History Main / TwentyMinutesIntotheFuture

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie'' and the third season of [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers the 1986 cartoon]] are set in the early 21st century (in the far-off year 2005). It is roughly 20 years after the original series -- far enough forward for Spike to have grown up and had a son. Likewise, ''Anime/TransformersEnergon'' is set just long enough after ''Anime/TransformersArmada'' for the human characters to have grown up. Does anyone remember having cars like those, wearing pimped-out space suits (whilst still on Earth), the government setting up a publicly known organization to counter alien threats, building space-craft capable of traveling entire galaxies away or riding around on their hoverboards? To be fair though, much of the technological achievements present in that universe could be chalked up to having the Autobots sharing Cybertronian technology with us if you wanna provide an excuse.

* The British 1970s series ''Series/TimeSlip'' showed several potential versions of the year 1990. Cloning. Melted polar icecaps. Longevity serums. Global computer control. Europe being geologically restructured to maximize efficiency. And computers were still room-size monstrosities with reel-to-reel tapes. And as to the sense of taste in décor, let us just say that it is truly fortunate for our corneas that only one episode has survived in its original color.

** The second season of "Series/StarTrekPicard", released in 2022, revisited the year 2024 and showed a future much closer to the {{Present Day}}, albeit with some more futuristic technology such as forcefields, [[BioAugmentation Bio-Augmentation]], and [[spoiler:human cloning]].

** ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'' intro implied it took place in a close future, in which humankind was able to build space colonies with interstellar travel capacities. Next series, ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue'', had a crossover which took place after ''Galaxy'' ending, and Earth technology could build Zords, so it was reasonable to assume it took place in the future. However, it was retconned as happening in current time due to crossover with Time Force (which took place in 2001 despite Rangers coming ''from'' the future)

** The heroes of ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'' hail from the year 3001. Most of the action takes place in 2001, though (the present day at the time of airing), so it's hard to say how advanced (or not) society is by then. At the very least, aliens are common, there are flying cars, and it's mentioned that junk food has been outlawed. Oh, and DesignerBabies are normal, with {{mutant|}} failures bearing the brunt of FantasticRacism.
** ''Series/PowerRangersRPM''. Exact date unknown, but it's at least 2013 (aired in 2009, plus about a year AfterTheEnd and a three-year buildup beforehand). According to some sources, it takes place in 2085 -- but according to others, it's an AlternateContinuity, and so could be an alternate '09.

** Note that many of the stories explicitly set in the 1990s and the 21st century aren't really Twenty Minutes into the Future; they're really distant-future stories dated by a writer who didn't realize that the year 2000 really wasn't all that far off. However, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion "The Invasion"]] and subsequent UNIT stories were always intended to be set just a few years in the future. This was ignored in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS20E3MawdrynUndead "Mawdryn Undead"]], but by UNIT's final classic-series appearance in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield Battlefield]]", the setting was clearly re-established as the very-near future. The issue of "UNIT dating" (when exactly the UNIT stories take place, since there's a bucketload of contradictory evidence) is a notorious ContinuitySnarl, leading to much debate among fans (although this is generational to a degree, it's very rare to meet a fan nowadays who argues that the 1970s UNIT stories were set later than broadcast date who isn't old enough to have watched them when they were first broadcast), has been parodied a number of times in the ExpandedUniverse and for a while got its own Wikipedia entry (it also got {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in the books and the New Series episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E4TheSontaranStratagem The Sontaran Stratagem]]" by having Sarah Jane and the Doctor respectively say they "used to work for UNIT in the Seventies, or was it the Eighties?").
*** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS20E3MawdrynUndead "Mawdryn Undead"]], producer John Nathan-Turner demanded that one of the story's time periods be 1977. This caused Script Editor Eric Saward incredible trauma, because he knew about the UNIT dating situation and, more importantly, he knew the fans knew and would pillory the creative team for the 1977 decision. This is exactly what happened.
** The Second Doctor's companion Zoe comes from the 21st century, but few dates are given for her era... until in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E2TheMindRobber The Mind Robber]]" (aired in 1968), she is familiar with a cartoon character from the year 2000, implying that she's from a few years past that time at most. Or that she's a comics geek, which wouldn't be out of character for her.
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet The Tenth Planet]]" (1966) was set in the futuristic age of 1986, and features the discovery of Earth's twin planet of Mondas, which begins to siphon off Earth's energy. Come 1985, and the show's still running; the story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E1AttackOfTheCybermen Attack of the Cybermen]]" sees the Sixth Doctor heading off the titular attack before it affects the Mondas attack...
** All episodes set in the present day from 2005's "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon Aliens of London]]" to 2008's "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd Journey's End]]", inclusive, take place a year after the airing date. [[note]]2007's "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink Blink]]" is a tiny exception to the rule, because the Doctor's only present-day appearance in that episode was after a one-year TimeSkip from a linear, subjective viewpoint. This means that "Blink" ''started'' in the year it aired but ''finished'' at the normal one-year-ahead point.[[/note]] This was due to "Aliens of London" being explicitly set a year after the first episode of the 2005 season. Thanks to the series taking a "gap year" in which only a handful of specials were aired, the series was able to align with present-day by the time the Tenth Doctor handed off to the Eleventh Doctor.

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E10InTheForestOfTheNight In the Forest of the Night]]", broadcast in 2014, included dialogue hinting that it takes place in 2016. As a result, all modern-day Earth episodes featuring companion Clara Oswald that followed (at least up until her departure broadcast in 2015) would have taken place at some point after their broadcast date. However, the spinoff series ''Series/{{Class|2016}}'', which is set in the year 2016, explicitly places Clara's last modern-day episode in 2015, which is corroborated by the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse.

UrbanFantasy is the magical version. For a "reversed" version of this trope (futuristic technology in the past), see SchizoTech. {{Inverted|trope}} by TwentyMinutesIntoThePast.

* ''Manga/TwilightStarSuiAndNeri'' has a bizarre combination with DecadeDissonance, as it takes place in the year 2531 ([[FreezeFrameBonus if the reader is keen to look at Volume 2's table of contents closely]]). But despite the story being in the [[TheFuture far future]], technology from the 21st century, as well as outdated technologies like the radio[[note]]Considered to be even older as it is considered a tech invented during the 19th to 20th century[[/note]], outdated architecture styles and obsolete monetary currencies like paper bills and coins, ''still'' exist [[spoiler:in Tetsunagi. But cities outside of Tetsunagi, as well as Earth's colonies, have very futuristic technology including [[CasualInterstellarTravel commercial spaceships]], [[EveryDeviceIsASwissArmyKnife multi-purpose cards]], smart glasses (with Shida possessing one), multi-layered buildings and maglevs, which heavily aligns to 26th Century standards.]]

* ''Manga/TwilightStarSuiAndNeri'' has a bizarre combination with DecadeDissonance, as it takes place in the year 2531 ([[FreezeFrameBonus if the reader is keen to look at Volume 2's table of contents closely]]). But despite the story being in the [[TheFuture far future]], technology from the 21st century, as well as outdated technologies like the the radio[[note]]Considered to be even older as it is considered a tech from the 19th to 20th century[[/note]], outdated architecture styles and obsolete monetary currencies like paper bills and coins, ''still'' exist [[spoiler:in Tetsunagi. But cities outside of Tetsunagi, as well as Earth's colonies, have very futuristic technology including [[CasualInterstellarTravel commercial spaceships]], [[EveryDeviceIsASwissArmyKnife multi-purpose cards]], smart glasses (with Shida possessing one), multi-layered buildings and maglevs, which heavily aligns to 26th Century standards.]]

* ''Manga/TwilightStarSuiAndNeri'' has a bizarre combination with DecadeDissonance, as it takes place in the year 2531 ([[FreezeFrameBonus if the reader is keen to look at Volume 2's table of contents closely]]). But despite the story being in the [[TheFuture far future]], technology from the 21st century, as well as outdated technologies like the the radio, outdated architecture styles and obsolete monetary currencies like paper bills and coins, ''still'' exist [[spoiler:in Tetsunagi. But cities outside of Tetsunagi, as well as Earth's colonies, have very futuristic technology including [[CasualInterstellarTravel commercial spaceships]], [[EveryDeviceIsASwissArmyKnife multi-purpose cards]], smart glasses (with Shida possessing one), multi-layered buildings and maglevs are exactly aligned to 26th Century standards.]]

* ''Manga/TwilightStarSuiAndNeri'' takes place in the year 2531 ([[FreezeFrameBonus if the reader is keen to look at Volume 2's table of contents closely]]). But despite the story being in the [[TheFuture far future]], technology from the 21st century, as well as outdated technologies like the radio, outdated architecture styles and obsolete monetary currencies like paper bills, ''still'' exist [[spoiler:in Tetsunagi. But cities outside of Tetsunagi, as well as Earth's colonies, have very futuristic technology including [[CasualInterstellarTravel commercial spaceships]], [[EveryDeviceIsASwissArmyKnife multi-purpose cards]], smart glasses (with Shida possessing one), multi-layered buildings and maglevs are exactly aligned to 26th Century standards.]]

* ''Manga/TwilightStarSuiAndNeri'' takes place in the year 2531 ([[FreezeFrameBonus if the reader is keen to look at Volume 2's table of contents closely]]). But despite the story being in the [[TheFuture far future]], technology from the 21st century, as well as outdated technologies like the radio and paper bills, ''still'' exist [[spoiler:in Tetsunagi, while cities outside of it, as well as Earth's colonies, have very futuristic technology.]]

* ''Manga/TwilightStarSuiAndNeri'' takes place in the year 2531 ([[FreezeFrameBonus if the reader is keen to look at Volume 2's table of contents closely]]). But despite the story being in the [[TheFuture far future]], technology from the 21st century, as well as outdated technologies like the radio and paper bills, ''still'' exist [[spoiler:in Tetsunagi, while cities outside of it, as well as Earth's colonies, have very futuristic technology.]]

[[folder: Literature]]

* Near-future military thriller ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'', which chronicles a potential scenario for [[FallenStatesOfAmerica the downfall of the United States]] and [[DividedStatesOfAmerica its aftermath]], begins in 2016 and continues into the 2060s. In general, society changes comparatively little (and even regresses somewhat in many places, due to a collapsing global economy), but there are significant advances in various fields, ranging from drone planes to workable cold fusion. There's also some incipient {{transhuman}}ism, especially by the villain factions.
* Creator/JamesBlish's "Year 2018" (later incorporated in his ''Literature/CitiesInFlight'') : The Soviet Union still exists; [[UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy McCarthyism]] has become permanent and has turned the US into an Orwellian police state. There is a political dynasty that always wins. The US has colonies on Jupiter's moons but one of the characters complains how SLOWLY space exploration is progressing. The only remaining religious group is Evangelicals. The fact that a powerful senator is from Alaska is considered a novelty.

* ''Cover Fire'' from Viva Games S.L. initially appears to be set in modern times as the Resistance make use of FN-Scar assault rifles, AWM sniper rifles and RPG-7s as they battle Tetracorp goons who look like any contemporary PMC outfit who are often riding in open-top jeeps. However as the game progresses, the Resistance will have to contend with Tetracorp bringing out robots, giant AttackDrone, SpiderTank, Mecha who sometimes have DeflectorShield and the occasional EnergyWeapon. The Resistance themselves can get a robot, an uplifted gorilla and a gynoid to add to their roster as well as purchase [[MagneticWeapon rail guns]] and next generation rifles from the black market.

* ''Anime/PlasticMemories'' takes place at an undefined point in the future. Androids called "Giftia" are commonplace and technology is more advanced, yet their world otherwise looks like 2010s Japan. Zack is shown playing what is essentially a technologically advanced UsefulNotes/GameBoy so it's likely not too far in the future (as a kid playing a 30-year-old console is more common than playing a 60 year old one).
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' averts this by using contemporary yet not entirely widespread technology and plastering it everywhere. Interactive whiteboards and digital picture frames already existed back in 2011 when the series was released, but they were and still are quite expensive to be used at a large scale; in ''Madoka Magica'', they were everywhere and had already displaced plain whiteboards and picture frames. WordOfGod is that it takes place in 2011, the same year it was released. The only exception may or may not be Sayaka's UsefulNotes/{{MP3}} player which can also snap open and play conventional UsefulNotes/{{Compact Disc}}s, which looks pretty sleek but was very much plausible state-of-the-art technology for 2011. It's stated that the presence of the {{Masquerade}} has accelerated technological development to some degree.

** The entire MCU did a TimeSkip in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' from 2018 to 2023, meaning all following MCU media that aren't explicitly set in prior periods are now in the near-future. Which doesn't look too different from the present aside from [[ReedRichardsIsUseless the cool tech the superheroes don't share with the general populace]]. Though there is a HandWave: half the population was wiped out in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', leading to much chaos and depression (''Endgame'' even starts the 2023 part in a deserted, dark and murky New York City where sad people reminisce lost things such as MLB), and society could only go back to normal and seek progress when the "snapped" were brought back in ''Endgame''.

[[folder:Literature]]

** "Literature/CChute": The setting is a future with FTL interstellar travel, and humanity has recently encountered their first alien species. Both groups have colonized multiple star systems.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' is set in 2002 in the original. Since the show was first premiered in 2000, the anime was set 2 years into the future. ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' also plays with the trope, but is set in 200X -- a CD drama setting past events with the Monster Makers in 1984 would set the series 3 years into the future, 2004.

This is often [[FutureSocietyPresentValues a linear extrapolation of national malaise or existing crises]], so American works of the 1970s have [[UrbanHellscape endlessly skyrocketing crime and inner urban decay]] [[note]] true enough in places like Detroit, Michigan, but wildly wrong in general; cities like NYC are safer today than ever before [[/note]] whereas the 1980s brought the notion that {{Mega Corp}}s and [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japan]] (especially [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs Japanese megacorps]]) would rule the world. When the 1990s came around, the US economy recovered while the Japanese economy tanked; end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar and subsequent collapse of many authoritarian communist regimes drastically changed the political picture of both the present and the future. Instead of criminal anarchy or corporate governance, there's a lot more focus on how technology (particularly the internet) has come to permeate everyday life and challenge long-held conceptions of the individual and society as a whole, leading to {{Techno Dystopia}}s and {{Robot War}}s. With the TurnOfTheMillennium and TheNewTens, the woes of the future became [[{{Dystopia}} straw (invariably right-wing) dystopias]], [[ForeverWar endless American interventionism]] and [[GlobalWarming climate change run amok]].

* ''Manhua/SchoolShock'' is set in 2017. The science fiction focuses on nanomachines, single-person aviation, cyborgs, and a little bit of BrainInAJar tech.

* The FramingDevice storyline in the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' games, first released in 2007, take place over the period of a few months in 2012. ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' takes this trope to [[ExaggeratedTrope its logical extreme]]: Desmond's storyline starts on October 31st 2012, ''one day'' after the game's initial release on UsefulNotes/XBox360 and UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 in North America, and the ''same day'' it was released in Europe. Later games simply had them be set around the time of release.

* ''VideoGame/{{Crystalis}}'': October 1, 1997. The END DAY. The UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor remake didn't specify the date of the end of the world (it was released after 1997, which should be obvious since the system it's on was also released after 1997). Seeing how the remake wasn't received as well as the original, most ''Crystalis'' fans probably don't care.

* The UsefulNotes/NeoGeo and UsefulNotes/{{Super N|intendoEntertainmentSystem}}ES game ''Super Baseball 2020'' was released in 1991 and predicted that we will have baseball with humans playing alongside {{robot|Athlete}}s in that year. It is 2021 at the time of this writing though, and there still are not any baseball-playing robots.

* The ''Anime/{{Moldiver}}'' OVA was released in 1993 and set in 2045.