History Main / ViciousCycle

* In ''Videogame/DarkSoulsII'' we learn that the world have been stuck in a continuous cycle since the events of ''Videogame/DarkSouls''. Kingdoms and Empires will rise to power before the undead curse appears again, making the entire world extremely hostile. At some point after the curse appear, a [[LegacyCharacter chosen undead]] appear, and begins slaying the inhabitants of the lands. The previous monarch during was King Vendrick, who took the throne but refused to sit on it. He and his brother [[MadScientist Aldia]] tried to find a way to stop the cycle permanently. It did not work as intended. When the final boss is defeated, the chosen undead sits on the throne and becomes the monarch of the next kingdom.

* Sissi from ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' acts like the AlphaBitch in response to the bad treatment she gets from everyone else, which is essentially a response to her AlphaBitch behavior. [[spoiler: The Lyoko kids do manage to break this cycle in the finale, and Sissi does prove that she's been a JerkWithAHeartOfGold all along.]]

* Literature/{{Discworld}}'s Death references this. [[AC:"I remember when all this shall be again."]]

* In ''Videogame/DarkSoulsII'' we learn that the world have been stuck in a continuous cycle since the events of ''Videogame/DarkSouls''. Kingdoms and Empires will rise to power before the undead curse appears again, making the entire world extremely hostile. At some point after the curse appear, a [[LegacyCharacter chosen undead]] appear, and begins slaying the inhabitants of the lands. When the final boss is defeated, the chosen undead sits on the throne and becomes the monarch of the next kingdom.
** The previous monarch during Dark Souls 2 was king Vendrick, who tried to stop the cycle, by taking the throne but not sitting on it. It did not work as intended.

* In ''Film/TheMatrix'', the Machines destroy Zion and (with the help of The One) reboot the Matrix every 100 years, to prevent the Zion "anomaly" from expanding uncontrollably. Neo is the first One to refuse to participate in the reboot, and later strikes a peace agreement with the Machines, saving Zion and ending the war.

* In the ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' series, the Dark Force attacks the planets of the Algol system every 1,000 years. In ''Phantasy Star IV'', this is revealed to be because [[spoiler:an even ''worse'' entity, the Profound Darkness, is sealed behind the solar system itself, and Dark Force, the avatar of said entity, is attempting to free it]]. Not only that, [[spoiler:the destruction of Parma has weakened the seal on the Profound Darkness, so now there are ''three'' Dark Forces attempting to free it.]]

* The latest story intel on the ''{{Starcraft}}'' series (mainly the "''Dark Templar''" book trilogy) posits that the [[{{Precursors}} Xel'Naga]] are not ''merely'' a superadvanced civilization whose experiments with creating the Zerg and Protoss failed miserably leading to their extinction. Rather, both the Protoss and Zerg are exactly what they were required to be, and in time the two species would have come together to create the new iteration of the (essentially godlike, "star-forging") Xel'Naga, as part of a cosmic cycle stretching back to the dawn of time. The current cycle never came to completion as intended, however, because ''[[EldritchAbomination someone]]'' interfered with the Zerg's genetic programming, making them [[PlanetLooters savage and all-consuming]], as a first step to breaking the cycle and ending the Universe.

* In the computer game ''[[VideoGame/{{Myth}} Myth The Fallen Lords]]'' and its sequels, it is stated that [[spoiler: King Alric and Balor are nothing more but the latest puppets of the ViciousCycle of destruction that repeated itself at least three times before. Every five hundred or thousand years (depending on what interpretation you want to believe), Mount Tharsus erupts, and the Leveller arises far in the east. He then leads the armies of darkness to lay waste on civilization. Then, after a similar period of suffering, a hero of light arises to take down the Leveller and bring about a new 500- or 1,000-years golden age of humanity, before [[ButNowIMustGo vanishing mysteriously]]]]. Sounds bad? That's not all. [[spoiler:In truth, every hero who managed to defeat his age's Leveller is doomed to be eventually corrupted into becoming the ''next'' Leveller, destroying everything that he created, and bringing a new age of darkness]]. Thankfully, the games imply that events in the previous iteration of the cycle may have allowed Alric to [[ScrewDestiny break the cycle for good]], or that [[spoiler:Soulblighter]]'s actions in the sequel may have resulted in this. We don't know for certain, though.
* ''SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'' uses this one nicely to explain why the game ends after 500 turns. Turns out every 100 million years, Planet's native life grows into a full-fledged, planet-wide hive mind, but the growth is so explosive it ends up eating everything on Planet and thus destroying itself. When the UN Unity arrived there, it's already been 99,999,500 years since the last outgrowth, and humanity has just 500 years to stop this cycle! What a pisser! There is also some implication that the thoughts of the human colonists are playing a role in awakening Planet and pushing it towards the end of the current cycle faster than it normally would.

* ''{{Killer7}}'' reveals at the end [[spoiler:that Harmon and Kun Lan play their game against each other every century or so; no matter who wins their previous match, the game starts again in due time.]]
* ''SepterraCore'' subverts the trope somewhat in that the prophesied date on which all of the planet's layers go into a position that allows access to the core is still many years away. Drama is provided by the antagonist destroying layers and messing with the planet's clockwork so that he can access the core during his lifetime.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' has this in the form of Sheogorath. [[spoiler: By the time that you're at the end of the main questline of the Shivering Isles, you learn that Sheogorath, the Prince of Madness, is really the God of Order, Jyggalag. A curse was placed upon Jyggalag, turning him into Sheogorath. Sheogorath then turns into Jyggalag every 1,000 years, and Jyggalag tries to restore his realm back into order, but doesn't have enough time to.]] The player, however, has the chance to end this cycle forever.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' reveals that the universe itself runs on this, with Alduin eating the world and Akatosh renewing it every few thousand years. In the current ''kalpa'', [[spoiler:the ancient Nords disrupted the cycle by using an Elder Scroll to cast Alduin several thousand years forward in time. It's implied that this is all the player does by defeating Alduin.]]

* The fossil record contains evidence of multiple mass extinction events which may or may not be periodic. At one time there was a theory that these were caused by a red or brown dwarf companion star dipping through the Oort cloud every 26 million years or so and sending showers of comets into the inner system. (In case this is worrying you, the most recent event was about 11 million years ago, so we've got a little time yet. Also, over the past decade or so sky surveys have all but ruled out the Sun having a companion star, even a brown dwarf one.)

->''"Harman, the world won't change. All it does is turn."''
-->-- '''Kun Lan''', ''{{Killer7}}''

The reasons why they do so varies greatly. It may be necessary to keep a SealedEvilInACan dormant (which often involves the Chosen One's sacrifice), to uphold the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil or the {{Masquerade}} (in other words, to prevent either side from winning too much or knowing too much). Alternatively, the organizers may do it [[ForTheEvulz purely for entertainment]], or it may "just happen" BecauseDestinySaysSo, with no further explanation.

The bad news is, last time this happened was [[ExtyYearsFromNow exactly 999 years and 360 days ago]], and our heroes become involved, usually against their will, in the next iteration. Two outcomes can possibly occur: either they [[JumpedAtTheCall accept]] (or are [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive forced to accept]]) their destiny and continue the cycle, or they reject it. The former case is risky because fans are likely to [[ShaggyDogStory dismiss the story as "pointless"]]; in the latter, what happens next depends on the show's position on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, which can mean either a happy ending, in which the cycle is broken for good, or a DownerEnding. If multiple factions want a say in this process it can result in a TournamentArc or ThereCanBeOnlyOne. It doesn't necessarily have to be a precisely regular event- what's most important is the existence of a system with wide negative effects but also a good reason to be kept up, which goes unchallenged (or all challenges to it fail) until the heroes show up.

* The ''LordOfTheIsles'' series by DavidDrake. The powers are building to a thousand-year peak. Ordinary wizards find themselves with out of control powers that brought down the kingdom during the last peak. In its current shattered state another such error will destroy civilization.

** [[TechnoBabble What? What? What?]]

* [[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined "All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again."]]
** Explained more explicitly in recent episodes as [[spoiler:humanity creating Cylons, who rise up against them, then create organic versions who are effectively human, who then create Cylons...]]

* TabletopGame/YuGiOh: Sophia the goddess of rebirth created a never ending cycle of reincarnation of creation and destruction. To escape from this cycle, Sombres (Gem Knight Lazuli fused with the Constellar) and Kerykeion (Constellar Raselhague fused with the Evilswarm-infected Ice Barrier Dragons) attacked Sophia.

* In the ''PhantasyStar'' series, the Dark Force attacks the planets of the Algol system every 1,000 years. In ''Phantasy Star IV'', this is revealed to be due to the fact that [[spoiler: an even ''worse'' entity, the Profound Darkness, is sealed behind the solar system itself, and Dark Force, the avatar of said entity, is attempting to free it.]]
** Not only that, [[spoiler: the destruction of Parma has weakened the seal on the Profound Darkness, so now there are ''three'' Dark Forces attempting to free it.]]

* Every 60 years in VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'s Gensokyo, there's a surge of death for whatever reason. Of course, since Death is TheSlacker, instead we get lots and lots of flowers everywhere.
** Actually the surge of death is in the outside world ([[NuclearWeaponsTaboo can you guess why Japan had so many ghosts in 1945?]]) The unnatural flower bloom comes from the fact that there is no room for all the new ghosts flowing in.

* This turns out to be a major plot point in ''DragonsDogma''. [[spoiler:Every several hundred years, the Seneschal (essentially the god of the world the game takes place in) unleashes the Dragon, whose goal is to both bring the end of days, and to create an Arisen that has the ability to grow strong enough to face the Dragon. If the Arisen fails, the Seneschal supposedly recreates the world and begins anew. If the Arisen succeeds and the Dragon is killed, the Arisen is given the Godsbane sword, and the Everfall (a massive dungeon that lies far beneath the island nation of Gransys, the game's setting) bursts open, unleashing both eternal night and hordes of powerful monsters. The Arisen then makes their way through the Everfall, confronts the Seneschal and slays him with the Godsbane, effectively becoming the new Seneschal who then creates their own Dragon, and the cycle begins anew. However, when your Arisen kills the Seneschal, they instead choose to [[DrivenToSuicide turn the Godsbane on themselves]], breaking the cycle for good.]]

* In the Whateley Universe, a mundane version of this happens with no less then three villains! Deathmaiden dies and returns almost exactly 20 years, and Diane Castle quotes this almost exact trope!
** http://crystalhall.org/chboards3/index.php?t=msg&th=1543&start=0&S=f768b1cbdfbb06d0f615103540bbc4ef

* So many in ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' that it is pretty much a RunningGag.

->''"Harman, the world won't change. All it does... is turn."''

->''"Harman, the world never changes. All it ever does... is turn."''

** Many of the abandoned/uncolonised planets in the game have flavor text. In quite a few of them, it will say: There is evidence that sentient life once inhabited this planet. They were obliterated by a sustained, organised and totally destructive orbital bombardment. Every one has the estimated date of the destruction as a multiple of 50,000 years.

** Many of the abandoned/uncolonised planets in the game have flavour text. In quite a few of them, it will say: There is evidence that sentient life once inhabited this planet. They were obliterated by a sustained, organised and totally destructive orbital bombardment. Every one has the estimated date of the destruction as a multiple of 50,000 years.

The bad news is, last time this happened was [[ExtyYearsFromNow exactly 999 years and 360 days ago]], and our heroes become involved, usually against their will, in the next iteration. Two outcomes can possibly occur: either they [[JumpedAtTheCall accept]] (or are [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive forced to accept]]) their destiny and continue the cycle, or they reject it. The former case is risky because fans are likely to dismiss the story as "pointless"; in the latter, what happens next depends on the show's position on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, which can mean either a happy ending, in which the cycle is broken for good, or a DownerEnding. If multiple factions want a say in this process it can result in a TournamentArc or ThereCanBeOnlyOne. It doesn't necessarily have to be a precisely regular event- what's most important is the existence of a system with wide negative effects but also a good reason to be kept up, which goes unchallenged (or all challenges to it fail) until the heroes show up.

* The eponymous castle of the ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}'' series of video games, as well as its lord, Count Dracula, reappears every 100 years [[ChaosArchitecture in a different form]]. In fact, one of the major plot points of ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}: SymphonyOfTheNight'' is that Castlevania's latest appearance is ''way'' ahead of schedule.
** ''Castlevania 2'' revolves around the player having to revive Dracula ahead of schedule in order to kill him again, in order to break a curse he put on Simon Belmont for defeating him.
** And the there's ''AriaOfSorrow'' and ''DawnOfSorrow'', [[spoiler: where Dracula was finally killed for good. But apparently the world needs a Dark Lord, so now all sorts of lunatics are trying their damnedest to become the new Dracula.]]
** ''Castlevania: PortraitOfRuin'' is another one that interrupts the vicious cycle. With the onset of World War II, [[spoiler: a squatter named Brauner used all the hatred and torment felt by those killed in the War to call forth Castlevania and usurp its power for his own misanthropic needs. Because of this, the Belmont Family isn't even allowed to touch the sacred Vampire Killer whip until its next ''scheduled'' appearance in 1999.]]

* ''ShinMegamiTensei'' is ''very'' big on this, given the emphasis on the OrderVersusChaos setting, the instability of Neutrality, and the constant reminder that HumansAreBastards. Particular examples include the Conception in ''ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne'', the Schwartzwelt in ''StrangeJourney'', and the constant rise and fall of several of the series' gods. It's a bitter reminder that OrderVersusChaos cannot be ''anything'' except a ForeverWar.
** It's also a major flaw in the [[TrueNeutral Neutral]] alignment, which vows to protect the potential of mankind, as well as freedom and self-empowerment... all of which brought the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt in the first place, although the natural tendency for belief to unknowingly fuel civilization-crushing supernatural entities doesn't exactly help.

** Likewise, in ''WolvesOfTheCalla'' the wolves visit Calla for harvest every 30 years.

* In the Creator/IsaacAsimov short story (and subsequent novel) "Nightfall", a world with six suns, at least one of which is in the sky at all times, has five of its suns set simultaneously ''and'' the remaining one eclipsed by an otherwise-unknown moon, once per 2049 years. Since the inhabitants have never seen the stars and have no clue they even exist, the sight of the night sky causes everyone to go mad and start burning ''everything'' to generate whatever light they can, returning civilization to the stone age.

** Likewise, in ''WolvesOfCalla'' the wolves visit Calla for harvest every 30 years.

** It's also a major flaw in the [[TrueNeutral Neutral]] alignment, which vows to protect the potential of mankind, as well as freedom and self-empowerment... all of which brought the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt in the first place.

* It's eventually revealed in CucumberQuest that, while the Nightmare Knight is indeed the previously stated 50,000 years old, he's actually been revived before the current story. Like, every 5,000 years or so. As it turns out, he's just really hard to kill, and someone eventually gets around to freeing him before they can reseal him. As with most things in the comic, this is less due to the PowersThatBe having some agenda of balance or being evil and more due to them being [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/archive/page-192/ mind bogglingly incompetent]].

* In the computer game ''VideoGame/MythTheFallenLords'' and its sequels, it is stated that [[spoiler: King Alric and Balor are nothing more but the latest puppets of the ViciousCycle of destruction that repeated itself at least three times before. Every five hundred or thousand years (depending on what interpretation you want to believe), Mount Tharsus erupts, and the Leveller arises far in the east. He then leads the armies of darkness to lay waste on civilization. Then, after a similar period of suffering, a hero of light arises to take down the Leveller and bring about a new 500- or 1,000-years golden age of humanity, before [[ButNowIMustGo vanishing mysteriously]]]]. Sounds bad? That's not all. [[spoiler:In truth, every hero who managed to defeat his age's Leveller is doomed to be eventually corrupted into becoming the ''next'' Leveller, destroying everything that he created, and bringing a new age of darkness]]. Thankfully, the games imply that events in the previous iteration of the cycle may have allowed Alric to [[ScrewDestiny break the cycle for good]], or that [[spoiler:Soulblighter]]'s actions in the sequel may have resulted in this. We don't know for certain, though.

* ''MassEffect'''s plot revolves around this. Archaeologist Liara T'Soni talks about clues she has found during her research that indicate that every time a civilization has reached a certain level of technological development, it has been violently destroyed, and the next civilization has been founded on technology scavenged from the ruins. [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard]] eventually discovers that [[spoiler:mechanical {{Eldritch Abomination}}s known only as the Reapers show up [[AbusivePrecursors every 50,000 years or so to "harvest" the galaxy's sentient life into extinction.]] Sovereign, the vanguard of the next Reaper invasion, tells Shepard that they have done this more than once]]. The game's storyline revolves around Shepard's efforts to prevent the cycle from recurring again.

* In the Creator/IsaacAsimov short story "Nightfall", a world with six suns, at least one of which is in the sky at all times, has all its suns set simultaneously once per set period of time. Since the inhabitants have never seen the stars and have no clue they even exist, the sight of the night sky causes everyone to go mad and start burning ''everything'' to generate whatever light they can, returning civilization to the stone age.

* In the very first [[FinalFantasyI Final Fantasy]] the Four Fiends send [[spoiler: the fallen knight Garland through time to become the immensely powerful archdemon Chaos. Following Chaos into the past, the Warriors discover it was Chaos who had sent the Four Fiends into the future, creating a time loop paradox. Defeating Chaos in the past breaks the time loop and the Warriors are sent back to the present, but having altered the time line nobody in the new time line has any memories of the events.]]