History Main / FallenStatesOfAmerica

* ''VideoGame/{{Dystopia}}'': The United States in the backstory began a downward spiral as its currency collapsed as more and more nations switched over to other reserve currencies. By the time of the game, it no longer exists, now broken up into several different nations, the most powerful being the United Dominion of Canada.

* ''VideoGame/{{Assassins Creed|I}}'': An email in the first game reads about a border conflict between Mexican soldiers and Americans trying to escape into Mexico. [[spoiler: Later revealed to be hoax emails planted by a resistance group.]]

* ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'': Not as bad as the original game, but it is on its way there. News articles and books read mention that the economy for the United States has taken a turn for the worse, and secessionism, cities and states declaring or demanding more autonomous rule and internal fighting is starting to become a political issue. An e-book mentions that Canada is starting to become the place to be in North America.
** By the look of things, China is already in the lead by this point. Just look at Hengsha, an enormous two-tiered city.

* ''VideoGame/ShatteredUnion'': Washington DC was destroyed by a nuclear attack killing everyone in the federal government, and the US had been divided into 6 factions, all plus the European Union vying to reunify the country in their terms and not to mention [[RussiaCalledTheyWantAlaskaBack Russia "taking back" Alaska]].

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts'' is set ten years in the wake of a successful attack on the United States that kills 27 million Americans and leaves the nation in shambles. Industry is all but destroyed, cities are decaying, and the government is unable to field a proper military, leading to the ones responsible for the attack (a collaboration of various South American nations led by Venezuela) able to stage an invasion of the country and occupy the American Southwest. The "Ghosts" are a collection of individuals who worked in special operations prior to the assault and now fight to defend the remnants of their broken nation from its enemies.
* In ''VideoGame/CookServeDelicious'', the year is 2042, and the United States is in shambles after the "Blue War". Five of the states were bombed to hell and are just perpetually burning, several east coast states and the entire state of Oregon (as in, the entire landmass within its border) got flooded, and Texas seceded from the country and built a great wall around its borders. People have to go outside wearing radiation suits in the worse off states, and there a lot of displaced android soldiers trying to live out a life after the war. You play as a humble chef just trying to make ends meet in this world.
* Not explicitly stated, but implied in order for the settings of videogames where you play as a VillainProtagonist who did criminal acts, mostly WideOpenSandbox games, like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'', and ''Videogame/PAYDAY2'' to exist. Those games feature largely autonomous city-states run by criminals with easy access to military-grade firepower fighting against systematically-corrupt and highly-militarized police forces, while the political leaders are even more cartoonishly corrupt than they are in real-life, approaching an odd mix between post-collapse former Soviet states and war-torn African nations.

* A strong possibility in ''VideoGame/ChoiceOfRobots'' either due to the [[spoiler:Sino-American War]] or the [[spoiler:Alaska Rebellion]].
* A ZombieApocalypse results in the complete collapse of the United States in ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs''; during the initial outbreak, the government is dissolved and taken over by the military, who rules over a series of walled-off "Quarantine Zones" across the country. Within 20 years, the vast majority of Zones have fallen, either to civilian uprisings (like Pittsburgh) or simple neglect and lack of supplies (like Hartford and presumably Salt Lake City). By the time the game starts, Boston is one of the only Zones still under total military control, and they rule with an iron fist, executing suspected Infected along with anyone who so much as looks at a soldier funny. A [[LaResistance resistance group]] called the Fireflies fights to restore the original US government and find a cure, but the country is arguably too far gone for any of that to help.
* ''VideoGame/KaiserreichLegacyOfTheWeltkrieg'' (a mod for ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIron 2/Darkest Hour'' and ''Hearts of Iron 4'') has the USA in a bad state in the alternate 1930s of the game, with extremist factions both left and right rising, secessionist rumblings on the Pacific Coast, and the economy in a depression without an FDR-like inspirational figure amongst the democratic factions. Then comes a four-way civil war... though the end-result of that is likely to still be a powerful America, it just might be under the aegis of the Combined Syndicates of America or the American Union State rather than the USA. It really only sticks with this trope if the Pacific States of America wins and goes for remaining the PSA (in which case the the rump USA established is a puppet state of the PSA -- the alternative is restoring the USA by becoming it) or if the USA becomes and remains a military dictatorship under [=MacArthur=] and then collapses into chaos upon the general's death (which leads to the USA splintering into several independent republics).
* Even before nuclear war broke out in the universe of ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'', the United States was on the decline, with the government growing increasingly tyrannical and warlike in the wake of resource shortages. Hundreds of years after the bombs fell, there's nothing left of the U.S. government but the Enclave, who are always the antagonist when they show up and were secretly responsible for [[spoiler: the many inhumane experiments conducted on the citizens of the Vaults.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'': Since America has appeared in every version of the game, this can happen anytime they lose. Given that later versions make America a Mid-Late Game Power House and an expansionist, they tend to get very big, very early, and have little ways to specialize in defending themselves, this can often result.
* In ''VideoGame/AfterTheEndAPostApocalypticAmerica'', the United States, as well as Canada and Mexico, have imploded after "the Event". The USA is now little but legend, and the continent has fallen into neo-feudalism. Invasions by Japanese, Russians, and Great Britain can also occur, and DC is explicitly stated as being slowly swallowed by the surrounding swamps.
* {{Downplayed}} in ''VideoGame/FarCry5'', but radio broadcasts make it clear the United States isn't doing great. The reason the Federal Government hasn't gotten involved with stopping Eden's Gate are the ongoing tensions with North Korea in the Pacific and across the Middle East, with many response teams moved to cities along the coasts. Meanwhile, America is also facing terrorist threats, a multi-state drought, a security breach at a major credit company, a nuclear power plant having to be shut down following a malfunction, and major federal budget cuts and many store chains declaring bankruptcy, suggesting a depression is on the way. [[spoiler: Made worse following a nuclear attack on Moscow that leaves millions dead, eventually spiraling into a full-scale nuclear war.]]

* ''Series/{{Sliders}}'': Happened in a few episodes, the pilot in particular showed that this happened after the US lost the Cold War.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E11TurnLeft "Turn Left"]] suggests very strongly that this happens to the U.S. after the Adipose kill a large portion of its population. The fragmentation is used to end a HopeSpot, since the UK, beset by other alien invaders, was looking to America for much-needed aid.

SubTrope of DifferentStatesOfAmerica.

* Not explicitly stated, but implied in order for the settings of videogames where you play as a VillainProtagonist who did criminal acts, mostly WideOpenSandbox games, like VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto, VideoGame/SaintsRow, and Videogame/PAYDAY2 to exist. Those games feature largely autonomous city-states run by criminals with easy access to military-grade firepower fighting against systematically-corrupt and highly-militarized police forces, while the political leaders are even more cartoonishly corrupt than they are in real-life, approaching an odd mix between post-collapse former Soviet states and war-torn African nations.

* VideoGame/KaiserreichLegacyOfTheWeltkrieg (a mod for VideoGame/HeartsOfIron 2/Darkest Hour and Hearts of Iron 4) has the USA in a bad state in the alternate 1930s of the game, with extremist factions both left and right rising, secessionist rumblings on the Pacific Coast, and the economy in a depression without an FDR-like inspirational figure amongst the democratic factions. Then comes a four-way civil war... though the end-result of that is likely to still be a powerful America, it just might be under the aegis of the Combined Syndicates of America or the American Union State rather than the USA. It really only sticks with this trope if the Pacific States of America wins and goes for remaining the PSA (in which case the the rump USA established is a puppet state of the PSA -- the alternative is restoring the USA by becoming it) or if the USA becomes and remains a military dictatorship under [=MacArthur=] and then collapses into chaos upon the general's death (which leads to the USA splintering into several independent republics).

* ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'': America has become a rural scavenger society, with dust bowls, dwindling resources and food shortages commonplace thanks to a global blight. Technologies such as [=MRIs=] either no longer exist or can't be made in mass quantities, while regular people like Coop salvage solar cells from surveillance drones for their cars. In addition, agencies like [=NASA=] have been publicly disbanded and schoolchildren are taught that the moon landings were a hoax designed to bankrupt the Soviets, all to convince them that they should stay on Earth to try and fix it, rather than leave. And America, while hanging on by a thread, is implied to be doing ''better'' [[CrapsackWorld than many other countries]].

* '''Film/{{Interstellar}}''': America has become a rural scavenger society, with dust bowls, dwindling resources and food shortages commonplace thanks to a global blight. Technologies such as [=MRIs=] either no longer exist or can't be made in mass quantities, while regular people like Coop salvage solar cells from surveillance drones for their cars. In addition, agencies like [=NASA=] have been publicly disbanded and schoolchildren are taught that the moon landings were a hoax designed to bankrupt the Soviets, all to convince them that they should stay on Earth to try and fix it, rather than leave. And America, while hanging on by a thread, is implied to be doing ''better'' [[CrapsackWorld than many other countries]].

'''Old Man in Whorehouse:''' Never? [[AncientRome Rome]] was destroyed, [[UsefulNotes/AncientGreece Greece]] was destroyed, Persia was destroyed, Spain was destroyed. All great countries are destroyed. Why not yours? How much longer do you think your own country will last? Forever?

* ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'' has the trope bad. The US still exists, but is only really in control of the Eastern seaboard. The Midwest and Southwest are dominated by corporate enclaves, roving nomad bands and subsistence farmers trying to eke out a living and avoid being swallowed by big agribusinesses. Texas, Utah and Nevada have all broken off from the Union. California has seceded, broken up into [=SoCal=] and [=NorCal=], and is owned in all but name by [[MegaCorp the Arasaka corporation.]] In the Pacific Northwest, Militech has for all practical purposes taken over the function of the Federal, State and local governments, and Wyoming (of all places) is a socialist state that pays lip service to the Federal government, but is ''de facto'' independent.

* ''{{VideoGame/Cyberpunk 2077}}'' This trope is less in effect than in the tabletop game (see above), mostly due to Arasaka's influence waning in the aftermath of the Fourth Corporate War, and the New US has been able to reassert its influence in many parts of the South and steadily push west. However, a lot of people have noticed how the Federal government seems to be depending heavily on support from Militech and a lot of former and not-so-former Militech employees have appeared in key positions. The general feeling is that while the United States' power is growing, it is also moving closer and closer to becoming another Militech subsidiary.

* In Vera Nazarian's ''TheAtlantisGrail'' series, the United States has fallen into second-world status due to several causes such as damage through climate change (Manhattan is specifically mentioned as now being a city like present-day Venice) and the rise of China and new nations (such as 'Greater Scandinavia' and 'United Industan' - the merger of India and Pakistan into a single super-power). Also, it's heavily implied that the West Coast of the U.S. has fallen on hard times due to radiation from the 2011 Japanese tsunami and nuclear accidents, as the main character's family moves to Vermont from California after the mother develops cancer (from radiation exposure suffered during their time in Los Angeles).

*''Literature/ElevenTwentyTwoSixtyThree'' by Creator/StephenKing: the main character goes back in time and stops Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinting John F. Kennedy. When he returns to the present, he finds that preventing Kennedy's death has changed history for the worse: the United States is impoverished and wracked with racial tension, crime, and political extremism. The situation is so bad that Maine has [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere voted to secede from the Union]] and is now a Canadian province.

** At least only the Monroe Republic -- the warlord state the series so far takes place in -- has been confirmed to be a warlord state. The other republics haven't even been mentioned by name, let alone what governmental structure they've adopted).

* This is basically the state of the UCAS (United Canadian and American States) in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}''. It's a standard {{Cyberpunk}} dystopia, with much of the original U.S. lost to the Native American nations, extensive MegaCorp influence, and so on.

* ''Film/SoylentGreen''
* ''Film/TheLastChase''

* In the AlternateHistoryDotCom story ''[[Literature/FearLoathingAndGumboOnTheCampaignTrailSeventyTwo Rumsfeldia]]'', the American government implements a hyper-capitalist economic policy, dismantling all corporate regulations, completely eliminating all forms of welfare, and even implementing an "investment certificate" system as a substitute for wages so that corporations don't have to actually pay their employees. Without any social services or worker protection, living standards in the United States go down the toilet with widespread poverty, terrible working conditons, and rampant disease caused by the gutting of the healthcare system.

* In Brendan [=DuBois=]' alternate history novel ''Resurrection Day'', the United States has fallen on hard times ten years after the Cuban Missiles Crisis turned the Cold War hot. Washington, New York, South Florida, Omaha, and dozens of old SAC bases around the country are radioactive craters. A police state rules what's left, and people are subject to rationing, curfews, censorship, travel restrictions, and being shipped off to do decontamination work in the restricted zones if they get out of line. The nation is reliant on humanitarian and food aid from the UK, and the rest of the world treats the country as a pariah, since as bad as the US got, the Soviet Union fared far, far worse in the exchange.

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': The Nations of North America and possibly the rest of the world have been gone for at least 175 years. The United States and it's Republic are even noted.

* In ''VideoGame/AfterTheEndACrusaderKingsIIMod'', the United States, as well as Canada and Mexico, have imploded after "the Event". The USA is now little but legend, and the continent has fallen into neo-feudalism. Invasions by Japanese, Russians, and Great Britain can also occur, and DC is explicitly stated as being slowly swallowed by the surrounding swamps.

* ''Series/{{Jericho}}'': The United States has been nuked to hell and back, and has been split into three nations, the Allied States of America, the United States of America, and an independent Texas.

* In ''VideoGame/CookServeDelicious'', the year is 2042, and the United States is in shambles after the "Blue War". Five of the states were bombed to hell and are just perpertually on fire, several east coast states and the entire state of Oregon (as in, the entire landmass within its border) became flooded, and Texas seceded from the country and built a great wall around its borders. People have to go outside wearing radiation suits in the worse off states, and there a lot of displaced android soldiers trying to live out a life after the war. By the way, this is a game about serving food.

* ''Webcomic/{{BluRiversRevolution}}'' features the fractured United State, a massively corrupt and unstable republic controlled by corporate interests in the midst of a civil war.