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You, the protagonist, are here. It doesn't matter where here is; everybody has to be somewhere. But you've got a problem: for some reason, you need to get all the way to there. There may be far away, you may not know exactly where it is, and both the journey and the destination may be exotic and dangerous. You may need to get there in a hurry, you definitely need to get there in one piece, and when you arrive there it might be nice if you were well-equipped to kick ass and chew bubblegum. Public transit just isn't going to cut it.

Also, it couldn't hurt to look good making the trip. What you want is to Travel Cool.

Across all genres of fiction, not to mention in Real Life, there is a fundamental need for people to get around. In some stories, little travel happens. But the more it does, the more likely this trope will be invoked: the protagonist(s)- and the villain(s)- will have a standard way to get around. And it will be cool. It may be unique. And if it is a form that is common in its worlds, it will stand out among all the other equivalents.

What's more, it will go well beyond being merely "transportation". It will be a tool, a weapon, a base, a home- maybe even a friend. These methods of travel often become iconic of their fictions, more so than any of the individual characters. They may even be titular.

In universes where ALL transportation is cooler and different from what we have today, only personalized vehicles fall under any of the Cool Transportation tropes. In Star Wars for example, the Milennium Falcon and the Slave 1 might qualify, but the average X-Wing (or even Star Destroyer) would not.

This trope is extremely broad, and covers everything from horses to helicopters.