History Main / TwilightOfTheSupers

[[folder: Literature]]
* ''Literature/TheSupervillainySaga'', in ''Literature/TheFallOfSupervillainy'', has a DownplayedTrope example as the TwilightOfTheOldWest is referenced directly. [[spoiler: Ultragod is dead and most of the older generation of superheroes are retired. The Battle of Soldiers Park also leaves many other heroes dead. However, a new generation of heroes has taken their place and while superheroes may be far weaker now, they won't be going away any time soon.]]
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[[Folder: Literature]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'', a [[HilaritySues wave]] of [[FrivolousLawsuit lawsuits]] led to the super relocation program where supers hung up their capes and assumed completely civilian lives. It later turns out that Syndrome killed off most of the retired supers.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'', a wave of lawsuits led to the super relocation program where supers hung up their capes and assumed completely civilian lives. It later turns out that Syndrome killed off most of the retired supers.

* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'': Downplayed in the SeriesFinale "[[Recap/StaticShockS4E13PowerOutage Power Outage]]"; while other superheroes like Superman and the Flash still exist in the wider DCAU, a cure for the [[MassSuperEmpoweringEvent Big Bang]] is released into the atmosphere above Dakota, promising to cure all the metahuman bang babies in the city. While this is good news for many, heroes Static and Gear and villains Ebon and Hotstreak are distraught that their powers are waning. Gear in particular thinks it unfair that they have no choice in getting cured, since they have done a lot of good for the city as heroes. [[spoiler:Then Static and Gear are exposed to a stronger concentration of the Big Bang gas after Ebon and Hotstreak steal some from the doctor who invented the cure, giving Static and Gear even greater power but [[GoneHorriblyRight turning Ebon and Hotstreak into a horrific hybrid abomination]].]]

* ''Manga/{{Gamma}}'' ends at this stage, [[spoiler:with the heroes hijacking the villain's plan to infuse every single living thing on the planet with lambda energy (i.e. to launch a second MassSuperEmpoweringEvent) and instead ''draining'' almost all lambda energy from Earth. The existing heroes don't lose their powers, but no new ones "awaken" from that point onward -- which also means no super-villains and no {{kaiju}}]]. The epilogue shows the post-super world to be a much more stable and peaceful environment for humanity to live in, however, and the tone is generally hopeful.

* The comic book miniseries ''ComicBook/AllFallDown'' begins with the depowering of all of the superhumans on the planet as the accidental side effect of the awakening powers of one teen, who absorbed them all. The plot then involves all of said superhumans, in one way or another, enduring the FiveStagesOfGrief and said teen getting training as the last superhero. [[spoiler:The series ends with said teen dying in a HeroicSacrifice to save the planet and all of the protagonist ex-superheroes, through burying her, finally accepting their kind are extinct]].
* ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' has multiple--or one drawn-out one that occurs in several stages, depending on how you view it--over several story arcs:
** Vought-American Consolidated secretly funds an army of hundreds of supervillains in Russia on the payroll of mob leader Little Nina, with the goal of launching a coup against the Russian government, [[spoiler:which would then be ousted in a Vought-backed counter-coup led by the Communist Party. Billy Butcher blows up the whole plan when he figures out how to trigger the bootleg Compound V the villains were given in a way that makes [[YourHeadASplode all their heads explode simultaneously]].]]
** The [[ComicBook/XMen G-Men]] story arc ends with [[spoiler:Vought growing so sick of Professor Godolkin's lunatic, pedophilic habits that they just decide to massacre him and all the G-Men, including their ''many'' spinoff teams. Even the children's team Pre-Whiz isn't exempt, getting [[DeathFlight thrown out of a plane over the Bering Strait]].]]
** The bulk of it occurs during [[spoiler:Vought's attempted super-coup of the US government, which soon turns into Homelander's coup when he goes rogue. Homelander kills Maeve, Black Noir kills Homelander, Billy Butcher kills Black Noir, and the vast majority of the supes involved are killed by the US military.]]
** Many of those who survive [[spoiler:are killed by Billy Butcher himself as part of his one-man crusade to destroy supes permanently, including all of the Boys save for Hughie and Annie. His final plan involves releasing a SyntheticPlague that would kill everyone on the planet with even trace amounts of Compound V in their body, superpowers or not, but is defeated and killed by Hughie.]]
* ''Creator/DCComics'':
** In the 1991 Crossover Event ''ComicBook/{{Armageddon 2001}}'', Wave Rider's internal narration at the beginning of issue #1 muses about the DC heroes, and how one day they all died (in 2001), by the hand of one of their own. The future world of 2030, in the absence of all heroes (of the 1991 status quo), is ruled by a benevolent despot named Monarch. In an abstract battle inside Rider's mind, Monarch gloats that he was the only one willing to take down the "giants" (the DC heroes of "present time") and install a world of order.
** During ''ComicBook/TheNew52'' reboot (2011-2016), DC Comics published the annual maxi-series ''ComicBook/TheNew52FuturesEnd'', offering a glimpse into the future of the then-current status quo. Its premise is that, some 30 years in the future, artificial intelligence and satellite Brother Eye (created in this continuity by Mr. Terrific and Batman) goes rogue and begins to assimilate and roboticize the superhero population, turning them into mechanical abominations. Bruce Wayne, one of the few remaining heroes, sends Terry [=McGinnis=] (yes, Batman Beyond) to the past to avoid their bad future.
** The DC Elseworlds miniseries ''ComicBook/JLAActOfGod'' begins with a mysterious depowering of all of the non-tech-based superheroes and villains on Earth (that [[RiddleForTheAges never gets explained]]), causing a tremendous amount of mayhem as they either try to adapt as Batman-style vigilantes (some even getting training from Batman) or wallow in the misery of no longer being {{Physical God}}s.

** At the conclusion of the ''[[ComicBook/{{HouseOfM}} House of M]]'', the Scarlet Witch casts a spell that depowers more than 99% of the mutants on Earth, as a huge middle finger to her father Magneto. This reduces the remaining mutant population to about 198. In order to better manage the survivors, the American government unveils the O*N*E initiative: to band and oversee all mutants on the X-Mansion's grounds using the human-piloted Sentinel Squad. But following the "Mutant Messiah Trilogy" (''[[ComicBook/{{XMenMessiahComplex}} Messiah CompleX]]'', ''Messiah War'' and ''[[ComicBook/{{XMenSecondComing}} Second Coming]]''), new mutants begin to appear, a few at first (the Lights, as shown in ''[[ComicBook/{{GenerationHope}} Generation Hope]]''), and finally a whole new generation after ''[[ComicBook/{{AvengersVsXMen}} Avengers VS. X-Men]]''.
*** "Generation M" delves into the human interest/social consequences of mutants losing their powers.

** In ''ComicBook/OldManLogan'' the supervillains suddenly organized long enough to kill almost all of the heroes, then started killing off each other while carving up the USA into their own little kingdoms. The only superheroes left alive are Hawkeye, who was left alone when he went blind, and Wolverine, who's become a pacifist after [[spoiler:Mysterio tricked him into killing the other X-Men.]]

*** The first instance of BadFuture was ''ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast'' (1981), a future where the robotic Sentinels ruled the United States and locked mutants in camps. It was later revealed that Rachel Summers, Jean Grey's daughter from an alternate future, came from ''this'' reality. Among the mutant prisoners is an adult [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Franklin Richards]], son of the Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic. Also, a GraveMarkingScene has an older Kate Pryde pondering about "all the victims of the Sentinels", which include Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm (also from the Fantastic Four), [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers]], and [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Peter Parker]]. Lastly, an InfoDump by a time-travelling Kate Pryde informs the present day X-Men that the Sentinels destroyed both the mutants and non-mutants heroes and villains.

* ''ComicBook/{{Powers}}'': At the last part of Vol 1, [[spoiler:Supershock, Superman Expy]], goes on a killing spree. This leads to the governments to enact a SuperRegistrationAct to draft all available superpowers under the law. Later, the President gets Congress to declare the use of any powers illegal. Of course, people realize the foolishness of such a legal measure. Fast forward to Vol 2, issue #6, a small group of superheroes protect the precint from a supervillain attack, and Queen Noir, on behalf of her colleagues and the whole superhero community, says they cannot stand by in the frontlines, and decide to slowly come back to superheroing, despite the prohibition.

* In one arc of ''ComicBook/{{PS238}}'' Tyler is called before the cosmic entities in charge of empowering the people of Earth and asked to decide whether humanity should continue to produce superheroes and villains. [[spoiler:Despite all he's been through as the sole unpowered member of his family and school, he decides to let them persist, becoming the first person to choose to do so in history.]] They explain that humanity has had past "heroic ages", and in another arc, we see that the author's other comic ''ComicStrip/{{Nodwick}}'' takes place in ''PS 238's'' distant past.

* Deliberately invoked in ''Fanfic/ApexPredatorWorm'', as protagonist Taylor is bonded to an entity whose primary diet consists of [[spoiler: the very same Entities that grant superpowers in the canon setting]].
* In the original version ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'', it is eventually revealed that this alternate version of the Earth of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' had a much stronger presence from DC Comics superheroes, including a Justice League, but all of said superheroes either were killed by [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Second Impact]], were secretly exterminated by [[GreaterScopeVillain SEELE]] to prevent them from getting in the way of [[AssimilationPlot the Instrumentality Project]], or decided to exile themselves ''ComicBook/KingdomCome''-style, so the appearance of Shinji Ikari as ComicBook/{{Superman}} begins a second age of heroes, with many of his closest friends taking up the mantle of ComicBook/GreenLantern, ComicBook/WonderWoman, ComicBook/{{Batman}} and so on. Chuckman's [[TheRemake second go at the story]] removed this plot detail.

* ''Film/{{Logan}}'': The film takes place in a bleak future for the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''. Mutantkind has been almost entirely wiped out thanks to genetically modified crops from [[MegaCorp Transigen Corp.]] that suppress the X-gene [[spoiler:as well as Charles Xavier accidentally killing almost everyone at the X-Mansion with his psychic abilities in a fit of dementia]]. The only mutants that are even known to still be alive are Logan, Caliban, and Charles, [[spoiler:all of whom die by the end of the movie]]. There is a RayOfHopeEnding however; all of the mutant children created in the X-23 project escape to Canada where they may one day become the next generation of X-Men.

* ''WesternAnimation/NextAvengersHeroesOfTomorrow'': Ultron, a robotic nemesis to the Avengers, manages to ''kill'' the Avengers, save for a handful of survivors (their children, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Vison and Hulk). It is also implied that by the time of the movie, he's killed ''every single one'' of Earth's heroes, paving the way to his dominion over the planet. The movie then begins with the training of the Avengers' children and their attempt to fight back.
* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'': The SeriesFinale "Power Outage" begins with a cure for the [[MassSuperEmpoweringEvent Big Bang]] being released into the atmosphere above Dakota, promising to cure all the metahuman bang babies in the city. While this is good news for many, heroes Static and Gear and villains Ebon and Hotstreak are distraught that their powers are waning. Gear in particular thinks it unfair they have no choice in getting cured since they have done a lot of good for the city as heroes. Downplayed, since Dakota exists in the wider DCAU where other superheroes like Superman and The Flash still exist. Then [[spoiler:Static and Gear get exposed to a stronger concentration of the Big Bang gas after Ebon and Hotstreak steal some from the doctor who invented the cure, giving Static and Gear even greater power but [[GoneHorriblyRight turning Ebon and Hotstreak into a horrific hybrid abomination]].]]

* ''ComicBook/Powers'': At the last part of Vol 1, [[spoiler:Supershock, Superman Expy]], goes on a killing spree. This leads to the governments to enact a SuperRegistrationAct to draft all available superpowers under the law. Later, the President gets Congress to declare the use of any powers illegal. Of course, people realize the foolishness of such a legal measure. Fast forward to Vol 2, issue #6, a small group of superheroes protect the precint from a supervillain attack, and Queen Noir, on behalf of her colleagues and the whole superhero community, says they cannot stand by in the frontlines, and decide to slowly come back to superheroing, despite the prohibition.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/{{Logan}}'': The film takes place in a bleak future for the Film/XMenFilmSeries. Mutantkind has been almost entirely wiped out thanks to genetically modified crops from [[MegaCorp Transigen Corp.]] that suppress the X-gene [[spoiler:as well as Charles Xavier accidentally killing almost everyone at the X-Mansion with his psychic abilities in a fit of dementia]]. The only mutants that are even known to still be alive are Logan, Caliban, and Charles, [[spoiler:all of whom die by the end of the movie]]. There is a RayOfHopeEnding however; all of the mutant children created in the X-23 project escape to Canada where they may one day become the next generation of X-Men.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', the [[PyrrhicVictory aftermath]] of the Paranormal Liberation War serves as the DarkestHour for Hero Society. In addition to several Pro Heroes being killed during said war ([[spoiler:including Midnight]]), [[WarIsHell the horror of it all]] demoralized several more, leading them to retire. Also, the collateral damage resulting from the fighting (coupled with [[spoiler:Dabi releasing video footage revealing Endeavor and Hawks' dark secrets]]) caused the majority of the public to turn against Pro Heroes, driving even more to hang up their costumes. On top of that, [[spoiler:a clone of Re-Destro had taken out several members of the Public Heroes Commission, destabilizing it and leaving them unable to be of much help]].

** In the mid-1990s mini-series ''The Last Avengers Story'', also by Peter David, two great events swept off the Marvel Universe: a government-mandated "villain clean-up", where the heroes were drafted to round up all the villains to be executed, and a "cataclysm". In the latter, Thor, Hercules and the Hulk travel to Asgard, but only Hulk returns; one year later, he joins forces with Ultron 19 and kills some of the remaining Avengers (Tigra and Wonder Man). The rest of the heroes then go officially into retirement, seclusion or are dead by the time the story starts.

*** The first instance of BadFuture was ''ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast'' (1981), a future where the robotic Sentinels ruled the United States and locked mutants in camps. It was later revealed that Rachel Summers, Jean Grey's daughter from an alternate future, came from ''this'' reality. Among the mutant prisoners is an adult [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Franklin Richards]], son of the Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic. Also, a GraveMarkingScene has an older Kate Pryde pondering about "all the victims of the Sentinels", which include Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm (also from the Fantastic Four), [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers]], and [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Peter Parker]].

*** The first instance of BadFuture was ''ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast'' (1981), a future where the robotic Sentinels ruled the United States and locked mutants in camps. It was later revealed that Rachel Summers, Jean Grey's daughter from an alternate future, came from ''this'' reality. Also, the presence of an adult [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Franklin Richards]] in the same camps implies that his parents, Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic, were dead, although it was never shown on panel.

*** The first instance of BadFuture was ''ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast'' (1981), a future where the robotic Sentinels ruled the United States and locked mutants in camps. It was later revealed that Rachel Summers, Jean Grey's daughter from an alternate future, came from ''this'' reality. Also the presence of an adult [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Franklin Richards]] in the same camps implies that his parents, Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic, were also dead.

*** The first instance of BadFuture was ''Days of Future Past'' (1981), a future where the robotic Sentinels ruled the United States and locked mutants in camps. It was later revealed that Rachel Summers, Jean Grey's daughter from an alternate future, came from ''this'' reality. Also the presence of an adult [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Franklin Richards]] in the same camps implies that his parents, Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic, were also dead.

** ''ComicBook/XMen'': When Bishop debuted in the early 1990s, his backstory ''at the time'' established two major events: the X-Men were betrayed and killed by one of their own (no word on the other X-teams); and the Sentinels rounded up all mutants in ghettos. The mutants lived like this until the Summers Rebellion, which united humans and mutants against the Sentinels and led to the foundation of the mutant-policing force X.S.E (Xavier's Security Enforcers).

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheGifted'' takes place in the X-Men universe, but in a timeline where the X-Men and the Brotherhood disappeared a year prior during a cataclysmic event now known as 7/15. This has left mutant-human relations even more strained, with the government rounding up any mutants they can and those who evade capture living underground. Downplayed, since mutants do still exist in this universe.

** ''ComicBook/{{Marvel 2099}}'' features the Twilight phase ''and'' a ''post-''Twilight phase. After a devastating Great Cataclysm kills most of Earth's heroes, humanity faces a century of lawless misrule in a cyberpunk dystopia under corrupt megacorporations. The plot starts when the heroes start coming back.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', a wave of lawsuits led to the super relocation program where supers hung up their capes and assumed completely civilian lives. It later turns out that Syndrome killed off most of the retired supers.

* The ''Necessary Evil'' setting for ''TabletopGame/SavageWorlds'' takes place in a setting where all the world's heroes have been killed by an alien invasion, leaving only supervillains to fight them.

* ''Necessary Evil'' takes place in a setting where all the world's heroes have been killed by an alien invasion, leaving only supervillains to fight them.

** ''ComicBook/{{Marvel 2099}}'' features the Ragnarok phase ''and'' a ''post-''Ragnarok phase. After a devastating Great Cataclysm kills most of Earth's heroes, humanity faces a century of lawless misrule in a cyberpunk dystopia under corrupt megacorporations. The plot starts when the heroes start coming back.

** Many of those who survive [[spoiler:are killed by Billy Butcher himself as part of his one-man crusade to destroy supes permanently, including all of the Boys save for Hughie and Annie. His final plan involves releasing a SyntheticVirus that would kill everyone on the planet with even trace amounts of Compound V in their body, superpowers or not, but is defeated and killed by Hughie.]]

[[folder:Fan-Fiction]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]