Trope Talk: Post Apocalypses

We've talked about saving the world. We've talked about how ending the world in-story is really hard. Well today let's talk about what happens when you DO end the world! Spoiler alert: it's generally not a good time.
It felt WEIRD using Pacific Rim as actual example clips rather than metaphorical representations of the comment section. Play nice, everybody.

What's your favorite post-apocalypse story, and what's one thing you would keep from EVER appearing in a post-apocalypse again if you had the power?

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[quazifaraz]

Red: “The pandemic apocalypse doesn’t really happen much these days"
that's called foreshadowing

[airacummins]

I love how Ultron is on the internet for 5 minutes and decides to kill everyone

[eldritcheternity]

Does this mean that Adventure Time counts as a Ghibli-like apocalypse? People live lives of varying simplicity and in varying states of synch with nature, the remnants of old superweapons are still out there and still a major threat (or wielded by an antagonist) and has the general message of "war is bad" behind it.

[lindsaycutter]

I feel kind of like how the disaster movie genre decreased in interest post 9/11, parasite/zombie apocalypses will probably become old news because of covid. People tend to get tired of grim situations a lot quicker when they just lived them.

[vka]

Ghibli summarized in 7 words
War bad, nature good, flying machines great

[markusallen]

Love the violin “it’s the end of the world as we know it” in the background

[jurassiccraft]

it took me legit 10 minuets to realise "its the end of the world as we know was playing in the background" aha

[apodofseals]

The image at 3:43 is hilarious.
"Truly *man* is the greatest monster - stop eating me. Stop. Bad corpse. I'm trying to deliver an aesop. No, dude, I need that arm!"

[dustmystic]

I must admit, the whole "technology bad" message really grinds my gears - especially when its being told to me in a high budget CGI film made by people from all over the world, who thanks to medical advancements have never had to worry about dying from a papercut and can reasonably expect to live till eighty.

[SandyVanV]

"Pandemic apocalypse, which on is own doesn't as much airplay these days"


You jinxed us, Red.

[samdelaruelle]

One thing I love about Critical Role is that at first it seems to be set in a typical fantasy setting, but the longer the story goes on the more clear it becomes that it's actually a post-post-apocalyptic world, as we keep seeing areas ravaged by nuclear-like long-lasting magics and ruins with ancient forgotten technology. And then we go back in time with the EXU:Calamity sidestory to the time before the apocalypse and are really confronted with everything that was lost, long before the main story had even begun, and it really shines a new light on everything.

[frozeneevee]

The way breath of the wild used this trope was really cool. We get to see how the people of Hyrule recovered and rebuild after the events that took place one hundred years before link wakes up in the shrine of resurrection.

[strawberridraws]

bro we read "there will come soft rains" in my 7th grade English class and it was the quietest I've ever heard a group of middle schoolers be cause everyone questioned their existence for like a week

[HellishSpoon]

I want trope talk of
"Romantic hero villain relationships"
Like batman and catwoman

[arkonraavus]

"They almost all happen in an already well-established universe that a writer is seriously unlikely to actually let get destroyed"

Araki: *Observe*

[nerdy_bumblebee]

2:47 "they're a variant of the pandemic apocalypse which, on its own, doesn't get as much airplay these days"
this line aged like MILK

[robinchesterfield]

I was a kid during the end of the Cold War, so yeaahhhh, I remember it.
It wasn't fun, guys. The best thing you can say about it is that it spawned a lot of cool media, both at the time and later, as a tribute (hi Fallout).
Would not recommend as a vacation spot if time-travel tourism has will did kick off.

[Caroline-oyjv]

Red: “The pandemic apocalypse doesn’t really happen much these days.”
Coronavirus:

[beccaann]

"There Will Come Soft Rains" was such a throwback. I read that back in eighth grade and am amazed I forgot it until watching this video. The image of the shadows burnt into the side of the house has stayed with me even though I didn't remember the source. That was a short story that knock an entire class of middle schoolers into silence and essentialism for a few days. Thanks for all the wonderful work you all do and the research you devote to your product.

[andybutula]

"The point of a story can be obscured by the special effects."

Or by the fact that the tragic bit was really only presented in the ancillary materials. Based on just the three movies it could have just as easily been about tragic hubris.