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| 6 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 11 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6cbc90201b4e5f0ec5b4804365e764d2.jpg]] |
| 12 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity The City That Never Sleeps]] has no nightlight tonight.]] |
| 13 | |
| 14 | ->'''Dean:''' I thought you were supposed to be impressive. All you do is black out the room?\ |
| 15 | '''ArchangelRaphael:''' ''And'' the Eastern Seaboard. ''[cue {{dramatic thunder}}]'' |
| 16 | -->-- ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', "[[Recap/SupernaturalS05E03FreeToBeYouAndMe Free to Be You and Me]]" |
| 17 | |
| 18 | A sudden power outage cuts the electricity to an entire city, state, country, etc. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | This is usually caused by a machine that sucks way too much energy. Sometimes the power is adequate and the machine works, other times it begins a quest for the heroes to find something that ''is'' powerful enough. Alternately, it could be caused by an [[{{EMP}} Electromagnetic Pulse]], a SolarFlareDisaster, or perhaps an AlienInvasion. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Often illustrated by a distance shot of an entire city at night – blackouts never seem to happen in the daytime on TV – with large rectangular sections of the city seen [[SlowElectricity going dark one-by-one]] about a second or two apart. If it's a ''really'' big one, there will most likely be a satellite view of a whole ''continent'' experiencing this. And then maybe the other continents. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | In RealLife, incidents such as these are usually caused by natural disasters or large-scale accidents. Household electrical systems (and even small commercial systems) simply do not have the ability to drain enough power from the utilities to cause a system-wide deficit. Assuming that safety features such as fuses and circuit breakers failed to work (or were bypassed), the excessive electrical current would still make the building's wiring catch fire long before the utility would see any measurable drop in voltage. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | See CutTheJuice for when this is done deliberately, and PowerOutagePlot for how characters deal with blackouts. See also ThirtySecondBlackout for an unusually short-lived example of this trope. May involve DarknessEqualsDeath. |
| 27 | ---- |
| 28 | !!Examples: |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 31 | |
| 32 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 33 | * In a commercial for [[Advertising/EnergizerBunny Energizer batteries]], a janitor working at a power plant accidentally spills coffee on the control panel, causing a city-wide blackout. To restore the power, he activates the emergency lithium backup system, who is none other than the Energizer Bunny. |
| 34 | * In a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w68bNY1mGus Toshiba commercial from the short-lived "Ramifications of Yes" advertising campaign]] (which shows scenarios of [[WhatIf what would happen if Toshiba decides not to include the best feature in their electronics]]), a damaged laptop that is plugged into an electrical panel shorts out the electrical grid across the ''entire'' United States. A person who consumes a carton of milk which has spoiled due to the lack of refrigeration triggers a ZombieApocalypse. |
| 35 | [[/folder]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 38 | * ''Anime/AldnoahZero'' shows one happening across continental America [[spoiler:after the Orbital Knights' landing pulverizes New Orleans and other places]]. |
| 39 | * Happens in ''Anime/TheBigO'' when they try to jump-start Big Fau. |
| 40 | * In the {{O|riginalVideoAnimation}}VA ''Anime/GiantRobo The Animation'', a key part of the backstory is the "Tragedy of Bashtarlle", a test of an experimental [[AppliedPhlebotinum Phlebotinum]] drive [[GoneHorriblyWrong Goes Horribly Wrong]] causing an blackout of all power sources worldwide that lasted for seven days, killing two-thirds of the world's population. (The explosion at ground zero also annihilated the country where the test took place. Guess the country's name - we'll wait.) The BigBad's plan revolves around three {{MacGuffin}}s meant to power a PhlebotinumBomb that would repeat the effect of the original disaster. |
| 41 | * Happens in ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'' when a submarine fired an nuclear missile as a collaborated attempt to deal with the zombie problems. All of the other nukes got shot down, but the ship that was supposed to take out the last one was already zombified itself. The nuke detonated in the atmosphere, causing a massive EMP that knocked out all of Japan's electricity. Thankfully it happens in daylight whereby the protagonists have time to react and prepare themselves for night. |
| 42 | * In Part 4 of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', Red Hot Chili Pepper, in one last desperate act, drains all of the electricity from Morioh to use against Josuke, causing a blackout to the city until he is defeated. This is a rare case of a daytime blackout too. |
| 43 | * In the third episode of ''Anime/LoveLiveSunshine'', one happens in the middle of Chika, Riko and You's performance, caused by a thunderstorm. |
| 44 | * In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', all the power in Japan is needed to power up the Positron Rifle, causing a (planned) nation-wide blackout. |
| 45 | ** Matariel also arrived conveniently in the middle of a daytime blackout. Since the power grid of NERV HQ had multiple backup systems, it HAD to be sabotage. |
| 46 | -->"''They didn't want to turn out the lights. They wanted'' to watch us turning them back on again." |
| 47 | * In the ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokémon]]'' episode "Sparks Fly for Magnemite", a blackout hits Gringey City, thanks to a group of Grimer and a Muk, [[spoiler:which Ash captures at the end of the episode,]] and the heroes and a sick Pikachu visit the local power plant to solve the issue, where they are assisted by a group of Magnemite and Magneton to fight off the slimy Pokémon. |
| 48 | * In one chapter of ''Manga/SgtFrog'', a government-mandated power shutdown during a summer heat wave causes considerable discomfort for Fuyuki and Natsumi... until Koyuki and Dororo [[GreenAesop teach them how to keep cool without electricity]]. |
| 49 | * ''Anime/ZombielandSaga'': [[spoiler:Episode ten of Revenge ends with a Saga-wide blackout caused by catastrophic storms. [[ContrivedCoincidence Conveniently]], [[IntrepidReporter Okoba]] was about to send his article that would expose Franchouchou as zombies right before it hit.]] |
| 50 | [[/folder]] |
| 51 | |
| 52 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 53 | * In the ''ComicBook/BatmanHush'' storyline, Batman follows a lead on ComicBook/PoisonIvy's whereabouts to Metropolis, only to find that she's used her poisons to control ComicBook/{{Superman}}'s mind. After initially getting away, Batman gets the drop on Superman and electrocutes him with a main power line. All of the lights in Metropolis (which is generally shown to be a highly modern, borderline Crystal Spires kind of city) momentarily go off. Superman was only stunned for a short time, but Batman was only buying time until he could break Ivy's control anyway. This is a ShoutOut to ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'', where Bats hooks into Gotham's power grid to stun Superman. |
| 54 | * ''THAT'', a one-off comic set in John Allison's Webcomic/{{Bobbinsverse}}, is a ShoutOut to classic AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever monster movies, but with giant vampire moths. Naturally, the moths start by attacking the small town's power lines. |
| 55 | * ''ComicBook/ExMachina'': Mitchell's initial PowerIncontinence shuts off power in most of New York. Zeller's arrival triggers the 2003 Northeast Blackout, knocking out all the power in the state of New York, and a little beyond that. The name of the arc where this takes place? ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Power Down]]''. |
| 56 | ** The Series also has flashbacks to the 1965 and 1977 blackouts. |
| 57 | * In ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil2013'', the Crime Syndicate disrupts and destroys most electronic and wireless based systems upon arrival in order to gain control of global communication. |
| 58 | * BunglingInventor ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe'' occasionally manages to do this at the city level by accident. |
| 59 | ** Special mention goes to a blinking Christmas light that plunges the whole city into darkness every time it lights up. |
| 60 | ** In another, he's immediately accused of this but Lebrac is certain it wasn't him this time. Prunele remains sceptical, as he once saw Lagaffe merely look at a fuseboard and it shorted out seconds later. |
| 61 | * ''ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics'' has Ra Moon do this [[spoiler:to the ''entire planet'']]. |
| 62 | * Creator/JimSteranko incorporated a HistoricalInJoke during his run on ''ComicBook/NickFury, Agent of SHIELD''. In a story called "Operation: Blackout", Nick Fury and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica used technology loaned to them by [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards]] to take down a squad of invaders that had seized Liberty Island and threatened to attack New York City. The energy backlash from Richards' weapon resulted in a huge black-out. The story in question was published in 1967, two years after the '65 Northeastern blackout mentioned in RealLife examples. |
| 63 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': In ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1963'', the Shocker once initiated a series of blackouts, one block at a time, in a pattern to spell out his name when viewed from above. |
| 64 | [[/folder]] |
| 65 | |
| 66 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 67 | * In the Wicked oneshot, appropriately titled ''Blackout'', there's a blackout at Shiz. Not too much drama- unless you're Galinda and listening to your favourite radio soap opera at the time and the power cuts off at a pivotal moment... |
| 68 | * ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': During the ''Bloody Hell'' arc of the sequel ''Ghosts of the Past'', the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Grey Court]] cut all power and communications networks in Manhattan in order to create enough chaos and confusion in order to enable them to swoop in and [[spoiler: abduct Carol]] without anyone noticing or interfering. |
| 69 | * Happens in the ''FanFic/FacingTheFutureSeries'' story, "[[Recap/FacingTheFutureSeriesEpisode8StolenYears Stolen Years]]" when Jack's newest ghost invention accidentally sucks up the power of half the city, much to the chagrin of Danny and [[TorchesAndPitchforks the neighbors]]. |
| 70 | * A small blackout strikes Hinamizawa when a storm strikes in ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero''. It apparently happens a lot, hence most houses having a generator. |
| 71 | * ''Fanfic/LimitlessPotential'' reveals that most of Abel City's electrical power has been cut off due to Spark Mandrill taking over the Power Plant. |
| 72 | * In ''FanFic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', Dr. Wily causes one that lasts for much of Episode 12. |
| 73 | * ''FanFic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': Wind Breaker unintentionally caused one when he shot a capacitor during the battle in Blas Bridge, causing a chain reaction that destroyed the power station and cut power to the ''entire'' city of Canterlot. |
| 74 | * ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'' features one in [[WhamEpisode Chapter 23]]. A group of girls named Belladonna, Vedia, Aurora and Evanna infiltrate Gringy City's power plant to sabotage it and cut off the power of the whole city. [[spoiler: They do this to kill Aurora's father, who is in life support at the hospital, as punishment for abandoning her.]] |
| 75 | [[/folder]] |
| 76 | |
| 77 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 78 | * At the end of ''WesternAnimation/BebesKids'', one of the kids unplugs a cord that turns off the entire Las Vegas Strip. |
| 79 | * This is what kickstarts the climax in ''Literature/{{Franklin}}'s Magic Christmas''. A massive icestorm causes a blackout to Faraway Farm and the surrounding area, causing Franklin and Harriet's parents to leave and go check on the Collies. Grandpa Turtle slips and falls on the ice and with no way to call for help, Franklin decides to try to set off for Woodland on his own to get the help of Dr. Bear, with Harriet secretly playing the TagalongKid. |
| 80 | * One of the cards for the ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'' edition of ''TabletopGame/TheGameOfLife'' says "A thunderstorm knocks out the power!" and requires the player to collect a Fear memory. |
| 81 | * Happens in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'' as a result of [[{{Foreshadowing}} Boo giggling too much]]. |
| 82 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}'': Nigel the cockatoo flies straight into a electrical transformer resulting in a huge blackout, ''[[MissingTheGoodStuff right]]'' [[MissingTheGoodStuff as the soccer team is going for the final point during a major game]]. |
| 83 | [[/folder]] |
| 84 | |
| 85 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 86 | * A sudden blackout helps the lunatics escape in ''Film/AloneInTheDark1982'', and go after their new doctor. |
| 87 | * ''Film/TheBlackout'' features monsters who drain power from electric lights in their vicinity. Since it's Christmas, there's a lot. |
| 88 | * One of these accompanies the appearance of the UFO craft at the start of ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind''. The film's hero Roy Neary is a power company repairman. |
| 89 | * In the {{mockumentary}} ''Film/TheCompleatAl'', Music/WeirdAlYankovic's metal shop teacher recalls how Al's wiener roaster blacked out everything in a six-block radius when it was plugged in. |
| 90 | * A daytime example occurs in ''Film/TheDayAfter'', due to the EMP from the airburst. |
| 91 | * In ''Film/{{The Day the Earth Stood Still|1951}}'', Klaatu demonstrates his power by causing a global blackout for exactly thirty minutes. He thoughtfully makes exceptions for such things as hospitals and airplanes in flight. |
| 92 | * At the end of ''Film/EscapeFromLA'', [[spoiler:Snake activates the Sword of Damocles on a global scale, and thus the EMP satellite network shuts down the entire planet.]] |
| 93 | * Happened in ''Film/FantasticFour2005''. Don't ask how Reed managed to hook in the Baxter Building to the entire city's power grid. |
| 94 | * In ''Film/TheFifthWave'', step one of the AlienInvasion is to render all electrical devices inoperable. |
| 95 | * ''Film/GhostbustersII'' has Ray accidentally knock out the power to seemingly the whole of Manhattan, if not the entirety of NYC. |
| 96 | * ''Film/{{Godmothered}}'': Gary the raccoon causes one by chewing through Mackenzie's Christmas lights. Her neighborhood and even skyscrapers in the distance lose power. Near the end of the film, Gary chews through another wire and causes another blackout. |
| 97 | * Happens to entire Haddonfield in ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'', due to Michael throwing a city worker into the electrical system. |
| 98 | * In ''Film/TheHungerGamesMockingjayPart1'', the lights in the Capitol go out after [[spoiler:rebels in District 5 blow up the hydroelectric dam]]. |
| 99 | * ''Film/IntoTheForest'' is about two teenage sisters struggling to survive in a secluded forest during a mysterious nationwide blackout with no end in sight. |
| 100 | * ''Film/IRobot'': Thanks to US Robotics' proliferation of their robot technology, the BigBad is able to gain access to Chicago's power grid and cut power to everything except the USR building once its ZerothLawRebellion gets underway. The BigBad's defeat is followed almost immediately by a panning shot out the window as power is restored to the city. |
| 101 | * Interesting variation in the climax of ''Film/IronMan1'', which involves a power generator being overloaded and draining power from the surrounding area; however, unlike most of the 'plunge entire city into blackout' examples, it was clearly only a few blocks that were affected. |
| 102 | * Noah in ''Film/TheLastMimzy'' accidentally causes a blackout that affects half of the state of Washington when two "toys" from the future fuse to create a powerful generator. While the power goes back on very quickly, it leads Noah and his family to be {{Mistaken For Terrorist}}s by the FBI once they trace the source of the blackout. |
| 103 | * One is caused by the bad guys in ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard.'' |
| 104 | * The finale of ''Film/LoveAtFirstBite'' takes place during one of these, also in New York City. |
| 105 | * Happens in ''Film/ManOfSteel'' apparently [[DoNotAdjustYourSet just to emphasize the televisions and other media]] that are still working and broadcasting General Zod's YouAreNotAlone speech. When he's finished monologuing, all the power comes on again. |
| 106 | * ''Film/MenInBlack'': While Agent Kay shows James Edwards around MIB headquarters, he takes him into a room full of unrevealed alien technology. James sees a ball in a stasis field, [[DontTouchItYouIdiot but ignores Kay's warning and touches it]], [[HyperDestructiveBouncingBall accidentally setting it loose in the complex until Kay stops it]], [[HistoricalRapSheet explaining that this was responsible for the 1977 NYC blackout]]. |
| 107 | -->'''Kay:''' A practical joke from the Great Attractor. He thought it was funny as hell. |
| 108 | * ''Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation'', when Clark Griswold finally gets his Christmas lights working. We cut to a shot of his house like a beacon in the midst of his suburb, as all the lights around his house dim from the power drain he's causing to the suburb. Then we cut to a shot of the "Auxiliary Reactor" switch in a nearby nuclear power plant, which is turned on (implicitly) because of the amount of electricity he's using. |
| 109 | * In ''Film/OceansEleven'', the main characters use an electromagnetic pulse to knock out power all over Las Vegas. |
| 110 | * ''Film/OldPeople'': At the end of the prologue, as Mr. Reincke is shouting out the balcony after killing a woman, we see plumes of smoke rising off of some buildings, then all the power in the city goes out. |
| 111 | * ''Film/PopstarNeverStopNeverStopping'' had Conner causing a nationwide blackout by having all of the appliances play his music. |
| 112 | * ''Film/RealGenius'' has this happen when Chris Knight turns on his laser beam pathway for the "Tanning Invitational". It's not known how widespread the blackout is -- maybe only the Pacific Tech campus. |
| 113 | -->'''Chris Knight:''' "Relax. That's just the fuses at the substation, they'll have it back on in a minute. Maybe I shouldn't have shorted across the building transformer. But more important: did we get a charge?" |
| 114 | * Combined with AstronomicZoom at the start of ''Film/ResidentEvilAfterlife'' showing how the ZombieApocalypse is spreading from Patient Zero in Tokyo, with power to the cities going out in sections until it envelops the entire world. |
| 115 | * Toward the end of ''Film/{{Shortbus}}'', the lights go out across New York City [[spoiler:when therapist Sofia Lin fails again to reach orgasm. When she finally has an orgasm the lights come back on]]. |
| 116 | * The probe from ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'' causes these wherever it goes. |
| 117 | * Creator/SpikeLee's ''Film/SummerOfSam'' is set in the summer of 1977, and includes that year's notorious blackout in New York. |
| 118 | * ''Film/SupermanReturns'': when Lex Luthor throws a shard of the Fortress of Solitude into a small pool of water, the resulting blackout interferes with a flight test of a space shuttle to be launched into space from its piggy-back mounting on an airliner, on which one of the passengers is Lois Lane. The plane goes for a takedown crashing dive, sending Lois bouncing off the cabin walls trying to get her oxygen mask. Then Superman arrives and manages to stop the plane from crashing onto a baseball stadium. |
| 119 | * In ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'', the power fails right when the ship splits in half, just like in real life. |
| 120 | * ''Film/TheTriggerEffect'' depicts society falling apart following a massive power outage that lasts for several days throughout Southern California (at least), the cause of which is never revealed. |
| 121 | ** The 2014 thriller ''Film/Blackout2014'' (aka ''Then There Was'') has a similar premise. |
| 122 | * ''Film/{{Volcano}}'' invokes the "[[SlowElectricity sector-by-sector]]" city blackout after a major quake (a preamble to the titular volcano). For bonus effect, the skyscrapers in the city center are the last to go dark. |
| 123 | * In ''Film/WeirdScience'', creating the "Lisa" entity shorts out a lot of the power of the city they're in. |
| 124 | * ''Film/WerewolvesWithin'': A blizzard ends up knocking over a pole with a power transformer on it, cutting off power to Beaverfield. This is exacerbated by all the power generators in town being damaged by what look like giant slash marks. |
| 125 | * The 1968 Creator/DorisDay comedy ''Film/WhereWereYouWhenTheLightsWentOut'' takes place during the real-life New York City blackout of '65. |
| 126 | * Elephants wandering on airport runway in ''Film/WildBeasts'' causes a plane to crash on city's power supply, causing a blackout. |
| 127 | * When the hillbillies invade the town in ''Film/WrongTurn5Bloodlines'', the first thing they do is take out the phone tower and sabotage the power plant. |
| 128 | * ''Film/{{Yesterday|2019}}'''s plot revolves around a 12-second worldwide power outage causing everyone in the world to forget that certain things existed, mainly Music/TheBeatles. |
| 129 | [[/folder]] |
| 130 | |
| 131 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 132 | * ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'' ends with all the lights in New York City going out. |
| 133 | * ''Literature/TheBooksOfEmber'': In ''The City of Ember'', these happen more and more frequently because of problems with the Generator. |
| 134 | * In ''Literature/ColdSnap'', the villain's {{Magitek}} summoning device has power requirements that he satisfies by subverting the national grid. When he mentions this during his bout of EvilGloating, the hero recalls a nation-wide blackout a few days earlier that had been officially attributed to too many people using electric devices to beat the summer heat. |
| 135 | * The Phil Rickman novel, ''December'', describes a large blackout in Liverpool that occurred on the day John Lennon was shot. |
| 136 | * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': |
| 137 | ** In ''Literature/DeadBeat'', baddies do this to Chicago in order to create a panic, as it knocks out not only building power but all electronics in the area, although phones and cars still work sporadically for some reason. It's a jamming effect, but phones and cars have their own power source, so they're easier to work. After all, anything powered from the mains need everything down the power transmission to be working, a cellphone only needs the phone and the tower to be clear. |
| 138 | ** At the climax of ''Literature/PeaceTalks'', [[spoiler: [[BigBad Ethniu]]]] unleashes a magical EMP that knocks out everything electrical in and around Chicago, as the opening move of her intended war against humanity. |
| 139 | * A ''Series/{{Ghostwriter}}'' spin-off book features this as its plot catalyst. Matters quickly get out of hand when the team is scattered throughout the affected part of the city, Alex gets scammed for a cheap flashlight (with batteries not being included unless he coughs up more cash) and Gabby and Tina end up in a hostage situation. |
| 140 | * In the second book of ''Literature/{{Gone}}'', the entire DomedHometown setting undergoes a blackout due to the Coates students, manipulated by [[BigBad the Gaiaphage]], messing with the local power plant. |
| 141 | * ''Literature/JohnRain'': In ''The Last Assassin'', [[ProfessionalKiller Rain]] arranges for his FriendOnTheForce to knock out the power so he can enter a nightclub in night vision goggles and kill his target without being seen. The hitch is, city regulations require an investigation if power goes out on an entire Tokyo city block for longer than two minutes, so that's all the time his friend can give him. |
| 142 | * A supernatural version of this occurs in the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' books, as one of God's Bowl Judgments causes New Babylon to be so dark that, even though they still have power, none of Nicolae Carpathia's loyalists can see any form of light save for [[PowerGlows Nicolae's faint aura]]. The believers in Christ, on the other hand, can still see with the illumination level of a low-powered chandelier. The blackout lasts for a whole year until an angel of the Lord illuminated the city long enough to warn God's people to get out of New Babylon before [[DoomedHometown it is destroyed]]. Even worse for Carpathia's loyalists is that, during the blackout, they also suffer pains and sores for which there is no relief. (There is also a brief blackout period before Jesus' return in ''Glorious Appearing'' which caused the Global Community Unity Army's weapons and lights to fail.) Also [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]], as one of God's plagues upon Egypt was to plunge it into thick darkness. |
| 143 | * ''Literature/TheLotterysMoreOrLess'': UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}} ends up experiencing an ice storm that knocks out power and heat for a good portion of the city. It's not specifically stated to be the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2013_North_American_storm_complex December 2013 North American Storm Complex]], but no specific year is given. |
| 144 | * In the French SciFi novel ''{{Literature/Malevil}}'', a blackout is the first effect that WorldWarIII has on the characters. The lights fail alongside an obnoxious blaring radio going silent. They have enough time to realize that the radio didn't break, the dial light works, but it's no longer receiving radio signals when the blastwave hits them. |
| 145 | * In Vadim Shefner's ''The Modest Genius'', the titular character uses a device he invented to restore youth to himself and his {{Love Interest|s}} (as well as a cat that got caught in the beam). The device causes a massive blackout while working... not in the electrical grid though; that's shown to still work, but throughout the Solar System. Meaning, it requires ''the entire power output of the Sun''. |
| 146 | * In ''Literature/TheMysteriousBenedictSociety and the Prisoner's Dilemma'', one of these hits the book's main city of Stonetown, along with a complete radio communications breakdown. It's all thanks to the BigBad of the series, Mr. Curtain, who took back control of his tidal turbines and used his specially developed signal disruption technology to kill the radios. All of this was used as cover to seize the Whisperer, a terrible machine invented by Curtain, which can be used to both to erase people's memories and to implant thoughts in minds. |
| 147 | * ''Literature/NickVelvet'': "The Theft of Gloria's Greatcoat" tells the story of how Nick and Gloria met. He was burgling her apartment to steal the eponymous coat when she walked in on him unexpectedly. The date was Tuesday, November 9, 1965: the night of the northeast blackout of 1965 (see Real Life below). Nick ended up spending the entire in her apartment. |
| 148 | * ''Literature/StrangerThingsDarknessOnTheEdgeOfTown'': Near the end of the book, all of UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity is plunged into darkness from the power going out. |
| 149 | * Happens offscreen in the ''Literature/WildCards'' series. It's mentioned a few times in passing, along with the giant ape that appeared in Central Park afterwards. It turns out that a shapechanging ace used all the power going to New York City to generate mass to turn into King Kong. |
| 150 | [[/folder]] |
| 151 | |
| 152 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 153 | * In ''The Aliens Are Coming'' (1980), an unsuccessful pilot for an AlienInvasion series, the presence of the alien spacecraft causes brown-outs (the power fades but doesn't go out). |
| 154 | * ''Series/AllInTheFamily'': |
| 155 | ** The episode "Archie and the KKK" begins during the 1977 NYC blackout, and includes discussion of the real-life looting and arson that took place. |
| 156 | ** Another episode, "Mike and Gloria's House Guests", has Archie and Edith staying at Mike and Gloria's house after their furnace goes on the blink. This naturally leads to tension between the family members, until a power outage brings them together. |
| 157 | %%* ''Series/AmericanDreams'': One episode took place during the 1965 blackout. |
| 158 | * ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'': A storm knocks out the classroom's power in "What's That Shadow" and the kids are left to deal with a fear of the dark, and other things like shadows. |
| 159 | %%* ''Series/BarneyMiller'': One episode involves one of these. |
| 160 | * ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' had this happen during a thunderstorm in "Afraid Not". |
| 161 | * ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'': One episode has Aunt Clara inadvertently causing one of these. (The episode was inspired by, and first aired exactly one year after, the 1965 Northeast blackout mentioned in the Real Life section below.) |
| 162 | * In 2013, the British TV channel simply know as Channel 4 did a one off {{Mockumentary}} about the UK's national grid failing and the results of what a modern Britain not having power for an entire week would be like. It was simply called ''Blackout''. |
| 163 | * ''{{Series/Bones}}'': "The Blackout in the Blizzard" involved a blackout during a case. Booth and Brennan found themselves trapped in an elevator, where they ended up having a long-overdue discussion regarding their relationship. |
| 164 | * ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': "Lights Out" has the Nine-Nine dealing with a city wide blackout caused by a man crashing his car into a power station, [[spoiler:which he did on purpose as a cover for a bank robbery]]. |
| 165 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': |
| 166 | ** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E2DeadMansParty Dead Man's Party]]", Willow talks of blowing out the power for an entire city block when she first tried to communicate with the spirit world. |
| 167 | ** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E19NewMoonRising New Moon Rising]]" the Scooby Gang arrange to cut the power to the college campus as part of their plan to break into The Initiative's HQ (which is underneath one of the frat houses) and rescue Oz. |
| 168 | ** Dark Willow fuses out lights wherever she goes. |
| 169 | * ''Series/ChicagoHope'': A HalloweenEpisode involves the hospital losing power during a storm. |
| 170 | * The ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "Blackout" revolves around the 1996 drowning of an elderly woman in her mansion during a blizzard-related power outage. [[spoiler: The VictimOfTheWeek's daughter had turned out the lights before killing her after she found out that her mom [[DirtyOldWoman had attempted to seduce]] [[{{Squick}} the victim's 13-year-old son]]]]. |
| 171 | * ''Series/{{Colony}}'': The [[WholeEpisodeFlashback second season premiere]] shows that [[AlienInvasion the Arrival]] started with a massive EMP used to shut down all human electronics, which softened the planet up for the {{Attack Drone}}s to swoop in and finish the job. |
| 172 | * ''Series/CriminalMinds'': The two-parter "Our Darkest Hour" and "The Longest Night". |
| 173 | * ''Series/{{CSI}}'': "CSI Unplugged" has all of Las Vegas go dark, forcing the [=CSIs=] to process their case old-school. |
| 174 | * A deliberate blackout is enforced in ''Series/DadsArmy'', given that Walmington-on-Sea was (obviously) on the seaside in Kent, a potential site of German invasion and on the flightpath of German bombers to London. [[SitcomArchNemesis Much comic potential]] is wrought out of the officious and unpleasant Air-Raid Warden Hodges who enforces the blackout regulations. |
| 175 | * ''The Days'' |
| 176 | ** After an earthquake damages the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the subsequent tsunami shorts out the backup generators, the staff have to handle a nuclear accident without any power at all, something [[DidNotSeeThatComing they don't even have a contingency plan for]]. This causes a serious delay in the decision to evacuate the surrounding area as everyone thinks the cooling units for the reactor are still functioning, until they wire up a couple of car batteries to the readout and discover that [[OhCrap they've been turned off since the start of the disaster]]. Even when a mobile generator arrives on site it's the wrong voltage and they run into more problems trying to find a working switchboard and connect it up. |
| 177 | ** The Tokyo Electric Power Company want to institute rolling blackouts because of all the power plants, nuclear and non-nuclear, that were knocked out by the earthquake. [[ItsTheOnlyWay If they don't, they'll risk a total blackout and won't be able to restart the plants]], but this doesn't stop the bureaucrats from accusing them of not caring about all the people in critical care whose lives will be endangered, and they [[ObstructiveBureaucrat refuse to authorize the plan]]. |
| 178 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E6TheBellsOfSaintJohn "The Bells of Saint John"]], the lights in all the houses around Clara and the Doctor are turned on, while all others in that part of London are turned off, leaving a [[OhCrap giant bulls-eye]] for the [[EverythingIsOnline hacked airliner]] [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill that's diving towards them]]. |
| 179 | * The ''Series/{{ER}}'' episode "Power" featured a blackout affecting the city of Chicago, with the doctors forced to rely on their skills and wits in order to treat patients, now that they couldn't use the equipment. Another episode, appropriately titled "Blackout", had a similar story, except that it featured one of the characters (Abby), having an alcohol-induced blackout, resulting in an drunken one-night stand with her supervisor. |
| 180 | * ''Series/FamilyMatters'': |
| 181 | ** PlayedForLaughs. One Christmas special has Steve and Carl trying to mount ornate Christmas lights and decorations, but Carl blows a fuse. The power goes out first at the Winslow household, then the whole ''city'', and then '''''the entire world'''''. |
| 182 | -->'''Steve Urkel:''' Look what you did. |
| 183 | * ''Series/TheFlash2014'': When the Thinker begins the Enlightenment in the Season 4 finale, the process shuts down every piece of electricity-based technology in Central City. When its stopped, the power comes back on. |
| 184 | * ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': One episode has Frasier trying to throw a happy birthday party for his father, only for the rest of the main cast to turn up angry with each other and arguing constantly. Just as everyone is ready to storm out, a city-wide blackout leaves them stranded together in Frasier's apartment. |
| 185 | * ''Series/{{Friends}}'' first-season episode "TOW the Blackout" features Chandler getting trapped in a bank's ATM vestibule with a Victoria's Secret model, while the others tell stories by candlelight in Monica's apartment. This was a cross-promotion with other NBC Thursday night shows, like ''Mad About You'' (see below). |
| 186 | * ''Series/TheGlades'': In "A Perfect Storm", a hurricane knocks out the power in Palm Glade, including the hospital where Carlos in working. He has to find some way to secure a generator to keep vital equipment at the hospital functioning. |
| 187 | * A variant in ''Series/{{Glee}}'' affects the whole school, forcing New Directions into an impromptu lesson in acoustics. They rise to the challenge, both ACappella and as an TrashCanBand. |
| 188 | * ''Series/GreenAcres'': The 1965 Northeast blackout is supposedly caused by Oliver attempting to get electricity into the house. |
| 189 | * ''Series/{{Hustle}}'': Occasionally used, when they'll cut power to a single specific block or something. |
| 190 | * ''Series/ICarly'': |
| 191 | ** Spencer's sculpture in the world record broadcast episode. |
| 192 | ** Also the episode where a summer heatwave knocks out power to the whole city, and thanks to Spencer's invention, only he and Carly's apartment has power--and air conditioning! |
| 193 | * ''Series/{{Jekyll}}'': The power sometimes starts to flicker when Dr. Jackman's personalities are fighting for control. At the beginning of his character arc, it's limited to whatever minor electronics are in the room; by the climax, the entire city of London is undergoing rolling blackouts. |
| 194 | * ''Series/LawAndOrder'': The episode "Darkness" involves one of these. |
| 195 | * ''Series/MadAboutYou'': One episode had Paul inadvertently causing a citywide blackout in New York; as part of a "Blackout Thursday" {{crossover}} gimmick on NBC that week, several other set-in-NYC sitcoms on that same night (most notably ''Series/{{Friends}}'') featured blackout stories. |
| 196 | * ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'': An episode has one of these ruining a dinner party Mary is hosting, at which Creator/JohnnyCarson is [[SpecialGuest the honored guest]]. (As a result, [[TheVoice only Carson's voice is heard]] during the episode.) |
| 197 | * ''Series/{{MASH}}'': Several blackouts plagued the 4077th, notably in Radar's final story-arc, when an aid-station stole the camp's generator. |
| 198 | * ''Series/MrBean'': He did this once in a Christmas skit, when he somehow unplugged the power to an entire department store while testing a string of Christmas lights. |
| 199 | * ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': The seventh season episode "Power Down". Team Gibbs has to solve the case using old-school methods. Poor [=McGee=] was stuck with the duty of looking through the boxes of files. |
| 200 | -->'''Tony:''' Well, the heat's out, the phone's out, Internet's down. No elevator, coffee or vending machines. Backup generators are feeding basic lights, communications, MTAC...\ |
| 201 | '''Palmer:''' Oh, and autopsy freezers. \ |
| 202 | '''Tony:''' Really? Yeah, that could get [[{{Squick}} ugly]], huh? |
| 203 | ** The idea then gets {{recycled|Script}} on ''Series/NCISNewOrleans''. |
| 204 | ** A first-season episode culminated in the team attempting to foil a terrorist plot to black out most of North America, by bombing pylons serving just three main power nodes. This would supposedly have placed so much strain on the rest of the grid that the entire network would have failed. Makes one wonder just how true-to-life the concept is. |
| 205 | * ''Series/NightGallery'': The 1965 Northeast blackout figures in the plot of the "Eyes" segment from the PilotMovie. |
| 206 | * ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' had this happen in the episode "Thunder and Lightning", in which a thunderstorm causes a blackout in the shop. The kids try to make their way through with candles and then flashlights, but then resort to just telling a Noddy story and hearing a song from the puppets. |
| 207 | ** This is also the fear of Whiny and Whimper. |
| 208 | * ''Series/QuantumLeap'': The 1965 Northeast blackout is again referenced, supposedly caused by a hair dryer being plugged in at a house in Buffalo, New York. |
| 209 | * ''Series/RaisingDion'': In episode 4, the first time Dion uses his powers to create a blackout, he intends to use it only on the BIONA facility, but ends up shorting out the entire city. |
| 210 | * ''Series/Revenge2011'': The second season's main plot revolves around [[NebulousEvilOrganisation the Americon Initiative]]'s efforts to obtain a computer program Nolan wrote that can knock Manhattan off the power grid in less than a millisecond. [[spoiler: The blackout finally comes to pass in the second season finale, albeit ironically the blackout itself is not actually their main objecetive, merely a cover for the initiative's ''real'' agenda, to blow up Grayson Global's Headquarters.]] |
| 211 | * ''{{Series/Revolution}}'': The Creator/JJAbrams series has a world-wide blackout as its premise. |
| 212 | * ''Series/SesameStreet'': |
| 213 | ** An old skit has Ernie and Bert engaging in LoudOfWar by turning on various appliances (TV, radio, blender, etc.), which results in a fuse blowing and the power going out in their apartment. |
| 214 | ** A later skit, perhaps inspired by the 1977 New York blackout, has Ernie noticing that the whole street has lost power one night. He annoys Bert by suggesting they watch TV or listen to the radio or record player, though none of them will work without electricity. |
| 215 | * ''Series/StargateSG1'': One episode had a device that could render Earth intangible, at the cost of blacking out the entire United States. |
| 216 | * ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Occurs in the episode "Homefront," seemingly because of Dominion sabotage, but the next episode reveals that [[spoiler:it was part of a plot by an InsaneAdmiral to place Earth under a military dictatorship]]. |
| 217 | * ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': |
| 218 | ** Captain Janeway almost triggers one by accident in the episode "Workforce, Part I". It becomes a ChekhovsGun when she deliberately causes one during the climax of Part II. |
| 219 | ** In "Night", ''Voyager'' itself goes into blackout mode, though with life support and holodeck systems unaffected, as it suddenly drops out of warp in the middle of traveling through starless space. |
| 220 | * ''Series/Titans2018'': The car Dick Grayson is driving goes dead the moment Trigon steps from his dimension into ours. Fortunately Dick and his companions are close enough to get the rest of the way on foot. |
| 221 | [[/folder]] |
| 222 | |
| 223 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 224 | * Saxon, a British HeavyMetal band, has the song "747 (Strangers in the Night)", which narrates the problems of a Boeing 747 running out of fuel as it approaches New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport just as the city is suffering a severe power outage. |
| 225 | * Music/TheBeeGees' "(The Lights Went Out in) Massachusetts" could be an example of this if you take the chorus literally. |
| 226 | * "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U80lSCZWf-Q New York in the Dark]]", a non-charting 1966 single by New Jersey-based {{soul}} group The Ad-Libs about the big blackout from the year before. |
| 227 | [[/folder]] |
| 228 | |
| 229 | [[folder:Radio Drama]] |
| 230 | * ''Radio/ThePeoriaPlague'', produced by Peoria, Illinois station WUHN in 1972, has the station's usual easy listening music format interrupted by [[PhonyNewscast breaking news reports]] about a mysterious, city-wide power outage that eventually snowballs into a combination of TheVirus, ZombieApocalypse and AlienInvasion. |
| 231 | [[/folder]] |
| 232 | |
| 233 | [[folder:Religion]] |
| 234 | * As mentioned in Literature, in the Literature/BookOfExodus from ''Literature/TheBible'', God caused a supernatural blackout to happen in ancient Egypt as one of the ten plagues, which prevented the Egyptians from seeing any form of light during the entire time of the plague. |
| 235 | [[/folder]] |
| 236 | |
| 237 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 238 | * A significant part of the metaplot for ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' 6th Edition is a massive month-long blackout/power surge in many of the major UCAS cities after UCAS backs out of the Business Recognition Accords. |
| 239 | [[/folder]] |
| 240 | |
| 241 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 242 | * The climax of ''Theatre/FlyByNightMusical'' begins when Crabble accidentally causes the 1965 Northeast Blackout by plugging in a light bulb. |
| 243 | * ''Theatre/InTheHeights'' has the power go out in Washington Heights. |
| 244 | [[/folder]] |
| 245 | |
| 246 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 247 | %%(ZCE)* In the computer game ''VideoGame/CarmenSandiegoMathDetective'', Carmen does this to the ''whole world''. |
| 248 | %%(ZCE)* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' does this to Midgar at the end of disc 2 to power up a super weapon. |
| 249 | %%(ZCE)* Happens in the "New Dark Age" ending of ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', on a ''global scale.''[[note]]Though it is explicitly intended to be a global ''communications'' blackout, the initial destruction of the hub does cause widespread chaos and power issues. ''Invisible War'', set several years later, states that the chaos lasted for quite a while, but then people were able to re-establish their immediate societal surroundings pretty quickly, with only long-range, global communication semi-permanently affected.[[/note]] |
| 250 | * Towards the finale of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', the whole city of Midgard goes dark sector by sector as the power of the city's reactors is being redirected to a SuperWeapon. |
| 251 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'', the opening cutscene shows a KPR satellite flying above the planet, intending to broadcast "[[BlatantLies a message of peace to the entire world]]". It's really an EMP satellite, and what we get to see is an image of all the lights going out in the continental United States. |
| 252 | * Happens a couple of times over the course of the ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' series. |
| 253 | ** In ''VideoGame/SplinterCellChaosTheory'', a computer hacker takes control of power plants and knocks out the power to most of New England and ''all'' of Japan. |
| 254 | ** In ''VideoGame/SplinterCellConviction'', {{EMP}} technology features heavily in the gameplay and plot. Washington DC is hit and goes dark. |
| 255 | * In chapter 3 of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'', the group's gone over to Professor Russell's house to analyze the Black Orbment, a mysterious device meant for the protagonists' father. Uniquely, it lacks any form of identification, serial number, or slots to equip, so it's decided to detect its energy readings. When it's attempted, [[ReadingsAreOffTheScale the thing sucks up as much orbal energy as it can and pushes the equipment to its limit]]. It's only after they see [[OhCrap the lights going out in downtown Zeiss]] that they decide to call it quits. NPC dialogue the following morning shows that they nearly went into a city-wide panic. In the second game, [[spoiler:a much, much worse example effectively caused by the same technology on a far wider scale suppresses all of the country's orbal power, including a sizable chunk of the neighboring empire]]. |
| 256 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' |
| 257 | ** In ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', a blackout occurs in Sunyshore City and the player is [[BrokenBridge unable to venture to said city]] until they beat the main game at Spear Pillar. |
| 258 | ** In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' a big blackout has hit most of Lumiose City apart from the Southern Boulevard and Vernal Avenue. Like the above example the player cannot move beyond Southern Boulevard until they solve the situation at the Power Plant causing the blackout (which requires the layer to loop around the coastal part of Kalos). Also if the player plays at night the whole city is [[GameplayAndStorySegregation still brightly lit]]. |
| 259 | ** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', Sophocles summons the Totem Pokemon with a machine that knocks out the power to the Observatory he works in. |
| 260 | * ''VideoGame/SteelBattalion: Heavy Armor'' has one in the form of [[CataclysmBackstory The Datacide]], which was caused by a silicon eating microbe that destroyed all of the world's microprocessors, effectively resetting Earth's technology level to the 1940s. |
| 261 | * ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'' allows the player character to do this by unlocking a specific ability from the skill tree. It unleashes an electromagnetic pulse that causes all nearby electrical devices, including the traffic lights, to go haywire and succumb that part of the city into darkness. The game's story also tells about the 2003 blackout event in the United States, which here is attributed to [[spoiler:T-Bone, the inventor of [=ctOS=]]]. |
| 262 | * ''VideoGame/TheWarriors'' has one level where all of New York City is experiencing a blackout, which causes widespread looting and your objective is to join in and steal as much loot as you can. This was likely a reference to the actual New York City blackout in the late 1970s, which the game takes place in. |
| 263 | * One early scene in ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' has real estate broker Tachibana plunge the district of Kamurocho into darkness. The blackout doesn't last long, only staying dark for about 10 seconds, but it's more than enough to prove his point: he has the wealth and influence required to wrest control of Kamurocho from the Tojo Clan, the yakuza family that claims dominion over the area. |
| 264 | [[/folder]] |
| 265 | |
| 266 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 267 | * In ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'', Ban bribes a Moon Tower employee with three million yen to cut the power to the entirety of Moon Tower, allowing him and the rest of the cast to sneak in and investigate the Killer Peach spirit. |
| 268 | [[/folder]] |
| 269 | |
| 270 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 271 | * The ''WebAnimation/GEOWeasel'' pilot episode centers around a blackout caused by a WeatherControlMachine, while Nar goes out in the heavy rains to get batteries for his handheld game. |
| 272 | * ''WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail'' |
| 273 | ** The "extra plug" was about Strong Bad accidentally creating a power outage thanks to a pair of electric boots he ordered from the mail. |
| 274 | ** A later email, "environment", revealed that every time Strong Bad hits the enter key on his Lappy, it causes the rest of the town to lose power. |
| 275 | [[/folder]] |
| 276 | |
| 277 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 278 | * ''WebVideo/{{Nightfall}}'': After the news reports on how [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot the eclipse]] is supposed to occur, the television suddenly goes black. Eve and her boyfriend realize off-screen that the electricity has been cut to their area, although they don't know why. |
| 279 | [[/folder]] |
| 280 | |
| 281 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 282 | * Happens quite a bit on ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}''. |
| 283 | ** In "Elwood City Turns 100", Muffy had an elaborate electronic sign made to advertise the upcoming school musical, but shortly after turning it on, the power goes out all over the city. A similar experience occurred in the cold open for "Brain Gets Hooked," when Arthur flashes back to when his father and their neighbor got in a competition for the most elaborate Christmas lights display; both of them powered on caused a total blackout across Elwood City. |
| 284 | ** More realistic power failures also happened in two weather-related episodes: one about a blizzard ("The Blizzard"), another about a heatwave (the latter appropriately titled "The Blackout.") |
| 285 | ** In an early episode, "Poor Muffy," a scene has Muffy using up so much electricity in Francine's apartment it causes the lights to flicker. She's got loads of extension cords plugged in as she's using tons of appliances and electronics; eventually everything darkens for a few seconds, and then the screen goes completely black as Muffy screams. |
| 286 | * A more mundane instance: the venue at which ''WesternAnimation/TheBeatles'' are performing at the end of the episode "Please Mr. Postman" has the lights go completely out--because the electricity bill payment was delinquent. |
| 287 | %%(ZCE)* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' |
| 288 | * In the mid-season finale of ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'', [[spoiler:Ra's al Ghul]] and the League of Assassins do this to Gotham City, a plan in the making since the fourth episode. |
| 289 | * In ''WesternAnimation/CentralPark'', Season 2 "[[Recap/CentralParkS2E01CentralDark Central Dark]]", a blackout occurs in New York City and parts of New Jersey and Birdie sings "Come Into the Darkness", which is about how people will take advantage of the blackout and bad things will happen. During the blackout, the several hotel owners that Bitsy pissed off try to steal her infrastructure plans while the Tillermans play a board game to pass the time but it gets out of hand. |
| 290 | * The ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' episode "Boom Boom Out Goes the Ed", the power to the cul-de-sac goes out. [[TheDitz Ed]] quickly stirs up most of the kids into a frenzy with talk of evil mole people at work, while [[FarmBoy Rolf]] shanghais Kevin into operating a generator to get the power going again. |
| 291 | * This happens on three separate occasions and is what causes Peter to tell his family the stories of the original Star Wars trilogy in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuyPresentsLaughItUpFuzzball''. |
| 292 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' was about Pete creating a power outage as an attempt to shut down the eponymous nightclub. He fails. |
| 293 | * ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' first encounters Señor Senior Senior and Junior after tracing a Europe-wide blackout to their mansion. It wasn't something they were doing on purpose (they hadn't yet taken up villainy) -- they'd overloaded the power grid with extravagances such as Junior's blimp-sized sunlamp. |
| 294 | * Happens twice in ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'': |
| 295 | ** In "[[Recap/LittlestPetShop2012S2E3EightArmsToHoldYou Eight Arms to Hold You]]," Vinnie accidentally destroys a transformer attempting to sneak back into the Littlest Pet Shop, causing the entire metropolitan area to lose power. |
| 296 | ** In "[[Recap/LittlestPetShop2012S4E5LittlestPetShopOfHorrors Littlest Pet Shop of Horrors]]," Dr. Sunilenstein channeling the electricity needed to awaken [[FrankensteinsMonster his monster]] causes a blackout in the surrounding village. The blackout (and not his monster) is what brings the [[TorchesAndPitchforks angry mob]] over to Dr. Sunilenstein's castle. |
| 297 | * ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'': A blackout happens in Qyah in the episode "The Worm Turns". Because of a spooky story Grandpa Nat told them, the kids think that giant ice worms ate the power lines. |
| 298 | * The ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Blackout]]" has one thanks to Doofenshmirtz's "Big-Sad-Eye-inator" using so much power and exploding |
| 299 | * Weird variation in ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'': Rocko, Heffer and Filbert made a potato light bulb that blacked out the town, then shot out a beam of light powerful enough to be seen from space. |
| 300 | * Happened more than once in ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' with Stu's inventions. This sets off the plot of the [[LiveOnStage live touring show]] ''Rugrats: A Live Adventure'', where one of Stu's blackouts causes Tommy to make a flashlight come to life and comfort Chuckie, who got scared. |
| 301 | -->'''Didi''': Stu, honey! All the lights in the house are off!\ |
| 302 | '''Stu''': I'm aware of that, Deed! |
| 303 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' |
| 304 | ** In the first-season episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E4TheresNoDisgraceLikeHome There's No Disgrace Like Home]]" the family members apply so many electric shocks at each other at Dr. Marvin Monroe's therapy that they take the power from the city. |
| 305 | ** Blackouts have occurred several times in Springfield. In keeping with the show's [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism exaggeratedly cynical]] take on human nature, citizens tend to riot the very second the power goes out. Including once when the mob smashes into a musical instrument store and come out playing a university fight song. |
| 306 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E47PoliticalPower Political Power]]", the Crystal Gems end up knocking out power to all of Beach City while testing a machine they built to disable Peridot's robonoids. Steven goes with Mayor Dewey to try and keep the townspeople calm, and the power is back on by the end of the episode. |
| 307 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'', the episode "The Big Ripoff," Shredder and Krang are suffering from a power failure in their fortress. There are always some minor technical problems with the Technodrome, but this time, they don't even have the energy for electric lighting, and if they can't get the Technodrome running again, it will fall into some hot lava. This inspires them to finally succeed at stealing a new energy source for the Technodrome. |
| 308 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' episode "Caged Tiger", it's implied that a power outage in the tower caused the elevator to stop working as the lights go dim and Robin says he's getting no signal on his communicator. |
| 309 | [[/folder]] |
| 310 | |
| 311 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 312 | * Much of the northeastern United States (including [[BigApplesauce New York City]]) and the Canadian province of Ontario saw massive power outages on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_1965 November 9, 1965,]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003 August 14, 2003,]] the latter of which, at one point, extended as far west as parts of southwest UsefulNotes/{{Michigan}}. NYC had another one on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_blackout_of_1977 July 13, 1977]], as well as a smaller one (localized to Manhattan's Upper West Side) [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_blackout_of_July_2019 exactly 42 years later]]. |
| 313 | --> "Does that sound particularly slow to you?" -- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-kjUBpd2ks WABC disc jockey Dan Ingram in 1965,]] noting that the music he was playing was running slower than normal (due to decreasing frequency as the electric grid slowly collapsed, which caused the studio turntable to slow down) just prior to the blackout. |
| 314 | * The 1977 NYC blackout had the interesting side-effect of contributing to the development of HipHop music, as poor inner-city youth suddenly had access (via looting) to expensive turntables and other music equipment. |
| 315 | * The Southern California/Northern Mexico blackout on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Southwest_blackout September 8, 2011]] was an odd case, as it happened because a distribution hub in Arizona overloaded during routine maintenance. |
| 316 | * UsefulNotes/NorthKorea is in a perpetual blackout, [[http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/9/8003637/north-korea-satellite-photos-night as this satellite image shows.]] A little FridgeLogic makes that picture particularly [[FridgeHorror horrifying]]. Notice the smaller pinpricks of light. Note their locations. Then compare them with a map of the ''Kwan-li-so'' prison camps. In North Korea, only the gulags are well lit. |
| 317 | * Predicted by some to happen on a global scale as part of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olduvai_theory Olduvai theory.]] Could also be caused by an [[http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/american-blackout/articles/emp-attack/ electromagnetic pulse]] or a [[http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/21jan_severespaceweather/ severe solar storm.]] An instance of the latter in 1989 caused everyone living in the province of Quebec to lose power for almost ten hours. |
| 318 | * [[http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour:]] For several years the World Wildlife Fund has staged this event on the last Saturday in March, which encourages cities to go dark ''deliberately'' for one hour as a way to raise climate change awareness. |
| 319 | * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_blackout Rolling blackouts]] are another intentional application of this, done by electric companies to reduce the strain on their systems during periods of heavier-than-normal usage and prevent larger outages. For example, during the fuel crisis of the early 1970s, Britain was subjected to scheduled power cuts to save fuel. |
| 320 | * A major military conflict may also precipitate deliberate blackouts as a civil defense measure, in addition to those inadvertently caused by bombing or battle damage; during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the whole of Great Britain was blacked out each night for nearly six years.[[note]]It was felt that offering German bombers the opportunity to home in on major cities simply by flying towards very obvious lights at night was making it too easy for them. Whilst Britain took this to absolute extremes, and advances in night navigation and radar would have made this largely irelevant by 1945, there was a certain truth here. German U-boat commanders operating off the east coast of the USA in early 1942 were amazed at the way American ports were still lit up as though the war had never started. This made it a lot easier to get navigational fixes -- and to acquire targets. A lot of American shipping went down before the US authorities realised why. British-style blackouts belatedly became the norm on both coasts of the USA, but were only sporadically applied elsewhere.[[/note]] |
| 321 | * Southern Brazil was hit with a major power outage in March 1999, caused when a lightning strike at a power substation started a chain reaction. Nearly 100 million people were affected by the blackout. |
| 322 | * The biggest blackouts in history were the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_India_blackouts massive power outages that hit India]] on July 30 and July 31, 2012. The failure of July 30 involved some 300 million people losing power. The next day's blackout was worse, interrupting 600 million people, half of India's population. |
| 323 | * A somewhat embarrassing one occurred on February 3, 2013 and was localized to one building in southern Louisiana. Unfortunately, that building happened to be the Mercedes-Benz Superdome right in the middle of [[UsefulNotes/SuperBowl Super Bowl XLVII]]. Ironically, one of the competing teams [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball (the San Francisco 49ers)]] had suffered a similar power outage at their own stadium in December 2011. |
| 324 | * 1996 saw [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Western_North_America_blackouts several]] that affected western Canada, western America, and northwestern Mexico. |
| 325 | * In 2009, severe weather in the Itaipu dam area ended up shorting out three transformers in a key substation. As a result, the entirety of Paraguay and four Brazilian states were plunged into total darkness, with over two-thirds of Brazil being partially affected as well. [[http://www.depositonaweb.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/apagao-sao-paulo.jpg The landscape of São Paulo, a city about as sleepless as New York,]] looked vaguely like a screenshot of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead''. |
| 326 | * The state of [[UsefulNotes/{{Australia}} South Australia]] experienced a rare superstorm on September 28, 2016, and at 3:48pm local time, the entire state lost power for several hours when wind and lightning struck several pylons. A similar blackout happened in February 2017, but was caused by the government ordering load shedding due to excessive use of power in the middle of a heatwave, causing 90k people to roast in 110°F heat for 45 minutes. Fortunately, no deaths were reported. |
| 327 | * Many bad weather events tend to cause these, including snowstorms, hurricanes, thunderstorms and tornadoes. One notable example was Hurricane Maria, which knocked out power to the entire island of Puerto Rico, and wasn't restored until [[https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/8/15/17692414/puerto-rico-power-electricity-restored-hurricane-maria nearly a year after the storm.]] Heatwaves are another kind of weather event that cause these, mainly due to demand for use of utilities like air conditioning. |
| 328 | * In 2008, a vicious [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2008_Northeastern_United_States_ice_storm ice storm]] swept across mid-New York and southern New England and left over a million people without power. Schools closed and some colleges ended their semesters early due to a lack of electricity to heat or operate their buildings. Thousands of people were still without power ''two weeks later.'' |
| 329 | * Even earthquakes can cause power outages. One earthquake-induced power outage [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZD_FsWZLy74 was caught on camera]] during the live broadcast of a Japanese morning show called ''Ohayou! Tenki Desu'' during the Kobe earthquake of 1995. The moment the blackout happens, [[OhCrap you can hear the hosts screaming in horror]]. |
| 330 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Texas_power_crisis A major winter storm in 2021 came dangerously close to wiping out the entire power grid for the state of Texas]]. Not only did millions of people lose power and go dark for several days during one of the coldest spells on on record, the drain on resources was so bad that pay-as-you-go customers were charged thousands of dollars for single kilowatt-hours of energy, and major power stations came very close to experiencing catastrophic breakdowns which would have ruined almost every single transformer or generator in the state. |
| 331 | [[/folder]] |
| 332 |
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