Line #50 Main/WorldOfSilence


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7	->''"Yes, there is pain in life, pain and loss and sorrow, but there is also joy, and the pleasures of growing and learning. You can't have one without the other and I wouldn't want to sacrifice either."''
8	-->-- '''Virgil''', ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura''
9
10	This is a unique kind of {{Dystopia}}: a world with no conflict and no infighting, but in which people have no emotions and [[AssimilationPlot no sense of self]]. Usually seen as a FateWorseThanDeath for the ''entire world''. The most understandable reason for why is this happens is when the WellIntentionedExtremist villain with a UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans thought pattern thinks that the problems of the world lie in TheEvilsOfFreeWill.
11
12	What happens here is that the world becomes an empty and silent place. Maybe all humans are extinguished. Maybe they're all put in a stasis or turned into [[EmptyShell mindless beings]]. Maybe the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt whole world]] is put in a kind of temporal stasis. Whatever happens, it's usually not good.
13
14	Usually, this is what happens when the antagonist is certain that the world is a [[CrapsackWorld sick and twisted place]] and that there is no way to make it any better without a complete overhaul. HumansAreBastards is often a main theme in the story. Either way, it is up to the protagonists to try to stop the antagonist before it all goes to hell by showing that people are as cruel and evil as the antagonist thinks they are. If a final battle is involved, it can sometimes be seen as a HumanityOnTrial kind of scenario.
15
16	Surprisingly, the villain isn't usually given a FreudianExcuse. More often than not, it's a case of FantasticRacism instead.
17
18	[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Usually unrelated to]] SilenceIsGolden.
19	----
20	!!Examples
21
22	[[foldercontrol]]
23
24	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
25	* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': The [[LostInTranslation Control]]/Conquest Devil ([[spoiler:a.k.a. Makima]]) [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans plots]] to [[spoiler:use Chainsaw Man's RetGone power to]] erase concepts like [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse war, hunger or even death]]. The President of the United States outright calls this idea of "peace" horrific to the point that he was willing to [[GodzillaThreshold sacrifice a year of the lifespan of every American]] to save humanity from it. [[spoiler:Even Denji finds the resolve to defeat Makima, [[BrokenPedestal despite practically worshipping her]], after she says she'd [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist be willing to erase movies she thinks are bad too]] as he believed that [[KnightInSourArmor there needs to be bad in life to highlight the good]]]].
26	* This is the ultimate plan of [[spoiler:Emperor Charles, V.V. and Marianne]] in ''Anime/CodeGeass'', referred to as a "World without Lies".
27	* In ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'', this is the goal of [[spoiler:Ryota Mitarai, the Ultimate Animator, who specialized in making anime with [[SubliminalSeduction subliminal messaging]] in order to inspire people. After [[BigBad Junko]] used him to trigger TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, he snapped and tried to undo it with a [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood brainwashing]] video powerful enough to eliminate humanity's capacity for negative emotion]].
28	* The Z-Master from ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'' wanted to save people from the despair and sadness of reality by mechanizing the universe, eliminating negative emotion (and every other emotion at the same time).
29	* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', this is how the Allied Shinobi Forces regard [[spoiler:Madara and Obito]]'s plan to create world peace. [[spoiler:When Madara succeeds it becomes literally true--every human is wrapped in cocoons and suspended like trapped insects from the God-Tree's roots. The only sound that can be heard after this is the wind blowing.]]
30	* [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness SEELE]] from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' intend to remove longing, suffering, and loneliness from the world, via [[spoiler:[[AssimilationPlot Instrumentality]]]]. The end result is [[spoiler:the entirety of humanity merged into a sea of [=LCL=] where individual existence is impossible]].
31	* [[BigBad The title character]] of ''Anime/{{Noein}}'' tries to do this to the entire ''[[TheMultiverse multiverse]]'', wanting to integrate every time stream to exist ''ever'' into TheShangriLa in an effort to start anew with no sadness or pain. As such, Shangri-La, as viewed by the protagonists, is a peaceful place devoid of intelligent life.
32	* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', this is the goal of [[spoiler:Kriemhild Gretchen, the witch form of Madoka Kaname]].
33	* This is the goal of the true BigBad from ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure''. By erasing music from both worlds, Major Land and the human world, all emotions will be removed and everyone will be turned into stone. However, that would also include himself. Or maybe not? [[spoiler:Since Noise is the embodiment of sadness, the WorldOfSilence would be his end, [[DeathSeeker which is exactly what he wishes for]].]]
34	* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' has the Anti-Spiral, who [[spoiler:had his entire planet put into stasis in order to stop their evolution in an effort to prevent the Spiral Nemesis, a universe-destroying black hole]].
35	* The [[spoiler:surface world]] in ''Anime/{{Texhnolyze}}'' is pretty much this. It's a serene village stuck in 1920s scenery, perpetually sunny with green fields as far as the eye can see...but nothing is actually alive in there.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Comic Books]]
39	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': Ra's al Ghul's philosophy has shades of this. He states that he dreams of a world "as clean as the wind-swept dunes" he came from.
40	* In Joe Kelly's ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' run, the Messiah freezes everyone in the world in blissful mindlessness.
41	* In ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'''s "Siege at Blue Mountain''" arc, Winnowill's master plan involves merging Blue Mountain and the Palace into a space habitat in which all of the pure-blooded elves will dream forever, free from (literal worldly) conflict. Of course, she fails (again).
42	* On a world visited by the ''ComicBook/{{Exiles}}'', Doctor Doom had created one of these by eliminating humor in humanity. The Exiles are torn on whether it is worth it to create a crime-free utopia. Then Doom brainwashes them into agreeing with him anyhow. It eventually ends up with absolutely everyone on that Earth dead, because Doom made it so that the entire population of the world couldn't survive without him.
43	* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': The goal of the Dark Judges is to create "a world fit only for the innocent". A world where there is no crime, no wicked thoughts, and no life. They reasoned that since only the living can commit crime, [[InsaneTrollLogic life itself must be the greatest crime]].
44	-->'''Judge Death:''' You can't argue with statistics! On our world there is no robbery, no murder. No noisy parties to disturb the neighbors. No neighbors. No evil in the hearts of men. No crime.
45	* ''ComicBook/NewGods'': The GodOfEvil Darkseid's primary goal is this on a universal scale. He's a HopeCrusher who wants nothing more than to crush people's hope so thoroughly and utterly that there is nothing left but to surrender their free will and give in to him. His plan to accomplish this is to obtain the Anti-Life Equation, a BrownNote that takes the form of [[FormulaicMagic mathematical proof that life is meaningless]], destroying its victims' wills and ensuring none would be left but Darkseid's.
46	* ''ComicBook/TheSandmanUniverse'' has the title ''The Dreaming'', which gradually reveals a conspiracy to colonize the DreamLand to stamp out "irrational" superstition and fantasy and [[SleepLearning replace dreams with lectures on STEM courses]] in a [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-intentioned but misguided]] attempt to save humanity from itself. As this plan advances the loss of dreams show a loss of passion for living, and people die en masse, either [[DrivenToSuicide actively]] or passively from apathy towards self-preservation. The protagonists call out the perpetrators on so wildly missing the mark in their endeavor, as the entire point of the Dreaming is to ''feel something'', because that's always better than a numb nothing.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
50	* ''Fanfic/ADevilAmongstWorms'': What happens in the BadFuture 3 years from now witnessed by the Simurgh should Makima succeed in TakingOverTheWorld, where conflict and suffering have been eliminated, but so have all traces of individuality and personality among humanity, with the humans of this new world being described as "biological machines", moving in orderly lines and patters without a hint of deviation, akin to ants.
51	* Psychelia, from what is shown and told by the main character of ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf''.
52	* In ''Fanfic/FallenKingdom'', Antonio's vision of the world post-Starfall is where everyone leads a pointless, peaceful existence with no conflict at all, the complete opposite of the colorful, adventurous lives the Mushroom Kingdom inhabitants lead. He holds this view because [[spoiler:his own destructive battles with King Morton ravaged the kingdom and killed his wife]].
53	* The [[LawfulEvil Star Father]]'s Angylworlds (counterpart to the other Chaos Gods' Daemonworlds) in ''FanFic/TheShapeOfTheNightmareToCome'' are definitely this. Every building or natural formation is reformed into uniform structures, and the citizens are forced to march in endless, monotonous lines, and if you take just one step out of line, the Angyls annihilate you. The only voice heard is the omnipresent Star Father. '''''OBEY!'''''
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Film]]
57	* The entire premise of ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'' is a FalseUtopia created by suppressing all human emotion and anything that might stir it up through propaganda, chemicals, and GunKata-practicing {{Badass Longcoat}}s. This removes all hate, jealousy, and anger, but also removes humanity's capacity for art and creativity.
58	* In the ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'' films, this is what will happen if the pod people win, [[spoiler:as they ostensibly do in [[Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1978 the 1978 version]]]].
59	* ''Film/{{Pumzi}}'': The citizens of the Maitu Community are silenced through dream suppressants which repress creativity and agency.
60	* This was the goal of the Alliance in ''Film/Serenity2005'': they pumped happy gas into a planet's air supply, hoping that everyone would become completely docile. What they got was [[spoiler:a planet full of death, as everyone became so docile that they just [[GoneHorriblyRight gave up on living]]. The only survivors suffered the exact ''[[GoneHorriblyWrong opposite]]'' effect, becoming the AxCrazy [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Reavers]]]].
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Literature]]
64	* Taken more literally than normal in ''Literature/ChaosWalking''. What the BigBad is ultimately revealed to want is for the planet to be rendered completely silent, which is creepy enough, but becomes distinctly nightmarish in the context that the planet in its natural state is one in which ''all'' animal life (from the actual animals, to the native sentient aliens, to the recent human colonists) constantly, uncontrollably broadcasts its thoughts into the brains of everything nearby.
65	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
66	** This is the main goal of the Auditors, a group of recurring villains. They Audit reality itself and dislike life, especially sentient life, because it's "messy" and unpredictable.
67	** In ''Literature/{{Wintersmith}}'', Tiffany gets a vision of the world -- frozen, silent, no death because there's no life -- if ruled by the Wintersmith alone. [[spoiler:Later, the Summer Lady shows her counterpart to it, which is no less terrifying.]]
68	* The community in ''Literature/TheGiver'' is a milder version. People still laugh and take pleasure in their activities, but, as Jonas discovers, it is all very superficial. When someone in the community says they are sad or angry, they are not talking about true grief or rage, but much shallower emotions. The word "love" is not unknown in the community, but it has lost relevancy. Jonas's parents enjoy his company very much, but they consider the word very generalized, meaningless to the point of being obsolete. If the community continues as it is, the word itself may be forgotten.
69	* The White Witch Jadis of ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew'' pulled this off in the final conflict against her sister for control of their world. She used [[FantasticNuke the Deplorable Word]], pulling an IfICantHaveYou on her ''entire planet''. She only survived by virtue of immortality, afterwards putting herself into a deep sleep that could only be broken by ringing a nearby bell. This [[SchmuckBait was encouraged]] by exploiting both the curiosity of a visitor from another world and unease with the total silence of her homeworld.
70	* The Soundkeeper in ''Literature/ThePhantomTollbooth'' enforces a ''literal'' world of silence by having all the sounds in the Valley of Sound muted. It doesn't stop the people there from protesting.
71	* Nathema is this in ''Literature/{{Revan}}'', since the Sith Emperor drained every bit of life from the planet. As a result, it is ''deeply'' disturbing for any Force-sensitive individual to visit.
72	* In ''Literature/{{Uglies}}'', everyone is beautiful and happy. There's no war and NoPoverty. [[spoiler:The surgery that makes everyone pretty also gives them brain lesions that eliminate anger, sadness, creativity, and independence.]]
73	* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':
74	** When Rand finally confronts the Dark One, the two have a metaphysical battle imposing their visions of the world on each other. Rand creates a vision of a world without the Dark One, who is a metaphysical force of evil. At first, it appears to be a veritable utopia where people have no concept of violence and peace and prosperity reigns. As it becomes clear soon, this is only possibly because by destroying the Dark One, Rand has also destroyed the potential for conflict, however minor. Every person in the world is a vacant shell with simple minds, with no true free will. The understanding of what killing the Dark One would result in nearly breaks Rand and almost hands the victory over to him.
75	** Two of the Dark One's attacks take this form. The first is a vision of a world which at first appears happy and prosperous, but in which conscience has been cleanly excised from the human race, such that no one feels the slightest bit of empathy or love for another, and any person will back-stab another if he thinks it will help him, without feeling the slightest remorse. The second is the Dark One's idea of a compromise or bargain: if Rand will agree to stop trying to redeem the world, the Dark One will stop trying to corrupt it and will simply unmake everything.
76	* The brainwashed conformity enforced by IT in ''Literature/AWrinkleInTime''.
77	* ''Literature/XeeleeSequence'': In ''Transcendent'', [[spoiler:the Transcendence ultimately becomes such a society, at least on the outside. On the inside, the HiveMind that the Transcendence is is anything but empty.]]
78	* ''Literature/YoungWizards'':
79	** Referenced as far back as the first book in the series:
80	--->''(I've lost enough friends to that one,)'' Fred said, ''(heard enough songs stilled. People gone nova before their time, or fallen through naked singularities into places where you burn forever but don't learn anything from it.)''
81	** In ''High Wizardry'', Dairine's mobiles plan to do away with entropy on a universal scale, creating a Universe of Silence as a side-effect. [[spoiler:They're persuaded otherwise when she links her consciousness to theirs, allowing them to understand the importance of human experience.]]
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
85	* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
86	** [[MoreThanMindControl Jasmine]] turns people into peaceful, Jasmine-loving zombies and wants to do it to the whole world.
87	** In "[[Recap/AngelS02E13HappyAnniversary Happy Anniversary]]", a group of demons manipulate a college researcher who is working on a machine to [[TimeStandsStill stop the passage of time]] in a small area by magically advancing his research and then making him discover that his girlfriend plans to dump him. Once he finds out about this, [[DisproportionateRetribution he decides to take the time-stopping machine to his building and activate it just as he and his girlfriend are having pre-breakup sex]]. The demons take this opportunity to modify the machine so that the area of its effect will expand to cover the whole world. Angel thwarts their plans by [[MundaneMadeAwesome unplugging the machine, ending its effect]].
88	* ''Series/Charmed1998'':
89	** A two-parter has the cosmic balance be thrown off, causing the main and predominantly good universe to become ''too'' good. It's always daytime, everyone is insufferably happy and pleasant, and even the most minor of offensives (like using your cell phone in a hospital) are punished by death or dismemberment and having to pay a fine.
90	** The "utopia" created by the Avatars. All the adults were [[StepfordSmiler Stepford Smilers]], and anyone who created conflict was erased from existence.
91	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
92	** The original [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul Cybermen]] were created with this in mind. If [[TheAssimilator everyone was a Cyberman]], there would be no more pain, no more loss, and no wars, because everyone would think the same. This is why they think that [[UnwillingRoboticisation "upgrading" people]] is, basically, [[ObliviouslyEvil doing them a favor]]; after all, all they're doing is trying to reduce the amount of pain felt. The parallel-Earth Cybermen from the revival are similar; their creator's original goal was to prolong his own life, but after being converted himself, he embraces the "life without pain" concept.
93	--->'''Cyber-Controller:''' I will bring peace to the world. Everlasting peace. And unity. And uniformity.\
94	'''Cyber-Leader:''' You need not fear. Cybermen will remove fear. Cybermen will remove sex, and class, and color, and creed. You will become identical. You will become like us.
95	** In his first appearance in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Genesis of the Daleks]]", this is one of Davros's justifications for the creation of [[AbsoluteXenophobe the Daleks]]. Having spent his entire life in a world stuck in a ForeverWar between two races, he's decided that the only guarantee of peace is for one life-form to rise to the top and suppress all others. Of course, it's at least as much about ''[[AGodAmI him]]'' having the power to make this decision.
96	* Helen Cutter's aim in the third series of ''Series/{{Primeval}}''. She is only stopped by a juxtaposition of a cliff, gravity, and a pissed-off velociraptor.
97	* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'':
98	** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E7WhatAreLittleGirlsMadeOf What Are Little Girls Made Of?]]", an android decides to KillAndReplace all humans with androids in order to eliminate negative emotions like jealousy, greed and hate. Of course, it would also get rid of positive emotions like love and tenderness.
99	** There's no real antagonist in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E24ThisSideOfParadise This Side of Paradise]]", just spitting pink flowers who infect people with spores that drain them of all real emotion or desire. Those inflected try to convince everyone else to join them in their endless garden tending, by getting them squirted as well. On the plus side the spores cure even fatal diseases, giving their hosts perfect health.
100	** In the backstory of "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E21TheReturnOfTheArchons The Return of the Archons]]" and "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E5TheApple The Apple]]", mind control/brainwashing was used to make the population docile and happy.
101	* When Agent Mulder of ''Series/TheXFiles'' wishes for world peace from a LiteralGenie in "[[Recap/TheXFilesS07E21JeSouhaite Je Souhaite]]", every human in the world except him vanishes, thus [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor granting his wish]] through this trope.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Music]]
105	* "The Sound of Silence" by Music/SimonAndGarfunkel, depending on the interpretation. Lyrics include these lines:
106	-->''And in the naked light I saw\
107	Ten thousand people, maybe more\
108	People talking without speaking\
109	People hearing without listening\
110	People writing songs that voices never share\
111	And no one dared\
112	Disturb the sound of silence''
113	* The White Russian lament [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN2JUMrCFe0 "Now All Is Against Us"]] references this trope in terms of what the Whites thought the communists would do to Russia if (and when) they won:
114	-->''They want neither God, nor Tsar, nor pain, nor consciousness.''
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Religion]]
118	* FluffyCloudHeaven is sometimes seen as this by critics.
119	* UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}}: Lucifer's condition for volunteering as savior is that humanity surrender their free will so they can't fail.
120	[[/folder]]
121
122	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
123	* In ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'', this is the goal of the Bridge-Burners. They are changelings who seek to preserve humanity from the depredations of the Gentry by destroying all the things that draw their attention: art, beauty, wonder, and the like.
124	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
125	** Demons tend to want to turn the multiverse into their own personal paradises, which often is some flavor of this trope. Orcus, demon lord of Undeath, is the most iconic example, wanting to turn everyone in the multiverse into an undead creature under his control.
126	** [[UndeadAbomination Atropus]], the [[GeniusLoci World Born Dead]], has a similar MO, travelling throughout the Prime Material plane and causing zombie apocalypses on whatever poor planet he encounters. It was last spotted near Glyth, a planet in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' solar system that used to be inhabited mostly by [[{{Cthulhumanoid}} illithids]] -- the key words being ''used to''.
127	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', this is what the [[EldritchAbomination Yozi]] She Who Lives In Her Name, the Principle of Hierarchy, wants for the world. Given that most Yozis have at least one body that's [[GeniusLoci a world unto itself]], she may well ''be'' a World of Silence.
128	* An unusual gameplay example. The card [[http://magiccards.info/fut/en/3.html Barren Glory]] in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', which wins you the game if you somehow manage to create a WorldOfSilence (at least on your side of the table). ''"The only perfect world is an empty world, with no one to sin or wage war."''
129	* Two titan avatars from ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'', Nu and Shu, want to turn the world into nothing but their preferred element (water for Nu, air for Shu). No creature, not even the avatars themselves, will exist, as that would disturb the stillness of their world.
130	* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':
131	** The VampireMonarch Vlad von Carstein wanted to forever rid the world of the influence of [[EldritchAbomination the Chaos Gods]]. A noble goal, but the method he chose (killing everyone and raising them as zombies, who don't have emotions and thus can't be manipulated by Chaos) met with some objection on the part of the living.
132	** Nagash, the First Necromancer, aspires to become a PhysicalGod and extinguish all life, to create a world "filled with silent, unthinking undead, [[InTheirOwnImage a realm where only his will and thoughts can think freely and without challenge]]."
133	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
134	** The early Necrons (before they were reworked to have independent thought in later editions) had a similar motive for destroying all life on a planet (down to the last bacterium): As the Chaos gods are the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification amalgamated emotions]] of rage, desire, hope and love/despair of all sentient beings in the universe, killing said beings will destroy Chaos itself (the Necrons being immortal robots serving star-eating {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, they too are immune to Chaos).
135	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aSK2JPEBVI The inverse is also true]]; the Chaos Gods are the personification of ''all emotion'', and thus the ForeverWar against them could never truly end (without a massive DeusExMachina from the GodEmperor) as killing them ''at best'' would more or less leave all sapient life {{Empty Shell}}s, and at worst cause a RealityBreakingParadox.
136	* In ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'', the role of [[GiantSpider the Weaver]] was to take the primal chaos of the Wyld and fix it in form and purpose. After [[MadGod going insane]], the Weaver's goal was nothing short of crystallizing the entire multiverse.
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Video Games]]
140	* ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'': [[spoiler:The BigBad, Kerghan, First of the Necromancers, has seen the afterlife and describes it as "an endless sea of mirrored glass where souls go to die" and claims it is nothing but eternal, peaceful bliss. Having seen this blissful place he came to the conclusion that life, with all its pain and misery, is an abomination and it is unfair to force living souls to go through all that, which is why he wants to [[OmnicidalManiac kill everyone]]. Virgil, if he has undergone the events to make peace with his past, which resulted in him being dead for a short time, will confirm that what Kerghan says is true but notes that there are also benefits to being alive. As is the standard for Arcanum, it is entirely possible to convince Kerghan that his logic is dogmatic and flawed, thereby TalkingTheMonsterToDeath.]]
141	* ''VideoGame/ArTonelicoIIMelodyOfMetafalica'': [[spoiler:Infel]]'s goal is to sublimate everyone into a LotusEaterMachine where everyone will "live forever inside a dream". Croix points out that this is little different from death.
142	* In ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'', the BadFuture you visit late in the game is both a literal and figurative one of these, enforced by the Boys of Silence, blind {{Patrolling Mook}}s.
143	* In the DS rerelease of ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', a new ending is added in which [[spoiler:Schala]] attempts to bring this about. Even if you win the fight, the party is still subdued, and it isn't clear if they stopped her or merely delayed her.
144	* In ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'', the [[BigBadEnsemble final]] BigBad, [[spoiler:[[MadScientist Suedou]]]], is a WellIntentionedExtremist who seeks to eliminate human suffering with an AssimilationPlot that involves [[WhenDimensionsCollide merging]] the human and [[{{cyberspace}} Digital]] worlds.
145	* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'', this is the whole point of [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Qunari]] society and the Qun, the dogma by which they live their life by. In their society, people are known only by their occupation/role in life and cannot deviate from it. Qunari society rejects the idea of free will, and see it as their goal to "enlighten" the world via conquest. A more complex example than most, since some people convert to the Qun voluntarily after exposure to it, and the point is made that Qunari society is maybe no different beneath the surface -- whether you bake bread for money or bake bread because it's your assigned duty in the community, you still need to get up in the morning and knead the dough. However, some people also leave the Qun, even though that makes them animals to be hunted down in the eyes of other Qunari, and Qunari society has a number of fairly horrifying practices like turning dissenters into mindless zombies.
146	* ''VideoGame/TheEternalCylinder'' reveals this to be the ''true'' objective of the titular antagonist, who is a genuinely sentient entity and a firm believer in TheEvilsOfFreeWill. Rather than simply crushing everything in its path, it's ''assimilating'' it, and will continue to do so until everything in the universe is but one mind that cannot disagree with itself.
147	* [[EvilOldFolks Father Elijah]] from the ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' DLC ''Dead Money'' has this trope as his motivation. [[spoiler:He wants to use [[DeadlyGas the Cloud]] that lingers in the Sierra Madre to turn the Mojave into a DeathWorld, and wipe up any unlikely survivors with hologram soldiers that are virtually impossible to destroy. With the Cloud having killed off pretty much everything, the Old World technology of the Mojave Wasteland would be preserved for him to study, and the few people he considers worthy of survival would be outfitted with {{Explosive Leash}}es that would force them to do his bidding or die. You see, [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill free will]] is kind of Elijah's BerserkButton, alongside people other than him having access to the technology of the Old World.]]
148	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
149	** This is Seymour's goal in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': kill everyone so that no one has to suffer a loss anymore. Death is ''weird'' in Spira, so, because of its weirdness, [[VillainHasAPoint he's not entirely wrong]].
150	** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV: Shadowbringers'', roughly ninety percent of the world called the First has been consumed by the [[LightIsNotGood Flood of Light]], an imbalance of light-aspected [[{{Mana}} aether]]. Light in this setting is the aspect of stasis and preservation; nothing can grow or change in its presence. The rest of the world outside of Norvrandt is a barren white plane called the Empty. There is nothing out there that can sustain life, and anyone who stays out in the Empty for too long are infected by the lingering light and eventually turn into [[AngelicAbomination sin eaters]].
151	** In the next expansion, Endwalker, the [[BigBad Metia]], so saturated in the despair and pain of countless dead or dying civilizations they discover, decide that happiness can only be achieved in nihility. In keeping with that realisation, they begin stirring the dynamis, the invisible power of emotion in the universe, with their despair to kill all life in the universe. Since souls reincarnate, the problem isn't life, bitch birth. Their solution is to collect all the souls they kill in their Dead Star where birth is impossible, and accelerate the natural heat death of the universe, leaving an utterly silent universe where any life has been made permanently impossible!
152	* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', [[spoiler:one of the two gods in the setting strives for perfect order and, to achieve this, decides that the people of Tellius are better off TakenForGranite]].
153	* ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'': The Holiday Star is a small-scale version of this. It seems like a [[TownWithADarkSecret happy, pretty]] dreamscape, but it was set up by a paranoid lonely spirit which lures in other spirits and dreamers, traps them, and then [[IKnowWhatYouFear hits them with their worst fears]] until they [[DespairEventHorizon give in]], or else attacks them. After all, otherwise his new friends will have conflicts with each other, or fight, and this way [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul they are so happy]].
154	* In ''VideoGame/HogwartsLegacy'', [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil Isidora Morganach]] was a WellIntentionedExtremist who used her powers to help her father past the DespairEventHorizon from her brother's death against her mentors' wishes, but ended up getting DrunkOnTheDarkSide and taking things too far, leaving behind a VillainousLegacy. [[spoiler:She ended up turning her father into an EmptyShell, and declared an intent to "take away the pain" of the entire wizarding world before she was killed.]]
155	* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', this isn't precisely the goal of [[spoiler:Darth Traya]]. Her ''apparent'' goal ([[UnreliableExpositor which is debated]]) is the [[RageAgainstTheHeavens total destruction of]] the Force as a result of her belief that galactic conflict is [[SentientCosmicForce fueled by it exerting its will on individuals]]. Unfortunately, life pretty much runs on the Force, so at worst it would be [[ApocalypseHow/ClassX4 the total destruction of all life in the galaxy]]. At ''best'', it would result in this trope with all sapient life becoming as [[ReligionOfEvil messed up in the head]] as the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]] from ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' who went through exactly this (on a smaller scale) [[SenseLossSadness and never recovered]]. [[spoiler:She was aware of the risks and willing to take them as she saw [[PlayerCharacter the Exile]] as proof that life without it is possible, although failed to take into account how ''desirable'' such a life actually is.]]
156	* ''VideoGame/NappleTaleArsiaInDaydream'' demonstrates this trope in its HubLevel, Napple Town. Normally bright and cheerful, it gets a creepy, dimly lit makeover, and the normally diverse cast of characters suddenly looks homogeneous, carrying on about how they're "[[HiveMind complete]]" now. [[spoiler:It's all thanks to an AssimilationPlot enacted by a character who seemed like a TricksterMentor up until this point.]]
157	* In ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', the BigBad Cyrus wants this kind of world... [[AGodAmI with himself as a god]]. We find out in the post-game that his youth was [[FreudianExcuse complete shit]], with the implication that his own denial of emotions was a coping mechanism.
158	* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'': This is generally the endgame for any Law-aligned characters.
159	** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', the Reason of Shijima aims to create this world (indeed, "shijima" means "silence"). Ironically, the usually-chaotic demons absolutely ''love'' this idea, since it means that every being will be equivalent to a god (almost like a universal Enlightenment).
160	** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', where the forces of Law attempt to create this world, a world where every human mindlessly sings the praises of God forever.
161	** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', the Four Archangels gently MindRape the people of the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado to convince them of the need to sever ties with Tokyo, which they plan to level into oblivion with a black hole. Their endgame is, essentially, erasing wisdom and knowledge (in a word, ''[[RuleOfSymbolism undoing the Original Sin]]''). This would trap all remaining humans into their God-sanctioned playpen, unable to even understand that there is anything beyond it. Ironically, if Mastema's words are to be trusted (while he is an UnreliableNarrator, he ''has'' [[TookALevelInKindness taken a level in kindness]] since his last appearance), this is very much ''not'' what God actually wants. Even more extreme is the White Faction, [[spoiler:who try to end the entire universe so that no intelligent life can exist to suffer under the wrath of God]].
162	** [[spoiler:The Fall]] in ''VideoGame/Persona3'' is described as this. Everybody [[spoiler:save Aigis]] will have their psyches destroyed and all will suffer from Apathy Syndrome upon [[spoiler:Nyx's coming, eventually dying due to being unable to take care of themselves]].
163	** In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', this is the kind of world [[spoiler:[[GreaterScopeVillain Izanami]] thinks the humans want. Of course, as she deduced this by observing Namatame and Adachi, one can say her information was a bit biased]].
164	** In ''VideoGame/Persona5'' ''[[UpdatedReRelease Royal]]'', [[spoiler:[[ArcVillain Dr. Maruki]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist genuinely wanted everyone to be happy]] and sought to achieve this by [[AGodAmI usurping the power of a god]] in order to [[RealityWarper replace reality]] with one where everyone has everything they want and the more disagreeable members of society [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood have their personalities rewritten]]. This comes at the cost of essentially robbing mankind of all its potential, as in Maruki's reality, [[MiseryBuildsCharacter nobody would have anything to strive for or any desire to improve themselves]]]].
165	* This turns out to be the goal of the villain from ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheBlackKnight'', through freezing Camelot in time so it will never see decay.
166	* ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'': This is basically the world of Drazil in a nutshell. It's ruled by gods who believe in TheEvilsOfFreeWill and therefore try and quash all forms of individuality within their people, much like something out of ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. All Drazilians look identical and live only to the age of 30 so that they never have to "suffer" the horrors of growing old and ugly. They all believe in a dogma of "live for the world, die for the world". It's actually described as a "graveyard whose inhabitants just happen to be mobile", which isn't too far off.
167	* ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'': In ''Soulcalibur IV'', it's revealed that this is the kind of world that the sentient crystal sword Soul Calibur seeks. While Soul Edge is a sword of chaos and death, seeking nothing less than a world of endless warfare, bloodshed, and death, Soul Calibur seeks to freeze the world into crystalline perfection.
168	* This is the inevitable final fate of the world according to the villain in ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII''. [[spoiler:He is actually a WellIntentionedExtremist trying to ''prevent'' this from happening.]]
169	* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'':
170	** This trope is used by name by the Einst. Neue Einst Regisseur is an EldritchAbomination who believes that his role is to preserve the universe(s), and the spread of intelligent life and conscious thought is leading to its decay. In order to restore a "world of silence", he starts by trying to find a way to "purify" humans, and when that turns out to be impossible, he decides to simply wipe them out and replace them with soulless Einst duplicates. [[HumanityIsInfectious That plan didn't turn out so well, either]].
171	** It comes back again in ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration Super Robot Wars OG: The Moon Dwellers]]'' when fighting XN-L, who wants to defeat the GodOfEvil by starving him out of negative emotions to feed on, a plan that entails [[KillAllHumans killing all sentient life]]. Asked what would be left after that, she replies with "Silence", prompting the characters to speculate at a connection between [[DeusEstMachina XN-L's race]] and the [[PlantAliens Einst]].
172	* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
173	** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', the BigBad wants to [[spoiler:make everyone into lifeless beings so that discrimination will no longer exist]]. However, it's subtly implied that he's in denial over the fact that [[spoiler:Exspheres]] strip people of their emotions, as he and his main followers use them with no adverse side-effects besides [[CursedWithAwesome immortality]], completely ignoring the many {{Mooks}} who ''are'' emotionless. [[ItMakesSenseInContext It makes a lot more sense]] considering that deep down, the BigBad has been subjected to a ''lot'' of FantasticRacism, and his single-minded obsession over [[spoiler:a world where everyone is equal]] effectively caused him to MindRape himself.
174	** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'', [[spoiler:the Abbey's ultimate goal is to suppress all human will and emotion, creating a world where people do nothing but work in the name of "reason" and shun all excesses and luxury. We get to temporarily see them succeed in applying this to one country, and the results are incredibly creepy, with old people flat-out saying they no longer have the right to live if they can no longer contribute to society and either offering themselves as bait for the Daemons or going into exile and letting themselves die, a corrupt businessman insisting he must commit suicide to atone for his sins, a little girl saying her pet dog should be abandoned since any animal that cannot provide food or labor is useless, and another little girl saying her mother deserved to be executed for stealing food]].
175	* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'':
176	** In ''Warcraft III'', it is implied that this is the ultimate goal of KnightTemplar Arthas Menethil following his FaceHeelTurn, based on his words following [[SelfMadeOrphan his assassination of his father King Terenas Menethil]], and the invasion of Lordaeron capital city by the Scourge.
177	--->'''Death Knight Arthas:''' This kingdom will fall, and from its ashes shall arise a new order that will shake the very foundations of this world.
178	** In the second expansion of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', based on what we see about how the Scourge works ([[WhoWantsToLiveForever members are effectively immortal unless they are killed]]), with mindless undead working tirelessly on the scourge war machine and sentient undead, who either take [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide sadistic pleasure in killing on the Lich King's orders]] or are [[PeoplePuppets disgusted by it]] [[AndIMustScream but can't go against their orders]], it does seem possible that they would have succeeded in creating a World of Silence had they won. The Lich King would have been the only one who would have had free will.
179	** It is also implied that this is what the creator and leader of the [[TheLegionsOfHell Burning Legion]], [[SatanicArchetype Sargeras]], intends to do once he destroys all life in the universe and recreates the universe anew without imperfection. Though there is no information on how the resulting universe would be.
180	** The End Time instance involves traveling to a BadFuture where Deathwing succeeded in causing his Final Cataclysm, wiping out all life on Azeroth and turning the planet into a barren wasteland. The only remnants of life are the spirits of several fallen heroes who are now trapped in eternal torment. Murozond, the villain who created the End Time, sees it as "a blessing you simply cannot comprehend" and seems to believe that by altering the timeline so that this BadFuture happens, he is sparing Azeroth (and possibly the rest of the universe) from some even worse fate.
181	* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'': [[spoiler:In a nutshell, this is Kitaniji's master plan to [[WellIntentionedExtremist save Shibuya]].]]
182	[[/folder]]
183
184	[[folder:Webcomics]]
185	* ''Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience'': MadScientist Virgil Haas wants to TakeOverTheWorld and allow his advanced ArtificialIntelligence systems to run everything, freeing humans from the need to perform manual labour... or make any meaningful decisions for themselves. Caprice compares the society that would result to "sterile clockwork".
186	[[/folder]]
187
188	[[folder:Web Original]]
189	* The ''Website/SCPFoundation'' has [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3003 SCP-3003]] ("The End of History"), a distant planet inhabited by 30 billion TransplantedHumans whose [[HiveMind minds have been overtaken]] by [[PuppeteerParasite parasitic beetles]] called "marce". These beetles have forced their hosts to bend every single aspect of their lives to the benefit of the marce. The marce parasites turned the entire SCP-3003 planet into a singular TotalitarianUtilitarian state devoid of personal freedom due to everyone valuing the goodness of the state over themselves (a result of gaining hyper-rational behavior through the parasites). However, the result is so extremely effective the race is more advanced than whatever humanity can even hope to achieve on Earth, its members kept perpetually happy due to marce stimuli, and internal dissent is completely non-existent. As SCP-3003-2 states, this totalitarian efficiency it created is "[[TitleDrop The End of History]]", because no other forms of society could come after it.
190	[[/folder]]
191
192	[[folder:Western Animation]]
193	* In the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', Vilgax attempts to convince Ben to create one of these after he temporarily became a PhysicalGod.
194	* A more literal example occurs in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' when MonsterOfTheWeek [[EnemyMime Mr. Mime]] drains all the color and sound from the city, leaving everyone but Bubbles as motionless {{Empty Shell}}s until the girls save the day with ThePowerOfRock.
195	* Hexadecimal causes one in ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' with her [[TakenForGranite Medusa virus]], that turns everyone except her and Bob to stone. Being a [[OrderVersusChaos chaos virus]], Hexadecimal finds it boring, and undoes the curse when Bob drives the point home that she has eliminated all the chaos in Mainframe.
196	[[/folder]]

Context Main / WorldOfSilence