History Main / DoomsdayClock

* In PiersAnthony's novel ''Wielding a Red Sword'', the Incarnation of War can use the DoomsdayClock to bring about WorldWarIII.

* LinkinPark's album ''Minutes to Midnight''. The music video for ''Shadow of the Day'' from the same album also makes reference to the clock with 11:55 appearing at the beginning.

* ''One Minute to Midnight'' by {{Justice}}.

* ''{{Homestuck}}'' has a doomsday clock near Terezi's home.

* ''{{NCIS}}'' episode ''Murder 2.0'' had the DoomsdayClock, at the time set to five minutes, used as a clue to indicate the next murder would take place at 11:55 p.m.

The Doomsday Clock is updated periodically by the ''Bulletin'', however the changes do not always occur in time with world events. Most notably, the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was the closest the ColdWar got to open nuclear conflict, reached its climax and was resolved before the Clock could be changed. The closest it's been was 2 minutes to midnight from 1953-1960 while the farthest was 17 minutes from 1991-1995. It was most recently set forward a minute to five minutes to midnight in January 2012 in light of worldwide failures to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and reduce the effects of climate change.

* A recurring motif in ''{{Watchmen}}'' with the clock gradually ticking towards midnight until the end. It is also mentioned directly with the clock being at five minutes near the beginning. Ironically, this is actually further from midnight than the real-life clock was in the early to mid-1980s.

The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock face maintained by the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' at the University of Chicago. When it was originally introduced [[ColdWar in 1947]] the clock symbolized how close the world was to nuclear war, with the metaphor supporting it being: talks have broken down, and once midnight hits, the attacks start. [[DespairEventHorizon And we are all doomed]]. But since [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp the fall of the Iron Curtain]], the original metaphor is (mostly) obsolete, and it has expanded to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt catastrophic destruction]] of any sort, provided it's on a global scale; the ''Bulletin'''s website specifically mentions GlobalWarming and [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke bioengineering]] as possible causes in addition to nuclear war. The Doomsday Clock is a very real and very eerie example of WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve and as such, it has received nods by several works.

* ''{{Homestuck}}''' has a doomsday clock near Terezi's home.

The Doomsday Clock is updated periodically by the ''Bulletin'', however the changes do not always occur in time with world events. Most notably, the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was the closest the ColdWar got to open nuclear conflict, reached its climax and was resolved before the Clock could be changed. The closest it's been was 2 minutes to midnight from 1953-1960 while the farthest was 17 minutes from 1991-1995. It was most recently set forward a minute to five minutes to midnight in January 2012 to reflect the failure of multiple nations in controlling the spread of nuclear weapons.

[[caption-width-right:298:At its highest point (1991), it was 17 minutes to midnight; at [[CubanMissileCrisis its lowest (1962)]], it was 2 minutes. As of December 2010, the clock stands at six minutes until midnight.]]

The Doomsday Clock is updated periodically by the ''Bulletin'', however the changes do not always occur in time with world events. Most notably, the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was the closest the ColdWar got to open nuclear conflict, reached its climax and was resolved before the Clock could be changed. The closest it's been was 2 minutes to midnight from 1953-1960 while the farthest was 17 minutes from 1991-1995. It was most recently set at six minutes to midnight in January 2010 to recognize worldwide efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and reduce the effects of climate change. This marks the first time the clock has been moved back since 1991.

* A recurring motif in ''{{Watchmen}}'' with the clock gradually ticking towards midnight until the end. It is also mentioned directly with the clock being at five minutes near the beginning.

* The second to last episode of ''{{Supernatural}}'' season 5 is called "Two Minutes to Midnight". "Midnight" in this case referring to the rise of Lucifer on earth, who did show up in the last episode of season 5.

* In PiersAnthony's novel ''Wielding a Red Sword'', the Incarnation of War can use the DoomsdayClock to being about WorldWarIII.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''{{Homestuck}}''' has a doomsday clock near Terezi's home.

* ''11:59'' by {{Blondie}}.

* ''Doomsday Clock'' by TheSmashingPumpkins.

* ''{{Lost}}'' reveals in later seasons that [[spoiler: the repeated number sequence, 4 8 15 16 23 42]] is in fact a component of an insanely accurate DoomsdayClock: [[spoiler: the Valenzetti Equation, which predicts the extinction of mankind, with the Numbers serving as the input.]]

* ''2 Minutes to Midnight'' by IronMaiden.

''Cleaning up the mess we've made or watching your TV?"''\\
-- '''BillyTalent''', ''Turn Your Back''

* ''DoctorWho'' had an episode called ''Four to Doomsday'', which was released when the real life clock was at four minutes.

* The second to last episode of ''{{Supernatural}}'' season 5 is called "Two Minutes to Midnight".

-- '''Billy Talent''', ''Turn Your Back''

* One episode of ''AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'' featured a DoomsdayClock built by an evil sorcerer.

The DoomsdayClock is a symbolic clock face maintained by the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' at the University of Chicago. When it was originally introduced [[ColdWar in 1947]] the clock symbolized how close the world was to nuclear war, with the metaphor supporting it being talks have broken down, at once midnight hits, the attacks start. [[DespairEventHorizon And we are all doomed]]. But since [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp the fall of the Iron Curtain]] the original metaphor is (mostly obsolete), and it has expanded to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt catastrophic destruction]] of any sort, provided it's on a global scale; the ''Bulletin'''s website specifically mentions GlobalWarming and [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke bioengineering]] as possible causes in addition to nuclear war. DoomsdayClock is a very real and very eerie example of WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve and as such, it has received nods by several works.

The DoomsdayClock is updated periodically by the ''Bulletin'', however the changes do not always occur in time with world events. Most notably, the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was the closest the ColdWar got to open nuclear conflict, reached its climax and was resolved before the Clock could be changed. The closest it's been was 2 minutes to midnight from 1953-1960 while the farthest was 17 minutes from 1991-1995. It was most recently set at six minutes to midnight in January 2010 to recognize worldwide efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and reduce the effects of climate change. This marks the first time the clock has been moved back since 1991.

The DoomsdayClock is a symbolic clock face maintained by the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' at the University of Chicago. When it was originally introduced [[ColdWar in 1947]] the clock symbolized how close the world was to nuclear war but since [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp the fall of the Iron Curtain]] it has expanded to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt catastrophic destruction]] of any sort, provided it's on a global scale; the ''Bulletin'''s website specifically mentions GlobalWarming and [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke bioengineering]] as possible causes in addition to nuclear war. DoomsdayClock is a very real and very eerie example of WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve and as such, it has received nods by several works.

[[caption-width-right:298:At its highest point (1991), it was 17 minutes to midnight; at [[CubanMissileCrisis its lowest (1962)]], it was 2 minutes. As of December 2010, it is six minutes until midnight.]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doomsday-clock.jpg

->''"And WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve tell me where ya gonna be?''
->''Cleaning up the mess we've made or watching your TV?"''
-->-- '''Billy Talent''', ''Turn Your Back''

!!Examples

[[folder:Comics]]

* The ''{{Heroes}}'' episode ''Seven to Midnight'' revolved around stopping a nuclear bomb from going off in NewYorkCity. At the time it was aired the clock stood at seven minutes.

[[folder:Movies]]
* Dr.Strangelove - How I learnt to stop worrying and love the bomb has this
[[/folder]]

* One episode of AdventuresOfTheGummiBears featured a DoomsdayClock built by an evil sorcerer.