, even 40K only rated a passing mention. Even so, I'm still slightly baffled as to why the Homeworld setting so rarely gets a mention on Spacedock. Who knows, maybe a Kiith Manaan guitarist stole his girl.)
Anyway, HW Cataclysm. Ships taken over by the Beast infection in Homeworld Cataclysm (or 'Emergence' as the re-release is called) get an unsettling bloody and cancerous-looking paint job, but aside from looking gross and occasionally get a few horns or claws, the exteriors mostly don't look _too_ different from the original ships.
The interior is another story entirely: outside of the Bentusi, the infection quickly tears apart any living beings it encounters down to raw materials, and uses the biomass to grow entirely new control systems integrated directly into the ship. The Bentusi don't get melted down - their life-support systems and direct integration into their ships apparently prevents that somehow - but their ships still get taken over, leaving them helplessly entombed inside. No wonder, then, that when a Bentusi trade ship first encountered a Beast infection and felt his control of his ship/body slipping away, he immediately overloaded his reactor and self-destructed.
And then there's the infected hangar section of the Kiith Somtaaw Mothership 'Kuun Laan' that had to be cut loose. The player jettisons it moments after it first gets infected to prevent the Beast from spreading to the rest of the Kuun Laan. After a disastrous attempt to rescue any survivors, you lose contact with it for several missions. When it shows up again mid-game, the Beast has seemingly grown an entire Mothership around the hangar module - and unlike the reskins of cruisers and frigates, this Beast rebuild definitely _looks_ organic, grown and resculpted from a piece of industrial equipment into a more flowing and visibly powerful form.
If you're mentioning stealth ships next wweek you absolutely need to mention the submarine-type ships from Treasure Planet - Battle at Procyon, they were such a cool enemy to face in the late game!
Plus the Dimensional Submarines from Yamato. That was a cool little feature that actually worked very well in the setting.
6:58 Crikey. I didn't realise that Lower Decks went that hard!
Biological or biomechanical ships are easily some of my favorite subjects in science fiction, can’t get enough of them. Adding the detail of them being autonomous and sentient beings in their own right makes it even more fascinating. I was familiar with a few in your list here but I’m glad I got introduced to some new ones too.
The neuronomes from Pelle’s Orbital comic series also deserve a look - really cool design
I like the Gauna from Knights of Sidonia, and the Vajra from Macross: Frontier.
Someone already mentioned the leviathan from Star Craft, but I think the overlord and broodlords also fit the bill.
Perry Rhodan book series had both the Posbis (Positronic-Biorobots) as a sentient bio-mechanical race written in 1964 and the best depiction of an engineered bioship, the Dolans as biological spaceships, basically a grown organic shell around an FTL drive, weapons, shield generator, etc.
Not sure the english translation/adaption of the series is still available, though. Still the greatest (as in longest publishing, since 1961 a staple novel each week) sci-fi series in the world. 😊