History Main / ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld

** The story behind the airship is a long and complicated one full of WhatMightHaveBeen (aptly enough, given this trope): the original plan, back in TheSeventies, was for the California Disneyland to contain a {{steampunk}}-themed area called Discoveryland, whose centrepiece would be a replica of the ''Hyperion'', a CoolAirship featured in the Disney movie ''Film/TheIslandAtTheTopOfTheWorld''. Unfortunately, after the movie flopped, Disney scrapped their plans for Discoveryland, repurposing most of the work that was already done into ''Journey Into Imagination'' over in Florida. Decades later, however, the old Discoveryland plans were dusted off for Disneyland Paris as its equivalent to the Tomorrowland areas in the American parks, with the ''Hyperion'' in place. Disneyland Paris's opening was also a flop, because zeppelins are [[HindenburgIncendiaryPrinciple cursed apparently]].

* The Literature/RedMarsTrilogy has a fleet of automated "air"ships used both for exploration and as part of the early {{Terraform}}ing effort (ultimately a failure but it turns out somewhat useful anyway), so they're Zeppelins ''on'' another world as well. There's solid science backing this: Mars has a much thinner atmosphere than Earth, so fixed-wing aircraft have trouble generating lift there - a problem that lighter-than-air vehicles do not share. This is aided by the fact that with lower gravity, airships also require less lifting gas. Later (post-terraforming) a transforming high-tech sailboat turns into a blimp to escape rough seas.

* Used in ''VideoGame/TimeShift''. Most of the game takes place in an alternate 1940s, so the zeppelins aren't so far out [[note]]In relality the last of the zeppelins was scrapped in April of 1940[[/note]]. The helicopters and giant mechanical spiders, however, make you realize something is more than a little wrong.

In our world, [[UsefulNotes/{{Airships}} Zeppelins seemed to be doing pretty well]]. People adored them; they were seen as [[ZeeRust extremely glamorous and futuristic.]] The world-famous LZ-127 ''Graf Zeppelin'' had accomplished global circumnavigations, arctic explorations, and aviation feats that people had only dreamed of. Then, on May 6, 1937, the flagship luxury liner ''[[UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg Hindenburg]]'' burst into flames while landing in New Jersey for no obvious reason, the first major catastrophe ''caught on film.''[[note]]The common theory as to what happened is that the captain's sharp turns trying to line up the Hindenburg with the landing mast cut a bracing wire which ripped open one of the hydrogen gas cells, causing a fuel leak, and a spark ignited the hydrogen as the mooring ropes were being dropped to the ground.[[/note]] This Hydrogen fire, which killed roughly a third of the passengers and crew on board, created a global panic. No commercial Zeppelin would fly again until 1999, though a few relatively tiny nonrigid "blimps" did continue to operate in small niches such as aerial videography.

* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'': Used as the revelation of the pot twist. [[spoiler:After falling through the Gate, Edward finds himself in a world with Zeppelins in the sky... but it's ''[[WelcomeToTheRealWorld our]]'' world: London, mid-WWI.]]

* When ''Film/{{Stardust}}'''s hero finds himself in a [[TrappedInAnotherWorld magical alternate reality]], one of the major setpieces of his adventure is the lighting-hunting airship ''Caspartine'', captained by Robert [=DeNiro=].

* ''Comicbook/TwoThousandAD'': In the "Thargg's 3rillers" story "The English Astronaut", when multiple possible timelines start colliding, there are three airships (and a FlyingSaucer) in the skies over London. One "normal", one crashing, and one with a sign painted on it reading "[[LampshadeHanging ALTERNATE REALITY SIGNIFIERS]]: YOUR AD HERE".

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheGoldenCompass https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zeppelin_golden_compass.ong]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheGoldenCompass https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zeppelin_golden_compass.jpg]]]]

* ''Mindstar Rising'' by Creator/PeterFHamilton. Airships are being used in a global-warming world, but it's mentioned that they are only a viable technology after the development of [[{{Unobtanium}} superstrength monolattice composites]] built in orbital microgravity factories.

It is important to note that the presence of [[UsefulNotes/{{Airships}} airships]] doesn't imply that the technology of the AlternateUniverse is inferior. Just like with biological evolution, Zeppelins are not [[TechnologyLevels "more" or "less" evolved technology]], what's used is whatever is the best available fit for the niche. It could just as well be that Zeppelins in the AlternateHistory were better able to suit the situation than airplanes were, say if there was a [[CrapsackWorld massive resource shortage]] that demanded efficiency and payload over speed, some other economic factor, or [[ForWantOfANail simply because there wasn't a Hindenburg-Equivalent]], Zeppelins never fell out of favor to begin with. The sudden [[BlackComedy explosion]] of airships as a technological phenomenon, followed shortly by their rapid decline, gives them the distinction of invoking a feeling both futuristic ''and'' retro at the same time. Thus, they are perfect for a writer wanting to invoke a feeling of {{Zeerust}} or DaysOfFuturePast.

* In ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'', retrofuturistic airships eventually become an important part of the setting's future history, illustrating both its SuperScience and its return to [[RetroUniverse an Art Deco-ish aesthetic]].

* When ''Film/{{Stardust}}'''s hero finds himself in a [[TrappedInAnotherWorld a magical alternate reality]], one of the major setpieces of his adventure is the lighting-hunting airship ''Caspartine'', captained by Robert [=DeNiro=].

* Airship technology turns up from time to time in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': in remote drones for aerial surveillance, in huge "cargolifters" for inexpensive bulk transport, and in luxurious cruise ships for the ultra-rich. The finale of the first Shadowrun book takes place at an airfield where a yakuza boss has just flown in on a zeppelin.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'' has Zeppelins as support vehicles, in small, medium and even large. In addition, the Star League apparently once used a Zeppelin based design to create multi-platform flying cities.
* In the setting of TabletopGame/Space1889, most flying ships on Earth and Mars use "Martian liftwood" to stay aloft, giving them a more ship-like appearance. But on Venus liftwood doesn't work, so the German colony there is patrolled by Zeppelins -- on another world ''in'' another world.

* ''[[http://www.dangerpatrol.com Danger Patrol]]'' is centered around [[CityOfAdventure Rocket City]] on Mars, where gargantuan "Magna-Zeppelins" are a common sight shipping large cargoes across the massive city. It's a PlanetaryRomance setting that plays up {{Zeerust}} for all it's worth.
* Featured ''very'' prominently in ''TabletopGame/DystopianWars'', often as air carriers for flying machines and as the occasional flying fortress bristling with guns. Not only that, they're often up to five times as large as Hindeburg... And there's more than one in every army.
* In ''TabletopGame/FlyingCircus'', the [[GreatOffscreenWar Great War]] stunted technology to the equivalent of the early-20th century, zeppelins and other airships remain a mainstay in Himmilgard. Airships appear through the artwork to bring home the setting's tech level.

It is important to note that the presence of [[UsefulNotes/{{Airships}} airships]] doesn't imply that the technology of the AlternateUniverse is inferior. Just like with biological evolution, Zeppelins are not [[TechnologyLevels "more" or "less" evolved technology]], what's used is whatever is the best available fit for the niche. It could just as well be that Zeppelins in the AlternateHistory were better able to suit the situation than airplanes were, say if there was a [[CrapsackWorld massive resource shortage]] that demanded efficiency and payload over speed, some other economic factor, or [[ForWantOfANail simply because there wasn't a Hindenburg-Equivalent]], Zeppelins never fell out of favor to begin with. The sudden [[JustForPun explosion]] of airships as a technological phenomenon, followed shortly by their rapid decline, gives them the distinction of invoking a feeling both futuristic ''and'' retro at the same time. Thus, they are perfect for a writer wanting to invoke a feeling of {{Zeerust}} or DaysOfFuturePast.

* Even in the far future of ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'', various kinds of airships are still used. The advanced technology allows for variants that don't (yet) exist in real life, like [[https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/48586cc9eb91a airships that get their lift from vacuum.]] Some are even [[https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/4f181b2caeccf used as places to live in.]]

* Used as the revelation of the great plot twist of ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'': [[spoiler:After falling through the Gate, Edward finds himself in a world with Zeppelins in the sky... but it's ''[[WelcomeToTheRealWorld our]]'' world: London, mid-WWI.]]

* Zeppelins and blimps (along with windmills, solar power, and other eco-friendly technologies) are a big part of the "just like ours only better" world of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries''. That said, there are also plenty of airplanes, cars, and other "realistic" technology.

* ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'' has a huge polar exploration zeppelin as befits its RetroUniverse setting. It also escapes its mooring and crashes spectacularly, proving that Kiki's world, while different, is not all ''that'' different from ours.
** Creator/HayaoMiyazaki adores this trope so much, he has been credited as the inspiration for the presence of airships in works like Pixar's ''Up'', ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', and ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''.

* In ''ComicBook/FallOutToyWorks'', Baron has one as his base of operations -- in a {{Cyberpunk}} story.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi''. The world of [[VideoGame/DungeonKeeper Adushul]] is a StandardFantasySetting, and zeppelins are introduced by due to [[ADungeonIsYou Keeper Mercury]]. A.k.a OutsideContextProblem character of Sailor Mercury of Anime/SailorMoon, augmented with a magical artifact from their own world. She's a [[OneManIndustrialRevolution One Woman Industrial Revolution]] and introduces the idea of zeppelins as quick transport for her troops and rescued prisoners.

* Disney's ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' shows why people riding in hydrogen-filled dirigibles shouldn't back-stab badass subordinates packing flare guns.

* Despite being set in a futuristic 2019, the Los Angeles of ''Film/BladeRunner'' appears to be infested with zeppelins, most of which wind their way through the labyrinthine skyscrapers [[AdvertOverloadedFuture advertising]] immigration to the Off-World Colonies and various Chinese/Japanese products.
* ''Film/TheBorrowers1997'' has numerous indicators that is set in a mid-Atlantic RetroUniverse, not least of all being the constant presence of one or more zeppelins in the sky.

* The sky over Libria in ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'' is full of zeppelins. In at least one scene, the zeppelin has a screen on the side to broadcast propaganda.
* ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'' features airships in the establishing shots of the alternative Oxford.
* ''Film/IronSky'' has zeppelins that can somehow travel through space from the Moon, and [[TransformingMecha open up]] to [[AirborneAircraftCarrier release a swarm]] of Nazi {{Flying Saucer}}s. They're also dragging asteroids for {{Colony Drop}}s. Then again, you're [[StupidJetpackHitler not supposed to take all this very seriously]].

* Used to nightmarish effect in ''Film/VHSViral''. In the ''Parallel Monsters'' segment, it is obvious from the start that there is something wrong with the AlternateDimension Alfonso is exploring, but it's the sight [[spoiler:of a blimp with a huge inverted cross on its side that really sells it.]]

* Creator/MichaelMoorcock's ''The Warlord of the Air'' series is set in a succession of overlapping alternate Earths, where in all of them the powered airship is the dominant method of flight and aerial warfare. An adventurer from our Earth, Oswald Bastable, comes from the late nineteenth century where the only method of flight remains the tethered balloon. Captain Bastable proves to be a natural airship pilot, and eventually becomes of interest to a shadowy group called ''The League of Trans-Temporal Adventurers'' who show him new worlds still.

* [[Creator/IainBanks Iain M. Banks]]'s ''Literature/{{Transition}}'' invokes this -- a man who frequently travels between universes at one point looks up at the sky when arriving in a new one, searching for zeppelins. As he says, he 'likes it when there's zeppelins'.
* In Creator/MichaelMoorcock's ''Warlord of the Air'', the alternate-timeline Earth is still using zeppelins in 1974, and has never developed heavier-than-air flight technology. The title character [[spoiler:whose people have just invented heavier-than-air vehicles,]] claims that the imperialism of the Great Powers has stifled innovation.

* In [[Creator/KurdLasswitz Kurd Laßwitz']] ''Auf zwei Planeten'' (1897) the Martians use a fleet of airships to defeat the forces of the major powers of Earth. However, these airships, while looking a bit like Zeppelins and, at least in their earlier models, sharing their vulnerability to storms, are not gas-filled aircraft, but largely built of [[AppliedPhlebotinum the almost weightless material "Stellite"]] and they make use of the Martian ArtificialGravity technology. Encased in another miracle material, Nihilite, they are invulnerable to projectile weapons.

* Also done in ''Anime/LastExile'' (though it turns out that said zeppelins are actually heavier-than-air ships made to float with the use of AppliedPhlebotinum conveniently supplied by a neighboring society that happens to possess [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture somewhat more advanced technology]]).

%% * ''Anime/CastleInTheSky''

* One of the chapters of ''Manga/WingsOfVendemiaire'' takes place on a zeppelin, and the whole story take places in a world resembling France around the time of World War I.

* "Zeps" are the travel mode of choice in the 2031 setting of ''ComicBook/AmericanFlagg''.

* ''ComicBook/UncannyXForce'': Zeppelins are present in the post-apocalyptic version of the ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse timeline that X-Force visit in search of a MacGuffin.

* In ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'' they are huge and largely made of metal with cloth used for some of the smaller ones.

* A few can be seen floating over Champion City in ''Film/MysteryMen''.

* One of the big differences between real 2009 and parallel universe 2009 in ''Film/SouthlandTales'' is the presence of massive perpetual motion-powered Zeppelins.

* The [[WhatMightHaveBeen unmade]] [[Film/HammerHorror Hammer Studios]] movie ''Zeppelin v. Pterodactyls'', which, despite its [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin amazing premise]], never got past any further than [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zeppelin_v_pterodactyls_1.jpg this poster]]. This was during the early '70s, when Hammer was getting away from its GothicHorror roots and into TwoFistedTales adventure movies, and would often start a movie's development with a poster and title well before they had a full screenplay. The movie itself presumably would have played this trope pretty straight, but the fact that all we have of the movie is WhatMightHaveBeen adds a certain metafictional twist to this trope: maybe there's another timeline where this movie did indeed get made. The premise was eventually adapted into an AlternateHistory comic book, ''Zeppelin War''.
** A {{Manga}} titled ''Lost Continent'', printed in English by Eclipse Comics in 1990, featured a zeppelin invading a [[Literature/TheLostWorld1912 "Lost World"]] / [[Literature/TheLandThatTimeForgot "Land That Time Forgot"]] type place and battling against attacking pterodactyls, as if fulfilling the premise of the never-made film.

* The Creator/RobertAHeinlein book ''Literature/JobAComedyOfJustice'' has the main character from a zeppelin-filled world, slipping into a world with no air traffic at all, and then into one with similar technology to our own. One especially well-done part is when he attempts to explain to the readers what an airplane looks like from the perspective of someone who's never seen one before. It's explained that in this alternate reality, heavier-than-air flight is proven to be mathematically impossible and that zeppelins travel at mach speeds!

* The intentionally-clichéd {{Steampunk}} parallel world seen in ''Literature/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'' story ''Genesis of the Cupids'' prominently includes airships. One particularly large one is stolen by the Imperial Imperator and crashed into the great Clock-Tower in the climax.
* The parallel world that takes up the majority of the ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' series features giant zeppelins as a mode of transport. Interestingly, they are handled much more realistically in the books than in the movie.
* This is the premise of Kenneth Oppel's ''Literature/{{Airborn}}'' trilogy: an alternate world where, due to the existence of an ultra-light gas called hydrium, airships became the primary means of long-distance travel. Features lots of [[TheSkyIsAnOcean nautical metaphors]]. There's still an Eiffel Tower, but it's used for mooring.

* The novel ''Literature/TheAffinityBridge'', as a function of its SteamPunk setting.

* Creator/StephenBaxter's ''{{Literature/Proxima}}'' [[spoiler:ends with a band of explorers emerging on a world to be confronted by an airship piloted by an angry Roman.]]

* The ''VideoGame/CrimsonSkies'' computes games are set in a swashbuckling DieselPunk 20th century alternate history that has various zeppelins used by both the armed forces and {{sky pirates}} as [[AirborneAircraftCarrier flying aircraft carriers]] or sky battleships.

* A variation exists in ''Anime/VisionOfEscaflowne'', in which [[CoolAirship lighter-than-air craft]] float not due to gasses but [[AppliedPhlebotinum "levistones"]] which [[{{Magitek}} decrease in mass]] when [[MagicAIsMagicA charged with an electrical current.]]

* One of the chapters of [[Creator/MohiroKitoh Mohiro Kitoh's]] manga ''Manga/WingsOfVendemiaire'' takes place on a zeppelin, and the whole story take places in a world resembling France around the time of World War I.

* Used as the revelation of the great plot twist of [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]] of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': [[spoiler:After falling through the Gate, Edward finds himself in a world with Zeppelins in the sky... but it's ''[[WelcomeToTheRealWorld our]]'' world: London, mid-WWI.]]

It is important to note that the presence of [[UsefulNotes/{{Airships}} airships]] doesn't imply that the technology of the AlternateUniverse is inferior. Just like with biological evolution, Zeppelins are not [[TechnologyLevels "more" or "less" evolved technology]], what's used is whatever is the best available fit for the niche. It could just as well be that Zeppelins in the AlternateHistory were better able to suit the situation than airplanes were, say if there was a [[CrapsackWorld massive resource shortage]] that demanded efficiency and payload over speed, some other economic factor, or [[ForWantOfANail simply because there wasn't a Hindenburg-Equivalent]], Zeppelins never fell out of favor to begin with.

* Creator/MichaelMoorcock's ''The Warlord of the Air'' series is set in a succession of overlapping alternate Earths, where in all of them the powered airship is the dominant method of flight and aerial warfare. An adventurer from our Earth, Oswald Bastable, comes from the late nineteenth century where the only method of flight remains the tethered balloon. Captain Bastable proves to be a natural airship pilot, and eventually becomes of interest to a shadowy group called ''The League of Trans-Temporal Adventurers'' who show him new worlds still.

* In Creator/StephenBaxter and Creator/TerryPratchett's ''literature/TheLongEarth'' series, mankind discovers a way to travel to and colonise what looks like and infinite series of parellel Earths. The limitation here is that while people can travel at will, no iron and steel can travel with them. However, rigid-framed airships based on non-ferrous metals may move freely between the worlds.

* Creator/MichaelMoorcock's ''The Warlord of the Air'' series is set in a succession of overlapping alternate Earths, where in all of them the powered airship is the dominant method of flight and aerial warfare. An adventurer from our Earth, Oswald Bastable, comes from the late nineteenth century where the only method of flight remains the tethered balloon. Captain Bastable proves to be a natural airship pilot, and eventually becomes of interest to a shadowy group called ''The League of Trans-Temporal Adventurers'' who show him new worlds still.

* ''Webcomic/{{Crankrats}}'' ... sorry, [[InsistentTerminology ''Valkyries'' from another world.]]