History Main / CollapsingLair

* ''NeverwinterNights2'' - It's even Lampshaded in the first add on pack.

* One chapter in ''GearsOfWar3'' requires you to overload a massive generator in order to shut down [[spoiler: a man-made maelstrom]]. As one might expect, this ends with you fleeing before it explodes, as the whole facility falls apart around you.

* MinionsAtWork: [[http://www.minionsatwork.com/2006/05/minions-5-unemployment-sucs.html Well, I see here your last place of employment self-destructed]]

* OlderThanRadio: The collapse of the titular house at the climax of Poe's 1839 story "The Fall of the House of Usher".

* ''WitchHunterRobin'' : [[spoiler:When the heroes [[StormingTheCastle invade The Factory]], it turns out it's programmed to crush itself as a last-ditch security mechanism.]]

* In ''MahouSenseiNegima'', after Negi's group is [[spoiler: scattered across the Magic World]], we first see Nodoka escaping from one of these while treasure hunting.

* ''RODTheTV'' has the Dokusensha building and, evidently, [[spoiler:''all of Hong Kong.'']]

* The abandoned oil rig that served as the base for the [[TheRemnant Foreigners of Grief]] in ''[[ShinkyokuSoukaiPolyphonica Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica Crimson S]]'' sank into the sea at the climax of the final fight. Notable in that the bad guys, after having been given a series of speeches thoroughly deconstructing their UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans mentality, [[DrivenToSuicide willingly stayed in their base as it collapsed around them]].

* At the end of ''ModernWarfare'''s first mission, "Crew Expendable", the Estonian freighter gets bombed by Russian MIG's and starts taking on water, forcing the player to run through the collapsing and sinking ship to the extraction chopper.

* ''MightAndMagic IV'' ends with this, although the party does get out safely.

* In ''Film/JupiterAscending'', the headquarters of Balem's corporation, located on Jupiter, begins to be demolished because the "grav-hull [was] ruptured," and "[t]he gas was reacting to the stockworks", due to Caine's vessel having punctured the barrier around the planet and crashed into several structures. Maybe it was a bad idea to establish a base of operations that could be destroyed by a small vessel entering the atmosphere.

* In ''Film/Jupiter Ascending'', the headquarters of Balem's corporation, located on Jupiter, begins to be demolished because the "grav-hull [was] ruptured," and "[t]he gas was reacting to the stockworks", due to Caine's vessel having punctured the barrier around the planet and crashed into several structures. Maybe it was a bad idea to establish a base of operations that could be destroyed by a small vessel entering the atmosphere.

* ''Franchise/TombRaider [[VideoGame/TombRaider 1]]'', ''2'', and ''Anniversary'', explicitly.

** In ''Tomb Raider 4'', Lara [[OurHeroIsDead apparently falls to her death]] during the collapse of the Temple of Horus.
* In "VideoGame/ShounenKinindenTsumuji" after defeating the Big Bad and the Demon King the Demon Castle begins to destroy itself.

* In the Pilot of the original ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Classic}}'', [[EarthShatteringKaboom the planet explodes]] as the human fleet is fleeing, thus destroying the Cylon basestar which was very close to the surface. The reason? [[YouFailPhysicsForever They set fire to a fuel deposit]].

* Standard for PhineasAndFerb's BStory involving Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Perry the Platypus.
* ''KimPossible'', in episode "Downhill", gave us the title quote.

* ''ClerksTheAnimatedSeries'' parodied this when Dante and Randal escape from an ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom''-style mine, and Randal stops to pull a lever on the wall marked "do not pull". The entire mountain then begins to collapse.
* In an episode of ''TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' showcasing the Sinister Six, Spidey must visit Doc Ock's underwater lair to thwart his plan of world domination. After successfully doing so, Doc hits the self-destruct button, causing a tense moment as Spider-Man must free himself from a large chunk of metal, save Gwen, and get out of the lair all before it blows up.

* At the end of ''{{Halo 3}}'', the activation of the unfinished replacement ring causes it to shake itself apart, and you have to drive across the crumbling superstructure.

* A rare protagonist (sorta?) example comes from ''{{Erfworld}}''. After the Coalition forces overwhelm Gobwin Knob and nearly destroy the city, Parson Gotti orders everyone into the caverns, then has their remaining casters link up to use their various magic powers to awaken the dormant volcano beneath the mountain. The resulting explosive eruption wipes out not only the city (which gets fixed soon after), but the entirety of the Coalition forces.

* ''Film/OurManFlint''. Derek Flint's sabotage blows up the enemy base on Galaxy island.

* The island in the original DevilMayCry begins to fall apart when Mundus does.

Why is this useful, apart from topping the FinalBattle with an exciting escape scene to safety (after which you can directly cut to the happy end celebrations?) Think about it. The BigBad has had a massive base, with several valuable gadgets, and many remaining lesser minions. You definitely do not want to drag out the story by having the hero deal with them one by one too, and much less to put his hands on something that could [[StatusQuoIsGod change the status quo]]. Better just blow it all up. And best of all, once you do actually make it out alive, you get the immensely satisfying shot of [[TheRuinsICaused the hero looking on as the Supervillain Lair goes bye-bye in spectacular fashion]].

* In Creator/DanAbnett's Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''First & Only'', when the Inquisitor Heldane's pawn is killed, the psychic shock kills Heldane as well, and his unleashed psychic energies tore apart the spaceship he was on. Good thing for the Ghosts and their allies that Heldane used the pawn at a distance.

* In the [[MultipleEndings bad ending]] to ''{{Contra}}: Shattered Soldier'', a KillSat destroys Galuga Archipelago after you complete Mission 5, taking the heroes with it.

* ''{{Descent}}'': Every level was ended with blowing everything up and having to fly back to the emergency exit for a dramatic just-in-time escape.

* This happens to [[{{Myst}} Riven]] when you re-open the Star Fissure.

* Used ad nauseum in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. By the time an episode is nearing its end, you just know that the whole place Batman is currently at is going to collapse or get destroyed in some convoluted way.

* Happens several times in Wolfenstein 2009. The massive underground base in the caverns beneath the farm explodes after retrieving a crystal being used for research deep within. Later, the entire Cannery explodes after defeating a certain load-bearing boss (though this was a result of destroying several critical pieces of machinery, rather than the boss's death). It also happens at the end of the game, after defeating the last boss.

[[folder:Music]]
* The hall of the Mountaing King and the cave trolls in Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt. The musical piece ''In the Hall of the Mountain King'' describes the diabolical dance of the trolls and the collapse of the halls.

[[folder:Theater]]
* At the end of ''Theatre/TanzDerVampire'' this happens to the castle of Count Krolock - for no goddamn reason as we aren't even shown if he died or not. Which is, given the {{fridge logic}} of the play, not even likely.
[[/folder]]

* Let us not forget in ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer'', an entire tower collapses shortly after the wizard's death with one character giving the hand-waved explanation, "It was all an illusion."

* Can't forget ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', after defeating Ganondorf the first time. Made cooler by the fact that you get to fight Ganon on the wreckage. Made slightly more annoying by the Iron Knuckles and [=ReDead=] that like to paralyze you while the timer ticks down.