![Hawkmen's sky city in Flash Gordon serial (1936)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Hawkmen%27s_sky_city_in_Flash_Gordon_serial_%281936%29.png)
In
speculative fiction, floating cities and islands are a common
trope, which range from cities and islands that float on water to ones that float in the atmosphere of a planet by purported scientific technologies or by magical means. While
very large floating structure
Very large floating structures (VLFSs) or very large floating platforms (VLFPs) are artificial islands, which may be constructed to create floating airports, bridges, breakwaters, piers and docks, storage facilities (for oil and natural gas) ...
s have been constructed or proposed in real life, aerial cities and islands remain in the realm of fiction.
Seaborne cities and islands
Seaborne
floating island
A floating island is a mass of floating aquatic plants, mud, and peat ranging in thickness from several centimeters to a few meters. Floating islands are a common natural phenomenon that are found in many parts of the world. They exist less co ...
s have been found in literature since
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's ''
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...
'', written near the end of the 8th century BCE, described the island of Aeolia. They reappear in
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
's ''
Natural History'' of the 1st century CE.
Richard Head
Richard Head ( 1637 – before June 1686) was an Irish author, playwright and bookseller. He became famous with his satirical novel ''The English Rogue'' (1665), one of the earliest novels in English that found a continental translation.
Life ...
‘s 1673 novel ''
The Floating Island'' describes a fictional island named Scotia Moria. In ''
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
''The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle'' is the second of Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle books. Published in 1922, the writing style is aimed at a more mature audience and features more sophisticated illustrations than its predecessor. The novel's sc ...
'', the characters sail to a floating island, which later becomes fixed in place. In the DC comics story of
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
, Themyscira is a group of floating islands. In Jules Verne‘s ''
Propeller Island
''Propeller Island'' (french: L'Île à hélice) (also published as ''The Floating Island, or The Pearl of the Pacific'', and as ''The Self-Propelled Island'') is a science fiction novel by French author Jules Verne (1828–1905). It was first pu ...
'', the characters are on an artificial floating island that is actually a huge ship. In Yann Martel‘s novel ''
Life of Pi
''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, India who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. He ...
'', there is a floating island.
Airborne cities and islands
Earth
In the treatise ''De Grandine et Tonitruis'' ("On Hail and Thunder", 815),
Carolingian bishop
Agobard
Agobard of Lyon (–840) was a Spanish-born priest and archbishop of Lyon, during the Carolingian Renaissance. The author of multiple treatises, ranging in subject matter from the iconoclast controversy to Spanish Adoptionism to critiques of th ...
of
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
describes
Magonia, a cloud realm populated by felonious aerial sailors.
In the
novel ''
Gulliver's Travels'' (1726) by
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...
, the island city of
Laputa was revealed to be floating in the sky. Laputa purportedly levitated through use of artificial
magnetism. It was primarily a
fictional device
A plot device or plot mechanism
is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelie ...
that was intended to
satirize far-fetched
pseudo-scientific
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...
proposals:
:I turned back and perceived a vast Opaque Body between me and the sun, moving forwards towards the island; it appeared to be about two Miles high, and hid the Sun six or seven minutes.
..the Reader can hardly conceive my Astonishment, to behold an Island in the Air, inhabited by Men, who are able (as it should seem) to raise, or sink, or put into a Progressive Motion, as they pleased.
During the 1920s, science fiction author
Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback (; born Hugo Gernsbacher, August 16, 1884 – August 19, 1967) was a Luxembourgish–American editor and magazine publisher, whose publications including the first science fiction magazine. His contributions to the genre as pub ...
speculated about floating cities of the future, suggesting that 10,000 years hence "the city the size of New York will float several miles above the surface of the earth, where the air is cleaner and purer and free from disease carrying bacteria." To stay in the air, "four gigantic generators will shoot earthward electric rays which by reaction with the earth produce the force to keep the city aloft."
In 1960, the architects
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing mo ...
and
Shoji Sadao proposed the construction of a
thermal airship, which they called
Cloud Nine. This
megastructure
A megastructure is a very large artificial object, although the limits of precisely how large vary considerably. Some apply the term to any especially large or tall building. Some sources define a megastructure as an enormous self-supporting a ...
would be a
geodesic sphere
A geodesic polyhedron is a convex polyhedron made from triangles. They usually have icosahedral symmetry, such that they have 6 triangles at a vertex, except 12 vertices which have 5 triangles. They are the dual of corresponding Goldberg polyhed ...
that, once it was sufficiently heated by sunlight, would become airborne. Fuller and Sadao envisioned that Cloud Nine would float freely in the Earth's atmosphere, giving residents and passengers a migratory lifestyle. They believed that it might be a partial solution to the depletion of non-renewable resources.
A team including Buckminster Fuller and
Shoji Sadao – was commissioned by
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...
to design the Triton City, a floating city intended to provide housing near
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
or
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. The proposal called for
tetrahedron
In geometry, a tetrahedron (plural: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, six straight edges, and four vertex corners. The tetrahedron is the simplest of all th ...
–shaped modules supporting large housing blocks of 5,000 inhabitants each, and which would be anchored to the ground. A large model of the habitat is on display in the lobby of the
Johnson Presidential Library
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, also known as the LBJ Presidential Library, is the presidential library and museum of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States (1963–1969). It is located on the grounds of t ...
in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
.
In
Isaac Asimov's story
Shah Guido G. "Shah Guido G." is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1951 issue of '' Marvel Science Fiction'' and reprinted in the 1975 collection '' Buy Jupiter and Other Stories'', where Asimo ...
, the hereditary
Secretary-General of the United Nations
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The role of the secretary-g ...
("Sekjen") is a tyrant who rules the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
from a Flying island called
Atlantis
Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...
.
Venus
A design similar to Fuller's ''Cloud Nine'' might permit habitation in the upper atmosphere of
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
, where at ground level the temperature is too high and the
atmospheric pressure
Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, ...
too great. As scientifically and fictionally described by
Geoffrey A. Landis, the easiest planet (other than Earth) to place floating cities at this point would appear to be
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
. Because
the thick carbon dioxide atmosphere is 50% denser than
Earth's atmosphere
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing fo ...
, breathable air with a composition similar to the latter is a lifting gas in the dense Venerean atmosphere, with over 60% of the lifting power that
helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
has on Earth. At an altitude of 50 km above the Venerean surface, the environment is the "most Earthlike in the solar system", according to Landis, with a pressure of approximately 1 bar and temperatures ranging between .
Other planets
In addition to Venus, floating cities have been proposed in science fiction on several other planets. For example, floating cities might also permit settlement of the outer three
gas giant
A gas giant is a giant planet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Gas giants are also called failed stars because they contain the same basic elements as a star. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" ...
s, as the gas giants lack solid surfaces.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...
is not promising for habitation due to its high
gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
,
escape velocity
In celestial mechanics, escape velocity or escape speed is the minimum speed needed for a free, non- propelled object to escape from the gravitational influence of a primary body, thus reaching an infinite distance from it. It is typically ...
and
radiation, but the
Solar System
The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
's other gas giants (
Saturn,
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of ...
, and
Neptune) may be more practical. In 1978, the
British Interplanetary Society
The British Interplanetary Society (BIS), founded in Liverpool in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest existing space advocacy organisation in the world. Its aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration.
Str ...
's
Project Daedalus
Project Daedalus (named after Daedalus, the Greek mythological designer who crafted wings for human flight) was a study conducted between 1973 and 1978 by the British Interplanetary Society to design a plausible uncrewed interstellar probe.Pro ...
envisioned floating factories in the atmospheres of Jupiter refining
helium-3 to produce fuel for an
interstellar probe
An interstellar probe is a space probe that has left—or is expected to leave—the Solar System and enter interstellar space, which is typically defined as the region beyond the heliopause. It also refers to probes capable of reaching other s ...
.
Michael McCollum notes that the "surface" gravity of Saturn (that is, at the visible cloud layer, where the atmospheric pressure is about the same as Earth's) is very close to that of Earth, and in his novel ''The Clouds of Saturn'', he envisioned cities floating in the Saturnian atmosphere, where the buoyancy is provided by envelopes of
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...
heated by
fusion reactors
Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices de ...
. Uranus and Neptune also have upper atmosphere gravities comparable to Earth's, and even lower escape velocities than Saturn.
Cecelia Holland
Cecelia Holland (born December 31, 1943) is an American historical fiction novelist.
Early life and education
Holland was born December 31, 1943, in Henderson, Nevada. She grew up in Metuchen, New Jersey, where she started writing at age 12, rec ...
populated Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus with mutant humans, the Styth, in floating cities in her only SF novel, ''Floating Worlds'' (1975).
Donald Moffitt
Donald Moffitt (July 20, 1931December 10, 2014) was an American author who wrote a number of science fiction novels. Most famous among these are ''The Genesis Quest'' and '' Second Genesis''. While he was the author of many titles under his own ...
's novel ''
Jovian
Jovian is the adjectival form of Jupiter and may refer to:
* Jovian (emperor) (Flavius Iovianus Augustus), Roman emperor (363–364 AD)
* Jovians and Herculians, Roman imperial guard corps
* Jovian (lemur), a Coquerel's sifaka known for ''Zoboomafo ...
'' (2003) features floating cities forever floating in the Jovian atmosphere, a worthwhile enterprise due to their ability to extract useful gases. The book concentrates on the cultural differences (and political tensions) developing between "Jovian" humans and Earthbound ones.
Fictional examples
Literature
* A floating city called "
Laputa" is the third destination that Lemuel Gulliver visit's in Johnathan Swift's ''
Gulliver's Travels''.
* ''
Sky Island
Sky islands are isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau, and has extended to similarly isolated high-elevation forests. The isolation has s ...
'' is a 1912 book by
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...
with the titular area split between the Kingdom of the Blues and the Pinks.
* ''The Flying Islands Of The Night'' (1913) by
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...
, with illustrations by
Franklin Booth
Franklin Booth (July 8, 1874 – August 25, 1948) was an American artist known for his detailed pen-and-ink illustrations. He had a unique illustration style based upon his early recreation of wood engraving illustrations with pen and ink. His skil ...
.
* "Cities in the Air" by
Edmond Hamilton
Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was an American writer of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century.
Early life
Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania. So ...
(Air Wonder Stories, November–December 1929).
* The ''
Cities in Flight
''Cities in Flight'' is a four-volume series of science fiction novels and short stories by American writer James Blish, originally published between 1950 and 1962, which were first known collectively as the "Okie" novels. The series features ent ...
'' series (1950-1962) by
James Blish
James Benjamin Blish () was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his '' Cities in Flight'' novels and his series of ''Star Trek'' novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. His novel '' A Case of Conscie ...
propose a universe in which cities cast adrift from the Earth, powered by a fictional
spindizzy
''Cities in Flight'' is a four-volume series of science fiction novels and short stories by American writer James Blish, originally published between 1950 and 1962, which were first known collectively as the "Okie" novels. The series features ent ...
drive.
* In the novel ''
The Ringworld Engineers'' (1979),
Louis Wu
Louis Gridley Wu, a fictional character, is the protagonist in the ''Ringworld'' series of books, written by Larry Niven.
Louis Wu was born in 2650 to Carlos Wu and Sharrol Janss. When he appears in ''Ringworld'', Louis is 6′2″ (188 ...
seeks a way to save the Ringworld by bartering for information in the library of a floating city.
* The novel ''
Orion Shall Rise'' (1983) by
Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...
features an
aerostat city called Skyholm, located above – and dominating – a post-apocalyptic
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
* In the 1992 novel, ''
Snow Crash
''Snow Crash'' is a science fiction novel by the American writer Neal Stephenson, published in 1992. Like many of Stephenson's novels, it covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography ...
'', by
Neal Stephenson, a floating collection of refugee craft are attached surrounding the decommissioned nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS ''Enterprise'', to form The Raft.
* Airhaven is a floating city in the ''
Mortal Engines Quartet
The ''Mortal Engines Quartet'' (''Hungry City Chronicles'' in the United States), also known as the ''Predator Cities Quartet'', is a series of epic young adult fantasy novels by the British novelist and illustrator Philip Reeve. He began t ...
'', that, through attaching gas bags, lifted itself into the air to avoid being devoured by the mobile Traction Cities looking for resources on an Earth devastated millennia ago by the Sixty Minute War.
* ''The Tangled Lands'', a collection of short stories by
Paolo Bacigalupi
Paolo Tadini Bacigalupi (born August 6, 1972) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Nebula Award, Nebula, John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, John W. Campbell, Compton Cr ...
and
Tobias S. Buckell, references a lost city called Jhandpara that was once powered by magical means but became consumed by magic-seeking brambles.
* There are numerous floating habitats on the Venus-like planet Chilo in
Tobias S. Buckell's novel ''
Sly Mongoose''. Buckell credits
Geoffrey A. Landis with providing the background information on the floating cities.
* ''
Saga of Seven Suns'' by
Kevin J. Anderson has giant, occupied gas-mining platforms that mine the hydrogen necessary to, among other things, distill into ekti, a vital stardrive fuel.
*
Charles Stross
Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine '' ...
's novel ''
Saturn's Children'' begins in a floating city on Venus.
*
Geoffrey A. Landis's novel ''The Sultan of the Clouds'' features floating cities in the Venus atmosphere and orbital airships.
* In
Hannu Rajaniemi's novel ''
The Quantum Thief'', the Mars colony began as a slave-labor latifundium. After war developed, all entities began taking turns being the beings who kept the city rolling (and deflecting the permanent attack vectors that had been created during the war). The city kept rolling, with everyone's help.
* "
The War of Powers The War of Powers is a series of six epic fantasy fiction novels, co-written by American authors Robert E. Vardeman and Victor Milán. The books were first published from 1980 to 1982. David Langford characterized the series as "968 pages of junk fo ...
" series by
Robert E. Vardeman
Robert Edward Vardeman (sometimes called Vardebob) (born 1947) is an American science fiction fan and writer.
Career
Robert E. Vardeman was born in Mineral Wells, Texas, but is a longtime resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He graduated from ...
and
Victor Milán features a Sky City ruled by a race of human overlords called the Sky born who conquered the city from its original reptilian inhabitants. The city is powered by dark magic and floats in a set pattern over 5 surface cities.
* The mobile floating pirate city-state of
Armada in
China Miéville
China Tom Miéville ( ; born 6 September 1972) is a British speculative fiction writer and literary critic. He often describes his work as '' weird fiction'' and is allied to the loosely associated movement of writers called '' New Weird''.
M ...
's novel ''
The Scar'' (2002) has accreted in the seas of
Bas-Lag from multiple ships and boats over centuries of development.
* In
Paul Stewart and
Chris Riddell
Chris Riddell ( ) (born 13 April 1962) is a South African-born British illustrator and occasional writer of children's books and a political cartoonist for the ''Observer''. He has won three Kate Greenaway Medals - the British librarians' ann ...
's
The Edge Chronicles
''The Edge Chronicles'' is a children's fantasy novel series written by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. It consists of four trilogies, plus four additional books, and other books related to the universe (The Edge). The series was originally ...
series, Sanctaphrax is a city-state built upon an enormous floating rock. It was the seat of knowledge and academia in The Edge. It was lost to Open Sky after its anchor-chain became un-tethered during a violent storm.
Film and television
* In the 1936 film serial ''
Flash Gordon'',
Prince Vultan
Prince Vultan is a fictional character in the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip and its adaptations. Vultan is the ruler of the Winged Bird-Men, a race of flying extraterrestrials who dwell in Sky City, a metropolis that floats in the sky. He fits ...
and his winged Hawkmen dwell in Sky City, a metropolis that floats in the sky.
* Stratos, on the planet Ardana, in ''
Star Trek'' episode "
The Cloud Minders
"The Cloud Minders" is the twenty-first episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek''. Written by Margaret Armen (based on a story by David Gerrold and Oliver Crawford) and directed by Jud Taylor, i ...
".
* Cloud City on the planet
Bespin, in the ''
Star Wars'' film ''
The Empire Strikes Back
''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a stor ...
'' (1980).
*
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...
's animated film ''
Castle in the Sky'' (1986) involves a floating city hidden in the clouds called "Laputa", a name borrowed from Swift's ''
Gulliver's Travels''.
* Airlandis in the animated television series ''
Dragon Flyz
''Dragon Flyz'' is an animated television series created by Savin Yeatman-Eiffel and produced by Gaumont Multimédia in association with Abrams/Gentile Entertainment. The show, based on a toy line by Galoob, ran for two seasons, in syndication i ...
''.
* In ''
Firefly'' episode "
Trash
Trash may refer to:
Garbage
* Garbage, unwanted or undesired waste material
** Litter, material discarded in inappropriate places
** Municipal solid waste, unwanted or undesired waste material generated in a municipal environment
Arts, enter ...
", the planet Bellerophon is the site of dozens of floating estates with "gracious living, ocean views and state-of-the-art security."
*
Atlantis
Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...
from the ''
Stargate'' universe is a "city-ship" which is capable of flight and intergalactic travel. Due to the amount of power required to keep it airborne, it is frequently shown floating on water, but it could theoretically float at a fixed location in space. The Nox of ''
Stargate SG-1
''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, ...
'' have floating cities.
* Supertown is the floating city of the
New Gods that appears in the
Justice League
The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...
(2001) episode "Twilight".
* The main setting in the 2004–2007 2D animated TV series ''
Dragon Hunters
Dragon Hunters ( French: ''Chasseurs de dragons'') is an animated fantasy comedy television series created by Arthur Qwak and produced by the French company Futurikon and Tooncan. It follows the adventures of two hunters for hire through a medie ...
'' and its 3D
movie-prequel.
* In the
anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
film ''
Steamboy'' (2004), a "Steam Castle" was shown, which was essentially a floating city, kept in the air by means of steam that was directed towards the soil.
* In ''
Avatar
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...
'' (2009), the Hallelujah Mountains are large floating islands that feature as a battlefield in the climax of the film.
* Metro City in the film ''
Astro Boy
''Astro Boy'', known in Japan by its original name , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 '' tankōbon'' ...
'' (2009) is floating above the surface.
* In the
manga and anime series ''
One Piece
''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual cha ...
'', there are Sky Islands, cities built on a specific type of cloud that has hard, land-like properties, allowing civilizations to have ground to traverse and build on using the same cloud material, along with an ocean-like cloud throughout, making it a close parallel to a normal earthbound island. The unique environment of the Grand Line, an equatorial ocean that circles the globe and possesses all matter of mythical weather patterns, islands and equally mythical sea-behemoths, allows for these Sky Islands to occur regularly – yet are so rarely witnessed even the denizens of the legendary Grand-Line perceive them as a myth.
* In the 2011 animated TV series ''
ThunderCats'', a race of Birdmen live above the clouds in a technological floating city named Avista, powered and suspended in mid-air by the Tech Stone, one of
Mumm-Ra
Mumm-Ra is a fictional supervillain and the main antagonist of the '' ThunderCats'' franchise. He is an undead evil sorcerer bound to the servitude of four malevolent, godlike entities known as the Ancient Spirits of Evil. Native to the planet ...
's four Power Stones.
* The animated television show ''
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' depicts a city made entirely of clouds called Cloudsdale, a pun on the
Clydesdale horse
The Clydesdale is a Scottish breed of draught horse. It is named for its area of origin, the Clydesdale or valley of the River Clyde, much of which is within the county of Lanarkshire.
The origins of the breed lie in the eighteenth century, ...
breed.
* In the animated web-series ''
RWBY
''RWBY'' (pronounced "Ruby") is an American anime-influenced computer-animated web series created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth. It is set in the fictional world of Remnant, where young people train to become warriors (called "Huntsmen" and ...
'', the city of Atlas floats directly over the city of Mantle. The power to make it float comes from the Relic of Creation, housed in a vault underneath the city.
* In the 2013 movie
Elysium, the wealthiest class of humanity lives in an advanced toroidal-shaped space station orbiting the Earth at a high altitude.
* The 2019 movie ''
Alita: Battle Angel'' based on the manga ''
Gunnm
''Gunnm '' ( ja, 銃夢, Ganmu, ), also known as ''Battle Angel Alita'' in English, is a Japanese cyberpunk manga series created by Yukito Kishiro and originally published in Shueisha's ''Business Jump'' magazine from 1990 to 1995. The s ...
'' by ''
Yukito Kishiro
is a Japanese manga artist born in Tokyo in 1967 and raised in Chiba. As a teenager he was influenced by the mecha anime ''Armored Trooper Votoms'' and ''Mobile Suit Gundam'', in particular the designs of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, as well as the w ...
'' involves a wealthy sky city named Zalem.
* The anime television series ''
Girls und Panzer
, abbreviated as ''GuP'' or ''Garupan'' , is a Japanese anime franchise created by Actas which depicts a competition between girls' high schools practicing tank warfare as a sport. The series was directed by Tsutomu ...
'' features "school ships": massive ships that contain a school campus and a town on their surface.
* The animated series, ''
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
''She-Ra and the Princesses of Power'' is an American animated streaming television series developed by ND Stevenson and produced by DreamWorks Animation Television. Like the 1985 Filmation series '' She-Ra: Princess of Power'', of which it is ...
'', has the magical floating island, called Mystacore.
Video games
* The game ''
Deponia'' features a floating city known as Elysium.
* The skyborne metropolis of Caldoria in ''
The Journeyman Project
''The Journeyman Project'' is a series of award-winning first-person science fiction adventure games, created by Presto Studios and released by various publishers, including Bandai, Sanctuary Woods, and Red Orb Entertainment.
Plot
The central ...
'' and its remake ''
Pegasus Prime''.
* In ''
Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java (programming language), Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made pub ...
,'' an alternate realm from the main game world can be accessed, known as the End. It is composed of islands of light yellow rock floating in a void, populated by gangly ominous-looking humanoid creatures called Endermen and cities in the outer regions. Additionally, players can download the ''Aether''
mod
Mod, MOD or mods may refer to:
Places
* Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band
* M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
to be able to travel to a dimension of islands floating in the sky.
* ''
Tales of Symphonia'' features a floating city named Exire, home to the outcast Half-Elves.
* ''
Chrono Trigger
is a 1995 role-playing video game developed and published by Square. It was originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as the first game in the ''Chrono'' series. The game's development team included three designers th ...
'' features the Kingdom of Zeal, a floating island based magical kingdom, encountered in 12000 BCE.
* City in the Sky, the seventh dungeon level of ''
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess''.
* Skyloft, the town in which ''
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword'' begins.
* ''
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption'' features SkyTown, a research facility suspended within the atmosphere of a
gas giant
A gas giant is a giant planet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Gas giants are also called failed stars because they contain the same basic elements as a star. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" ...
named Elysia.
* ''
Mother 3
is a 2006 role-playing video game developed by Brownie Brown and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is the third entry in the Mother (video game series), ''Mother'' series. The game follows Lucas, a young boy ...
'' features a floating city named New Pork City which also appears in ''
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 crossover fighting video game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, it was announced at a pre-E3 2005 press conferenc ...
''.
* There are several floating cities in the games ''
Skies of Arcadia
''Skies of Arcadia'' is a 2000 role-playing video game developed by Overworks and published by Sega. Players control Vyse, a young air pirate, and his friends as they attempt to stop the fictional Valuan Empire from reviving ancient weapons with t ...
'' and ''
Skies of Arcadia Legends''.
* In ''
World of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'', Dalaran is a major city that floats above Crystalsong Forest in the center of Northrend.
* The setting of the ''
Eclipse Phase
''Eclipse Phase'' is a science fiction horror role-playing game with transhumanist themes. Originally published by Catalyst Game Labs, ''Eclipse Phase'' is now published by the game's creators, Posthuman Studios, and is released under a Crea ...
'' role-playing game includes floating cities on Venus and Saturn.
*
Columbia, the setting for the game ''
BioShock Infinite
''BioShock Infinite'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K Games. The third installment in the BioShock (series), ''BioShock'' series, ''Infinite'' was released worldwide for the Microsoft Window ...
''.
* ''
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Sega for the Genesis. Like previous ''Sonic'' games, players traverse side-scrolling levels while collecting rings and defeating enemies. They control Sonic and Tails, who attempt to retrieve ...
'' and ''
Sonic Adventure
is a 1998 platform game for Sega's Dreamcast and the first main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' game to feature 3D gameplay. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Big the ...
'' feature Angel Island, an island that floats using the power of the Master Emerald.
* Vane, the city of magicians of ''
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony''.
* ''
Phantasy Star
is a series of console role-playing video games and other supplementary media created by Sega. The series debuted in 1987 on the Master System with ''Phantasy Star'', and continues into the present with ''Phantasy Star Online 2'' and other ext ...
'' featured an Air Castle, home of the main villain.
* ''
Final Fantasy
is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...
'' features the Floating Castle, a floating city that resembles a space station.
* ''
Final Fantasy V
is a fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1992. It is the fifth main installment of the ''Final Fantasy'' series. The game first appeared only in Japan on Nintendo's Super Famicom (known internationally as the ...
'' features a floating city named the Ronka Ruins.
* ''
Final Fantasy XII
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. The twelfth main installment of the '' Final Fantasy'' series, it was first released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. It introduced several innovations to the series: an open ...
'' has several in the form of solid earth islands suspended in the air by mystically charged stones inherent to the earth making up the foundation of the floating city, with Bhujerba being the only one visited and seen firsthand in the game.
* ''
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward'' features several floating islands within the Sea of Clouds in Abalathia's Spine, the Churning Mists in Dravania, and the Allagan colony of Azys Lla, all of which feature current or historic human settlements.
* Sanctuary, the floating hub city of ''
Borderlands 2''.
* Glitzville, from ''
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'', is a small city that floats above Rogueport and its surrounding areas.
* The RPG ''
Xenogears
''Xenogears'' is a 1998 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is the debut entry in the larger ''Xeno (series), Xeno'' franchise. ...
'' features a floating city-airship named Solaris.
* ''Skyborn'' is a commercial
RPG Maker
RPG Maker, known in Japan as , is a series of programs for the development of role-playing video games (RPGs) with story-driven elements, created by the Japanese group ASCII, succeeded by Enterbrain. The Japanese name, ''Tsukūru'', is a pun m ...
game which features a floating city.
* ''
Xenoblade Chronicles
is a series of action role-playing games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. It is a part of the '' Xeno'' metaseries created by Tetsuya Takahashi, but was formed after Nintendo's acquisition of Monolith Soft in 2007. The se ...
'' is a science fiction role-playing video game for the
Wii which features a floating city, Alcamoth.
* ''
Tokyo Wakusei Planetokio'' is a science fiction adventure video game for the
Sony PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divi ...
where the main action takes place in floating cities.
* ''
Kimino Yusha
is a role-playing game which was developed and published by SNK Playmore for the Nintendo DS video game console. ''Kimino Yusha'' was unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show, then was released in 2008 in Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and ...
'' is a science fiction role-playing video game for the
Nintendo DS which features a floating land, Midalias.
* In ''
RuneScape
''RuneScape'' is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Jagex, released in January 2001. ''RuneScape'' was originally a browser game built with the Java programming language; it was lar ...
'', each
clan is assigned to a floating island built by
Armadyl, called a "Clan Fortress".
* ''
Cave Story'' is set entirely on a floating island.
* In ''
LittleBigPlanet 3
''LittleBigPlanet 3'' is a puzzle-platform game developed by Sumo Digital for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. It was released worldwide through November and December 2014, and it is the third entry in the main ''LittleBigPlanet'' series, ...
'', Bunkum Lagoon is a floating city in the sky that is located on Planet Bunkum (however, the name suggests that it is located on water and sea creatures feature heavily in this stage of the game).
* In the ''
Skylanders
''Skylanders'' is a toys-to-life action-adventure video game series published by Activision. ''Skylanders'' games are played by placing character figures called the Skylanders on the "Portal of Power", a device that reads the figures' tags throu ...
'' franchise, the world of Skylands consists of many floating islands.
* The game ''
Project Nomads
''Project Nomads'' is a computer game by Radon Labs released in 2002. It is set on the fictional planet Aeres, a fantastic world of gigantic floating islands
A floating island is a mass of floating aquatic plants, mud, and peat ranging in ...
'' features a world of floating islands, one of which is controlled by the player.
* ''
Fortnite
''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to- ...
s
battle royale mode previously had a floating island, held up by a giant purple cube, that was powered by a crack in time. The cube went on to let of an explosion that destroyed the island. The island was only in-game from September 27 to November 4, 2018.
* The academy faction towns in ''
Heroes of Might and Magic V
''Heroes of Might and Magic V'' is the fifth installment of the '' Heroes of Might and Magic'' fantasy turn-based strategy video game series. The game was released by Ubisoft in Europe on May 16, and then in the United States and Canada on May ...
'', are Magocracy-controlled floating cities known as the Silver Cities.
* ''
Black Skylands
''Black Skylands'' is a sandbox, open world action-adventure top-down shooter video game developed by Russian indie video game company Hungry Couch Games and published by tinyBuild as an early access title for Windows on 9 July 2021, with a ...
'' is set the fictional floating continent of Aspya.
*In ''
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus,'' the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
successfully established a floating city on top of a tall mountain, the city was abandoned after they were forced to pull their forces from
America due to a
revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
taking place.
*''
Apex Legends
''Apex Legends'' is a free-to-play battle royale-hero shooter game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in February 2019, for Nintendo Switch in March ...
'' features a map named Olympus, a vibrant futuristic city flying high above the planet Psamathe.
*In ''
Genshin Impact
''Genshin Impact'' is an action role-playing game developed and published by miHoYo. It was released for Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, and Windows in 2020, on PlayStation 5 in 2021, and is set for release on Nintendo Switch. The game feature ...
'', the mysterious floating island known as Celestia () looms high in the skies over the continent of Teyvat, and is said to be the realm of the gods.
Other
*
René Magritte
René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature and bound ...
's painting ''
Le Château des Pyrénées'' (1959).
*
Moebius' art book ''Venise céleste'' (1984).
* The sky island of
Doctor Einmug whom
Mickey Mouse meets in comic strips.
* In one comic story
Scrooge McDuck finds a floating island by watching satellite images.
* The
webcomic
Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books.
Webcomics can be c ...
''
Dresden Codak
''Dresden Codak'' is a webcomic written and illustrated by A. Senna Diaz (formerly Arryn Diaz). Described by Diaz as a "celebration of science, death and human folly", the comic presents stories that deal with elements of philosophy, science an ...
'' includes the city of Nephilopolis, a city constructed in the wreckage of a giant floating ancient
robot
A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may ...
.
* A flying island appears in the music videos for the
Gorillaz songs "
Feel Good Inc." and "
El Mañana", where it is shot down by helicopters. It then reappears, partially repaired, in the music video for the song "
DoYaThing
"DoYaThing" is a single by British alternative rock virtual band Gorillaz, featuring LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy and André 3000 of Outkast. The single was released on 23 February 2012. It was commissioned by Converse as a part of t ...
".
* Floating Islands frequently appear in the work of
Roger Dean. One example is the album cover for ''
An Evening of Yes Music Plus''.
* The crashed remains of the flying city-state of Aeor appear in
Campaign two of the web series
Critical Role
''Critical Role'' is an American web series in which a group of professional voice actors play '' Dungeons & Dragons''. The show started streaming partway through the cast's first campaign in March 2015. Campaign one ended in October 2017 aft ...
, and the City of Avalir appears as the main setting for the limited campaign
Exandria Unlimited: Calamity.
* The Udara Air Realm at
Lost Island Theme Park
Lost Island Theme Park is a theme park in Waterloo, Iowa. The park includes five themed lands, which feature numerous attractions; including three roller coasters. Lost Island Theme Park is owned by the Bertch family, who operate the Lost Island ...
is based around a society that once lived on a floating city above Lost Island that crashed to the surface, with the stranded survivors trying to re-develop their technology to return to the skies once again.
*
Skyrealms of Jorune (1984), a roleplaying game which features as its main setting the 'Skyrealms' - floating "islands" levitated by mysterious crystals in the crust of an alien planet.
See also
*
Aerospace architecture
Aerospace architecture is broadly defined to encompass architectural design of non-habitable and habitable structures and living and working environments in aerospace-related facilities, habitats, and vehicles. These environments include, but are n ...
*
Cloud Nine (tensegrity sphere)
Cloud Nine is the name Buckminster Fuller gave to his proposed airborne habitats created from giant geodesic spheres, which might be made to levitate by slightly heating the air inside above the ambient temperature.
Geodesic spheres (structures ...
*
Very large floating structure
Very large floating structures (VLFSs) or very large floating platforms (VLFPs) are artificial islands, which may be constructed to create floating airports, bridges, breakwaters, piers and docks, storage facilities (for oil and natural gas) ...
*
World Turtle
The World Turtle, also called the Cosmic Turtle or the World-bearing Turtle, is a mytheme of a giant turtle (or tortoise) supporting or containing the world. It occurs in Hindu mythology, Chinese mythology, and the mythologies of the indigenous p ...
References
{{reflist, 30em
Space colonization
Science fiction themes
Buoyancy
Fictional populated places
*
Fictional aircraft
Fantasy tropes