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Berserker

 Berserker
type
TVTItem
 Berserker
label
Berserker
 Berserker
page
Berserker
 Berserker
comment
Not to be confused with crazy bloodthirsty norsemen or Warriors of Khorne, the wrestler the Berzerker, or the Berserk manga, Fred Saberhagen's Berserker'' series is a collection of short stories, novels, and collaborations with other writers dealing with city-sized, spacefaring robots intent on destroying all life in the galaxy. The Berserkers themselves are relics of an ancient war between two now-extinct alien species.Books in the series: Berserker (1967) - Collection of the original short stories. Brother Assassin (1969) - Novella expended into full length novel. Berserker's Planet (1975) Berserker Man (1979) The Ultimate Enemy (1979) - Collection of short stories Berserkers Wars (1981) - Collection of short stories Berserker Throne (1985) Berserker Blue Death (1985) Berserker Base (1985) - Multi-author anthology Berserker Attack (1987) - Limited edition collection Berserker Lies (1991) - Collection of short stories Berseker Kill (1993) The Bad Machines (1996) - Novellete, Crossover with Jack Williamson's The Humanoids series. Berserker Fury (1997) Shiva in Steel (1998) Beserker Star (2003) Berseker Prime (2003) Rogue Berserker (2003)
 Berserker
fetched
2024-02-02T23:29:44Z
 Berserker
parsed
2024-02-02T23:29:44Z
 Berserker
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Berserker / int_1384ff11
type
Humans by Any Other Name
 Berserker / int_1384ff11
comment
Humans by Any Other Name: All sapient life forms are called Human. Homo Sapiens is called the E.D., or Earth Descended "theme" of humanity (non-human Earthlife is also referred to as E.D. lifeforms).
 Berserker / int_1384ff11
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1.0
 Berserker / int_1384ff11
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 Berserker
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Berserker / int_1384ff11
 Berserker / int_1e679bd0
type
The Quisling
 Berserker / int_1e679bd0
comment
The Quisling: "Goodlife" are humans who work secretly for Berserkers. The alternative: you are skinned alive as an educational example to others.
 Berserker / int_1e679bd0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_1e679bd0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Berserker
hasFeature
Berserker / int_1e679bd0
 Berserker / int_2754014
type
Invisible Aliens
 Berserker / int_2754014
comment
Invisible Aliens: If there's intelligent life out there, why haven't we seen signs of it? Well, because most of it's been wiped out by the Berserkers, that's why.
 Berserker / int_2754014
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_2754014
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 Berserker
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Berserker / int_2754014
 Berserker / int_275847f0
type
Not Just a Tournament
 Berserker / int_275847f0
comment
Not Just a Tournament: In Berserker's Planet, a cult on Hunter's Planet regularly has tournaments where the contestants fight to the death. Little do the competitors know that the ultimate controller of the cult is a disabled Berserker which is doing its best to carry out its programming to destroy all life.
 Berserker / int_275847f0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_275847f0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Berserker
hasFeature
Berserker / int_275847f0
 Berserker / int_28a7a9cd
type
Sentient Vehicle
 Berserker / int_28a7a9cd
comment
Sentient Vehicle: The Berserker ships.
 Berserker / int_28a7a9cd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_28a7a9cd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_28a7a9cd
 Berserker / int_2e96aee
type
Seadog Peg Leg
 Berserker / int_2e96aee
comment
Seadog Peg Leg: Blue Death, space captain Nils Domingo loses his leg leading a Boarding Party against the Berserkers about halfway through the book. Much like Captain Ahab, he has a prosthetic made from Berserker steel.
 Berserker / int_2e96aee
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_2e96aee
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1.0
 Berserker
hasFeature
Berserker / int_2e96aee
 Berserker / int_30bea418
type
We Will All Fly in the Future
 Berserker / int_30bea418
comment
We Will All Fly in the Future: "Stone Place" mentions "aircars swarming out from the city in glad welcome", with "police aircars" providing traffic control.
 Berserker / int_30bea418
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_30bea418
featureConfidence
1.0
 Berserker
hasFeature
Berserker / int_30bea418
 Berserker / int_511728ae
type
Magic Versus Science
 Berserker / int_511728ae
comment
Magic Versus Science: One short story features aliens apparently based on American Indians. They pray to the spirits of animals when they need to kill stuff to eat it. It works for berserkers too, if you can get them close enough.
 Berserker / int_511728ae
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1.0
 Berserker / int_511728ae
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 Berserker
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Berserker / int_511728ae
 Berserker / int_6d56d241
type
Patchwork Story
 Berserker / int_6d56d241
comment
Patchwork Story: Berserker collects a number of Berserker stories and links them together with narration by the Third Historian of the Carmpan (alien) race.
 Berserker / int_6d56d241
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_6d56d241
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1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_6d56d241
 Berserker / int_7337ba69
type
Food Chain of Evil
 Berserker / int_7337ba69
comment
Food Chain of Evil: Roger Zelazny's short story Itself Surprised is about the discovery of "Qwib-qwib" — a deactivated anti-Berserker Berserker invented by the Red Race shortly before their demise.
 Berserker / int_7337ba69
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1.0
 Berserker / int_7337ba69
featureConfidence
1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_7337ba69
 Berserker / int_768ae1c9
type
Les Collaborateurs
 Berserker / int_768ae1c9
comment
Les Collaborateurs: Being what the omnicidal machines call "goodlife" is universally treated as a capital crime. For good reason.
 Berserker / int_768ae1c9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_768ae1c9
featureConfidence
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 Berserker
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Berserker / int_768ae1c9
 Berserker / int_874176be
type
Psychic Powers
 Berserker / int_874176be
comment
Psychic Powers: The Carmpans. The Framing Story is narrated by the Third Historian, who has the power to sense events throughout time and space. Then there are the Carmpan Prophets of Probability who can predict more immediate events.
 Berserker / int_874176be
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1.0
 Berserker / int_874176be
featureConfidence
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 Berserker
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Berserker / int_874176be
 Berserker / int_904530eb
type
Recycled IN SPACE!
 Berserker / int_904530eb
comment
Recycled In SPACE: "Stone Place" is the Battle of Lepanto IN SPACE! Berserkers are Ottoman Turks. Berserker Fury is a space version of the Battle of Midway. Painfully the same as the Real Life battle, except IN SPACE! (And the future. With the A.I. Berserkers who want to destroy all life as the Japanese.)
 Berserker / int_904530eb
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1.0
 Berserker / int_904530eb
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1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_904530eb
 Berserker / int_9518ba73
type
Red-plica Baron
 Berserker / int_9518ba73
comment
Red-plica Baron: In the short story "Wings out of Shadow" (1974), a personality construct of Manfred von Richthofen, together with other World War I flying ace constructs, plays a pivotal role in a defensive withdrawal while pursued by a numerically superior force.
 Berserker / int_9518ba73
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_9518ba73
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1.0
 Berserker
hasFeature
Berserker / int_9518ba73
 Berserker / int_97f53f5b
type
Superweapon Surprise
 Berserker / int_97f53f5b
comment
Superweapon Surprise: "Sign of the Wolf"
 Berserker / int_97f53f5b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_97f53f5b
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1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_97f53f5b
 Berserker / int_986dad9a
type
Killer Robot
 Berserker / int_986dad9a
comment
Killer Robot: The Berserkers
 Berserker / int_986dad9a
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1.0
 Berserker / int_986dad9a
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1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_986dad9a
 Berserker / int_9de3b377
type
Unrealistic Black Hole
 Berserker / int_9de3b377
comment
Unrealistic Black Hole: In "Masque of the Red Shift" Johann Karlsen takes a lifeboat into a black hole to lure a Berserker ship to its doom. In "The Temple of Mars" we learn that Karlsen went into orbit around the black hole within the event horizon, and in "The Face of the Deep" he's rescued from the black hole.
 Berserker / int_9de3b377
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1.0
 Berserker / int_9de3b377
featureConfidence
1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_9de3b377
 Berserker / int_a8559a9f
type
RealLife
 Berserker / int_a8559a9f
comment
Berserker Fury is a space version of the Battle of Midway. Painfully the same as the Real Life battle, except IN SPACE! (And the future. With the A.I. Berserkers who want to destroy all life as the Japanese.)
 Berserker / int_a8559a9f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_a8559a9f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Berserker
hasFeature
Berserker / int_a8559a9f
 Berserker / int_ad54ff39
type
Hiroshima as a Unit of Measure
 Berserker / int_ad54ff39
comment
Hiroshima as a Unit of Measure: The Berserker enemy A.I. spaceships are often described as the size of Manhattan Island. Which for a space ship is HUGE.
 Berserker / int_ad54ff39
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_ad54ff39
featureConfidence
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 Berserker
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Berserker / int_ad54ff39
 Berserker / int_b59f6070
type
Confusion Fu
 Berserker / int_b59f6070
comment
Confusion Fu: In early stories, the berserkers were omnicidal self-replicating war machines whose combat strategies were driven by a random number generator, seeking to avoid predictability at almost any cost. As the series progressed, this aspect of the berserkers' programming came up less and less often and the berserkers' strategies became much more logical.
 Berserker / int_b59f6070
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1.0
 Berserker / int_b59f6070
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1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_b59f6070
 Berserker / int_bb44f503
type
Robot War
 Berserker / int_bb44f503
comment
Robot War
 Berserker / int_bb44f503
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_bb44f503
featureConfidence
1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_bb44f503
 Berserker / int_c0f87dda
type
Humans Are Warriors
 Berserker / int_c0f87dda
comment
Humans Are Warriors: The Carmpan, being pacifists, were unable to confront the Berserker threat directly. Instead they found a weapon: Humans.
 Berserker / int_c0f87dda
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_c0f87dda
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1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_c0f87dda
 Berserker / int_cde51255
type
Antagonist Title
 Berserker / int_cde51255
comment
Antagonist Title
 Berserker / int_cde51255
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1.0
 Berserker / int_cde51255
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1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_cde51255
 Berserker / int_ceb7336a
type
Wetware CPU
 Berserker / int_ceb7336a
comment
Wetware CPU: Some of the stories had the killing machines attempt to use organic brains to introduce more fuzzy logic into their tactical computers. Later stories say that human-computer fusions usually outperform the Berserkers, which sometimes helps cover for the relative weakness of human ships.
 Berserker / int_ceb7336a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_ceb7336a
featureConfidence
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 Berserker
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Berserker / int_ceb7336a
 Berserker / int_d0f0a80d
type
One-Word Title
 Berserker / int_d0f0a80d
comment
One-Word Title
 Berserker / int_d0f0a80d
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1.0
 Berserker / int_d0f0a80d
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 Berserker
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Berserker / int_d0f0a80d
 Berserker / int_d2810345
type
Boarding Party
 Berserker / int_d2810345
comment
Boarding Party: One story had a boarding party made up of robots. Very few human ships are powerful enough or large enough to combat a Berserker in a straight shootout. But they are good at carrying Human marines who are generally superior to the Berserker's own small combatant robots. Humanity has exploited this more than once.
 Berserker / int_d2810345
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_d2810345
featureConfidence
1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_d2810345
 Berserker / int_d355ba37
type
Turned Against Their Masters
 Berserker / int_d355ba37
comment
Turned Against Their Masters: The Berserkers. Fabulously turned on its head with Larry Niven's "A Teardrop Falls" - the human-in-a-computer protagonist uploads himself into a Berserker, taking over two of the three redundant "brains," keeping the third Berserker brain around for reference. Now that he has a majority interest in the decision-making, he can make the Berserker do what he wants while it has no choice in the matter. The stories frequently reflect on the fact that often combat is actually between the Berserker and the computers on the human ships, making a deliberate contrast between the two.
 Berserker / int_d355ba37
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_d355ba37
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1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_d355ba37
 Berserker / int_db68b734
type
Precursor Killers
 Berserker / int_db68b734
comment
Precursor Killers: The Berserkers
 Berserker / int_db68b734
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_db68b734
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1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_db68b734
 Berserker / int_e8e56799
type
Blue-and-Orange Morality
 Berserker / int_e8e56799
comment
Blue-and-Orange Morality: The Carmpans. They are ultimately benevolent pacifists, but they just don't think like humans do, and communicating with them proves to be very cryptic and frustrating.
 Berserker / int_e8e56799
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_e8e56799
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1.0
 Berserker
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Berserker / int_e8e56799
 Berserker / int_e9e35e8f
type
Exact Words
 Berserker / int_e9e35e8f
comment
Exact Words: A historian is forced to load Berserker fighters with human engrams that will serve as decoys for the Berserker-piloted craft. When questioned whether the engrams are warlike, he points to one who was turned away from the military for being half blind, another who was a mild-mannered poet, and a third who did serve in the army as a behind-the-scenes supply officer. Turns out he's talking about WWI flying aces Mick Mannock, Albert Ball and Manfred von Richthofen.
 Berserker / int_e9e35e8f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_e9e35e8f
featureConfidence
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 Berserker
hasFeature
Berserker / int_e9e35e8f
 Berserker / int_ec590d4
type
Recursive Creators
 Berserker / int_ec590d4
comment
Recursive Creators: While berserkers themselves don't self-replicate, they're built by immense, automated shipyards.
 Berserker / int_ec590d4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Berserker / int_ec590d4
featureConfidence
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 Berserker
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Berserker / int_ec590d4
 Berserker / int_ffcc242c
type
Extra-Dimensional Shortcut
 Berserker / int_ffcc242c
comment
Extra-Dimensional Shortcut: "Flightspace" is some sort of other plane or space which consists of force currents flowing through the galaxy, between and amongst the stars, which ships enter to reach superluminal speeds.
 Berserker / int_ffcc242c
featureApplicability
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 Berserker / int_ffcc242c
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 Berserker
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Berserker / int_ffcc242c
 Berserker / int_name
type
ItemName
 Berserker / int_name
comment
 Berserker / int_name
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Berserker / int_name
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itemName
Berserker

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Berserker
hasFeature
Abusive Precursors / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Alien Works / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Extra-Dimensional Shortcut / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Humans Are Warriors / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
I Am Not a Gun / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Invincible Hero / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Invisible Aliens / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Machine Worship / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Misanthrope Supreme / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Name That Unfolds Like Lotus Blossom / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Omnicidal Maniac / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Our Humans Are Different / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Precursor Killers / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Ramming Always Works / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Red-plica Baron / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Robot and A.I. Works / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Sapient Ship / int_63e943da
 Berserker
hasFeature
Wetware CPU / int_63e943da
 Berserker (Tabletop Game)
seeAlso
Berserker