# Fictional things that became real **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499 "2012-02-21T04:36:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/1 "2012-02-21T04:36:59Z")
Inspector Spacetime was a fictional Dr. Who parody on the show Community. Now the actor who played him in the show within the show is trying to get funding to make it a real web series. The Necronomicon was a fictional book in the Lovecraft universe but eventually “real” versions were published. Any other examples of media within media that itself became real? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/2 "2012-02-21T04:51:43Z")
The movie _Machete_ was originally was originally just a parody trailer that ran with the movie _Grindhouse_. But the trailer was so popular they went ahead and made the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/3 "2012-02-21T04:57:22Z")
[There’s enough examples to cover a very long TV Tropes page.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Defictionalization) My favourite example is My Little Pony’s ‘baked bads’ - in universe, an attempt to make chocolate chip muffins that goes horribly, horribly wrong because one of the ponies who’s cooking them is zoned…out of universe, a sign that MLP fandom is INSANE, and will eat a food made of potato chips, cola and gummy worms (they’re apparently surprisingly good). ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/4 "2012-02-21T05:13:26Z")
Spinal Tap ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/5 "2012-02-21T05:50:55Z")
Widgets. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/6 "2012-02-21T06:11:41Z")
There are plenty of examples of foods that became real. I think my favorite (conceptually, at least) is chupaquesas, from _Schlock Mercenary_. Fans who have made them report that they’re quite good, in an artery-clogging way, but tricky to get just right. And **Locrian** , unless you meant “waldoes” there, I’m not sure what widgets you’d be referring to. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/7 "2012-02-21T13:10:46Z")
In one episode, the Springfield Isotopes minor league baseball team on _The Simpsons_ threatened to move to Albuquerque. Now there’s a real team called the Albuquerque Isotopes. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/8 "2012-02-21T13:29:32Z")
Schweddy balls. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/9 "2012-02-21T13:40:41Z")
[Bloomsday](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomsday). ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/10 "2012-02-21T13:45:02Z")
Wonka Bars? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/11 "2012-02-21T14:25:50Z")
“Madison” as a girl’s name. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/12 "2012-02-21T14:41:02Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > “Madison” as a girl’s name. That’s a perfectly cromulent name. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/13 "2012-02-21T14:45:32Z")
Star Trek communicators. Also some of the features advertised for the new IPhone sound sort of like the Universal translator. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/14 "2012-02-21T14:47:44Z")
Possibly the name “[Wendy](http://www.wendy.com/wendyweb/history.html).” ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/15 "2012-02-21T14:54:08Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > That’s a perfectly cromulent name. Well, _now_ it is. > [@](#): > > Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s 2006 book Freakonomics credits the film with popularizing the name “Madison” for girls, as does Steven Pinker’s 2007 The Stuff of Thought. In the film, Daryl Hannah’s character takes her name from Madison Avenue after walking past a road sign. Hanks’ character comments that it is not a real name as, at the time, it was a rather unusual name for a woman. However, in the years since the film was released in theatres and re-released on VHS and then DVD, the name’s popularity has skyrocketed. [wiki cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splash_%28film%29) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/16 "2012-02-21T14:58:11Z")
1.) Some of the space ship parts named by Kurd Lasswitz in his science fiction novel _Zwei Planete_ (“Two Planets”) reportedly became real.Although virtual unknown in the US, Lasswitz was to Germany as Jules Verne (his contemporary) was to France in science fiction. His enthusiastic readers included a lot of the German Rocket Society members that ended up at Peenemunde, including Werner von Braun and Willy Ley. 2.) Flash Crowds – Larry Niven predicted these as a consequence of easily available teleportation technology. They became real because of easily available social networking technology. I’ll bet most people don’t realize the phenomenon is named after a science fiction concept. 3.) Navigation satellites and Space Stations – Edward Everett Hale (best known for his story “The Man Without a Country” wrote a short story “The Brick Moon” about a ceramic sphere put into orbit as a navigational aid (you took sightings of its altitude) in 1869. He wrote a sequel. It was supposed to be unmanned, but people were accidentaly on board when it was launched, so it’s the first fictional space station. 4.) The Atomic Bomb – this is a pretty famous example. H.G. wells wrote _The World Set Free_ about a future was fought with “atomic bombs” (Wells got the idea from physicist Frederick Soddy), and Wells’ thoughts on its implications famously goaded Leo Szilard into thinking about it as a reality. Wells also described the effects of aerial warfare and the use of “land ironclads” (tanks) which turned out to be quite correct. 5.) Waldoes and The Water Bed – Heinlein’s ideas for mechanical manipulating hands and the water bed. 6.) Using ping pong balls to raise a ship – used in a Carl Barks Donald Duck story, this technique was reportedly taken in for a patent, which was denied because of the Barks comic. I think Mythbusters did a segment on this. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/17 "2012-02-21T15:10:03Z")
**O Brother Where Art Thou** was a fictitious movie within a Preston Sturges movie, **Sullivan’s Travels** , and now it’s a movie. Bongo Comics publishes **Radioactive Man**. Toad the Wet Sprocket, a joke band in a **Monty Python** sketch, is the name of a 90s alt.rock band. Willie and the Poor Boys, a fake band mentioned in a Credence Clearwater Revival song (“Down on the Corner”), was later the name of a Bill Wyman side project band in the 80s. The guy who played the Soup Nazi now runs a chain of soup restaurants, but he apparently had one long before he was on **Seinfeld**. Bubba Gump Shrimp Company The Monkees toured and performed towards the end of their initial TV career. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/18 "2012-02-21T15:16:19Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > 1.) Some of the space ship parts named by Kurd Lasswitz in his science fiction novel _Zwei Planete_ (“Two Planets”) reportedly became real.Although virtual unknown in the US, Lasswitz was to Germany as Jules Verne (his contemporary) was to France in science fiction. Speaking of which, does the Nautilus count? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/19 "2012-02-21T15:28:47Z")
Not really. The Nautilus in the Jules Verne story was probably named after [a real one](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautilus_%281800_submarine%29). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499/20 "2012-02-21T15:42:24Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Speaking of which, does the Nautilus count? I think it does Verne’s Nautilius was named after an existing submarine (and a good choice of name it is – the cephalopod nautilus does vary its buoyancy by inletting or discharging water from its shell, just like submarines), but _two_ 20th century submarines named _Nautilus_ tried to duplicated the feat of Verne’s Captain Nemo of sailing under the polar icecap to the pole – only the North Pole, instea of the South (Verne hadn’t reckoned on Antarctica being a solid land mass under there). Only the second _Nautilus_ – the nuclear-powered one – succeeded. > **[USS O-12](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_O-12_(SS-73))** > > USS O-12 (SS-73) was an O-class submarine of the United States Navy. These later O-boats, O-11 through O-16, were designed by Lake Torpedo Boat to different specifications than the earlier Electric Boat designs. They performed poorly as compared to the Electric Boat units, and are sometimes considered a separate class. The ship was launched in 1917 and entered service with the Navy in 1918 in the Panama Canal Zone. > Taken out of service by the US Navy in 1924, the submarine was leased for use i... > **[USS Nautilus (SSN-571)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nautilus_(SSN-571))** > > USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world's first nuclear-powered submarine and the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole on 3 August 1958. Her initial commanding officer was Eugene "Dennis" Wilkinson, a widely respected naval officer who set the stage for many of the protocols of today's Nuclear Navy in the US, and who had a storied career during military service and afterwards. > Nautilus shares the name of the fictional submarine in Jules Verne's classic 1870 science f... [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-things-that-became-real/613499.md?page=2)