History Main / CometOfDoom

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' episode "The Comet Is Coming" is a story where the Smurfs think from a message that was torn in transit written by Papa Smurf that the night of a comet's appearance is their last night of living, and so they make preparations insofar as even [[Franchise/{{Superman}} creating a rocket that would send Baby Smurf off to another planet]].

Subtrope of PortentOfDoom and BadMoonRising. See also CosmicMotifs.

** The 1910 passage was also on the eve of the [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors Xinhai Revolution in China]].

* Some people believe that the 1986 journey of Halley's Comet was a portent for the UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} disaster, and thus the fall of the Soviet Union. Some Christians tie the whole thing in to the Literature/BookOfRevelation, claiming the whole event was the third trumpet.

* The very old story, ''Hector Servadac'', has the titular hero and several others accidentally travelling into space on pieces of the Earth ripped away by collision with a comet and having to survive while forming a plan to get back to Earth when the comet returns near it again. Somehow, nobody else on Earth notices anything. Crosses over with ScienceMarchesOn.
* A red comet appears in the sky early in Creator/GeorgeRRMartin's ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' series, marking the deaths of both King Robert Baratheon and the murder of Ned Stark. Unusually, the characters aren't universally filled with dread; several of them decide the comet shows divine favour for their side (Daenerys thinks it's a sign that will lead her khalasar to safety; the Lannisters believe it is a sign of good fortune for their family and especially Joffrey; etc.) At the end of ''A Feast for Crows'' it seems to be confirmed that [[spoiler:it's a part of the prophecy of the Prince Who Was Promised]], though in ''The Winds of Winter'', Euron Greyjoy claims that it is a sign of the end times. Unlike most cases, however, [[OmnicidalManiac he seems perfectly happy with this.]]
** Also used by Martin in "The Plague Star," one of his "[[Literature/TufVoyaging Haviland Tuf]]" stories (chronologically the first); the recurring "star" is actually a (''huge'') derelict starship automated to bombard a planet with bioweapons.

* ''The Year When Stardust Fell'', a 1958 sci-fi juvenile by Raymond F. Jones. Earth has been caught in the tail of a comet whose particles have caused all metal to bind together, leading to technological and social collapse.

* Videogame/Wizard101 [[IncrediblyLamePun drove this thing into the ground]], by releasing some content in [[MayanDoomsday late 2012]] where a comet is threatening to destroy a {{Mayincatec}} FantasyCounterpartCulture, populated by [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Dinosaur]] [[BeastMan men]].

* Videogame/Wizard101 [[IncrediblyLamePun drove this thing into the ground]], by releasing some content in [[MayanDoomsday late 2012]] where a comet is threatening to destroy a {{Mayincatec}} FantasyCounterpartCulture, populated by [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Dinosaur]] [[BeastMan men}}.

* The third ''VideoGame/KillerEscape'' game reveals that [[spoiler: a dwarf star called "Nemesis" carrying tons of debris from the Oort cloud will strike the Earth as it passes through the solar system. Bonus content from the ''Icescape'' series also foreshadows this.]]

* When reality starts getting ''really'' weird in ''Discworld/TheColourOfMagic'', we're told that "In the cometary halo around the fabled Ice System of Zeret a noble comet died as a prince flamed across the sky."

* ''Film/NightOfTheComet''. A comet's trail sweeps across the Earth, reducing [[ApocalypseHow almost the entire human race to reddish dust]].
** This was what supposedly caused the dinosaurs to disappear.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': The presence of a twin-tailed comet is often seen as an omen to the people of The Empire, due to the legend that their founder Sigmar's birth was heralded by it's appearance. This is not always seen as a ''good'' omen, however, especially to the city of ''TabletopGame/{{Mordheim}}'', which was ''hit'' by one.
** In the case of Mordheim, the comet, like a few other astral bodies, is made [[GreenRocks warpstone]]. While the impact brought ruin to the city and caused the local government to collapse, the comet shattered into uncounted warpstone fragments, which poisoned the local populace and caused them to mutate hideously and turn insane. It also attracted all sorts of nasty types, as the warpstone is spiritually important to [[LegionsOfHell Chaos cults]], practical importance to outlaw mages, and both to the [[RatMen Skaven]]; and also mercenaries who know it's worth more than it's own weight in gold, and something Empire loyalists are working hard to contain.

* The third ''VideoGame/KillerEscape'' game reveals that a dwarf star called "Nemesis" carrying tons of debris from the Oort cloud will strike the Earth as it passes through the solar system. Bonus content from the ''Icescape'' series also foreshadows this.

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* The third ''Killer Escape'' game reveals that a dwarf star called "Nemesis" carrying tons of debris from the Oort cloud will strike the Earth as it passes through the solar system. Bonus content from the ''Icescape'' series also foreshadows this.

* Halley's Comet is famously depicted on Art/{{the Bayeux Tapestry}}: After scenes that depict Harold Godwinsson being elected and then holding court as king of England, there is a group of people who are excited about a comet (as the caption says, "these people are amazed at the star"). The next scene, which shows Harold receiving a messenger, may represent Harold being told about the comet. In the context of the tapestry, this is an omen of the defeat of the English and the death of Harold in the Battle of Hastings. Halley's Comet was visible in April of 1066; Harold had been crowned in January.

* Halley's Comet is famously depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry: After scenes that depict Harold Godwinsson being elected and then holding court as king of England, there is a group of people who are excited about a comet (as the caption says, "these people are amazed at the star"). The next scene, which shows Harold receiving a messenger, may represent Harold being told about the comet. In the context of the tapestry, this is an omen of the defeat of the English and the death of Harold in the Battle of Hastings. Halley's Comet was visible in April of 1066; Harold had been crowned in January.

Subtrope of PortentOfDoom and BadMoonRising.

* Videogame/Wizard101 [[IncrediblyLamePun drove this thing into the ground]], by releasing some content in [[MayanDoomsday late 2012]] where a comet is threatening to destroy a {{Mayincatec}} FantasyCounterpartCulture, populated by [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Dinosaur]] PettingZooPeople.

* Ditto the book ''Comet Dis'aster'', a book that incidentally has a lot of terror spread about it.

* [[Creator/CarlSagan Carl Sagan]] included a lot about the naming and mythology surrounding comets in different cultures in his 1985 book ''Comet'' (co-authored with Ann Druyan) and noted that Comets could be seen as portents of ''good'' depending on when they appeared. Most interestingly, he suggested that the Swastika symbol was the result of a comet appearing head-on to Earth so that the rotation of its jets of gas and dust were visible. The Swastika averted this for ages by being a symbol of ''good luck'' in many cultures and religions, especially Hinduism, all the way into the early 20th century. But then the Nazis came along and turned it into a straightforward symbol of evil and doom...

* The ShootEmUp ''Halley's Comet'' is about defending the solar system from aliens and comets spawned by the titular comet. Any aliens not destroyed will collide with the planet being defended, and if any planet reaches 100% damage, it will cause a NonstandardGameOver. It was released in 1986, the same year it was last visible from the solar system.