Line #105 Main/DeusExNukina


1	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/FantasticFour1961 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ffnuke.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The right tool for the right job.]]
3
4	->''"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."''
5	-->-- '''Ellen Ripley''', ''Film/{{Aliens}}''
6
7	When nuclear weapons are used as DeusExMachina. Such applications are often [[HandWave contrived]] and approach the arbitrariness of GreenRocks.
8
9	The most interesting dramatic element of Deus Ex Nukina is the common requirement that the nuclear device must be [[ItsTheOnlyWay delivered by hand]]. Robots and missiles can't be trusted; nukes are delivered by [[AlwaysMale men]]. The [[RidingTheBomb delivery method]] is half the fun and often involves physical contact with the device. Frequently, the courier must also make the [[HeroicSacrifice ultimate sacrifice]] and stay with the bomb to trigger it manually.
10
11	{{Antimatter}} sometimes substitutes for "futuristic" settings. See also BiologicalWeaponsSolveEverything.
12
13	For nukes used as the Plan A of the evil military, see NukeEm. For nukes used when the consequences of not using them would be worse, see NuclearOption. Contrast MutuallyAssuredDestruction, when the goal of having nukes is that both sides will decide not to use them.
14	----
15	!!Examples
16
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
20	* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Late in season 2, Suzaku is getting absolutely mangled by Kallen's new Guren SEITEN. Just before the final blow hits him, [[spoiler:Suzaku's [[CursedWithAwesome "Live!" Geass]] kicks in, causing him to deploy the [[FantasticNuke FLEIJA]] that he was until this point unwilling to use, and by extension kills off 30 million civilians.]] Whoops. This incident also brings up either FridgeLogic or FridgeHorror: [[spoiler:had Suzaku hit Kallen, the warhead would have killed him, too. This either means that it was a last-ditch shot, or he accidentally nuked a civilian population.]]
21	* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': In the fight against Armisael, [[spoiler:Rei uses Unit 00's experimental N2 device to [[HeroicSacrifice take out the Angel along with herself]]]]. It works, but [[spoiler:it destroys most, if not all of Tokyo-3.]] Subverted in most of the episodes, where using N2 weapons against the Angels works, to an extent, by disabling them momentarily, but not directly killing them.
22	* In ''Webcomic/TheGodOfHighSchool'', the U.S. decides to nuke Korea after the conflict turns into a full scale war between The Six and Nox.
23	* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': In the Chimera Ant arc [[spoiler:the climax involve the use of the Poor Man's Rose AKA Miniature Rose, a box-sized weapon of mass destruction and the setting equivalent of an atomic bomb. After the Chimera King Meruem proved to be all but [[InvincibleVillain invincible]], the Hunter Association approved the use of the explosive. It was implanted within the body of Isaac Netero, president of the Hunter Association and the strongest fighter in the manga, and was programmed to go off should he die in battle. After Netero's strongest attack failed to injure Meruem significantly, he committed suicide and the subsequent explosion left Meruem at the brink of death. He was healed by his remaining guards but eventually succumbed to the bomb's lethal poison.]]
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Comic Books]]
27	* In the issue of ''ComicBook/FantasticFour1961'' in which Namor first reappears, he attacks New York with a gigantic, whale-like creature. The Thing carries a nuke into the creature's stomach in an attempt to kill it. He escapes [[JustInTime with seconds to spare]].
28	* In ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulkFutureImperfect'', Hulk is able to send his [[FutureMeScaresMe evil future counterpart]], the Maestro, back to Ground Zero of the very gamma bomb test that spawned the Hulk in the first place -- and even getting vaporized by a gamma bomb at point blank range doesn't kill the Maestro completely.
29	* In ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', Ferro Lad knocks out Superboy and hand delivers a nuke into the heart of the sun-eater in order to destroy it.
30	* In ''Star-Spangled Comics'' #116, ComicBook/{{Robin}} (Dick Grayson) faces off against a cruel unbeatable murderer named Dante Leonardo who apparently attained immortality during the Italian Renaissance through alchemy and has been skulking around killing and otherwise doing whatever he pleases ever since. The tale ends with Dante finally coming across something which can kill him on the Bikini Atoll during a nuclear test.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
34	* "Dragon Droppings" by Creator/HansVonHozel:
35	-->"Oh no!" said Obama, "The feces are spreading outside the wall of the city! We must use nuke!"\
36	So he pressed a button and nuke city, which killed the dragon and evaporated all of the fecals.\
37	The world of celebration, for dragon to gone!
38	* In ''Fanfic/SlippingBetweenWorlds'', by Creator/AAPessimal, Ankh-Morpork briefly considers using Leonard of Quirm's exploding metal bomb to decisively defeat a renewed threat fom the entity that ''was'' the Shopping Mall Monster of ''Literature/ReaperMan''. [[note]]Having picked ideas from the minds of stranded visitors from Earth, it has chosen to take the form of the [[Film/{{Alien}} Queen]] - another hive mind where one Queen creates workers and drones who are a ''lot'' more lethal than shopping trolleys[[/note]] An explosives-minded Assassin is keen to do this as she wants to see what a nuke can do if applied with Extreme Prejudice. Fortunately, an even deadlier weapon is used to despatch the queen - Susan Sto Helit.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Film]]
42	* In ''Film/DeepImpact'', the nuke is delivered by a spaceship that flies ''into'' the larger of the two comet fragments, saving (most) of the population of Earth in the process.
43	* ''Film/Armageddon1998'' used a similar strategy, with the important distinction of the goal being to change its course. (In real life, even if you had a nuke powerful enough to vaporize an asteroid moments before impact, doing so would be unwise. The destructiveness of a asteroid/comet comes from its kinetic energy, which is unaffected by blowing it up--it might not leave a crater, but [[FromBadToWorse it would boil the atmosphere more efficiently]].)
44	* Humanity constructs a really big nuke in ''Film/{{Sunshine}}'', in a desperate bid to, ahem, ''re-ignite the sun''. Never mind that the sun creates the amount of energy generated by the bomb many times over ''every single second''. Best to suspend your disbelief on this point. The flaws of this idea are pointed out in [[https://slackerz.kapowblock.com/comic/comic045 this comic.]]
45	* In ''Film/SolarCrisis'', a giant solar flare that would roast Earth is predicted. The nuke is supposed to trigger it prematurely when it's safely on the other side of the Sun.
46	* In ''Film/{{Meteor}}'', a gigantic piece of a main-belt asteroid breaks off and is headed straight for Earth. US and Soviet orbital nuclear weapons that point Earthward are turned toward the incoming meteor. SpecialEffectFailure ensues.
47	* In ''Film/ACrackInTheWorld'', [[ScienceIsBad Bad Science]] causes a giant crack to start propagating through Earth's crust, with dire effects. Scientists propose using a nuke to [[spoiler:blow a hole in the crust that's big enough to stop it]]. A subversion -- the whole thing is started by underground nuclear testing weakening the Earth's crust, then a nuclear weapon used as a giant drill. [[spoiler:Then a H-bomb is used to stop the crack, but its effect is limited.]]
48	* Featured in ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', with Ripley and the surviving {{Space Marine}}s voting to nuke the facility from orbit. ([[MemeticMutation It's the only way to be sure.]]) They don't, but thanks to accidentally [[NiceJobBreakingItHero shooting up the thermal regulators]], the reactors [[GoingCritical go critical]] and it becomes a conveniently self-nuking facility.
49	* Back in 1961, Admiral Harriman Nelson used a nuke to defeat Global Warming[[note]]Not the GlobalWarming version -- this one has the Van Allen radiation belts ''[[HollywoodScience on fire]]''[[/note]] in ''Film/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea''.
50	* ''Film/SyfyChannelOriginalMovie'': The Syfy Channel absolutely ''loves'' to use this as the solution to their [[DisasterMovie natural-disaster-of-the-week films]], even if it makes absolutely no sense. The sun spewing deadly flares that will [[ArtisticLicensePhysics ignite the Earth's atmosphere's supply of methane]] and burn up all the oxygen on the planet? Stop the burn with a nuke in the atmosphere. Planet-wide tempest surging out of control because some doofus unleashed an [[SealedEvilInACan ancient Sumerian storm god]]? Nuke the skies and cut off its power supply. ''The moon breaking up like a bad jawbreaker in a cataclysmic shower of meteors that will destroy the Earth?'' Take an A-bomb to its core and seal the cracks. It's official: nuclear weapons are the new [[DuctTapeForEverything duct tape]].
51	* In ''Film/StarshipTroopers'', the mobile infantry use rocket-propelled mini-nukes to kill giant orbital defense bugs, and to clear out extensive subterranean bug colonies. Near the end, [[spoiler:Lt. Rico]] uses one in a MexicanStandoff between his fireteam and a group of bugs holding [[spoiler:his [[AcePilot love interest]]]] hostage. After the BlastOut, one trooper is [[spoiler:mortally wounded and [[HeroicSacrifice stays behind]]]] to keep the bugs at bay until the nuke [[spoiler:detonates in his hand]]. Yet the idea of using those mini-nukes to, say, wipe out those charging swarms of bugs attacking them [[HollywoodTactics never crosses their minds]]. No, they prefer using automatic rifles against a sea of kamikaze Bugs.
52	* ''Film/TheDayTheEarthCaughtFire'': The largest atomic test yet conducted by the United States at one pole is matched within a few days by the Soviets detonating their own Tsar Bomba at the other. This sets up a wobble in the Earth's rotation which eventually [[SpaceWhaleAesop throws it out of orbit towards the Sun]]. The movie ends with the protagonists waiting the results of another large nuclear detonation in Siberia which scientists hope will reverse, or at least halt, their course. The last scene shows a newspaper print room with two possible next editions -- one headlined WORLD SAVED, the other WORLD DOOMED.
53	* ''Film/BabylonAD'': The [[EvilMatriarch High Priestess]] of the [[CorruptChurch Neolite sect]] is on the phone with [[TheMafiya Russian mob boss]] Gorsky.
54	-->'''High Priestess:''' Mr. Gorsky, when I kill, I kill for good.\
55	'''Gorsky:''' Are you threatening me?\
56	'''High Priestess:''' Bless your soul.\
57	'''Gorsky:''' [[TemptingFate You'll need a nuke to kill me!]]\
58	''[Gorsky's security system detects an incoming missile]''\
59	'''Gorsky:''' Bitch...
60	* In ''Film/TheCore'', the Earth's outer core has stopped spinning, resulting in the collapse of Earth's magnetic field and spelling doom for life as we know it. How can we get the core spinning again? With 200 megaton nuclear bombs, that's how!
61	* In ''Film/PacificRim'', various {{Kaiju}} aliens are coming through some kind of dimensional portal. Fortunately, it turns out there is a way to seal the portal up, if they drop a... well, three guesses.
62	* In ''Film/MarsAttacks'': [[GeneralRipper General Decker]] insists using a nuclear missiles to blow up the Martian's head ship. When the president is at his lowest, out of desperation, he agrees to finally shoot them. [[spoiler: The Martians use a bizarre machine that absorbs the explosion into a balloon, brings it back to the ship and the Martian emperor ''inhales the nuclear explosion'' which makes his voice [[HeliumSpeech sound funny]].]] [[GeniusBonus H-bombs fuse hydrogen into helium. He inhales the helium]].
63	* The climax of ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' has a nuke launched at Manhattan while the Avengers attempt to stop (or at least slow down) Loki's invasion of Earth. To solve two problems at once, Iron Man diverts the missile away from the island and back through the portal that Loki's army is coming through. Interestingly, the nuke is a DiabolusExMachina instead of a DeusExMachina, as Black Widow was about to close the portal before Iron Man caught the nuke.
64	* ''Moby Dick: 2010'', a SettingUpdate by Creator/TheAsylum, demonstrates that equipping Captain Ahab with nuclear weapons is a very bad idea. No prize for guessing how he manages to kill off his entire crew while chasing the MonsterWhale this time.
65	* In ''Film/Oblivion2013'', Jack Harper smuggles a nuke to the alien ship Tet and detonates it to save humanity, [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice dying with the ship]]]].
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Literature]]
69	* Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheStand'' has Deus Ex Nukina delivered [[TheDogBitesBack by hand]] by [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds the Woobie]] and set off by a loose spell that turns into the [[DeusExMachina Hand of God]].
70	* From Creator/JohnRingo's ''Literature/LegacyOfTheAldenata'', a cobbled up device using various weapons powered by {{antimatter}} rigged to form an improvised munition is used to destroy an alien invader's warship, delivered by Michael O'Neal, Jr in PoweredArmor. The Posleen ability to kill most anything that flies required delivery by a person who could dodge incoming fire in the way regular delivery methods couldn't.
71	* In ''Literature/{{Footfall}}'', an [[AlienInvasion alien invader]] is fought off using an OrionDrive spaceship launched from near Tacoma, Washington.
72	* ''The Tango Briefing'' (1973) by Adam Hall. British spy Literature/{{Quiller}} must use a small nuclear weapon (what we'd now call a backpack nuke, though it's a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Plowshare US commercial design for blasting wells]]) to destroy a shipment of lethal psychotropic nerve gas on a crashed aircraft (the cylinders have cracked and the gas has filled the plane, so they can't just be removed). Unfortunately the timing device is smashed when Quiller parachutes in so he's ordered to [[UnplannedManualDetonation detonate the device by hand]] (local military helicopters are in the area doing a sweep search, so there's no time to parachute in another device). Fortunately Quiller is able to field-improvise a means of pushing down The Button.
73	* Played straight, more or less, in ''Literature/TheAtrocityArchive'' by Creator/CharlesStross. A warhead is carried through a portal by a special ops team into a parallel universe to take out an EldritchAbomination. Turns out that this was the [[spoiler:endgame of a big GambitRoulette by said abomination to provide it with enough energy to open a big portal to Earth and come through to eat our universe]]. One man has to [[spoiler:stay behind to cause a faulty detonation to stop an actual nuclear reaction, but gets severely irradiated]] in the process by the critical plutonium assembly.
74	* Used in ''The Wave'', by Christopher Hyde, which depicts a series of disasters in the Columbia River starting with terrorist activity in Canada and the USA, that leads the wave of water to take out several dams, and a nuclear reactor. To prevent the irradiated water from reaching the Pacific, a nuclear weapon is used to stop the wave by collapsing the mountains. This book was released in 1979, the same year as the Three Mile Island reactor accident and "The China Syndrome" film.
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
78	* Useful even in the 23rd century, appearing at least three times in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.
79	** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E6TheDoomsdayMachine The Doomsday Machine]]", Commodore Decker takes a shuttle and steers it [[spoiler:down the throat of the planet killer]] -- without an onboard nuke. But this gives Captain Kirk the idea to try Decker's plan with the ''USS Constellation'' [[spoiler:rigged to self-destruct in a big explosion]]. Kirk manually pilots the ''Constellation'' [[spoiler:into the maw]].
80	** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E13Obsession Obsession]]", the vampire cloud, which has been freely munching on the crew, finally heads home to reproduce. Kirk beams down to the planet WhereItAllBegan to deliver a chunk of antimatter. When it [[spoiler:blows, it rips half the planet's atmosphere away]].
81	** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E18TheImmunitySyndrome The Immunity Syndrome]]", the ''Enterprise'' must deliver an anti-matter bomb to the [[spoiler:nucleus of the giant space amoeba]]. In a twist, Mr. Spock volunteers for a separate [[spoiler:suicide mission]], to deliver the probe that enables Kirk to target the nucleus.
82	* Apparently a favorite trope of Capt. Sheridan in ''Series/BabylonFive'', who solves his problems with nukes so many times that Creator/BruceBoxleitner began referring to his character as "Nuke 'em Sheridan". A few examples:
83	** In the prequel movie ''[[Film/BabylonFiveInTheBeginning In the Beginning]]'', Sheridan employs a nuclear minefield to destroy the Minbari flagship, the Black Star.
84	** In the episode "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS03E22ZHaDum Z'ha'dum]]", Sheridan loads a White Star with two 500 megaton nukes and steers it into the Shadows' capitol city. In fact, he had the ship wait in orbit and had it programmed to arm the nukes and home in to the signal of his communicator. Which was in his hand at that moment. He gets better, but not without consequences.
85	** In the episode "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS04E06IntoTheFire Into the Fire]]", Sheridan uses nukes planted on asteroids to get the attention of the Shadow and Vorlon fleets. It works... perhaps a little too well.
86	--->'''Sheridan:''' Good morning, gentlemen. This is your wake-up call.\
87	''[a few explosions later]''\
88	'''Lyta Alexander:''' ''[who is telepathically eavesdropping on both enemy fleets]'' Captain... they're pissed.
89	** In the NonSerialMovie ''[[Film/BabylonFiveThirdspace Babylon 5: Thirdspace]]'', Sheridan delivers a nuke into an ArtifactOfDoom that has opened a portal to a universe of the CosmicHorrorStory variety.
90	* In the two-part miniseries ''Series/TenPointFive'', there is a scientific effort, led by our [[HollywoodScience Hollywood Scientist]] lead, to use six nukes to stop the Big Earthquake. Five nukes get detonated by remote, but the sixth requires a HeroicSacrifice. Subverted because the sixth wasn't actually detonated at the scientific place and time; it is uncertain, but this attempt might have [[NiceJobBreakingItHero worsened the problem]].
91	* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' loves nuclear weapons.
92	** The first use of nukes on the show was in "The Siege," in the form of five 1.2 gigaton nuclear mines, placed above Atlantis to intercept the Wraith ships. The Wraith catch on, and use asteroids to detonate them.
93	** In "The Siege," Sheppard flies a nuclear bomb into the bay of a Wraith Hive in order to destroy it. [[spoiler:He gets beamed out right before detonation.]]
94	** In "Hot Zone," Sheppard has to detonate a nuclear bomb over the city in order to create an EM field strong enough to kill the nanovirus infecting the entire city. In the season three premier, they attempt to nuke an encampment of Wraiths. [[spoiler:Michael escapes.]] The Genii also use one of their nukes on their own people as part of a coup.[[note]]The coup leader was their top nuclear scientist, apparently he got some enjoyment out of seizing power via a weapon that he'd built with his own hands.[[/note]] Honestly? They just like nukes a LOT.
95	** They detonate a nuke over the city to make the Wraith think they blew themselves up. Or the time they nuked the Replicators. With six Mark IX weapons, capable of destroying Stargates and with an average yield of about five gigatons, at least fifty times as powerful as any weapon ever actually detonated by man. When the Mark IX came along, in SG-1 and Atlantis, they really turned this trope up a notch.
96	** Also beaming nukes directly into Wraith hive ships (and the one time they just fired all their nukes at once since beaming wouldn't work)!
97	** TheMovie ended with the Nuke blowing up BigBad Ra's mothership, showing it to work. Later uses included the first season attempting to use enhanced nukes to blow up two invading ships fail. Still later they'd mix Asgard beaming technology to deliver nukes on board ships. Finally they'd set up nuclear mines as protection from deep space.
98	** A mega-nuke called Horizon and was described as a 1.2 giga-ton Phlebotinum enhanced nuke used to blow up a whole continent of Replicator cities.
99	** The ZPM-powered Hive Ship in the ''Atlantis'' series finale had a HealingFactor on steroids, and such thick "skin" that it rarely even needed to heal. Solution? Nuke it ''from the inside''.
100	* Played straight in the Season 1 finale of ''Series/SeaQuestDSV'', in which the sub's nuclear payload - still contained within the sub - was used to weld closed a massive magma-spewing crack in the Pacific Ocean off the Australian coast. Very nearly requires a HeroicSacrifice on the part of Bridger, but he manages to escape at the last second.
101	* An episode of ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'' featured the threat of an imminent catastrophic earthquake in the San Andreas Fault, and the good guys planned to use a nuclear explosion to move the epicentre in order to reduce the damage. But TheHero was trapped in the shooting range...
102	* ''Series/{{Hyperdrive}}''. After their disastrous FirstContact with the Queppu, the crew seek to avoid future problems by covertly nuking the planet behind the captain's back while he's giving a PatrickStewartSpeech.
103	* At the end of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' season 5, several characters decide to prevent Oceanic 815 from ever crashing by nuking the electromagnetic anomaly that caused the crash (doing so 27 years before the crash thanks to TimeTravel.) The plan is simply to drop the bomb down a shaft. It [[spoiler:doesn't detonate. Juliet]], after being pulled down the shaft and [[spoiler:critically injured, must detonate it manually.]]
104	* The ''Series/Space1999'' episode "Space Brain" painfully subverts it: in order to avoid the Moon from going through it like a gigantic bullet, the titular Brain provides the Alphans with a plan that involves changing the Moon's course with carefully-placed nuclear explosions. However, the malfunction and crash of the Eagle Transporter that carried said nukes completely removes the possibility of the Alphans using them from the table, and so they have to rush to prepare for the crossing of the PathOfMostResistance...
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
108	* Used with abandon in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', where application of planet-destroying cyclonic torpedoes is a regular and accepted solution to Tyranid invasions, major outbreaks of heresy, or just a handful of peasants who thought it was a good idea to use smuggled alien farm equipment.
109	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', a tactical nuclear weapon was deployed by Ares Macrotechnology to contain the mass breakout of bug spirits in Chicago. Even more of a Deus Ex Nukina than usual, as the blast not only put most of the bugs into hibernation (huh?), but the bugs' own attempt to shield themselves averted the spread of radioactivity from the blast site.
110	** Important thing to note: These aren't flesh and blood bugs, but spirits from the metaplanes being invested into formerly human hosts. While it was noted that the blast effects wouldn't bother the spirits, radiation ''does'' muck up magic.
111	* The exact situation that began the Time of Judgement in the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness. A [[TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion wraith]] named Xerxes Jones got hold of the relic of one of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan and wondered what would happen if if he set it off at the mouth of Oblivion, taking the unstable bomb there in a boat. Unfortunately, it went off too early thanks to the shockwave caused by a blast from the ''other'' bomb being used on a hidden city of [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade vampires]] in the Shadowlands. The result was the WorldWreckingWave that was the Sixth Great Maelstrom, a storm so powerful it not only destroyed the lands of the dead, but caused massive ripples in reality that set off the end of all of the other gamelines.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Video Games]]
115	* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' a nuke has to be improvised from a ship's engines. Easy enough, However, the pick up ship only has time to [[spoiler:[[SadisticChoice pick up one of your two human squadmates]].]]
116	-->'''[[KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect Okeer]]:''' But before [[spoiler:Saren]] can deliver his endless troops, in rides Shepard, securing victory through nuclear fire. [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy I like that part, it has weight.]]
117	* In ''VideoGame/PathwaysIntoDarkness'', HardLight projections of {{Precursors}} tell UsefulNotes/BillClinton and his cabinet there's an immortal SealedEvilInACan deep under the Yucatán crater in Mexico that's about to awaken in eight days, but that the Precursor rescue fleet won't reach Earth for two years. The solution? Send a commando team with an atomic bomb down to the bottom of the cavernous GeniusLoci generated by the slumbering monster's dreams, and blast it back to somnolence.
118	* In ''VideoGame/Mercenaries2WorldInFlames'', the main character is eventually sent to capture the BigBad CorruptCorporateExecutive from his hidden bunker. However, after discovering that the bunker buster airstrike has little to no effect on the massive door, he/she has to go and convince either the Americans or the Chinese to give him/her a nuclear bunker buster in order to demolish the door.
119	* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'': Canon is deliberately vague about whether or not a literal nuclear warhead was used, but the solution to contain the zombie outbreak in Raccoon City at the end of the third game eventually becomes "establish a quarantine zone around the city and obliterate everything within it with an airstrike". It was mostly successful on a local level, but unfortunately the Umbrella Corporation don't know when to quit...
120	* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
121	** In ''VideoGame/Fallout1'', the BigBad can be nuked, or can be talked into nuking himself. Trying to kill him with guns results in the former.
122	** In ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' there are hand-held nuclear catapults, and giant monsters to dispatch. Also, the GNR radio quest is the straight-played example, where both the problem and the solution are introduced at the same time. It's possible to kill the Behemoth without the Fat Man, but it's undeniably convenient.
123	** In ''VideoGame/FalloutTacticsBrotherhoodOfSteel'', the only way to break into Vault 0 is by escorting a nuclear warhead to point-blank range of the Vault's door. Heroic sacrifice not necessary.
124	* ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'' has a sort of example, where the decommissioned science vessel ''Amerigo'' is demolished with a nuke. It counts, because the previous mission is about [[spoiler:Zergified Kerrigan]] infesting the whole ship. And what do the marines pack with their big bomb? [[RuleOfFunny Beers]].
125	-->''"Thank God for cold fusion!"''
126	* ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' makes use of this trope when crazed monsters start attacking a developing village. The main character has to drop the nuke in the middle of the crowd of rampaging monsters, but it's not that dramatic since he's able to escape well before it goes off.
127	* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
128	** The ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' live-action trailer ''Deliver Hope'' shows Kat and the previous Noble Six hand-delivering a tactical nuke to the inside of a Covenant battlecruiser.
129	** At the end of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'', Master Chief hand-detonates a nuclear weapon to destroy the Didact's ship. No explanation is given as to how Cortana manages to protect him from a blast that started literally in his hands, though it's implied she used the HardLight from the bridge he was on.
130	* In ''VideoGame/UFOAftershock'', the only way to kill the Big Bad was by nuking it. Point-blank with a suitcase nuke. Most likely because it was that Big. Thankfully, timed detonation wasn't forgotten, and nobody had to stay behind. Showing these alien bastards the power of Earth technology was very satisfying.
131	* Happens to the Black Mesa Research Facility in the ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' expansion ''[[VideoGame/HalfLifeOpposingForce Opposing Force]]''. After the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit fails to fight back the invasion from Xen, a Black Ops team is sent in to plant a nuke meant to destroy the facility and bring an end to the invasion. [[PlayerCharacter Adrian Shephard]] comes across and disarms the nuke, but it is shortly after rearmed by the mysterious G-Man. The nuke detonates at the end of the game and destroys Black Mesa, though the events of [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 the sequel]] show that it ultimately did little to hold off the alien takeover.
132	* ''VideoGame/AlienSwarm'' ends the official campaign with this trope. You and your friends fight your way to the heart of the facility and have your Technician prepare the enormous warhead. Moments afterward you're alerted that your dropship pilot is ready to evacuate you, you just need to clear the landing area. A count down timer starts and your uploaded BattleThemeMusic plays as you charge through the facility. If all goes well it results in a huge SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.
133	* Played a wee bit more literally than usual in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' and in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' - [[spoiler:''[[GodIsEvil God]]'' was the one to arrange the cluster of nukes to level Tokyo. He succeeds in destroying Tokyo along with the rest of the world in ''IV'' in Blasted Tokyo, while Tokyo escapes unharmed due to the ceiling in the normal Tokyo, while Kenji prevented it in Infernal Tokyo.]]
134	* Going out through Gate B in ''VideoGame/SCPContainmentBreach'' invokes this trope. [[spoiler: SCP-682 has breached containment and because they tried everything they could to destroy him, they have no choice but to detonate the on-site nuke. [[OhCrap It didn't kill him.]]]]
135	* At the beginning of ''{{Mormonoids from the Deep}}'', you obtain a suitcase nuke, which you use to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu take out]] an EldritchAbomination at the end. You can also [[ForbiddenChekhovsGun set it off early]], resulting in a Game Over for you.
136	* Earlier, in the ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' computer game series, a magic-using Hero can learn a spell called "Thermonuclear Blast", which will instantly end the game upon its use... but it has one possible, practical use where the Dragon of Doom is concerned. Basically, the Dragon is said to be impossible to slay (it's not, quite) without someone going up to it and offering themselves as a final sacrifice. The Dragon's resting place and the only place to fight before its flame gets out on the surrounding world is a thick volcano.
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Web Original]]
140	* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': In SCP-682's termination log, a 60 megaton nuclear bomb is suggested to be used for destroying the creature. Subverted though, as the proposal is rejected for fear that it could survive and adapt.
141
142	[[/folder]]
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144	[[folder:Web Video]]
145	* PlayedWith, and PlayedForDrama on ''Series/TheWeather''; to stop a tornado, the government decided the best plan would be to nuke the thing. Cricket and the caller both agree it's a ''stupid'' plan, and neither want to do it, but Cricket insists it's necessary anyway- it's their job, after all.
146	[[/folder]]
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148	[[folder:Western Animation]]
149	* The season 1 finale of ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes2006'' ended with the legion trying to deliver a nuke to a suneater that was guarded by kill bots and a nearly-impenetrable shield. One team went off to beat up the mastermind, another team went off to temporarily disable the shield and everyone else had to buy the bomb squad time and a path to deliver it. Ferro Lad had to set off the detonator manually.
150	* Similar to the Fantastic Four example above, the Thing had to carry a nuke to the center of Ego, the living planet, in ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFourTheAnimatedSeries''.
151	[[/folder]]
152
153	[[folder:Real Life]]
154	* In The Fifties, when atomic power was still new and the U.S. Interstate Highway system was being built by the Defense Department, researchers proposed low-yield nuclear weapons for practical purposes, such as paving the entire system with atomic weapons, turning the asphalt into atomic glass.
155	** Some of these proposals (although not the paving one) made it as far as ''real live nuclear tests'', notably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gasbuggy Project Gasbuggy]], a 1967 test in New Mexico that basically turned the later "fracking" technique for natural gas extraction up a notch. Two more tests like this would follow in 1969 and 1973 before the idea ran out of funding.
156	* One of several ideas to deflect an asteroid or comet, should one be discovered on a collision course with Earth, would be to send a spacecraft with thermonuclear shaped charges which would detonate near the object's surface and alter its trajectory enough to miss Earth. It would be quicker than a gravity tractor - a spacecraft which hovers near the asteroid to let its gravity slowly alter the rock's trajectory. However, even if shaped charges - which focus the blast energy in the rock's direction - are used, the method is less predictable against a tumbling body than the rotation-invariant gravity or electromagnetic tractor design.
157	* The Russians suggested this to plug the BP oil spill in the Gulf. Seriously. There are also proposals to use large conventional bombs such as the MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast) to do it, which does have more scientific support. Same theory just a lot safer.
158	** As part of the "Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy" program; in the 1960s the Soviet Union attempted to use underground nuclear explosions to seal oil and natural gas wells that had caught on fire. Success was variable and a related test in 1971 led to the release of radioactive gas from the explosion. The program was ended in the 1980s as part of an arms control agreement.
159	* The USA's hurricane forecasting office has had to write an official document explaining [[http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5c.html why setting off nukes inside hurricanes will not make them go away]] (and would in fact make things worse -- you still have a hurricane, but now [[FromBadToWorse it's all full of radioactive fallout]]).
160	* In a documentary about the future [[TerraForm terraforming]] of Mars, a scientist said that one possible way to increase the temperature of Mars' atmosphere was to drop nukes on it. [[AndThatWouldBeWrong "But of course, that would be needlessly destructive"]], he added next.
161	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) Project Orion]] was a theoretical plan for a spacecraft that used a series of small nukes as a drive system, called an OrionDrive.
162	* Meet [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_A119 Project A119]]: The United States Air Force's late 1950s project to detonate a nuclear bomb on the moon partially to achieve [[ForScience some vague apparently scientific goals]], but [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheColdWar mostly to show off to the Soviet Union]]. Thankfully, cooler heads eventually prevailed and it was decided that it would be better to land people on the moon than to pointlessly nuke it.
163	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / DeusExNukina