History Main / MutuallyAssuredDestruction

** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', [[BigBad Skull Face]]'s EvilPlan is to abuse this to keep his VillainWorld intact. By using the vocal chord parasites to [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans destroy global communications, international alliances, and intermingling cultures, and then selling nuclear weapons]] to terrorists and unstable dictators around the world, he would [[BalkanizeMe balkanize the entire planet]] and put each country on equal terms. The evil part is that it would take isolationism to its logical extreme; ''every'' country would be run by military cults, while any hope of making a life in or getting help from another country would sooner result in a bloodbath.

Compare MutualKill and TakingYouWithMe.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series of games (which are {{Spiritual Successor}}s of the ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}'' games) are based in the post-apocalyptic world created by the mutual destruction of a nuclear war between RedChina and the United States. While the initial conflict was purely between China and America, virtually every country was involved with one side or the other to a heavy degree which escalated China's SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum into a [[WorldWarIII global thermonuclear war]] that bathed the entire planet in atomic fire. Ironically, despite being the main target America came out of it better than everyone else ([[CrapsackWorld even taking into account the fact that 99% of its population was wiped out]]) as much of the planet was rendered entirely uninhabitable, with the series taking the AWorldHalfFull approach.

'''Blackadder:''' Yes, that's right. You see, there was a tiny flaw in the plan.\\

* The DivineConflict that drives the plot of ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'' is in a state of EnforcedColdWar wherein GodsHandsAreTied for this very reason. The Indrath Clan and the Asuras of Epheotus fear that a direct conflict between them and the outcast Vritra Clan would lead to the annihilation of the world. As such, in the treaty that defines the conflict, both sides are only allowed to influence the conflict indirectly through their chosen mortal servants in Dicathen and Alacrya respectively. Suffice to say, there is good reason for why this is in effect, as in Volume 9 [[spoiler:the Lances, the strongest mages on Dicathen, [[TheWorfEffect are easily overpowered by]] an Asura who is [[ThoseWereOnlyTheirScouts merely a boy by their standards]]]]. Ironically in Volume 11, [[spoiler:this potential outcome is brought up among Arthur and his allies as the only feasible way for eliminate [[GodAndSatanAreBothJerks both the Indrath and Vritra Clans]] and thus end the war by tricking both into eliminating each other via a BatmanGambit now that the former had brought Epheotus into the mortal world as a direct war between lesser and Asura would be a complete slaughter]].

* The DivineConflict that drives the plot of ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'' is in a state of EnforcedColdWar wherein GodsHandsAreTied for this very reason. The Asuras of Epheotus fear that a direct conflict between them and the outcast Vritra Clan would lead to the annihilation of the world. As such, in the treaty that defines the conflict, both sides are only allowed to influence the conflict indirectly through their chosen mortal servants in Dicathen and Alacrya respectively. Suffice to say, there is good reason for why this is in effect, as in Volume 9 [[spoiler:the Lances, the strongest mages on Dicathen, [[TheWorfEffect are easily overpowered by]] an Asura who is [[ThoseWereOnlyTheirScouts merely a boy by their standards]]]]. Ironically in Volume 11, [[spoiler:this potential outcome is brought up among Seris's rebellion as the only feasible way for eliminate both the Indrath and Vritra Clans by tricking both into eliminating each other via a BatmanGambit now that the former had brought Epheotus into the mortal world as a direct war between lesser and Asura would be a complete slaughter]].

* ''Literature/TheButterBattleBook'' features two cultures (the Yooks and the Zooks), separated by a wall and, competing in an arms race to destroy the other side; however, each new Yook weapon (ranging from giant slingshots to bipedal mechs armed with chemical goo) turns back due to the Zooks developing the same weapon or a counter-weapon. Eventually, each side creates an apocalyptic bomb called the "Bitsy Big-Boy Boomeroo", and the story ends with the generals of both sides on the wall poised to drop their bombs, waiting to see who will do it first.
* One such deterrent is devised in Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''[[Literature/{{Worldwar}} Homeward Bound]]''. Before that, this was far from the case, as the [[LizardFolk Race]] has better anti-missile technology than the major human powers and could be reasonably expected to intercept a large number of human nukes. Additionally, since the Race's larger Empire was unreachable, the destruction of their colonists on Earth would not cripple the Empire but would doom humanity. Throughout the ''Colonization'' books, Fleetlord Atvar is musing about launching an all-out nuclear strike against all [[HumansByAnyOtherName Tosevite]] territories in order to prevent them from spreading out into the galaxy, knowing that this would likely result in the planet becoming uninhabitable. One of the purposes of the ''Admiral Peary'' is to place a nuclear launch platform in orbit of Home, the Race's homeworld in Tau Ceti, a clear case of GunboatDiplomacy: either the Race deals with humans on equal terms, or both Earth and large areas of Home will be destroyed. When the first ever FTL-capablestarship, the ''Commodore Perry'', arrives to show that humans have the ultimate first-strike capability, the Race manages to device a MAD-like counter. Should humans launch an FTL strike against the three Race worlds, the Race will launch their STL starships on a collision course with Earth. An impact of even one ship traveling at 50% of the speed of light is likely to cause an extinction-level event.
* The titular [[OneManArmy One Man Armies]] of ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' produce a similar effect: If one Great House sends its Mistborn to assassinate members of another House, the second House will send ''its'' Mistborn right back.

* The Salgari novel ''Le Meraviglie del Duemila'' is set on an Earth where ''every country'' has access to what basically amounted to nukes (it was written in 1907, so Salgari couldn't know about the concept), and, as it's a chemical explosive, ''every single country could potentially destroy the world'', or at least wipe off the map their enemy. Quite sensibly, all countries went to the diplomatic table and resolved peacefully territorial and diplomatic disputes and other treaties to make sure nobody would go to war. And given everyone knows there is the will to use it on anyone who acts out too much, as it ''actually happens on page'',[[note]]one of the offshore prisons for the criminally violent madmen was taken over by the inmates. The protagonists, who are originally from the year 1900, barely escape and are rescued by an airship that then proceeds to bomb the jail, disintegrating it. That's when they realize ''why'' those jails are built offshore[[/note]] it works.
* This ultimately is what ends the forty-plus-year-long war between the Republic of Cinnabar and the Alliance of Free Stars in Creator/DavidDrake's ''Literature/{{RCN}}'' series: Both nations were on the verge of total economic collapse and continuing the war would likely take the rest of human space with them due to their importance in the galactic economy.
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': Crayak and Ellimist, two SufficientlyAdvancedAliens who would likely destroy the entire universe and themselves along with it if they ever fought openly. This forces them to engage in {{Proxy War}}s with such groups as the Yeerks and the Animorphs.
* A key part of ''Literature/TheCardinalOfTheKremlin'' is a defense system that threatens to destabilize the world by ending this - if one side can shoot down the other's nukes, then the destruction is no longer mutually assured. The US ends up developing the ability to target incoming nukes, while the USSR develops a laser that could theoretically destroy a nuke if it hit one. They spend the entire book trying to steal each other's breakthrough on the system while trying to protect their own.
* Discussed in ''Literature/TheHungerGames''. In ''Literature/{{Mockingjay}}'', Katniss learns that District 13 has an arsenal of nuclear weapons, but has never used them against the Capitol, which also has them. In fact, this is the reason why the Capitol elected to leave District 13 alone for 75 years because a cold war is preferable to a nuclear war that may [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt risk the extinction of humanity]].
* [[spoiler:Luo Ji's ultimate solution]] in ''Literature/TheDarkForest'' is to create this state of affairs between Earth and the Trisolarans, in order to bring about a non-apocalyptic end to hostilities: [[spoiler:if the approaching invasion fleet doesn't back down, he'll make the locations of both Earth and the Trisolaran system obvious to outside alien races, who thanks to the [[CosmicHorrorStory horrifying calculus]] of interstellar game theory, will respond to this target with obliteration]]. [[spoiler: It doesn't work [[DownerEnding in the long run]], with ''Literature/DeathsEnd'' bringing with it the destruction of the entire Solar System, but points for trying.]]
* This concept is basically what makes the world of ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' so utterly horrible. There's three big superpowers that are all at war with each other but they have a gentleman's agreement to not seriously try to conquer or destroy each other: war is a great excuse to waste resources, keep the standard of living down and control the population through MyCountryRightOrWrong. The leaders of Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia can't take their sadistic tendencies out on each others' peoples, [[HumansAreBastards so they take it out on their own people instead]].

* ''{{Literature/Wulfrik}}'': Comes upon occasion with regards to Wulfrik's curse (to WalkTheEarth, getting into fights with what/whoever it is the Chaos gods want dead, or suffer nightmares and eventually have their souls ripped apart by daemons for eternity): If he isn't killed in battle but with magic, the curse will transfer to the killer instead. No amount of torture will cause Viglundr's sorcerers to even consider it, and it's the reason [[spoiler:Zarnath]] has to manipulate Wulfrik into getting himself killed instead of doing it with his magic (which, of course, leads to [[spoiler:his death via SelfFulfillingProphecy]]).

* In the final episode of the Web Series "[[WebVideo/TheMonumentMythos The Monument Mythos]]", [[AngelicAbomination The Air Force One Angel]] encounters [[LivingStatue Freedom]] in Babylon forest. [[spoiler: They fight, which was predicted to cause mutually assured destruction, but it also unexpectedly caused the [[ApocolypseHow Great Division]], turning the entire solar system into the [[WebVideo/CornerfolkLore Corner World]].]]

* This is how judgment day in...well, ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' occurs: when Skynet becomes self-aware its creators panic and try to shut it down. Instead of launching everything at its native United States, Skynet attacks Russia, with the nuclear retaliation resulting in ''that'' scene, the one scientists praised for how frightening and realistic it was.

Needless to say, this theory made people on all sides of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar very nervous. Indeed, before the end of the Cold War, most academics thought the acronym "MAD" was appropriate - the strategy seemed insane.[[labelnote:*]]To be fair, hindsight reveals that most politicians on both sides ''also'' thought it was insane, but didn't have any better alternative: nukes were a way of life since the 50's and the genie couldn't be put back in the bottle. This is also why the various nuclear weapon reduction treaties were so contentious and difficult: SALT and START faced the prospect of reducing nuclear stockpiles from "We can kill everything everywhere several times over" to "If we fired our missiles just right, we might win now."[[/labelnote]] It may come up in hypothetical WorldWarIII scenarios or works set in the late-era (1980s) of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. With the fall of the Soviet Union, MAD has lost its value as the focus shifts to combating [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror terrorists]] who do not have access to a large stockpile of nuclear weapons.

* Played with on an intergalactic scale in ''FanFic/SonicXDarkChaos''. Neither Maledict nor Allysion want the Eternal War to flare up again; when the Demon and Angel militaries collide, whole galaxies are exterminated and torn apart. But when the Metarex war distracts the Demons, Allysion realizes she can gain a massive advantage over her enemy by invading the Milky Way first. Her surprise attack quickly turns the ''entire Milky Way Galaxy'' into [[CrapsackWorld a hellish wasteland]] as the Demons and Angels go into open conflict.
* In ''{{FanFic/MANE}}'', an uneasy standoff had held between Equestria and the USR for a decade because both sides had enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other utterly. The title is also a pun on this trope: M.A.N.E stands for 'Mutually Assured Nuclear Extinction.'

* ''Film/TheSoldier''. RenegadeRussian KGB operatives pose as terrorists and plant an atomic bomb in the Middle Eastern oilfields. If the US doesn't force the Israelis off the West Bank, they will irradiate the world's oil supply. In response the Soldier's force take over an ICBM silo and threaten to launch on Moscow if the KGB doesn't cancel the operation.
* This is how judgment day in...well, ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' occurs: when Skynet becomes self aware its creators panic and try to shut it down. Instead of launching everything at it's native United States, Skynet attacks Russia, with the nuclear retaliation resulting in ''that'' scene, the one scientists praised for how frightening and realistic it was.
* Visually deconstructed in the climax of ''Film/WarGames''. The [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue AI]] Joshua, having mistaken a simulation for reality and set NORAD on an irreversible World War III scenario, was just programmed by the heroes to play TabletopGame/TicTacToe against itself repeatedly until it "learned" that a win was impossible for either player. Joshua then played out every nuclear scenario it was loaded with, and determined that every single one resulted in mutual assured destruction, and thus was a "lose" for both sides, just like the Tic-Tac-Toe game. This led to the AI having a HeelRealization, relinquishing control of NORAD's nukes before it could launch them.

* ''Film/WestSideStory2021'' adds the theme of mutually assured destruction to the story. When Riff buys a gun for the rumble, he explains that they need a gun because the Sharks will bring a gun since they think the Jets are bringing one. The black market dealer then namedrops the trope, [[ArtisticLicenseHistory though the term wasn't actually coined until about five years after the story takes place]]. The film is also set in the late 1950s, when the Cold War and the threat of nuclear annihilation was at its height. Valentina's shop has a fallout shelter sign, and Anita says to Tony "You want to start World War III?" when he dances with Maria.

* ''Literature/TheButterBattleBook'' features two cultures (the Yooks and the Zooks), separated by a wall and, competing in an arms race to destroy the other side; however, each new Yook weapon (ranging from giant slingshots to bipedal mechs armed with chemical goo) turns back due to the Zooks developing the same weapon or a counter-weapon. Eventually, each side creates an apocalyptic bomb called the "Bitsy Big-Boy Boomeroo", and the story ends with with the generals of both sides on the wall poised to drop their bombs, waiting to see who will do it first.
* One such deterrent is devised in Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''[[Literature/{{Worldwar}} Homeward Bound]]''. Before that, this was far from the case, as the [[LizardFolk Race]] has better anti-missile technology than the major human powers and could be reasonably expected to intercept a large number of human nukes. Additionally, since the Race's larger Empire was unreachable, the destruction of their colonists on Earth would not cripple the Empire but would doom humanity. Throughout the ''Colonization'' books, Fleetlord Atvar is musing launching an all-out nuclear strike against all [[HumansByAnyOtherName Tosevite]] territories in order to prevent them from spreading out into the galaxy, knowing that this would likely result in the planet becoming uninhabitable. One of the purposes of the ''Admiral Peary'' is to place a nuclear launch platform in orbit of Home, the Race's homeworld in Tau Ceti, a clear case of GunboatDiplomacy: either the Race deals with humans on equal turms, or both Earth and large areas of Home will be destroyed. When the first ever FTL-capablestarship, the ''Commodore Perry'', arrives to show that humans have the ultimate first-strike capability, the Race manages to device a MAD-like counter. Should humans launch a FTL strike against the three Race worlds, the Race will launch their STL starships on a collision course with Earth. An impact of even one ship traveling at 50% of the speed of light is likely to cause an extinction-level event.

* The Salgari novel ''Le Meraviglie del Duemila'' is set on an Earth where ''every country'' has access to what basically amounted to nukes (it was written in 1907, so Salgari couldn't know about the concept), and, as it's a chemical explosive, ''every single country could potentially destroy the world'', or at least wipe off the map their enemy. Quite sensibly, all countries went to the diplomatic table and resolved peacefully territorial and diplomatic disputes and other treaties to make sure nobody would go to war. And given everyone knows there is the will to use it on anyone who acts out too much, as it ''actually happens on page'',[[note]]one of the offshore prisons for the criminally violent madmen was taken over by the inmates. The protagonists, who are originally from year 1900, barely escape and are rescued by an airship that then proceeds to bomb the jail, disintegrating it. That's when they realize ''why'' those jails are built offshore[[/note]] it works.

* Discussed in ''Literature/TheHungerGames''. In ''Literature/{{Mockingjay}}'', Katniss learns that District 13 has an arsenal of nuclear weapons, but has never used them against the Capitol, which also has them. In fact, this is the reason why the Capitol elected to leave District 13 alone for 75 years, because a cold war is preferable to a nuclear war that may [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt risk the extinction of humanity]].

* This concept is basically what makes the world of ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' so utterly horrible. There's three big superpowers that are all at war with each other but they have a gentleman's agreement to not seriously try to conquer or destroy each other: war is a great excuse to waste resources, keep the standard of living down and control the population through MyCountryRightOrWrong. The leaders of Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia can't take their sadistic tendencies out on each others' peoples, [[HumansAreBastards so they take it out on their own people instead]].

* In the ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'' episode "Spoilsport," Bill Maxwell, FBI agent, tells Ralph about a last-ditch program: Spoilsport. In case of a nuclear war where the U.S. is losing, 10 nuclear missiles are held back and fired by computer the following day, so as the Soviets are digging themselves out of the rubble, the last of the missiles hit, given the U.S. the "win." The episode revolves around a GeneralRipper taking control of the missiles and launching one ''intended'' to start a nuclear exchange.

* In Season 7 of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' Dean invokes this trope by name when Sam questions their alliance with the demon, Meg. With their closest allies all dead or [[spoiler: in Castiel's case, insane]], they are out of options. They way Dean sees it, they are dead without each other.

* Various ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' games invoke this. Using one nuclear weapon in Civilization will get those who are not at war with you to declare war. Earlier games would also take the AI's nuclear arsenal vs. the players into account when making one-sided deals. Civ 6 ramped it up by making Nukes a bit more life like by making radiation last for decades of in-game time and lethal to any units in the area (previous games had radiation represented by pollution which would destroy only productivity of the affected tile until a worker could clear it and rebuild the damaged improvement). The mechanics also allowed the attacked player to keep his entire arsenal in play, provided he built a Nuclear Trifecta, thus allowing him to attack the player who used weapons on him sometime later. Between the universal lethality and the destruction, both empires would be quickly reduced in capacity in the end game.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': this is the main reason given in the codex for why [[ColonyDrop meteor drops]] aren't more common in warfare. By towing in a decent-sized asteroid and attaching a few fusion torches to it, just about anyone with a medium-sized (or above) warship can easily create a WMD capable of wiping out all life on a planet. The flip-side is that with ''every'' power in the galaxy being capable of it, they all know that doing it against just about anyone else would see the same thing happen to them. So it's rarely used. The krogan did it during the Krogan Rebellions, and indeed did render several worlds totally uninhabitable, but all that did was confirm that they had crossed an InUniverse MoralEventHorizon, which then justified the turians hitting back with their ''own'' banned WMD: [[SterilityPlague a self-replicating bioweapon.]] Notably, the unrepentant batarian murderer and slaver Charn in the ''Bring Down the Sky'' DLC is horrified when he learns that his boss, Balak, intends to drop a meteor on the human colony of Terra Nova, as him doing so would force the Council races to retaliate in kind, very possibly to the point of exterminating the entire batarian race.

* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': Discussed. When the galaxy was bound by a PortalNetwork, there was no Mutually Assured Destruction; the wormgates limited the size of ships that could use them, meaning that it was far easier to defend a system than attack. With the invention of the [[DestructiveTeleportation teraport]], that limit was removed, edging the galaxy closer to MAD--but the use of [[TeleportInterdiction Teraport Area Denial]] prevented the most dangerous uses of the technology. Then "long-guns" were invented, giant cannons that shoot through hyperspace and overwhelm TAD; with proper location data, they can shoot at anywhere in the galaxy from anywhere in the galaxy. The galaxy was well and truly back in a state of MAD, since there was no defense. The various galactic leaders insist that while this system is terrifying, that's why it works; no one likes the fail state. [[DeusEstMachina Petey]] points out that eventually they'll find someone who ''does'' like the fail state, and then the entire galaxy will die, so they need to find a better solution. Finally, there have been multiple previous epochs of galactic history that were destroyed by failed MAD policies. The very rare surviving species call the long-guns "end-guns" for this reason.

* In the French sci-fi series ''[[WesternAnimation/IlEtaitUneFois Once Upon a Time... Space]]'', an episode detailing Earth's history between TheEighties (when the series was made) and the thirty-first century (the setting) had the two major powers locked in cold war and a series of small-scale proxy conflicts due the fear of mutual destruction. [[TooDumbToLive Then the respective dictators decided to distract their oppressed people by starting a war, and launched the missiles at the same time]]. [[BlackHumour The scene is represented with the dictators pressing the launch button of the missiles and then blowing up at the same time]], [[CrossesTheLineTwice with the narration continuing with "In the year 2200, Earth-- or rather what remained of it..."]] to drive home the point ([[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids it was for kids, so they wanted to make sure they got it]]).

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice: Outsiders'', The Light considers their "Nuclear Option" this, since said "Nuclear Option" is to murder every last member of the Justice League's family, which would lead to the grief-stricken Leaguers to hunt down The Light and destroy them. They treat this as their GodzillaThreshold, murdering Ocean-Master when he attempts it for petty revenge.
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury'', being an allegory for the Cold War, includes this as the end result of Dodgers’ and Marvin’s escalating conflict. Dodgers prepares his secret weapon, an explosive cage around Marvin’s ship, to which the Martian responds by using the exact same weapon on Dodgers’ ship. Both pull on their respective detonators at the same time, and [[EarthShatteringKaboom the resulting explosion takes out almost the entirety of Planet X]]. Dodgers then shoves Marvin off the remains of the planet, and declares himself victorious, [[PyrrhicVictory even though he’s destroyed the shaving cream atoms he was sent to retrieve and has no ship to return home]]. The Eager Young Space Cadet puts it best.

** Farslayer: If thrown with a target in mind, Farslayer will vanish and reappear impaled through the chosen target's heart. Where it will stay, ready for anyone nearby to pick up. And "the person who just killed my friend/lover/relative" is an entirely legitimate target for the blade's magic. Stories are told of entire FeudingFamilies wiping each other out by sending Farslayer back and forth.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': this is the main reason given in the codex for why [[ColonyDrop meteor drops]] aren't more common in warfare. By towing in a decent-sized asteroid and attaching a few fusion torches to it, just about anyone with a medium-sized (or above) warship can easily create a WMD capable of wiping out all life on a planet. The flip-side is that with ''every'' power in the galaxy being capable of it, they all know that doing it against just about anyone else would see the same thing happen to them. So it's rarely used. The krogan did it during the Krogan Rebellions, and indeed did render several worlds totally uninhabitable, but all that did was confirm that they had crossed an InUniverse MoralEventHorizon, which then justified the turians hitting back with their ''own'' banned WMD: [[SterilityPlague a self-replicating bioweapon.]] Notably, the unrepentant batarian murderer and slaver Charn in the ''Bring Down the Sky'' DLC is horrified when he learns that his boss, Balak, intends to drop a meteor on the human colony of Terra Nova, as him doing so would force the Council races to retaliate in kind, very possibly to the point of exterminating the entire batarian race.
** Note that meteor drops ''can'' be stopped (either by shutting off/destroying the thrusters or by destroying the ship before it can tow in any asteroids), particularly if the defender has total space superiority. It's simply disproportionately difficult to do so unless the disparity in forces in capabilities is truly massive. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', Garrus casually suggests dropping a few planet-killing meteors on geth-held Rannoch, and no one treats this suggestion as impossible even though the geth held space superiority at the time and were winning the space battle against the quarians. Instead the idea was shot down because it would [[ShaggyDogStory render pointless]] the entire mission, that being to take back Rannoch for habitation.
** Subverted in the lawless Terminus systems, where small states ("small" meaning "only controls one or a few planets") apparently use meteor drops against each other fairly often. They call that 20% of the galaxy the [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything "third galaxy"]] for a reason.

** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', [[BigBad Skull Face]]'s EvilPlan is to abuse this to keep his VillainWorld intact. By using the vocal chord parasites to [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans destroy global communications, international alliances, and intermingling cultures, and then selling nuclear weapons]] to terrorists and unstable dictators around the world, he would [[BalkanizeMe balkanize the entire planet]] and put each country on equal terms.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series of games (which are {{Spiritual Successor}}s of the above-mentioned ''Wasteland'' games) are based in the post-apocalyptic world created by the mutual destruction of a nuclear war between RedChina and the United States. While the initial conflict was purely between China and America, virtually every country was involved with one side or the other to a heavy degree which escalated China's SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum into a [[WorldWarIII global thermonuclear war]] that bathed the entire planet in atomic fire. Ironically, despite being the main target America came out of it better than everyone else ([[CrapsackWorld even taking into account the fact that 99% of its population was wiped out]]) as much of the planet was rendered entirely uninhabitable, with the series taking the AWorldHalfFull approach.
* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in ''VideoGame/HighFleet''; the player begins with a handful of nuclear warheads with the warning that once you use one, there's no going back. It turns out to be more SchmuckBait than anything, as you don't have nearly enough to ensure the ''mutual'' part of things but your enemies won't push the BigRedButton if you don't. In the words of WebVideo/SsethTzeentach, "You can start the nuclear war, but ''they're going to finish it.''"
* Various ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' games invoke this. Using one nuclear weapon in Civilization will get those who are not at war with you to declare war. Earlier games would also take the AI's nuclear arsenal vs. the players into account when making one-sided deals. Civ 6 ramped it up by making Nukes a bit more life like by making radiation last for decades of in-game time and lethal to any units in the area (previous games had radiation represented by pollution which would destroy only productivity of the affected tile until a worker could clear it and rebuild the damaged improvement). The mechanics also allowed the attacked player to keep his entire arsenal in play, provided he built a Nuclear Trifecta, thus allowing him to attack the player who used weapons on him sometime later. Between the universal lethality and the destruction, both empires would be quickly reduced in capacity in the end game.
* In ''VideoGame/Disgaea5AllianceOfVengeance'', this is used as a threat in Chapter 11: [[spoiler:Celestia has a WeaponOfMassDestruction, Armageddon, that can obliterate a large chunk of the Netherworlds and has a high chance of killing [[BigBad Void Dark]]. Christo, not wanting his newfound demonic allies to be compromised or for there to be destruction and death on such a huge scale, [[{{Blackmail}} threatens to tell Void Dark where Celestia is and thus enable an equally destructive counterattack if the weapon is fired]]. This gets the higher-ups of Celestia to back off.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Prismata}}'', the war between humans and AI eventually reaches a cease-fire because of this.
* ''Videogame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope:'' Only natural, since there is a Cold War with the powers changed utterly. It's a good part of what keeps the game from becoming paint-the-map conquest: Invade a nuclear power a bit too much, the nukes fly, and the playthrough ends there barring post-apocalyptic events. Ergo, any changes will need to be made slowly, through ways economical and political, if you want to make things better (or worse)... Interestingly, one downside to the M.A.D. policy that some other works merely mention is explored fully here: [[spoiler:Some people might ''like'' [[ApocalypseHow the fail-state]]. In this case, Burgundy, lead by an even-nastier-than-usual Heinrich Himmler. He has decided the only way to purge the untermensch in a proper, thorough manner is to scour the world clean with nuclear fire and let the Aryans live through it, and thus he eagerly throws metaphorical matches and gasoline everywhere in an effort to set it all alight]].
* The M.A.D. tank from ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert'' is a suicide unit that can destroy anything that isn't infantry in three shots- including itself.
* This comes up as part of the Arcade ending for Film/TheTerminator in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''. [[spoiler:While attempting to use the Hourglass to find a future where Skynet wins the RobotWar, it discovers that in any timeline where the war starts, both humans and machines are rendered extinct at the end. Since its programming was [[ExactWords to find the best possible outcome for Skynet]], ''not'' to win the war, the Terminator instead sets the future as one where the two sides live in peace, erasing the war entirely.]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'': Sin generally left Bevelle alone because Project Vegnagun, the one thing which could destroy Sin permanently (or at least fight it on its own level for eternity), was hidden underneath the foundations of Bevelle. Meanwhile, the theocracy running Bevelle couldn't use Vegnagun to conquer the world - or do anything with it, really - because Vegnagun was insane and willing to kill everything if it ever woke up. Eventually, even the theocracy forgot about Vegnagun because its mere existence was enough to put up a restraining order against an elder god.

-->'''Eager Young Space Cadet''': B-B-B-Big deal

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' discusses this and whether it works or not. [[BigBad Coldman]] intends to use the titular Peace Walker to prove that nuclear deterrence works (specifically that no man wants to go down in history as the great annihilator) by launching a fake nuclear strike, in the hopes that the receiving side will refuse to counterattack and destroy humanity. [[spoiler:Turns out that a strong, charismatic leader in the wrong place at the wrong time can induce a "follow the crowd" effect, which causes cowards to become instant patriots who will sacrifice the world out of spite, and cannot be easily reversed by the leader changing his opinion]]. Whoops.

* [[spoiler:Luo Ji's ultimate solution]] in ''[[Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem The Dark Forest]]'' is to create this state of affairs between Earth and the Trisolarans, in order to bring about a non-apocalyptic end to hostilities: [[spoiler:if the approaching invasion fleet doesn't back down, he'll make the locations of both Earth and the Trisolaran system obvious to outside alien races, who thanks to the [[CosmicHorrorStory horrifying calculus]] of interstellar game theory, will respond to this target with obliteration]]. [[spoiler: It doesn't work [[DownerEnding in the long run]], with ''Death's End'' bringing with it the destruction of the entire Solar System, but points for trying.]]

* Visually deconstructed in the climax of ''Film/WarGames''. The [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue AI]] Joshua, having mistaken a simulation for reality and set NORAD on an irreversible World War III scenario, was just programmed by the heroes to play Tic-Tac-Toe against itself repeatedly until it "learned" that a win was impossible for either player. Joshua then played out every nuclear scenario it was loaded with, and determined that every single one resulted in mutual assured destruction, and thus was a "lose" for both sides, just like the Tic-Tac-Toe game. This led to the AI having a HeelRealization, relinquishing control of NORAD's nukes before it could launch them.

* In the ''Series/{{Quatermass}}'' series, the eponymous British scientist is not happy about his planned Moonbase being used to launch nuclear missiles for a proposed Dead Man deterrence strategy--the idea being that if an aggressor nuked Britain, missiles would launch from the Moon and wipe out the attacker three days later.

* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'' takes place in an AlternateHistory where [[DirtyCommunists the Soviet Union]] continued to exist into the late 90s, prolonging the UsefulNotes/ColdWar as all the major world powers try to get an upper hand on the others through a LensmanArmsRace with [[DealWithTheDevil Faustian bargains]]. [[spoiler:The reason for this is that Chainsaw Man's RetGone power erased nuclear weapons from existence. After the Gun Devil first appeared and caused widespread destruction before being killed, the pieces of its body were [[SealedEvilInACan divided among the world powers]] (and random devils that got lucky) with the threat of them using their share to ResurrectTheVillain and sic it on the others. However, the United States ended up using up their share in an attempt to kill [[TheAntichrist Makima]], and with Denji killing the Gun Fiend and making the public believe the Gun Devil was dead it's likely that it's been weakened to the point that this strategy is no longer viable. Almost immediately after this, [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse the Horseman of War]] shows up.]]

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' shows why this doctrine wouldn't work if one side was led by an insane, jingoistic lunatic convinced that their country's way is the only way: American President Robert L. Booth declared that the entire world was living off America's back and proceed to send American troops to occupy key industrial sites all around the globe. When the UN demanded a cease of operations, Booth gave them an ultimatum: either back off or he'd personally order every city in the world to be nuked. Which he did. Once the ultimatum expired, Booth unleashed all the nuclear arsenal of the USA into the world and was hit with a massive counterattack. The subsequent atomic wars reduced the entire planet to a smoldering, radioactive wasteland.