History Main / SaveTheWorldClimax

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': The titular character starts out just trying to kill the local vampires, but quickly starts having to thwart the attempts of an old, powerful vampire, the Master, who is trying to get out of the magical cage he is trapped in. By the end of the season, she has to stop the Master from opening the Hellmouth, and act which would lead to a flood of demons entering the world and destroying all human life. The second season escalates the threat from "just" loss of all human life to loss of the very existence of the world.

It doesn't matter what the party's original goals were (or those of its members); they're going to end up SavingTheWorld from an unstoppable, inconceivable threat - and since YouCantThwartStageOne, they will only defeat said threat only when the world is right on the brink of doom.

* ''Radio/BleakExpectations'' starts out as a straightforward (if often surreal) parody of CharlesDickens' life stories such as ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' or ''DavidCopperfield''. Thanks to SerialEscalation, by series two the antagonist has [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons crossed the line from everyday villainy to cartoonish supervillainy]], and in the SeasonFinale the hero has to save the world from an AlienInvasion.

* The ''{{Pokemon}}'' games, at least since Gen III, barring most of the remakes. It always starts out as some kid leaving their small town on a journey ToBeAMaster, and escalates to them saving the world from the regional criminal organization who plans on TakingOverTheWorld (or reshaping it) using the version's indicated legendary pokemon. Gen IV ups the ante, where the protagonist is forced to intervene in order to save ''all of existence''.
** The ''{{Pokemon Mystery Dungeon}}'' games are no different, always beginning with you helping your partner to chase their dreams, then eventually revealing you're a ChosenOne who needs stop some manner of world-ending crisis.

* ''LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' goes from Luigi having to prevent Ghosts from causing chaos in Evershade Valley to stopping the entire dimension from collapsing.

* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'': What started as three disgraced ex-graduates with a plan for a ZanyScheme ended with four heroes staring down an ancient god of destruction...''and winning''.

* In ''[[VideoGame/StreetPassMiiPlaza Ultimate Angler/StreetPass Fishing]]'', formostof the game, your objective is to [[GottaCatchEmAll catch as many species of aquatic animals as you can]], with the occasional mysterious specimen to give to a local marine biologist for study. The final thing to fish up, however, is a [[spoiler:flying saucer belonging to an extraterrestrial who had crash-landed into the ocean and had been stuck down there. He was about to eliminate humanity out of frustration until you rescue him by fishing up his spaceship and said marine biologist fixes it so he can leave.]] Hence, by fishing it up, you inadvertently save the world.

* The ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' GrandFinale, ''The Golden Goose'', starts out with tussle between Scrooge and Glomgold over the cursed artifact (which can turn anything it's beak touches into gold, with the right magic word). The story escalates when the Golden Goose sets off the "golden death" - and Scrooge must return the goose to it's magic fountain before the entire world turns to gold!"

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': The show starts with two brothers hunting ghosts, werewolves and other supernatural creatures in the US while looking for their father. In the fifth season, they're trying to prevent the Biblical Apocalypse from occurring.

** Oh, and before I forget, the damsel in distress that Luke totally open-mouth-tongue kisses is actually his twin sister and the BigBad is his biological father.

* Part 6 of ''JojosBizarreAdventure'' follows this. It starts as a prison drama about an inmate trying to reclaim her father's memories, then becomes a race to prevent a crazy priest from resetting the universe. [[spoiler: They fail.]]

* ''Film/{{Star Wars}}'': Luke Skywalker is your average moisture farmer living in the dusty ass-end of nowhere when BAM! This random astromech droid starts playing back a message from a princess in need of saving from the BigBad. Being the impressionable young man he is, Luke embarks on a mission to rescue the {{Damsel in Distress}} and maybe discover something about himself aling the way. Simple, right? Wrong. Before Luke has time to say [[{{OncePerEpisode}} 'I've got a bad feeling about this']], he's undertaking a [[{{LaResistance}} pivotal role in the war to overthrow]] the [[{{TheEmpire}} evil Empire]] and confront his destiny to decide the final battle between Good and Evil.

* ''{{Ghostbusters}}'': What started as three disgraced ex-graduates with a plan for a ZanyScheme ended with four heroes staring down an ancient god of destruction...''and winning''.

* The ''{{Pokemon}}'' games, at least since Gen III, barring most of the remakes. It always starts out as some kid leaving their small town on a journey ToBecomeAMaster, and escalates to them saving the world from the regional criminal organization who plans on TakingOverTheWorld (or reshaping it) using the version's indicated legendary pokemon. Gen IV ups the ante, where the protagonist is forced to intervene in order to save ''all of existence''.

* ''{{Ghostbusters}}'': What started as three disgraced ex-graduates with a plan for a ZanyScheme ended with four heroes staring down an ancient god of destruction...''and winning''. [[Ghostbusters2 Three]] [[GhostbustersTheVideoGame times]], in fact.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' starts off with a group of friends discovering the (supernatural and thus unprovable) MO of a SerialKiller and resolving to catch him. If you manage to unlock the true ending it turns out [[spoiler: to be a conspiracy by an EldritchAbomination (disguised as [[MilkmanConspiracy a gas station attendant]]) to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]].