History Main / EarthIsTheCenterOftheUniverse

** ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' - a strange alien cloud that can destroy anything in its path is headed straight for Earth and turns out to be originally a space probe sent by NASA

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' Earth's problem is that its solar system is right ''next'' [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/441 to the capital world of the local space empire]], leaving us smack in the middle of a vast nation we're not even aware of.

* As a whole, ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' and ''VideoGame/Destiny2'' describe the Earth becoming the front line of a cosmic struggle between the {{Sentient Cosmic Force}}s of Light and Darkness regarding the fate of the universe. The lynchpin of the matter is the Traveler, the Light's avatar, which the forces of the Darkness have been hunting for billions of years. With the Traveler now hanging over Earth and finally standing up for itself (instead of fleeing, as it did every other time danger got close to it), armies from all over are now converging here for the final battle. Note that there's nothing inherently special about the Earth or humanity; that the Traveler chose to make its stand here and [[TheChosenMany resurrected the dead]] to be its Guardians was just coincidence.

* In Franchise/TheDCU, Earth is not only the target of most of the weirdness and disasters, but it's also ''literally'' the center of TheMultiverse. So much so that the parallel universes in the multiverse are consistently referred to as "Earths", i.e. Earth-1, Earth-2, Earth-S, etc., even by characters who aren't from Earth, and the battle to decide the fate of the multiverse is referred to as the ''Comicbook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' and decided almost entirely by beings from their universe's version of Earth.
** Expanding on that "center of the multiverse" comment: it's what holds the multiverse together. Destroy New Earth (home of the main DC continuity) and it starts a chain reaction that will inevitably destroy all of existence. Imperiex tried to take advantage of this in ''Comicbook/OurWorldsAtWar'' in order to induce a new Big Bang. Needless to say, he failed.

** In fact, Earth 51 being destroyed was what kicked off ''Comicbook/FinalCrisis''.
** Averted somewhat in the ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' titles, where most of the non-Earthling Lanterns consider Earth to be a primitive backwater planet. The planet Oa also happens to be the physical center of the universe.
** Justified by the later CrisisCrossover ''[[Comicbook/InvasionDCComics Invasion!]]'' The alien alliance planning to take over Earth discussed amongst themselves that the reason our otherwise InsignificantLittleBluePlanet is The Center of the Universe is that [[HumansAreSpecial humans are more genetically varied than any of them are]]. Specifically, [[MetaOrigin some humans have the genetic code to develop a wide variety of superpowers]].
** In ''Comicbook/BlackestNight'', it is revealed that [[spoiler:Earth houses the Entity, the "living light" that kickstarted life in EVERY universe, and that the Guardians claiming to be the universe's oldest living beings and that Earth is backwater was to cover this fact]]. This also helped explain an earlier bit of "Earth is awesome" canon: it's established that Earth is the most biodiverse planet in existence. Most DCU planets have a hundred or so different species, while Earth has millions. This [[FridgeBrilliance makes sense]] once we find out that [[spoiler:Earth is home to the creator of all life, which causes life on this planet to behave differently]].
* In ''Comicbook/MarvelZombies'' the zombie Galacti (don't ask) manage to destroy every planet in the ''universe'' without significant incident between one issue and the next. When they get back to Earth, they face resistance and the plot changes direction significantly. Justified in that it was said that the inhabitants had forty years to plan a defense if the zombies ever came back. Another thing to remember is that by this time some of the zombies were losing their hunger as [[spoiler:Spider-Man and Luke Cage are the first to help the humans]].

** Averted in recent {{Crisis Crossover}}s set in the cosmic side in that the alien empires and conquerors are too busy warring over each other to care about Earth. The only time the events happening in space impacted on Earth resulted in an EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion. The threadbare state of the rest of the universe after the result of [[ComicBook/{{Annihilation}} three]] [[Comicbook/WarOfKings consecutive wars]] [[Comicbook/TheThanosImperative along with an invasion from]] {{Eldritch Abomination}}s has little to no bearing on the events happening on Earth.
** In ''Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Peter Quill's father, Emperor J'Son of Spartax, argues for the destruction of Earth for this very reason. He points out that in a short span of a single generation, humans have managed to defeat Comicbook/{{Thanos}}, the Phoenix Force and even Comicbook/{{Galactus}}, all on multiple occasions, each of whom had been responsible for the destruction of countless other worlds. He then suggests that should humans ever leave Earth and begin visiting other worlds, it would lead to untold cosmic disasters.
*** He later tears strips off Gladiator during ''The Trial of Jean Grey'', because of his boneheaded decision to kidnap Teen Jean, pointing out - perfectly accurately - that first, she is quite obviously a frightened teenage girl, ''not'' the Dark Phoenix, second, if she really was the Dark Phoenix, the knowledge that the Shi'ar killed her entire family would set her off and mean that she would kill everyone present, including Gladiator, and third, her friends will come after and they will tear through armies to get her back, because that's what humans (particularly mutants) have historically done. He is right on every count, with the O5, Kitty, X-23 and [[Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy the Guardians of the Galaxy]] promptly taking on the entire Imperial Guard to get her back.
** The Builders also wonder why so many great powers and entities have come to call Earth home and, following their invasion and the events of ''Comicbook/{{Infinity}}'', Earth is now something of a player on the intergalactic stage - or, at least, the Avengers are, being described by one young girls as 'heroes, gods', with an official Avengers presence being established in space.
** Also to be taken into account is the truly obscene number of powerful gods and pantheons that call Earth home. [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHercules Hercules]], for instance, just one god (though an extremely powerful one who's actually physically stronger than Thor), cuts loose and matches the Skrull Skyfather in single combat, when said Skyfather has, with his wife, enslaved countless thousands of pantheons and gods. And he's not even half as prominent as Thor.
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Comicbook/TheDefenders'', justified by Earth being the place where {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s placed reality warping machines that fuse parallel timelines together to create superheroes so they could defend the universe from omnicidal cosmic beings.
-->'''Comicbook/SilverSurfer''': Why is it this world is always the one upon which the fate of everything hinges? Why do the miracles and nightmares always seem to come from here?
* Played with in ''Comicbook/TheSandman''. On one hand, we never see any of the Endless interact with anything that doesn't have its roots in Earth or humanity. On the other hand, Death implies that they are, at the same time, performing the same function to all sentient life in the universe, and CainAndAbel state outright that the story of the first murder predates humanity and that they (as well as Eve, who is implied to be the story of the first mother) weren't/aren't at all human barring through the lens of who they're interacting with. This would make the entire ''comic'' a meta example of AFormYouAreComfortableWith because we as readers would naturally empathise better with (or be at all able to understand) humano-centric stories.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* Played with in ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrion''. Where players start is random, but the star-system at the center of the galaxy is always the titular Orion.

* There isn't any Earth in ''Franchise/StarWars'', but there is the Human homeworld and galactic capital Coruscant, pretty much the Earth-analog. It is officially the center of the Universe, with its galactic coordinates 0.0.0. Probably inspired by the RealLife NASA coordinate system that uses Earth as the center point, though more justified in Coruscant's case considering the planet is actually quite close to the galactic core. A year on Coruscant is 368 days, each day is divided into 24 hours, and these time measurements are used as the standard throughout the galaxy. Averted in that Coruscant is not depicted, or even named, in the original trilogy. All of the action takes place on other planets or in space. It is not until the prequels that Coruscant becomes a significant part of the storyline, and even then much of the action happens elsewhere. Also somewhat averted in that early on in the Republic's history, there was competition between Coruscant and Alsakan (another prominent planet at the time) as to which would be the dominant world in the Galactic Republic, with Coruscant eventually prevailing.
** A disproportionate amount of Star Wars' plot, including [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]] stories, also happens to take place on Tatooine despite Luke's remark that "If there is a bright center to the universe you are the planet that is farthest from".

* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1'' seems to completely avert this at first - Earth is a backwater world almost nobody even notices. When it gets destroyed, even Ford Prefect, who lived on it for ''fifteen years'' can't bring himself to give a damn. Then it turns out to have been the galaxy's most powerful super-computer. The trope gets played more or less straight from there on.

* In ''Literature/TheScienceOfDiscworld'' and sequels, the wizards have an entire non-magical universe to study. Once a planet with actual oceans and stuff emerges, they pretty much lose interest in the rest of it. Especially when it acquires people. (There may be other lifeforms on other planets. The wizards have never asked.)

* Averted in Creator/AlastairReynolds' ''[[Literature/RevelationSpaceSeries Revelation Space]]'' universe: the little we hear about Earth suggests that a major Ice Age has turned it into a backwater.

* Largely averted in the ''SpinwardFringe'' series. Earth appears to be by far the most technologically advanced and militarily powerful world, with none of the constantly warring governments and corporations even thinking about daring to attack it. However, it's almost completely isolated itself from the rest of the galaxy and none of the events of the series take place anywhere near it.
* Averted in Creator/OlegDivov's ''Trail of the Zombie'' trilogy, where a character reveals near the end of the last book that aliens think of Earth as a garbage dump and turn their noses every time they pass by. The only reason they took him is that he called out to them with his powerful PsychicPowers. Even he's about to stop coming back, as his life is now on his new planet.
* Averted in Creator/VladimirVasilyev's ''Literature/WolfishNature'' duology, where the "wolves" reveal that none of the galactic powers could give a damn about a backward place like Earth. Sure, Earth's biotech sciences are more advanced than he'd assumed, but it's nothing compared to what TheEmpire has. The only reason the "wolves" even came is that Earth is their home (they were abducted by aliens 400 years ago to serve as mercenaries in a war).

* Averted in ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'' (at least before the finale of Season Five, a season which had various other continuity errors as well). While HumansAreSpecial, Earth is an utterly unimportant backwater first overrun by the Magog and then conquered by the Nietzscheans. Harper occasionally does express this attitude and is confused why nobody else cares about the human homeworld, but it's usually dismissed by the others as sentiment for his birth planet.

* {{Averted|Trope}} pretty hard in ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': Only Crichton cared about Earth. All the other aliens just wanted to go home, too. Of course, the Scarrans did try to invade Earth once through a wormhole ([[spoiler:after Crichton inadvertently let them know that the plant they need to remain intelligent grows wild there]]), but after Crichton collapsed the wormhole, they settled for trying to conquer the rest of the galaxy. Also, Scorpius threatened to invade Earth, but said that the journey there would take decades, and he was only doing this to try and get John to cooperate with him. If anything, their ship, ''Moya'', was the central WeirdnessMagnet of the universe.

* Mostly subverted in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' -- Earth (known as Terra in this setting) is the literal center of the standard universe map because it's the planet humanity radiated out from and there are [[AbsentAliens no other known intelligent species]]. But most of the important political and military action has moved elsewhere centuries ago and the key players - the Great Houses and the Clans - all came into being on other worlds.
** However, at various times Terra has been the capital of powerful factions in Battletech, notably the ''Terran'' Hegemony (the key member of the Star League) and the Republic of the Sphere. Comstar also ruled humanity's birthworld for three centuries as a neutral 'museum world' while hiding their secret military there.
** To elaborate, Terra is the most industrialized planet in the Battletech universe. To paraphrase one of the books, "Hesperus II is one of the most important manufacturing worlds in the Inner Sphere, by virtue of being home to the massive Star League-era Battlemech Factory, Hesperus Industries, which supplies 40% of the Battlemechs to the Lyran military. Terra was home to literally dozens of comparable facilities." The only reason whoever controls Terra doesn't conquer everyone else is manpower/resources. Terra has been strip-mined for every resource centuries ago, as have most habitable worlds nearby. Add being in the center of a fragmented universe and surrounded by the five biggest nations (all with territorial interests in the area), the core worlds are thus among the most heavily war-torn. And that's saying something in a galaxy that has had less than a century of peace in the last 800 years.

* Averted in the ''[[Videogame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'', where Earth was [[LostColony cut off]] from the PortalNetwork for 700 years. However, even after it is reconnected and shows [[HumanityIsAdvanced its technological might]] it remains as something of a backwater, both plot-wise and gameplay-wise as it requires a long journey due to the player's jumpdrive inability to lock onto Terran trans-orbital accelerators. The Earth State, obviously, regards it as the center of the universe and jealously guards it after a [[HopelessWar hopeless]] RobotWar that caused said lost colony status, and have built a RingworldPlanet around the equator, which gets nuked in ''X3: Albion Prelude'', kicking off a GuiltFreeExterminationWar against the ''other'' human lost colony, the Argon Federation, which is a major player in politics.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'' [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this when two alien spaceships land on Earth in quick succession and a news reporter remarks "Why does every spaceship land in the United States?"

-->-- '''Kyon''', ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]''

Sub-tropes are, of course, TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse and BigApplesauce. Related to TheOnlyWayIsTheMilkyWay and WhatOtherGalaxies For subversions and aversions, see InsignificantLittleBluePlanet and EarthThatWas. For nation- or region-specific examples, see CreatorProvincialism. See also TheExactCenterOfEverything.

Sub-tropes are, of course, TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse and BigApplesauce. For subversions and aversions, see InsignificantLittleBluePlanet and EarthThatWas. For nation- or region-specific examples, see CreatorProvincialism. See also TheExactCenterOfEverything.

Sub-tropes are, of course, TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse and BigApplesauce. For subversions and aversions, see InsignificantLittleBluePlanet and EarthThatWas. For nation- or region-specific examples, see CreatorProvincialism.

** Justified by the later CrisisCrossover ''ComicBook/{{Invasion}}!'' The alien alliance planning to take over Earth discussed amongst themselves that the reason our otherwise InsignificantLittleBluePlanet is The Center of the Universe is that [[HumansAreSpecial humans are more genetically varied than any of them are]]. Specifically, [[MetaOrigin some humans have the genetic code to develop a wide variety of superpowers]].

** In addition, Earth is also the keystone of several mystical dimensions, such as the Nevernever and Yggdrassil.

* It DEFINITELY is in Literature/TheBible. Depending on your beliefs, this means in RealLife too.

* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Comicbook/TheDefenders'', justified by Earth being the place where SufficientlyAdvancedAliens placed reality warping machines that fuse parallel timelines together to create superheroes so they could defend the universe from omnicidal cosmic beings.

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' Earth's problem is that its solar system is right ''next'' [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20100327.html to the capital world of the local space empire]], leaving us smack in the middle of a vast nation we're not even aware of.

** However, at various times Terra has been the capital of powerful factions in BattleTech, notably the ''Terran'' Hegemony (the key member of the Star League) and the Republic of the Sphere. ComStar also ruled humanity's birthworld for three centuries as a neutral 'museum world' while hiding their secret military there.
** To elaborate, Terra is the most industrialized planet in the BattleTech universe. To paraphrase one of the books, "Hesperus II is one of the most important manufacturing worlds in the Inner Sphere, by virtue of being home to the massive Star League-era BattleMech Factory, Hesperus Industries, which supplies 40% of the BattleMechs to the Lyran military. Terra was home to literally dozens of comparable facilities." The only reason whoever controls Terra doesn't conquer everyone else is manpower/resources. Terra has been strip-mined for every resource centuries ago, as have most habitable worlds nearby. Add being in the center of a fragmented universe and surrounded by the five biggest nations (all with territorial interests in the area), the core worlds are thus among the most heavily war-torn. And that's saying something in a galaxy that has had less than a century of peace in the last 800 years.

*** It's also hinted, especially via Tyrannid fluff, that while Earth may be the most important world in the galaxy, [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet the universe as a whole is a lot bigger]] - the light-years long hive fleets capable of consuming entire systems may only be the first probing fingers of an organism the size of galaxies which has already consumed far large and more powerful empires. The Earth seems important to humans, but to others, it's just a small part of their next snack.
*** Because of this, the galactic map looks extremely lopsided, with the segmentums surrounding the Segmentum Solar rather small - relatively speaking - due to Sol's position in one spiral arm, and the ones to the galactic east utterly enormous.

* Subverted in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' -- Earth is indeed pretty much the spatial center of the known universe because it's the planet mankind started out from and there are [[AbsentAliens no other known intelligent species]] in the setting, but most of the important political and military action has moved elsewhere centuries ago and the governments of the Successor States have their seats on their own capital worlds.
** However whoever controls Earth tends to be the most powerful faction.
** To elaborate, Terra is the most industrialized planet in the Btech Universe, aka the Inner Sphere. To paraphrase one of the books, "Hesperus II is one of the most important manufacturing worlds in the Inner Sphere, by virtue of being home to the massive Star League era Battlemech Factory, Hesperus Industries, which supplies 40% of the Battlemechs to the Lyran Military. Terra was home to literally dozens of comparable facilities." The only reason whoever controls Terra doesn't conquer everyone else is manpower/resources. Terra has been strip-mined for every resource centuries ago, as have most habitable worlds nearby, and being the center of a fragmented galaxy, and having the 5 biggest nations all have territorial interests in the area, the core worlds are among the most heavily war-torn. And that's saying something in a galaxy that has had less than a century of peace in the last 800 years.

* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Comicbook/TheDefenders'':

* Averted in ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'' (at least before the finale of Season Five, a season which had various other continuity errors as well). While HumansAreSpecial, Earth is an utterly unimportant backwater first overrun by the Magog and then conquered by the Nietzscheans.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/InAGoodCause": The alien ambassadors from Diaboli are surprised to learn Earth, homeworld of humanity, [[SubvertedTrope is not a shrine world]]. While it is the center of the most powerful political unit, it only controls about a dozen worlds out of the one thousand that humanity has colonized. Played straight by the end, when [[OneWorldOrder all of humanity unites into one government]].

* ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'' demonstrates this perfectly. An intergalactic criminal is put on trial and given his sentence. When one of his experiments (626, AKA the eponymous Stitch) escapes containment, the galactic conference watches in awe as his torn-up ship descends on a certain planet in a certain solar system.

* In ''Discworld/TheScienceOfDiscworld'' and sequels, the wizards have an entire non-magical universe to study. Once a planet with actual oceans and stuff emerges, they pretty much lose interest in the rest of it. Especially when it acquires people. (There may be other lifeforms on other planets. The wizards have never asked.)

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/InAGoodCause": The alien ambassadors from Diaboli are surprised to learn Earth, homeworld of humanity, [[SubvertedTrope is not a shrine world]]. While it is the center of the most powerful political unit, it only controls a few worlds out of the one hundred that humanity has colonized. Played straight by the end, when [[OneWorldOrder all of humanity unites into one government]].

** The Robot books zigzag it. For the [[Literature/TheCavesOfSteel first]] [[Literatures/TheNakedSun three]] [[Literature/TheRobotsOfDawn books]], Earth is an overpopulated slum for the fifty Spacer colonies, with heavy doses of FantasticRacism. However, as of ''Literature/RobotsAndEmpire'', there has been a new wave of colonization for the past two centuries, with the colonists all coming from Earth and playing this trope straight to a literally religious extent. Therefore, the antagonists decide that destroying Earth would be the perfect way to weaken the new colonies enough for Spacers to eliminate them easily... and the heroes allow them to go along with the plan, believing that playing this trope straight holds back humanity. Eventually, this leads to the situation described above.

* The reason for so many aliens coming to Earth in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' is the show's MacGuffin: the Omnitrix. However, the film "Secret of the Omnitrix" suggests another reason: the majority of aliens within the universe [[ToServeMan find humans quite tasty]].

If, against all odds, it's just next on the list for an alien menace that has conquered hundreds of worlds before it, Earth will more often than not be [[UndefeatableLittleVillage that elusive last]] planet they needed to make their conquest of the region/galaxy/universe complete. And almost ''every'' time, it's Earth where a resistance to the aliens' evil ways will finally succeed, [[JustForFun/HowToInvadeAnAlienPlanet no matter how improbable]].

Sub-tropes are, of course, TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse and BigApplesauce. For subversions and aversions, see InsignificantLittleBluePlanet and EarthThatWas. For nation or region specific examples, see CreatorProvincialism.

** In ''"Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan"'', Broly's father wants to turn Earth into the new Saiyan Homeworld. He doesn't use the planet that he previously took over because he says that Earth is the most beautiful planet in the cosmos, and doesn't take the invasion straight to Earth because he doesn't want it to become a desolate and battle scarred wasteland, which happened to said previously-conquered planet.

** Beerus, the God of Destruction, first came to Earth looking for the Super Saiyan God. When he fights Goku in his Super Saiyan God form, he promises to destroy Earth if Goku loses. Beerus defeats Goku, but has since decided to spare Earth if for no other reason than because the food on Earth is too delicious to let go to waste.

* In Franchise/TheDCU, Earth is not only the target of most of the weirdness and disasters, it's also ''literally'' the center of TheMultiverse. So much so that the parallel universes in the multiverse are consistently referred to as "Earths", i.e. Earth-1, Earth-2, Earth-S, etc., even by characters who aren't from Earth, and the battle to decide the fate of the multiverse is referred to as the ''Comicbook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' and decided almost entirely by beings from their universe's version of Earth.

** Justified by the later CrisisCrossover ''ComicBook/{{Invasion}}!'' The alien alliance planning to take over Earth discussed amongst themselves that the reason our otherwise InsignificantLittleBluePlanet is The Center of the Universe is because [[HumansAreSpecial humans are more genetically varied than any of them are]]. Specifically, [[MetaOrigin some humans have the genetic code to develop a wide variety of superpowers]].

* Justified in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse; the reason so many aliens come to Earth is because a space warp in our solar system is a major Hyperspace nexus. And yes, the Marvel Universe IS filled with alien conquerors and space empires.

* In ''Film/TheFifthElement'', the SealedEvilInACan pops out every 5000 years to attack Earth. Justified in that an Ancient alien race hid a weapon there capable of destroying said evil, which would also have allowed the evil to wipe out all life in creation. That of course raises the question as to why Earth was chosen in the first place.
* In ''Film/IndependenceDay'', a supposedly unstoppable race of alien invaders that has conquered dozens of worlds meets its match in Creator/WillSmith, Creator/JeffGoldblum and a laptop computer. This is repeated in ''Film/IndependenceDayResurgence'', and, at the end, [[spoiler:the Sphere asks humanity to lead the galaxy-wide rebellion against the Harvesters]].
* ''Film/MenInBlack'' casts Earth as an intergalactic neutral zone, making it ''the'' hub for galactic travel, intrigue and fugitives.

** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' discusses this. Captain Marvel says that planets across the universe are handling the snap far worse than Earth, because Earth has multiple supers and galactic heroes are limited to pretty much her. They also hang a lampshade on how there were three Infinity Stones in [[BigApplesauce New York]] at the same time and multiple stones on Earth at different times, even before Thanos went gathering them.

** ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' - strange alien cloud that can destroy anything in its path is headed straight for Earth and turns out to be originally a space probe sent by NASA
** ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'' - strange alien probe that can knock out a starship's power is headed straight for Earth because it hasn't received a call from whales for a couple hundred years.

* ''Film/{{Transformers}}'': Earth is always where the MacGuffin are hidden. 12,000 years ago the Allspark crashed landed in what would eventually become the bottom of the Colorado River. 19,000 years ago six of the Seven Primes hid the Matrix of Leadership in tomb made of their very own bodies in what would be Petra. If the Decepticons got either these artifacts the galaxy would be doomed, first on the list being the Humans and Autobots. The third film also reveals that the Apollo 11 moon landing was a mission for the US to explore the remains of the ''Ark'', an Autobot ship that carried Sentinel Prime, [[spoiler: as well as the Pillars needed to create a Space Bridge large enough to bring Cybertron near Earth's orbit]].

** In the Franchise/CthulhuMythos the primary reason that so many [[SealedEvilInACan sealed evils]] are concentrated on Earth or otherwise here is precisely because they are ''not'' concentrated on Earth. There's just so damned many of them that Earth ends up having its fair share of octopoid elder gods as a matter of normal statistical distribution.

** Andalites who have spent time there do recognize the incredible diversity and quantity of life that exists on Earth. For instance: Earth has approximately 10,000 species of bird. The Andalite home world has 3.
* The ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' Series plays with this. Earth is the home world, the richest planet in all of space, with the capital of Solarian League in Old Chicago. However the economics are stratified; the poor, who don't officially exist, live in ghettos as bad as anywhere. The technology hasn't really progressed in centuries, and really the eldest colonies like Beowulf have been the hubs of innovation and economy since the 'final war' well over a millennium ago. Their political position is now also in threat due to hundreds of years of believing they were impossible to ever be threatened.

-->''Old, romantic, historic Earth, the big blue marble itself. Miles had always expected to travel here someday, although not, surely, under these conditions. Earth was still the largest, richest, most varied and populous planet in scattered humanity’s entire worm-hole nexus of explored space. Its dearth of good exit points in solar local space and governmental disunity left it militarily and strategically minor from the greater galactic point of view. But Earth still reigned, if it did not rule, culturally supreme. More war scarred than Barrayar, as technically advanced as Beta Colony, the end-point of all pilgrimages both religious and secular--in light of which, major embassies from every world that could afford one were collected here.''

* Averted in Creator/OlegDivov's ''Trail of the Zombie'' trilogy, where a character reveals near the end of the last book that aliens think of Earth as a garbage dump and turn their noses every time they pass by. The only reason they took him is because he called out to them with his powerful PsychicPowers. Even he's about to stop coming back, as his life is now on his new planet.
* Averted in Creator/VladimirVasilyev's ''Literature/WolfishNature'' duology, where the "wolves" reveal that none of the galactic powers could give a damn about a backward place like Earth. Sure, Earth's biotech sciences are more advanced than he'd assumed, but it's nothing compared to what TheEmpire has. The only reason the "wolves" even came is because Earth is their home (they were abducted by aliens 400 years ago to serve as mercenaries in a war).

** And the epilogue reveals that [[spoiler:that planet wasn't our Earth, but quite different planet of the same name. The Colonials and their Cylon allies finally find an unnamed planet that is, according to them, filled with more life than all the Twelve Colonies put together, and inexplicably also houses primitive ''Homo sapiens'' in one of its continents. They decide to call it Earth in memory of the dream they pursued for so long. Fast-forward 150,000 years and confirm that it's indeed our very own home planet, in case the continental shapes weren't a dead giveaway, already]].

** It should be noted that the Doctor himself is a gargantuan WeirdnessMagnet, and that his fondness of Earth may be what draws a lot of stuff here. And several aliens display a variant on the InsignificantLittleBluePlanet attitude, in that Earth is invaded/chosen to be blown up/whatever because no one else would miss it. The Doctor says he finds humans fascinating because their adaptability lets them survive right up to the end of time. Other races either see humans as major adversaries, or find present day Earth to be a convenient backwater planet that is populated by a less advanced and easy to manipulate species.

** ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' is also guilty of this, usually having international-scaled disasters that could've killed millions of people (remember the Horoscope Incident? Its lethalness was the polar opposite of ''Series/{{FlashForward|2009}}'').

*** We are never told exactly how big a "sector" is, but it is at least tens of light years based on several episodes[[note]]It contains Wolf 359 and 40 Eridani A, which are just under 20 light years apart[[/note]]. 001 could well contain many other species' homeworlds as well.

*** However the Astronomicon is said to be a massive psychic magnet for the Tyranids, the extragalactic hivemind coming to devour the raw biomass of The Milky Way. In addition, the failed plan of the God Emperor of Mankind to tap into the Eldar webway in order to remove mankind's dependence on traveling through [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Hell Itself]], has left a weakspot in the barrier between the Warp and Realspace, held shut only by the Crippled Emperor's mind.
*** It's also hinted, especially via Tyrannid fluff, that while Earth may be the most important world in the galaxy, [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet the universe as a whole is a lot bigger]] - the light-years long hive fleets capable of consuming entire systems may only be the first probing fingers of an organism the size of galaxies which has already consumed far large and more powerful empires. The Earth seems important to humans, but to others it's just a small part of their next snack.

* Interestingly used in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' TCG, it is explained that there's a multiverse consisting in several planes (read: universes), in each plane there is a maximum of one planet able to sustain life, that planet serves as "earth" for this trope's purposes. This ''was'' played straight for the first part of Magic's history, in which it was established that multiple planes existed, but almost all blocks were set on the same one, called Dominaria. Mirrodin was the first block not set there since Homelands, seven years earlier, and several pre-Homelands blocks were set on Dominaria as well. Some non-Dominaria worlds were seen in the meantime, but they were rarely the center of the action or the home worlds of the main characters.

** In the actual game there's a total of one mission in the entire game taking place in our solar system; yet the only body you land on is the Moon. It's the quest you have to take in order to open your specialization talents (e.g., a Soldier can become either a Commando or a Shock Trooper).

* Rather justified in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''. The Forerunners intended for humans to inherit their technology and accordingly programmed all their facilities to recognize all humans (and only humans) to have full system access. It's also the reason the portal to the primary hub of the Halo network is located in East Africa, right in the region inhabited by early hominids during the time it was build.

* Averted in the ''[[Videogame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'', where Earth was [[LostColony cut off]] from the PortalNetwork for 700 years. However, even after it is reconnected and shows [[HumanityIsAdvanced its technological might]] it remains as something of a backwater, both plot wise and gameplay wise as it requires a long journey due to the player's jumpdrive inability to lock onto Terran trans-orbital accelerators. The Earth State, obviously, regards it as the center of the universe and jealously guards it after a [[HopelessWar hopeless]] RobotWar that caused said lost colony status, and have built a RingworldPlanet around the equator, which gets nuked in ''X3: Albion Prelude'', kicking off a GuiltFreeExterminationWar against the ''other'' human lost colony, the Argon Federation, which is a major player in politics.

** Dr Zoidberg allegedly doesn't know anything about humans because he "specializes" in ''alien'' biology. "Alien" meaning anything from the bazillions of other populated planets that aren't Earth. This is especially bizarre considering Zoidberg is himself an alien from the planet Decapod, so humans should be aliens to him.

* Lots in the ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' cartoon. Zix shows up there, with no reason as to why. The most glaring example is when Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad are all aboard the same ship headed for Earth. When they suddenly decide to set up the Legion, they put HQ on Earth - with ''no'' explanation as to the original reason they were headed there. Presumably Earth really is the centre of the universe, or at least a really popular place for fortune-seekers.

** While most world's have a single Legion member due to their powers being native abilities and Legion having a rule against power duplication, a disproportionate are from Earth since humans seem to have more power inducing accidents.

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'', under any and all possible circumstances, will land on Earth looking for [[MacGuffin whatever drives the plot at that point]]. If they aren't on Earth, they're back home on Cybertron. Sure, they go other places too, but anywhere else is just a pit stop, Earth is the only other planet they stay on.

** This was toyed around with in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', as the Maximals and Predacons don't know what planet they crash landed on. Yeah Megatron was aiming for Earth, but there are two moons. Dinobot defects thanks to this. [[spoiler:Actually, they got the right place. But not the right time. Oops!]]
*** [[spoiler:Actually the plot was to travel to some point in the past and off Optimus Prime while in stasis lock. It would have went off without a hitch had it not been for Optimus Primal and the fact that the Vok were messing around in Earth's primordial past.]]

* Earth is the centre of the ''visible'' universe. This is not a reflection of its cosmic status, however. It's just the point the observation is being done ''from''. Beyond the visible universe is just too far to see, limited by speed of light. Confusingly, despite the universe being ~13 billion(?) years old the observable universe has a radius closer to ~45 billion light years and the radius of the actual universe is even bigger. Something to do with how the expansion of space-time isn't limited by the speed of light. It's a consequence of Hubble's Law, that the further two bodies in the expanding universe are from each other the faster they are moving away from each other (or, more precisely, the faster the amount space in between them is expanding). The horizon of the observable universe is the distance at which that point in space is moving away from us faster than the speed of light, so that no light originating beyond that point can ever reach us.