History Main / ColdSleepColdFuture

* Normally ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, frozen anywhere from twenty to fifty years thanks to the SlidingTimescale, is pretty well adjusted to the modern world. Now and again - mostly when he was newly introduced - he does angst about values shifting and morality becoming looser. Notably in [[http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_daily/461981.html "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes"]] he was shocked by the world he's woken up in (and by what was on the TV) and ashamed that he wasn't there to fight for it.

* Normally CaptainAmerica, frozen anywhere from twenty to fifty years thanks to the SlidingTimescale, is pretty well adjusted to the modern world. Now and again - mostly when he was newly introduced - he does angst about values shifting and morality becoming looser. Notably in [[http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_daily/461981.html "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes"]] he was shocked by the world he's woken up in (and by what was on the TV) and ashamed that he wasn't there to fight for it.
** [[UltimateMarvel Ultimate Captain America]], a different character then the classic, also went through the refreezing. He associates better with his few surviving friends and is very stuck in the past. When he learned that Hank Pym assaulting his miniaturized wife with bug spray and mind-controlled ants was merely the latest attack in a years-long abusive relationship, he storms off, smacks Hank around until he goes giant, and then and only then kicks Hank's sixty-foot tall (naked!) rear end. CrowningMomentOfAwesome?

[[quoteright:350:[[CaptainAmerica http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nothip.jpg]]]]

* Somewhat similar: ''Series/DoctorWho'' and his companions arrive on "The Ark in Space" where the future of humanity is 'cryogenically' [note]even The Doctor doesn't know that the word is 'cryonically'[/note] frozen. It's mentioned that emotionality is not encouraged in this future society, which doesn't stop the characters from emoting wildly merely because they're being absorbed by [[BodyHorror Wiirn]].

* Somewhat similar: ''Series/DoctorWho'' and his companions arrive on "The Ark in Space" where the future of humanity is 'cryogenically' [[note]]even The Doctor doesn't know that the word is 'cryonically'[/note] frozen. It's mentioned that emotionality is not encouraged in this future society, which doesn't stop the characters from emoting wildly merely because they're being absorbed by [[BodyHorror Wiirn]].

* Somewhat similar: ''Series/DoctorWho'' and his companions arrive on "The Ark in Space" where the future of humanity is cryogenically frozen. It's mentioned that emotionality is not encouraged in this future society, which doesn't stop the characters from emoting wildly merely because they're being absorbed by [[BodyHorror Wiirn]].

* ''BlueGender''. The humans are fighting an almost hopeless war against the Blue.

* ''{{Futurama}}'': One instance, at least. Leela is very cynical about the Moon, which almost kills Fry's wide-eyed enthusiasm about visiting the place. She warms up by the end of the episode, though. By contrast, Bender retains his DeadpanSnarker attitude for the remainder of the series, but then, he's a {{Jerkass}}.

*** Various earlier drafts for the show and the pilot show a much more dystopian future. These various aspects were dropped as the series continued, and the world of ''{{Futurama}}'' has about the same amount of pros and cons as modern-day living, albeit with a lot more convenient technology and [[WorldOfWeirdness general weirdness.]]

* Chell in ''VideoGame/Portal2'' spends anywhere from 20 to 300 years in an artificial coma to wake to ... the same crapsack world she was in before. Only now the enrichment centre is slowly falling apart, and seeing as Portal shares the same universe as ''Half-Life'', the outside world may still be controlled by an alien empire known as the Combine, which owns a fair chunk of the Multiverse.

*** And of course, John Spartan's methods were considered overly violent and neanderthalic even in the time period he was from. That's what got him frozen himself. At least, when he's on the job. When it comes to personal hygiene and interpersonal relationships, not so much.

* Philip Francis Nowlan's novella ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armageddon_2419_A.D Armageddon 2419 A.D.]]'', which was the basis for ''ComicStrip/BuckRogers''. Anthony Rogers is exposed to radioactive gas in a coal mine and remains in suspended animation for 492 years. When he wakes up he discovers that America has been invaded and conquered by the Han.

*** [[EvenEvilHasStandards Thought they originally ask him]] if "his conscience didn't revolt" at the thought of his plan to [[spoiler: trick the Marching Morons into a one-way space voyage]] and in the end, his principal henchman [[spoiler: commits suicide, leaving a note that stated he "couldn't live with my conscience."]]

* In Joe Haldeman's ''Literature/TheForeverWar'', it's time dilation that causes the veterans of the first campaign of the interstellar war to arrive in a CrapsackWorld. These jumps in time occur every time they go on a mission, but only the first time is described in detail.

* ''Series/RedDwarf'' begins with Dave Lister discovering that he's been frozen for so long that he is probably the last human alive, and so far from Earth that it will take just as long to find out for sure. The modifications to this predicament necessary to make it an ensemble sitcom do not make it any more pleasant for him.

* ''RebuildOfEvangelion''.

** When he first comes out, Aang also experiences a bit of this problem with his friends Katara and Sokka. All Aang wants to do is play--but the Water Tribe children have lived in a war their whole life, and are more used to hunting and working than goofing off like kids should.

* HGWells' ''Literature/TheSleeperAwakes'' shows Cold Sleep ''producing'' a Cold Future, as the protagonist awakens to a dystopian world ruled by the trustees of [[CompoundInterestTimeTravelGambit his own now-vast fortune]].
* In Joe Haldeman's ''TheForeverWar'', it's time dilation that causes the veterans of the first campaign of the interstellar war to arrive in a CrapsackWorld. These jumps in time occur every time they go on a mission, but only the first time is described in detail.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' puts the titular characters in the magical equivalent of Cold Sleep (i.e. a sleeping spell that can only be broken by raising Castle Wyvern above the clouds), and while Manhattan in 1994 isn't exactly a CrapsackWorld, Goliath quickly points out that it's just as savage as 994 Scotland.

* Edmund Cooper's ''The Tenth Planet'' has a starship captain wake up after 5,000 years to find himself on the last spit of human civilization: a colony on the titular planet, called Minerva, where nearly every aspect of living is strictly controlled by the government.

To put it simply, its a FishOutOfWater story without the [[HilarityEnsues hilarity ensuing]]. For a better explanation, when a cryonics patient wakes up, most everyone in the future tends to be dour, pessimistic, cynical, or any resulting combination thereof. The GoodOldWays have been forgotten. Even the group's designated humorous guy tends to either be a DeadpanSnarker or a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed {{homage}} to somebody like George Carlin or Bill Hicks. The formerly frozen character may or may not fit in (mostly [[FishOutOfWater the latter]] happens).

The reason for this universal (or at least planetary) viewing of the glass as half-empty varies. Either [[AfterTheEnd something very bad happened to the world]], or the story is a satire on [[AccentuateTheNegative society's becoming more cynical]]. Compare CrapsackWorld (this may be a futuristic version), or in extreme cases, WorldHalfEmpty. See also GoodIsOldFashioned. RipVanWinkle is the slightly shorter sister version of this trope.

* Inverted in Dan Simmons' ''Literature/HyperionCantos'': when Martin Silenus comes out of cryo he has so much brain damage that the only words he can speak or write are curses, and not many of them. Also his entire family is dead and he's been saddled with all of their debts. He's unhappy.
** Made even worse by the fact that Silenus was an award-winning poet before going into cryo, so his best (actually, his only) means of clearing those debts is effectively eliminated.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Music ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''HalfLife 2''. While not necessarily involving cold sleep (more a form of time travel) it still fits most of this trope.

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''RebuildOfEvbangelion''.

*** Various earlier drafts for the show and the pilot show a much more dystopian future. These various aspects were dropped as the series continued, and the world of ''{{Futurama}}'' has about the same amount of pros and cons as modern-day living, albeit with a lot more convenient technology and [[PlanetEris general weirdness.]]

* In LarryNiven's ''A World Out Of Time'', the protagonist is revived into an authoritarian world. He's expected to earn his new lease on life by piloting a sublight interstellar mission. If he fails to qualify, they'll erase his brain pattern from the body (of a condemned criminal, executed by brainwipe) he's using and try again with the next HumanPopsicle.
* Inverted in Dan Simmons' ''{{Hyperion}}'': when Martin Silenus comes out of cryo he has so much brain damage that the only words he can speak or write are curses, and not many of them. Also his entire family is dead and he's been saddled with all of their debts. He's unhappy.