History Main / ThereAreNoGlobalConsequences

** Generally, Marvel is better at this than DC - StanLee's early Marvel stories were a {{Deconstruction}} of superheroes in their time - but not much. The FantasticRacism against mutants is pretty much Marvel-exclusive, but the MU in general is the patron saint of AllOfTheOtherReindeer.
*** Marvel isn't "better" than DC — it's just that the DC citizens happen to like and accept their superheroes, out of tradition. This was actually analyzed in ''[[TheNail JLA: The Nail]]'', where it was basically concluded that the reason the DC civilians are not like Marvel civilians is because {{Franchise/Superman}} was such a nice guy to the citizens of Metropolis they put the kibosh on all the J. Jonah Jamesons. Marvel mainly had superior assholes, like {{Sub-Mariner}}, and soldiers, like CaptainAmerica, around before the Comicbook/FantasticFour came into the scene and started the superhero age.
*** Plus, DC deals with a lot more huge disasters and their villains' power levels are usually far too high for anyone ''but'' superheroes to counter. This combined with a long superhero history, including the JSA's WWII cred, causes something of a division of labor between normal law enforcement/military/emergency workers, and superheroes.

See also ReedRichardsIsUseless, NoEndorHolocaust, PlanetEris, NoSuchThingAsWizardJesus, and LawOfConservationOfNormality. Compare ExtraStrengthMasquerade, when the Masquerade doesn't even break despite events that ''should'' break it. Compare LikeRealityUnlessNoted, where everything sure seems like real life until someone mentions something that couldn't possibly exist in real life.

* Comicbook/IncredibleHulk often gets the short end of this stick -- he's hunted, hated, and several crazy military organizations want him as a weapon, or dead.
** And all he wants is to be left alone.
* The existence of superhumans rarely has any longterm sociological effects in comics save for FantasticRacism against mutants -- but ''not'' against those with any other SuperHeroOrigin. Sometimes the effects of living in a world full of not only superbeings, but aliens, magical beings, {{Alternate Universe}}s, TimeTravel, and {{Mad Scientist}}s who [[CutLexLuthorACheck hoard]] [[ReedRichardsIsUseless their technology]] is explored in {{Elseworlds}} such as ''Comicbook/KingdomCome'' and in purpose-specific {{Deconstruction}}s or {{Reconstruction}}s, but for the most part, it's LikeRealityUnlessNoted, no matter how unrealistic that might be.

* Averted in {{Watchmen}}, where the global consequences of the existance of Dr Manhattan are numerous - notably, the existence of various gizmos made possible by his synthesizing vast stocks of rare elements or that he invented himself. Politically, because "the Superman exists and he's American", the USA has enjoyed decades of strategic superiority, which has made the Communist bloc incredibly paranoid.

<<|WeirdnessIsolationTropes|>>

No matter how widespread information, nobody cares. Things slip quickly and quietly into MundaneFantastic, with little ruckus.

* Averted ''hard'' in {{Watchmen}}, where the global consequences of the existance of Dr Manhattan are numerous - notably, the existence of various gizmos made possible by his synthesizing vast stocks of rare elements or that he invented himself. Politically, because "the Superman exists and he's American", the USA has enjoyed decades of strategic superiority, which has made the Communist bloc incredibly paranoid.

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}: The Goliath Chronicles''. After the {{Masquerade}} is nuked, a KuKluxKlan {{Expy}} forms against them, and lawmakers try to figure out just where a Gargoyle stands in regard to the law (including a memorable case where Goliath is arrested and brought to trial and his lawyer asks him to try to get off on the grounds that he's not human).

* The Franchise/StargateVerse didn't have the opportunity to end the SGC's masquerade (the reveal having been slated for the movie ''Series/{{Stargate SG-1}}: Revolution'', which is in DevelopmentHell), but a few {{alternate universe}}s visited in ''SG-1'' avert the trope. In "The Road Not Taken", the United States has been under under martial law for three years due to widespread riots after the president revealed the existence of aliens and the stargate program during Anubis' attack on Antarctica.

** Also partially justified by the fact that the governments of the world had a few years of advance warning; they didn't know the Reality Distortion Field was going to go kaput, but they ''did'' know that the number of Changed was doubling every year and that it was going to be impossible to keep this quiet forever, so extensive preparations were made for the inevitable BrokenMasquerade]].

No scientists tear their hair out in frustration, spew around theories and ask you to JustThinkOfThePotential. Nobody will sneak in at night and try to steal your TransformationTrinket of ClingyMacGuffin to be a little super. And AliceAndBob still go to school, stay out of trouble, keep their heads down and maybe join the "I love aliens !" fanclub.

** You may wonder why the government or army is not interested in groups of {{One Man Arm|y}}ies running around and regularly damaging buildings.

* The Franchise/StargateVerse didn't have the opportunity to end the SGC's masquerade (the reveal having been slated for the movie ''Series/Stargate SG-1: Revolution'', which is in DevelopmentHell), but a few {{alternate universe}}s visited in ''SG-1'' avert the trope. In "The Road Not Taken", the United States has been under under martial law for three years due to widespread riots after the president revealed the existence of aliens and the stargate program during Anubis' attack on Antarctica.

** Similar criticisms can be leveled against [[ChickTracts Jack Chick's]] versions of the Rapture and Tribulation.

No scientists tear their hair out in frustration, spew around theories and ask you to JustThinkOfThePotential. Nobody will sneak in in the night and try to steal your TransformationTrinket of ClingyMacGuffin to be a little super. And AliceAndBob still go to school, stay out of trouble, keep their heads down and maybe join the "I love aliens !" fanclub.

* Messed around a bit with in ''{{Guyver}}''. After X-Day when [[AncientConspiracy Kronos]] unveils themselves and take over the world there are major shake-ups at high levels of government and the protagonists are forced further into hiding since their pursuers no longer have to worry keeping up the {{Masquerade}}. However for the average person on the street who is not a member of {{La Resistance}} the only real difference is recruiting ads and posters and a Zoanoid Boy Band.
* Averted pretty handily in CannonGodExaxxion. The Riofaldians integrate themselves into Earth culture and their impressive technology revolutionizes humanity... to the point that when they reveal their plans for invasion, they control almost all of the technology on the planet.
* The second variety is played straight in the manga ''WatashiNoMessiahSama''. Once the protagonist is forced to do TheReveal about his powers in front of the media and military and declare that he would go against the world if he had to, things get chaotic ''very'' quickly. His school sides with him ''against the world'' and secedes from Japan, declaring independence with [[RuleOfCool armies of tanks and ninjas]] led by a [[ScaryShinyGlasses eerily hyper-competent teacher]], while different nations send in special ops forces to wipe the protagonist and his companions out, which results in [[spoiler:a secondary character getting shot and dying, causing her love interest (the so-far unawakened BigBad) to perform the biggest FaceHeelTurn of the series, propelling the main plot to it's finale]].
* Most people in [[RanmaOneHalf Furinkan]] know about Ranma's curse. That means they know magic exists, for one. They talk about it as if they were discussing the weather.
** You may wonder why goverment or army is not interested in group of [[OneManArmy One Man Armies]] running around and regulary demaging buildings.
* The second season of ''DarkerThanBlack'' shows absolutely no consequence blowing the lid on the existence of the Contractors. The general public are somewhat nervous of them, but the can still blend in comfortably with society. Government agencies still use Contractors and Dolls as pawns; the only difference is that they can acknowledge them in their diplomatic dealings with each other.
* The end of the YuYuHakusho manga screws continuity in favor of allowing the main characters an easy commute, and (due to Koenma's coup) opens the borders between the human and demon dimensions, relying on Enki's noninterference laws to keep everything smooth, and the Masquerade is also abandoned, though it takes a while for humans to start believing in the demon population. This goes quite calmly.

* In ''DearS'', when the eponymous aliens arrive in Japan, they make quite a stir...but that's because they're hot. They have advanced technology, but none of it percolates out into the general public, and they smoothly integrate into society without so much as a ripple.

* TheHulk often gets the short end of this stick -- he's hunted, hated and several crazy military organizations want him as a weapon, or dead.

* The existence of superhumans rarely has any longterm sociological effects in comics save for FantasticRacism agains mutants -- but ''not'' against those with any other SuperHeroOrigin. Sometimes the effects of living in a world full of not only superbeings, but aliens, magical beings, {{Alternate Universe}}s, TimeTravel, and {{Mad Scientist}}s who [[CutLexLuthorACheck hoard]] [[ReedRichardsIsUseless their technology]] is explored in {{Elseworlds}} such as ''KingdomCome'' and in purpose-specific {{Deconstruction}}s or {{Reconstruction}}s, but for the most part, it's LikeRealityUnlessNoted, no matter how unrealistic that might be.
** The lack of wild reaction could be caused by the fact that the heroes were there all the time. Sure, there were periods that were super-light, but every "normal" remembers when the heroes were around. If they ever leave, we know they'll always come back. In the DC Universe, the first superhero was actually the first human. He invented fire. So, a paleolithic Reed Richards that actually helped people.
*** Although it should be noted that Marvel has SHIELD (and it's many spin-off agencies) to handle this, and as of CivilWar the government has taken a more active stance in the superhuman world.

*** Marvel isn't "better" than DC — it's just that the DC citizens happen to like and accept their superheroes, out of tradition. This was actually analyzed in ''[[TheNail JLA: The Nail]]'', where it was basically concluded that the reason the DC civilians are not like Marvel civilians is because Superman was such a nice guy to the citizens of Metropolis they put the kibosh on all the J. Jonah Jamesons. Marvel mainly had superior assholes, like Namor the Submariner, and soldiers, like Captain America, around before the FantasticFour came into the scene and started the superhero age.

* Averted quite nicely in the fourth volume of Mirage's ''[[Comicbook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' series. The series starts out with the Utroms, aliens who have appeared in the story before, coming to Earth and offering the planet a chance to join the larger galactic community. The narration describes how the world reacts to the offer and knowledge that aliens exist. Among other things, religions try to fit the aliens existence into their doctrines, several regimes are overthown, and the stock market is thrown into chaos. There're more mundane consequences, such as a vicious bidding war between toy companies for the right to produce Utrom plushies. The story resumes after the governments of the world have mostly managed to smooth things out, but the way society has changed to accommodate the aliens is a major part of the series from that point on.

** Similar criticisms can be leveled against JackChick's versions of the Rapture and Tribulation.

** What's he talking about? DisasterMovies show humanity being wiped out by a comet all the time.

* In PowerRangers looks like a case of no global consequences, with things exactly like real life despite Earth suffering monster attacks since 1993 and making formal FirstContact in '98. But keep in mind that the government debuted [[PowerRangersLightspeedRescue their own Ranger team]] to deal with paranormal threats in 2000, and by [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2025]] aliens will have settled on earth and there'll be SpacePolice to deal with alien criminals. There are also hints that morphing technology is out there for those who want it, even if only a very few can get it (a private corporation studied Ranger tech in 2001; the 2007 team was publicly backed by a billionaire with his own company; and the 2008 mentor got morphers "from a guy who knew a guy who had an uncle", which to some suggests a black market). They're still lowballing the consequences by a long shot, but they're there.

* In ''{{The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob}}'', Bob & Jean were afraid for Molly the Monster's safety after she was born in a lab accident, so they [[PutOnABus sent her to live with Jean's Uncle]] on a farm in the middle of nowhere. When they realized she was unhappy there, they let her come back home, darn the consequences... and there don't seem to have ''been'' many consequences. Most of the townsfolk concluded she's a relative of Bob's who is deformed and hairy, but otherwise harmless. Well, they ''did'' form a small angry mob to hunt her down once, but that was [[EvilTwin Galatea's]] fault.
* If you start reading ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}!'' without reading the previous works set in the same [[WalkyVerse shared universe]], you'd completely miss out on the fact that Shortpacked! takes place in a world where aliens have been publicly revealed to exist, it's public knowledge that the US government has reversed engineered alien technology including giant robots and spaceships, and where just a short time before Shortpacked! starts, Earth fought a war against the Martians who wanted to KillAllHumans.

See also ReedRichardsIsUseless, NoEndorHolocaust, PlanetEris, NoSuchThingAsWizardJesus, and LawOfConservationOfNormality. Compare ExtraStrengthMasquerade, when the Masquerade doesn't even break despite events that ''should'' break it. Compare LikeRealityUnlesNoted, where everything sure seems like real life until someone mentions something that couldn't possibly exist in real life.

See also ReedRichardsIsUseless, NoEndorHolocaust, PlanetEris, NoSuchThingAsWizardJesus, and LawOfConservationOfNormality. Compare ExtraStrengthMasquerade, when the Masquerade doesn't even break despite events that ''should'' break it.

* The second variety is played straight in the manga ''[[http://onemanga.com/Watashi_no_Messiah-sama/ Watashi no Messiah-sama]]''. Once the protagonist is forced to do TheReveal about his powers in front of the media and military and declare that he would go against the world if he had to, things get chaotic ''very'' quickly. His school sides with him ''against the world'' and secedes from Japan, declaring independence with [[RuleOfCool armies of tanks and ninjas]] led by a [[ScaryShinyGlasses eerily hyper-competent teacher]], while different nations send in special ops forces to wipe the protagonist and his companions out, which results in [[spoiler:a secondary character getting shot and dying, causing her love interest (the so-far unawakened BigBad) to perform the biggest FaceHeelTurn of the series, propelling the main plot to it's finale]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'', there are aliens -- especially Ben's -- all over the news, but besides the established {{MIB}}, The Plumbers, and one task force, humanity seems to not care that there are other sentient lifeforms out there. The only scientist to ever go near Ben is the [[MadScientist crazy one]] who wants the [[MacGuffin Omnitrix]]. As does every alien and their grandmothers -- but no humans.

* In ''Discworld/TheLastContinent'' and the accompanying ''{{The Science of Discworld}}'', Terry Pratchett argues that a RealLife case of this was when most of humanity ignored the impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter, apparently not making the logical leap that it could happen just as easily here.

*** And anyone who cared to know knew it could happen long before Shoemaker-Levy 9.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In ''DearS'', when the titular aliens arrive in Japan, they make quite a stir...but that's because they're hot. They have advanced technology, but none of it percolates out into the general public, and they smoothly integrate into society without so much as a ripple.

* In ''DearS'', when the titular aliens arrive in Japan, they make quite a stir...but that's because they're hot. They have advanced technology, but none of it percolates out into the general public.

* Partly averted, but not that much in the [[Series/DoctorWho Whoniverse]]. Despite mass invasions and fighting between by Daleks and Cybermen, ''the Sun going out'' for a few minutes, ''the sky burning up'' and the Earth getting ''frigging stolen''. Has this changed day-to-day life? A little, but not much. Certainly not the millions dead or traumatized that you might expect. In ''{{Torchwood}}'''s ''Children of Earth'' miniseries there's a discussion of how a woman committed suicide after all the aliens made her lose faith in god.
** The main reason for this is that the show doesn't really hang around to see the effects of these consequences. Sure, you'll get an episode or two where all the humans turn into the Master, or ghosts turn out to be cybermen and what have you, but the next episode you'll probably be somewhere or when completely different. Aside from a small comment, its hard to judge the way society's really changed. This is why TorchWood succeeds at averting this trope more. Its permanently on Earth, so it can deal with the political and social ramifications of constant alien invasions or everyone becoming immortal more thoroughly. (Arguably, TheSarahJaneAdventures could have as well, but this would probably have been considered too dark/deep for a kids' show.)

* Averted quite nicely in the fourth volume of Mirage's ''Comicbook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' series. The series starts out with the Utroms, aliens who have appeared in the story before, coming to Earth and offering the planet a chance to join the larger galactic community. The narration describes how the world reacts to the offer and knowledge that aliens exist. Among other things, religions try to fit the aliens existence into their doctrines, several regimes are overthown, and the stock market is thrown into chaos. There're more mundane consequences, such as a vicious bidding war between toy companies for the right to produce Utrom plushies. The story resumes after the governments of the world have mostly managed to smooth things out, but the way society has changed to accommodate the aliens is a major part of the series from that point on.

* In ''{{Ben 10}}'', there are aliens -- especially Ben's -- all over the news, but besides the established {{MIB}}, The Plumbers, and one task force, humanity seems to not care that there are other sentient lifeforms out there. The only scientist to ever go near Ben is the [[MadScientist crazy one]] who wants the [[MacGuffin Omnitrix]]. As does every alien and their grandmothers -- but no humans.

* In PowerRangers looks like a case of no global consequences, with things exactly like real life despite Earth suffering monster attacks since 1993 and making formal FirstContact in '98. But keep in mind that the government debuted [[PowerRangersLightspeedRescue their own Ranger team]] to deal with paranormal threats in 2000, and by [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2025]] aliens will have settled on earth and there'll be SpacePolice to deal with alien criminals. There are also hints that morphing technology is out there for those who want it, even if only a very few can get it (a private corporation studied Ranger tech in 2001; the 2008 team was publicly backed by a billionaire with his own company; and the 2009 mentor got morphers "from a guy who knew a guy who had an uncle", which to some suggests a black market). They're still lowballing the consequences by a long shot, but they're there.

*** Marvel isn't "better" than DC — it's just that the DC citizens happen to like and accept their superheroes, out of tradition. This was actually analyzed in JLA: The Nail, where it was basically concluded that the reason the DC civilians are not like Marvel civilians is because Superman was such a nice guy to the citizens of Metropolis they put the kibosh on all the J. Jonah Jamesons. Marvel mainly had superior assholes, like Namor the Submariner, and soldiers, like Captain America, around before the FantasticFour came into the scene and started the superhero age.

* Averted quite nicely in the fourth volume of Mirage's ''Comicbook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles' series. The series starts out with the Utroms, aliens who have appeared in the story before, coming to Earth and offering the planet a chance to join the larger galactic community. The narration describes how the world reacts to the offer and knowledge that aliens exist. Among other things, religions try to fit the aliens existence into their doctrines, several regimes are overthown, and the stock market is thrown into chaos. There're more mundane consequences, such as a vicious bidding war between toy companies for the right to produce Utrom plushies. The story resumes after the governments of the world have mostly managed to smooth things out, but the way society has changed to accommodate the aliens is a major part of the series from that point on.