History Main / NewEden

* In ''TheStand'' by Creator/StephenKing,[[note]]partially inspired by ''Earth Abides''[[/note]] the characters watch America being reclaimed by nature, which seems to bounce back nicely in the absence of humans, despite TheAntichrist lurking about ready to bring about the Apocalypse. In particular, TheProfessor Glen Bateman spends a large portion of time talking about how everything has changed, [[LuddWasRight possibly for the better]] without all those people. On the other hand, ThePlague killed almost all the domestic animals, too, and left the rats and such.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops ''The Machine Stops'']] is a science fiction novella by E. M. Forster (HowardsEnd, ''Literature/APassageToIndia'') set in a dystopian future where humanity lives in cubicles, communicating only via technology and experiencing everything second-hand. Outside the planet is livable but the titular Machine has rendered humanity dependent on it. Written in 1909.

Often used to make the point that the Earth would be a so much better place [[HumansAreBastards if it weren't for all the people]], or more succinctly, that LuddWasRight. ([[UnfortunateImplications This might suggest]] that [[OmnicidalManiac massive genocide]] is [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans justifiable]].) If a group of survivors in space is smaller and not planning on a disaster, that's ButWhatAboutTheAstronauts.

* Subverted in the new ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'', in which [[spoiler:they arrive at Earth only to find that it was thoroughly nuked two thousand years ago, and is ''still'' an uninhabitable wasteland]].

* The end of ''WesternAnimation/WallE;; is ''all over'' this trope. At least in the credits. When the movie was first shown to test audiences before Creator/{{Pixar}} made the "humanity restoring Earth" montage, about half the audience walked away with the rather realistic assumption that humanity died less than a week after they returned to Earth.

* When Durham Red [[HumanPopsicle emerged from stasis]] to start her own series in ''[[TwoThousandAD 2000 AD]]'', Earth was considered lost by the humans and mutants of the future. How did they lose it? Turns out that it was teleported to the far reaches of the galaxy to act as a prison for [[PhysicalGod the most powerful mutant ever]]. In the meantime, the world recovered and became a lush paradise. Predictably, it did not stay this way.

* The end of [[spoiler: WesternAnimation/{{WALL-E}} is ''all over'' this trope. At least in the credits. When the movie was first shown to test audiences before Creator/{{Pixar}} made the "humanity restoring Earth" montage, about half the audience walked away with the rather realistic assumption that humanity died less than a week after they returned to Earth.]]

* In ''LastExile'', [[spoiler:The show is set in an [[CityInABottle hourglass shaped space station]] (which is why the EyeCatch says "Last Exile In the Bottle"), and Last Exile is a transport ship to take anyone who wants back to Earth.]]
* In ''EurekaSeven'', [[spoiler:humans fled the earth and returned years later]]
* Twisted in ''TokyoMewMew''. The ancestors of the BigBad and his followers were originally from Earth, and fled into space after it seemed like they were about to die off. They ended up on a very harsh planet, and upon finally returning to Earth, it looks perfect in comparison. ''Then'' they notice that humans are taking this paradise for granted, littering and polluting. This starts their initial desire to KillAllHumans.

* Implied in ''PaleCocoon''. [[spoiler:Humans escaped to the Moon to avoid environmental destruction, but somehow lost their written history, and started to believe they were living underneath the destroyed Earth. In the end the protagonist as the first person to go to the upper layers of the colony in centuries sees a blue, pristine Earth up in the sky, implying that the planet was healed long ago, but no-one thought to look.]]

* {{Megazone23}} Part 3 has one city in the whole world, [[LampshadeHanging unsurprisingly named]] Eden. Though after meeting [[spoiler: the computer AIs]] Eve and Adam in the first two parts, it's hardly surprising.

* A minor point in Creator/AndreyLivadny's ''TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'' series. At the start of the setting, Earth is overpopulated and suffering from ecological catastrophes. As a result, the President of the Earth Alliance initiates a war with the Free Colonies in order to provide space to "offload" extra population. The war lasts for decades, resulting in massive casualties and constant emigration of Earthlings to newly-discovered worlds. After Earth is defeated, the newly-created Confederacy of Suns leaves it alone. When a character returns to Earth 1000 years later, lush forests and jungles cover it. There are barely any cities left, given that the entire population of Earth is now barely a few million. However, the oceans are not reborn (they dried up earlier) and are instead covered with plant growth. Not that anyone cares about Earth at this point. Humanity has moved on and only remembers Earth in the context of the war.

* ''CityOfHeroes'' and its "expansionalone", ''City of Villains'' has a few zones that fit this trope. One example is the area previously named "Woodvale", but referred to in-game almost exclusively as "Eden". Here, the player can find many vistas of pristine wilderness trying to crawl its way back across a previously urban landscape. In a twist, all the nature ''hates humanity''.

* ''FanFic/TheConversionBureau'' stories often suggest this by contrasting Equestria with our world. Chatoyence's works yank the unpleasant implications to the fore and openly state that all human beings should die if it would make the world a prettier place. Needless to say, Chayotence is ''not'' a popular writer outside of the small core of fanatical fans.

* [[CommandAndConquer Tiberium Wars]] subverts it slightly. The first Blue Zone (think the First world) to be converted from a Yellow Zone (think Mogadishu with ToxicPhlebotinum added to the mix) is given the name New Eden. It is a subversion because it was a result of human (or more specifically, GDI) efforts and because it gets wrecked and is implied to revert to a Yellow Zone thanks to the Scrin blowing up Tiberium Deposits and using Tiberium-based weapons.

* The ultimate destination for the main characters of Jeanne [=DuPrau=]'s ''TheCityOfEmber''.

Long before the start of the story, ecological disaster drove humanity undersea, or underground, or into space, [[EarthThatWas away from a ravaged Earth]]. After living for quite a while in a CityInABottle, it's a safe bet that someone will eventually find the way out and discover that the Earth has cleaned itself up nicely and now looks like the pristine GhibliHills, or why not, [[CaliforniaDoubling the Yosemite National Park]].

* The core MacGuffin of ''NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'', though it looks less like a national park and more like a surreal, magical realm.

* ''FightClub'': Tyler Durden claims to have this as his dream.
* The end of [[spoiler: WesternAnimation/{{WALL-E}} is ''all over'' this trope. At least in the credits. When the movie was first shown to test audiences before {{Pixar}} made the "humanity restoring Earth" montage, about half the audience walked away with the rather realistic assumption that humanity died less than a week after they returned to Earth.]]

** And there's the caveat that [[spoiler:since humans have adapted to their polluted AfterTheEnd environment, they literally wouldn't be able to survive there, and since the advance of the so-called Sea of Corruption that is actually turning the world ''into'' the literal GhibliHills can't be stopped, everyone is pretty much ''screwed''. Unless they find a way to start polluting again, of course. There were humans in stasis from before the pollution adaptations, but Nausicaa killed them all.]]

* ''BreathOfFire: Dragon Quarter'' is set in an underground realm rife with pollution and monsters. The object of the game is to get a certain character, who was genetically engineered into a walking pollution purification plant, up to the nature-y and now-pristine-and-human-free surface world, as the pollution will slowly kill her otherwise.

* ''MegaManX 5'' had [[ColonyDrop the crash of the Eurasia colony]] as the ecological disaster. Flash forward to ''MegaManZero 4'', and with [[BigBad Dr. Weil]] now ruling Neo Arcadia with an iron fist, the dissenters are fleeing to Area Zero, a land made naturally pristine thanks to an environmental conditioning system left active after the crash. Area Zero is the hope of the people in that fragment of the timeline for a life free of Weil's influence; fitting his role as the BigBad, Dr. Weil employs the Neo Arcadia militia to raze the area, up to and including manufacturing the [[KillSat Ragnarok Satellite]] for just that end; needless to say the whole point of the game is to prevent Area Zero's demise.

* A minor point in AndreyLivadny's ''TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'' series. At the start of the setting, Earth is overpopulated and suffering from ecological catastrophes. As a result, the President of the Earth Alliance initiates a war with the Free Colonies in order to provide space to "offload" extra population. The war lasts for decades, resulting in massive casualties and constant emigration of Earthlings to newly-discovered worlds. After Earth is defeated, the newly-created Confederacy of Suns leaves it alone. When a character returns to Earth 1000 years later, lush forests and jungles cover it. There are barely any cities left, given that the entire population of Earth is now barely a few million. However, the oceans are not reborn (they dried up earlier) and are instead covered with plant growth. Not that anyone cares about Earth at this point. Humanity has moved on and only remembers Earth in the context of the war.

* A minor point in AndreyLivadny's ''TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'' series. At the start of the setting, Earth is overpopulated and suffering from ecological catastrophes. As a result, the President of the Earth Alliance initiates a war with the Free Colonies in order to provide space to "offload" extra population. The war lasts for decades, resulting in massive casualties and constant emigration of Earthlings to newly-discovered worlds. After Earth is defeated, the newly-created Confederacy of Suns leaves it alone. When a character returns to Earth 1000 years later, lush forests and jungles cover it. There are barely any cities left, given that the entire population of Earth is now barely a few million. However, the oceans are not reborn (they dried up earlier) and are instead covered with plant growth.

* In ''TheStand'' by Creator/StephenKing,[[hottip:*:partially inspired by ''Earth Abides'']] the characters watch America being reclaimed by nature, which seems to bounce back nicely in the absence of humans, despite TheAntichrist lurking about ready to bring about the Apocalypse. In particular, TheProfessor Glen Bateman spends a large portion of time talking about how everything has changed, [[LuddWasRight possibly for the better]] without all those people. On the other hand, ThePlague killed almost all the domestic animals, too, and left the rats and such.

* Inverted in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': Simon, Kamina and Yoko manage to escape to the surface... only to find a dangerous land of beastmen causing trouble with their Ganmen. Of course, that inspires Kamina to [[FearlessFool conquer the Surface]].This has something to do with Lordgenome wiping all spiral life off the surface of the planet and repopulating it with less capable non-spiral lifeforms. Beastmen CAN'T evolve since they lack DNA which is also literally why they can't use Spiral Power. Except for [[spoiler:Viral, who becomes badass enough to [[BeyondTheImpossible use spiral power anyways]].]]
** This trope is played a little bit, as this is ''exactly'' the kind of world Kamina wanted to live in.

* The end of [[spoiler: WesternAnimation/{{WALL-E}} is ''all over'' this {{trope}}. At least in the credits. When the movie was first shown to test audiences before {{Pixar}} made the "humanity restoring Earth" montage, about half the audience walked away with the rather realistic assumption that humanity died less than a week after they returned to Earth.]]

* In the film adaptation of ''Film/{{Hellboy}}'', this is [[EvilSorcerer Grigori]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist Rasputin's]] motivation for trying to release the [[SealedEvilInACan Ogdru]] [[EldritchAbominations Jahad]]. He's [[AxeCrazy deluded]] of course, seeing as an actual vision of their return reveals a fiery wasteland.

Long before the start of the story, ecological disaster drove humanity undersea, or underground, or into space, [[EarthThatWas away from a ravaged Earth]]. After living for quite a while in a CityInABottle, it's a safe bet that someone will eventually find the way out and discover that the Earth has cleaned itself up nicely and now looks like the pristine GhibliHills, or why not, [[CaliforniaDoubling the Yosemite National Park]].

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