Culture Setting (Iain M. Banks Culture Universe)
Common ship types
Main article: Ship types of the Culture
Class |
Acronym |
Description |
---|---|---|
General Systems Vehicles |
GSV |
Mobile habitats and / or factory ships, largest Culture ship type. May be home to billions of people. |
Medium Systems Vehicles |
MSV |
Smaller versions of the above. Sometimes former GSVs downgraded as larger GSV classes were developed. |
Limited Systems Vehicles |
LSV |
Smaller versions of the above. Sometimes former GSVs or MSVs downgraded as larger GSV classes were developed. |
General Contact Vehicles |
GCV |
Contact-configured GSVs; Mission-identical to GCUs (see below) |
General Contact Units |
GCU |
Ambassadors, scouts and light transports; also main warship in peacetime |
Limited Contact Units |
LCU |
Smaller versions of the above. |
General Offensive Units |
GOU |
Dedicated main warships |
Rapid Offensive Units |
ROU |
Dedicated fast warships |
Limited Offensive Units |
LOU |
Dedicated warships, smaller than GOUs |
Demilitarized ROUs |
(d)ROU |
Civilianised ROUs used as courier ships, all or most weaponry removed |
Very Fast Pickets |
VFP |
A euphemism for (d)ROU, used in the same role. |
Heavy Lifter |
HL |
Dedicated materials mover, smaller than GCUs. |
[edit] Novels
[edit] Consider Phlebas
Civilisation |
Name |
Ship type |
Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Culture |
Nervous Energy |
GCU (Mountain-class) |
|
Culture |
Prosthetic Conscience |
GCU |
|
Culture |
Bora Horza Gobuchul |
GSV (Ocean-class, later Range-class) |
The name chosen by the Mind at the center of events after rescue, upon emplacement within a GSV. |
Culture |
Determinist |
GSV (System-class) |
Largest GSV class mentioned in the books so far. |
Culture |
Eschatologist (temporary name) |
GSV (Ocean-class) |
Sent by the Culture to destroy Vavatch orbital. |
Culture |
Irregular Apocalypse |
GSV |
|
Culture |
No More Mr Nice Guy |
GSV |
|
Culture |
Profit Margin |
LSV |
|
Culture |
Revisionist |
ROU (Killer-class) |
|
Culture |
Trade Surplus |
ROU (Killer-class) |
|
Culture Ulterior |
The Ends Of Invention |
GSV |
|
Non-aligned (Ex-Hronish) |
Clear Air Turbulence |
Armoured assault |
Pirate ship, one of the main settings of the book. |
The Hand of God 137 |
Light Cruiser |
Advance force invading the planet Sorpen to rescue Horza. |
[edit] The Player of Games
Ship Type |
Name |
Class |
Comments |
---|---|---|---|
n/a |
Screw Loose |
Clipper |
|
GCU |
Flexible Demeanour |
n/a |
|
GSV |
Just Read The Instructions |
n/a |
|
GSV |
Of Course I Still Love You |
n/a |
|
GOU |
Limiting Factor |
Murderer |
Jernau Morat Gurgeh's ship to the planet Azad. An allegedly demilitarized GOU. |
GSV |
Cargo Cult |
n/a |
Play on the cargo cult concept. |
GSV |
Little Rascal |
Plate |
'Throughput'-ship (ship assembly and crewing). |
GSV |
So Much For Subtlety |
n/a |
|
GSV |
Unfortunate Conflict Of Evidence |
n/a |
|
GSV |
Youthful Indiscretion |
n/a |
|
LOU |
Gunboat Diplomat |
n/a |
(Special Circumstances), play on the gunboat diplomacy concept. |
dROU |
Zealot |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Kiss My Ass |
Superlifter |
|
n/a |
Prime Mover |
Superlifter |
|
(Azadian) |
Invincible |
Battlecruiser |
Flagship of the Azad Empire. |
[edit] Use of Weapons
Ship Type |
Name |
Class |
Comments |
---|---|---|---|
GCU |
Just Testing |
n/a |
|
dROU |
Xenophobe |
Torturer |
|
GCU |
Very Little Gravitas Indeed |
n/a |
Part of the "... Gravitas ..." running gag.[3] |
GSV |
What Are The Civilian Applications? |
Continent |
Limited edition Prompt subclass. Can outrun a Very Fast Picket. |
GSV |
Congenital Optimist |
n/a |
Rescued Zakalwe from Fohls. |
GSV |
Size Isn't Everything |
n/a |
The GCU Sweet and Full of Grace was constructed aboard this ship. |
GCU |
Sweet and Full of Grace |
n/a |
[edit] Excession
Civilisation |
Ship Type |
Name |
Class |
Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
Culture |
GCU |
Different Tan |
Mountain |
|
Culture |
GCU |
Fate Amenable To Change |
Escarpment |
|
Culture |
GCU |
n/a |
(Eccentric) Ostracised for nonconsensual mindreading. | |
Culture |
GCU |
It's Character Forming |
n/a |
|
Culture |
GCU |
Jaundiced Outlook |
Ridge |
Child ship of the Sleeper Service. |
Culture |
GCU |
Problem Child |
Troubadour |
Early (vs Excession-contemporary) GCU, historical mention. Nominally captained by Zreyn Tramow. |
Culture |
GCU |
Reasonable Excuse |
n/a |
|
Culture |
GCU |
Recent Convert |
n/a |
|
Culture |
GCU |
Tactical Grace |
Escarpment |
|
Culture |
GCU |
Unacceptable Behaviour |
n/a |
|
Culture |
GCV |
Steely Glint |
Plains |
|
Culture |
n/a |
Highpoint |
n/a |
(Ulterior) |
Culture |
ROU |
Shoot Them Later |
Gangster |
(Eccentric, Ulterior) |
Culture |
LOU |
Attitude Adjuster |
Killer |
|
Culture |
ROU |
Killing Time |
Torturer |
A pun on a saying that 99% of war is just killing time, while the rest is the killing time. |
Culture |
ROU |
Heavy Messing |
Gangster |
|
Culture |
dROU |
Frank Exchange Of Views |
Psychopath |
|
Culture |
GSV |
Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The |
Plate |
|
Culture |
GSV |
Death and Gravity |
n/a |
|
Culture |
GSV |
Ethics Gradient |
Range |
|
Culture |
GSV |
Honest Mistake |
n/a |
|
Culture |
GSV |
Limivorous |
Ocean |
|
Culture |
GSV |
No Fixed Abode |
Ex-Equator |
(Sabbaticaler) |
Culture |
GSV |
Quietly Confident, |
Plate |
(Eccentric, Ulterior) Known as storage ship for biological persons in stasis. The name Sleeper Service is a pun on sleeping car (transport) and sleeper agent (espionage). It also secretly converts itself to be "mostly engine" so it can move unexpectedly quickly - a parallel to sleeper cars (racing). |
Culture |
GSV |
Uninvited Guest |
n/a |
|
Culture |
GSV |
Use Psychology |
n/a |
|
Culture |
GSV |
What Is The Answer and Why? |
n/a |
|
Culture |
GSV |
Wisdom Like Silence |
Continent |
|
Culture |
GSV |
Yawning Angel |
Range |
|
Culture |
GSV |
Zero Gravitas |
n/a |
Part of the "... Gravitas ..." running gag.[3] |
Culture |
LSV |
Misophist |
n/a |
|
Culture |
LSV |
Serious Callers Only |
Tundra |
|
Culture |
MSV |
Not Invented Here |
Desert |
|
Culture |
Superlifter |
Charitable View |
Cliff |
|
Culture |
n/a |
I Blame My Mother |
n/a |
|
Culture |
n/a |
I Blame Your Mother |
n/a |
|
Stargazer |
Appeal To Reason |
n/a |
||
Zetetic Elench |
Stargazer |
Break Even |
n/a |
|
Zetetic Elench |
Stargazer |
Long View |
n/a |
|
Zetetic Elench |
Stargazer |
Peace Makes Plenty |
n/a |
|
Zetetic Elench |
Stargazer |
Sober Counsel |
n/a |
|
Zetetic Elench |
Stargazer |
Within Reason |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Kiss the Blade |
|||
Affront |
n/a |
Frightspear |
n/a |
|
Affront |
Light Cruiser |
Furious Purpose |
Meteorite Class |
|
Affront |
n/a |
Riptalon |
n/a |
|
Affront |
n/a |
Wingclipper |
n/a |
|
Affront |
n/a |
SacSlicer II |
n/a |
|
Affront |
n/a |
Xenoclast |
Battleship |
|
Main Battle Unit |
Full Refund (Ex-'MBU 604') |
Empire Class |
||
Culture |
n/a |
Just Passing Through |
Cruise Ship, n/a |
[edit] The State of the Art
Most of the Culture ship names in this collection come from the titles of the chapters in the titular novella; the narrator explains that he has chosen ship names for these titles.
Ship Type |
Name |
Class |
Comments |
---|---|---|---|
GSV |
Bad for Business |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Arbitrary |
Escarpment (middle series) |
Produced by a manufactory of the Yinang Orbitals of the Dahass-Khree, known for ships that are "a bit crazy."[4] |
GCU |
Cantankerous |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Only Slightly Bent |
n/a |
|
GCU |
I Thought He Was With You |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Space Monster |
n/a |
|
GCU |
A Series Of Unlikely Explanations |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Big Sexy Beast |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Never Talk To Strangers |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Funny, It Worked Last Time... |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Boo! |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Ultimate Ship The Second |
n/a |
|
GCU |
It'll Be Over By Christmas |
n/a |
|
GCU |
A Ship With A View* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Ablation* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Arrested Development* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Credibility Problem* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Dramatic Exit, Or, Thank you And Goodnight* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Excuses And Accusations* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
God Told Me To Do It* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Halation Effect* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Happy Idiot Talk* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Helpless In The Face Of Your Beauty* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Heresiarch* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Just Another Victim Of The Ambient Morality* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Minority Report* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Not Wanted On Voyage* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Perfidy* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Sacrificial Victim* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Stranger Here Myself* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Synchronize Your Dogmas* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
The Precise Nature Of The Catastrophe* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Unwitting Accomplice* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Undesirable Alien* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Well I Was In The Neighbourhood* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
You Would If You Really Loved Me* |
n/a |
|
GCU |
You'll Thank Me Later* |
n/a |
*Names mentioned in the chapter names of the title novella only. All of them belong to ships produced by the Infracaninophile manufactury in Yinang orbital.
[edit] Look to Windward
Most of the Culture ship names in this novel are only mentioned in a humorous conversation about ship names in Chapter 11, Absence of Gravitas, and do not represent characters in the novel. The Chelgrian ships are not artificial intelligences like those of the Culture.
Ship Type |
Name |
Class |
Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Winter Storm |
n/a |
||
(Chelgrian) |
Piety |
n/a (Temple ship) |
|
(Chelgrian) |
Soulhaven |
n/a (Temple ship) |
|
ROU |
Nuisance Value |
Torturer |
|
n/a |
Vulgarian |
Superlifter |
|
GSV |
Sanctioned Parts List |
n/a |
|
VFP |
Resistance Is Character-Forming |
Gangster |
|
OU |
All Through With This Niceness And Negotiation Stuff * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Someone Else's Problem * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Lacking That Small Match Temperament * |
n/a |
|
GCU |
Poke It With A Stick * |
n/a |
|
OU |
I Said, I've Got A Big Stick* |
n/a |
The small print (spoken softly) is a pun on "Speak softly and carry a big stick." |
n/a |
Hand Me The Gun And Ask Me Again * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
But Who's Counting? * |
n/a |
See below for the ship "Me, I'm Counting" |
n/a |
Germane Riposte * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
We Haven't Met But You're A Great Fan Of Mine * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
All The Same, I Saw It First * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Ravished By The Sheer Implausibility Of That Last Statement |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Zero Credibility * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Charming But Irrational * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Demented But Determined * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
You May Not Be The Coolest Person Here * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Lucid Nonsense * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Awkward Customer * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Thorough But ... Unreliable * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Advanced Case Of Chronic Patheticism * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Conventional Wisdom * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
In One Ear * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Fine Till You Came Along * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
I Blame The Parents * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Inappropriate Response * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
A Momentary Lapse Of Sanity * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Lapsed Pacifist * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Reformed Nice Guy * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Pride Comes Before A Fall * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Injury Time * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Now Look What You've Made Me Do * |
n/a |
|
n/a |
Kiss This Then * |
n/a |
|
GSV |
Lasting Damage |
n/a |
The Lasting Damage was one of the GSVs that formed the Culture's offensive forces during the early part of the Idiran-Culture War. Later mind-state copied into other ships, it became the Mind of Masaq orbital. |
GSV |
Lasting Damage I |
n/a |
The original Lasting Damage, assumed destroyed but eventually returned. |
GSV |
Lasting Damage II |
n/a |
The recreated backup copy twin of the Lasting Damage. |
GSV |
Experiencing A Significant Gravitas Shortfall |
Equator-class |
Part of the "... Gravitas ..." running gag.[3] Also mentioned in Matter. |
*Names mentioned in a humorous conversation about various Culture ships in Chapter 11 of the novel.
[edit] Matter
Civilisation |
Name |
Ship type |
Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Culture |
Don't Try This At Home |
MSV (Steppe-class) |
|
Culture |
Eight Rounds Rapid |
(ex) GOU (Delinquent-class) |
Potentially an inside joke alluding to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's command of "five rounds rapid" against a hostile "chap with wings" in The Dæmons (Doctor Who). |
Culture |
Experiencing A Significant Gravitas Shortfall |
GCU |
Part of the "... Gravitas ..." running gag.[3] Also mentioned in Look to Windward. |
Culture |
It's My Party And I'll Sing If I Want To |
GCU (Escarpment-class) |
Pun on the song It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to, which continues "... You would cry too if it happened to you." |
Culture |
Lightly Seared On The Reality Grill |
GCU |
|
Culture |
Now We Try It My Way |
(ex) General Transport Craft (Interstellar-class) |
|
Culture |
Liveware Problem |
Superlifter (Stream-class, modified Delta-class) |
Likely a Special Circumstances operative. The phrase is a joke among computer engineers, suggesting that the problem lies with the user.[5] Destroyed whilst battling a Morthanveld ship which had been taken over by a member of the Iln in the core of Sursamen. |
Culture |
Pure Big Mad Boat Man |
GCU |
An inside joke based upon the language of Ned (Scottish) culture. It would be read/heard as "a pure big, mad boat, man" roughly meaning "a very large and deadly serious boat my good man". |
Culture |
Qualifier |
GCU (Trench-class) |
|
Culture |
Seed Drill |
GSV (Ocean-class) |
|
Culture |
Subtle Shift In Emphasis |
GCV (Plains-class) |
|
Culture |
Transient Atmospheric Phenomenon |
GCU |
|
Culture |
Xenoglossicist |
LSV (Air-class) |
|
Culture |
You Naughty Monsters |
GCU |
|
Culture |
You'll Clean That Up Before You Leave |
(d)ROU (Gangster-class) |
|
Hence the Fortress |
Comet (Star-cruiser) |
||
Nariscene |
Hundredth Idiot, The |
White Dwarf |
Chose its name from a Nariscene proverb. |
Fasilyce, Upon Waking |
Cat.5 SwellHull |
||
Morthanveld |
Inspiral, Coalescence, Ringdown |
Great Ship |
Comparable to a GSV; the name refers to three stages in the merger of two black holes. |
Morthanveld |
On First Seeing Jhiriit |
Cat.4 CleaveHull |
|
Morthanveld |
Now, Turning to Reason, & Its Just Sweetness |
Cat.3 SlimHull |
[edit] Surface Detail
Civilisation |
Name |
Ship type |
Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Culture |
Sense Amid Madness, Wit Amidst Folly |
GSV (Plate-class) |
|
Culture |
Me, I'm Counting |
(ex) LOU (Hooligan-class) |
|
Culture |
Bodhisattva, OAQS |
GCU |
Part of Contact's Quietudinal Service (Quietus). Quietus ships added letters OAQS - On Active Quietudinal Service - to their names while they were so employed. |
Culture |
Total Internal Reflection |
GSV |
One of the "Forgotten" Culture ships. |
Culture |
Armchair Traveller |
GCU (Mountain-class) |
|
Culture |
The Usual But Etymologically Unsatisfactory |
FP/(d)ROU (Psychopath-class) |
|
Culture |
Hidden Income |
n/a (Interstellar-class) |
Type not mentioned in novel, but possibly General Transport Craft (see Matter) |
Culture |
Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints |
GOU (Abominator-class) |
self categorized as PS class, "Picket Ship" |
Culture |
Hylozoist |
(ex) LOU (Killer-class) |
|
Culture |
No One Knows What The Dead Think |
FP/(ex) GOU |
Previously named Obliterating Angel |
Culture |
Pelagian |
GSV (Equator-class) |
|
Culture |
Fixed Grin |
n/a |
|
Culture |
Scar Glamour |
n/a |
|
Culture |
Labtebricolephile |
n/a |
Labtebricolephile means a person or thing that likes living in holes |
Culture |
Dressed Up To Party |
GSV |
|
Jhlupian |
Ucalegon |
Heavy cruiser |
Ucalegon means "a neighbor whose house is on fire" |
GFCF |
Messenger Of Truth |
Contact Craft (Succour-class) |
|
GFCF |
Fractious Person |
Minor Destructor Vessel |
|
GFCF |
Rubric Of Ruin |
Minor Destructor Vessel |
|
GFCF |
Abundance Of Onslaught |
Deepest Regrets-class |
|
GFCF |
Vision Of Hope Surpassed |
Deepest Regrets-class |
|
Nauptre Reliquaria |
Partial Photic Boundary |
Bismuth category |