History Main / GreatOffscreenWar

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' makes occasional references to the "Pyramid Wars" of 1987, in which the O.S.I. finally defeated S.P.H.I.N.X. (largely parodies of Franchise/GIJoe and Cobra). While some characters are said to have fought in it, very little detail is given.

** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' mentions several for the New California Republic. There's the NCR-Enclave War, The NCR-Great Khans War and the NCR-Brotherhood of Steel War. Each of the conflicts relates to at least one companion; Boone = Khan War, Veronica = Brotherhood, Arcade = Enclave.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has the Britannian invasion and conquest of Japan, which we see only in flashbacks concerning young Lelouch, Suzaku and Nunally and the one from first episode opening sequence. There also was an alternate version of the Napolean wars, where Napoleon conquered Great Britain, making all the British aristocracy run to America, creating the Britannia Empire.

* The setting of ''Literature/TerraIgnota'' was shaped by the Church Wars, a religious war about "two interpretations of the same god" which was so horrific that it discredited the entire concept of the nation-state: starting in Europe, all borders were dissolved in protest, and citizenship to any nation became voluntary and could be renounced at will (national sovereignty becoming secondary to a set of humanistic Universal Laws applicable to everyone, everywhere). It also led to a taboo against organized religion that stands strong even centuries later. Few details are known about the war itself, even the nations involved, though America is strongly implied (mainly by conspicuous absence) to have been the aggressor.

* Most of the event on the backstory of ''ComicBook/OldManLogan'' (on which ''every single villain'' of the MarvelUniverse [[VillainTeamUp teamed up]] [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica and took over North America]] (if not the world, it's not really explicitly said), killing (most) of the superheroes) remains unexplained except for the post-apocalyptic wasteland where the story takes place, a number of {{Cryptic Background Reference}}s (and the piles of spandex-wearing skeletons that adorn the sites where they are mentioned), [[spoiler:and a couple of flashbacks to the event, where we see the massacre of the X-Men (by Wolverine, who got such a HeroicBSOD from being duped in such a way (by ''[[NotSoHarmlessVillain Mysterio]]'') that he is ''still'' reeling from it by the time the story starts), and the Red Skull's slaying of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica.]]

* As befitting the fact it was based on Creator/FrankMiller's original script for ''Film/RoboCop2'' and elements going into ''Film/RoboCop3'', the Amazon War from those two films is part of the backstory for ''ComicBook/FrankMillersRoboCop'', with the Rehabs (much like in ''3'') being mercenaries who'd been involved in the war now employed by OCP -- with the addition of Sgt. Reed having served in the war and recognizing the Rehabs from his time there.

** The Dornish Wars, five separate conflicts instigated by the Targaryens to conquer Dorne, the most persistent of the Seven Kingdoms. Unlike the others, Dorne remained independent long after Aegon I passed away, and it wasn't until the reign of Daeron I, his great-great-great-great-great-grandson, that it was ''de facto'' subjugated. Which didn't stick, anyway; Dorne was ultimately integrated through AltarDiplomacy.

** In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersEarthspark'', the Transformers War is central to the setting and the backstory of several characters including Dot Malto, a veteran of the war and friend to a reformed Megatron, and [[spoiler:Dr. Meridian, who has sworn to wipe out all Cybertronians after losing his arm in an attack on San Francisco.]]

** The Last Great Time War, between the classic and new series. It was never shown, we know only that it caused a lot of destruction and wiped out entire races, including the Time Lords, whose last survivor was the Doctor. We find out that the Doctor was the one who ended the war, killing ''every'' Dalek (apart from [[JokerImmunity a few who got away, of course]]) at the cost of also killing ''every'' Time Lord, including their own children and grandchildren. The Doctor has to deal with the consequences of the Time War from time to time and sometimes they or somebody else makes a reference to some events of it, but it's still mostly a mystery.

* Twice in ''Literature/TheHungerGames:'' the [[AfterTheEnd civilizational collapse]] that led to the founding of [[PoliceState Panem]], and the more recent "Dark Days" when Panem's provinces rose in an unsuccessful rebellion against the Capitol.

** The Tiber Wars were a series of wars fought as part of [[TheConqueror Tiber Septim]]'s campaign to conquer all of Tamriel. Septim had conquered all but Morrowind (protected by their [[PhysicalGod Physical Gods]] and the Summerset Isles (protected by their [[MageSpecies powerful magics]]) during the late 2nd Era, the only two provinces the last empire out of Cyrodiil, the Reman Dynasty, had failed to conquer.[[note]]Reman I was able to get the Altmer to join his Empire, but not by military force. He got them to join via treaty with exceptionally favorable terms to the Altmer.[[/note]] Unknown to Septim, the Dunmer demi-gods of Morrowind, known as the Tribunal, had been cut off from their divine power source by their ancient enemy, Dagoth Ur. Septim's legions easily sacked Mournhold, the capital of Morrowind. Without their gods to protect them, the rest of Morrowind would have been devastated in a protracted war with Septim's legions. Knowing this, Vivec, one of these gods, met with Septim and forged an Armistice. Morrowind would join the empire as a VoluntaryVassal, sparing his people from war. In addition, Vivec offered the Dwemer-crafted [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]] HumongousMecha - The Numidium - to Septim in exchange for special privileges for Morrowind. (Specifially, continued [[TheClan Great House]] rule, free worship of the Tribunal, and the right to continue practicing slavery which was outlawed elsewhere in the empire.) Septim then used the Numidium to [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomp]] the Altmer of the Summerset Isles (sacking their capital in less than hour), bringing them under the rule of men for the first time in history. With the unification of Tamriel, Septim began the Third Era of Tamriellic history during which the games from ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'' to ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' all take place.

** The Sontarans have been at war with the Rutan host for at least 60,000 years of the Whoniverse's timeline (mentioned in both ''Series/DoctorWho'' and ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures''), and yet we've never encountered a Rutan and Sontaran together on TV once.

* Stewart Cowley's "Terran Trade Authority Handbooks" opening opus, ''Spacecraft: 2000-2100AD'' purports to be an identification guide of the spacecraft of that era (it's essentially one-page profiles based on spacecraft pictures by illustrators such as Chris Foss and Peter Elson). The smaller ships of the Proxima Wars - Earth and Alpha Centauri vs. Proxima Centauri - from all three races fill the military section, and there are hints of major fleet actions between capital ships early in the conflict. While a few specific battles are touched on in terms of detailing the service histories of the ships that fought them, and the civilian ships built in the wars' aftermath add a smattering of their own history, a full history of the entire war does not exist. There were to have been further TTA handbooks as part of an early 21st Century attempt to reboot the franchise, but these seem to have gone to DevelopmentHell and this troper (a BIG fan as a child) has not been able to locate any of them.
** Cowley played the game again in the follow-on ''Great Space Battles''. One of the ships in the ancient fleet which is resurrected to save humanity when its enemies show a disturbing ability to hack the battle computers of the sophisticated frontline ships (and yes, this predates the reboot ''Battlestar Galactica'' by DECADES) is described as being a veteran of 'countless' Imperial policing actions - but we never get to find out what these are, even though they are serious enough that battleships were required.

** The Rachni War that ravaged the galaxy about 2000 years ago, the Krogan Rebellions a thousand or so years before the current date, the Morning War between the Quarians and the Geth, and the First Contact War between the Alliance and the Turians which took place about 30 years before the first game.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has several of them: the Rachni War that ravaged the galaxy some thousands of years ago, the Krogan Rebellions a thousand or so years before the current date, the Morning War between the quarians and the geth, the Skylian Blitz, and the First Contact War/Relay 314 Incident that was humanity's introduction to galactic society. Most of the wars happened very long ago, but occasionally you'll find a veteran of the Krogan Rebellions (either an asari or a krogan, due to their immense lifespans), and many older humans and turians still remember First Contact. Come ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', Javik, a revived Prothean, will talk about a series of wars that both his people fought (i.e. the Metacon Wars) and other conflicts in his timeframe, several of which he's implied to have made up for laughs.

* ''Fanfic/MyHeroAcademiaMechanicalGreen'': The "Avalon War" enacted by Dr. Paxton Frederick Jones, waging war against multiple nations with his army of robots eleven years before the beginning of the fic. The war caused a lot of destruction and death, the effects of which are still being felt in the present. Numerous characters make reference to either experiencing the war itself, or having their lives irrevocably changed by the side-effects of the war, whether it be from the death of love ones such as Ochaco's [[DeathByAdaptation parents]] and Mei's mother dying in the crossfire, the physical and mental toll of fighting Paxton himself, or the fallout from his causing multiple nations to collapse in on themselves, nearly succeeding with the United States too.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure I12 ''Egg of the Phoenix''. The War of Ending between the forces of Evil and Old Empyrea. Doc and the silver dragon Falx fought in the war, during the adventure the {{PC}}s find a message that dates back to it, and one mission involves scouting one of the Castles of Ruling that played a major part in the war.

** An attempt was made to rework the World Of Greyhawk setting with The Greyhawk Wars (the war Iuz was preparing for in the time period of the original boxed set). The war itself was represented as a stand-alone board game only. It produced some interesting novels set in the aftermath of the War where characters often have to deal with the consequences, but the canon version of the war itself is relatively obscure.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' has one happening just a few years before the current day of the setting. The Great War was sparked by a SuccessionCrisis, and lasted for about a century. It saw the creation of several nations who seceded from the original five nations of Galifar, and only ended when a mysterious catastrophe consumed the entire nation of Cyre, killing everything within its borders. The war doesn't ''have'' to be offscreen, and there are resources available for playing during the war, but the "present day" of the setting is two years after the war officially ended.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'': The war fought between Murond and the Zodiac Braves. [[spoiler:The truth is very different from what scholars accepted as historical facts.]] And recently, the 50 Year War in which many of the game's older famous generals made a name for themselves.

*** Showrunner Creator/StevenMoffat has gone on record saying that he will never show the Time War since there isn't enough money in the world to do it justice. All we see of it in [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]] is a few brief scenes of the Dalek invasion of Gallifrey at the war's climax... and it is not pretty.
---->'''The Doctor:''' You weren’t there, in the final days of the war. You never saw what was born. But if the Time Lock’s broken then ''everything’s'' coming through. Not just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-Have-Been King with his Army of Meanwhiles and Never-Weres — the war turned into ''Hell.'' And that's what you've opened. Right above the Earth. ''Hell is descending.''
** Ancient battles between the Fledgling Empires (including Gallifrey) and the Racnoss were mentioned in [[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride "The Runaway Bride"]].
** PlayedWith in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E6TheDoctorsDaughter "The Doctor's Daughter"]]. A war, fuelled by cloning machines, has gone on for 700 generations. It turns out that those 700 generations were cloned, shoved into battle and killed in the space of [[spoiler:one week]].

*** The Time War is described by the Gelth in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E3TheUnquietDead "The Unquiet Dead"]] as being "invisible to lesser species but devastating to higher ones", meaning that the Time War was "offscreen", as it were, to a large portion of the Universe.