ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a significant problem in its early conception when the subject matter, the examination of the image of crusading in non-Christian science fiction settings, was limited to the field of computer games. Separating computer game content from canon outside this medium presents the researcher with the initial problem of the interaction of these media. Generally, crusading references are abundant in science fiction – be it movie, TV series, or computer or tabletop game – that is, set in a hypothetical future of our own history which retains elements of our present culture. While some of this new lore indeed referenced old canon, the bulk of crusading references are to be found in the old EU, which includes over 100 different computer games. In any given case, the representation of the crusading metaphors still strongly rely upon shared perceptions of the historical crusades, which in turn are strong enough to survive the dissociation from the immediate Christian context.
