History Main / UrbanHellscape

In the time span between TheSixties and TheEighties, wealthy and middle-class Americans moved out of urban areas into the suburbs, enabled by the increasingly affordable car and lured by the promise of living in a beautiful expanse of suburban land. The resulting drop in tax revenue forced the local authorities to cut back on essential services such as garbage collection and police surveillance, causing many of these previously bustling neighborhoods to turn into inner city ghettos. As a result, poverty, violent crime and gang activity were on the rise in inner cities. An epidemic of crack cocaine made things even worse, partly due to the widespread social panic (due to crack being extremely addictive and harmful), and partly because the newly-created crackhouses that [[NotInMyBackyard intensified urban decay in their vicinity]]. These factors created a bleak outlook on the [[NextSundayAD future of cities]]; once seen as shimmering beacons and examples of man's progress, they were now depicted as little more than concrete jungles, war zones and fiefs carved out by the various gangs who control the area.

In TheNineties, however, the genre rapidly declined in favor of films about VirtualReality (such as ''Film/{{Virtuosity}}'', ''Film/TheLawnmowerMan'' and ''Film/TheMatrix'') or {{Disaster Movie}}s (like ''Film/IndependenceDay'', ''Film/{{Volcano}}'' or ''Film/DantesPeak''). [[SocietyMarchesOn Society has since marched on as well]], as those who grew up in the suburbs proceeded to move into the inner city after a lifetime of yearning for proximity and single digit mileage on their daily commutes, with many of them having enough money to gentrify the previously forsaken neighborhoods where they settled -- and as a result, the inner city ghetto is starting to look more like a distant memory of the old days, when suburban development seemed to be the best idea ever.

In the time span between TheSixties and TheEighties, wealthy and middle-class Americans moved out of urban areas into the suburbs, enabled by the increasingly affordable car and lured by the promise of living in a beautiful expanse of suburban land. The resulting drop in tax revenue forced the local authorities to cut back on essential services such as garbage collection and police surveillance, causing many of these previously bustling neighborhoods to turn into inner city ghettos. As a result, poverty, violent crime and gang activity were on the rise in inner cities. The crack epidemic made things even worse, partly due to the widespread social panic (due to crack being extremely addictive and harmful), and partly because the newly created crack dealing gangs began setting up shop on the many abandoned buildings of the inner city, turning them into crackhouses that [[NotInMyBackyard intensified urban decay in their vicinity]]. These factors created a bleak outlook on the [[NextSundayAD future of cities]]; once seen as shimmering beacons and examples of man's progress, they were now depicted as little more than concrete jungles, war zones and fiefs carved out by the various gangs who control the area.

In the time span between TheSixties and TheEighties, wealthy and middle-class Americans moved out of urban areas into the suburbs, enabled by the increasingly affordable car and lured by the promise of living in a beautiful expanse of suburban land. The resulting drop in tax revenue forced the local authorities to cut back on basic services such as garbage collection and police surveillance, causing many of these previously bustling neighborhoods to turn into inner city ghettos. As a result, poverty, violent crime and gang activity were on the rise in inner cities, and panic hit a fever pitch with the introduction of crack cocaine, one of the most destructive and addictive substances ever created. These factors created a bleak outlook on the [[NextSundayAD future of cities]]; once seen as shimmering beacons and examples of man's progress, they were now depicted as little more than concrete jungles, war zones and fiefs carved out by the various gangs who control the area.

In TheNineties, however, the genre rapidly declined in favor of films about VirtualReality (such as ''Film/{{Virtuosity}}'', ''Film/TheLawnmowerMan'' and ''Film/TheMatrix'') or {{Disaster Movie}}s (like ''Film/IndependenceDay'', ''Film/{{Volcano}}'' or ''Film/DantesPeak''). [[SocietyMarchesOn Society has since marched on as well]], as those who grew up in the suburbs proceeded to move into the inner city, after a lifetime of yearning for proximity and single digit mileage on their daily commutes, many of them with enough money to gentrify the previously forsaken neighborhoods where they settled -- and as a result, the inner city ghetto is starting to look more like a distant memory of the old days, when suburban development seemed to be the best idea ever.

In the time span between TheSixties and TheEighties, wealthy and middle-class Americans moved out of urban areas into the suburbs. As a result, poverty, violent crime and gang activity were on the rise in inner cities, and panic hit a fever pitch with the introduction of crack cocaine, one of the most destructive and addictive substances ever created. These factors created a bleak outlook on the [[NextSundayAD future of cities]]; once seen as shimmering beacons and examples of man's progress, they were now depicted as little more than concrete jungles, war zones and fiefs carved out by the various gangs who control the area.

In TheNineties, however, the genre rapidly declined in favor of films about VirtualReality (such as ''Film/{{Virtuosity}}'', ''Film/TheLawnmowerMan'' and ''Film/TheMatrix'') or {{Disaster Movie}}s (like ''Film/IndependenceDay'', ''Film/{{Volcano}}'' or ''Film/DantesPeak''),

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Film/DemolitionMan'' starts in a Los Angeles which fell to this trope.

In the time span between TheSixties and TheEighties, the wealthy and middle-class moved out of urban areas into the suburbs. As a result, poverty, violent crime and gang activity were on the rise in inner cities, and panic hit a fever pitch with the introduction of crack cocaine, one of the most destructive and addictive substances ever created. These factors created a bleak outlook on the [[NextSundayAD future of cities]]; once seen as shimmering beacons and examples of man's progress, they were now depicted as little more than concrete jungles, war zones and fiefs carved out by the various gangs who control the area.

* The ''Film/DeathWish'' series falls into this trope, particularly the third film, which portrays the criminal gang as brutish and savage to the point that when protagonist VigilanteMan Paul Kersey kills them with military-grade weaponry, residents cheer him on from the windows.

* The ''Film/DeathWish'' series falls into this trope, particularly the third film, which portrays the criminal gang as brutish and savage to the point that when protagonist VigilanteMan Paul Kersey kills them with military-grade weaponry, there is little discension.

* ''Literature/{{Renegades}}: This is what Gatlon City used to look like ten years before the book's plot. The local government had disintegrated, the social services were completely gone, and the entire city was ruled by a swarm of superpowered gangs in constant war over territory, with everyone living there either belonging to a gang or paying protection fees. The only group clearly on top were the Anarchists - who, true to their name, did nothing to rein the rest in - and the Renegades, who did end up bringing order back.

Many aspects of this trope still exist today. The CowboyCop, for example, was popularized by this trope but still remains in use in Hollywood. The VigilanteMan trope couldn't have been more popular during TheNineties (with the NinetiesAntiHero being a late successor) and nineties nostalgia is bringing this back, especially with {{superhero}}es at the height of their popularity. There's also TheApunkalypse, which took this trope to an even further conclusion where civilization has completely collapsed and punk gangs rule the planet (now the standard way we look at post-apocalyptic fiction). Numerous BeatEmUps in the '80s also used this trope, as it made for a convenient ExcusePlot for beating up tons of people.

* The original ''Film/MadMax'' took place in a collapsing civilization, where motorized gangs terrorized the highways. After the loss of his family, Max Rockatansky becomes a ruthless VigilanteMan bent on revenge. The later films in the ''Franchise/MadMax'' franchise moved the setting to AfterTheEnd, and became the TropeMaker of TheApunkalypse. If nothing else, this film can be credited with melding the two genres.

* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' is a TheApunkalypse variation, with gangs ruling the decaying ruins of cities after a nuclear holocaust. The gangs are typically without any redeeming features whatsoever, and the only ray of hope in the series is the protagonist Kenshiro.

* ''Franchise/JudgeDredd'' was built on this trope, as the purpose of the eponymous "Judges" is to bring order to the chaotic urban Hellscape of Mega City One.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''Videogame/FinalFight'' is built on this premise, with crime running so rampant that even the mayor himself has to step out of office and take to the street to beat the thugs with his own two hands. Naturally, the criminals are all punk-styled and have little in the way of characterization (granted, the heroes don't either, but still).
* ''Videogame/DoubleDragon'' takes the same premise as ''Final Fight'' but also adds in TheApunkalypse. Civilization has collapsed, making martial arts dojos the only law left in the world. Thus the twin brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee fight to clean up the streets of New York. In some version, however, Jimmy is also secretly the Shadow Boss that controls the most powerful gang in the world.
* ''Videogame/StreetsOfRage'' is yet another example, and is almost completely a clone of ''Final Fight''.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The trope name comes from ''WebVideo/RenegadeCut'', which calls it the "Sci-Fi Urban Hellscape". He explains both the beginnings, end, and aspects of the trope, using ''Film/Predator2'' as an example of one of the last of its kind.

* Police are either [[PoliceAreUseless completely ineffectual]] at stopping the crime, have militarized themselves into an army to fight back, or both. If the hero of the story is a cop, they are typically a CowboyCop who doesn't like red tape and [[PayEvilUntoEvil uses lethal force]] to get the job done, often to the dismay of DaChief or a token ObstructiveBureaucrat. Just as often, the protagonist is a VigilanteMan (sometimes an ex-cop and/or ex-soldier) who uses brutal methods.

-->'''Tony Pope''', ''Film/{{Predator 2}}''

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

* ''Film/{{Robocop}}'' is one of the most famous examples of the trope. In its world, the MegaCorp OCP completely controls Detroit, and the city itself has fallen into a lawless mess where cops themselves are owned by OCP and die in the line of duty every single night. The gangs which run the city are barbaric, murderous sadists, and even more petty criminals run around the streets completely unopposed. The eponymous hero, Robocop, is a nigh-unstoppable {{Cyborg}} that is created to fight these criminals and (since everything he sees and hears is recorded) has the authority to act with lethal force.
* ''Film/{{Predator 2}}'' portrays [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 1997 Los Angeles]] as a war zone between two rival gangs which are portrayed as foreign (particularly Jamaican) stereotypes, including constant drug use, barbaric forms of violence, and voodoo. The protagonist Mike Harrigan is, naturally [[CowboyCop a renegade cop]] who gets results but is constantly chewed-out by his superior officer.

[[folder:Videogames]]

[[folder:Web Video]]
* The trope name comes from ''WebVideo/RenegadeCut'', which calls it the "Sci-Fi Urban Hellscape". He explains both the beginnings, end, and aspects of the trope, using ''Film/{{Predator 2}}'' as an example of one of the last of its kind.
[[/folder]]

In TheNineties, however, the genre rapidly declined in favor of films about VirtualReality (such as ''Film/{{Virtuosity}}'', ''Film/TheLawnmowerMan'' and ''Film/TheMatrix'') or {{Disaster Movie}}s (like ''Film/IndependenceDay'', Film/{{Volcano}} or ''Film/DantesPeak''),

See also the WildWest, for fictional depictions of similar "lawless" time, GangsterLand which was based on the mob rule of the Prohibition era, and TheBigRottenApple, which is a precursor from TheSeventies. Compare {{Cyberpunk}}, which essentially combines this trope with TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture and focuses on how technology and {{MegaCorp}}s brought it about.

See also the WildWest, for fictional depictions of similar "lawless" time, GangsterLand which was based on the mob rule of the Prohibition era, and TheBigRottenApple, which is a precursor from TheSeventies. Compare {{Cyberpunk}} (which essentially combines this trope with TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture and focuses on how technology and {{MegaCorp}}s brought it about).

* Modern versions of Franchise/{{Batman}} often portray Gotham in this light. Filled with incompetent or corrupt cops, gangs controlling the streets, with the neighboring city of Metropolis being the "pristine" MegaCorp-run sister city. The ultimate example of this in the franchise is the ([[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture at the time]] future-set ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns''.

* Modern versions of Franchise/{{Batman}} often portray Gotham in this light. Filled with incompetent or corrupt cops, gangs controlling the streets, with the neighboring city of Metropolis being the "pristine" MegaCorp-run sister city.

* Cities are often depicted as decaying or falling into abuse and disrepair, if not destroyed outright. There's typically a lot of trash, boarded-up buildings, and graffiti on the walls. Expect to see a TrashcanFire or two as well.