Waterworld (setting)

The world of Waterworld is one of endless ocean and the setting of the franchise.

The time period is approximately 2500 A.D., a few centuries after the polar ice caps have melted and flooded all land.

While the atmosphere is still breathable, it always hot. It is also mentioned that there has been a reversal in the geomagnetic poles, and for some unknown reason, the moon appears to be much closer to the planet.

## Descriptions

### Human factions

Some human survivors drift alone in boats, while some have grouped together in flotillas. There are few rules among them - nothing is free in Waterworld, and something must be exchanged when two drifters pass. The largest settlements are known as atolls, man-made islands of junk which typically have a ring-shaped design to create an artificial lagoon in the centre. The "atollers" are typically wary of outsiders, although they will allow traders in if they have something of significant worth.

As for language, English and Portu-Greek are prevalent. The standard currency is metallic 'chits'. Slavery exists, although it is not practised everywhere. Among the most sought-after items are soil, plants, food, clothing, building and shipping materials, and of course "hydro"- - rainwater and/or filtered or distilled saltwater.

One faction generally unfavoured among others are the Slavers, who take prisoners of war and sell people as property. They are generally tolerated since they operate the only reliable barter posts in Waterworld.

Some groups survive at the expense of others, raiding settlements in acts of piracy. Among these, one of the more organised are the dreaded Smokers, based out of an old oil tanker called The Deez, who have reserves of "go-juice" (petrol), an armada of motorised craft, and who maraud across Waterworld with religious fervour. Another feared faction is the Children of Leviathan, based out of an old aircraft carrier, and whose berserker soldiers use mutated crustacean exoskeletons as armour.

Hidden away from the rest of Waterworld, among the submerged ruins of what was once Washington D.C., lies an enclosed habitat maintained by human scientists. This location is called The Foundation, and remains the most technologically advanced faction of Waterworld, although one which is not known to the world above.

### Flora

Whilst an ocean world has little in the way of vegetation, seaweed and plankton are abundant. They not only reduce the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and create oxygen for animal life to breathe, but also form a staple diet for the humans on Waterworld in the form of plankton cakes.

Among both drifters and atollers, edible plants such as limes and tomatoes are a commonly grown stock. Atolls often have "organo-barges" which act as makeshift gardens. Compost is created by "recycling" everything available, including their dead.

Plants grown on atolls are rarely sold to outside traders, and when they are these are very highly priced due to limited space available for growing, the time required for growing plants to maturity, and perhaps most importantly, the scarcity and expense of soil to grow plants in.

#### Flora images

An organo barge (farm) on Oasis AtollThe prop of the Mariner's tomato plant (seen in his trimaran in the film) now at *Waterworld: A Live Sea War Spectacular*The Mariner's catamaran loaded with plants from Dryland at the end of the film

### Fauna

*Main article: Sea life*

A world covered by ocean has allowed for a wide range of mutations to take place in the marine life, not least of all gigantism. Oversized eels, crustaceans and hammerhead sharks roam the planetary ocean. Coincidentally, smaller sea life are less common.

However some of these larger creatures are caught and eaten by the atollers. One breed of particularly large sea monsters are avoided, however. Slavers use tracker sharks to hunt.

On Dryland, a flourishing and unique ecosystem still exists. Seagulls fly over the beaches, and wild horses run in the interior.

### Weather

As could be expected, the climate of Waterworld is wet and warm.

Higher global temperatures and a global ocean would undoubtfully create much larger and more powerful storms, since there would be more energy to power them and also no land to break the path of the storms. Although no storms are seen in the film, they are mentioned a few times, often in the context of a notable danger. This may be why the atoll settlements have their distinct shape, given that this type of structure would be more robust against the weather.

In the original film script by Peter Rader, a catastrophic storm hits the *Meggan*, the boat in which the three main characters are sailing and a precursor to the trimaran in the film. The storm hits quickly and with barely any warning, and the heroes have hardly any time to put the mast down and batten down the hatches. They manage to survive below deck, although not without injury, loss of some personal items and damage to the ship, which luckily the protagonist manages to patch up.

## References

1. ↑ The date of 2500 A.D. is not stated in the film, but is quoted in the "making of" documentary available on the DVD. It also mentioned in the production diary by production designer Dennis Gassner. The figure of 2500 A.D. was also mentioned on a Japanese promotion poster for the film.
2. ↑ http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/Waterworld.pdf