History Main / WorldSundering

Overlaps with TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. See Also: PatchworkMap, EarthShatteringKaboom, ColonyDrop, {{Atlantis}}, and WorldWreckingWave.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', The World of Balance is sundered [[spoiler:mid-game by Kefka tampering with the statues of the Three Goddesses]], accompanied by a grim view from space with explosions blanketing the planet and continents shifting, and becomes the [[AlternateWorldMap World of Ruin]]. [[spoiler:The Light of Judgment that issues from Kefka's Tower]] steadily makes this world more and more of an AfterTheEnd scenario.

* The cataclysmic destruction brought about by Kefka in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''.

* It is implied in the ''{{Discworld}}'' that the suspiciously regularly-shaped Circle Sea seperating Klatch from the Central Continent is the rreesult of an unspecified cosmic catastrophe, possibly to do with Literature/TheFifthElephant falling off the back of the World Turtle and re-impacting the Disc with some force. There is certainly enough ex-elephant underneath Überwald for there to still be a thriving mining industry capitalising on the bounty.

* ''Videogame/WarlordsBattlecry'' and the ''Warlords'' series in general have the Sundering, which happened when the first Dark Elf attempted to summon a powerful demon and bind it to his will, only for all of it to go terribly, terribly wrong. While there were plenty of tidal waves and cataclysmic storms, the more lasting effects included various places sinking into unusable swampland (leading to an exodus that ended in what became TheEmpire being founded), great tears into the land that uncovered veins of valuable gold and other treasures, and enormous caverns that opened up beneath the ground, which the Dwarves decided to claim for themselves as soon as they could and allowing them to found an actual kingdom below. There are likely many more effects, but it happened so long ago some details were lost, and the biggest impact (the FourHorsemenOfTheApocalypse barging into the material realm and [[BigBadEnsemble setting up shop]]) wasn't quite geographic in nature.

* Hyrule being [[TheGreatFlood magically flooded]] in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' allows for the setting to be transformed into a [[SeaStories seascape]].

* ''VideoGame/OracleOfTao'', in the ''first scene''! The world is split into [[EarthAllAlong Earth]] and [[DarkWorld the Void]].

* Frequently happened on ''GraalClassic'' pretty much whenever the admins got bored - a cataclysm and an island appears, a cataclysm and it merges with the continent, a cataclysm and it gets invaded and burned down, a volcano erupts and another island sinks...

* ''DungeonSiege II'': Broken World

* A staple of the ''{{Ultima}}'' series, and key to multiple servers in ''UltimaOnline''.

* In ''TheToneRebellion'', the intro shows an enormous continent in space populated by peaceful [[StarfishAliens Floaters]]. Then TheCorruption appears and spreads throughout the land. The war with it results in the continent being split into dozens of smaller islands, all orbiting a central one - the heart of the corruption. Four of these islands have the remains of the Floater race. Over the next millennia, the four tribes evolve into distinct subspecies, each in alignment with one of the four elements (Natural, Supernatural, Physical, and Ethereal). After activating all the ancient bridges between the islands and defeating the corruption, the player witnesses the islands drifting towards each other and re-merging into the original continent.
* Downplayed in ''[[VideoGame/{{STALKER}} S.T.A.L.K.E.R.]]'' where after the second Chernobyl disaster radiation, psy waves, mutants, gravitational anomalies, and more spill out into the Zone. Enormous radiation emissions happen daily which kills anything that hasn't taken cover. But despite all the catastrophic results, the geography of the area remains more or less the same. However in the sequel, ''Call of Pripyat'', you see that the anomalies have started to warp the terrain. Gravity anomalies are creating bizarre rock formations, burner anomalies are causing areas that were formerly stone or concrete to melt, acidic anomalies are causing strange plant growths all over, and generally the anomalies are twisting around the landscape.

* Hyborian Age Europe in Creator/RobertEHoward's [[ConanTheBarbarian Conan stories]] underwent such shifts to become the Europe we know today. In Conan's day, the Mediterranean is solid land, its future southern border delineated by an extension of the Nile; the Black Sea is considerably larger, stretching northward to form a continental divide; and the English Channel and much of the northern Atlantic are above water, linking Britain, Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland to the European landmass.

** Thousands of years prior to the events of Warcraft, the War of the Ancients led to an event called The Sundering, where the Well of Eternity imploded, blowing up half the world's landmass, and splitting the one continent into multiple smaller continents.

* As does ''{{Everquest}} II''.

* Happened ''four'' times in the backstory of "TheDragonDoctors". One was a magical civil war, one was a nuclear war, one was a meteor impact, and the most recent was the most devastating; "The Dimension Fusion," combining bits and pieces of other worlds into this one.

* {{Bionicle}}: About 100,000 years ago, the planet Spherus Magna exploded into three chunks in an event called the Shattering. One chunk used to be a major forest, and became the moon Bota Magna. Another was a significant part of the ocean, becoming the moon Aqua Magna. Between them, the remains of Spherus Magna became a planet-wide desert called Bara Magna. The climax of the story involved reforming Spherus Magna from the three pieces.

* At the end of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV 1.0'', [[SealedEvilInACan Bahamut]] was set loose on Eorzea. ''A REalm Reborn'' takes place 5 years after that.

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[[caption-width-right:360 {{Understatement What a mess!}}]]

[[caption-width-right:360:{{Understatement}} What a mess!]]

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[[caption-width-right:350:{{Understatement}} What a mess!]]

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[[caption-width-right:330:{{Understatement}} What a mess!]]

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[[caption-width-right:300:{{Understatement}} What a mess!]]

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[[caption-width-right:300:[[{{Understatement}} What a mess!]]

"

Overlaps with TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. See Also: PatchworkMap, EarthShatteringKaboom, ColonyDrop, {{Atlantis}}. Contrast WorldWreckingWave.

* Averted/subverted/played straight in ''[[VideoGame/{{STALKER}} S.T.A.L.K.E.R.]]'' where after the second Chernobyl disaster radiation, psy waves, mutants, gravitational anomalies, and more spill out into the Zone. Enormous radiation emissions happen daily which kills anything that hasn't taken cover. But despite all the catastrophic results, the geography of the area remains more or less the same. However in the sequel, ''Call of Pripyat'', you see that the anomalies have started to warp the terrain. Gravity anomalies are creating bizarre rock formations, burner anomalies are causing areas that were formerly stone or concrete to melt, acidic anomalies are causing strange plant growths all over, and generally the anomalies are twisting around the landscape.

* The Calamity in ''[[VideoGame/{{Bastion}}]]'' fits this to a T. Spanning at least an entire nation, if not the entire planet, it wiped out a large majority of the population. Only a handful of people, some monsters and wild animals were left surviving. The land itself has been shattered and each place now exists as a separate floating island, accessible only via flying. Interestingly, these islands are not actually complete when you land on them. As you progress through the levels, the areas rebuild themselves before your feet: earth, plants, buildings and all.