The Eighties



""Legend has it that man once washed his jeans in pure acid!""

- Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report

The Eighties: a time where you go-go when you want to walk like an Egyptian, hear doves cry or feel the Punky power.

All the men were preppies who wore pastel suits with narrow ties, drove sports cars that Lee Iacocca personally stood behind and traded stocks on Wall Street - after all, as Oscar Wilde said, nothing says success like excess. (Unless they happened to be teenagers, in which case they were Totally Radical or studied karate and learnt the meaning of "Wax On, Wax Off".) Everyone had huge hairdos, enough make-up to sink a ship and power suits with shoulderpads big enough to knock the giant mirrored sunglasses off anyone who walked within a three foot radius of them. And those without them had flat-tops and wore gym clothes and break-danced on top of cardboard. Generation Y started being born, one day to become, despite their best efforts, the young adults of The Turn of the Millennium.

Computing technology first became a true cultural force in this decade, starting a trend that would keep on snowballing to this very day. The Eighties was the decade of cell phones literally sized and shaped like bricks, jokes about being unable to program VCRs, the death of Betamax, and the beginnings of personal computers and gaming consoles beginning to proliferate inside homes, perhaps one of the trends from this decade with the largest of cultural implications. Cable television also took off big time, with MTV, TBS, HBO, and CNN becoming household acronyms.

In the US, it was also the first wave of the Japanese Invasion, the inklings of which started in '78 with the dub of Battle of the Planets, continuing on with Star Blazers ('79), Voltron ('84), getting even more hardcore with Robotech in '85, and hitting its apex by cranking the quality Up to Eleven with the nationwide release of Akira ('88).

On the homefront, the 1980s produced a rash of pop-cultural icons that today are looked upon, at worst, with Affectionate Parody, and at best, as the national ideal. The conservative political culture of the era meant two rather contradictory things for the production of pop-culture; on the one hand, the surge of private enterprise together with new media technologies allowed corporations such as Hasbro an unprecedented ability to build massive franchises around their products, typically with a TV show and accompanying toys, but on the other Moral Guardian complaints would challenge the ethics of making a show that was "essentially one large commercial." The result was the rather spoof-worthy And Knowing Is Half the Battle segment common to many mass franchise shows, shoving an Anvilicious moral into the action. Fortunately, these were conveniently located after the actual plot, so kids could just turn it off at that point and run down to buy the toys. Besides, the segments make great joke fodder.

Politically, the first part of the decade, Cold War tensions continued to escalate. Some accuse this of being an intentional move by the West to render the economically inept Soviet Union infeasible by drawing its resources away from things like infrastructure and feeding its people, which market economies could accomplish easily. While this is, essentially, what ended up happening (though more complicated than that in real life; in Eastern Europe the decade's real deathblow to communism was considered to have been all the new media technology), the fact that the other possible outcome of such a strategy was global thermonuclear annihilation had a profound impact on Western media tropes. Most obviously, dystopian Speculative Fiction, particularly set After the End Twenty Minutes Into the Future, enjoyed a surge.

The second part of the decade, however, couldn't be more different. Gorbachev, spry for a CPSU leader at age 54 (this was the only time in the Cold War that the Soviet leader was substantially younger than the American), shook up the by-then sclerotic Soviet leadership upon taking power in 1985. Gorbachev restructured the economy (perestroika) for "accelerated" development (uskoreniye), encouraged openness (glasnost), made tentative moves towards democracy (demokratizatsiya), and went Karting with Reagan. For a hot second in 1988-89, it seemed like the USSR had reached a final rapprochement with the West. And then came The Great Politics Mess-Up.

Throughout this era, there came new problems like the spread of AIDS which created a public health panic that dealt first a body blow to the gay community as homophobes treating them as modern lepers (even though that community took the danger seriously far sooner than others). However, the epidemic paradoxically later proved a partial blessing in disguise for gay rights as stricken people like Rock Hudson were shoved out of the closet, forcing the public to realize that LGBTI people were all around them, much like themselves.

The Eighties also had the highest murder rate in U.S. history, almost twice what it is today. Roughly covers the period from the inauguration of Ronald Reagan on January 20, 1981 to the collapse of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991, so almost 11 years.

Thanks to a common twenty- or thirty-year lag, it's still The Eighties in much of Fictionland. Although The Seventies and The Nineties are gradually returning.

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


 * The Aggressive Drug Dealer: Crack cocaine and heroin caught on big during this decade, along with their pushers.
 * And Knowing Is Half the Battle (G.I. Joe et al)
 * Animated Adaptation (of practically everything, including films, TV shows, comic books, video games, action figures, dolls, plush toys, music videos, real-life celebrities)
 * Anime, called Japanimation at the time, became huge in the US in the '80s.
 * Canada Does Not Exist: A wave of low-budget cop and action-adventure dramas start being produced in Canada, but primarily for U.S. consumption. This leads to the weird phenomenon of shows which take place in a "nowhereland" that is neither fully America nor completely Canada.
 * Cold War and Red Scare: A big feature of this period, particularly in the early 1980s with the European Missiles Crisis, the Nicaraguan civil war and Libya. Especially Libya. The Cold War plots here can be divided squarely between before and after 8 December 1987, the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the U.S. and USSR. It's generally straight Red Scare before that. After, it's Renegade Russian or Make the Bear Angry Again.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: Thanks to the movie Wall Street, an enduring image of this time. Part of the economic climate of the time were Ronald Reagan's reforms and the Black Monday crash of 1987.
 * Cyberpunk (kicked off by Blade Runner and Neuromancer)
 * Darker and Edgier:Even though this was a fun decade for many people this decade had many negative sides to it. This was the decade when the crack cocaine drug was created and many people became addicted to this life threatening drug. The drug destroyed the lives of many people. Also during this decade,the sexually-transmitted disease AIDS became more noticeable. The first two cases of patients dying from AIDS had taken place in 1959. But there are only a hand full of known cases dating to the 1960s and 1970s. But the seemingly rare disease became an epidemic in the 1980s. At least 121 AIDS-related deaths took place between 1980 and 1981. By the end of the 1980s, the disease had spread worldwide and there were over a million of known patients.
 * Eighties Hair: If you were in a (popular) metal band or were a female country singer you wore it one way and only one way, BIG!
 * Football Hooligans: For the UK at least. It became such a problem that Margaret Thatcher put together a cabinet just to tackle them. Measures put in place then led to Hillsborough. These days the problem has been virtually eradicated, although the trope appears quite often in foreign films set in the UK where Football is involved.
 * Fur and Loathing (when it started)
 * I Was Quite a Fashion Victim (applying to works looking at this decade in hindsight), a survivor of the so-called "decade fashion disaster" might confess to this.
 * Japan Takes Over the World (A staple of the decade, particularly in Cyberpunk works. Often seems a little silly now.)
 * Merchandise-Driven (Virtually every original cartoon made in the eighties seems to be this way.)
 * Montage Ends the VHS: It's when a commercial VHS tape has trailers, intros or just a compilation montage promoting a line of VHS's come up at the end after a movie or episode it contains is over.
 * Mini-Dress of Power: and by power, they mean "powerdressing"
 * Narm Charm: Oh yes.
 * Pac-Man Fever
 * Pretty in Mink (works that weren't afraid to show fur tended to show even more than they would in The Seventies)
 * Double Standard Rape (Female on Male) (a common way of introducing romance subplots in '80s movies)
 * Rich Bitch (Dynasty, Falcon Crest et al)
 * Shoulders of Doom (the huge shoulder pads, bigger than the ones forty years ago)
 * Sweater Girl (with or without shoulder pads)
 * Valley Girl (like, totally!)

(Note: many were also a part of the Nineties; usually those made in the later part of the decade, and are marked with a '*').

Anime

 * Akira
 * Bubblegum Crisis
 * Dragon Ball (the manga began in 1984, while the anime version began airing in 1986.)
 * Hokuto no Ken (1983; later translated in English as Fist of the North Star)
 * Kimagure Orange Road
 * Maison Ikkoku.
 * The Mysterious Cities of Gold
 * Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
 * Ronin Warriors (1988; was brought to the US in 1995 as Ronin Warriors)
 * Saint Seiya
 * Sei Juushi Bismarck
 * SEX by Atsushi Kamijou ran from 1988 to 1992, and is set in Okinawa and Fussa in the eighties.
 * Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982; used to make the first part of Robotech in 1985)
 * Touch
 * Transformers
 * Transformers Headmasters
 * Transformers Super God Masterforce
 * Transformers Victory
 * When They Cry
 * Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (franchise started in 2002, but set in 1983)
 * Umineko no Naku Koro ni (franchise started in 2007, but set in 1986)
 * Urusei Yatsura: The anime which started in 1981.

Asian Animation

 * Black Cat Detective
 * Calabash Brothers
 * Gandahar

Comic Books

 * The Jim Shooter era of Marvel Comics mostly took place in this decade.
 * Most long runners from previous decades persist here. The Bronze Age of Comic Books ends here.
 * The Dark Age of Comic Books begun in this decade.
 * Tintin. Series started in 1929.
 * Tintin and Alph-Art (1986), the final entry in the series.
 * The Dark Phoenix Saga. Storyline started in January, 1980.
 * Banana Man. First appeared in February, 1980.
 * Dazzler. First appeared in February, 1980.
 * She Hulk. First appeared in February, 1980.
 * Taskmaster. First appeared in May, 1980.
 * Nemesis the Warlock. First appeared in July, 1980.
 * Anselme Lanturlu. Series started in September, 1980.
 * Teen Titans. Relaunched with new cast members in November, 1980.
 * Days of Future Past. First written in January 1981
 * Elektra. First appeared in January, 1981.
 * Ms. Tree. First appeared in May, 1981.
 * Vixen. Secondly appeared in July, 1981.
 * Rogue Trooper. First appeared in September, 1981.
 * Captain Marvel/Monica Rambeau. First appeared in 1982.
 * Grendel: Devil's Legacy. First appeared in 1982.
 * Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew. Series started in March, 1982.
 * Cloak and Dagger. First appeared in March, 1982.
 * V for Vendetta. Storyline started in March, 1982.
 * Contest of Champions. Series started in June, 1982.
 * Global Guardians. Debuted in June, 1982.
 * The Savage Dragon. First appeared in June, 1982.
 * Frank Millers Wolverine. First appeared in September, 1982
 * Archie Comics
 * Cheryl Blossom. First appeared in October, 1982.
 * Ambush Bug. First appeared in December, 1982.
 * New Mutants. First appeared in December, 1982. Received their own series in March, 1983.
 * Robin
 * Jason Todd. First appeared in March, 1983. Became Robin in December, 1983.
 * Damian Wayne. First appeared (as an infant) in 1987. He would grow up to become a Robin.
 * Timothy "Tim" Drake. First appeared in August, 1989. Became Robin in December, 1989.
 * Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. First appeared in April-May, 1983.
 * DR and Quinch. First appeared in May, 1983.
 * Albedo: Erma Felna EDF. Series started in Summer, 1983.
 * Jon Sable Freelance. First appeared in June, 1983.
 * Lobo. First appeared in June, 1983.
 * Batman and the Outsiders. Team debuted in July, 1983.
 * Alpha Flight. The team received its own series in August, 1983.
 * Slaine. Character debuted in August, 1983.
 * The Sandman
 * Silver Scarab/Hector Hall. First appeared in September, 1983.
 * Silver Scarab/hector Hall assumed the Sandman identity in May, 1988.
 * Sandman/Morpheus/Dream of the Endless. First appeared in January, 1989.
 * Beta Ray Bill. First appeared in November, 1983.
 * Normalman. First appeared in November, 1983.
 * Magik. Series started in December 1983.
 * Zot!. First appeared in April, 1984.
 * The Flaming Carrot series started in May, 1984.
 * Secret Wars. First appeared in May, 1984, starting the trend of crossovers.
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage. First appeared in May, 1984.
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures. Series started in March, 1989.
 * Blue Devil. First appeared in June, 1984.
 * The Ballad of Halo Jones. Series started in July, 1984.
 * Nightwing, a new persona for Robin/Richard Grayson. First appeared in July, 1984.
 * Power Pack. First appeared in August, 1984.
 * The Transformers. Series started in September, 1984.
 * XIII. Series started in September, 1984.
 * Steel/Henry "Hank" Heywood III. First appeared in October, 1984.
 * Spider-Woman/Julia Carpenter. First appeared in October-November, 1984.
 * For the Man Who Has Everything. Published in 1985.
 * Crisis on Infinite Earths. First appeared in April, 1985.
 * Fish Police. First appeared in June 1985.
 * John Constantine. First appeared in June, 1985.
 * Silver Sable. First appeared in June, 1985.
 * Secret Wars II. Storyline started in July, 1985.
 * Squadron Supreme. Limited series started in September, 1985.
 * Hourman/Rick Tyler. First appeared in November, 1985.
 * Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters. First appeared in 1986.
 * Maus I was published in 1986.
 * Nathan Summers. First appeared (as a newborn) in January, 1986. He would become better known as Cable.
 * Booster Gold. First appeared in February, 1986.
 * The Dark Knight Returns. First appeared in February, 1986.
 * X-Factor. First version. Debuted in February, 1986.
 * Kid Flash/Wallace "Wally" West assumed the mantle of The Flash in March, 1986.
 * Watchmen: First appeared in September, 1986. Remember that it's an alternate form of the world we know. Fashions, technology, drugs, and politics are different. Except in the movie.
 * Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?. Published in September, 1986.
 * The Man of Steel. Series started in October, 1986.
 * The New Universe. Launched in October, 1986.
 * DP 7. First appeared in November, 1986.
 * Ninja High School. First appeared in 1987.
 * Sam and Max Freelance Police. First appeared in 1987.
 * Suicide Squad. The modern version of the team debuted in January, 1987.
 * Batman: Year One. Storyline started in February, 1987.
 * Captain Atom/Nathaniel Adam. First appeared in March, 1987.
 * Deaths Head. The "freelance peacekeeping agent" version first appeared in May, 1987.
 * Justice League International. First appeared in May, 1987.
 * Zenith. First appeared in August, 1987.
 * Doom Patrol. Relaunched with new members in October, 1987.
 * Checkmate. First appeared in March, 1988.
 * The Killing Joke. First appeared in March, 1988.
 * The Pitt. First appeared in March, 1988.
 * Excalibur. First appeared in April, 1988.
 * Supergirl/Matrix. First appeared in April, 1988.
 * Disney Ducks Comic Universe
 * Duckworth. First adapted to the medium in October, 1988.
 * Launchpad McQuack. First adapted to the medium in October, 1988.
 * Mrs. Bentina Beakley. First adapted to the medium in November, 1988.
 * Webbigail "Webby" Vanderquack. First adapted to the medium in February, 1989.
 * Doofus Drake. First adapted to the medium in October, 1989.
 * ''Inferno. Storyline started in October, 1988.
 * Mickey Mouse Comic Universe
 * Arizona Goof. First appeared in December, 1988.
 * Huntress/Helena Bertinelli. First appeared in April, 1989.
 * Lucifer. First appeared in April, 1989.
 * Great Lakes Avengers. First appeared in July, 1989.
 * Hawkman
 * The Post-Hawkworld version of Hawkman/Katar Hol. First appeared in August, 1989.
 * The Post-Hawkworld version of Hawkwoman/Shayera Thal. First appeared in August, 1989.
 * Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. Published in October, 1989.
 * New Warriors. First appeared in December, 1989. Received their own series in July, 1990.

Comic Strips

 * Bloom County. First appeared in December, 1980.
 * Bizarro. Series started in January, 1985.
 * Calvin and Hobbes. First appeared in November, 1985.
 * FoxTrot. Series started in April, 1988
 * Dilbert. First appeared in April, 1989.

Eastern European Animation

 * About Sidorov Vova
 * Armen Film Animated Shorts
 * Cat City
 * David and the Magic Pearl
 * Last Years Snow Was Falling
 * Little Fox
 * Mother for Little Mammoth
 * The Mystery of the Third Planet
 * Once Upon a Dog
 * Plasticine Crow
 * Suur Toll
 * Time Masters
 * Treasure of Swamp Castle
 * The Vanished World of Gloves
 * Vuk the Little Fox
 * Willy the Sparrow

Film
(For films released in this time period, see Films of the 1980s.)
 * Adventureland (made in 2009, set in 1987)
 * American Psycho (made in 2000, set in sort-of-1989, based on musical information from the protagonist)
 * Donnie Darko (made in 2001, set in 1988)
 * Fargo (made in 1996, set in 1987)
 * Hot Tub Time Machine (made in 2010, the protagonists travel back to 1986)
 * Killing Bono (made in 2011, set mainly between '82 and '86)
 * "Take Me Home Tonight" (made in 2011, set in the late 1980s)
 * Love and Basketball (made in 2000, follows the protagonists from 1982-2000)
 * No Country for Old Men (made in 2007, set in 1980)
 * Precious (made in 2009, set in 1987)
 * Rock of Ages (made in 2012, set in 1987)
 * Rockstar
 * Son of Rambow (made in 2008, set in 1982)
 * Watchmen (made in 2009, set in an alternate 1985)
 * The Wedding Singer (made in 1998, set in 1985)
 * Wet Hot American Summer (made in 2001, set in 1981)
 * The Wood (made in 1999, with lots of flashbacks to 1986-89)

Han-guk Manhwa Aenimeisyeon

 * Dooly the Little Dinosaur
 * Space Transformers

Literature

 * The Alchemist
 * Algebra the Easy Way
 * American Psycho (released in 1991, set around 1989)
 * Aztec
 * The Belgariad along with its sequel, The Malloreon
 * Beloved
 * Bimbos of the Death Sun
 * Blood Meridian
 * The Broom of the System
 * The Choir
 * Chronicle of a Death Foretold
 * The Cider House Rules
 * The Color Purple
 * A Confederacy of Dunces
 * The Discworld series started with The Colour of Magic
 * Dragons Egg
 * Earths Children
 * Empire of the Sun
 * Foucault's Pendulum
 * Garrett P.I.. The series started in 1987.
 * Gorky Park
 * Hamish Macbeth. The series started in 1985.
 * The Handmaid's Tale
 * Hard Boiled Wonderland and The End of The World
 * Haunted
 * Hilary Tamar. The series started in 1981.
 * The Hotel New Hampshire
 * The House of the Spirits
 * The Hunt for Red October
 * The Icewind Dale Trilogy
 * Continued in The Legend of Drizzt
 * The Joy Luck Club
 * Kinsey Millhone. The series started in 1982.
 * Less Than Zero
 * Letters Back to Ancient China
 * Liavek
 * Like Water for Chocolate
 * Lone Wolf
 * Marcus Didius Falco. The series started in 1989.
 * Memoirs of an Invisible Man
 * Midnight's Children
 * The Mists of Avalon
 * Molt Brother
 * The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
 * The Name of the Rose
 * Neuromancer
 * The New York Trilogy
 * Norwegian Wood
 * Not Quite Human
 * The Number of the Beast
 * The Obernewtyn Chronicles. The series started in 1987.
 * Perfume
 * The Pillars of the Earth
 * Pit Dragon Chronicles
 * A Prayer for Owen Meany
 * The Pyrates
 * Red Army
 * The Red Night Trilogy
 * Red Storm Rising
 * Redwall. Series started in 1986.
 * The Remains of the Day
 * Replay - spans 25 years. Several times.
 * The Rules of Attraction
 * Sexing the Cherry
 * Stephen King novels:
 * Firestarter
 * Cujo
 * Christine
 * Pet Sematary
 * IT
 * The Tommyknockers
 * The Dark Half
 * Time Machine series
 * The Wasp Factory
 * Whale Rider
 * White Noise
 * A Wild Sheep Chase

Live Action TV

 * The A-Team
 * Airwolf
 * ALF
 * Allo Allo*
 * Ashes to Ashes (Made in 2008, set in 1981 to 1983)
 * Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
 * Beauty and The Beast
 * Benson
 * The Bill*
 * Blackadder
 * Blakes Seven (Technically ran from 1978-1982, but had plenty of tropes landing here, including Deconstruction...and most of Servalan's costuming)
 * Blockbusters
 * Body Language
 * Cagney and Lacey
 * Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future
 * 'Casualty''*
 * Cheers
 * 'Chucklevision''*
 * The Cosby Show
 * Countdown*
 * Crazy Like a Fox
 * Dallas
 * Degrassi Junior High
 * Degrassi High*
 * Dempsey and Makepeace
 * A Different World
 * Dynasty
 * Earth Star Voyager
 * Eastenders*
 * Encyclopedia Brown (The HBO series started in 1989)
 * The Equalizer
 * Everybody Hates Chris (Made in 2005, set in 1982 to 1987)
 * The Facts of Life
 * The Fall Guy
 * Family Fortunes*
 * Family Ties
 * The Muppets
 * Fraggle Rock
 * The Jim Henson Hour
 * Freaks and Geeks
 * Fresno
 * Full House*
 * The Golden Girls*
 * The Greatest American Hero
 * Hawaii Five O
 * Inspector Morse
 * Kamen Rider*
 * Kamen Rider Skyrider
 * Kamen Rider Super-1
 * Kamen Rider ZX
 * Kamen Rider Black
 * Kamen Rider Black RX
 * Kids Incorporated*
 * Knight Rider
 * Life Goes On*
 * MacGyver
 * Maid Marian and Her Merry Men*
 * Mama's Family
 * Married With Children*
 * Miami Vice
 * Misfits of Science
 * Moonlighting
 * Mr. Belvedere
 * Mystery Science Theater 3000*
 * The New Monkees
 * Night Court*
 * North and South US*
 * Only Fools and Horses*
 * Out of This World*
 * Pee Wees Playhouse
 * Pink Lady and Jeff
 * Poirot*
 * Police Squad!
 * Punky Brewster
 * Red Dwarf*
 * Sapphire and Steel
 * Saved by the Bell*
 * Sherlock Holmes
 * Silver Spoons
 * Small Wonder
 * Star Trek
 * Star Trek the Next Generation*
 * Super Sentai*
 * Battle Fever J
 * Denshi Sentai Denziman
 * Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan
 * Dai Sentai Goggle Five
 * Kagaku Sentai Dynaman
 * Choudenshi Bioman
 * Dengeki Sentai Changeman
 * Choushinsei Flashman
 * Hikari Sentai Maskman
 * Choujuu Sentai Liveman
 * Kousoku Sentai Turboranger
 * Tales from the Darkside
 * Thirtysomething
 * This Morning
 * Too Close for Comfort*
 * Whos the Boss*
 * Whose Line Is It Anyway* - The radio show and the British version started in the late Eighties.
 * Wipeout 1988
 * Yes Minister
 * The Young Ones


 * The Seventies series UFO  attempted to foretell this era...and failed entirely.

Genres:

 * MTV debuted and had a huge influence on the popularity of acts during this decade.
 * Hair Metal
 * Italo Disco
 * Thrash Metal
 * The rise of New Wave and its offshoot sub-genres like New Romanticism.
 * Hip Hop's golden age starts late in this decade (circa 88).

Musicians:

 * ABC
 * Paula Abdul
 * Aerosmith
 * A Flock of Seagulls
 * Afrika Bambaataa
 * A-ha
 * Al B. Sure!
 * Anita Baker
 * Art Of Noise
 * Bad Brains
 * Bad Religion
 * Bananarama
 * The Bangles
 * Beastie Boys
 * The B 52s (although they formed in 1976 and released their first album in 1979, the Eighties were their most successful decade by far)
 * Pat Benatar
 * Big Daddy Kane
 * Billy Idol
 * Billy Ocean
 * Blondie
 * Bon Jovi
 * Boogie Down Productions
 * Bruce Springsteen
 * Camper Van Beethoven
 * The start of Chaka Khan's solo career
 * Cheap Trick
 * Chicago
 * Cook Da' Books
 * Corey Hart
 * Crowded House
 * The Cult
 * Culture Club
 * The Cure
 * Cyndi Lauper
 * David Bowie, who was vital to The Seventies but in this decade had the biggest-selling album of his career with Let's Dance.
 * Dead Kennedys
 * Def Leppard
 * Depeche Mode
 * Devo
 * Dire Straits
 * DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince
 * Doug E Fresh
 * Dokken
 * Dschinghis Khan
 * Duran Duran
 * EPMD
 * Erasure
 * Eric B. & Rakim
 * Europe (band)
 * Eurythmics
 * Exposé, and other Freestyle artists.
 * Falco
 * The Fat Boys
 * Fishbone
 * The Fixx
 * Frankie Goes To Hollywood
 * Full Force
 * Funk Four + 1
 * Genesis complete their transition from a moderately successful progressive rock band led by Peter Gabriel to a massively successful pop group led by Phil Collins (both men also become stars in their own right during this period).
 * George Michael
 * The Go-Gos
 * Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5
 * Green River
 * Guns N' Roses
 * Helloween
 * Herbie Hancock became popular around this time.
 * Huey Lewis and the News
 * Human League
 * Ice T
 * Irene Cara
 * Janet Jackson
 * The Jets
 * The J Geils Band
 * Jo Boxers
 * Jody Whatley
 * Billy Joel (started in The Sixties, became a successful solo artist in The Seventies, and enjoyed sustained popularity in this decade)
 * Journey
 * Kate Bush (in America, at least)
 * Keith Sweat
 * The Kinks (A British Invasion band from The Sixties that was still going strong)
 * Klymaxx
 * Kool Moe Dee
 * Kylie Minogue
 * Leif Garrett (Although he reached his peak in the late Seventies, he released two albums in 1980 and 1981, and was still touring and acting at this time)
 * Lionel Richie
 * Lisa Lisa And The Cult Jam
 * Lisa Stansfield
 * LL Cool J
 * Loose Ends
 * Loreena McKennitt
 * Loudness
 * Luther Vandross
 * Madonna
 * Mary Jane Girls
 * Megadeth
 * Melvins
 * Menudo
 * Men Without Hats
 * Metallica
 * Michael Jackson
 * Missing Persons
 * Modern English
 * Motley Crue
 * New Kids on the Block
 * New Edition
 * New Order
 * Nirvana
 * Nu Shooz
 * N.W.A.
 * Olivia Newton-John
 * Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark
 * Paula Abdul
 * Paul Hardcastle
 * Peter Gabriel
 * Pet Shop Boys
 * Phil Collins
 * The Pixies
 * Poison
 * The Police (even though they formed in 1977)
 * Pretty Poison
 * Prince and all his associates.
 * Public Enemy
 * Quarterflash
 * Queen (Although they FIRST became prominent in the mid-Seventies).
 * Ratt
 * Ready For The World
 * Red Hot Chili Peppers
 * Richard Marx
 * Rick Astley
 * Peter Schilling
 * Rick Springfield
 * Rob Bass And DJ EZ Rock
 * The Romantics
 * Roxette
 * Run DMC
 * Sade
 * Salt N Pepa
 * Scorpions
 * Shalamar
 * Slick Rick
 * The Smiths
 * Soul II Soul
 * Spandau Ballet
 * Stryper
 * Supertramp
 * The System
 * Talking Heads (Another band from The Seventies that made its commercial breakthrough in this decade)
 * Taylor Dayne
 * Tears for Fears
 * Testament
 * Tiffany
 * TNT
 * Tommy Tutone (867-5309)
 * Tom Petty
 * Tracy Allman
 * Twisted Sister
 * U2
 * Van Halen
 * Wall of Voodoo
 * We Are the World
 * Weird Al Yankovic
 * Wham!
 * Whodini
 * X Japan (truly hit their stride in The Nineties, disbanded Turn of the Millennium, made comeback in The Noughties )
 * Yes gained mainstream success with the poppy 90125, source of their only #1 hit "Owner of a Lonely Heart".
 * ZZ Top

Professional Wrestling

 * Jeff Jarrett. Debuted in 1986.
 * Raven. Debuted in 1988.
 * Sting. Debuted in 1985.
 * WCW. Established in 1988.

Tabletop Games

 * BattleTech
 * Car Wars
 * Dragonlance
 * Forgotten Realms
 * Shadowrun
 * Talisman
 * Warhammer Fantasy Battle
 * Warhammer 40000

Video Games

 * 1942
 * Adventure Island
 * The Adventures of Bayou Billy
 * Alex Kidd
 * Alter Ego
 * Amidar
 * Antarctic Adventure
 * Archon
 * Arkanoid
 * Artillery Duel
 * The Bard's Tale Trilogy
 * Battle City series
 * Tank Battalion (1980)
 * Battle City (1985)
 * Boulder Dash
 * Bubble Bobble series
 * Bubble Bobble (1986)
 * Rainbow Islands (1987)
 * Cabal
 * Call of Duty Black Ops 2
 * Castlevania
 * Centipede
 * Contra
 * Dizzy
 * Dizzy – The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure (June, 1987)
 * Treasure Island Dizzy (August, 1987)
 * Fantasy World Dizzy (1989)
 * Donkey Kong (the original arcade and NES games)*
 * Double Dragon (and its spiritual predecessor Renegade, which begat River City Ransom)
 * Dragon Quest
 * Dragons Lair
 * Duck Hunt
 * Fatal Frame (series started in 2001 but all the games take place in the '80s)
 * Final Fantasy (in Japan at least, western players had to wait until The Nineties to get the first installment)
 * Final Fight
 * Game and Watch
 * Ghosts N Goblins
 * Golden Axe series
 * Golden Axe (1988)
 * Gradius
 * Grand Theft Auto Vice City Released in 2002, the game is set in 1986 and full of references and parodies of 1980s culture.
 * Gyromite (Debuted along with ROB)
 * Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
 * King's Quest
 * King's Quest I Quest for The Crown
 * King's Quest II Romancing the Throne
 * King's Quest III to Heir Is Human
 * King's Quest IV the Perils of Rosella
 * Last Window (released in 2010, but set in 1980)
 * The Legend of Zelda series
 * The Legend of Zelda (1986)
 * Zelda II the Adventure of Link (1987)
 * Leisure Suit Larry series
 * Leisure Suit Larry: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards (1987)
 * Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places) (1988)
 * Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals (1989)
 * Madden NFL. The series started in 1988.
 * The Magic Candle
 * The Magic of Scheherazade
 * The Manhole
 * Maniac Mansion
 * Manic Miner (1983)
 * Jet Set Willy (1984). Sequel to the above.
 * Mappy
 * Mechwarrior
 * MechWarrior (1989)
 * Mega Man (the original NES game was released in 1987)
 * Metal Gear 1987 (the original game for the MSX2 and NES)
 * Metroid (The very first Metroid game was released on the NES in 1986)
 * Millipede
 * Milons Secret Castle
 * A Mind Forever Voyaging
 * Missile Command
 * Mr. Do
 * Mother
 * MOTHER (It was originally released in 1989, but is set a year earlier in '88.)
 * Nethack
 * Night Trap. Painfully so... But not surprising, since the footage was shot during that time.
 * Operation Flashpoint (Released in 2001 but set in 1985)
 * Pac-Man
 * Pitfall!
 * Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom
 * Qix
 * R-Type
 * Rally-X
 * Retro Game Challenge made in 2009 but takes place throughout the 1980s
 * Robot Odyssey
 * Rogue
 * Shanghai (created in 1981 at the University of Illinois, first published by Activision in 1986)
 * Shinobi series
 * Shinobi (1987)
 * Shadow Dancer (1989)
 * The Revenge of Shinobi (1989)
 * Sim City
 * Street Fighter
 * Street Fighter (1987)
 * Super Chinese. Series started in 1984.
 * Super Mario Bros (and its arcade predecessor, Mario Bros.)
 * Super Mario Bros. 2 (and Doki Doki Panic)
 * Super Mario Bros 3 (in Japan in 1988, anyway)
 * Taipan
 * Taiyou no Shinden Asteka II
 * Takeshis Challenge
 * Tapper
 * Tecmo Bowl
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Arcade Game
 * Tempest
 * Terra Cresta
 * Tetris (the Elektronika-60 original, as well as a variety of classic iterations)
 * Tex Murphy
 * Mean Streets (1989)
 * Thayer's Quest
 * Thexder
 * Thunder Force series
 * Thunder Force (1983)
 * Thunder Force II (1988)
 * Ultima
 * Ultima I (1981)
 * Ultima II (1982)
 * Ultima III (1983)
 * Ultima IV (1985)
 * Ultima V (1988)
 * Vanguard
 * Wasteland

Western Animation

 * Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
 * Adventures of the Gummi Bears*
 * The Adventures Of Raggedy Ann And Andy
 * Adventures Of The Little Koala
 * The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin
 * ALF: The Animated Series
 * Alias the Jester
 * Alvin and The Chipmunks*
 * An American Tail
 * Around the World with Willy Fog
 * Beetlejuice*
 * Beverly Hills Teens
 * Bionic Six
 * Blackstar
 * Bravestarr
 * CBS Storybreak
 * Captain N the Game Master
 * The Care Bears
 * Centurions
 * Challenge of the Go Bots
 * Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers*
 * Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos
 * Code Monkeys. Set in this decade.
 * The Comic Strip (particularly its Tiger Sharks segment)
 * COPS
 * Danger Mouse
 * Defenders of the Earth
 * Dennis the Menace
 * Denver, the Last Dinosaur
 * Dink the Little Dinosaur
 * Dino Riders
 * Dinosaucers
 * Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds
 * DuckTales*
 * Fantastic Max
 * Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. The long-running series ended in this decade.
 * Filmations Ghostbusters
 * Fireman Sam
 * The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang
 * Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series
 * Galaxy High
 * Garfield Specials
 * Garbage Pail Kids
 * G.I. Joe
 * Gilligan's Planet
 * Goldie Gold and Action Jack
 * The Great Mouse Detective
 * Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats
 * He Man and The Masters of The Universe
 * Hero High 
 * Inhumanoids
 * Inspector Gadget
 * It's Punky Brewster
 * Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors
 * Jem
 * The Karate Kid The Animated Series
 * Kidd Video
 * Kissyfur
 * Lazer Tag Academy
 * The Legend of Zelda
 * The Little Rascals. Based on the film series.
 * The Littles
 * MASK
 * Mighty Orbots
 * Mister T
 * Moi Renart
 * The Muppets
 * Muppet Babies*
 * My Little Pony:
 * My Little Pony TV Specials,
 * My Little Pony the Movie
 * My Little Pony and Friends
 * The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh*
 * Oliver and Company
 * Pac-Man. Based on the video game.
 * Paw Paw Bears
 * Pole Position
 * Police Academy: The Animated Series
 * Postman Pat
 * Pound Puppies
 * The Raccoons
 * Rainbow Brite
 * The Real Ghostbusters*
 * Robotech
 * Rubik the Amazing Cube
 * Rude Dog and the Dweebs
 * Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs (The Americanized version of Sei Juushi Bismarck)
 * Saturday Supercade
 * Scooby Doo
 * The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo
 * A Pup Named Scooby Doo*
 * The Secret of NIMH
 * She Ra Princess of Power
 * Silverhawks
 * The Simpsons*. The Simpsons shorts first appeared in April, 1987. The characters gained their own show in December, 1989.
 * The Itchy and Scratchy Show*. The eponymous characters first appeared in November, 1988.
 * The Smurfs
 * The Smurfs and the Magic Flute
 * The Snorks
 * Spiral Zone
 * Strawberry Shortcake. Television specials.
 * Ruby-Spears Superman
 * The Super Mario Bros Super Show!*
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
 * Thomas the Tank Engine
 * Thundarr the Barbarian
 * Thundercats
 * Transformers Generation 1
 * The Transformers
 * Turbo Teen
 * Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light
 * Voltron
 * The World of David the Gnome
 * The Wuzzles

Other

 * Dinosaurs Attack!, a collectible card series by Topps laden with Ludicrous Gibs.
 * Disneyland's Tomorrowland, specifically an ideal futuristic 1986, until the revamp in 1996.
 * The art of Patrick Nagel.
 * Sunday in The Park With George was first staged in the 1980s, and Act II of the show is set in the Eighties.

"Random Kid: "'Cause now we know!" Random Joe: "And knowing is half the battle!" Chorus: "G.I. JOOOOOOEEEEEEE!""