Enter the Viper

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So I finally succumbed to the Vic Viper build-virus.

The term apparently comes from the name of the player starship from some ancient arcade game I’d never even heard of, but despite my utter personal ignorance that videogame original seems to have spawned an infinite number of clones and variants.

I became aware of the phenomenon some time back as I flipped through my search engine’s image files looking for LEGO space fighter inspiration. Seeing multiple very different space fighters being called “Vic Viper”, I looked it up.

Apparently the term defines a certain set of visual characteristics, most notably twin forward-facing prongs on either side of the cockpit, but that’s not the sole requirement. It seems They Who Decide have decreed that to officially qualify as a Vic Viper it has to also possess two (and only two) wings and a single tail fin.

Since I found out, I’ve been content to ignore the phenomenon. It’s not something I’ve felt any particular impetus to join in with. “I’m gonna build a Vic Viper” isn’t etched into my brain; if anyone’s going to decide what my spaceship looks like, it’s going to be me, darn it!

I did toy initially with building a Vic Viper battlecruiser, just to mess with people’s minds, and I still might, but up until now I’ve cheerfully ignored the phenomenon.

This is my token Vic Viper. It’s pretty conventionally-shaped; about the only slightly unusual feature is those down-curved wings. I doubt I’ll be building too many more of these things, because it’s honestly not a configuration that grabs me and says “build me!”.

I may have a go at that battlecruiser variant, though.

6 thoughts on “Enter the Viper”

  1. Luke Skytrekker

    Oooh, this is sweet, man! I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this Vic Viper thing! I happen to really love this starship configuration, so finding out there’s a whole movement to build starships like this makes me quite happy. Your particular execution of the trend looks quite nice! I like the sloped panels that arc between the wings and the body, and the sleek sides of the fuselage. The whole thing has a pleasantly solid feel to it that’d make me wanna bet on it in a fight.

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  2. geoffhorswood Post author

    I stumbled on the Vic Viper phenomenon a couple of years ago while trawling the Internet for LEGO spaceship inspiration. I believe it was a “Classic Space Vic Viper” I found first, and thought that that was a weird name for a ship. Then I found Blacktron, Futuron and other Vic Vipers as well and deduced that this was a Thing. So I looked it up.
    As I said, I’m probably not going to build too many of them, not because I don’t like the configuration so much as just being completely neutral about it. I do want to build that cruiser, though. Technically I think the Vic Viper thing is space fighters only and cruisers are disallowed, but stuff that. I’m just stubborn and bloodyminded enough to not want to be told what I can and can’t build.

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    1. Luke Skytrekker

      Fascinating. It’s funny I’ve never heard of it.
      I think the design would transfer pretty well to a cruiser, actually. And yeah, I don’t ascribe to the idea that I can’t build what I want to build. Never held with that sort of thing. As it is, I hardly have a tolerance for grammar.

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      1. geoffhorswood Post author

        Well, I don’t think anyone would be upset as such, but in all my Vic Viper research I’ve found exactly one cruiser, and that was two minutes ago just now. Everything my search engine pulls up has been space fighters. Some incredibly awesome space fighters, but I do like cruisers, and as you say, I think the shape would transfer fairly well.

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