View source for Big Dumb Object

{{Short description|Plot device in science fiction}}
[[File:Black monolith.svg|thumb|upright|[[Monolith (Space Odyssey)|The mysterious, featureless monolith]] from [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'']]
In discussion of [[science fiction]], a '''Big Dumb Object''' ('''BDO''') is any mysterious object, usually of [[extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] or unknown origin and immense power, in a story which generates an intense [[sense of wonder]] by its mere existence. To a certain extent, the term deliberately deflates the intended grandeur of the mysterious object.

The coining of the term has been attributed to reviewer [[Roz Kaveney]] in 1981,<ref>Kaveney, Roz, 1981, ''[[Foundation - The International Review of Science Fiction|Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction]]'', issue 22.</ref> but it was not in general use until [[Peter Nicholls (writer)|Peter Nicholls]] included it in ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]'' as a joke in 1993.<ref>Nicholls, Peter, 2000, ''Big Dumb Objects and Cosmic Enigmas: The Love Affair between Space Fiction and the Transcendental'', in Westfahl, Gary (ed), ''Space and Beyond: The Frontier Theme in Science Fiction'', Greenwood Press, p. 13. "... I decided to write an April Fool's entry. I would pretend that a phrase I’d always liked, originated by the critic Roz Kaveney but not in general use, was actually a known critical term. I would write an entry called 'Big Dumb Objects' in a poker-faced style, suggesting an even more absurd critical term to be used in its place, 'megalotropic sf.'"</ref>  

Edward Guimont and Horace A. Smith propose that the origins of the Big Dumb Object trope can be found in [[H. P. Lovecraft]]'s novellas ''[[At the Mountains of Madness]]'' and ''[[The Shadow Out of Time]]'', both of which feature human expeditions to immense ancient alien cities in remote parts of our world, and both of which were early influences upon [[Arthur C. Clarke]].<ref name="When">{{Cite book|last1 = Guimont|first1 = Edward|url = https://www.hippocampuspress.com/other-authors/nonfiction/when-the-stars-are-right-h.-p.-lovecraft-and-astronomy|title = When the Stars Are Right: H. P. Lovecraft and Astronomy|last2 = Smith|first2 = Horace A.|year = 2023|publisher = [[Hippocampus Press]]|isbn = 9781614984078|edition = First|location = [[New York City]]|pages = 305–07}}</ref>

==List of examples==
Big Dumb Objects often exhibit extreme or unusual properties, or a total absence of some expected properties:<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Palmer|first=Christopher|date=2006|title=Big Dumb Objects in Science Fiction: Sublimity, Banality, and Modernity|url=https://online.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/abs/10.3828/extr.2006.47.1.10?journalCode=extr|journal=Extrapolation|language=en|volume=47|issue=1|pages=95–111|doi=10.3828/extr.2006.47.1.10|issn=0014-5483|url-access=subscription}}{{Dead link|date=June 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

* The [[Monolith (Space Odyssey)|monolith]] in Stanley Kubrick and [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s 1968 film ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' (foreshadowed in the 1951 short story "[[The Sentinel (short story) |The Sentinel]]") is an indecipherable influence upon the protohumans, to whom it first appears. Later in the film, the monolith serves to show how little humans have evolved. The astronaut Bowman's attempt to interact with the monolith only makes him a part of its mystery.<ref>https://www.collativelearning.com/2001%20chapter%<nowiki/>{{Dead url|date=July 2024}}</ref>

* In [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s 1973 novel ''[[Rendezvous with Rama]]'', a {{convert|50|km|mi|1|adj=mid|-long}} cylinder is detected entering the [[Solar System]]. A similar cylindrical probe of gargantuan dimensions threatens Earth in ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home]]''.

*The object discovered in ''[[Quatermass and the Pit]]'' was made of a material of extreme hardness, such that [[diamond]]-tipped drills and [[acetylene]] torches would not damage it. At the same time nothing would adhere to it.

* [[Charles Sheffield]]'s [[Heritage Universe]] setting features many immense alien artifacts, some of which are more inscrutable than others.

* The Marker from ''[[Dead Space (series)|Dead Space]]'' emits a persistent electromagnetic field from seemingly no source, which could be used to provide limitless energy. Attempting to reverse engineer the Marker, scientists discover that the electromagnetic fields generated by the Marker cause living people to suffer paranoia and hallucinations, while also causing the dead to reanimate, becoming "[[Necromorphs]]".

* In [[Sphere (1998 film)|the 1998 film]] based on [[Michael Crichton]]'s novel ''[[Sphere (novel)|Sphere]]'', the eponymous object would reflect everything in its presence except people. If it did reflect someone, they were alone, and the individual was accepted as worthy to harness the device's power.

* In [[Iain Banks]]'s novel ''[[Against a Dark Background]]'', the Lazy Guns have a lot of mass and yet little weight, and weigh three times as much upside-down as upright.
** By the same author, the titular [[Excession]] is a [[Black body|blackbody]] sphere that appears on the edge of Culture space and remains in position being inscrutable (even to Culture technology).

* The dome from the [[Stephen King]] [[Under the Dome (novel)|novel]] and [[Under the Dome (TV series)|television show]] ''Under the Dome'' is large and transparent unless touched by a person; it gives a slight electric shock when touched for the first time by someone, but not afterward. It cannot be penetrated, even by a [[MOAB]] bomb, and is seemingly causing many mysterious events in Chester's Mill, the town that the dome is enclosing, including causing all electronic devices near it to explode, visions, and, in one character, [[premature birth]]. 

* In [[Dan Simmons]]'s 1989 novel ''[[Hyperion (Simmons novel)|Hyperion]]'', the mysterious Time Tombs, "huge brooding structures" which are moving backwards through time, and whose purpose, origin, and nature are not explained in the book, are the objective of the characters' pilgrimage.

Such unexpected properties are usually used to rule out conventional origins for the BDO and increase the sense of mystery, and even fear, for the characters interacting with it.

== See also ==

* {{annotated link|Big dumb booster}}
* {{annotated link|Dyson sphere}}
* {{annotated link|MacGuffin}}
* {{annotated link|Megastructure}}
* {{annotated link|Ringworld}}

==References==

{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/big_dumb_objects Big Dumb Objects] at ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]'', 3rd edition

[[Category:1993 neologisms]]
[[Category:Fictional objects]]
[[Category:Narratology]]
[[Category:Science fiction themes]]