History Main / UrbanRuins

* Film/DCExtendedUniverse:

** ''Film/TheAvengersAgeOfUltron'' doesn't deviate too far from its predecessor. [[spoiler:The capital of Sokovia is turned into a flying bomb swarming with Ultron's army of drones.]]

* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' has Speed City, a whole abandoned city where you fight Speed Buster, a homeless old lady with a shopping cart... [[spoiler: That turns into a giant WaveMotionGun]]. To defeat her, you gotta run towards her, all the while hiding in the ruined, empty buildings to avoid [[spoiler: the giant bursts of energy from her cannon, which both deal ridiculous damage AND push you back, making you have to try and run up to her all over again.]]

* Raccoon City of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis''. Even before the zombie apocalypse hit, it provided unwilling 'test subjects' for the local Evil Inc, which practically owned the city and could easily 'disappear' any one of Raccoon's inhabitants. Post-outbreak, it is a grimy bloodstained tangle of streets and buildings that's horrific safety code violations will kill you almost as much as the actual zombies. [[spoiler:Thankfully, the ending involves Raccoon City being nuked to high heaven]].

When ApocalypseAnarchy is involved, it may also double as ViceCity. If there's a subway, expect a SinisterSubway. As is to be expected, this trope often overlaps with GhostCity, because most of the inhabitants have probably been killed by the environment. Can be a result of TrashTheSet, it the city in question was a major setting. RuinsOfTheModernAge is closely related, but the ruins don't necessarily have to be ''urban'', and Urban Ruins don't have to exist [[AfterTheEnd after society collapsed]].

A SisterTrope to UrbanHellscape (may not be in ruins, but law and order is long gone), IndustrialGhetto (also not ruins, but feels like it).

Related to the UrbanHellscape, where violent criminals run the streets and law enforcement is either too weak to deal with them, or has to become even more brutal than the criminals to do so.

!!Examples

[[folder:Film]]

* During the massive battle at the end of ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Metropolis is reduced to a smoke-filled wasteland for the survivors to straggle around while avoiding collapsing buildings.
** In the [[Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice sequel]], the same environment is presented, but from the perspective of a desperate ComicBook/{{Batman}}, who sees Superman tear through buildings with his heat vision.

** ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' enters its climax in this environment. [[spoiler:Loki's army of Chitauri have ravaged New York and left most of the city in ruins.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:WebComic]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

[[/folder]]

* The [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic series]] frequently employs this trope:

* The first post-tutorial levels of ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' take place in urban ruins of the human civilization on Earth, centuries after it had been overrun by robotic alien invaders.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series has its protagonists visiting the ruins of cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C, and Boston.

* ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry'''s Limbo City is this in general due to its generally crumbing appearance, but it's even more so in its alternate dimension mode, which has demons running around

* ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}''. The SteamPunk combined with DieselPunk city of Dunwall is plagued by a rat plague which kills hundreds of people and leaves {{Technically Living Zombie}}s in its wake. Many buildings are locked down, ruined, or even completely destroyed. This trope is especially apparent in the Flooded District, which the authorities just gave up on and so there is not even any order left to be found there.

* The ''VideoGame/Fallout'' series has its protagonists visiting the ruins of cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C, and Boston.

* The ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' plays with this trope:

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': In the episode "Simon and Marcy," viewers are treated to a flashback of Marceline and Simon Petrikov attempting to survive in the aftermath of a fairly recent apocalypse. Besides the titular two, no humans are seen - only hostile slime creatures, implied to have formed from the same radiation that would later shape the Land of Ooo

** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' also takes place in a ruined Tokyo.

* For the fiftieth anniversary of ''Series/Doctor Who'', "The Day of the Doctor" depicts the capital of Gallifrey as the Daleks begin to destroy the planet. This destruction is what pushes the Doctor pass the GodzillaThreshold and use the Moment to end the war.

* For the the fiftieth anniversary of ''Series/Doctor Who'', "The Day of the Doctor" depicts the capital of Gallifrey as the Daleks begin to destroy the planet. This destruction is what pushes the Doctor pass the GodzillaThreshold and use the Moment to end the war.

* By the end of ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', Cairo is reduced to this thanks to Apocalypse's battle with the X-Men.

** ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' enters its climax in this environment. [[spoiler:Loki's army of Chitauri have ravaged New York and left most of the City in ruins.]]

* For the the fiftieth anniversary of ''Series/Doctor Who'', "The Day of the Doctor" depicts the capital of Gallifrey as the Daleks begin to destroy the planet. The destruction is what pushes the Doctor pass the GodzillaThreshold and end the war.

* The ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' plays with this trope.

* ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}''. The SteamPunk[=/=]DieselPunk city of Dunwall is plagued by a rat plague which kills hundreds of people and leaves {{Technically Living Zombie}}s in its wake. Many buildings are locked down, ruined, or even destroyed. This trope is especially apparent in the Flooded District, which the authorities just gave up on and so there is not even any order left to be found there.

* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' takes place in the U.S. after a fungal pandemic wipes out civilization. It takes place in several cities, including Boston, Pittsburgh, and Salt Lake City.

* Thanks to the rise of the [[KillerRobot Mavericks]], ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' contains a few examples.

* ''Rebuild'' takes place in a randomized city of the player's choice (default is Canadian) overrun by zombies, where buildings can be looted, reclaimed, and converted as needed (into labs, bars, churches, housing, etc.).

* The [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic series]] frequently employs this trope.

** ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' opens in Westopolis as an AlienInvasion and [[KillSat Kill Sats]] leave the city smothered in flames.
** Crisis City from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' is the BadFuture version of Soleanna after [[PlayingWithFire Iblis]] was released.
*** The same setting is revisited in ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'', thanks to that game's TimeCrash.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' uses this trope often. Most of the time it happens because the city is going through HellOnEarth. I haven't played all the games but I'm sure this isn't all the examples, or all the detail I could go into!

** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' takes place in a ruined Tokyo.
* ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'': Some campaign missions return to Tarsonis, a city deliberately overrun by the Zerg in the first game. Ruined buildings, feral Zerg and creep everywhere.

* Throughout the course of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'''s third season, [[spoiler:Ba Sing Se]] collapses into this. The city suffers severe MonumentalDamage, the government is torn down, looters immediately start prowling the streets, and fires begin to consume the lower class neighborhoods.

** ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' enters it climax in this environment. [[spoiler:Loki's army of Chitauri have ravaged New York and left most of the City in ruins.]]
** ''Film/TheAvengersAgeOfUltron'' doesn't deviate too far from its predecessor. [[spoiler: The capital of Sokovia is turned into a flying bomb swarming with Ultron's army of drones.]]

** Dr. Eggman attempts to release Chaos in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' in order to turn Station Square into here. [[spoiler: In the Last Story, this comes to fruition when Perfect Chaos floods the city.]]

** In the [[Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice sequel]], the same environment is presented, but from the perspective of a desperate ComicBook/Batman, who sees Superman tear through buildings with his heat vision.

* ''Film/TheDayAfterTomorrow'' posits that global warming will cause the Arctic to move up to the point where cities from New York and up are turned into icy versions of this.

When ApocalypseAnarchy is involved, it may also double as ViceCity. If there's a subway, expect a SinisterSubway. As is to be expected, this trope often overlaps with GhostCity, because most of the inhabitants have probably been killed by the environment. Can be a result of TrashTheSet, it the city in question was a major setting. RuinsOfTheModernAge is closely related, but the ruins aren't necessarily urban, and Urban Ruins doesn't need to take place [[AfterTheEnd after society collapsed]].

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