History Main / ShatteredWorld

** Argus in ''Legion'' is partway to this trope as entire fragments have either been pulled free or sunken into the surface due to the Legion's strip mining. Mac'aree in particular floats high above the reset of the surface.
*** Many Legion outposts are nothing more than blasted rock floating in the Twisting Nether.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': In [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E11TheProtectorOfConcordDawn "The Protector of Concord Dawn"]], a rather large portion of the planet Concord Dawn is trailing behind the planet proper as an asteroid field, as a direct result of the numerous wars fought by the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Mandalorians]] that live there.

* The [=PS2=] game ''VideoGame/{{Vexx}}'' was set on an exploded planet, various parts of which are scattered across the sky, with each level being a different one. there is a definite downwards direction, with it being possible (and infuriatingly easy) to fall off the edge.

* As the result of an oversight in ''Franchise/MasterOfOrion'' 3, the AI always bombards planets from space before dropping troops to invade. Once a computer-controlled empire develops planet-destroying weapons, it becomes incapable of ever conquering colonies since it always blows them up first.

* Much like ''Sonic Unleashed'' (see Video Games), ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' has a long-running storyline where Dr. Eggman inadvertently causes the entire planet to shatter to pieces, meaning the heroes have to try and restore it.

* The Triceraton homeworld in ''Comicbook/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|Mirage}}'' is one of these. After the planet exploded, the Triceratons converted the different chunks into FloatingContinent spaceships, which now comprise the backbone of the Triceraton fleet.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons:''

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''

* The Great Spiral in ''VideoGame/{{Wizard 101}}'' is one of these held in a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin spiral]]. Each island rock or rock cluster is called a world with a unique theme and races. Transport between the worlds of the spiral happens through {{Cool Gate}}s.

** The same Spiral is also the setting of its sister game ''VideoGame/{{Pirate101}}''. Here inter-world transport isn't through stylized doors. Pirates instead use [[OurWormholesAreDifferent giant sky whirlpools]].

* The Albion system in ''Videogame/XRebirth'' (which first appeared in ''[[Videogame/{{X}} X3: Albion Prelude]]'') has a rocky planet that has been shattered into a dozen massive fragments by unknown means. In the years after the collapse of the [[PortalNetwork jumpgate network]], the [[OneNationUnderCopyright Plutarch Mining Corporation]] has built up an entire industrial sector in the space between the segments. The first ride through the [[HyperspaceLanes Super Highway]] system towards it is pretty alarming due to the highway skimming mere kilometers away from a jagged edge of the planet.

** One high-level adventure for the ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'' setting brings the heroes to what's left of Old Alphatia, a planet destroyed by feuding wizards two thousand years ago. As these same wizards had previously enveloped their entire solar system with breathable air, some of the orbiting shards of their world are found to still be populated.
** The astral plane of ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' has debris from countless worlds drifting in it, including some corpses of dead gods large enough, in some cases, to build fortresses on.
** Averted by the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting, in which chunks of the landscape have ''always'' drifted separately in the Mists, rather than being part of a larger planet.
** In ''TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}}'', some air worlds (e.g. Coliar in Realmspace) are swarms of islands rotating in a common atmosphere without one big body "below". The Astromundi Cluster with its asteroid leftovers of the two collided planets may also qualify.

** ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' shows that Gamma Halo is orbiting one of these.
* Rock Star from ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'' is this.
* The world begins much like this in ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana'' - various lands were ripped up and turned into artifacts, which it falls upon the protagonist to piece back together however they prefer. (Of course, they say from the beginning that it's AllJustADream, so...)

Maybe magic or science has GoneHorriblyWrong, causing an EarthShatteringKaboom, or maybe something else bad has happened, but a former planet is now broken into small pieces, floating through space. If this trope is used as a setting, these pieces will usually have settlements of some sort on them (not to be confused with {{Asteroid Thicket}}s, which are normally just obstacles).

** Peragus in the same game may be a partial example as it has a large chunk blown out due to a mining accident. The first level of the games takes place in a mining within a large asteroid in orbit around the planet.

* ''VideoGame/Trove'' had this happen as a result of the Sun Goddess, in a bid to protect her people from the Moon Goddess after a long war between the two.

** The Moon in the final shot of the WesternAnimation/BugsBunny / Marvin the Martian short "Haredevil Hare".

** Currently the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_impact_hypothesis Giant Impact Hypothesis]] is the big one. It's oddly not all that different from the fission theory. A Mars-sized object hit the Earth about 4.4 billion years ago and threw out enough material to form the Moon.

* In a previous theory of the formation of UsefulNotes/TheSolarSystem (now discredited), the asteroid belt was the remains of a fifth planet, Phaeton. Current theory instead says that Jupiter's gravity prevented the material in the asteroid belt from coalescing into a planet in the first place. This hasn't stopped the previous theory from popping up in Science Fiction stories, though, particularly in older stories or stories which aren't really all that "science-y" anyway, because a planet that blew itself up in a nuclear exchange ... or was blown up by someone else in retaliation ... makes a nice anvilicious Aesop.

** In James P. Hogan's ''Literature/GiantsSeries'' the planet was called Minerva, and was the original homeworld of both the titular giants and humans. The planet's moon was captured by Earth's gravity and became Earth's current moon as well.

* Our asteroid belt in ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' was originally a fifth planet, Eris. It still has ruins and even some survivors hidden in some of the larger chunks of rock.

* In the earlier entries of the ''VideoGame/SpaceEmpires'' series, after [[EarthShatteringKaboom blowing up a planet]] you can colonize the resultant asteroid field . You are unable to colonize asteroids any more as of ''[=SEIV=]''. Note that you can also create planets in the games, and you can accidentally ([[VideogameCrueltyPotential or intentionally]]) create a planet out of the asteroid colony.

* In a previous theory of the formation of UsefulNotes/TheSolarSystem (now discredited), the asteroid belt was the remains of a fifth planet, Phaeton. Current theory instead says that Jupiter's gravity prevented the material in the asteroid belt from coalescing into a planet in the first place. This hasn't stopped the previous theory from popping up in Science Fiction stories, though, particularly in older stories or stories which aren't really all that "sciency" anyway, because a planet that blew itself up in a nuclear exchange ... or was blown up by someone else in retaliation ... makes a nice anvilicious Aesop.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Transformers}}'': Cybertron, while not completely shattered, does have some chunks missing out of it.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda:'' [=H-047c=], one of the Andromeda Initiative's "golden worlds" (and the only one they could determine was turian-amino acid friendly), thanks to the local NegativeSpaceWedgie messing with the mass of some local stellar debris, causing it to slam into the planet with much more force than it otherwise would have. End result, all that's left of the planet is a planet-sized collection of completely dead rock, only good for insane mercenaries looking for a mining opportunity. When Ryder goes on it, the logical result of it being completely dead is made apparent - if Ryder steps outside the protection of the Nomad or some pre-prepared barriers, the sheer amount of radiation will ''kill'' them in minutes.

[[folder:Toys]]
* In Toys/{{Bionicle}}, [[spoiler:the planet of Spherus Magna split into Bara Magna, Aqua Magna, and Bota Magna due to the Shattering]].
[[/folder]]

** In [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E27ItCouldveBeenGreat "It Could've Been Great"]], the heroes discover a hologram that reveals that this would've been the Earth's fate had the gem colony been finished: Earth's crust is segmented into pieces and/or suspended high above the exposed core and apparently drained of its mantle. It's plenty obvious in-universe that no life on Earth would've survived this.

** When the Gem Homeworld is seen from a distance in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS6E1LegsFromHereToHomeworld "Legs From Here to Homeworld"]], it turns out to be cracked into at least three large chunks and several plumes of debris, all floating loosely together. It raises the question of just how far the Homeworld Gems went in stripping their planet of its resources.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': [[http://www.starwars.com/databank/lola-sayu Lola Sayu,]] home of [[TheAlcatraz the Citadel]], is missing almost an entire hemisphere and has an exposed core. It's not clear what cataclysmic event caused it to end up this way. Regardless of what happened, [[DeathWorld it's not a safe planet to traverse]] thanks to a combination of difficult terrain, strong winds and lots of sulphur-stenched lava.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': When the Gem Homeworld is seen from a distance in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E24LegsFromHereToHomeworld "Legs From Here to Homeworld"]], it turns out to be cracked into at least three large chunks and several plumes of debris, all floating loosely together. It raises the question of just how far the Homeworld Gems went in stripping their planet of its resources.
** Much earlier, in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E27ItCouldveBeenGreat "It Could've Been Great"]], the heroes discover a hologram that reveals that this would've been the Earth's fate had the gem colony been finished: Earth's crust is segmented into pieces and/or suspended high above the exposed core and apparently drained of it's mantle. It's plenty obvious in-universe that no life on Earth would've survived this.

* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', a large chunk of the moon is broken into smaller, scattered, floating fragments. While this hasn't been addressed in the series itself as of the first four volumes, there is a reason for this according to WordOfGod.