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For the Warhammer 40,000 army, see Space Marines (Warhammer 40,000). Space marines are fictional soldiers that operate in outer space. Space marines are common in military science fiction-themed action movies and action games. Historical marines fulfill amphibious roles: ship defense, landing parties, and general high-mobility deployments. By extension, space marines defend spaceships, land on planets and satellites, and fulfill rapid deployment throughout space.
[edit] HistoryThe first space marine unit, the Galactic Marines, was used in E. E. Smith's Lensman series, published starting in 1937.[citation needed] The phrase "space marines" first appears in Robert A. Heinlein's "Misfit"[1] (1939) and is again used in "The Long Watch"[2] (1941). Heinlein's Starship Troopers (1959) is considered the defining work for the concept; for example, the actors playing the Colonial Marines in Aliens (1986) were required to read Starship Troopers as part of their training prior to filming.[3] Heinlein intended for the capsule troopers of the Mobile Infantry to be an amalgam of the shipborne aspect of the US Marine Corps relocated to space and coupled with the battlefield delivery and mission profile of US Army paratroopers. As a gaming concept, space marines play a major role in the Warhammer 40,000 miniatures wargame, in which they are genetically altered super-soldiers and the most powerful fighting forces available to the Imperium of Mankind. In computer games, playing a space marine in action games was popularized by id Software's Doom series, first published in 1993. It is a convenient game back-story as it excuses the presence of the character on a hostile alien world with little support and heavy weaponry. Some critics have suggested it has been overused to the point of being an action game cliché.[4] [edit] Characteristics
In film and television space marines often appear in squads, while in action games the protagonist marine is often alone (although this is more due to game limitations) or transferred between different units as the game progresses. In their amphibious role, marines are usually transported by "drop ships" and/or "drop pods", and are supported on the ground by infantry fighting vehicles or lighter vehicles. Marines are usually equipped with a science fiction assault rifle, similar to a modern firearm only superior in some manner, or some form of fictional portable laser rifle. Fireteams often include an automatic rifle, such as a smartgun. Flamethrowers may be deployed against aliens with a susceptibility to fire. Sniper rifles are seen more rarely. Clothing ranges from spacesuits and powered exoskeletons to battledress similar to that worn by contemporary armed forces. [edit] Non-fiction aspectsThe United States Marine Corps's Project Hot Eagle considers the use of spacecraft to deliver marines to a target on the ground. "Within minutes of bursting into the atmosphere beyond the speed of sound – and dispatching that ominous sonic boom – a small squad of Marines could be on the ground and ready to take care of business within 2 hours."[5] [edit] Appearances in fiction
[edit] See also[edit] References
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