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Legacy Implosion (view source)

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* The two most famous examples both involve [[The DCU]]. Has happened repeatedly to [[Green Lantern]], and the [[Reset Button]] has been pressed every time. The great Power Battery exploded, leaving only a few Lanterns active. ...but then the Guardians were brought back, rebuilt, and recruited new Corps members. ...so a few years later, Hal Jordan [[Face Heel Turn|went crazy-evil]] and killed off most of the Corps, leaving Kyle Rayner as the only one with the power. ...until he got a copy of Hal's original ring, which could create new copies, brought back the Guardians, and recruited new Corps members. And so on.
* The biggest [[Post-Crisis]] change to [[Superman (Comic Book)|Superman]] was the decision that "last son of Krypton" meant ''last'', as in no other Kryptonians ever, period. General Zod becomes a Russian, Kandor becomes an alien ghetto and thus devoid of actual Kryptonians, and [[Supergirl]] becomes... uh, [[Continuity Snarl|you'd better see that entry for yourself]]. They've lightened up on that in recent years, without returning to constantly tripping over one more Kryptonian a la pre-Crisis comics (or ''[[Smallville]]''), as various writers attempted to reclaim the concepts ''without'' hitting the [[Reset Button]] -- [[wikipedia:New Krypton|at least, so fa-.]]
** [[Superman: theThe Animated Series]] handled this by making Supergirl from a nearby planet (thus getting the same powers and suffering the same fate as Krypton). And Krypto is [[Mythology Gag|Bizarro's pet...thing.]]
* Done to the entire [[Justice Society of America]] in ''The Last Days of the Justice Society'', to get rid of the extra [[Flash]], extra [[Green Lantern]], extra Hawkman, etc. Naturally, they were brought back a few years later. And then most of them were killed off in ''Zero Hour'' [[C -List Fodder|just to crank up the drama]], leaving Wildcat, Jay Garrick (the original [[Flash]]), Ted Knight (the original [[Starman (Comic Book)|Starman]]), and Alan Scott (the original [[Green Lantern]]).
** Amazingly, the JSA was rebuilt by three of those four (with {{spoiler|Ted Knight retiring permanently and dying at the end of the [[Starman (Comic Book)|Starman]] series}}), using [[Legacy Character|legacies]] and the occasional resurrected character. Even then, some resurrected old-school JSA members, such as {{spoiler|the first Hourman, who came back during Black Reign}}, stay retired. The JSA has a ''lot'' of legacies.
* During ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'', Bart Allen absorbed the entire [[Meta Origin|Speed Force]] into himself, and became the only [[Flash]]-style super-speedster. The ensuing series lasted only 13 issues, and ended in favor of a ''Flash'' series by Mark Waid, the guy who pretty much built the previous "Flash Family", focusing on Wally West and his [[Spin Offspring|superpowered kids]].
* [[Marvel Comics]] did this to the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]] with ''House of M''; millions of mutants all over the world were depowered, except for 198, supposedly chosen at random. Very few characters anyone cared about at all lost their powers, and those who did gained them back pretty quickly. Recently, a new mutant baby has been born, signaling the return of mutants to the wider [[Marvel Universe]].
* The 2005 revival of ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' set up the complete destruction of Gallifrey in its [[Backstory]], leaving The Doctor as the last of the Time Lords, {{spoiler|until the Master returned at the end of the third season}}.
** Unlike most examples of this trope, however, [[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'s [[Legacy Implosion]] has (a) been reasonably popular and (b) stuck. As for (a), the new series is phenomenally popular, and while the [[Legacy Implosion]] isn't the main reason for that it obviously hasn't hurt. And as for (b), the only Time Lords seen in the new series were {{spoiler|the Master, and a [[Shadow Archetype]] seems like a reasonable exception to a "last of the..." rule}}, and some others brought back briefly and temporarily by [[Time Travel]]. At some point Gallifrey might be brought back, who knows, but six seasons and counting is a longer duration of this implosion than most.
* Batman's [[True Companions]] were imploded piece-by-piece, with the exceptions of marketable stalwarts Robin and Nightwing. Orpheus dead, Spoiler dead [[Stuffed Into the Fridge|for dubious reasons]], long-time confidant Leslie Thompkins implicated in killing the latter "to teach Batman a lesson", current Batgirl realizing a [[Face Heel Turn]], former Batgirl Oracle bombed out of her headquarters and sent away from Gotham City along with her Birds of Prey team, Onyx inexplicably vanished from the books. Some of these got [[Author's Saving Throw|undone]]: Steph [[Back From the Dead|wasn't really dead]], and became the new Batgirl, Cassie turned out to be under mind-control and joined Batman Incorporated as Black Bat, and Babs returned to the Bat-fold as Batman Inc's computer specialist. As of the [[New 52]], Babs is Batgirl again, however the fate (or existence) of the others is currently unknown.
* [[Aquaman (Comic Book)|Aquaman]]'s supporting cast were killed off one by one to add drama to the book and boost sales.
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