Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
214,681
edits
m (rewriting links: Councilof Angels=>Council of Angels) |
No edit summary |
||
(18 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. [[Trope Namer|It's the only way to be sure.]]"''|'''Ripley''', ''[[Aliens]]''}}
[[The Virus]], [[The Plague]], or some similar infestation or contaminant has gotten out of containment and threatens to spread uncontrollably. If any conventional means have been deployed to control it, they were grossly inadequate. [[Godzilla Threshold|The danger is now severe enough that Plan B -- maybe even Plan A -- is sheer overkill]]: a conflagration which will destroy the whole facility, the whole city, or the entire region. It could be [[Nuke
Sometimes this strategy works, [[Failsafe Failure|sometimes it doesn't]].
Oddly enough, ''[[Alien
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== Comics ==▼
== Comic Books ==
* In [[El Eternauta]] some world power(s) has(ve) been sending [[Nuclear Option|ICBMs]] towards the center of the [[Alien Invasion|invasion]], luckily for our heroes the bad guys have machinery that renders the nukes void. {{spoiler|Even after the heroes disable said machinery and the city is leveled, it doesn't help a bit because [[The Cavalry|reinforcements shortly arrive]] and in the end [[Hopeless War|we learn the Earth was promptly defeated]].}}▼
* In [[Marvel Zombies]], a nuclear strike was considered to contain the superhero zombie infection. Then Quicksilver caught it, and "containment" was no longer an option.
== Film ==
* In ''[[Alien (
* In ''[[Alien vs. Predator]]'', the "hero" Predator, Scar, detonates an explosive device in the alien hive, destroying the entire pyramid.
** In ''Alien Vs Predator: Requiem'', the U.S. Army drops a nuclear bomb on the town of Gunnison, CO, to contain an infestation of Xenomorphs.
* In ''[[Resident Evil: Apocalypse
* In ''[[The Crazies]]'' 2010 remake, the U.S. Army incinerates a small Iowa town to contain a leaked biological weapon.
** In the original 1973 version of ''[[The Crazies]]'', a nuclear strike was discussed, but not used.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Outbreak]]'', a fuel-air bomb was used in the beginning to purge an isolated outbreak of the Motaba virus. Later, an American town was saved from a similar fate when a cure was devised from the original host.
* The option was suggested in ''[[Dawn of the Dead (
* In ''[[The Andromeda Strain]]'', this trope was averted when the protagonists realized a nuke would actually spread the contagion much, much further.
* The goofball Thai film ''SARS Wars: Bangkok Zombie Crisis'' shows the Thai government destroying an apartment complex to halt the spread of a strain of SARS virus which turns people into zombies.
* In ''[[Cloverfield]]'', the exact nature of the [[Nuke
== Literature ==
* In ''[[Day By Day Armageddon]]'', by J.L. Bourne, the government nukes several large cities to contain a zombie plague. This only leads to [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|fast, twitchy, radioactive zombies]].
* In ''[[Contagious]]'', by Scott Sigler, Detroit is nuked to contain the spread of an airborne plague which puts people under the mental control of a little girl.
* In ''[[Jurassic Park]]'', the Costa Rican government bombs Isla Nublar, but this didn't make it into the film.
* Used [[Shout
** Unfortunately for Cain, the [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|nature of FTL travel in the Warp]] means the Navy is ''too slow'', so he has to resort to a giant bomb {{spoiler|augmented by several hundred thousand gallons of raw promethium}}.
** Also used word-for-word by Lord General Zyvan regarding orbital bombardment of Tyranid swarms and their so-to-speak bases.
* The [[Agent Pendergast
** It is first described that the Soviets carpet-bombed a biological research facility and the neighboring village to stop an outbreak of a genetically modified organism in the 80s.
** Later, {{spoiler|the underground laboratory at the Mount Dragon complex itself is pumped full of superheated air from the sterilizing units on the surface, turning the whole facility into a canned inferno.}}
* Averted in ''[[World War Z]]'': nuclear weapons are never used against zombies; however, {{spoiler|Pakistan and Iran engage in a brief nuclear war against one another, and the Chinese politburo are annihilated by a nuke from a rogue Chinese submarine.}}
** In a non-nuclear example, the city of Yonkers is flattened by thermobaric weapons when a poorly-planned infantry engagement goes awry. They do take out tens of thousands of zombies, but that's not much when there's a million more behind them, and their affects on respiratory systems are nullified, greatly reducing their effective radius.
* In ''[[
** It's worse than that. {{spoiler|Their plan isn't just to sterilize Earth to kill the Yeerks on it - their plan is to sabotage Earth's (thus far fairly damaging) resistance, lure ''more'' Yeerks in to infest the populace, and ''then'' sterilize it. It all comes crashing down when Ax contacts the Andalite military command and civilian media simultaneously, without telling either party, and [[Engineered Public Confession|gets the military to discuss the plan]]}}.
* In ''Patient Zero'' by Jonathan Maberry, a secret bunker uses its geothermal power supply as an emergency self-destruct mechanism.
Line 50 ⟶ 49:
* In [[Night of the Living Trekkies]], the government decides on nuking the greater Houston metropolitan area as the best option for taking out the zombie plague that's broken out all over the city.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* An episode of ''[[The Champions]]'' involved an island where evil scientists were making a lethal gas for chemical warfare or terrorist attacks. At the end of the episode, the Army has a nuke dropped on it.
* In the adaptation of ''[[The Walking Dead]]'', the CDC is rigged with a thermobaric device to prevent the release of [[Large Ham|WEAPONIZED SMALLPOX!!]]
▲* In ''[[El Eternauta]]'' some world power(s) has(ve) been sending [[Nuclear Option|ICBMs]] towards the center of the [[Alien Invasion|invasion]], luckily for our heroes the bad guys have machinery that renders the nukes void. {{spoiler|Even after the heroes disable said machinery and the city is leveled, it doesn't help a bit because [[The Cavalry|reinforcements shortly arrive]] and in the end [[Hopeless War|we learn the Earth was promptly defeated]].}}
== Tabletop Games ==▼
* Occurs with depressing regularity in ''[[Warhammer
** For instance, one of the major reasons for Exterminatus is the fear of a planet imminently becoming a Daemon World (it can't be used on one that's ''already'' a Daemon World since they don't completely exist in normal reality any more). Or the discovery of a Necron presence on the world - although unless the Imperials are very lucky, they probably won't discover the tomb until the Necrons awaken and kill everything. Or perhaps its invasion by [[Bug War|Tyranids]], [[Ax Crazy|Orks]], or [[Fate Worse Than Death|Chaos cultists]] - there are ''many'' worse things in 40k than a quick death by lance cannon.▼
* A common policy among the more hardline Firewall members in ''[[Eclipse Phase]]'' is "sometimes, blasting the habitat into radioactive dust is the only way to...well, you know". Sometimes it works wonders; when applied by Earth's power blocs against the TITANs, during the Fall, it was about as effective as a rubber hammer.▼
== Video Games ==
* Quite a few ''[[Resident Evil]]'' games end with this:
** [[Resident Evil|The original]] had the mansion explode in a self-destruct sequence.
** ''[[Resident Evil 2]]'' and ''[[Resident Evil 3: Nemesis|3]]'' had the government destroy Raccoon City with nuclear missiles to contain the infection.
** ''[[Resident Evil]]: Dead Aim'' had the cruise liner that served as the setting for the game blown up by a [[Kill Sat]] by the Chinese government.
** [[The Movie]] spin-off ''Degeneration'' actually averts this scenario with the main outbreak at an airport, but the WilPharma pharmaceutical laboratory is destroyed in a ''spectacularly'' elaborate self-destruct sequence.
* In ''[[Prototype (
* ''[[Metroid]] Fusion'' combines this with [[Colony Drop]]: Samus drops the space station the game takes place in on SR-388 to eradicate the X Parasites... {{spoiler|[[Earthshattering Kaboom|by erasing SR-388 from existence]]}}.
* This is what is implied in The Parish campaign in ''[[Left 4 Dead]] 2''. Many dead bodies found are noted that they were shot up and were not infected. This makes Nick worry that the military is aiming to kill everyone in one fell swoop without checking to see who is infected and who isn't and his fears become true when the survivors discover that the military is bombing the whole city. Regardless, the other 3 survivors seek out the military to escape. Because the military now assumes the survivors are carriers, [[Epileptic Trees|many people theorize]] [[Downer Ending|that the military are going to kill the survivors after aiding their escape]] or [[
** The latter being more likely, as the safest and most efficient way to [[Kill Him Already|kill the survivors]] would be to simply refuse to lower the bridge.
*** A comic released by Valve, featuring the original survivors, supports the second theory.
* The Covenant in ''[[Halo]]'' doesn't stop at nukes when it comes to Flood outbreaks. They bombard the entire planet with plasma until rock and sand starts to melt and is transformed to volcanic glass. Earth gets spared this treatment due to the Arbiter advising Half-Jaw against it, though half of Africa is still glassed.
** The original Forerunner method was to kill all non-Flood life in the galaxy to ensure the Flood had no food.
* One of the possible methods by which you defeat the [[Big Bad|Naughty Sorceress]] in ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]''. After you counter her first two attacks with {{spoiler|the Wand of Nagamar}}, [[One
* In ''[[Half-Life]]: Opposing Force'' Black Ops assassins trying to blow up alien-infested facility and cover up the whole Black Mesa incident use a [http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Mark_IV_Thermonuclear_Device fusion warhead] they removed from a nearby missile. [[Player Character|Shephard]] kills them and deactivates the device, but later the G-Man sets up its timer again.
{{quote|
* In ''[[Dead Rising 2]]'', the military plans to destroy Fortune City by firebombing {{spoiler|when a team sent in to rescue the survivors is wiped out}}. It's never shown in the best ending.
** Inverted in ''[[Dead Rising]]''. Carlito (the villain) wants to blow up the mall to ''spread'' the virus rather than contain it, and you have to stop him.
* In [[Dawn of War]] II: Retribution, the Inquisition executes the Exterminatus (explained in Tabletop section) to prevent a planet from being seized by an emerging Demon Prince. {{spoiler|They are a bit too late and not so thorough}}.
* In ''[[
** In SC2 Wings of Liberty, Selendis wants to do this to an infested colony, albeit less drasticly than the ones in the original. Instead of incinerating the entire planet, her method is vaporising the (potentially) infested parts.
* ''[[Mass Effect 1]]'': The research facility on Noveria includes a safety mechanism in the so-called "hot labs" that initiates a neutron bomb explosion and sterilizes the labs, to contain outbreaks. There's also a more comprehensive system that shuts down environmental control throughout the facility and sinks it deeper into the ice shelf, letting the conditions kill off anything hazardous. Similarly, this approach is also taken with Saren's facility in Virmire with the Salarians converting their ship's drive core to a makeshift nuclear device.
* In the sequel ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', everyone except the Illusive Man thinks blowing {{spoiler|the Collector Base}} is the only practical solution. (His idea is to set off a neutron bomb and salvage what's left.)
* ''[[Mass Effect 3]]:'' ''"This ends now! Patch the quarians to the Normandy's weapon system. I want the targeting laser synched to [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|the whole damn fleet]]."''
* In the [[All There in the Manual|backstory]] of ''[[
* This is the standard, ''human'' way to deal with demonic invasion in ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]''.
** The one that started it all: in ''[[Shin Megami Tensei I]]'', the combination of a military coup and the appearance of wild demons in Tokyo (and the former weaponizing the latter) leads to the United States bombarding the city with nuclear weapons. It is revealed, however, that it was actually {{spoiler|a plot by the Law-aligned Ambassador [[Meaningful Name|Thorman]] and the [[Council of Angels]] to wipe the slate clean in order to start building the Thousand-Year Kingdom of God}}, using the demon invasion as the perfect window of opportunity.
** In ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]: [[
** In ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]: [[Strange Journey]]'', when it seems the reconnaissance teams sent to explore the [[Negative Space Wedgie|Schwarzwelt]] have vanished and failed, the assembled world governments acting under the Schwarzwelt Investigation Project {{spoiler|actually DO this, by bombing the [[Hell Gate]] with nuclear weapons... and it fails. Nothing can stop the Schwarzwelt from expanding}}. However, the teams trapped inside it devise a plan to {{spoiler|use their own nuclear weapons (strapped to [[Cosmic Keystone
* Threatened in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' and ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3''
* ''[[First Encounter Assault Recon|F.E.A.R.]]'' has this happen at the end of the first game, {{spoiler|in a desperate attempt to kill the now-freed Alma. To everyone's horror, it completely fails to affect her.}}
* ''[[Dead Island]]'' averts this trope. Ryder White intends to call in a nuclear strike on the island of Banoi to burn out the infection. {{spoiler|White fails to carry out his plan due to mutation and death.}}
* In Bungie's ''[[Myth (series)|Myth]]'' series, the forces of light tend to do this whenever they're able to defeat the current incarnation of [[Big Bad|The Leveller]]. Things done to its host include: Beheading him and throwing the head into a [[Bottomless Pits|bottomless pit]]; Beheading and cremation; Having him drawn and quartered with the various parts scattered across the continent; Burning the body, mixing the ashes with salt, and then burying it all underneath a mountain.
▲== Tabletop Games ==
▲* Occurs with depressing regularity in ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'', usually from the Imperial method of Exterminatus, either by Virus Bomb or Cyclonic Torpedo or good ol' fashioned "shoot the planet until it breaks apart" trick. Ironically, it's also always justified. (Would you rather a quick, relatively painless death or millenia of torment as your soul is flayed from you along with your skin inch by inch?)
▲** For instance, one of the major reasons for Exterminatus is the fear of a planet imminently becoming a Daemon World (it can't be used on one that's ''already'' a Daemon World since they don't completely exist in normal reality any more). Or the discovery of a Necron presence on the world - although unless the Imperials are very lucky, they probably won't discover the tomb until the Necrons awaken and kill everything. Or perhaps its invasion by [[Bug War|Tyranids]], [[Ax Crazy|Orks]], or [[Fate Worse Than Death|Chaos cultists]] - there are ''many'' worse things in 40k than a quick death by lance cannon.
▲* A common policy among the more hardline Firewall members in ''[[Eclipse Phase]]'' is "sometimes, blasting the habitat into radioactive dust is the only way to...well, you know". Sometimes it works wonders; when applied by Earth's power blocs against the TITANs, during the Fall, it was about as effective as a rubber hammer.
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[
{{quote|
▲* In ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'', Tagon quickly remembers that encouraging his [[Mad Bomber]]'s eager paranoia is a bad idea.
▲{{quote| '''Pi:''' There are so many possibilities... I'd have to requisition some ordnance, sir.<br />
▲'''Tagon:''' You are ''not'' allowed to nuke Northport ''"Just to be sure."''<br />
'''Pi:''' I'd have to nuke a lot more than just Northport to be ''really'' sure. }}
==
* The short-lived live-action web series ''Dead Patrol'' involved military teams tasked with delivering nuclear warheads to zombie-infested cities - by truck, [[Fridge Logic|for some reason]].
* The ''[http://digg.com/newsbar/topnews/Alomal-137_Case_Study Alomal-137 Case Study]''{{Dead link}} by Lon Miller briefly describes nuclear annihilation of several east-coast cities in response to a pandemic.
* The game [https://web.archive.org/web/20131103054506/http://www.hardcorepawn.com/zombie3/ Zombie 3] requires the player to bomb entire city blocks to stop a spreading zombie infestation. Depending on the player's skill, it may be easier to protect a small enclave of survivors and carpet-bomb the rest of the city as a precaution.
== Western Animation ==
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Clerks the Animated Series]]'', Leonardo Leonardo plans to
{{reflist}}
[[Category:This Index Is On Fire]]
[[Category:This Index Is Not an Example]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
|