History Main / AfterTheEnd

The result is generally that you have the remnants of humanity fighting to survive in a hellish and devastated CrapsackWorld full of SceneryGorn, [[GhostCity Ghost Cities]] and a lot of nastiness in every corner of whatever remained of past civilization. This environment is perhaps also a ScavengerWorld which may have pieces of SchizoTech and LostTechnology (or even WeirdScience)here and there, but also where people inevitably degrade down to DisasterScavengers and {{Crazy Survivalist}}s, for whom staying alive may well mean being ReducedToRatburgers or [[ImAHumanitarian worse]]. If enough time has passed, those born after the end may hear stories of TheBeforetimes from those few who survived the catastrophe, trying to impress upon the children what [[GloryDays humanity was]] and still is capable of. Expect a FishOutOfTemporalWater who SleptThroughTheApocalypse to wake up to see their world changed. At any point in the setting an ApocalypticLog may be found to explain exactly why the world was devastated in the first place, and/or an ArchaeologicalArmsRace might break out to reclaim the old world's technology.

Compare JustBeforeTheEnd, EndOfAnAge, AndManGrewProud. Not to be confused with TheStinger, an after the end credits scene.

->''We begin in the year 2293, and the apocalypse has come and gone. [[Film/MadMax The Australians are wasting fossil fuels,]] [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar the Japanese are punching people a lot,]] [[VideoGame/{{Fallout}} the Americans are taking potshots at mutants with portable nukes,]] and the British are doing... this.''
-->-- '''[[WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh Kyle "Oancitizen" Kallgren]]''' on ''Film/{{Zardoz}}''

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->''We begin in the year 2293, and the apocalypse has come and gone. [[MadMax The Australians are wasting fossil fuels,]] [[FistOfTheNorthStar the Japanese are punching people a lot,]] [[{{Fallout}} the Americans are taking potshots at mutants with portable nukes,]] and the British are doing... this.''

In any post-apocalyptic story created after the release of ''Film/MadMax'', it is almost assured that the obvious and natural way for the world to look after a civilisation-destroying cataclysm is "the Australian Outback". ''[[ApocalypseAnarchy There is no need to explain this. Global catastrophe turns the world into]] [[TheApunkalypse a gangster-infested anarchist]] WretchedHive [[DeathWorld Australia]]. It just follows logically''. However, in any AfterTheEnd story created around the 1950s, expect to see plenty of [[NuclearNasty Nuclear Nasties]] due to RuleOfCool.

Related, if not quite the same, [[DarkAgeEurope is the period immediately after the fall of Rome]]; most {{Film}} and TV set in this time tend to depict it as a time of post-apocalyptic anarchist savagery populated by interwarring warlords. Thus, AfterTheEnd stories will reference historical parallels about humanity's decay into MedievalMorons [[TheDungAges wallowing in filth and superstition]], fighting for survival, and [[BurnTheWitch exterminating any "mutants" with fire]]. In fact, while there was a significant increase in banditry and piracy, most areas were peaceful most of the time. Fantasy series (especially {{JRPG}}s) are chock full of ancient, highly advanced civilizations that met their end and pitted humanity into a long Dark Age in a similar manner.

->''We begin in the year 2293, and the apocalypse has come and gone. The Australians are wasting fossil fuels, the Japanese are punching people a lot, the Americans are taking potshots at mutants with portable nukes, and the British are doing... this.''

->''We begin in the year 2293, and the apocalypse has come and gone. [[Film/MadMax The Australians are wasting fossil fuels,]] [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar the Japanese are punching people a lot,]] [[VideoGame/{{Fallout3}} the Americans are taking potshots at mutants with portable nukes,]] and the British are doing... this.''

[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Something hugely nasty]] has happened to humanity. Be it nuclear war (which was once very popular but has gone out of vogue, in part due to TheGreatPoliticsMessUp), [[ThePlague plague]] (which currently seems to be the most popular), natural disaster (which seems the most likely to happen in the near future in RealLife), [[WorldWreckingWave supernatural disaster]] (usually the case with a SealedEvilInACan or missing CosmicKeystone), devastating [[GaiasLament environmental changes]] (which, in this kind of fiction, happen too quickly for civilization to adapt), an [[ZombieApocalypse outbreak of the living dead]] (also hugely popular these days), or an AlienInvasion (God help us if ''that'' one happens)--most of humanity is gone.

In any post-apocalyptic story created after the release of ''Film/MadMax'', it is almost assured that the obvious and natural way for the world to look after a civilization-destroying cataclysm is "the Australian Outback". ''[[ApocalypseAnarchy There is no need to explain this. Global catastrophe turns the world into]] [[TheApunkalypse a gangster-infested anarchist]] WretchedHive [[DeathWorld Australia]]. It just follows logically''. However, in any AfterTheEnd story created around the 1950s, expect to see plenty of [[NuclearNasty Nuclear Nasties]] due to RuleOfCool.

The result is generally that you have the remnants of humanity fighting to survive in a [[CrapsackWorld crapsacked]] ScavengerWorld of SceneryGorn and [[GhostCity Ghost Cities]], or at least plenty of SchizoTech and LostTechnology (or even WeirdScience). People inevitably degrade down to DisasterScavengers and {{Crazy Survivalist}}s, for whom staying alive may well mean being ReducedToRatburgers or [[ImAHumanitarian worse]]. If enough time has passed, those born after the end may hear stories of TheBeforetimes from those few who survived the catastrophe, trying to impress upon the children what [[GloryDays humanity was]] and still is capable of. Expect a FishOutOfTemporalWater who SleptThroughTheApocalypse to wake up to see their world changed. At any point in the setting an ApocalypticLog may be found to explain exactly why the world was devastated in the first place, and/or an ArchaeologicalArmsRace might break out to reclaim the old world's technology.

In any post-apocalyptic story created after the release of ''Film/MadMax'', it is almost assured that the obvious and natural way for the world to look after a civilization-destroying cataclysm is "the Australian Outback". ''[[ApocalypseAnarchy There is no need to explain this. Global catastrophe turns the world into an anarchist Australia with interwarring gangs. It just follows logically]]''. However, in any AfterTheEnd story created around the 1950s, expect to see plenty of [[NuclearNasty Nuclear Nasties]] due to RuleOfCool.

->''We begin in the year 2293, and the apocalypse has come and gone. The Australians are wasting fossil fuels, the Japanese are punching people a lot, the Americans are taking potshots at mutants with portable nukes, and the British are doing... this.''
-->-- '''[[WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh Kyle "Oancitizen" Kallgren]]''' on ''Film/{{Zardoz}}'' (also referenced are ''Film/MadMax'', ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' and ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' respectively)

->''We begin in the year 2293, and the apocalypse has come and gone. The Australians are wasting fossil fuels, the Japanese are punching people a lot, the Americans are taking potshots at mutants with portable nukes, and the British are doing... [[MindScrew this]].''

->''We begin in the year 2293, and the apocalypse has come and gone. [[Film/MadMax The Australians are wasting fossil fuels]], [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar the Japanese are punching people a lot]], [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} the Americans are taking potshots at mutants with portable nukes]], and the British are doing... [[MindScrew this]].''
-->-- '''[[WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh Kyle "Oancitizen" Kallgren]]''' on ''Film/{{Zardoz}}''

The result is generally that you have the remnants of humanity fighting to survive in a [[CrapsackWorld crapsacked]] ScavengerWorld of SceneryGorn and [[GhostCity Ghost Cities]], or at least plenty of SchizoTech and LostTechnology (or even WeirdScience). People inevitably degrade down to DisasterScavengers and {{Crazy Survivalist}}s, for whom staying alive may well mean being ReducedToRatburgers or [[ImAHumanitarian worse]]. If enough time has passed, those born after the end may hear stories of TheBeforetimes from those few who survived the catastrophe, trying to impress upon the children what [[GloryDays humanity was]] and still is capable of. Expect a FishOutOfTemporalWater who SleptThroughTheApocalypse to wake up to see their world changed. At any point in the setting an ArchaeologicalArmsRace might break out to reclaim the old world's technology.

While this a legitimate trope, like LukeIAmYourFather, it's also a very [[StockEpilepticTrees popular fan theory]] for shows that [[ConstructedWorld don't seem to take place in our world]].

[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Something hugely nasty]] has happened to humanity. Be it nuclear war (which was once very popular but has gone out of vogue, in part due to TheGreatPoliticsMessUp), plague (which currently seems to be the most popular), natural disaster (which seems the most likely to happen in the near future in RealLife), [[WorldWreckingWave supernatural disaster]] (usually the case with a SealedEvilInACan or missing CosmicKeystone), devastating [[GaiasLament environmental changes]] (which, in this kind of fiction, happen too quickly for civilization to adapt), an [[ZombieApocalypse outbreak of the living dead]] (also hugely popular these days), or an AlienInvasion (God help us if ''that'' one happens)--most of humanity is gone.

[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Something hugely nasty]] has happened to humanity. Be it nuclear war (which was once very popular but has gone out of vogue, in part due to TheGreatPoliticsMessUp), plague (which currently seems to be the most popular), natural disaster (which seems the most likely to happen in the near future in RealLife), [[WorldWreckingWave supernatural disaster]] (usually the case with a SealedEvilInACan or missing CosmicKeystone), devastating [[GaiasLament environmental changes]] (which, in this kind of fiction, happen too quickly for civilization to adapt), an [[ZombieApocalypse outbreak of the living dead]] (also hugely popular these days), or an AlienInvasion (God help us if ''that'' one happens)-- most of humanity is gone.

[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Something hugely nasty]] has happened to humanity. Be it nuclear war (which was once very popular but has gone out of vogue, in part due to TheGreatPoliticsMessUp), plague (which currently seems to be the most popular), natural disaster (which seems the most likely to happen in the near future in RealLife), [[WorldWreckingWave supernatural disaster]] (usually the case with a SealedEvilInACan or missing CosmicKeystone), devastating [[GaiasLament environmental changes]] (which, in this kind of fiction, happen too quickly for civilization to adapt), an [[ZombieApocalypse outbreak of the living dead]], or an AlienInvasion (God help us if ''that'' one happens)-- most of humanity is gone.

[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Something hugely nasty]] has happened to humanity. Be it nuclear war (which was once very popular but has gone out of vogue, in part due to TheGreatPoliticsMessUp), plague (which currently seems to be the most popular), natural disaster (which seems the most likely to happen in the near future in RealLife), [[WorldWreckingWave supernatural disaster]] (usually the case with a SealedEvilInACan or missing CosmicKeystone), devastating [[GaiasLament environmental changes]] (which, in this kind of fiction, happen too quickly for civilization to adapt) or AlienInvasion (God help us if ''that'' one happens)-- most of humanity is gone.

->''We begin in the year 2293, and the apocalypse has come and gone. [[Film/MadMax The Australians are wasting fossil fuels]], [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar the Japanese are punching people a lot]], [[VideoGame/{{Fallout}} the Americans are taking potshots at mutants with portable nukes]], and the British are doing... [[MindScrew this]].''

If you're really lucky, you may get a CosyCatastrophe, in which case it's best to be friendly and humane, but also adaptable and brave. Of course, that's not a bad personality in RealLife. If you're really unlucky, the only ones left to mourn at HumanitysWake will be robots, mutants and aliens. Or dogs -- you just better hope you [[PostApocalypticDog brought yours along for the ride]], and it says faithful...

* AfterTheEnd/RealLife

If you're really lucky, you may get a CosyCatastrophe, in which case it's best to be friendly and humane, but also adaptable and brave. Of course, that's not a bad personality in RealLife. If you're really unlucky, the only ones left to mourn at HumanitysWake will be robots, mutants and aliens.

* AfterTheEnd/VideoGames

If you have time, please take time to put examples in alphabetical order. This page Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings should help you with that.

Related, if not quite the same, [[DarkAgeEurope is the period immediately after the fall of Rome]]; most {{Film}} and TV set in this time tend to depict it as a time of post-apocalyptic anarchist savagery populated by interwarring warlords. Thus, AfterTheEnd stories will reference historical parallels about humanity's decay into MedievalMorons [[TheDungAges wallowing in filth and superstition]], fighting for survival, and [[BurnTheWitch exterminating any "mutants" with fire]]. In fact, while there was a significant increase in banditry and piracy, most areas were peaceful most of the time. Fantasy series (especially {{JRPG}}s) are chock full of ancient, highly advanced civilizations that met their end and pitted humanity into a long Dark Age in a similar manner..

Related, if not quite the same, [[DarkAgeEurope is the period immediately after the fall of Rome]]; most {{Film}} and TV set in this time tend to depict it as a time of post-apocalyptic anarchist savagery populated by interwarring warlords. Thus, AfterTheEnd stories will reference historical parallels about humanity's decay into MedievalMorons [[TheDungAges wallowing in filth and superstition]], fighting for survival, and [[BurnTheWitch exterminating any "mutants" with fire]]. In fact, while there was a significant increase in banditry and piracy, most areas were peaceful most of the time.

->"''It was not, as some had predicted, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world]]. Instead, the [[ApocalypseHow apocalypse]] was simply the prologue to another bloody chapter in human history.''"
-->-- '''RonPerlman''', ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' intro monologue.