History Main / SavingTheWorld

* ''LightNovel/KamisamaNoInaiNichiyoubi'': Ai's goal is to save the world God has abandoned, and part of her journey involves learning what exactly it means to save the world.

* ''StarOcean''. All of them. ''[[StarOcean3 3]]'' and ''[[StarOcean4 4]]'' replace "world" with "universe".

* Being epic [[ScienceFiction sci-fi]] trilogies, ''{{Halo}}'' and ''Franchise/MassEffect'' use the scaled-up version: the protagonists are out to save all sentient life in the galaxy.

* ''MaximumRide'': Max left her parents to do this.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'': The monsters earn respect by doing this.

* In {{Futurama}}, Fry and the rest of the Planet Express crew have saved the world (and sometimes the universe) more times then they can count.

* Frequently the case in ''FinalFantasy'' games. The trope is played straight in I - V, VII, and VIII and [[InvokedTrope invoked]] in VI, IX and XIII by the villains and in X by the heroes.

* UltimaIV averts this entirely, as there is no threat to the world whatsoever. UltimaVIII kind of subverts it, as you wind up doing a great deal of damage to one world in order to have the opportunity to try to save another. The rest of the main Ultimas play this trope varying degrees of straight.

** All of the games have this as a major subplot integrated with the main plot of ToBecomeAMaster since Gen III, barring the remakes of Gen I and Gen II. It started with May and Brendan in ''Ruby'', ''Sapphire'', and ''Emerald'', and proceeded to escalate from there, up to the above situation.

* Most of the ''{{Pokemon}}'' films. And in the Diamond, Pearl, and Platnium games, replace "the world" with "all existence".

* In ''BlackSigil'', your ultimate goal is prevent the world from being [[spoiler: destroyed by The Forbidden]].

* BuffyTheVampireSlayer has saved the world more times than she can count.

* ''{{Drakengard}}'' is notable here in that, while the first and fourth endings employ this, the second ending straight-up tells you that FailureIsTheOnlyOption, the third ending is mildly ambiguous as the world still needs saving, and the fifth ending...[[DroppedABridgeOnHim well, it's hard to tell really.]]
** According to WordOfGod, the fifth ending caused the downfall of [[{{Nier}} another world]]...

* In ''[[BanjoKazooie Banjo-Kazooie]]: Nuts & Bolts'', one of the characters, Klungo, creates a [[StylisticSuck horrendous]] 8-bit arcade platforming game (which he proclaims to be the best ever), titled ''Hero Klungo Sssavesss Teh World'', in which you save the world by ''holding it over your head''.
* JakAndDaxter: Jak does this every game. Not that he ever gets a "thank you" lasting more than 30 seconds into the next game...

*** Averted by the ''real'' evil ending which has [[spoiler:the player devouring the curse thus ''becoming'' the curse itself, getting him/herself expelled from the City of the Dead, then cleansed countless githyanki cities by devouring the souls of all the adults and then delivering their children to their mortal enemies, the ''brain-sucking'', ''mind-raping'' mind flayers aka Illithids. If that's not enough, he/she devours the spirits/souls inhabiting the land where he/she once helped (or screwed depending on your playing preference), turning it into a wasteland filled with the walking dead. As if that is still not enough, the player then travels to the planes of existence where the souls of his/her dead former treacherous companions are now resting...and eats them. Whoa. Understandably, the gods get so pissed off, they assembled a humongous army to kill the player and guess what? He/she eats some of the gods too!]] Now ''that'' is what this troper calls an evil ending.

* Crono from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' wants nothing more than to go to the Millenial Fair, but ends up roped into a {{time travel}}ing quest to save his planet from annihilation at the hands of an incomprehensible EldritchAbomination.

Most of the time, this is the result of TheCall, or occasionally may be someone who JumpedAtTheCall and is just trying to be able to do this. Note, this doesn't always ''happen'' and it's entirely possible for [[TheBadGuyWins the bad guy to win]] and the Earth to be destroyed. Sometimes, the villain will actually help with this goal, [[SelfishEvil what's the point in taking over a pile of rubble after all]]? (Especially if it's NotMeThisTime.)

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': One of its advertisement slogan is ''Saving the world before bedtime!''

* Frequently the case in ''FinalFantasy'' games. The trope is played straight in I - V, VII, VIII and XII and [[InvokedTrope invoked]] in VI, IX and XIII by the villains and in X by the heroes.

While villains love to go about causing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, the {{heroes}} are most likely motivated by the polar opposite, [[TitleDrop Saving The World]]. A fairly simple plot/motivation related to ForGreatJustice and what not, this trope is pretty broad and ''very'' common for many stories not focused on character interaction only.

* Being epic [[ScienceFiction sci-fi]] trilogies, ''{{Halo}}'' and ''MassEffect'' use the scaled-up version: the protagonists are out to save all sentient life in the galaxy.

* Yet another of the tropes deconstructed in ''{{Watchmen}}''.

** The [[DeusExHumanRevolution prequel]] goes one step further and allows you to pick any faction, even [[UnwittingPawn the until-then Bad Guys]], and hand the world over to them. Or [[OmnicidalNeutral kill them all]]. According to canon, none of these choices prevent ''Deus Ex 1'' from taking place, again reducing your choices to "smite the world," "rape the world," or "trash the world" rather than "save the world."