History Main / CometOfDoom

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': In one book, the characters have traveled to the time of the dinosaurs and see a comet in the sky. Cassie mentions that humans used to believe that comets were a bad omen, and Ax says that Andalites had a similar superstition. Of course, said comet turns out to be [[TheCretaceousIsAlwaysDoomed the comet that killed the dinosaurs]].

* Even Older Than The Older Dirt: A comet may have been involved in [[TheCretaceousIsAlwaysDoomed the most famous extinction event in prehistory]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Bart's Comet", Bart sees a comet through Principal Skinner's telescope. It soon becomes clear that it's headed unerringly towards Springfield, and HilarityEnsues trying to A) escape, or B) destroy it. This all culminates in a very moving scene where the townsfolk decide to FaceDeathWithDignity by standing on a hilltop singing ''Que Sera Sera.'' [[spoiler: Only for it to harmlessly burn up in the upper atmosphere.]]

* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheKnightsOnDinosaurs'' have it's final battle taking place 65 millions years in the past, with the raptor-men trying to massacre the ancestors of mammals in order to "reclaim the surface world" while Doraemon and friends tries their best to stop them. But then, the battle is cut short by the comet hitting the earth - and the raptor-men eventually found out it's the comet, and not mammals, who killed the dinosaurs.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode ''Bart's Comet,'' Bart sees a comet through Principal Skinner's telescope. It soon becomes clear that it's headed unerringly towards Springfield, and HilarityEnsues trying to A) escape, or B) destroy it. This all culminates in a very moving scene where the townsfolk decide to FaceDeathWithDignity by standing on a hilltop singing ''Que Sera Sera.'' [[spoiler: Only for it to harmlessly burn up in the upper atmosphere.]]

* ''Film/{{Lifeforce}}'': The arrival of Halley's Comet foretells doom for London, as it contains an alien spaceship that carried space vampires. {{Discussed|Trope}}, as the characters mention that the appearance of Halley's Comet has been considered a warning of disaster for centuries, possibly because seeing it meant the alien ship within was near enough to allow the vampires to reach Earth and feed.

* ''Film/NightOfTheComet'': A comet is due to appear in the night sky, and this comet is such a rare event that it becomes a massive celebration for its very rare appearance. (With an orbit of 65 million years, it was last seen over Earth when the dinosaurs died out. [[SarcasmMode A coincidence, surely]].) As its trail sweeps across the Earth, anybody directly exposed to it, meaning almost the entire human race, [[ApocalypseHow is reduced to red dust]]; anybody who suffers indirect exposure becomes a homicidal, slowly-dying zombie. A small handful of survivors were people who managed to shelter themselves away from exposure.

* Months prior to the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Halley's Comet appeared in the sky. The Bayeux Tapestry records not only the appearance of the comet, but King Harold II of England being informed of the appearance of this ill-omen.

* ''Literature/WingsOfFire'': A comet appears in the sky during the last third of ''The Brightest Night''. It's large enough to be mistaken for a [[AlienSky fourth moon]] by the dragons of Pyrrhia, and it passes close enough to affect weather patterns and tides and to cause earthquakes. Though, given that the comet's passing coincides with a peace summit ending a twenty-year three-way war, and that it being in the sky creates the illusion of three full moons (known in-story as a [[TitleDrop "brightest night"]]) which for in-story prophecy reasons is highly auspicious, this trope is seemingly averted or inverted. [[spoiler: And then we find out that the earthquakes caused by the comet's passing [[SealedEvilInACan snapped the enchanted bracelet keeping The Darkstalker asleep underground]]...]]