Solar eclipses in fiction
This is a list of fictional stories in which solar eclipses feature as an important plot element. Mere passing mentions are not listed.
Written works
This literature-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.Novels
- King Solomon's Mines, by Henry Rider Haggard (1885).Note: It was a lunar eclipse in this novel
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain (1889), protagonist predicts solar eclipse in 528 CE.
- Pharaoh, by Bolesław Prus (1895), historical novel with culminating solar eclipse in 1085 BCE, predicted by priest Menes.
- The Secret Mountain, by Enid Blyton, a group of children and their guardian, captives of a sun-worshipping African tribe, escape by threatening to kill the sun, having prior knowledge of an imminent solar eclipse.
- Voyage: a novel of 1896, by Sterling Hayden (1976), depicts a solar eclipse of the titular year, viewed from the South Pacific.
- Nightfall, by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg (1990 novel based on Asimov's 1941 short story of the same name).
- El Eclipse, by Augusto Monterroso (short story).
- Gerald's Game and Dolores Claiborne, by Stephen King (both 1992), feature and are connected through the total eclipse of 1963.
- Illegal Alien, by Robert J. Sawyer (1997). Aliens visit Earth and observe a total solar eclipse. Their scientist host speculates that Earth may be the only planet in the entire universe whose moon covers its sun perfectly (with only transits or occultations occurring on other planets). Although it is not explicitly stated in the novel, Sawyer has noted that the eclipse was the historical eclipse of August 11, 1999, which allows the reader to ascertain the time the novel takes place.[1]
- Eclipse of the Sun, by Phil Whitaker (1997), set in India has at its centre a dramatic attempt to organize a public viewing of the Solar eclipse of October 24, 1995.
- Solar Eclipse, by John Farris (1999).
- Sunwing, by Kenneth Oppel (1999).
- The Eclipse of the Century, by Jan Mark (1999).
- Pitch Black: Fight Evil with Evil, by Frank Lauria and David Twohy (ca. 2000).
- Eclipse (2000) and Shroud (2002), by John Banville, interlinked novels set against the backdrop of a solar eclipse.
- Eclipse, by Erin Hunter (2008). Part of the Warriors series, the solar eclipse occurs during the battle between all the Clans, foretold by a strange cat by the name of "Sol".
- Midnight Never Come, by Marie Brennan (2008).
- The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (2009).
- Every Soul A Star (2008) by Wendy Mass
- A Memory of Light (2013) by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Films
- Our Gang short, Little Sinner (October 1935)
- King Solomon's Mines (1937)
- Fantasia (1940)
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949)
- Barabbas (1961)
- Incubus (1965)
- Faraon (1966, adapted from Bolesław Prus' 1895 novel, Pharaoh)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- The Watcher in the Woods (1980)
- Dragonslayer (1981)
- Himala (1982)
- Dune (1984)
- Ladyhawke (1985)
- Little Shop Of Horrors (1986)
- The Seventh Sign (1988)
- Baraka (1992)
- Eclipse (1994)
- Dolores Claiborne (1995)
- Out to Sea (1997)
- A Knight in Camelot (1998)
- Angela's Ashes (1999)
- Judy Berlin (1999)
- From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999)
- The Mummy (1999)
- Pitch Black (2000)
- Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
- Darkness (2002)
- The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration (2003)
- Apocalypto (2006)
- The Sea Prince and the Fire Child (1981)
- Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Will of Fire (2009)
- Arceus: To the Conquering of Space-Time (2009)
- Arctic Blast (2010)
- The Last Airbender (2010)
1984 eclipse and Witness
While director Peter Weir was filming Witness (1985) in the Amish region of Pennsylvania, a genuine solar eclipse occurred on May 30, 1984 at his location. Weir filmed several of his actors in costume, responding to the eclipse, with a vague intention of revising the film's storyline to include a solar eclipse. Ultimately, however, the eclipse footage was not included in the final edit.
Television
- An episode of the 1980s science-fiction comedy/drama The Edison Twins when the twin siblings foiled a bank robbery attempt in a major city bank when employees are focusing on the solar eclipse.
- A solar eclipse appears in two episodes of the animated cartoon The Simpsons.
- In "Marge vs. the Monorail,"" a solar eclipse induces a temporary power failure of the solar-powered monorail, causing it to stop for a few seconds.
- In "Gone Maggie Gone," Marge goes temporarily blind after looking directly at a solar eclipse.
- Sailor Moon: In season four, two eclipses grant power to the villainous Dead Moon (Circus).
- Heroes features eclipses prominently within the continuity and symbolism of the show. The title card and logo, for example, both feature an eclipse. An eclipse occurs in the pilot episode, "Genesis," described as a "global event" and commonly understood to be the catalyst that activated the characters' abilities. Another eclipse appears in the first episode of season two, during which Hiro Nakamura teleports to 1671 feudal Japan. The two-part season three episode, "The Eclipse" deal with the consequences of a third eclipse which removes all the characters' abilities as well as the unknown connection between eclipses and evolved humans.
- The Recess episode, "Outcast Ashley," partly revolves around Gretchen's attempts to view the solar eclipse occurring that afternoon, and whom she views it with.
- In one of his cartoons, Bugs Bunny accidentally travels through time to the Middle Ages. While there, he tricks everyone into believing that he has put out the sun with a spell. This was a parody/homage to Mark Twain's novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
- In an episode of Darkwing Duck, the title character accidentally travels to the Middle Ages and is about to be executed as a warlock when he remembers that his execution is timed exactly with an eclipse. He threatens everyone that he will black out the sun unless released and begins to speak gibberish, pretending to put a spell on the sun. However, he has misread the date of the solar eclipse by one day, and stands on the gallows for 24 hours, continuing the gibberish until the eclipse happens.
- In the 1993 first season of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, evil witch Rita Repulsa causes a solar eclipse to drain the Megazord's power in the five-part episode, "Green With Evil."
- The opening credits of Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001) feature a CGI-generated solar eclipse.
- The 2001 TNT miniseries The Mists of Avalon features a solar eclipse during the death of Viviane, suggesting the Mother Goddess' grief at the event.
- In the 2001-4 Samurai Jack animated series, Aku is able to escape the tree he is sealed in due to an eclipse.
- In the 2007 Avatar: the Last Airbender episode, "The Day of Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse", Aang and his allies plan for the day of the invasion of the Fire Nation capital on the day a solar eclipse would occur, leaving the firebenders without firebending for about 8 minutes. The plan was expected to end the war. The plan fails because Azula, the princess of the Fire Nation, learned of the upcoming invasion beforehand.
- The 2007 Sci-Fi channel miniseries Tin Man is centered on a "double eclipse" which will give power to one of the two princesses of the O.Z.
- The CSI: Miami episode "Sunblock" features a murder in which the killer struck during a solar eclipse due to an allergy to the sun.
- The final two episodes of Berserk, "The Great Eclipse" and "Time of Eternity," take place during a solar eclipse, which in the series universe happens only once every 216 years and marks the birth of a new member of the Godhand. During these episodes, Griffith, once the leader of the Band of the Hawk, betrays and sacrifices his men in order to become the fifth member of the Godhand, Femto.
- The Mad Men episode "Seven Twenty Three" features the solar eclipse that occurred in July 1963.
- The final three episodes of Raven the Island. An eclipse allows the warriors to enter Nevar's fortress.
- In the third season of House of Anubis, a ceremony to re-awaken someone cursed by Anubis to sleep for eternity could only be performed during a total solar eclipse. Robert Frobisher-Smythe, who was central to the series' back story, had been cursed by Anubis in this manner. As an eclipse approached, an attempt was made to re-awaken Robert. One of the people who performed the ceremony, Caroline Denby, was impure of heart and caused Robert to be re-awoken evil.
- Episode 61 "He Who Would Swallow God" in the anime series Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood empowered stone fragments are activated by the eclipse's umbra.
- In the Sixth Season of The Vampire Diaries, episode 4, Black Hole Sun, an eclipse presence in the missing dimension in 1994 when Damon and Bonnie are trapped.
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- Prince Igor (opera by Alexander Borodin, left unfinished at his death in 1887, completed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov, and first performed in 1890): in the "Prologue", a solar eclipse takes place to general consternation; two soldiers, Skula and Yeroshka, desert Prince Igor just before the opening of his military campaign, feeling sure that Prince Galitsky will offer them work more to their liking.
- Prisoners of the Sun (The Adventures of Tintin comic album by Hergé). Tintin uses a prediction of a solar eclipse to gain favor with the Quechua people who are about to kill him.
- The cover of the 1972 Tangerine Dream album, Zeit, shows a solar eclipse.
- The cover of the 2000 Kitaro album Ancient, shows a solar eclipse.
- The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game The Darkness includes a solar eclipse in the final chapter.
- The PlayStation game Heart of Darkness (game) features a solar eclipse when Andy and his dog, Whiskey, are walking in the park.
- The Japanese visual novel 12Riven ―the Ψcliminal of integral― takes place on May 20–21, 2012, when, in the real world, there will be an annular solar eclipse observable in Japan; some important elements in the visual novel are also named after eclipse.
- Carly Simon's song "You're So Vain" includes the lyrics: "Then you flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia / To see the total eclipse of the sun"
- The Nintendo DS game "Golden Sun 3: Dark Dawn" concerns an artificial solar eclipse (the "dark dawn" of the title) caused by a tower's sudden rise.
- In the game Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, the story begins with a total solar eclipse on the year 2035 where is supposed to be sealed Dracula's castle.
- The game Terraria features a solar eclipse as a rare event, using monsters inspired by the horror fiction genre as the commonly encountered enemies during this event. The player is also able to cause an eclipse by using a "solar tablet" found in an ancient temple.
- The Japanese visual novel Virtue's Last Reward has both a lunar and solar eclipse as a plot point.
References
- ↑ "Illegal Alien Reading Guide - The Official Website of Robert J. Sawyer". Retrieved May 20, 2012.
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