Teleportation in fiction


is the theoretical transfer of matter and/or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction and fantasy literature, film, video games, and television. In some situations teleporting is presented as time traveling across space.
The use of matter transmitters in science fiction originated at least as early as the 19th century. An early example of scientific teleportation is found in the 1897 novel To Venus in Five Seconds by Fred T. Jane. Jane's protagonist is transported from a strange-machinery-containing gazebo on Earth to planet Venus.

Overview

The notion of a teleporter is useful in fiction as it avoids the necessity to depict lengthy transportation sequences by rocket or other means. Usually for story purposes the transmission between source and destination is considered to be faster than the speed of light.
The mechanics of teleportation vary depending on the scientific theories available to the author. For example, in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Mars novels, the protagonist arrives at Mars by wishing. Other modalities of teleportation include electricity, radio, nuclear explosions, black holes, quantum entanglement, and the temporary conversion of matter to energy. The authors of such stories nearly always disregard the practicalities of handing the exajoules of energy that would result from the conversion of a 55 kg protagonist to immaterial form. The matter transmitter system may require elaborate machinery at the sending end, the receiving end, or both. Sending a receiver to a destination may require slower-than-light travel, but subsequent transmissions may then be instantaneous. In later installments of the Star Trek films, the rationale for interstellar spaceships was undermined by the introduction of a small portable transporter device capable of sending a person over interstellar distances.
The teleportation process is usually considered to make an exact duplicate of the original, but some stories use the process as a way to alter the duplicate in some way. For example, in Larry Niven's novel World out of Time, the widely used transporters of the story have a variant that is used to enhance longevity, theoretically by removing accumulated debris from cells. Sometimes the alterations are inadvertent and destructive; for example, in the film The Fly, a teleporter accident results in the fusion of a human being with a fly.
Often a story will describe the consequences of the use of a teleporter, especially on human beings. Where the teleporter essentially creates a remote duplicate of the transmitted person, the story may analyze the consequences of an interruption or communication failure on the original person. There may be an investigation of the morality of destroying the original so that the remote duplicate retains the identity of the individual. An example is the novelette Think Like a Dinosaur where the protagonist is compelled to destroy a woman who was inadvertently revived following a communication error with the receiving station. Occasionally remote duplication is used as a method to allow characters to remotely explore environments too dangerous to otherwise investigate. Sometimes the story postulates some form of mental telepathy "link" between the duplicate and the original, facilitating communication of observations from the hazardous environment. One example of this approach is in the Algis Budrys short story "Rogue Moon".
In fictional settings where teleportation is common, the action is often referred to be another term, such as: beam, jaunte, jump, blink or shimmer, spring, or transmat.

Interstellar transporters

An interstellar teleporter is a hypothetical technology appearing in science fiction, typically in soft science fiction, which teleports people or objects over interstellar distances instantaneously.

Myths

William Shakespeare considers the notion of teleportation in The Tempest.
Teleportation illusions have featured in live performances throughout history, often under the fiction of miracles, psychic phenomenon, or magic. The cups and balls trick has been performed since 3 BC and can involve balls vanishing, reappearing, teleporting and transposing. A common trick of close-up magic is the apparent teleportation of a small object, such as a marked playing card, which can involve sleight-of-hand, misdirection, and pickpocketing. Magic shows were popular entertainments at fairs in the 18th century and moved into permanent theatres in the mid-19th century. Theatres provided greater control of the environment and viewing angles for more elaborate illusions, and teleportation tricks grew in scale and ambition. To increase audience excitement, the teleportation illusion could be conducted under the theme of a predicament escape. Magic shows achieved widespread success during the Golden Age of Magic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Written fiction

Teleportation is common in video games, often used as a transition when a character enters or exits a level or chapter. It is typically explained as technological in science fiction settings and magical in fantasy settings.
Fast travel is a common game mechanic in open world games which allows a character to revisit certain previously discovered locations. It is often framed as teleportation, though in some games physical travel between locations is implied but not shown.
Games which include a teleportation mechanic will often employ it for several playable characters and adversaries, typically with different restrictions and effects. If teleporting to a location occupied by another character, that character will often receive damage or be instantly killed, referred to as a "telefrag".
Teleportation and teleportation experiments may be story elements in games. They provide the premise for the enemy's appearance in Doom and Outbreak.