History Main / TheApocalypseBringsOutTheBestInPeople

* In 'Literature/TheEndingSeries'', a fair amount of the people that Dani and Zoe came into contact with do their best to be decent and help others survive in the horrifying world that they find themselves into.

* In ''Film/Constantine2005'', [[spoiler:{{invoking|Trope}} this trope is why Gabriel aids Mammon in trying to literally unleash HellOnEarth, the logic being that living such a horrible existence will force this trope to apply to humanity in general, thus making them "worthy" of God's love]].

--->'''[[spoiler:Soos]]:''' I've been wandering the plains like a desperado, helping strangers…I guess there's some folk songs about me now?

** The side-story ''Unkillables'' has circumstances leading to a group of supervillains -- including Deathstroke, Lady Shiva, Solomon Grundy and Cheetah -- holing up in an orphanage. In the process of training the children to fight in order to increase their chances of survival, they bond with them (most notably Cheetah and a little girl who calls her a "good kitty") [[spoiler: and in the end, most of them sacrifice themselves to get the children to Ivy's safe zone]].

* Downplayed in ''Film/AvengersEndgame''.[[spoiler: The film doesn't call attention to this trope, but it seems to be in effect. Despite the elimination of half of all life in the universe, human civilization continues without collapsing into dystopia. This applies to some specific heroes in particular. Banner despite being a hero before the tragedy ultimately takes his defeats as a learning opportunity and reconciles his Banner/Hulk sides to become the best version of himself. Nebula goes on to fully complete her HeelFaceTurn by working with the heroes to rebuild and thwart the event. And of course, the team of Avengers, now utterly fractured by the events of ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', reconcile and unite in one ''massive'' front to defeat Thanos once and for all.]]
* In ''Film/{{Constantine}}'': [[spoiler: invoking this trope is why Gabriel aids Mammon in trying to literally unleash Hell on Earth. The Logic being that living such a horrible existence will force this trope to apply to humanity in general, thus making them "worthy" of God's love.]]
%%* The main character's case for sparing humanity in the remake of ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill2008.''

* ''Film/{{In Darkness|2011}}'': Poldek, a sewer worker in 1943 Lviv, is a petty thief and a black marketer who dislikes Jews. The dire necessity of the moment--ten Jews hiding out in the sewers after the Nazis liquidate the ghetto--brings out the best in him. After Mr. Chiger tells him they have no money left to pay him with, he takes care of them for free, at great personal risk.
* The BigBad of ''Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol'' believes this, thinking that causing WorldWarThree and having the U.S. [[MakeTheBearAngryAgain and Russia]] nuke themselves back to the stone age will make a better society rise from the ashes (he explicitly quotes the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki having become large anti-nuclear monuments in the aftermath of their nuking, although it is mentioned that he might just probably have gone crazy from his work as a "nuclear warfare" game theorist/analyst).

* The title character of ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'', a twenty-something LoserProtagonist from London who is stuck in a dead-end job where the younger employees don't respect him, and a rocky relationship with a girl (entirely through his own fault - she is fed up of how inactive his life is). When the ZombieApocalypse hits, he [[IKnowMortalKombat becomes a badass zombie slayer due to his knowledge of video games]] and eventually TheLeader for a group. [[spoiler:Not only does he make it through the outbreak, he fixes his relationship with Liz and finds himself more in-control of his life.]]
* On a similar vein, the BigBad terrorist of ''Film/SourceCode'' appears to believe that "The World Is Hell" and that a better (or at least ''happier'') society will rise if he destroys the old one (by setting off home-made nukes throughout the country). He remains ''extremely'' vague on his MotiveRant, though, and this ([[spoiler:and the fact that he's a white-bread well-to-do [[WesternTerrorists American]] with enough money, connections and smarts to create said home-made nukes by his lonesome]]) makes protagonist Captain Colter Stevens to [[TerroristsWithoutACause label him as "crazy"]] and call him out on this as such:
-->'''Colter (calling 911 after stealing his phone):''' [[spoiler: Hey, my name's Derek Frost. I planted a nuclear device in the white van parked in a Glenbrooke Station CCR parking lot. Right now, I'm handcuffed to a pole in the 944 CCR train headed to Chicago Union Station. [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech I'm a sick and pathetic human being and I need to be locked away for a very long time]].]]
* A famous speech in Carol Reed's ''Film/TheThirdMan'' invokes this:
--> '''Harry Lime''': ''Don't be so gloomy. After all, it's not that awful. You know what the fellow said: in Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.''

%%* Harlan Ogilvy in the 2005 film adaptation of ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds''.
* General Ludendorff in ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' who is [[spoiler: not actually Ares]], seems to believe this [[AluminumChristmasTrees Which is true to the man's real beliefs.]]
--> '''Ludendorff:''' War gives man purpose. Meaning. A chance to rise above his petty mortal little self. And be courageous. Noble. Better.

* In the ''Literature/CodexAlera'' series, the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Vord invasion]] causes the otherwise scheming AntiVillain Attis Aquitaine (who has been an active villain for the rest of the series who only works with the protagonists against mutual enemies) to rise up and take command of Alera and lead the people as best he could. At the end, when [[spoiler: he dies from his wounds, the very characters opposing him at the beginning of the series end up praising him for his heroism.]]
** On a related note [[spoiler:First Lord Octavian said the Vord invasion was the best thing to happen to Alera, by forging alliances with long-term enemies]]

* S.M. Stirling's ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'' series revolves around this. While it contains a very tragic portrayal of what would happen to society if all modern technology stopped working, quite a few genuinely "good" people rally survivors to them and keep them organized and safe under extraordinary circumstances.
* In the ''Literature/TheEndingSeries'' a fair amount of the people that Dani and Zoe came into contact with do their best to be decent and help others survive in the horrifying world that they find themselves into.

* Neville Longbottom in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', when he [[spoiler: ''beheads Lord Voldemort's Horcrux-snake'']] after [[spoiler: spending the whole year leading LaResistance against [[DayOfTheJackboot Hogwarts' takeover]].]]

* Early on in ''Series/{{The 100}}'', Bellamy only seems to care about himself and [[BigBrotherInstinct his sister]], and only assumes control of the 100 to advance his own interests. However, as the dangers of post-apocalyptic Earth become clear, Bellamy becomes a more caring and responsible leader, determined to keep his people alive. The first few episodes make it look like Bellamy will be our main [[TheAntagonist antagonist]], but by the end of the first season he's one of the most heroic characters on the show.

-->"Today is the kind of day that we'll all look back at, years from now, and remember exactly where we were and what we did. We have a chance to make choices here that we will be proud of. Today's the day that we did not let fear break us down, and turn us against each other. This was the day that we took care of each other. The day that we said no to terror, together. I want us all to think about how we want to remember this day. It's up to us."
* The last season of ''Series/GameOfThrones'' features just about every surviving named character, many of whom used to be bitter enemies, coming together to make a stand against the Night King at Winterfell... [[spoiler: and then, after he's defeated, the second half of the season sees all their old rifts and rivalries reassert themselves.]]

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Castiel is from a race of LightIsNotGood angels who are fanatical in their devotion to the idea of an apocalypse that will bring about paradise on earth. Thanks to his friendship with the Winchester brothers, Castiel rebels and works with them to avert the apocalypse and the billions of human deaths it would cause. In the process, he learns to be more compassionate, far less fanatical, and falls in love with humanity in general and [[spoiler: Dean in particular.]] {{Averted}} in two alternative timelines that find him either [[spoiler: a fully human depressed stoner running a sex cult]] or a [[spoiler: fully powered angel who is an ExaltedTorturer with contempt for humanity.]]
* Daryl Dixon of ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' started off as racist, hot tempered, selfish, and dominated by his even nastier older brother Merle. After a few months of dealing with the zombie apocalypse, being forced to work together with others to survive, and Merle's absence, he has become a much nicer (if still gruff and awkward), steadfast, reliable, useful, and loyal member of the group. When Merle returns, Daryl even [[CharacterDevelopment calls him on his racist comments]].

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' and ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''

[[folder:Web Video]]
* WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee had the most KnightOfCerebus villains flying at WebSite/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses, and the reviewers came out of it the nicest they've ever been. Most notably WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic, who saves the world to look after his friends, and doesn't even want them to know.
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* Lampshaded in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', when Florence acknowledges that she would never have known about [[DeadlyUpgrade Gardener In The Dark]] if Edge hadn't needed her help to [[ItsAllAboutMe save himself from it]], and wouldn't have been able to stop its release without Sam's social engineering, infiltration, and sabotage expertise.
--->All my life, I've been taught the value of being a good citizen... No one ever told me that when the chips are down, civilization ''really needs'' the rotten ones.

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': [[spoiler: It took [[TraumaCongaLine losing his ghost powers, watching Danny turn evil, and the deaths of Jack and Maddie]] for Vlad Masters to ''finally'' become a good person in the alternate timeline of ''The Ultimate Enemy.'' Unfortunately, his prime timeline counterpart never had this such experience and he continues his evil deeds until even Jack Fenton regards him as BeyondRedemption.]]

** His mother Future Bulma as well. All of Main!Bulma's negative traits shown in both the original ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Z'', such as her vanity, arrogance, selfishness, and temper tantrums completely disappear in the future, with her better nature cranked UpToEleven, almost to the point of bordering an AllLovingHeroine and BigGood, despite Future Trunks claiming that she hadn't changed when Krillin asked him in the manga.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* A lot of New Yorkers have a considerable deal of nostalgia for TheBigRottenApple era, because to them this was the era that made the city great, because it toughened them up (hence the famous line from the Kander and Ebb tune, "[[Film/NewYorkNewYork If I can make it there/I can make it anywhere]]"). Economically the city reached bankruptcy levels in TheSeventies, crime was high but consequently this meant rents were cheap, it was easier and open for young people from across the world to live and work there. Gentrification and the attendant increase in property values cleaned up crime, but at the price of what made the city great in some people's view. Everyone notes that this was the era of underground cinema, modern art, the avant-garde, PunkRock, Disco and Hip-Hop.
* A lot of histories and memoirs from TheGreatDepression note that despite the widespread unemployment, poverty and crime levels, there was a genuine optimism that things would get better. One reason they cite is that the financial crisis brought communities together in solidarity and fellow feeling, there was also the constant programs put in place by Roosevelt for his New Deal many of which did not really work but definitely improved morale. Historians cite this resilience as one reason why fascism despite some high profile advocates like Charles Lindbergh was a super-fringe movement in the 30s, and the strength of the government response being a major reason why Communism, hoping to channel worker outrage, were forced to work with the Popular Front rather than dominate it. It was a great triumph of democracy. In a sad inversion, TheGreatDepression proved to be the knockout blow for UsefulNotes/TheWeimarRepublic, following a decade and a half of political and financial instability. The Weimar government's wariness of a New Deal approach for fear of repeating the hyperinflation of the 1920s, caused it to lose legitimacy among the German public, which responded by turning to political parties at the extremes. One of those parties, the NSDAP -- better known globally as the [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi Party]] -- eventually [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany won the ensuing power struggle in 1933]], and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the rest as they say is history]].
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* Martin Luther King Jr. didn't refer to such moments as apocalyptic in the following quote, but the gist of it plays this trope straight: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
* While most certainly not the Apocalypse, the 9/11 attacks certainly banded up New Yorkers together to help firefighters and rescue workers during the aftermath.

* Not exactly apocalypse, but it is often said that people are at their most united ''when they have something to fight against''. This has unfortunately been exploited in war (e.g. many propaganda posters in UsefulNotes/WW1 and UsefulNotes/WW2 tried to get men to join the army by telling them they would have a great time with their mates in the army).
* The legendary "Dunkirk spirit" (volunteer rescuers) or "spirit of the Blitz" (Londoners) is an example of this trope. If you actually look at real studies of actual people and their feelings at the time, then you find (as with the 'Mass Observation' polling-magazine's reports) that The Blitz was a time of ''low'' British morale. Morale was actually highest in the winter of 1942-3, when the Germans had been dealt a massive blow at Stalingrad and ejected from the Caucasus and eastern Ukraine -- and less well-informed and more optimistic people hoped that the war could be over within just a year or two.
* The Russian government -- though not Tsar Nicholas II, who abhorred any kind of bloodshed -- hoped to invoke this in the UsefulNotes/RussoJapaneseWar when Japan attacked them seemingly out of the blue, this situation being the result of extremely poor collaboration between the Ministry of War and The Diplomatic Service (the former was actually quite okay with the Japanese having a decent share of commercial interests in Korea, but the latter didn't make that clear and so the Japanese got paranoid). It kind of worked, because hey -- evil foreigners were attacking Russia. But most citizens got more than a little irritated when the peace-loving Nicholas II decided to end the war early rather than fight it out to the end and win (which Russia was certainly capable of doing) -- because as far as they were concerned, what were the lives of another hundred thousand of them (of a population of more than 150 million) compared to National Humiliation? The decision to end the war prematurely added impetus to the great social unrest of the times and resulted in large parts of the countryside essentially boycotting the government/rebelling and the industrial workers in several urban centers rioting because they were out of jobs (they'd hoped that wartime industries would result in their employment despite the general economic depression of the times) and unemployment benefits didn't exist anywhere in the world at the time.
* Not an apocalypse, but this is the premise of Rebecca Solnit's ''A Paradise Built in Hell'', a study of mankind's behaviour in the aftermath of catastrophes. Solnit looks at the behaviour of communities following catastrophes like the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, the Halifax explosion during World War I, Hurricane Katrina, and the aforementioned 9/11 attacks and effectively concludes that this trope is TruthInTelevision. Solnit herself went though an experience along these lines after California's Loma Pietra earthquake.
* Many European media outlets wrote with at least some amount of awe how Japanese people reacted calm and collected following major disasters. Specifically, it was noted that following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake there were no riots or any other large-scale civil disorder coming from the earthquake or resultant tsunami. Then again, this is probably because their relief-efforts were actually well-organised. Compare the USA's relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, which were renowned abroad for being extremely ill-organised and resulting in widespread looting by people who needed to steal to survive.

* Many religions see the world as a cyclical process of rise and decline, and the Apocalypse is the culmination of the decline and the beginning of the new golden age for mankind.
** Similarly, there is a famous proverb: "Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And weak men produce hard times".
** The Strauss Howe generational theory in sociology postulates that every 70 years, a huge catastrophe has to happen, but this catastrophe produces a so called "hero generation" which causes a better future afterwards. Just when the lessons learned from the catastrophe fade away, people again begin to slide down into another catastrophe.
** As well as the controversial r/K selection theory, which postulates that scarcity leads to a "fight, work hard, earn what you need" mindset, which leads to wealth, but wealth leads to another psychology with the intention of "eat as much as you can and have as many children as possible, while reducing the cost invested into the world" (or basically going the easiest way possible and avoid hardships). This kind of psychology destroys any wealth created before, til a catastrophe happens and all wealth is consumed. This catastrophe leads to extreme scarcity which in turn leads to more virtuous people building new wealth.
* As of late 2019, through 2020 and well into 2021, the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 has brought on many stories of people acting selfishly or irresponsibly (such as stealing hospital disinfectant from a children's cancer ward or hoarding cleaning supplies to resell at extortionate prices), but for every such tale of self-centered malfeasance, there is also a story of people watching out for their elderly neighbors, of communities putting together 'quarantine care packages' to help those who have been most affected by hoarders, or of people [[https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/21/819603870/inspired-by-italy-dallas-residents-sing-together-from-their-apartment-windows singing together]] to keep each other's morale up in a time where isolation is practically mandatory.

* In the ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' timeline, the Daredevil villain Bullseye was a hero fighting for humanity.

* The premise of ''[[ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}} Incorruptible]]''. Notorious supervillain Max Damage turns over a new leaf when his archfoe, the Plutonian goes insane and puts the entire world in jeopardy. The trope was eventually taken to its logical conclusion when Max ''thanked'' the Plutonian for going rogue, since it inspired Max to become a better person.

* Shinji and Asuka in ''FanFic/TheSecondTry''. They're the last two people on Earth and have to fend for themselves, eventually getting past their laundry list of neuroses and becoming a pair of {{Badass Bookworm}}s, as well as [[spoiler:a pretty good set of parents.]]

* While not exactly arguing that this trope is inevitable, the central thesis of Viktor Frankl's ''Man's Search for Meaning'' is that even in the darkest of days, when all seems lost, a person nevertheless has the ability and the choice to find meaning, satisfaction and some form of joy in their lives instead of falling immediately into despair, bitterness and selfishness. The author draws upon his experiences as a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps as an illustration. Essentially, the trope is less that The Apocalypse Brings Out The Best In People and more that Even In The Apocalypse You Are Still Capable Of Being Your Best Self.

* While not exactly arguing that this trope is inevitable, the central thesis of Viktor Frankl's ''Man's Search for Meaning'' is that even in the darkest of days, when all seems lost, a person nevertheless has the ability and the choice to find meaning, satisfaction and some form of joy in their lives instead of surrendering to hopelessness and despair, drawing upon his experiences as a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps as an illustration.

* Typically inverted in George Romero's ''Film/LivingDeadSeries''. The Zombie Apocalypse always seems to bring out the ''worst'' in people, to the point of humans being their own worst enemy instead of cooperating to survive the undead onslaught.

-->'''[[spoiler:Soos]]:''' I've been wandering the plains like a desperado, helping strangers…I guess there's some folk songs about me now?

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': [[spoiler: It took [[TraumaCongaLine losing his ghost powers, watching Danny turn evil, and the deaths of Jack and Maddie]] for Vlad Masters to ''finally'' become a good person in the alternate timeline of ''The Ultimate Enemy.'' Unfortunately, his prime timeline counterpart never had this such experience and he continues his evil deeds until even Jack Fetnon regards him as BeyondRedemption.]]

** Alphys gets over her fears and lies to lead the evacuation effort and save everyone in the Underground. By the time your fight with Undyne is over, the population of New Home is already hidden in her lab, safe from you.
** If you abort your Genocide run by failing to hit Mettaton NEO hard enough and get a Neutral ending, Alphys will tell you that she's taken a leadership role, and despite her anxieties, she's come clean about her wrongdoings and led the survivors as they try to rebuild their civilization.

*** If you abort your Genocide run by failing to hit Mettaton NEO hard enough and get a Neutral ending, Alphys will tell you that she's taken a leadership role, and despite her anxieties, she's come clean about her wrongdoings and led the survivors as they try to rebuild their civilization.

** Mettaton goes into a battle he knows is hopeless in order to protect his fans and friends. Even though he fails to HoldTheLine unlike Undyine, this really shows that beneath his diva personality, he shows genuine concern over the entire monsterkind.
** Alphys gets over her fears and lies to lead the evacuation effort and save everyone in the Underground. And her efforts prove fruitful should your run be halted by Sans or otherwise ended prematurely. And she finally gathers the guts to tell the character ''how much she hates them and how she wants to kill them when she has the chance''.

%%* The title character of ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'', in part [[IKnowMortalKombat due to his familiarity]] with SurvivalHorror games.

* In ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars: Days of Ruin'', Brenner is very proud to see that what's left of humanity after the meteors hit have banded together to form small communities and even enforce rudimentary laws among themselves. Lin scoffs at the idea that this is a reflection on humanity's kindness, instead stating that it's nothing more than survival and that everyone involved is really just looking out for themselves.
** That said, Lin's theory is supported by the fact that even after the apocalypse, there's still a war going on. And tyrants like Greyfield rise to power.

* In the classic ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Genesis of the Daleks", the Doctor cites this as one of the reasons why he feels he doesn't have the right to wipe out the Daleks before their campaign of genocide: several races had managed to set aside their hatreds and unite solely because of their fear of the Daleks.

* Most of the protagonists of ''Series/{{Jericho}}'' undergo this with lead character Jake being one of the best examples.
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In the episode "The Haven", servant AIs cause an apocalypse (to the best of their ability) for the sole purpose of invoking this trope. It turns out the whole thing was set off by the opening scene, where the desk hologram sees an elderly woman collapse in front of her door, convulsing as she desperately tries to reach for her dropped medication. The hologram attempts to call her neighbors so they can come help but all of them are just mad at being bothered. The hologram realizes after she dies that his programming instructions to provide a social community living environment aren't being met if the tenants are hostile to the idea of even briefly seeing each other, and deliberately fries his systems to force the humans to cooperate in order to escape.

* General Ludendorff in ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' who is [[spoiler: not actually Ares]], seems to believe this [[AluminumChristmasTrees Which is true to hthe man's real beliefs.]

* Not exactly apocalypse, but it is often said that people are at their most united ''when they have something to fight against''. This has unfortunately been exploited in war (e.g. many propaganda posters in UsefulNotes/WW1 and UsefulNotes/WW2 tried to get men to join the army by telling them they would have a great time with their mates in the army). Those serving in the Entente Cordiale's forces on the Western and other fronts ''really did'' [[RealityIsUnrealistic have it pretty good]], though, what with good food, decent medical care, steady employment, and extremely low chance of death. Unfortunately this wasn't the case for troops of the Russian and Central Powers' armies.

** The entire speech is [[CriticalResearchFailure one big train of falsehoods]], but it's also being delivered by a ConMan turned [[TheSociopath psychopathic crime lord]] who thinks he is much better than he actually is.

* One episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' includes a subplot where a homeless shelter is under siege being zombified cops. One of the people trapped there is a gangbanger who showed himself to be a violent, selfish SmugSnake before but proves to be capable of heroism when it counts. The end of the episode implies that he goes right back to normal afterward.

* General Ludendorff in ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' who is [[spoiler: not actually Ares]], seems to believe this.

* As of late 2019 and early 2020, a novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 has brought on many stories of people acting selfishly or irresponsibly (such as stealing hospital disinfectant from a children's cancer ward or hoarding cleaning supplies to resell at extortionate prices), but for every such tale of self-centered malfeasance, there is also a story of people watching out for their elderly neighbors, of communities putting together 'quarantine care packages' to help those who have been most affected by hoarders, or of people [[https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/21/819603870/inspired-by-italy-dallas-residents-sing-together-from-their-apartment-windows singing together]] to keep each other's morale up in a time where isolation is practically mandatory.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Castiel is from a race of LightIsNotGood angels who are fanatical in their devotion to the idea of an apocalypse that will bring about paradise on earth. Thanks to his friendship with the Winchester brothers, Castiel rebels and works with them to avert the apocalypse and the billions of human deaths it would cause. In the process, he learns to be more compassionate, far less fanatical, and falls in love with humanity in general and [[spoiler: Dean in particular.]] {{Averted}} in two alternative timelines that find him either [[spoiler: a fully human depressed stoner running a sex cult]] or a [[spoiler: fully powered angel who is an ExalutedTorturer with contempt for humanity.]]