The Nineties



"''"Boy, the way Nirvana played ''Songs that got Kurt Cobain laid ''Guessing how much Biggie weighed Those were the days!""

The Networking Nineties: The decade when the world was just starting to fear Y 2 K. All of the kids (of whom the older ones were of the cynical and disaffected Generation X) listened to Grunge bands, wore flannel, and watched Friends, Seinfeld and The X-Files. Or they listened to Gangsta Rap, wore their baseball caps sideways and routinely "capped" people who "dissed" them, or they were beaten up by police and taped. Everything was neon, colorful, and Totally Radical. Cowabunga!

The world at this time was awash in radical changes and catastrophes on a global scale. The Soviet Union collapsed in a Great Politics Mess-Up (resulting in more than a couple ethnic wars between the newly independent states), Iraq invaded Kuwait and Margaret Thatcher hung up her handbag.

Yugoslavia, Somalia and Rwanda exploded into savage sectarian genocide, and Sierra Leone faced a deadly civil war that was frustratingly difficult for other nations to stop, provided that they even cared. Radicals revolted against corporations in Seattle at the beginning and end of the decade. Japan came to terms with the end of its economic bubble and settled in for the long, frustrating stagnation of the Lost Decade. "Made in Japan" was replaced by Red China as the big outsourcing villain. HIV awareness grew, with drugs being developed to fight the disease. There were riots in Los Angeles and the OJ Simpson chase/trial/circus. The younger tropers might have been born at this time—possibly in the back of a white SUV.

The Reagan/Thatcher/Gorbachev era ended with a bang as "greed is good" got replaced by postwar recession ennui through the early 90s. In the U.S., Ross Perot led a political revolution of pissed-off independent voters; dissatisfaction with The Man became the norm and Conspiracy Theorist talk radio became the rage. Bill Clinton got elected thanks to Gulf War Syndrome, then impeached. Seattle coffee culture was all the rage as a Starbucks opened up on every street corner, driving fear into the hearts of Hipsters everywhere, who sought solace in Post-hardcore, Post Modernism, and other things with "post-" and "-core".

Everyone had the Jennifer Aniston haircut, and attended music festivals like Lollapallooza or Lilith Fair—or at least, claimed to their friends that they did, as they were just as likely doing either "Lambada" or "The Macarena". In the US Grunge dominated the real life soundtrack for five years, before collapsing into an identity crisis. Kurt Cobain continued chart-topping for two years after his death, alongside Alanis Morissette and Alice in Chains, eventually replaced by pop music during the latter half of the decade. Across the pond, meanwhile, Britpop and the Cool Britannia movement soared; Oasis and Blur had their famous chart war, while the Spice Girls became cultural icons. In academia, modernism was out and relativism was in; the magazine Social Text published the first computer-generated word salad hoax as the "Culture Wars" smoldered between scientists, anti-abortionists, and radical academicians. Raves and Ecstasy became huge, along with the Perishing Alt Rock Voice.

Then came the Dotcom Bubble of the late 90s, powering the biggest economic boom since the Roaring Twenties. As the Internet Browser was invented, garage entrepreneurs sold content-free websites for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Cars and electronics went from depressingly boxy to cartoonishly curvy thanks to computer-aided drafting and design. Internet dollars gentrified the inner city, turning what had been viewed as an irredeemable wasteland into a playpen for the rich. Every building, sneaker, and coffee shop was painted in pastel colors.

Seinfeld, after a shaky start in the '80s, shot to wild popularity. The Simpsons redefined both animation and the family Sitcom. Saturday Night Live's junior class became comedy superstars, including future senator Al Franken. Wayne and Garth parodied the dying years of Hair Metal. Brat Pack stars like Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix grew up and started making Indie films set in depressing, misty cities in the Rust Belt or Pacific Northwest featuring a belligerent, aimless, cynical and under-employed populace instead of cheerful or offbeat youth comedy, including My Own Private Idaho and Fight Club. Irony became synonymous with grittiness and pessimism about a corporate-dominated, post-industrial, and above all, rainy future.

Modern culture's obsession with electronics was born in The Eighties and became dominant in the Turn of the Millennium, but it really came of age in the last half of this decade as people switched out computer models every other year. Dolly the sheep was cloned. GPS became operational. Personal computers were more accessible than ever, setting up their dominance in the next decade. Cell phones became more common. Reality Television started. The Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, and PlayStation were released and raised a generation latchkey kids. Sega as a brand came out and died within this decade, reflecting the increasing pace of technology.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 got really good, then was canceled twice. After people got the answer as to who killed Laura Palmer, Special Agents Mulder and Scully chased aliens, monsters, and other creepy creatures (and created enough UST to explode a good-sized planet). Surfing and going to the beach became even more popular thanks to Baywatch. This was also the heyday of modern-era Star Trek, with TNG, DS9 and Voyager all airing in the same decade. Furthermore, that franchise finally got real competition from Babylon 5 and Stargate SG-1. Movies that were entirely animated through CGI began to amaze people, and started to displace 2D-animated films. Meanwhile, The Disney Animation Renaissance dominated the movie screens, along with Titanic. And Steven Spielberg, blew our minds away when he brought dinosaurs back to life in Jurassic Park.

Adventure Games hit it big in the mid-1990s; Strategy Sim games with orthographic landscapes were invented. People bought games in boxes with elaborate supplements and funky midi music. Or pirated off their neighborhood BBS, along with the Copy Protection page. "The 3D revolution" meant vector graphics, which meant "virtual reality" and Castle Wolfenstein. Superman came back (albeit with a horrible game). Doom, Mortal Kombat, and Pokémon scared the Moral Guardians, with Doom as one of the perpetrators that triggered the Columbine High massacre.

Games like the Super Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger, and the Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy series introduced Western gamers to the concept of the Japanese Role Playing Game, and with the arrival of Final Fantasy VII and Pokémon in the latter part of the decade, the genre went mainstream: Pokémon became a worldwide phenomenon of unprecedented scale; Square Soft became a household name for any video game enthusiast, and their games came to exemplify the cutting edge of innovation in graphics, sound and storytelling in games for years to come.

Kids and adolescents played Street Fighter in the arcade leading to a Fighting Game boom led by Capcom, SNK, Sega and Namco. On the PC side of things, Doom helped make the First-Person Shooter mainstream and Starcraft was starting to conquer Korea.

Digital pets, Pogs, yo-yos, laser pointers and Beanie Babies were all the rage with kids. A Razor scooter and roller blades were invented and quickly considered two of the must have items, and the Discman began to replace the Walkman. In Japan, we saw a farewell to the Darker and Edgier Metal Heroes and Kamen Rider as well as Ultraman as they went through an ice age while Super Sentai prospered and was beginning to be adapted for western audiences as Power Rangers. Boy bands and girl groups began to dominate the market, and two major Gangsta Rap stars were killed within months of each other following a war of egos between the east and west coasts. Indie heartthrob River Phoenix died of an overdose.

Michael Jordan reigned, retired, and returned. Mark McGwire and other beefy dudes beat out Roger Maris as home-run king, totally legitimately. The New York Yankees "dream team" inspired Americans with good old-fashioned teamwork from 1997-2001. David Beckham became a star.

The Dark Age of comics was going strong, and Rob Liefeld was at his peak of popularity, as comics became gradually Darker and Edgier, culminating in the death of Superman, before hitting the brick wall of the comics crash, while the likes of Kingdom Come killed the "Grim and Gritty" mid-decade.

Akira, originally released in Japan in 1988, became a surprise cult hit on home video in the West, ushering in an entire generation of Anime fandom and helping, along with The Simpsons, to mount a serious offensive against the Animation Age Ghetto. Following in its footsteps, Ghost in the Shell, Princess Mononoke, and Perfect Blue would go on to grab the attention of serious film critics the world over and signal the arrival of Adult Animation as an artistic presence. Meanwhile, Pokémon redefined "Cash Cow Franchise" for millions of children (and adults) around the world. Sailor Moon gave girls strong female heroes to idolize besides Wonder Woman;. " on the flipside, Dragonball Z redefined "action cartoon", and would be responsible for more kids taking martial arts than anything since The Karate Kid; Ranma ½ became the most famous and funniest show to never be able to be shown on US Television. Slayers and Record of Lodoss War showed the D&D community that Japan was just as nerdy as we are. Neon Genesis Evangelion shook the anime world to its roots with its dark, contemplative Deconstruction of the medium, heavy postmodernist leanings, and themes of alienation and existential angst that hit a nerve in the zeitgeist of 90s audiences; its unprecedented (and unexpected) success ushered in a torrent of imitators attempting (with varying degrees of success) to copy its visceral mecha combat, psychologically complex cast, trippy plot, and unconventional use of Judeo-Christian symbolism. The Toonami Cartoon Network block was launched, bringing Anime to the viewing options of The Nineties children en masse. Even though it took almost a decade for it to be widely accepted as "mainstream" media in the United States (it was already mainstream in Latin America before that), its influence should be obvious by now.

Most Important, However, was the invention (by Al Gore) of the World Wide Web: porn, gifs of kittens, jokes about the Clinton sex scandal and evil overlords, and porn involving Clinton were widely accessible for the first time. Bulletin Boards hooked up, moving from dial-in systems to the web. People began to band together to discuss their opinions of Star Trek and Star Wars on UseNet, the original "message board" system. Soon, other people joined in to talk about other shows, too, and thus the seeds for the birth of this wiki were planted. So while in 1990 teenagers who "spent time on computer message boards" were nerds, by 1999 it was a social stigma among teenagers if you didn't have an e-mail address.

To distinguish from the "Turn of the Millennium", look out for the World Trade Center towers in establishing shots or title sequences of shows set in New York City.

Politically started with the fall of the Eastern Bloc in 1989, and ended on September 11, 2001. Pop-culturally, it started with the release of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on September 10, 1991 and ended with the rise of internet video and friending networks in 2002-03, making this one of the longest cultural decades. You might notice that its introduction here on the Wiki is one of the longest of all of the decades-that's because this (or possibly the Eighties) is the decade where most of the current Tropers spent their childhood and teenage years. Generation Y, represent!

Although one could argue it ended with the quashed Seattle rebellion of November 30, 1999; or the Great Internet Crash of March 11, 2000, which marked a jobless turning point for the new generation. Some take it all the way to September 11, which left people so stupefied that it functioned as something of a cultural reset button. Note that the word "Nineties" means a very different thing in post-Soviet Russia, a thing much more cynical on the Sliding Scale of Cynicism Versus Idealism.

Not to be confused with The Gay Nineties, which were a century earlier. But these Nineties were probably just as gay.

See Also: The Forties, The Fifties, The Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties, Turn of the Millennium and The New Tens.

Now has a totally awesome Useful Notes page!

Stop: Hammertime.

Naturally, a lot of technology tropes due to the rapid pace of technology and the Internet:

Tropes

 * Adventure Games: All the rage prior to Doom and the triumph of the FPS.
 * American Kirby Is Hardcore: developed in the '90s.
 * All Animation Is Disney: The reign of Disney was in full force as such, a lot of animated movies ended up getting this.
 * Arch Enemy: Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich; Nintendo and Sega;
 * Also when America's battle with its former arch-enemy (the Soviet Union) finally ended
 * Award Bait Song: Disney just loved this about this time...
 * Bare Your Midriff
 * Bill Clinton - President of the United States from 1993 to 2001
 * Blaxploitation Parody: It became acceptable in the Nineties to make fun of (and occasionally homage) the Blaxploitation films of the Seventies.
 * Collectible Card Game - started with Magic: The Gathering in 1993, and now everything has a CCG (no matter how short-lived).
 * Console Wars: The battle between Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis was Serious Business.
 * But then Sony came along mid-decade and handily won the next one with the PlayStation, ending Sega's days as a console manufacturer and relegating Nintendo to "second-string kiddie-game maker" for about ten years.
 * Covered in Gunge: Showed up in kids shows and cartoons a lot in this era.
 * Cyberpunk Is Techno
 * Dead Baby Comedy: It really took off with Family Guy and South Park.
 * Disney Renaissance: coincided almost precisely with this decade.
 * Everything Is Better With Dinosaurs:When Jurassic Park became a box office success and the huge popularity of Barney and Friends in the early 90's, everything from toys and books to underwear and television shows featured dinosaurs.
 * Everything Is Online
 * Eternal September: the UseNet and online BBs reached the height of popularity thanks to AOL, before blogs and myspace.
 * Five-Token Band
 * Gangsta Rap: The new rock n' roll of the early nineties.
 * Goth: Became mainstream in the '90s thanks to The Crow, Trent Reznor, Tim Burton, Marilyn Manson, Anne Rice, and Dead Can Dance.
 * Grunge: The new rock n' roll of the nineties, literally. Nevermind was the biggest album of the decade.
 * Hipster: Trope codification of early-90's geek-chic, emulating beatniks and the Seattle culture
 * Nineties Anti-Hero: this era and many of its comics are the Trope Namer
 * Post Modernism Irony: The 90's were when irony went from an unheard-of artistic stance to become a Dead Horse Trope.
 * Isn't It Ironic?? No, Alanis Morissette, it isn't.
 * The song itself is. You expect it to be about irony, but it isn't. Sure that's not how it was intended, but it works.
 * It's a Small Net After All
 * The Internet Is for Porn: The Nineties may very well be the 2nd Sexual Revolution because of this!
 * Kid Hero
 * Kids Wilderness Epic
 * Mascot with Attitude: (Every annoying video game character made was this.)
 * Merchandise-Driven: Everything in The Eighties was nothing compared to Pokémon's severe amount of commercialization; the 90s were all about this at this point.
 * Memetic Mutation: Thanks to the internet, it could flourish.
 * The Other Rainforest: Are you going to Seattle?
 * Pop Up Video Games
 * The Renaissance Age of Animation
 * Retro Universe: This happened to former Eastern Bloc countries. Since they missed out on previous cultural decades, their Nineties were culturally an amalgamation from The Sixties to the contemporary times.
 * Salt and Pepper: Almost every 90s movie had this type of duo.
 * The Seventies: Nothing says the 90s more then nostalgia for the 70s. Dazed and Confused, That '70s Show, The Brady Bunch movies, Scooby Doo jokes, etc.
 * The Windy City: Quickly supplanted Seattle as the center of all things cool in the 90s.
 * The Great Politics Mess-Up dominated the political scene.
 * Y 2 K, in which people considered New Years 1999-2000 a set date for The End of the World as We Know It until it actually (failed to have) happened.

Anime & Manga

 * After War Gundam X
 * Ah! My Goddess
 * Akuma de Sourou
 * Alien Nine
 * Berserk
 * The Big O (The manga started in October, 1999).
 * Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040
 * Cardcaptor Sakura
 * Cat Shit One. Started in 1998, though set in The Vietnam War.
 * Chrono Crusade: The manga which came out in 1998.
 * Cowboy Bebop
 * Desert Punk
 * Detective Conan
 * Digimon
 * Digimon Adventure
 * Dragon Ball Z -- though Dragon Ball was started in The Eighties and carries over the boom-era mentality of overcoming any obstacle if you try hard enough.
 * Fushigi Yuugi
 * Gao Gai Gar
 * Ghost in The Shell
 * Great Teacher Onizuka
 * Gunsmith Cats
 * Hell Teacher Nube
 * Hyper Police
 * Iketeru Futari
 * Magic Knight Rayearth
 * Mekakushi no Kuni
 * Mobile Fighter G Gundam
 * Mobile Suit Gundam F 91
 * Mobile Suit Gundam Wing—though it wouldn't reach the height of its popularity in America until it was imported at the very end of the '90s.
 * Mobile Suit Victory Gundam
 * Monster
 * Musashi Number Nine
 * Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok
 * Naruto—The manga began with a pilot chapter in 1997 and started regular publishing in 1999.
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion—which was shamelessly exploiting the belief that the end of the century means end of the world.
 * Ninja Scroll—showed many kids (and parents) who were familiar with anime only through the above franchises that not all anime really were for kids, which of course made it all the more popular.
 * One Piece - Started here back in 1997 and still going. But only really hit its stride popularity wise and became known in the west after the Turn of the Millennium, so it could probably more be considered part of that decade than this one.
 * Outlaw Star
 * Pokémon
 * Ranma ½
 * Revolutionary Girl Utena
 * Rurouni Kenshin
 * Sailor Moon
 * Samurai Pizza Cats
 * Seimaden
 * Serial Experiments Lain
 * Slam Dunk - Is like an unintentional time capsule for 90s fashions and trends. You can practically tell what year a chapter was drawn by the length of the shorts.
 * Slayers
 * Sonic the Hedgehog The Movie
 * Super Gals. Manga started in 1999.
 * Tenchi Muyo
 * Tenjho Tenge. Manga started in 1998.
 * Those Who Hunt Elves
 * To Heart
 * Transformers
 * Transformers Zone
 * Beast Wars II
 * Beast Wars Neo
 * Trigun
 * Turn a Gundam
 * The Vision of Escaflowne
 * Wangan Midnight
 * Weiss Kreuz
 * You're Under Arrest—Anime released during this time.
 * Yu Yu Hakusho

Comics

 * The Dark Age of Comic Books was still ongoing.
 * Batman: Digital Justice. Published in 1990.
 * Cable. First appearance as an adult in March, 1990.
 * Ghost Rider/Daniel Ketch. First appeared in May, 1990.
 * Disney Ducks Comic Universe
 * Bubba the Cave Duck. First adapted to the medium in Spring, 1990.
 * Fenton Crackshell / Gizmoduck. First adapted to the medium in December, 1990.
 * Tootsie the Triceratops. First adapted to the medium in January, 1991.
 * Downy McDuck, née O'Drake. First appeared in August, 1992.
 * Fergus McDuck. First appeared in August, 1992.
 * Hortense McDuck. First appeared in August, 1992.
 * Matilda McDuck. First appeared in August, 1992.
 * Rumpus McFowl. First appeared in October, 1994.
 * Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers. The first series started in June, 1990.
 * New Warriors. First appeared in December, 1989. Received their own series in July, 1990.
 * Shade the Changing Man. The modern incarnation of the character first appeared in July, 1990.
 * Flex Mentallo. First appeared in August, 1990.
 * From Hell. Storyline started in 1991. Set in Victorian London.
 * Lost Girls. Storyline started in 1991. Set in the late Edwardian Era.
 * Maus II by Art Speigelman was published in 1991, to much acclaim.
 * Books of Magic. Storyline introduced in January, 1991.
 * Deadpool. First appeared in February, 1991.
 * Darkhawk. First appeared in March, 1991.
 * X-Force. First team. Debuted in April, 1991. Received their own series in August, 1991.
 * Sleepwalker. First appeared in June, 1991.
 * Infinity Gauntlet. Series started in July, 1991.
 * Infinity War. Sequel, started in June, 1992.
 * Infinity Crusade. Sequel, started in June, 1993.
 * Gold Digger. First appeared in September, 1991.
 * X-Factor. Second version. First appeared in October, 1991.
 * Squirrel Girl. First appeared in Winter, 1991.
 * The Legend of Zelda a Link To The Past a year-long serial printed in Nintendo Power in 1992.
 * Super Mario Adventures, printed in conjunction with the above.
 * Deaths Head. The Minion cyborg version first appeared in March, 1992.
 * Renee Montoya. First appeared in March, 1992. She would later assume the mantle of The Question.
 * Hawkman
 * Hawkman/Fel Andar debuted in a retro story in April, 1992. Several Post-Crisis appearances of Hawkman are then attributed to the Andar version.
 * Hawkwoman/Sharon Parker-Hall debuted in a retro story in April, 1992. Several Post-Crisis appearances of Hawkwoman are then attributed to the Parker version.
 * Hawkgirl/Kendra Saunders. First appeared in August, 1999.
 * Spawn. First appeared in May, 1992.
 * Batgirl
 * Batgirl/Robin IV/Spoiler/Stephanie Brown debuted in August, 1992.
 * Huntress assumed the Batgirl identity in March, 1999.
 * Batgirl/Cassandra Cain debuted in July, 1999.
 * The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. First story appeared in August, 1992.
 * Wild CATS. First appeared in August, 1992.
 * Lt. Col. James Rhodes became War Machine in September, 1992.
 * Azrael/Jean-Paul Valley. First appeared in October, 1992.
 * The Batman Adventures. Series started in October, 1992.
 * The Awesome Slapstick, First appeared in November, 1992.
 * The Death of Superman. Storyline started in November, 1992.
 * Captain Marvel/Genis-Vell. First appeared in 1993.
 * Hitman by Garth Ennis and John McCrea. First appeared in the 1993 Etrigan Annual. His solo title started in April, 1996. It lasted until 2001, with a two issue "lost story" crossover with the Justice League of America being posthumously published in 2007.
 * The Maxx. Series started in March, 1993.
 * Stormwatch. Debuted in March, 1993.
 * Hardware. First appeared in April, 1993.
 * Knightfall. The main part of the storyline started in April, 1993.
 * Sandman Mystery Theatre. The series started in April, 1993.
 * Icon. First appeared in May, 1993.
 * Ghost World. First appeared in June, 1993. The graphic novel set in an entire subculture of quirky hipsters.
 * The Savage Dragon. The ongoing title was launched in June, 1993.
 * Static. First appeared in June, 1993.
 * Steel/John Henry Irons. First appeared in June, 1993.
 * Superboy/Kon-El. First appeared in June, 1993.
 * The Ultraverse. Launched in June, 1993.
 * Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog. The series started in July, 1993.
 * Gen 13. Debuted in September, 1993.
 * Harley Quinn
 * Harley was first adapted to the comic book medium in September, 1993.
 * Harley was introduced to the mainstream DC universe in October, 1999.
 * Robin
 * Robin Series. Launched in November, 1993.
 * Simpsons Comics. Series started in November, 1993.
 * Transformers Generation 2. Series started in November, 1993.
 * Green Lantern/Kyle Rayner. First appeared in January, 1994.
 * Marvels, a four issue limited series by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, first appeared in January, 1994.
 * Les Mondes D Aldebaran. Series started in February, 1994.
 * Scud the Disposable Assassin. First appeared in February, 1994.
 * Looney Tunes. Title launched in April, 1994.
 * Impulse/Bartholomew "Bart" Allen. First appeared in June, 1994.
 * The Legend of the Chaos God. Storyline started in July, 1994.
 * The Invisibles by Grant Morrison. First appeared in September, 1994.
 * Starman\Jack Knight. First appeared in September, 1994.
 * Generation X. First appeared in November, 1994.
 * Superman: At Earth's End. Published in 1995.
 * Witchblade. First appeared in 1995.
 * Age of Apocalypse. Storyline started in February, 1995.
 * X-Man. First appeared in March, 1995.
 * Preacher (Comic Book) by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. First appeared in April, 1995.
 * The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot. Storyline published in July–August, 1995.
 * Astro City. First debuted in August, 1995.
 * Mickey Mouse Comic Universe
 * Doc Static. First appeared in September, 1995.
 * Wonder Twins. Modern incarnation, first appeared in October, 1995.
 * Sinister Dexter. First appeared in December, 1995.
 * Paperinik New Adventures. Series started in March, 1996.
 * Amalgam Universe. First appeared in April, 1996.
 * Kingdom Come, a four issue series by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, first debuted in May, 1996.
 * Onslaught. The proper storyline started in May, 1996, though following months of hints.
 * Aztek. First appeared in August, 1996.
 * Supergirl
 * Supergirl/Linda Danvers. First appeared in September, 1996.
 * Supergirl 1,000,000/Ariella Kent. First appeared in November, 1998.
 * Heroes Reborn. Storyline started in November, 1996.
 * The Long Halloween. Series started in December, 1996.
 * Thunderbolts. First appeared in January, 1997.
 * Archie Comics
 * Trula Twyst. First appeared in February, 1997.
 * Nikolai Dante. First appeared in March, 1997.
 * Resurrection Man. First appeared in May, 1997.
 * Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson. Debuted in September, 1997.
 * Hourman/Tyler. First appeared in November, 1997.
 * Tangent Comics. Launched in December, 1997.
 * Associated Student Bodies. Series started in January, 1998.
 * Spider-Girl. First appeared in February, 1998.
 * Danger Girl. The team first appeared in March, 1998.
 * The Goon. The main character first appears in Dreamwalker #0 in March, 1998.
 * Young Justice. First appeared in June, 1998.
 * Extinctioners. Series started in July, 1998.
 * Whiteout. Series started in July, 1998.
 * Fathom. The series started in August, 1998.
 * Planetary by Warren Ellis and (mostly) drawn by John Cassaday. Debuted in September, 1998.
 * Superman for All Seasons. Series started in September, 1998.
 * Marvel Comics 2. Launched in October, 1998. Further exploring the world of Spider-Girl.
 * Gear. The series started in November, 1998.
 * Spider-Woman
 * Martha "Mattie" Franklin. First appeared in November, 1998.
 * Mattie Franklin became Spider-Woman in May, 1999.
 * Charlotte Witter became Spider-Woman in May, 1999.
 * Artesia. Series started in January, 1999.
 * Birds of Prey. Debuted in January, 1999.
 * Superman and Batman Generations. Timeline introduced in January, 1999.
 * Batman No Mans Land. Storyline started in March, 1999.
 * The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Debuted in March, 1999. The original volume was set in Victorian Britain.
 * The Authority. Series started in May, 1999.
 * Tom Strong. Debuted in June, 1999.
 * One Hundred Bullets. Series started in August, 1999.
 * Promethea. Series started in August, 1999.
 * Top Ten. Series started in September, 1999.
 * Tomorrow Stories. Series started in October, 1999.
 * Gravel. First appeared in November, 1999.
 * Batman: Dark Victory. Series started in December, 1999.

Eastern Animation

 * Captain Pronin
 * His Wife Is a Hen
 * The Seventh Brother

Film
For films released in this time period, see Films of the 1990s.

Literature

 * About a Boy
 * Airframe
 * The Alienist
 * American Pastoral
 * American Psycho
 * Animorphs
 * An Instance of the Fingerpost
 * Armageddon Summer
 * The Baby Sitters Club series
 * Gen-X culture critic and anti-establishmentarian Thomas Frank appeared on the scene, with:
 * The Baffler—a DIY-published literary and political magazine.
 * The Basic Eight
 * The Beach
 * The Bridges of Madison County
 * The Cleric Quintet
 * Cold Mountain
 * The Dark Elf Trilogy
 * Distant Star
 * Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
 * The English Patient
 * Erast Fandorin. The series started in 1998.
 * Fight Club
 * Finnegan Zwake
 * Funny Boy
 * Generation X, by Douglas Coupland (1991), and much of Coupland's later oeuvre, is specifically about the younger generation that came of age in the 1990s, and how they felt different from their Baby Boomer elders.
 * Glamorama
 * The God of Small Things
 * Goosebumps—by R.L. Stine.
 * Guess How Much I Love You—first published in 1994, later installments appeared in the late 2000s, and an Animated Adaptation was created in 2011.
 * Harry Hole. The series started in 1997.
 * Harry Potter—the worldwide phenomenon kicked off around the end of the decade. The series itself takes place in this decade, with book 1 taking place in 1991 and book 7 (apart from the epilogue) finishing in 1998.
 * Harry Potter (1997)
 * Harry Potter (1998)
 * Harry Potter (1999)
 * Hemingway's Six Word Story
 * High Fidelity
 * His Dark Materials
 * Horrible Histories
 * Horrid Henry
 * The Hours
 * House of Leaves, a very Post Modernism Magnum Opus.
 * In Death. The series started in 1995.
 * Gen-X literary star David Foster Wallace.
 * Infinite Jest
 * Invisible Monsters
 * Janie. The series started in 1990.
 * Jesse Stone. The series started in 1997.
 * Joe Grey. The series started in 1996.
 * The John Grisham oeuvre was very popular.
 * Judge Knott. The series started in 1992.
 * Lady of Avalon
 * The Last of the Renshai
 * The Last Rune
 * Legacy of the Drow Series
 * The Liar Novel
 * The Lions of Al-Rassan
 * The Lord of the Isles
 * Lost Girls
 * Malazan Book of the Fallen
 * Masters of Rome
 * Gen-X (other) literary star Dave Eggers would become more prominent in the decade to follow:
 * McSweeney's (1998)
 * Memoirs of a Geisha
 * The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. Written in 1994-1995, first published in 2002.
 * Mostly Harmless
 * The Mystery of Urulgan
 * New Jedi Order. The series started in 1999.
 * New Kashubia Series. The series started in 1999.
 * Nightfall. The short story was published in 1941, the novel in 1990.
 * A Night in the Lonesome October
 * The Nights Dawn Trilogy
 * Nims Island
 * Novels of the Jaran
 * Otherland. The series started in 1996.
 * Parable of the Sower
 * Parasite Eve
 * Paris in The Twentieth Century. Written in 1863, but first published in 1994.
 * Past Doctor Adventures. The series started in 1997.
 * The Perks of Being a Wallflower
 * Petaybee. The series started in 1993.
 * Phule's Company. The series started in 1990.
 * The Poisonwood Bible
 * Primary Colors by Anonymous (actually Joe Klein). Inspired the show West Wing.
 * Riptide
 * Roma Sub Rosa. The series started in 1991.
 * The Savage Detectives
 * The Secret History
 * Silverwing
 * Snow Crash
 * A Song of Ice and Fire. The series started in 1996.
 * Stellaluna
 * Stephen King's "late period" begins in the '90s, and marks the time when his films ceased to massively under-perform his books... or vice versa, depending on how you look at it:
 * The Stand: Complete and Uncut was released in 1990 and re-cast Next Sunday AD with updated references to early 1990s pop culture... prior to 1991, producing a classic-rock armageddon.
 * Needful Things
 * Dolores Claiborne
 * Insomnia
 * The Green Mile
 * Desperation
 * The Regulators
 * The Dark Tower and Wizard and Glass
 * Strong Motion
 * Sunny Randall. The series started in 1999.
 * Time Scout. The series started in 1995.
 * The Vampire Diaries. The series started in 1991.
 * White Oleander
 * Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
 * The Wind Up Bird Chronicle

Live Action TV

 * Two Point Four Children
 * Absolutely Fabulous
 * Action
 * Adam-12. Revival of an older series.
 * The Adam and Joe Show
 * Adventures in Wonderland.
 * The Adventures of Brisco County Jr
 * The Adventures of Pete and Pete
 * Animal Planet launched in 1996.
 * The Adventures of Shirley Holmes
 * The Adventures of Sinbad
 * All That
 * Ally McBeal
 * Almost Home
 * The Amanda Show
 * American Gothic
 * Angel—Spun off from Buffy in late 1999, the beginning of a five-year run.
 * Animorphs
 * Aquila
 * Are You Afraid of the Dark?
 * Arliss
 * The Arsenio Hall Show (started in 1989 carried over to the early nineties)
 * As Time Goes By
 * The Atheist Experience
 * Babylon 5
 * Backup
 * Barney and Friends—Although the video series began in 1988, the TV show first aired in 1992.
 * Baywatch
 * Beakmans World
 * Bear in the Big Blue House
 * BeastMaster
 * Becker
 * Beetleborgs
 * The Ben Stiller Show
 * Beverly Hills, 90210—source of the yuppie scourge.
 * Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction?
 * Bibleman
 * Big Brother. The original Netherlands version debuted in 1999.
 * The Big Comfy Couch
 * Big Wolf on Campus
 * Bill Nye the Science Guy
 * Boy Meets World—possibly Patient Zero of the flannel virus, a devastating fashion pandemic that spread out from Seattle in the decade's early years.
 * Brimstone
 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer—the movie came out in 1992; the TV show debuted in 1997. It proceeded to alter television forever, not only influencing writing, but also how shows are structured.
 * California Dreams
 * Caroline in The City
 * The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
 * Clarissa Explains It All
 * Code Name: Eternity
 * Cold Squad
 * Conan the Adventurer
 * Crusade
 * Da Vincis Inquest
 * The Daily Show—The original version with Craig Kilborn started in 1996. Jon Stewart took over in 1999.
 * Dans Une Galaxie Pres De Chez Vous
 * Dark Skies—One of many paranoia-filled sci-fi shows.
 * Due South
 * ER
 * Earth: Final Conflict
 * The Eligible Bachelor
 * Ellen
 * Family Matters (started in 1989 carried over to 1997)
 * The Famous Jett Jackson
 * Farscape. Series started in 1999.
 * La Femme Nikita
 * Figure It Out
 * First Wave
 * The Flash—a live-action adaptation of the comic book character.
 * Flash Forward
 * Forever Knight
 * Fox News Channel
 * Frasier—the Seattle-based (of course!) follow-up to the classic 80's sitcom, Cheers.
 * Fresh Prince of Bel Air—kick-started Will Smith's acting career.
 * Friends—vied with Seinfeld for the title of ultimate 90's sitcom, and origin of Friends Rent Control.
 * FX the Series
 * Good Eats
 * Grace Under Fire
 * Greed
 * Have I Got News for You
 * Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
 * Hey Dude
 * Holby City
 * Holly Oaks
 * Home Improvement
 * Homicide: Life On the Street—Artsiest cop show on network TV, predecessor to The Wire, and home of John Munch.
 * Human Target
 * In Living Color
 * JAG
 * Just Shoot Me
 * Kamen Rider
 * Shin Kamen Rider Prologue
 * Kamen Rider ZO
 * Kamen Rider J
 * Kenan and Kel
 * Kindred: The Embraced
 * Kratts' Creatures
 * Land of the Lost 1991
 * The Last Vampyre
 * Late Night with Conan O'Brien—Gen X's Johnny Carson.
 * Law and Order—one of the first procedural dramas to make extensive use of theater actors in bit parts.
 * Law and Order Special Victims Unit
 * Legends of the Hidden Temple
 * Lexx
 * Living Single
 * Lois and Clark
 * The Lone Gunmen
 * Mad About You
 * Maid Marian and Her Merry Men: Began in 1989, ran until 1994
 * Maria La Del Barrio
 * Martin
 * The Master Blackmailer
 * Master Chef
 * Maybe Its Me
 * Melrose Place
 * The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
 * Midsomer Murders
 * Millennium
 * Mr. Bean
 * The Muppets
 * Muppets Tonight
 * Murphy Brown—the quintessential 90's "single TV female", so much so that Dan Quayle called her out for it.
 * The show debuted in 1988
 * My So-Called Life
 * Mystery Science Theater 3000 moved from KTMA to Comedy Central in 1990, then to Syfy in 1997.
 * The Nanny
 * Never Mind the Buzzcocks
 * The New Addams Family. Revival of an older series.
 * News Radio
 * Nick Arcade
 * Nickelodeon Guts
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
 * Ninja Turtles the Next Mutation
 * North and South US
 * Northern Exposure
 * Now and Again
 * Nowhere Man—One of the many paranoia filled sci-fi tv shows of this era.
 * NYPD Blue—the Darker and Edgier Police Procedural that made Dennis Franz a sex symbol.
 * The O Reilly Factor
 * PJ Katies Farm
 * Pop Up Video
 * Power Rangers—started here. (Super Sentai was already over 15 years old, though.)
 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
 * Power Rangers Zeo
 * Power Rangers Turbo
 * Power Rangers in Space
 * Power Rangers Lost Galaxy
 * The Pretender
 * Profiler
 * The Puzzle Place
 * Quantum Leap—the show that made Scott Bakula famous; it debuted in 1988.
 * Relic Hunter
 * Rescue 911—first aired in 1989
 * Room 101
 * Roseanne (started in 1988 carried over to 1997)
 * Round the Twist—Although the revived series just tipped into the early '00s, that was after the writer that had created it left due to creative differences, essentially taking the show's unique and quality storytelling with him.
 * Sabrina the Teenage Witch
 * Salute Your Shorts
 * Saved by the Bell
 * Sea Quest DSV
 * Seinfeld—the series finale was a big event nationwide, like M*A*S*H (television) in the 80s.
 * The Sentinel
 * Seventh Heaven
 * Shortland Street - began in May 1992
 * Silent Witness
 * So Weird
 * Space Cases
 * Spaced
 * Spin City
 * Stargate Verse
 * Stargate SG 1
 * Star Trek
 * Star Trek the Next Generation (began in 1987, but continued till 1994)
 * Star Trek Deep Space Nine
 * Star Trek Voyager
 * Step by Step
 * Suddenly Susan
 * Super Sentai
 * Kousoku Sentai Turboranger
 * Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman
 * Choujin Sentai Jetman
 * Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger
 * Gosei Sentai Dairanger
 * Ninja Sentai Kakuranger
 * Chouriki Sentai Ohranger
 * Gekisou Sentai Carranger
 * Denji Sentai Megaranger
 * Seijuu Sentai Gingaman
 * Kyuukyuu Sentai Go Go Five
 * Talk Soup—Although you may know its revamped version, The Soup, better.
 * Team Knight Rider
 * That '70s Show
 * 3rd Rock from the Sun
 * Time Team
 * Titanic
 * The Tom Green Show
 * Touched By an Angel
 * The Torkelsons
 * Twin Peaks -- David Lynch's foray into prime-time naturally happened in the 90s.
 * Vengeance Unlimited
 * Walker, Texas Ranger
 * Wayne's World: Party time! Excellent!
 * Weird Science—Television adaptation of the John Hughes film.
 * The West Wing—started in 1999, and was basically about the Clinton Administration.
 * Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
 * Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?
 * Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
 * Whose Line Is It Anyway—the UK version had been going since 1988, but the American version started up in 1998 once the British run ended.
 * Will and Grace
 * Wings
 * Wishbone
 * WWE Raw
 * WWE Smackdown
 * Xena: Warrior Princess
 * The X-Files
 * Yo Soy Betty La Fea
 * Young Hercules
 * Young Indiana Jones

Magazines

 * Disney Adventures. Launched in October, 1990.
 * Top Secret

Genres

 * Grunge: The new rock n' roll of the nineties, literally.
 * Alice in Chains
 * Mudhoney
 * Nirvana, of course
 * Pearl Jam
 * Soundgarden
 * Stone Temple Pilots, which successfully emulated the style of other bands to great fame.
 * Nu-metal: The new (alternative) metal of the nineties. Coolly received by critics and traditionalists, but very successful with teens.
 * Deftones
 * Korn
 * Limp Bizkit
 * Slipknot
 * Alternative Hip Hop: Made hip-hop very chic among some white college kids.
 * Arrested Development, much less so
 * Which spun off Dionne Farris
 * A Tribe Called Quest
 * Basehead
 * Cypress Hill
 * De La Soul
 * Digable Planets definitely not after their second more Afrocentric album.
 * Digital Underground, which also brought 2pac to the forefront.
 * The Pharcyde
 * Boy Bands:
 * Backstreet Boys
 * New Kids on the Block
 * N* SYNC
 * Not to forget the more European boy bands such as
 * Boyzone
 * Caught In The Act.
 * East17
 * Take That ,
 * The "electronica" boom that crested in the mid-late '90s, including among others:
 * The Chemical Brothers
 * Fatboy Slim
 * Moby
 * the Orb
 * Orbital
 * The Prodigy
 * Thievery Corporation
 * Underworld
 * Trip-hop:
 * Massive Attack
 * Morcheeba
 * Portishead
 * Sneaker Pimps
 * Dancehall Reggae also crosses over during this decade with artists like
 * Super cat: who had a huge crossover hit with the rock band Sugar Ray.
 * Shabba Ranks
 * Tanya Stephens
 * Patra
 * Maxie Priest
 * Beanie Man
 * Mad Cobra
 * Ini Komozi
 * Buju Banton
 * Bounty Killer
 * Shaggy
 * Britpop:
 * Blur, who abandoned Britpop and became the predecessor to all the "the" bands of The Noughties.
 * Cast
 * Elastica
 * Oasis
 * Most of Paul Weller's mid-90s work (he's probably the Britpop Ur Example; Suede are the Trope Maker and Blur and Oasis the Trope Codifier)
 * Pulp
 * Suede
 * Supergrass
 * Riot Grrrl!:
 * Babes in Toyland
 * Bikini Kill
 * Bratmobile
 * Excuse 17
 * Heavens to Betsy
 * Jack Off Jill
 * L7
 * Sleater Kinney
 * Team Dresch
 * Midwestern acts like:
 * Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
 * Common
 * Crucial Conflict
 * Do or Die
 * Insane Clown Posse
 * Tech N 9 ne
 * Twiztid
 * Twista
 * Gangsta Rap: The other new rock n' roll of the nineties.
 * Third Wave Ska such as:
 * The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
 * No Doubt
 * Reel Big Fish
 * The Melodic Death Metal movement, which was started in 1996. Started with three albums by three different groups:
 * At the Gates
 * Dark Tranquillity
 * In Flames
 * Jungle/drum'n'bass, while we're at it: Goldie, Roni Size, UK Apachi, LTJ Bukem, Photek, Dillinja, DJ Krust, etc.

Other Musicians

 * 311
 * 8Ball & MJG
 * Aaliyah
 * Above the Law
 * Alanis Morissette
 * Aphex Twin
 * Arashi. Debuted in 1999.
 * Avantasia. Project started in 1999.
 * Avenged Sevenfold. The band formed in 1999. Though they would only achieve widespread recognition and success c. 2005.
 * The B 52s, also from Athens Georgia, USA
 * Barenaked Ladies
 * Beastie Boys were just as big in the eighties, but the nineties saw them reinvent themselves. They also started to mature, with their humor being geniune instead of a Stealth Parody. Their two biggest hits, "Sabotage" and "Intergalactic", were released in this period.
 * Beck
 * Belle and Sebastian
 * Ben Folds Five
 * Bjork became famous in the 90s with her own uniquely Perishing Alt Rock Voice... ...as did Macy Gray towards the end of the era, in 1999.
 * Black Eyed Peas
 * Blind Melon
 * Blink 182
 * Boys II Men, Kings of the prom anthem.
 * Brandy
 * Breaking Benjamin. Formed in 1998.
 * Britney Spears
 * Brotha Lynch Hung
 * Bush
 * Busta Rhymes
 * Candlebox
 * Catatonia
 * C+ C Music Factory, and other Hi NRG dance groups
 * Celine Dion. Her career started in the 1980s. But the 1990s was the height of her career.
 * Christina Aguilera. Debuted in 1999.
 * Chumbawamba
 * Collective Soul
 * Color Me Badd (yeah you know you liked'em)
 * Compton's Most Wanted
 * Counting Crows
 * Creed
 * Crowsdell
 * Da Brat
 * The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets
 * Dead Can Dance
 * Destinys Child
 * DJ Quik
 * DMX
 * Dr. Alban had a thing going in Scandinavia.
 * Elton John. Debuted in the 1960s, but managed to score major hits within this decade.
 * Emilie Autumn. Her debut album was released in 1997.
 * Eminem burst into the music scene with his commercial debut album, The Slim Shady LP, giving us all a reason to panic about rap again.
 * En Vogue
 * Eurythmics. The 1980s duo reunired in 1999, releasing a new album.
 * Faith No More, a band that would inspire countless bands to come.
 * Fear Factory
 * Fiona Apple
 * Foo Fighters: Dave Grohl's band after Nirvana.
 * Fugazi: Frontmen Ian and Guy trope-named "Emo" and "Straight Edge" before starting this Post Punk band; were offered and refused the same major-label ticket as Nirvana, and fired Butch Vig after the success of Nevermind. Went on hiatus right around 9/11, marking the end of an era that began with their hit "Waiting Room" in 1989.
 * The Fugees
 * Which Spun off Wyclef Jean
 * likewise Lauryn Hill
 * Garbage
 * Geto Boys, which spun off Scarface as a solo artist.
 * Goodie Mob
 * The Goo Goo Dolls
 * Gravediggaz
 * Green Day: in their original incarnation
 * Haddaway: "What is love, baby don't hurt me...". Add him together with Dr. Alban, and you get this.
 * Helium
 * Hideto Matsumoto
 * Hole
 * Hootie and the Blowfish
 * House of Pain
 * Ice Cube
 * Immature
 * Janet Jackson released her two most Critically acclaimed albums this decade. Janet., And The Velvet Rope
 * Jay-Z also premiered with a classic album called Reasonable Doubt
 * Jellyfish, and splinter acts Imperial Drag, The Grays and Jason Falkner.
 * Jennifer Lopez. Debuted in 1999.
 * Jessica Simpson. Debuted in 1999.
 * Jewel
 * Joan Osborne
 * Jodeci
 * Billy Joel (debuted in The Sixties, became a successful solo artist in The Seventies, remained popular through The Eighties and into the first half of this decade)
 * Kamelot
 * Kid Rock
 * Kriss Kross
 * Lauryn Hill
 * Leif Garrett: Had a brief Career Resurrection towards the end of this period, bleeding into the Turn Of The Millenium.
 * Lenny Kravitz
 * Lisa Loeb
 * Live
 * Liz Phair
 * Los del Rio
 * Luna Sea
 * Madonna may have gotten her start in the 1980s but her contribution to the 1990s music scene was also very important: she brought an underground dance craze to the forefront in 1990 with "Vogue," released one of the riskiest and most socially conscious albums of her career with Erotica, which dealt with topics including HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, sex and fetishes...and then near the end of the decade she reinvented her self yet again by releasing an album of electronica music that quickly cemented her status in the industry as an icon...Ray Of Light. The album touched on everything from death to rebirth to love to breakups to motherhood to religion and spirituality.
 * The Magnetic Fields
 * Man or Astro-man?
 * Mariah Carey
 * Marilyn Manson, the ultimate nemesis of the 1990's Moral Guardians
 * Mary J Blige
 * Master P
 * Maxwell
 * MC Hammer, though he started recording and making hits in the late 1980s.
 * Meredith Brooks
 * Metallica reinvented themselves in the early 1990s with the proto-grunge Black Album, followed by cutting their hair.
 * Missy Elliot
 * Monica
 * Montell Jordan
 * Muse. Formed in 1994. Though their first album came out in 1999.
 * Nas debuted with his classic album Illmatic
 * Also introduced us to AZ
 * Naughty by Nature
 * Neutral Milk Hotel, with one of the most classic 1990s albums, In The Aeroplane Over the Sea
 * Nightwish
 * Nine Inch Nails—Trent Reznor's one-man doomfest that John McCain famously pretended to like.
 * No Limit
 * The Notorious B.I.G.
 * N.W.A. - originated in 1986
 * And Dr. Dre solo
 * Operation Re-Information
 * OutKast
 * Pantera
 * Pavement
 * The Pillows
 * PJ Harvey
 * Poe
 * Radiohead hit it big in the mid-late 1990s, as britpop and electronica took over from grunge.
 * Rage Against the Machine
 * Rammstein
 * Red Hot Chili Peppers, Been around since The Eighties but exploded in the 1990s
 * REM—perennial musical innovator through the 1980s, kicked off the rise of Alternative Rock at the start of the 1990s.
 * R.Kelly
 * The Roots
 * Santana—The veteran band experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim, scoring brand new hits by the end of the decade.
 * Sarah McLachlan
 * S Club 7
 * Selena
 * The Servotron Robot Allegiance
 * Shakira. Debuted in 1991. First hit album in 1996.
 * Shania Twain
 * Shanice
 * Silverchair
 * Sir Mix a Lot liked Big Butts and could not lie.
 * Smash Mouth
 * The Smashing Pumpkins
 * Snoop Dogg
 * Sophie B. Hawkins
 * South Central Cartel
 * Space
 * Spice Girls
 * Steps
 * Sublime
 * SWV
 * System of a Down. Another influential 1980s band that survived into the 1990s (and to the present day as well).
 * Third Eye Blind
 * Three Six Mafia (aka Triple 6 Mafia)
 * Timbaland
 * TLC
 * Toni Braxton
 * Tool debuted in 1990, but took off in the early part of the decade with Undertow and Aenima
 * Tori Amos
 * Total
 * Tupac Shakur
 * Type O Negative
 * This is when U2 reinvented themselves into futuristic techno-alternative-rockers with Achtung Baby, and continued in that direction for the rest of the decade.
 * UGK
 * Usher (The Justin Bieber of his time, particularly noticable with their friendship, and his mentoring of the latter)
 * Utada Hikaru. Debuted in 1998/1999.
 * Vanilla Ice
 * Weezer
 * Wu-Tang Clan, the ultimate hip-hop supergroup.
 * X Japan
 * Xscape
 * Yo-Yo

Newspaper Comics

 * Doonesbury (started in 1970) and For Better or For Worse (started in 1979) both underwent Cerebus Syndrome in this era, signaling the rise of depressing comic strips. Doonesbury even did a strip about the sobering end of the 1980s for New Year's day, 1990.
 * For Better or For Worse had a 1993 Coming Out Story for character Lawrence Poirier. Readers were upset enough to send hate mail and death threats to the creator.
 * Zippy the Pinhead. First appeared in 1971, went from 1980s Underground Comics to become a mainstream comic strip in the 1990s, suitably enough.
 * Calvin and Hobbes started in the 1985 and continued its run to 1995.
 * FoxTrot. Started in April, 1988. Continued its run through the decade.
 * Dilbert strips seemed to be taped on every cubicle in Corporate America. Debuted in 1989 and continued throughout and beyond the 1990s.
 * Outland, the Sunday-only 1990s Bloom County's Spin-Off. Both it and the 1980s strip were created by Berkeley Breathed. Debuted in 1989 and lasted to 1995.
 * Baby Zoe was born Sunday, January 7, 1990.
 * Over the Hedge. Started in June, 1995.
 * The Boondocks. Started in April, 1999.

Pro Wrestling

 * AJ Styles. Debuted in 1998.
 * The Attitude Era
 * The Big Show
 * Bret Hart
 * Christian. Debuted in 1995.
 * Chyna
 * The Corporation
 * Curt Hennig
 * D Generation X
 * Diamond Dallas Page
 * Dragon Gate. Established as Toryumon in 1997.
 * The rise of ECW. Established in 1992.
 * Goldberg
 * Jeff Jarrett
 * Kaiju Big Battel. Established in 1996.
 * Kane
 * Kevin Nash
 * The Kliq
 * Mick Foley
 * Ministry of Darkness
 * Mitsuharu Misawa
 * The Monday Night Wars between WCW and WWF
 * The Montreal Screwjob
 * The nWo
 * Owen Hart
 * Paul Bearer
 * The Rock
 * Ron Killings. Debuted in 1997.
 * Scott Hall
 * Shawn Michaels
 * Sting
 * "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
 * Triple H
 * Ultimate Warrior
 * The Undertaker
 * Vader
 * Vince McMahon
 * Vince Russo
 * Yokozuna

Radio

 * It was during this time that The Howard Stern Show started to become nationally syndicated and eventually became highest rated nationally syndicated morning radio show in most major radio markets the United States.
 * Chris Evan's (in)famous BBC Radio One Breakfast Show from 1995 until 1997. Initially credited with "saving" the station (the hugely-popular national station had suffered a drop in listeners following a serious shake-up under Matthew Bannister starting in 1993 in his attempt to re-position Radio One as a "youth" network following two decades of it being a "housewife's favourite"; Evan's show co-incided with an upturn in listener numbers) he increasingly became egotistical, dismissive of BBC and general broadcasting guidelines and often took what many thought was a bullying attitude to his on-air colleagues. Things eventually came to a head when he and the rest of his staff refused to come in for a Friday morning show leading to someone else having to cover for him. Evans was subsequently sacked and his career took a long, very slow nosedive which culminated in several flopped attempts at TV "comebacks" in the 2000s. He has now reached middle age, has regained much (if not all) of his former popularity and hosts the Radio Two Breakfast Show. He apparently regrets many of his past mistakes and behaviour.
 * During this time, Rush Limbaugh became a nationally syndicated star of talk radio who gave the medium an ideological bent that was unchallenged until the middle of the next decade. (Limbaugh also was popular in the mainstream media for a period in this decade.)
 * This was the decade in which shock-jocker Howard Stern became the "King Of All Media" from his radio base in New York; he set the way for many imitators. (The radio show was also broadcast on TV for a time; something which even Limbaugh could not claim.)
 * Neal Boortz began his show in 1993.

Tabletop Games

 * Magic the Gathering. Released in 1993.

Toys

 * Beanie Babies. Introduced in 1993.
 * Furby, the scourge of the 1998 Holiday shopping season.
 * LEGO Space, the evolution of the Classic LEGO Space line, started on the tail end of the '80s but came into its own early in the new decade.
 * Mighty Max and Polly Pocket miniature playsets.
 * Playmates' Star Trek toyline. Notable for covering ALL of the franchise and for the sheer number (and detail) of the figures.
 * Tamagotchi and related digital pets.
 * Tickle Me Elmo, a cackling effigy of Sesame Street's rising star, was to Christmas 1996 what Furby was to 1998.

Video Games

 * The 7th Saga
 * Ace Combat, with its first three releases in 1995, 1997, and 1999.
 * Air Combat
 * Ace Combat 2
 * Ace Combat 3 Electrosphere
 * Adventure Island series
 * Adventure Island II (1991)
 * Super Adventure Island (1992)
 * New Adventure Island (1992)
 * Adventure Island III (1992)
 * Master Takahashi's Adventure Island IV (1994)
 * Super Adventure Island II (1995)
 * Alone in The Dark
 * Altered Beast
 * Another World
 * Aztec Wars
 * Baldurs Gate
 * Banjo-Kazooie
 * Battle City series
 * Tank Force (1991)
 * Battle Garegga
 * Beatmania
 * Beatmania IIDX
 * Dance Dance Revolution
 * BioForge
 * Blaster Series
 * Brain Dead 13
 * Brave Fencer Musashi
 * Breath of Fire
 * Breath of Fire I
 * Breath of Fire II
 * Breath of Fire III
 * Bubble Bobble series
 * Parasol Stars (1991)
 * Bubble Bobble Part 2 (1993)
 * Bubble Symphony (1994)
 * Bubble Memories (1995)
 * Bubsy
 * Bug!
 * Burn:Cycle
 * Castlevania
 * Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula-Kun!
 * Castlevania II Belmonts Revenge
 * Super Castlevania IV
 * Kid Dracula
 * Akumajou Dracula
 * Castlevania Rondo of Blood
 * Castlevania Bloodlines
 * Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
 * Castlevania Legends
 * Castlevania 64
 * Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
 * Carmen Sandiego
 * Carmageddon
 * Chrono Trigger
 * Chrono Cross
 * Civilization was developed in 1990, and sparked a golden-age for turn-based strategy games.
 * Two sequels during the 90s, not including Colonization, various copycats, and refurbishments of the original Civ release.
 * Comix Zone
 * Command & Conquer, following closely on the heels of Dune II
 * Commandos
 * Constructor
 * Cool Spot
 * Crash Bandicoot
 * Crash Bandicoot 1996
 * Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
 * Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
 * Crash Team Racing
 * Crystal Caves
 * Day of the Tentacle
 * Deception series
 * Tecmo's Deception: Invitation to Darkness (1996)
 * Kagero: Deception II (1998)
 * Deception III: Dark Delusion (1999)
 * Descent series
 * Descent (1995)
 * Descent II (1996)
 * Descent 3 (1999)
 * Diablo
 * Dizzy
 * Magicland Dizzy (1990)
 * Spellbound Dizzy (1990)
 * Fantastic Dizzy (1991)
 * Dizzy Prince of the Yolkfolk (December, 1991)
 * Crystal Kingdom Dizzy (1992)
 * Donkey Kong Country - The original trilogy was published between '94-'96
 * Donkey Kong 64
 * Doom
 * Doremi Fantasy
 * Duke Nukem
 * Duke Nukem I
 * Duke Nukem II
 * Duke Nukem 3D
 * Dune II, the archetypal Real Time Strategy game
 * Dungeon Keeper
 * Dynamite Headdy
 * Earthworm Jim
 * EcoQuest, probably the pioneer of Environmentalist Edutainment.
 * Ecco the Dolphin
 * The Elder Scrolls series
 * The Elder Scrolls: Arena
 * The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
 * The Elder Scrolls Legends: Battlespire
 * The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard
 * Escape Velocity
 * EV Override
 * Eternal Champions
 * EverQuest
 * EVO Search for Eden
 * Exhumed
 * EYE Divine Cybermancy
 * The Eye of the Beholder trilogy.
 * F-Zero
 * Fallout
 * Fallout 1
 * Fallout 2
 * Final Fantasy
 * Final Fantasy III
 * Final Fantasy IV ("II" in North America)
 * Final Fantasy V
 * Final Fantasy VI ("III" in North America)
 * Final Fantasy VII (North America got it right this time.)
 * Final Fantasy VIII
 * Final Fantasy Tactics
 * Fire Emblem, at least in Japan. Western players had to wait until 2003 to get their first installment.
 * Flashback
 * For the Frog The Bell Tolls
 * Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
 * Free Space
 * Full Throttle
 * Gabriel Knight
 * Gnop!
 * The development of Halo was from 97 - 01.
 * In fact, the 90s were the birth of Bungie.
 * Gobliiins and sequels
 * Ghosts N Goblins
 * Golden Axe series
 * Golden Axe Warrior (1990)
 * Ax Battler: A Golden Axe Legend (1991)
 * Golden Axe II (1991)
 * Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder (1992)
 * Golden Axe III (1993)
 * Golden Axe: The Duel (1994)
 * Grand Theft Auto
 * Grand Theft Auto Classic
 * Grand Theft Auto II
 * Also, San Andreas takes place in the 90's, and utterly skewers the pop culture of the time.
 * Grandia
 * Grandia (the first entry)
 * Grim Fandango
 * Gunstar Heroes
 * Half-Life
 * And several of the most popular mods built from it, notably Counter-Strike.
 * Harvester
 * Havoc
 * House of the Dead
 * Humongous Entertainment:
 * Backyard Sports
 * Big Thinkers!
 * Buzzy the Knowledge Bug
 * Fatty Bear
 * Freddi Fish
 * Pajama Sam
 * Putt-Putt
 * Spy Fox
 * Hydro Thunder
 * I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
 * Illusion of Gaia
 * Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
 * Inherit the Earth
 * KGB
 * Killer Instinct
 * King's Quest
 * King's Quest V Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder
 * King's Quest VI Heir Today Gone Tomorrow
 * King's Quest VII the Princeless Bride
 * King's Quest Mask of Eternity
 * The original Kirby game was released in '92.
 * IT IS THE NINETIES, AND THERE IS TIME FOR...Klax.
 * Klonoa
 * Jagged Alliance
 * JumpStart
 * Jumping Flash
 * Legend of Dragoon
 * The Legend of Zelda
 * The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past
 * The Legend of Zelda Links Awakening
 * The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
 * Lego Island
 * LEGO Racers
 * Leisure Suit Larry  series
 * Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work (1991)
 * Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out! (1993)
 * Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail! (1996)
 * Lemmings
 * Loom
 * Mace: The Dark Age
 * Mad TV
 * Major Stryker
 * Maken X
 * Marathon (1994-1996)
 * Marvel vs. Capcom
 * X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994)
 * Marvel Super Heroes (1995)
 * X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996)
 * Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997)
 * Marvel vs. Capcom Clash of the Superheroes (1998)
 * Master of Orion
 * Master of Magic
 * MAX Mechanized Assault and Exploration
 * Mech Commander
 * Mech Commander (1998)
 * Mechwarrior
 * MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat (1995)
 * MechWarrior 3 (1999)
 * Metal Gear Solid, a sort-of relaunch of the original Metal Gear franchise that began in The Eighties.
 * Metroid
 * Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991)
 * Super Metroid (1994)
 * Mischief Makers
 * Miss World '96 Nude
 * The Secret of Monkey Island
 * Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
 * The Curse of Monkey Island
 * Mortal Kombat
 * Mortal Kombat
 * Mortal Kombat 2
 * Mortal Kombat 3
 * Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
 * Mortal Kombat 4
 * Mother
 * Earthbound
 * My Little Pony Friendship Gardens
 * The Neverhood
 * Nightmare Ned
 * NiGHTS Into Dreams
 * Lampshade.... er, Nightshade!
 * Odium
 * Pac-Man World
 * Parasite Eve
 * Parasite Eve 2
 * Pathways into Darkness
 * Persona
 * Persona 2 (North American release date was pushed back to 2000)
 * Pilotwings
 * Franchise/Pokemon
 * Pokémon Red and Blue
 * Pokémon Gold and Silver
 * Policenauts
 * Quackshot
 * Quest for Glory II - IV, the first D&D-style scripted adventure game
 * Resident Evil
 * Resident Evil
 * Resident Evil 2
 * Resident Evil 3 Nemesis
 * Ristar
 * Rival Schools: United By Fate
 * Rock Raiders
 * Quake I
 * Quake II
 * Quake III Arena
 * Rayman
 * Sam & Max Hit the Road
 * Secret Agent
 * Secret of Evermore
 * Serf City
 * The Settlers
 * The Seventh Guest
 * Shadow President
 * Shinobi series
 * Alex Kidd in Shinobi World (1990)
 * The Cyber Shinobi (1990)
 * Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (1990)
 * The G.G. Shinobi (1991)
 * The G.G. Shinobi Part II: The Silent Fury (1992)
 * Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (1993)
 * Shinobi Legions (1995)
 * Silent Hill
 * Silent Hill (the first one)
 * The Silver Case
 * Sim City, followed by SimCity 2000 and 3000
 * Sim Earth
 * Sim Life
 * Sim Ant
 * Sim Farm, anyone?
 * Sim Tower, let's see have I forgotten any? ("Don't forget my biggest flop, "Sim Sandwich.")
 * Simon the Sorcerer, and a couple of hilarious Discworld adventures.
 * Smash TV
 * Snatcher
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992)
 * Sega Sonic the Hedgehog (1993)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog CD (1993)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog Chaos (1993)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball (1993)
 * Doctor Robotniks Mean Bean Machine (1993)
 * Sonic 3 and Knuckles (1994). A game with two parts: Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles.
 * Sonic Drift (1994)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble (1994)
 * Knuckles Chaotix (1995)
 * Tails Sky Patrol (1995)
 * Tails Adventure (1995)
 * Sonic Labyrinth (1995)
 * Sonic the Fighters (1996)
 * Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (1996). Also known as Sonic 3D Blast.
 * Sonics Schoolhouse (1996)
 * Sonic Blast (1996)
 * Sonic Jam (1997)
 * Sonic R (1997)
 * Sonic Adventure (1998)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (1999)
 * Space Quest IV - VI, parodying every possible sci-fi trope
 * SPISPOPD
 * Spyro the Dragon
 * Spyro the Dragon 1998
 * Spyro 2 Riptos Rage
 * Star Control
 * Starcraft
 * Star FOX
 * Star FOX
 * Star Fox 2
 * Star Fox 64
 * Star Ocean
 * ''Star Ocean 1
 * Street Fighter
 * Street Fighter II (1991)- the sequel to the 1987 original was the first game in the series that really took off, spawning pretty much the entire competitive fighting game genre.
 * Street Fighter the Movie (1995). Videogame adaptation of the film.
 * The Street Fighter Alpha series (1995-1998)
 * Street Fighter EX (1996-2000)
 * Street Fighter III (1997-1999)
 * Suikoden
 * Suikoden I
 * Suikoden II
 * Superman 64
 * Super Mario Bros.
 * Super Mario Bros 3
 * Super Mario Land 2
 * Wario Land
 * Dr. Mario
 * Super Mario World
 * Yoshi's Island
 * Mario Paint
 * Super Mario Kart (1992)
 * Mario Kart 64 (1996)
 * Super Mario RPG
 * Yoshi's Story
 * Mario Is Missing
 * Hotel Mario
 * Mario Party
 * Mario Golf
 * Mario Tennis
 * Mario's Picross. Series started in 1995.
 * Super Smash Bros. (the N64 original)
 * Syndicate, and its sequel Syndicate Wars.
 * System Shock / System Shock 2
 * Tales (series)
 * Tales of Phantasia (1995).
 * Tales of Destiny (1997).
 * Target Earth
 * Team Fortress Classic
 * Tech Romancer
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles in Time (1991)
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Manhattan Project (1992)
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters (1993-1994)
 * Tekken, wherein the Wu-Tang Clan won't hesitate to break your back like Big Jack from Tekken
 * Tenchu
 * Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (1998)
 * Tenchu: Shinobi Hyakusen (1999)
 * Terminal Velocity
 * Tex Murphy
 * Martian Memorandum (1991)
 * Under a Killing Moon (1994)
 * The Pandora Directive (1996)
 * Overseer (1998)
 * Theme Hospital
 * Thief: The Dark Project
 * Thunder Force series
 * Thunder Force III (1990)
 * Thunder Force IV (1992)
 * Thunder Force V (1997)
 * Time Crisis
 * Toejam and Earl
 * Tokimeki Memorial, which was created and absolutely thrived in that period, but in East Asia only.
 * Tomb Raider - The first three titles were released in this period.
 * Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
 * Toonstruck
 * Touhou (The first game in the series was released in 1996, but the series didn't really take off until its 2002 reboot).
 * Transport Tycoon
 * Twisted Metal
 * Ultima
 * Ultima VI (1990)
 * Ultima VII (1992)
 * Ultima VII Part Two (1993)
 * Ultima VIII (1994)
 * Ultima IX (1999)
 * Ultima Underworld / Ultima Underworld 2 (1992/1993)
 * Ultima Online (1997)
 * Unreal I
 * Unreal Tournament
 * Virtua Cop
 * War Wind
 * Warcraft
 * Wing Commander
 * Freelancer
 * Wolfenstein 3D
 * World of Mana began here, with:
 * Final Fantasy Adventure
 * Secret of Mana
 * Seiken Densetsu 3 (if you lived in Japan...)
 * Legend of Mana.
 * Worms
 * X: Beyond the Frontier
 * X: Tension
 * X-COM trilogy.
 * X-Men
 * X-Men (1992)
 * Star Wars: X-Wing
 * TIE Fighter
 * You Don't Know Jack
 * Zombies Ate My Neighbors

Web Animation

 * Happy Tree Friends. Debuted in 24 December 1999.

Webcomics

 * Web Comics period, as the Internet first saw widespread use in the middle of this decade.
 * Kevin and Kell. Started in September, 1995.
 * Sabrina Online. Started in September, 1996.
 * Goats. Started in April, 1997.
 * Sluggy Freelance. Started in August, 1997.
 * Newshounds. Started in November, 1997.
 * User Friendly. Started in November, 1997.
 * The Cyantian Chronicles. The setting and original strip were created in 1998.
 * The Class Menagerie. Started in January, 1998.
 * Pokey the Penguin. Started in February, 1998.
 * Dan and Mabs Furry Adventures. Started in 1999.

Web Original

 * The Legion of Net.Heroes, a superhero parody shared universe which is one of the oldest and longest-running online fiction projects.
 * The LNH also led to the creation of the rec.arts.comics.creative newsgroup for superhero comics-inspired online fiction. It hosted several other shared worlds such as the Patrol, Omega and Academy of Superheroes. Other writing fora from this period include alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo and alt.pub.dragons-inn
 * Neopets. First discussed in 1997, launched on November 15, 1999.

Western Animation

 * The Renaissance Age of Animation coincided very neatly with the 1990s, see also: Films of the 1990s.
 * One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Series based on the film.
 * Aaahh Real Monsters
 * Adventures from the Book of Virtues
 * The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police
 * Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Angela Anaconda
 * The Angry Beavers
 * The Animals of Farthing Wood
 * Animaniacs
 * Archies Weird Mysteries
 * Arthur
 * As Told by Ginger
 * Avenger Penguins
 * The Avengers United They Stand
 * Batman Beyond
 * Batman the Animated Series
 * Transformers
 * Beast Wars
 * Beast Machines
 * Beavis and Butthead
 * Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot
 * The Big Knights
 * Biker Mice From Mars
 * Billy the Cat
 * Bobby's World
 * Bob the Builder
 * Bonkers
 * The Brothers Flub
 * Bruno the Kid
 * Bump in the Night
 * Bureau of Alien Detectors
 * Capitol Critters
 * Captain Planet and the Planeteers
 * Celebrity Deathmatch
 * Channel Umptee-3
 * Conan the Adventurer
 * Courage the Cowardly Dog
 * Cow and Chicken
 * The Critic
 * Cro
 * Cybersix
 * Daria
 * Darkwing Duck
 * Detention
 * Dexters Laboratory
 * Dilbert the cartoon series
 * The Disney Afternoon (fitting the decade snugly from 1990 to 1999)
 * Dog City
 * Doug
 * Dragon Tales
 * Dr. Katz Professional Therapist
 * Earthworm Jim
 * Ed, Edd n Eddy
 * Eek the Cat
 * Exo Squad
 * Extreme Ghostbusters
 * Family Guy
 * Fantastic Four
 * Fat Dog Mendoza
 * Fly Tales
 * Franklin
 * Freakazoid
 * Futurama
 * Garfield and Friends
 * Gargoyles
 * G.I. Joe
 * G.I. Joe Extreme
 * Goof Troop
 * Hammerman
 * Hercules. Television series based on the feature film.
 * Hey Arnold!
 * Histeria!
 * Home Movies
 * Hurricanes
 * I Am Weasel
 * Jonny Quest the Real Adventures
 * Jungle Cubs. Series based on a feature film.
 * Ka Blam
 * Kevin Spencer
 * Life With Louie
 * The Lionhearts
 * Little Bill
 * The Little Mermaid (The Saturday Morning Cartoon)
 * Littlest Pet Shop
 * Madeline (The actual show, NOT the specials)
 * The Magic School Bus
 * Mega Man the Animated Series
 * Mickey Mouse Works. Reworked into the House of Mouse.
 * The Mighty Ducks
 * Mighty Max
 * Mike Lu and Og
 * Mission Hill
 * Mona the Vampire
 * Monster Force
 * Mr. Bogus
 * Mutant League
 * My Little Pony
 * My Little Pony Tales
 * Neds Newt
 * New Kids on the Block. Series based on the music group.
 * The New Woody Woodpecker Show
 * Nightmare Ned
 * Oggy and the Cockroaches
 * Oh Yeah Cartoons
 * PB and J Otter
 * Pepper Ann
 * Phantom 2040
 * Pinky and The Brain
 * Pinky Elmyra and The Brain
 * The Pirates of Dark Water
 * The P Js
 * The Powerpuff Girls
 * Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders
 * Project Gee Ke R
 * Quack Pack
 * Raw Toonage
 * ReBoot
 * Recess
 * Ren and Stimpy
 * Road Rovers
 * Rocket Power
 * Rocko's Modern Life
 * Rolie Polie Olie
 * Roswell Conspiracies
 * Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles
 * Rugrats
 * Rupert
 * Sabrina the Animated Series
 * Science Court
 * Scooby Doo
 * Scooby Doo in Arabian Nights
 * Sherlock Holmes in The Twenty Second Century
 * The Simpsons
 * The Itchy and Scratchy Show
 * Skeleton Warriors
 * Sky Dancers
 * Sonic Sat AM.
 * Sonic Underground
 * South Park
 * Space Ghost Coast to Coast
 * Spider-Man: The Animated Series
 * Spider-Man Unlimited
 * SpongeBob SquarePants
 * Stickin' Around
 * Superman the Animated Series
 * Swat Kats
 * The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries
 * Tales From the Crypt Keeper
 * Tale Spin
 * Taz-Mania
 * The Tick (animation)
 * Timon and Pumbaa
 * Tiny Toon Adventures
 * Toonami
 * Two Stupid Dogs
 * Video Power
 * X-Men
 * Wallace and Gromit
 * What a Mess
 * Widget the World Watcher
 * Wild West Cowboys of Moo Mesa
 * Wish Kid
 * The Wizard of Oz
 * Xyber 9 New Dawn

Anime & Manga

 * Black Lagoon

Film

 * Black Hawk Down (made in 2001, set in 1993) sets the mood with a Stone Temple Pilots song.
 * Blood Diamond (made in 2005, set in 1999)
 * The Deal, partially (made in 2003, set between 1983-1994)
 * Definitely Maybe
 * The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (made in 2007, set in 1995-1997)
 * Escape from New York (made in 1981, set in 1997)
 * Hotel Rwanda (made in 2004, set in 1994)
 * The Fighter (made in 2010, set in 1993-2000)
 * The Informant! (made in 2009, set in 1992-98 - although the ads made it look like it was set in The Eighties or even The Seventies)
 * Into the Wild (made in 2007, set in 1990-1992)
 * Invictus (made in 2009, set in 1995)
 * Love and Other Drugs
 * Jarhead (made in 2005, set during the Gulf War)
 * The Queen (made in 2006, set in 1997)
 * Metropolis, made in the 1920's and set in the year 1999. As could be expected, there's plenty of Zeerust.
 * Recess Schools Out (made in 2000, released in 2001, and takes place in the summer of 1998)
 * The DTV sequel, Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade was released in 2003 and takes place in fall 1998.
 * The DTV prequel, Recess: All Growed Down was also released in 2003 and takes place in 1997 or 1998 for the framing material and 1993 for the kindergarten flashback segment.

Literature

 * The last four Harry Potter books (released between 2000-2007, set in 1994-1998)
 * Large parts of Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower, the last two books of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, both released in 2004, are set in 1999.
 * Ubik (made in 1969, set in 1992) A case of I Want My Jetpack.
 * Fate/Zero

Live-Action TV

 * Lost in Space, made from 1965–68, was set (apparently) in 1997.
 * Several flashbacks in Lost episodes
 * Several opening flashbacks in episodes of Psych, starting in Season 5 (2010).
 * Mocked in Portlandia, which is set in the 2010's but is all about Portland living the dream of the 1990's.

Theatre

 * The Lieutenant of Inishmore, published in 2001, set in 1993.

Video Games

 * Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (early nineties, made in 2004, set in 1992) and Liberty City Stories (late nineties, made in 2006, set in 1998).

Web Comics

 * Superego is set sometime in 1995, possibly June 1.

Web Original

 * Atop the Fourth Wall parodies the "extreme" attitude that pervaded superhero comic books in the 90s through the character of "'90s Kid"
 * Diary of a Camper

Western Animation

 * The Simpsons episode "That '90s Show" (2008), despite being a huge Continuity Snarl.
 * Regular Show

""May the power protect you.""

- Zordon, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers