History ApocalypseHow / Class1

* ''Contagion'': A worldwide pandemic that spreads about as easily as the flu, and kills about a fifth of the people infected. The US government survives, but things get pretty rough for a while.

* ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'': ''The Deconstruction of Falling Stars'' depicts a future where after a war, technology has fallen back several centuries. In a direct homage to ''ACanticleForLeibowitz'', it's revealed that at one of the monks shown is a Ranger in direct contact with [[TheFederation the Interstellar Alliance.]]
* New Zealand-based family drama ''TheTribe'' - a government project into anti-aging goes wrong and the resultant virus wipes out all adults in the world. Although the surviving children resort to small insular tribes and anarchy rules periodically from then on, enough knowledge survives in books that technologies can still be slowly rebuilt by those who are smart enough, making this a solid Class 1. Its sequel series, ''TheNewTomorrow'', takes this much closer to a Class 2.

* GaoGaiGarFINAL shows an apocalypse between Class 1 and Class 2 due to the actions of the Soul Masters trying to steal all the Dark Matter in the universe. Hundreds of well known cities are in ruins, the ice caps melted, and there were apparently a lot of casualties. However, it seems civilization and humanity will definitely bounce back after a few months to years! All because of Courage!

* ''WebOriginal/NineteenEightyThreeDoomsday'', a timeline from the [[http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Alternate History Wiki]], is set in a world where a nuclear war occured in the early eighties. Most of the nations in the Northern Hemisphere cease to exist, yet the survivors manage to establish new states in their wake. The Southern Hemisphere, meanwhile, escapes mostly unscathed.

* ''GundamX'' is a Class 1 disaster due to the Seventh Space War's conclusion. Nearly all the Colonies used a ColonyDrop on Earth, sending it into a seven year Nuclear Winter. However, 15 years after the War, everything is stabilized and despite taking place AfterTheEnd, it is upbeat and hopeful.

* A strong enough Solar Flare could render most electronics (especially ones with computer chips) severly damaged and useless, which would knock humans back to the 1930's in terms of technology. However, it is temporary, so after the turmoil (caused by removing essential technology like radios, the computers in plane cockpits and the machines hooked up to hospital patients), we would be able to replace it eventually.

*** And the however many thousands of people in the airplanes which use electronics in the navigation equipment and more importantly to run the engines. No electronics, bye bye engine, no engine bye bye thrust, no thrust bye bye forward speed, no forward speed bye bye lift, no lift ... oh no... we're gonna die. Most planes built during the last 15 years can't function without computers; if the computers are fried you either replace them or turn the aircraft into Coke cans.

* ''ACanticleForLeibowitz'' shows the stages of humanity recovering from [[AndManGrewProud nuclear war]], as civilization rebuilds itself and technology is rediscovered. Then [[HereWeGoAgain there's another nuclear war]]. Fortunately [[spoiler: there's other colonized planets around, and the church has a rocket ship, which they use as the bombs fall.]]
* Stephen King's ''TheStand'' -- the flu has wiped out almost everyone (we only see the situation in America, but it is confirmed several times the pandemic was global), but the forces of good and evil are [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive calling the survivors]] to two cities, and once they begin to gather it turns out there are thousands. The potential for abuse of abandoned power sources is a main issue, suggesting that after evil is defeated humanity will get right back on its feet in terms of technology (which actually [[ParanoiaFuel worries]] some of the [[LuddWasRight protagonists]]). In the end, [[spoiler:God sets off a nuke in the evil city]] (perhaps surprisingly, more an example of ChekhovsGun than DeusExMachina), and the folks in the good city appear to [[spoiler:be starting right down the road to rebuilding the old civilization, warts and all]].

*** And the however many thousands of people in the airplanes which use electronics in the navigation equipment and more importantly to run the engines. No electronics, bye bye engine, no engine bye bye thrust, no thrust bye bye forward speed, no forward speed bye bye lift, no lift ... oh no... we're gonna die. Most planes built during the last 15 years can't function without computers, if the computers are fried you either replace them or turn the aircraft into Coke cans.

** Lampshaded and Discussed. The deep-sea diver questions, among other things, why zombies can function underwater at crush depth, how they work without oxygen, and why they don't decompose in the corrosive salt water environment.

* In William Forstchen's novel ''One Second After'', terrorists of unknown nationality detonate several nukes in the upper atmosphere of the continental United States, generating an electromagnetic pulse that disables all electronic devices and plunges the country back into the 19th century. Without modern technology, hundreds of millions die from starvation, disease, infections, and rampant violence. Some small towns continue to function with basic services and local government, but major cities are effectively depopulated (NYC is mentioned to have 30,000 people left in it) and the federal government is mostly non-existent aside from one convoy of soldiers that the main characters encounter.

* In William Forstchen's novel ''One Second After'', terrorists of unknown nationality detonate several ICBMs over the continental United States, generating an electromagnetic pulse that disables all electronic devises and plunges the country back into the 19th century. Without farm machinery, trucks, modern medicine, and climate control, hundreds of millions die from starvation, disease, infections, and rampant violence. Some small towns continue to function with basic services and local government, but major cities are effectively depopulated (NYC is mentioned to have 30,000 people left in it) and the federal government is mostly non-existent aside from one convoy of soldiers that the main characters encounter.

* NinteenEightyThreeDoomsday, a timeline from the [[http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Alternate History Wiki]], is set in a world where a nuclear war occured in the early eighties. Most of the nations in the Northern Hemisphere cease to exist, yet the survivors manage to establish new states in their wake. The Southern Hemisphere, meanwhile, escapes mostly unscathed.

* In ''TheDayAfterTomorrow'', the Northern Hemisphere has been caught in a sudden IceAge. Millions of people are instantly frozen to death and survivors flee to Southern countries.

* ''{{Survivors}}'', created by Terry Nation (he of the Daleks and ''Series/BlakesSeven''), featured the few remaining inhabitants of a virus-ravaged Earth. However, enough human knowledge survived in the form of books to prevent this going to Level 2.

* John Christopher's ''TheTripods'' series of books (''The White Mountains'', ''The Tripods'', ''The City of Gold and Lead'', and a fourth prequel, ''When the Tripods Came'') have a world where a race of extraterrestrials have conquered Earth. They ride around and visit communities in huge three-legged vehicles, and have "capped" every human adult with a device attached to their heads to keep them from starting a revolution and fighting back. The world has more-or-less been knocked back to or just above semi-rural agricultural society, where there is essentially no motorized equipment. A small group of rebels is determined to take Earth back from the tripods, the only question is whether they will have enough time to do so.

*** And the millions of people in the airplanes which use electronics in the navigation equipment and more importantly to run the engines. No electronics, bye bye engine, no engine bye bye thrust, no thrust bye bye forward speed, no forward speed bye bye lift, no lift ... oh no... we're gonna die. Most planes built during the last 15 years can't function without computers, if the computers are fried you either replace them or turn the aircraft into Coke cans.

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* According to a theory based on genetics, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory#Genetic_bottleneck_theory volcanic eruption]] 70,000 years ago reduced the human race to between 1000 and 10,000 breeding pairs. If this is true, then it's the closest we've had to a worldwide class 1.

* ''GammaWorld'' has both humans and assorted mutant species slowly reinventing civilization after a nuclear-chemical-biological war.