Nuke'Em: Difference between revisions

{{quote|"''I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. [[It's the Only Way to Be Sure]]''."|'''Ellen Ripley''', ''[[Alien (franchise)|Aliens]]''}}

 

 

 

 

[[Manga]] and [[Anime]] is mostly immune to this, due to the [[Nuclear Weapons Taboo]]. In fact, [[Inverted Trope|expect the opposite to be true]]: that even if it's proven that [[Nuclear Option|nothing]] ''[[Nuclear Option|but]]'' [[Nuclear Option|a nuke would work]], there will be extreme resistance to the idea. [[Darker and Edgier]] such stories may even play this straight, of those responsible for finally pressing the button considering everything up to [[Seppuku|ritual suicide]], as a [[My God, What Have I Done?|result of guilt]].

* In ''[[Atomic Robo]]'' this is the ''hero's'' response to {{spoiler|a giant moving pyramid headed toward Luxor}}.

{{quote|'''Robo''': I didn't found this crazy organization to '''not''' nuke things.}}

* In ''[[Kingdom Come]],'' {{spoiler|this is the government's response to the super hero war that threatens to engulf the world.}}

* In [[World War Hulk]], someone suggested Nuking the Hulk and his Warbound. Maria Hill pointed out that this would just make him stronger.

* In [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4236712/1/Project_Tatterdemalion Project Tatterdemalion], the top authorities involved initially wanted to nuke the facility after the Hollows began rampaging. Bad idea. As Juushirou explains, heat and radiation kill a lot of things, but only if they're contained long enough. If the Hollow virus was sporific, all nuking the facility would've done is pop open the box the Hollows were kept in, and spread still-infectious Hollow bits up into the jetstream, dooming the world...and infecting the spaceports. And as Juushirou said, all they knew for certain was 'Alien,' and 'Dangerous,' so it could've indeed been sporific, or close enough for an apocalypse.

* In the [[Deva Series]] {{spoiler|1=the Americans use a pair of SLBMs to obliterate a massive swarm of [[Implacable Man|Seeds]] that were heading for either New York or London. Even though nothing else significant was harmed - middle of the ocean, and all - Hayate was not happy, since she feels that it wouldn't be too much of a stretch now for someone to think to launch a barrage of nukes at Al Hanthis... which would obliterate Cairo in the process. Also, the Al Hantheans are utterly horrified once they learn exactly how nuclear weapons work. It is probably worth noting that there is [[In-Universe]] debate as to whether this was [[Nuke'Em]] or [[Nuclear Option]]; it did work, and [[Warrior Prince|Yussef]] and [[Sergeant Rock|Maunders]] don't consider it an overreaction. Yussef notes that point defences now make anything short of a nuclear [[Macross Missile Massacre]] worthless against Al Hanthis and would rather not use another if possible, but is mentally prepared to do so [[Godzilla Threshold|if all the chips are down]], unlike Hayate who absolutely refuses to consider it.}}

 

 

** The scientists were unable to pass on their specific information because the general in charge was an asshole who refused to take their call.

* Subverted in ''[[Mars Attacks!]]!'': Nothing Earth has done thus far can so much as scratch the Martians. The [[General Ripper]] has spent the movie insisting on using nuclear weapons, and the President, depressed at how nothing is working, finally gives the go-ahead. The Martian response to a nuke headed their way is... a small flying nozzle which intercepts the missile and sucks up the explosion. The Martian leader inhales the explosive gas and speaks with a squeaky voice, as though the gas were helium. It's possible that this was a subtle joke: when you fuse hydrogen (as in a hydrogen/fusion bomb), you get helium.

** Unlike the original H.G. Wells novel, in which the Martians ''are'' vulnerable to Earthly weapons, but theirs are so much more powerful that resistance is futile once the element of surprise is lost.

* In ''[[The Return of Godzilla|Godzilla]]'' (1985), not only did nuking him not work, it made him stronger. Nukes against Godzilla. Smart thinking, guys. That's like [[Shooting Superman|using a flamethrower against the Human Torch]].

* In ''[[Beneath The Planet Of The Apes]]'', the remaining human faction {{spoiler|worships a fully functional cobalt bomb.}}

* In ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'', the robot probe is found to be indestructible and the President wants to simply launch all the nuclear missiles on him when General Monger stops him.

* In the Sci-Fi channel movie ''Baal Lord of Storms'', the military considers nuking ''a storm front''. While it's clearly the wrong option, there's a techno-babble reason given (something to do with disrupting electro-magnetic waves) to make it merely a bad idea and not simply a completely cracked out of their mind idea.

* In the original ''[[Stargate (film)|Stargate]]'' movie, Colonel O'Neil secretly brings a nuke through the Stargate with the team on its very first exploration mission. His orders? Nuke the place if there's any sign of hostiles.

 

 

* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' will sometimes resort to this, with early seasons favoring the [[Five Rounds Rapid]] treatment of nukes (namely epic failure) to give the title object and title team justification for existence. There is one early case where a nuke is actually used to prevent them all from being sucked into a black hole.

** Later seasons started using them more frequently, such as the Mark IX "Gatebuster," a Naquadriah-enhanced warhead with a supposed yield of several gigatons<ref>For reference, the most powerful nuke ever actually detonated in reality was "merely" 50 megatons, which is roughly 100 times weaker than the Gatebuster</ref>. Of course, given that they were fighting the Ori in their last season, it's logical that they would bring their most powerful weapons to bear.

*** Then there's the giant Horizon planetary attack missile launched against the Asuran homeworld, which carried '''six''' Mark IX warheads.

 

 

* In ''[[Crysis (series)|Crysis]]'', {{spoiler|after pulling off the island, the Navy decides to nuke the aliens, deflecting Dr. Rosenthal warnings that they absorb energy with comments along the lines of "There's no time to study them." To nobody's surprise, the aliens absorb the blast and get stronger. Just as predictably, [[All Up to You|it's all your problem from there]]. And then played straight by having the player use a ''nuclear grenade launcher'' on the alien space ship.}}

* In ''[[World in Conflict]],'' this happens twice in the campaign. First a tactical nuke is called in to take out an overwhelming Soviet force headed for a "hold at all costs" level objective. Then, at the end of the campaign, you are racing against time to push the Russians out of Seattle before their Chinese reinforcements arrive and the president is forced to obliterate the city. And you can call in as many as you want in multiplayer.

** In ''Renegade'' he decides to nuke a small town just to eliminate the protagonist and his squad. Justified in that he just killed his way through a mansion filled with Nod's elite.

** In ''Tiberian Sun'' Kane, dissatisfied with General Vega (an [[Drugs Are Bad|Eye Candy addict]]), decides to reprimand him. With a tactical nuke. Sadly, he misses [[Colonel Badass|Commander McNeil]] by a few minutes.

** In ancient history, in ''Tiberian Dawn'' you get nuked by Kane during the final mission. He sure likes his nukes.

** In ''Red Alert 2'' Chicago is destroyed by a nuclear bomb after the player destroys the psychic amplifier and the USSR has no further use for the city. A technical [[Fission Mailed]] too.

** In ''Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge'' the mission Power Play basically revolves around you trying to stop Yuri from nuking the city every ten minutes. It doesn't help that Yuri tends to use his first nuke to destroy your War Factory and you don't have a Construction Yard in this mission.

* Parodied during the "That Which Redeems" arc of ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', where the nuke dropped on the [[Demonic Invaders|demon army]] turns out to be an acronym for "'Notification of Unified Kindness' Envelopes." Instead of vaporizing everything for miles around, the "nuke" blankets the area with thousands of polite yet stern letters asking the demons to please stop their invasion. This is still considered an abominable act by most Dimension of Lame residents due to the collateral damange:

{{quote|'''Alt-Gwynn:''' "Terrible thunder. Paper cuts impending. Litter unimaginable."}}