History Main / DetonationMoon

A sister trope to DefaceOfTheMoon. Compare with GraspTheSun for a symbolic use of celestial bodies. Expect there to be NoEndorHolocaust ([[MoonRabbit unless rabbits live there]]). If the destruction of the moon does result in serious damage to Earth or nearby planets it may overlap with ColonyDrop, especially if done on purpose. Sometimes results in a ShatteredWorld.

* Almost happens in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', when Zhao plots to kill [[CosmicKeystone the moon spirit]]. It's not clear if the moon was ''physically'' destroyed/wiped from existence, but at the very least he got it to stop reflecting light. Somewhat averts NoEndorHolocaust in that they make it clear the moon's death would be a very bad thing. As it stands, however, [[spoiler:all it did was force a HeroicSacrifice to fix the moon and create one ''very'' pissed off ocean spirit kaiju.]]

[[caption-width-right:315:How do you like that, Obama?! ''I PISSED ON THE MOON, YOU IDIOT!'']]

[[caption-width-right:315:[[ThatsNoMoon That's not a moon]], '''that ''was'' a moon'''.]]

* ''Anime/OriginSpiritsOfThePast'' uses this trope, though instead of the moon being completely destroyed it's just split into [[IncrediblyLamePun tree]].

* The ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' storyline ''ComicBook/ReckoningWar'' kicks off with the Moon being destroyed. The heroes believe that the invading Badoon are the cause of this. [[spoiler:The FF end up discovering this wasn't the case, that it was the Reckoners who attacked the Moon, trying to stop Uatu from warning his race of their arrival.]]

* In ''[[Anime/SenkiZesshouSymphogear Symphogear]]'', Fine attempts to destroy the moon with an enormous cannon, but it is deflected and only knocks off a chunk. The heroes then blow up the chunk, giving the moon a ring for the rest of the series.

* In one of Creator/StephenBaxter's more nonsensical stories, the US government executes "operation Sunday Punch" to blow a huge chunk out of the moon, in order to intimidate the other nations of the world. It doesn't end well.

* The GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/RoswellConspiracies'' opens with a shot of the [[spoiler:Shadoen fleet]] blowing up the moon and uses the EiffelTowerEffect several times over to demonstrate in minute detail exactly how much destruction blowing up the moon actually causes. The whole thing is soon revealed to be a simulation, though they still plan on blowing up the moon.

* From the TV-series version of ''Series/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', a description of the songs of the rock group [[FakeBand Disaster Area]]:

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' has this as a background event, where the [[http://www.overthinkingit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/moon-is-junk.jpg damage to the moon]] in a gate research accident 75 years before the series starts killed the bulk of humanity and drove most of the rest to colonize the Solar System. Earth itself is largely a wasteland now, meaning NoEndorHolocaust is largely averted here: The initial shockwave devastated the portion of Earth facing the moon and debris continues to rain down on the damaged landscape. Meteor showers are treated like a weather event by the survivors who live in underground bunkers. The surface can't even be mapped due to the constant creation of new impact craters.

* The ''Anime/SonicX'' adaptation of ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' also shows the moon getting blown up, though while the games never explain how the moon presumably gets fixed, in Sonic X Eggman fixes it himself, dubbing it the [[PunnyName "Eggmoon"]]. [[spoiler: He then uses the repaired moon to try and block out the sun.]]

* In ''Film/Oblivion2013'': The alien invaders have severely crippled humanity and the Earth's climate by shattering the Moon, which gave our post-apocalyptic world an admittedly [[ApocalypseWow beautiful]] AlienSky with the destroyed Moon casting long shades with its debris. [[Creator/MorganFreeman Malcolm]] [[RebelLeader Beech]] reminisces when it was blown apart to cripple the human race pre-invasion.

* A torn-apart moon is a constant sight during night sequences in ''Film/{{Oblivion 2013}}'' . [[Creator/MorganFreeman Malcolm]] [[RebelLeader Beech]] reminisces when it was blown apart to cripple the human race pre-invasion.

* In ''Film/Oblivion2013'': The alien invaders have severely crippled humanity and the Earth's climate by shattering the Moon, which gave our post-apocalyptic world an admittedly [[ApocalypseWow beautiful]] AlienSky with the destroyed Moon casting long shades with its debris.

* From the Netflix Original "The Umbrella Academy," the primary event that destroys the Earth at the end of Season One is [[spoiler: when Vanya destroys the moon during her solo concert.]]

* In ''Film/Oblivion2013'': The alien invaders have severely crippled humanity and the Earth's climate by shattering the Moon, which gave our post-apocalyptic world an admittedly [[ApocalypseWow beautiful]] [[AlienSky]] with the destroyed Moon casting long shades with its debris.

* The moon gets destroyed in the "Five Years Later" period of ''Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}''. This was due to the events of ''ComicBook/TimeAndTimeAgain'' where Franchise/{{Superman}} got stranded in this era. He and the Legion are able to stop the initial countdown, but the BigBad of the storyline realizes this is the only way to send Superman back to his original time and resumes the countdown. In this case there ''is'' an Endor Holocaust, with lunar fragments being a serious threat to Earth for some time afterwards (until Earth got destroyed as well).

[[folder:AsianAnimation]]
* ''Animation/LingLongIncarnation'': In the backstory a sudden shift of the moons alignment caused a ripple effect that devistated the world just as a massive evacuation was underway, destroying civilization and preventing the exodus to the stars.
[[/folder]]

* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', Eggman blows up half of the moon with the [[KillSat Eclipse Cannon]] to show the world he's not messing around when he announces he's conquering the world. The laser blows off part of the moon, revealing a molten core and apparently having no influence on the planet's oceans. The moon seems none the worse for the wear in all following games, including one where the final battle happens on the surface. According to WordOfGod, the Moon is still broken, it's just always facing the other way when we see it. Unfortunately, [[WriterConflictsWithCanon that still doesn't quite make sense]], as the moon always face the same way towards Earth. And then it shows as broken again when the plot for the game after that, ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'', needs to continue dealing with said KillSat.

* ''Manga/MedakaBox'': Medaka does this to prevent the moon from crashing into the Earth, by herself. How she manages to do it is never explained. Unless "[[GodModeSue she's Medaka]]" is considered sufficient explanation. She promises to fix it and, sure enough, the epilogue chapters reveals that as an adult, she's working on a project to create an artificial moon to take its place.

* ''Manga/MedakaBox'': Medaka does this to prevent the moon from crashing into the Earth, by herself. How she manages to do it is never explained. Unless "[[GodModeSue she's Medaka]]" is considered sufficient explanation.

* In TV-movie catastrophic flick ''Impact'', a [[HollywoodScience piece of brown dwarf]] hits the Moon and gets stuck in it. The main characters then make a flight to the Moon in order to polarize it so it ''expulses'' the piece of dwarf. [[spoiler: Doing so they break the Moon into two pieces, though [[ArtisticLicenseAstronomy it becomes somehow stable in its orbit and doesn't have any negative effects on our planet]].]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'', the moon appears to have been blown apart. How it got that way is unknown.
** With recent updates, and a new champion in the form of [[spoiler:Io]], it has been confirmed that some force of darkness shattered the moon long ago. [[spoiler:Io happens to be the the embodiment of the moon, so naturally being shattered affected her in some manner]].

* In ''Literature/TheExpanse'' novel ''Leviathan Wakes'' the UN Navy blows up Deimos at the start of the siege of Mars, the debris poses a long-lasting navigation hazard and rains down on some of the domed cities. Later, a Martian ship nukes Protomolecule-infested Phoebe into rubble and sends the rubble on a course into Saturn.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Remnant's moon is mysteriously half-shattered, leaking a dense field of debris. One of humanity's theories is a fairy tale called ''[[Literature/RWBYFairyTalesOfRemnant The Gift of the Moon]]'' that claims it's really the sun, which humanity accidentally broke. After building a new fake sun made of glass, the weakened original sun was relegated to lighting the night sky as the moon. [[spoiler: Ancient humanity is destroyed when [[RageAgainstTheHeavens Salem]] rebels against the gods. Abandoning Remnant and [[CompleteImmortality Salem]], the God of Darkness smashes the moon as a warning against disrespecting gods while the God of Light resurrects Salem's dead lover, [[ResurrectiveImmortality Ozma]], to guide a reborn humanity to redemption. Salem's [[NeverMyFault refusal to acknowledge]] the moon's warning and Ozma's [[GuiltComplex inability to ignore it]] has locked them into a ForeverWar for the fate of humanity.]]