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Nuclear Weapons Taboo: Difference between revisions
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If there is a weapon treated in a similar manner to nuclear ones but isn't referred to as such not because of censorship, but because it doesn't make sense in that setting, it's a [[Fantastic Nuke]]. Almost any series involving a [[Wave Motion Gun]] involves this. Compare [[Never Say "Die"]].
{{examples}}
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* N2 ([[Suspiciously Specific Denial|Non-Nuclear]]) mines in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. They're the largest and most destructive incendiaries ever invented, and they even create a mushroom cloud, ''but nope, they ain't nukes, hell no''. They can somehow do this with a much smaller range than an actual nuke.
** [[Truth in Television]]: Conventional thermobaric weapons like the MOAB have the thermal and overpressure effects of a tactical nuke, except that they are three orders of magnitude weaker.
** Any explosion of significant power within an atmosphere will create a mushroom cloud (This can be seen on some of the bigger explosions on [[
** It's outright stated that a number of cities, including "Old Tokyo", were nuked during the Post-Impact Wars that had raged in the early 21st Century. It even led to the presumed revocation of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution (renouncing war "forever" and banning the government's right to declare an offensive war), and the establishment of the "J'''S'''SDF" (Japanese '''Strategic''' Self-Defence Forces). Considering the fact that they have 40-foot technorganic mechas developed from [[Eldritch Abomination|Angels]], the idea that they were able to develop bombs with power roughly equal to smaller strategic nukes is one of their [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality]].
** The "Non-Nukes" still produce an EMP effect, however, as can be seen in the first episode of the TV series.
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** It also comes up in the fact that most mobile suits have fusion reactors: in both [[Mobile Suit Gundam|the original series]] and ''[[Gundam Unicorn]]'', someone accidentally blows a hole in a colony when an enemy MS they destroy goes up in a nuclear fireball. In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team]]'', amoral Federation officers attempt to [[We Have Reinforcements|take advantage of this]] to destroy a Zeon mobile armor. ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam F91]]'' introduces shotlancers, pneumatic lances designed specifically to keep this from happening by destroying specific parts of enemy machines (such as coolant lines) and forcing an emergency reactor shut-down.
** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Wing|Gundam Wing]]'' plays it straight only due to a faulty translation. Lady Une tries to get rid of the Gundams by self-destructing a stockpile of missiles beneath the base they're attacking. The English translation simply refers to them as "large missiles", but the original Japanese dialog explicitly calls them ICBMs.
** In ''[[Turn A Gundam
** Plays a role in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED|Gundam SEED]]'''s backstory. When the Earth Alliance and ZAFT go to war, the Alliance's '''first''' response is a tactical strike on the colony Junius Seven. ZAFT invents devices called Neutron Jammers which prevent nuclear reactions, primarily to prevent any further nukings (which also has the side-effect of making most mecha in this setting battery-powered). Eventually a countermeasure is developed, and when the Alliance gets it they go for another bombing run. This time around, ZAFT has a counter-countermeasure called the Neutron Stampeder, which [[Hoist by His Own Petard|causes the nukes to go off early]].
** In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Gundam 00]]'', nuclear weapons never come up because the world's nuclear arsenals were disarmed decades before the show started. {{spoiler|Which was all part of Aeolia's plan.}} However, the Gundams' GN Drives may be a form of "clean" nuclear power (the name stands for "Gundam Nucleus").
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* ''[[Zettai Karen Children]]'' appears to have a nuclear ''everything'' taboo, instead having "Neo-Clear" power plants. Which the [[Big Bad]] promptly steals <s>nuclear</s> Neo-Clear fuel from and sells it to the "Al Lugia Liberation Front" to make bombs. I wish I was making this up.
** Despite all this it appears that lazy naming aside, Neo-Clear is actually something different as no fallout or even much damage results from one of the bombs. Though that may be to do with the Major containing the blast as he saw a local girl who bore a striking resemblance to Kaoru about to be caught in it. Needless to say, this annoyed him, resulting in the ''[[Your Head Asplode|messy]]'' deaths of the terrorists.
* In Fate's [[As You Know]] speech in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
** Incidentally, based on the timeline, the start of the Time-Space Administration era, marked by the banning of mass-based physical weapons in favor of [[Magitek]], takes place at around 1941, the year when Japan provoked America into joining World War 2. Coincidence?
* Averted by the Japanese-produced ''[[Super Milk-chan]]'' where one episode is about the President of Everything launching a nuke in a fit of rage. He calls Milk-chan and tries to tell her to stop it but ends up forgetting to tell her about it. No target was specified, so the nuke chose one at random.
* Averted in ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]:[[Stand Alone Complex]]''. In the second season, the threat of nuclear bombs inside a Japanese metropolis becomes a major plot point in the later episode.
* The violence showing the aftermath of nuclear war and message that [[Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped|nuclear weapons are bad]] is one of the reasons why ''[[Future War 198X]]'' is [[Keep Circulating the Tapes|extremely hard to find.]]
* In ''[[Heat Guy J]]'' most of the world's population has been destroyed after they appropriated the technology of the resident [[Superior Species]]. Originally, it was used for peaceful purposes (e.g. energy production), but [[Humans Are
* [[Axis Powers Hetalia]] manages to be about anthropomorphic countries, set partly during World War II, with the personifications of America and Japan as main characters, and still never mention nuclear weapons. Partly because the WWII part of the story never gets to that point (it's more or less [[Aborted Arc|abandoned]] by now), and partly because the series avoids showing the [[Darker and Edgier]] parts of history.
* The ancient warriors from ''[[Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind]]'' certainly count.
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* Warships in ''[[Legend of Galactic Heroes]]'' carry nuclear weapons, which makes it appear to avert this trope. However, the usage of nuclear weapons are limited to specific conditions in space,<ref>Beam weaponry are the mainstay in the series</ref> and there is a taboo placed on using them on inhabited planets after a nuclear apocalypse in the backstory almost wiped out the human race.
== Film - Live Action ==▼
* The first ''[[Godzilla]]'' movie is a parable about nuclear weapons, with Godzilla having been created by US nuclear tests (a fact left out of the version of the film that was re-edited for U.S. release). (Said parable is entirely lost in the sequels.)▼
* The Soviet director Leonid Gaidai exploited this trope to save his comedy ''[[The Diamond Arm]]'' from censorship. The film included controversial (by Soviet standards) scenes, such as a striptease, the protagonist's drunken
== Literature ==
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* Averted in the ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' series. Nuclear weapons have fallen out of use not because they're inherently illegal, but because they're ineffective compared to bomb-pumped X-ray lasers. One book also has a [[Space Pirate]] nuke a city.
▲== Film- Live Action ==
▲* The first ''[[Godzilla]]'' movie is a parable about nuclear weapons, with Godzilla having been created by US nuclear tests (a fact left out of the version of the film that was re-edited for U.S. release). (Said parable is entirely lost in the sequels.)
▲* The Soviet director Leonid Gaidai exploited this trope to save his comedy ''The Diamond Arm'' from censorship. The film included controversial (by Soviet standards) scenes, such as a striptease, the protagonist's drunken debauche and an anti-Semitic remark by a rather unpleasant Soviet bureaucrat. Before showing the film to the censors Gaidai inserted the footage of a nuclear explosion into the epilogue. The censors, in a state of shock, allowed Gaidai to leave most of the film intact, on the condition that he cuts out the nuke and the anti-Semitic remark. ''The Diamond Arm'' is still a cult film in Russia.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* There's a very odd [[Retcon]] example in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story "Genesis of the Daleks". In the previous Dalek stories, it had been repeatedly stated that the mutations that led to the Daleks were the result of a nuclear war on the planet Skaro. In the definitive origin story "Genesis", however, the word "nuclear" was never used and all the usual effects depicted in the story that one would associate with nuclear weapons (mutation, explosives that kill the slaves forced to handle them within a few days, massive destruction) were ascribed to mysterious "chemicals". It almost looks as if there was censorious [[Executive Meddling]]. The vast majority of fans, and subsequent canon writers, keep "Genesis" as the definitive origin but tacitly replace all references to "chemicals" with "nuclear" or "radioactivity" again.
* It's never stated outright, but it's pretty damn obvious that the [[Killer Robot]]s used nukes to [[Everybody's Dead, Dave|wipe out most of humanity]] before ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'' started proper.
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* Justified averted in the [[Stargate Verse]]. Nuclear weapons, particularly [[Depleted Phlebotinum Shells|naquadah-enhanced nukes]], are one of the SGC's main weapons (the justification being that despite all the [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum]], it's still early 21st century Earth, and nukes are perfectly effective weapons).
== Video Games ==
* In the ''[[Metal Gear]]'' and ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' franchise, the ability of the Metal Gear machines to launch nuclear weapons is basically the reason they are "bad." In addition, this angle is somewhat overplayed; a Metal Gear wouldn't actually have much more strategic impact than a ballistic missile submarine.
** Though this is justified in the case of Metal Gear REX or its derivatives, as it used a large [[Magnetic Weapons|Railgun]] to fire warheads as sub-orbital artillery. Because these warheads were not technically part of missile systems, they did not violate several otherwise applicable treaties. "Loophole nukes" of a sort. Also, these weapons can't be detected the way normal nukes are (Which would only be possible if the railgun has unheard of efficiency to avoid detectable waste heat), which completely destroys the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction; any country with a REX derivative can launch a nuke at another country and be guaranteed that there will be no retaliatory strike, because there's no way to determine where it came from or that it's even happening until the nuke hits.
*** Also, the Proto Metal Gears all had the advantage of being easier for Third World Countries to have Nuclear capability of their own. The greatest danger was that every Non-Superpower Country having such power would completely mess up global politics. Especially since they were willing to sell them to TERRORISTS or "Freedom Fighters" if the price was right. Imagine a world full of Osama Bin Ladens, and each having their own Walking Nuclear Death Mobiles.
*** Plus, the eponymous [[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker|Peace Walker]] was essentially a nuclear platform programmed to launch even with false data, removing human decision making from launching, making it a truly terrifying weapon if attacked.
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* [[After the End|Naturally]] [[Averted Trope|averted]] in most releases of ''[[Fallout 3]]'' but in Japan, the implications (which are, actually, not so much implied [[Nuclear War|as outright stated]]) of the setting resulted in some changes for localization purposes. The Japanese release of ''Fallout 3'' had the entire questline related to detonating the nuclear weapon at Megaton removed. This also removes the Tenpenny Towers quests that open up in relation to it. The Fat Man launcher was renamed "Nuka Launcher" (Perhaps trying to connect more towards the fictional in game soft drink Nuka Cola), though this one should have been obvious considering that the name "Fat Man" comes from the bomb dropped on Nagasaki...
* Used... ''differently'' in ''[[Singularity]]'': There exist nuclear bombs, but the ''real'' focus is on an E-99 bomb that is a little bigger than a basketball and can turn the ''whole East Coast'' of your United States into a smoldering crater. Then there's the eponymous [[It Got Worse|Singularity]].
* ''[[Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars]]''' German translation made aurora bombs out of the nuclear bombs due to the fact that depicting weapons of mass destruction in computer games would lead to an X-rating of same game. There was a Kane edition which still had nuclear bombs (and suicide bombers) and was sold only to adults.
* ''[[Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3]]'' removed nuclear weapons from the game through a plot device while its predecessors used them amply. This no doubt had to do with the addition of a Japanese faction and someone rightly figuring that creating a game that you won by dropping a nuclear weapon on the Japanese might make someone mad.
* The original ''[[Ace Combat]]'' setting, Strangereal, is supposed to be an alternate universe of our Earth with approximately equal level of technological advancement. However, the only nation that apparently has ever developed its own nukes is Belka (essentially an alternate [[Nazi Germany]]) and even then their warheads counted in ''single units'', not the thousands that world powers possess in [[Real Life]] today and seems to lack long range delivery systems. For this reason, Strangereal's two superpowers Osea and Yuktobanian (counterparts of the US and Soviet Union) could duke it out in ''Ace Combat 5'' in what would have basically become [[World War III]] in our world, without risking a nuclear apocalypse. In fact, when Belkan remnants try to use their remaining nuclear warheads in that war, the hostilities soon cease and everyone gangs up on the Belkans instead. That ''[[Ace Combat]]'' was developed by the Japanese company Bandai-Namco probably explains things.
** Belka is the only nation stated to have ''used'' nukes in a war. During the events of [[Ace Combat Zero]], in an act of desperation, they resorted to dropping nukes on 7 of their own cities to try and delay the allied advance. The rest of the world was ''horrified'' at this, and may explain the world's preference for other types of weaponry.
** Even when Namco changed over to the real world in Ace Combat Assault Horizon, they played this trope straight. The [[Big Bad]]'s super weapon, Trinity, was shown to have varying levels of destruction, ranging from vaporizing a medium-sized bridge, to destroying an entire city, and still having enough power to nearly knock the Protagonist off his feet from twenty or thirty miles away. However, Trinity has shown to have zero nuclear fallout, and by all means, it is still a conventional warhead, all things considered. In short, it's not a nuke, but a really, ''really'' big bomb.
* [[The Reveal]] in ''[[
* Handily averted in ''[[Metroid Prime]] 3: Corruption''. One of the player's missions is to build a nuclear bomb. It only gets used to destroy a shield, though.
* Averted in the ''[[Civilization]]'' series, where you can indeed build nukes and threaten your enemies with them. Actually using them does tend to mess up the environment, as well as make everybody hate you.
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* ''[[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'' does not have nukes. Instead, they are replaced with Planet Busters, which have an ''even more devastating'' effect on the target and the environment (i.e. any city hit with one is completely wiped out, leaving behind a massive crater, unlike ''[[Civilization]]'', where the effects are a little more tame). Using one is an unforgivable atrocity, however, and results in everybody declaring <s>war</s> vendetta on you.
* Semi-averted in ''[[Rise of Nations]]''. Players can build nukes, but as soon as a player researches Nuclear Weapons, the Doomsday Counter appears on his screen. It starts at a number based on the number of players in the game, and every time a nuke is launched, it decreases by 1. Each time a player researches the "Missile Shield" supertech it increases by 2. If it ever hits 0, the game ends, with ''everyone'' losing.
* Averted kind of tastelessly in the Japanese version of ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons Arcade Game]]''. You can use atomic bombs to clear every enemy on screen.
* ''[[Crysis (series)|Crysis]]'' most certainly averts this trope. When the U.S. Government finds out that the island has deadly aliens on it, it decides that the best thing to do is to drop an atomic bomb on the island. The game makes it clear that [[Godzilla Threshold|no one is relishing this, but it may be the best course of action to protect humanity]]. Unfortunately, the bomb does not destroy the island, but rather gives the aliens much more energy than they had before (making them stronger). [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Nice Job Breaking It Government]].
* The [[X (video game)|X-Universe]] has a very [[Fridge Logic]]ky variation, where tactical nuclear weapons are allowed, but nuclear ''reactors'' apparently aren't: ships need externally supplied energy cells to use jumpdrives, which are produced by giant solar power plants. At which point you wonder where ships get the energy to power their [[Deflector Shields]] and [[Energy Weapons]], which work just fine with an otherwise empty cargo bay.
* Played with in ''[[EV Nova]]''. The EMP torpedo is a nuclear weapon tuned to emit a much stronger electromagnetic pulse than usual. But there aren't any other types of nukes in the game.
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' had fun with this, [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2016-06-19 when] it turned out that [[It's the Only Way to Be Sure|the famous expression]] by far outlived its original meaning. Of course, this happened because the average spacefaring civilisations [[Abusing the Kardashev Scale For Fun and Profit|are high enough on Kardashev Scale]] to spit down on fission devices - some antique personal weapons use fusion power, but heavy munitions "up to date" are [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2001-01-30 conversion bombs] and [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2000-11-05 relativistic kinetic weapons].
== Web Original ==
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* The "Bleach Protocol" in ''[[Generator Rex]]'', used as a last resort against particularly dangerous EVOs. Lampshaded in one episode:
{{quote|'''Rex''': I don't know Doc. Sometimes you just have to say "[[Nuke'Em]]".
'''Six''': [[Insistent Terminology|Forced Plasma Cascade.]]
'''Rex''': Try working ''that'' into a [[Catch Phrase]]. }}
* [[Megas XLR]] has nukes in its arsenal, with warning labels around the [[Big Red Button]]. Coop ''wants'' to press it anyway, even when he and the enemy are in an underground military base at the time. Kiva insists that the nukes are not to be used, to Coop's disappointment.
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[[Category:Politics Tropes]]
[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]
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