page_title: Greeble
section_title: In science fiction films and television
hierarchical_section_title: Greeble / In science fiction films and television
caption_attribution_description: Greeble Ship
context_page_description: A greeble or nurnie is a prominent detailing added to the surface of a larger object that makes it appear more complex, and therefore more visually interesting. It usually gives the audience an impression of increased scale. The detail can be made from simple geometric primitives, or more complex shapes, such as pieces of machinery. Greebles are often present on models or drawings of fictional spacecraft or architectural constructs in science fiction and are used in the movie industry.
context_section_description: An early physical example of their application was in the production of the spaceships in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) where they were called wiggets.
  In physical models, these greebles could be anything from parts of plastic cut to an interesting shape, or actual elements taken from shop-bought model kits. This method was referred to as "kit-bashing". For instance, in Star Wars the original Imperial Star Destroyer was constructed from a plywood frame and adorned with sheet styrene. Panel lines were cut into the sheet styrene, but this technique left the ship looking bare. Hundreds of model kits were purchased and the model department promptly cut apart pieces of the model kits and stuck them, along with more sheet styrene, to the surfaces of the ship. The ultimate effect was to make the ship appear more believable to the viewer through the addition of these large areas of ancillary details. The greebles themselves served no purpose other than to fill space and individually had no definite function to the design of the ship, although later each greeble was given a specific function by either fans or technical illustrators for fan guides. A plastic soldier was part of the greebling on the Executor.  A common model to glean small bits from was WWII submarines. They had great pipes, cranks and knobs that worked perfectly for the outer sides of starships and weapons. When the crew was done they had several submarine "hulls" left over and some were used in the creation of the EF76 Nebulon-B Medical Frigate seen at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. George Lucas is quoted as saying the ship reminded him of an outboard motor.
  Another example of greeble application was the Battlestar Galactica model for the original 1970s series, which featured on its hull pieces from a wide assortment of kits, including Apollo orbiters, Saturn rocket boosters, F-16 fighter jets, and various tanks.
  As would be expected, given these origins, greebling is most commonly associated with the particular kind of large city-like spaceships made popular in Star Wars, but has been generalized to refer to any dense covering by different (usually mechanical) components.  Similarly, Borg starships (and drones) in Star Trek appear heavily "greebled" using leftover sprues from previous kitbashing and photoetched bits.
  An anecdote from the creation of the first Star Wars movie involves Tunisian Customs enquiring what a part of C-3PO's costume (listed as "assorted greebles") was. Their response was allegedly "Something that looks cool but doesn't actually do anything."
caption: Greeble effects on a Lego spaceship model
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