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Science fiction has a number of common concepts and themes that have been reused by numerous authors. Some have become cliches, and only truly novel treatments of them gain attention, whilst others have become "part of the furniture"—they can be included in a story without much explanation because readers are already familiar with the core concept.

In alphabetical order:

Aliens (see Aliens in fiction)
- Alien invasion
- Benevolent aliens
- First contact
  - Principles of non-interference (e.g. Prime Directive)
- Xenobiology
Alternate History
Androids
- Cyborgs and Cybernetics
- Robots
Apocalypses or world wide disasters
- See also Post-apocalyptic science fiction
ArcologiesAn arcology so far only existing conceptually (with experiments taking place at Arcosanti), is an extremely large building, sufficient to maintain an internal ecology as well as an extremely high human population density. Popular in science fiction, arcol
Artificial intelligenceThis article is about modelling human thought with computers,. For other uses of the term AI see Ai''. Artificial intelligence also known as machine intelligence is defined as intelligence exhibited by anything manufactured (i. artificial) by humans or ot
- von Neumann machineA von Neumann machine is a model created by John von Neumann for a computing machine that uses a single storage structure to hold both the set of instructions on how to perform the computation and the data required or generated by the computation. Most mos
CloneThe term clone is derived from kappa;λω&nu the Greek word for "twig". In horticulture, the spelling clon was used until the twentieth century. The final e came into use to indicate the vowel is a "long o" instead of a "short o"; see the refers
Colonisation
- TerraformingMichael Carroll) Terraforming (literally, "Earth-shaping") is the process of modifying a planet, moon or other body to a more habitable atmosphere, temperature or ecology. It is a type of planetary engineering. The term is sometimes used very broadly as a
CosmologyCosmology is the study of the large-scale structure and history of the universe. In particular, it deals with subjects regarding its origin and evolution. It is studied by Astronomy, Philosophy, and Religion. See also cosmogony. Subjects in cosmology incl
- Creation of the Universe
- Ultimate fate of the Universe
- Omega Point
Cryonics
Cyberpunk
- Steampunk
Detective
Ecology
- Symbionts
- Science Fiction is used to raise awareness of Ecological ideas. Lends itself well to dystopian futures. Frank Herbert and Kim Stanley Robinson are known for their serious concern with ecological issues.
Economics
- "Age of Greater Scarcity", often in connection with ecological or post-apocalyptic themes. In such dystopias, people are poorer and have fewer resources to draw on.
- Post-"Age of Scarcity" (arguments over how to distribute resources are irrelevant since anyone can have anything they reasonably want). Examples include:
  1. Ian M. Banks' The Culture
  2. Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, which uses a " reputation economy"
  3. Frederik Pohl's The Midas Plague
Fantasy fiction
Galactic Empire
History
- Alternate history
- History repeating itself (either on long or short scales)
- Scientific prediction of the future (e.g. psychohistory)
- Secret history
Horror fiction
Language
- Alien languages (e.g. Klingon)
- All humans speaking one language (possibly Esperanto)
- Current human languages evolving/splitting
- The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis being strongly true (e.g. Babel 17 by Samuel R. Delany or The Languages of Pao by Jack Vance)
- Universal Translators (e.g. Babel fish)
Military - strategy, weapons, ranks, technologies.
- Ray guns
- Space warfare
Mind
- Artificial intelligence
- Beings of pure mentality
- Hive minds
- Memory removal/editing
- Mind control
- Mind uploading
- Neural implants and interfacing with machinery (directly)
- Solipsism
Mutants
Nanotech
Parallel worlds or universes.
Planets in Science Fiction
Politics
- Dystopias and (supposed) utopias
- Galactic Empire
- Interstellar federation of planets
- Totalitarianism vs. Libertarianism
- World government
- Workable anarchism
Post-apocalyptic science fiction and new societies that develop after the event
- There is a space based civilization variant of this theme. This plot device allows writers to write soft science fiction while accounting for the lack of technological advancement and thus similarity to the present day.
Posthumanism
- Enhancement of the organism
  - Body modification, including genetic modification
  - Cyborgs
Psi powers and psychic phenomenon
- Clairvoyance
- Telepathy
- Telekinesis
Sex (including gender roles, polygamy, sexuality and procreation)
Shapeshifting
Simulated reality
Sociology and sociobiology
- return to feudalism
- hive-like eusocial societies
- future caste systems
Space Exploration
- Interstellar travel
  - Faster than Light
- Very nearly light speed
  - Ursula LeGuin's NAFAL ships, and the Twin paradox
- Much slower than Light
  - Generation ship
  - Sleeper ship
- Moving planets
- Space stations
- Colonization of Other Planets, moons, asteroids.
  - Terraforming
Superhumans
Technology and its side effects
- Nanotechnology
- Singularity
Telepathy
Teleportation
Time travel
- Alternate history: time travel can be used as a plot device to explore parallel universes. While alternative history has its own category (see above), it often occurs in time travel stories as well.
- Anachronism
- The Grandfather paradox -- e.g. Can someone go back in time and kill his parents before they beget the killer?
Uplift
Virtual reality

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