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A famous fictional
example of antimatter in action is in the science fiction
franchise Star
Trek, where it is a common energy source for starships; large reactors generate
power by mixing supercooled deuterium and antideuterium, with the
annihilation reaction regulated by dilithium
crystals. It is also used as a weapon, as in photon
torpedoes.
Antimatter is briefly referenced in the 1966 movie
Batman: The Movie (several evil
henchmen are turned into antimatter when they are revived using
"heavy water" from the batcave), but the concept remains completely
unexplained in this example.
In the episode of Doctor Who,
Planet of
Evil, an antimatter universe is discovered that is
theorised to be a source of fuel. The scientist Dr. Sorenson is
transformed into an 'antiman' due to exposure to antimatter. Also,
the episode The Three Doctors introduces the
Gallifreyan
scientist Omega, who was thought by Gallifreyan
historians to have died in a supernova in the process of creating the
Eye of
Harmony, but was in fact trapped in an antimatter universe on
the other side of the resulting black hole.
Late in The Rocky Horror Picture
Show, Riff Raff confirms to Dr. Frank-N-Furter that the
pitchfork-like weapon he has pointed at him is "a laser, capable of emitting a beam of pure
antimatter." This misuse of the term led to the audience-response
lines "Then it's not a laser." and "Does that mean it doesn't
matter?"
In the short movie spoof "Snowballs from Hell" on
A Prairie Home Companion, the
snowballs attacking America are compressed to such a density that
they become antimatter.
In Atomic Betty, Betty's aunt is Auntie Matter, a
criminal who can transform her body into anti-matter.
In the
British comedy Red
Dwarf, "Antimatter chopsticks" are introduced as an exotic
dining utensil.
Books
The Lensman series features 'negaspheres', which might
be anti-matter
In Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space
series, antimatter is used to power spacecraft, certain spacesuit
thrusters, and as a weapon. The most common typeof antimatter used
in the universe is antilithium.
In Niven'sRingworld series, antimatter appears as a
weapon useful against even the super-dense matter scrith. Niven makes the observation
that if a ship's crew is given an antimatter bullet they will take
advantage of any excuse to get rid of it.
In the sci-fi trilogy "The Dread Empire's
Fall" by Walter Jon Williams, antimatter is used
extensively, both as an energy source and as a dangerous
weapon.
In the Polity novels by Neal Asher, antimatter is a
staple weapon of the Polity fleet, and while it has been confirmed
that ships ranging in size, from the Centurion class attack ships
like "Jack Ketch" to the Sector AI ship "Jerusalem" are capable of
manufacturing antimatter, it is not specified whether or not these
weapons are common throughout the fleet or only to those ships
whose internal factories have been upgraded.
Comics
In
comic books
produced by DC
Comics, the notion of an antiuniverse, or in DC's parlance,
Anti-Matter Universe, was first utilized in the Green Lantern series
in the 1960s. The
Anti-Matter Universe contains a world known as Qward, home to the Green Lantern
Corps' sworn enemies, the Weaponers of Qward.
In
the early '90s McDonald's "McWorld" Guzzle "What if Kids Ruled the Space
Program," aliens ask a child whether he would like some antimatter
with his meal.
Sadako Meka, antagonist of the manga series Cyber Girls Akihabara uses
antimater combined with matter as a way to attack and create
dimensional holes.
Games
The Protoss race of StarCraft uses antimatter for both propulsion and
weaponry.
In the Sega game Shadow the Hedgehog, one of
the final bosses, Diablon, used an attack named Antimatter
Cannon. It is a powerful all-round spherical attack.
In the
Nintendo game Metroid Prime Hunters, antimatter is a
key component in the Alimbic Cannon. The Cannon fires burst of
antimatter at specific speeds, frequencies, and coordinations to
open a rift in space-time, allowing travel into another
dimension.
In the popular video game Ratchet:
Deadlocked, there is a sniper rifle called the Antimatter
Rifle, and it fires a straight beam of antimatter.
In the
computer game Nexus: The Jupiter Incident,
antimatter engines can be fitted for your fleet ships along with
other forms of propulsion such as chemical and fusion.
In the
MMOG EVE Online,
Antimatter charges are one of the types of ammunition available for
Railguns and Blasters, which emit the charge as either a solid slug
or a bolt of superheated plasma respectively.
In one of the
official expansion packs for Quake II, an antimatter bomb is one of the
items you need to collect. It is used to destroy an artificially
created black
hole, but may also be used as a weapon. It will kill everything
(including bosses) in the room where it's detonated.
In the SNES
game Super Mario RPG:Legend of the Seven Stars a somewhat hidden
boss harder than the rest named Culex claims to be antimatter,
amongst other things.
In the computer game Deus Ex, Area 51 has two antimatter reactors,
which the player may choose to activate and then detonate to
destroy Area 51 and the Aquinas Hub, plunging the world in a new
dark age.
In the Japanese video game series Super Robot Wars,
the Granzon is powered
by an antimatter annihilation engine. This reactor's efficiency in
energy production leads to the Granzon's incredible power.
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