History Main / TheRuinsICaused

* ''{{Patlabor}} TheMovie's'' ending is on the ruins of a megastructure the protagonists tore down on a clear morning after the storm. A very pure use of this trope.

** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', if you choose to [[spoiler:nuke the Enclave Mobile Base in Broken Steel your getaway pilot lands a safe distance away to let you watch the bombs drop.]]

* An interesting variation in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Ed and Al invoke this trope by burning their home down so they won't be tempted to give up their quest to get their bodies back. Their father also offers an alternate explanation in the manga/Brotherhood version: it's the equivalent of a kid hiding their sheets after wetting the bed. They're not burning the house to sever their ties to home; they're burning it to destroy all traces of [[CameBackWrong their failed experiment]].

->'''[[Podcast/{{Rifftrax}} Bill Corbett]]:''' Look at what we've won, it's ''glorious!''
-->-- ''Podcast/{{Rifftrax}}'' for ''Film/BattlefieldEarth''

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* The page quote refers to a scene at the end of ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' where we are treated to a scene of essentially shell-shocked cavemen staring at the ruins of the (not dome shaped) dome that had been the base of the bad guys.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', if you choose to [[spoiler: nuke the Enclave Mobile Base in Broken Steel your getaway pilot lands a safe distance away to let you watch the bombs drop.]]

* Happens in a rather horrific manner in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' if you can't create peace on Rannoch and the quarians get wiped out. You either get to see [[BadassAdorable Tali]] or (if the former is already dead) Admiral Raan commit suicide, and then the rest of the scene is spent on a cliff watching the debris from the destroyed quarian flotilla fall down through the clouds, and knowing it's your fault. It's [[TearJerker one of the most depressing scenes in the entire trilogy.]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In a slight twist to the trope, the first part of the season finale of the web fiction serial ''DimensionHeroes'' shows the ''BigBad'' and his henchmen watching the destruction of the city they helped bring about with smug satisfaction.

* An interesting variation in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', where Ed and Al invoke this trope by burning their home down so they won't be tempted to give up their quest to get their bodies back. Their father also offers an alternate explanation in the manga/Brotherhood version: it's the equivalent of a kid hiding their sheets after wetting the bed. They're not burning the house to sever their ties to home; they're burning it to destroy all traces of [[CameBackWrong their failed experiment]].

* In Anime/CodeGeass Suzaku shoot his F.L.E.I.J.A. bomb on Tokyo. He then laments on what he did and everything else he has done, when he walks in the crate he made.

* [[DefiedTrope Defied]] in the [[TheBible Biblical book of Jonah]]: After delivering his message to the Ninevites that God intends to destroy Ninevah, he climbs a cliff outside the city to watch it happen. There's nothing to see, however, because the point of his mission was to warn the Ninevites to change their ways and pray for another chance... which they've done.

[[caption-width-right:260:[[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar And]] [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry nothing]] [[VideoGame/MegaManX of value]] [[VideoGame/SuperCastlevaniaIV was lost.]]]]

-->''Podcast/{{Rifftrax}} for Film/BattlefieldEarth''

* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry 2'''s ending has Diddy, Dixie and DK watching Crocodile Isle collapse into the ocean as the sun sets.

* This happened at the end of ''SkiesOfArcadia'', when the evil headquarters (an artificial island built during an ancient war) tumbles back into the swamp from which it was uncovered.

You're an Ace Operative, tasked with infiltrating and then [[StuffBlowingUp destroying]] the base of operations of the Nefarious Nine Eye Army. You get in, you get out, and you set enough explosives to make the [[TokyoFireball Great Tokyo Fireball]] look like a firecracker. You're tempted to [[UnflinchingWalk just walk away]], the flash will blind you and people a mile away, but ... you've got [[CoolShades shades]], and who doesn't want to look at their handy work?

[[folder]]

* Happens in a rather horrific manner in ''MassEffect3'' if you can't create peace on Rannoch and the quarians get wiped out. You either get to see [[BadassAdorable Tali]] or (if the former is already dead) Admiral Raan commit suicide, and then the rest of the scene is spent on a cliff watching the debris from the destroyed quarian flotilla fall down through the clouds, and knowing it's your fault. It's probably [[TearJerker the single most depressing scene in the entire trilogy.]]

[[caption-width-right:260:[[KirbySuperStar And]] [[DonkeyKongCountry nothing]] [[MegaManX of value]] [[SuperCastlevaniaIV was lost.]]]]

* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry 2''[='=]s ending has Diddy, Dixie and DK watching Crocodile Isle collapse into the ocean as the sun sets.

----

* The NES ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' games were fond of this trope. In Ninja Gaiden II, the EvilOverlord's lair collapses bit by enormous bit.

* The ending sequences for several characters in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV]]'', feature Guile, Chun Li and Abel overlooking the still smoldering ruins of S.I.N. labs from a nearby cliff, after narrowly escaping alive.

* The endings of many, many Franchise/{{Castlevania}} games. Except more often than not, the castle is still crumbling as the Belmont-of-the-Day looks on from a distant cliff.

* This is a common ending to episodes of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' in which Lina uses Dragon Slave.

* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' places you on top of the entire island, which is Ruins-esque, right ''before'' the final boss, and you have to escape by jumping off the edge right after. If you get the best ending, one of the cutscenes that plays during the end credits shows Misery standing at this same spot, looking at the clouds below.
* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' one and two both end with TheSquad in a king raven, flying over the lightmasss bomb collateral damage and [[spoiler: Jacinto]], respectively.

* Samus does one of these at the end of ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'', watching the destruction of the Artifact Temple from atop the hull of her gunship.
* In ''VideoGame/ArcTheLad II'', the party end up above the ruin [[spoiler: of TheEmpire capital]], the tragic part is that [[spoiler: not only are Arc and Kukuru, the two first playable characters, dead, but you just discovered that the whole quest of the heroes was a giant BatmanGambit from the BigBad: to be released, he needed a human to willingly break his seal, and made sure that the King of Romania was certain that Arc & Co, who spent 120 hours of game time destroying his empire bit by bit, wanted to kill him, so when they finally reached him, he opened the Can of the sealed evil, destroying the world the heroes were trying to protect]].

* A rare example at the ''beginning'' of a game. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', there's a cutscene that can be triggered on Eden Prime, showing the three-member squad party standing at the balcony and looking over the ruins left in Sovereign's wake.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' plays this very straight with the destruction of the Collector base as the Normandy flies out in triumphant fashion.
* The ending of ''[[ChzoMythos 6 Days A Sacrifice]]''.

* One of the pieces of artwork commissioned for the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' was of [[TheCape Achilles]] (leader of the titular team) overlooking the ruins of a Paris neighborhood after a supervillain battle knocked over the Eiffel Tower onto it.

* In Disney's ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'', Mulan and her troops gaze, stunned, over the side of a cliff at the sight of the Chinese army before them, completely wiped out.