Ragnarok Proofing: Difference between revisions

* The main premise of ''[[Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou]]'' is partly about people (and [[Ridiculously-Human Robots]]) having to cope with just how little Ragnarok Proofing actually exists in the real world.

** One memorable [[Heartwarming Moments]], however, shows the [[Robot Girl]] blown away by the beauty of a submerged Yokosuka, streetlights still operational.

** Another reason why there aren't any other relics from the "Dark History" is because {{spoiler|the Moonlight Butterfly ''destroyed everything else''.}}

* Played partially straight (but [[Justified Trope|Justified]]) in ''[[GaoGaiGar]]'', when the missing ChoRyuJin is dug up after sixty-five million years, his body is completely fossilized, but his AIs are found to still be in working order. It turns out, however, that he had some serious [[Applied Phlebotinum]] they were using specifically to keep himself alive long enough to be found again.

== Fan Fiction ==

* In ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'' the SOS Brigade uses a lost dimensional anchor created millions of years ago. It works perfectly fine.

 

 

*** One should also note that they didn't skimp on the quality when it came to food as well, as evident by WALL-E feeding a cockroach a ''seven hundred year old Twinkie bar. Still intact. With the cream filling still inside.'' Effective preservatives, then.

*** I think the Twinkie part was played less for realism and more for humor. As the joke goes, "What are the only two things that could survive a nuclear apocalypse? Cockroaches and Twinkies."

* Semi-averted in ''[[The Time Machine]]'' (2002) when Alexander Hartdegen finds the library from 2030, but in the year 802,701; the building itself is in ruins, but the artificial intelligence ''Librarian Vox 114'' is still unbroken and semifunctional.

** Barely. His sanity was hanging on by a thread. Fortunately he got repaired and was able to fulfill his programming, happily teaching kids in the sunlight.

* ''[[Gamma World]]''. Set in the post-apocalyptic ruins of a high-tech civilization, the rules explicitly say that [[Rule of Fun|enjoyment of the players]] and usefulness for the plot are the sole determining factors in whether any given artifact has survived decades or even centuries lying around unprotected in a irradiated mutant-infested wasteland. (A [[Hand Wave]] is of course always possible: the goodies can be locked away in nuke-proof buildings, and the exact amount of time since the apocalypse is left very vague.)

* Averted in the ''D20 Apocalypse'' supplement for ''[[D20 Modern]]''. The rules for determining what characters can find when they search abandoned buildings includes a consideration of how long it has been abandoned. There's even a chance that the building might collapse while the characters are inside.

* Justified in ''[[Exalted]]'': Most [[Lost Technology|First Age technology]] is self-maintaining, so even after hundreds of years of moldering in some forgotten ruin or other, they'll still work perfectly. Since Solars were the only ones who could obtain or create the materials and enchantments that make this possible, however, all [[Magitek]] made since the Usurpation requires periodic maintenance to remain operational.

* Anything from ''[[GURPS]]'': Ultra-Tech'' that is made from Living Metal will last forever because the material will automatically repair any damage that it incurs.

* One part of ''[[Metal Slug|Metal Slug 3D]]'' has Marco fall into decently preserved ruins of an ancient alien civilization... 8 billion years old.

* Averted with glee in ''[[Super Robot Wars]] Alpha Gaiden'', wherein they are teleported to a strange and distant world with a mishmash of technology, only to discover it is their future, some unknown amount of years. Almost nothing from the past has survived but technology specifically sealed in Mountain Cycles, chambers made to maintain whatever is in it indefinitely.

* Justified in ''[[Halo]]''. The eponymous rings are in perfect working condition, but there's robots to upkeep everything, and factories that build robots, etc. The Forerunners built these things to last.

* In ''[[Mega Man ZX]] Advent'', you can find several artifacts from the original ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' series, despite the fact that at least 400 years have passed since then. ''[[Mega Man Legends|Legends]]'' seems to play this straight with its underground ruins full of [[Lost Technology]], but later we find out that while the infrastructure that maintains them is severely compromised, it's still there, just hidden from the common people.

'''Pfhor computer terminal:''' The quality of the machinery is quite extraordinary, and most of the computer terminals are still functional even after two thousand years. }}

** Justified, in that {{spoiler|the S'pht have been so advanced for so long that prior to meeting the Pfhor couldn't conceive of non-cybernetic intelligence. They were originally created to serve as servants of the Jjaro, a race so advanced that they could warp entire planets instantly through space millions of years before the game's timeline.}}

** Of course, you've still got facilities/bits of tech built thousands of years before game start ''in working order'' in 3...

** Probably justified, since they already know that the plan will work due to time shenanigans, as the game never really makes up its mind on how the time travel works. It's a minor plot hole in a game riddled with huge ones. Also, it's a Chaos Emerald, the series' go to [[McGuffin]] for any given miracle required. it could probably not only stop itself from being destroyed, but also protect a sleep mode enabled Omega.

* ''[[Eternal Darkness]]'' features the Lost City of Ehn'gha, constructed by a long-dead race that inhabited the Earth before mankind showed up. It's remarkably intact, though it's use as a Guardian colony may have something to do with that. The resident [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]] also manages to survive for longer than your average book would, but then it is protected by Magick.

** Possibly justified with the relatively recent End. Thousands upon thousands of rifles dunked in grease and arsenaled by the Soviet Union are in perfect working order to this day, along with ammunition of similar vintage.

* ''[[Portal 2]]'' takes place several hundred years after the end of the first game, with the protagonist having been trapped in the Enrichment Center in [[Human Popsicle|cryogenic stasis]]. It initially looks like an aversion, as the place is rather thoroughly wrecked, but the portal gun still works as do many of the center's mechanisms. In particular, GLaDOS is still around, and once you restore power, she rapidly goes about repairing the facility. Less explicable is how the {{spoiler|original Enrichment Center}}, four kilometers beneath the surface and abandoned before even the first game without the benefits of a caretaker AI, remains functional.

* ''[[Caves of Qud]]'' has this trope going on in full force with its many [[Lost Technology]] artifacts and [[Killer Robot]]s, all still around after the world was ruined probably over a thousand years ago. But given one of the [[Gamma World|settings]] the game homages, that shouldn't be a surprise.

 

[[Category:Older Is Better]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:Apocalyptic Index]]