History Main / AlienSpaceBats

Not to be confused with GoddamnBats, or the Franchise/{{Batman}} from ''SpeedingBullets,'' who actually ''is'' an alien. Only vaguely related to the movie ''{{Film/Lifeforce}}'', which is not AH, but has ''literal'' alien bats.

* The crashed alien spaceship in {{Comicbook/Miracleman}}.

** Failbetter Games's writers assert they had never heard of this trope name when writing the setting. [[spoiler: Given that it is both a figurative and literal case of Alien Space Bats, this is totally implausible but, if true, '''incredibly''' hilarious if true.]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' fanfic ''Fanfic/AThingOfVikings'' is an AlternateHistory/AlternateUniverse fanfic of the first film; according to the author, they were introduced to the film by their fiancee, and their immediate reaction was "Cute, but not very historically accurate," and then the plot bunny bit of "But what if ''was''?" Cue dropping the movie into RealLife history, set in the 1040s AD, and watching the ripples explode into the timeline from there, with the adoption of Dragons and dragon-riding functioning as the AlienSpaceBats: when the most advanced military technology on the planet is Greek Fire, a small Norse tribe suddenly has an ''air force''.

* The ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' fanfic ''Fanfic/AThingOfVikings'' is an AlternateHistory AlternateUniverse fanfic of the first film; according to the author, they were introduced to the film by their fiancee, and their immediate reaction was "Cute, but not very historically accurate," and then the plot bunny bit of "But what if ''was''?" Cue dropping the movie into RealLife history, set in the 1040s AD, and watching the ripples explode into the timeline from there, with the adoption of Dragons and dragon-riding functioning as the AlienSpaceBats: when the most advanced military technology on the planet is Greek Fire, a small Norse tribe suddenly has an ''air force''.

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** The ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'' novels: in the 1998 from which Nantucket was taken, the same Alien Space Bats cause all industrial-level technology to become useless. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d as some of the characters explicitly use the term "Alien Space Bats" as a label for whatever unknown force caused most human technology to suddenly stop working. This may also be a DiscussedTrope as the characters in the series are genre-savvy enough to have carried the trope name forward intentionally.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{ARMA}} ARMA 3]]'s expansion ''Contact'' adds a campaign involving contact with an unknown aliens species and a surrounding conflict between human factions in an otherwise [[FacklerScaleOfFPSRealism ultra-realistic military sim]].

Note that [[TropesAreTools Tropes Are Not Bad]]: this can and does lead to some excellent yarns, especially if SchizoTech is involved. Even if the event setting up the plot is fantastic or wildly improbable, [[IntendedAudienceReaction that doesn't mean that the characters' reactions to it have to be equally unrealistic]]. However, people who use alternate history to explore the nature of real historical processes may regard Alien Space Bat stories as annoying distractions, or at least as trivial mind games.

* In John Birmingham's ''Without Warning'', just before the 2nd Gulf War, a strange energy bubble appears over North America and kills all primate life within it's premises. One of the consequences is Israel nuking the Middle East and New York City being attacked by pirates (many of them being refugees from the Middle East).

* ''Literature/WithoutWarning'' offers one in a more recent past. A mysterious energy bubble called the Wave engulfs most of North America, killing all within and denying entry, on the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The trilogy examines the consequences of a modern world without America, as well as the struggles to survive and rebuild.

Note that [[TropesAreTools Tropes Are Not Bad]]: this can and does lead to some excellent yarns, especially if SchizoTech is involved. Even if the event setting up the plot is fantastic or wildly improbable, [[IntendedAudienceReaction that doesn't mean that the character's reactions to it have to be equally unrealistic]]. However, people who use alternate history to explore the nature of real historical processes may regard Alien Space Bat stories as annoying distractions, or at least as trivial mind games.

Alien Space Bats are in a sense the opposite of a DeusExMachina: where DeusExMachina is the introduction of an implausible element outside of the context of the narrative to ''resolve'' a plot conflict, Alien Space Bats are an implausible element outside the context of the narrative introduced in order to ''set up'' the main plot conflict or setting.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', TheMagicComesBack on MayanDoomsday.

** The ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'' novels: in the 1998 from which Nantucket was taken, the same Alien Space Bats cause all industrial-level technology to become useless. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d as some of the characters explicitly use the term "Alien Space Bats" as a label for whatever unknown force caused most human technology to suddenly stop working.

* As of 2010, ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'''s discovery of a physics-defying energy source (literally called "magic") that kicks off [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke a genetically engineered monster apocalypse]] and turns the whole world into the cover of every metal album ever has officially become this. By the time ''Xrd'' rolled around, the series fully committed to the alternate history route, revealing that in 1999 the Universal Will destroyed all modern electronics on Earth, leading to a second Dark Age until the discovery of magic.

* As of 2010, ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'''s discovery of a physics-defying energy source that kicks off [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke a genetically engineered monster apocalypse]] and turns the whole world into the cover of every metal album ever has officially become this.

* Cody from ''WebVideo/AlternateHistoryHub'', making a guest appearance on the WebVideo/HistoryBuffs episode covering ''{{Film/Apocalypto}}'', proposes that alien space bats are responsible for what host Nick can only describe as "time-traveling conquistadors."

* Cody from ''WebVideo/AlternateHistoryHub'', making a guest appearance on the WebVideo/HistoryBuffs episode covering {{Film/Apocalypto}}, proposes that alien space bats are responsible for what host Nick can only describe as "time-traveling conquistadors."

* Cody from ''WebVideo/Alternate History Hub'', making a guest appearance on the WebVideo/HistoryBuffs episode covering Film/Apocalypto, proposes that alien space bats are responsible for what host Nick can only describe as "time-traveling conquistadors."

* On the Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom forums and entire section of the site is dedicated to what they call Alien Space Bat secnarios, for scenarios that are extremely unlikely or would require ASB intervention.

An AlternateHistory trope dealing with the divergence of a timeline. If the point of divergence is an extraordinary or supernatural phenomenon, Alien Space Bats are responsible.

The trope may also apply when the point of divergence isn't actually supernatural, but is so wildly implausible that it might as well be that AWizardDidIt.

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