Lost Colony
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Related tropes/genres | apocafic |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
A lost colony is a science-fiction trope involving a group of spacefaring colonists who are cut off from the rest of human society, by accident or design, and so develop for hundreds or thousands of years in isolation.
Lost colony settings include the Vorkosigan saga, Dragonriders of Pern, Darkover, Courtship Rites and Gor.
Common aspects:
- Small starting population, leading to small range of genotypes
- Forced breeding: women are not permitted to abort or refuse pregnancy, because the initial breeding population is so small
- Arranged marriages
- Mix of high- and low-tech resources, or low-tech equipment with high-tech scientific & medical approaches to problems
- Caste society with strict social mobility limitations
- Exotic creatures or plant life, requiring adaptation of human cultural norms
Fannish uses
As a common SF trope, it shows up in fandom as a semi-common AU choice.
Even after canonical SGA had regained contact with Earth, many fans preferred to explore what would have happened if they'd stayed cut off. For example, ltlj's Retrograde series and springwoof's Left to Fend (with prequel The Body Holographic by springwoof and Leah) SGA stories play with this trope.[1]
More than one Supernatural story has started after the demons have destroyed most of the Earth's population.
References
- ^ For more examples, see SGA thematic list: Atlantis is cut off from Earth or secedes by ratcreature