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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 6 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1639777763071606700 |
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| 9 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monumentaldamage_2.png]] |
| 10 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Aliens, pixels, explosions and pies.]] They sure love wrecking famous monuments.[[note]] L - R, top to bottom: ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds2TheNextWave'', ''Film/{{Pixels}}'', ''Film/WhiteHouseDown'', and ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs''[[/note]]]] |
| 11 | %% |
| 12 | ->''"Give us [=McNeal=] or we will lay waste to your cities with our anti-monument laser."'' |
| 13 | -->-- '''Lrrr''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E12WhenAliensAttack When Aliens Attack]]" |
| 14 | |
| 15 | So you're a marauding monster, invading alien force, overblown natural disaster, fanatical terrorist, or anything that has a tendency to cause massive collateral damage. But you are not going to destroy ''any'' random building, are you? No, where is the fun in that? You're going to behead the Art/StatueOfLiberty, or blow up the White House, or anything recognizable enough that by destroying it, you can show the world that you mean business. Just killing people throughout the world won't cut it. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | If you plan on attacking all over the world make sure you target a wide range of easily identifiable landmarks throughout. Due to SmallReferencePools, no one will take you seriously unless you get [[UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}} the Pyramids]], [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity the Statue of Liberty]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} the Eiffel Tower]], [[UsefulNotes/{{India}} the Taj Mahal]], [[UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco the Golden Gate Bridge]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Sydney}} the Sydney Opera House]], [[UsefulNotes/{{London}} the Westminster Clock Tower]] ("[[IAmNotShazam Big Ben]]", that is), or in works made before [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror 9/11]], [[HarsherInHindsight the World Trade Center]]. UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}'s TokyoTower gets this so often its joked by fans as 'Just another bad day for Tokyo Tower.' |
| 18 | |
| 19 | (A weird exception is that it's very, very rare for any monument-destroying force to harm [[UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC the Lincoln Memorial]]. It's not ''unknown'', but the Great Emancipator's [[{{Sculptures}} statue]] takes significantly less damage than you might expect.) |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Occasionally inverted when an occupying power takes control of a landmark of some kind, forcing the defenders to destroy said landmark. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | A consequence of the EiffelTowerEffect. Frequently seen in {{disaster movie}}s. When characters deliberately aim for monuments for symbolic value, this overlaps with SmashTheSymbol. Sometimes {{inverted}}: The monument --[[MonumentalDamageResistance although battered]]-- is the [[TheConstant only thing left standing]] in the city AfterTheEnd. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Compare BigApplesauce, MonumentalBattle, RushmoreRefacement, TheTokyoFireball, TiltingTowerOfPisa, and WashingtonDCInvasion. TokyoTower gets messed up so much it's also its own trope. This trope could be Justified if LandmarkingTheHiddenBase is being utilized and the bad guy finds out. See also WeaponizedLandmark when the monument shoots back. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Not to be confused with MonumentalTheft. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | ---- |
| 30 | !!Example subpages: |
| 31 | [[index]] |
| 32 | * [[MonumentalDamage/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]] |
| 33 | * MonumentalDamage/VideoGames |
| 34 | * MonumentalDamage/RealLife |
| 35 | [[/index]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | !!Other examples: |
| 38 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 39 | |
| 40 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 41 | * In-universe example: ''[[Manga/{{Boruto}} Boruto: Naruto Next Generation]]'' begins by showing [[spoiler:The Hokage Mountain, the most easily recognizable landmark of Konoha Village, completely smashed alongside with the rest of the village]]. |
| 42 | * From ''Manga/CannonGodExaxxion'': |
| 43 | -->Humanity's gotta take one to the gut, here! Knock some sense into the damn peaceniks! And showing them ol' Mount Fuji going boom ought to do the trick! |
| 44 | * {{Averted|Trope}} in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', when the very climactic battle against Myotismon takes place on top of Fuji TV Headquarters (known for its unique design by the architect Kenzo Tange) but neither the building nor its massive metal ball is (seriously) harmed. Incidentally or not, Fuji TV is the channel that broadcasts ''Digimon'' in Japan. |
| 45 | * ''Anime/FutureWar198X'': The White House, The Art/StatueOfLiberty, Tokyo Tower, and the Eiffel Tower all are destroyed in a chain of nuclear blasts killing 13 million people planned by DirtyCommunists. |
| 46 | * ''Manga/{{Helsing}}'': The very first missile shot by the Millennium assault force as they invade London soars through the sky... and blows up the Parliament Clock Tower. The Major orders the Millennium soldiers to destroy all the other landmarks, too. Hans burnt down London Bridge while singing "London Bridge is Falling Down". |
| 47 | * ''Manga/IAmAHero'' subverts this. Buildings are usually left standing [[spoiler:possibly because the Infected are an attempt to wipe out humanity but not its infrastructure]]. La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and Sunshine 60 in Tokyo aren't destroyed, but [[spoiler:are transformed by Hives into a part of their structure]]. |
| 48 | * ''Anime/LycorisRecoil'': The Tokyo Skytree ended up being destroyed in [[NoodleIncident in a past incident]] (for which the protagonist Chisato is apparently responsible), and its partially standing wreckage still remains as a monument to peace. |
| 49 | * In ''Anime/MacrossII'', the main characters go for a date in a place called "monument park," a collection of world monuments. It is promptly attacked by aliens. |
| 50 | * In the ''Mazinger'' series: |
| 51 | ** In the ''Anime/MazingerZ vs Great General of Darkness'' feature film, ''[[Anime/GreatMazinger the Mykene army]]'' struck Paris, London, New York, Moscow and Tokyo. During their attacks, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Empire State Building, and the Tokyo Tower got wrecked. |
| 52 | ** In the ''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'' movie, the first shot features Paris and the Eiffel Tower burning. The next scenes depict the main characters trying to fight the Mykene [[{{Robeast}} War Beasts]] in different locations. During the attack on New York, the Art/StatueOfLiberty is shown as having been decapitated. Just to add insult to injury, Great Mazinger is knocked through the remains of the statue and falls on the head. Elsewhere, the Great Pyramids, Sydney Opera House, and Great Wall are also damaged by SuperRobot / {{Robeast}} combat. Mount Fuji also takes damage from the final battle between Mazinkaiser and Ankoku Daishogun, first as collateral damage from Mazinkaiser's [[BreathWeapon Rust Tornado]], and again when Daishogun rams Mazinkaiser with his AirborneAircraftCarrier. During the end credits of the movie, the heroes can be seen ''fixing'' it afterwards. |
| 53 | ** In the first appearance of Great General of Darkness in ''Manga/ShinMazingerZero'', he split the Mount Fuji into two halves with a single stroke. |
| 54 | * In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'', when the [[ColonyDrop falling Junius Seven]] is destroyed by the ''Minerva's'' WaveMotionGun, fragments of it scatter randomly around the world. One of them still manages a direct hit on the Parthenon in Greece. |
| 55 | * In the ''Anime/{{Moldiver}}'' episode "Overzone", Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' is destroyed [[spoiler:after Mirai Ozora's sky battle with Jennifer and ''Akron'''s satellite causes the latter shuttle to crash into the space museum]]. |
| 56 | * The ''Anime/ReadOrDie'' OVA has Gennai Hiraga blowing up the White House, with a [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed so-not-George Bush lookalike]] being dragged out just in time. |
| 57 | * In a flashback to the depression era New York in ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'', both the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building get blown up by Margery Daw. However, [[WeirdnessCensor no one noticed]] and they were evidently repaired. |
| 58 | * ''Anime/SpaceCarrierBlueNoah'': The Art/StatueOfLiberty and Eiffel Tower are flooded by tsunamis. |
| 59 | * Fuji gets hit by a giant, fist-shaped asteroid holding the dMp at the start of ''Anime/UltimateMuscle''. |
| 60 | * ''Manga/{{X1999}}'': Most of the landmarks in Tokyo are considered to be barriers that protect the city and the world. It's up to the Dragons of Heaven to protect them from the Dragons of Earth. To do that every Dragon of Heaven (except Kamui) creates a spirit barrier to keep civilians out of harm's way once they engage in battle against a Dragon of Earth. If a Dragon of Heaven dies in combat, the spirit barrier along with the landmark gets destroyed. The movie shows how damaging the battles are such as the destruction of the Sunshine 60 building, the National Diet Building, and Tokyo Tower which is where the FinalBattle between Fuuma and Kamui takes place. |
| 61 | * ''Manga/YokohamaKaidashiKikou'': In this CosyCatastrophe, the top of Mount Fuji is no longer symmetrical. Like much else in the series, this goes unexplained. |
| 62 | [[/folder]] |
| 63 | |
| 64 | [[folder:Card Games]] |
| 65 | * In the trading card set ''TabletopGame/DinosaursAttack'', there are several occurrences where said [[InNameOnly "dinosaurs"]] destroy various well-known monuments. Examples include [[http://www.bobheffner.com/dinosaursattack/front3.htm a sauropod destroying the Brooklyn Bridge]], [[http://www.bobheffner.com/dinosaursattack/front9.htm the Leaning Tower of Pisa being toppled by battling dinosaurs]], [[http://www.bobheffner.com/dinosaursattack/front17.htm pterodactyls pecking the eyes out of Mount Rushmore]], [[http://www.bobheffner.com/dinosaursattack/front23.htm Big Ben being assaulted by a giant lizard]] and [[http://www.bobheffner.com/dinosaursattack/front34.htm the Statue of Liberty being crushed by the neck of a plesiosaur]]. |
| 66 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Pachimon}}'', a collectible card game featuring {{kaiju}}, have plenty of these happening in it's "Universal Tour" series. Notably a kaiju trampling over the Colosseum in Rome, a flying behemoth about to land on (and snap) the Golden Gate Bridge, the Pyramids getting chewed apart by another monster, and at least ''three'' with the Eiffel Tower getting wrecked. |
| 67 | [[/folder]] |
| 68 | |
| 69 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 70 | * In the ''ComicBook/AmazonsAttack'' miniseries, Hippolyta decapitates the memorial. |
| 71 | * ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': In ''Recap/AsterixAndCleopatra'', Obelix climbs Art/TheSphinx and breaks its nose. |
| 72 | * In the ''ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'' the giant monster frog villain Frogzilla pulls up from its foundation the Statue of Ribbity (Earth-C's Art/StatueOfLiberty) and takes it with him into Gnu York (Earth-C's New York), thinking the statue was a real person (and trying to hit "her" up for a date). |
| 73 | * ''ComicBook/GodzillaInHell'' features an apocalyptic battle between Godzilla and Space Godzilla in Rio de Janeiro where "Christ the Redeemer" is one of the last things standing before it too ends up demolished [[spoiler:and the Earth is blown up]]. |
| 74 | * In the ''ComicBook/GreenArrowRebirth'' storyline "Rise of Star City", the villains, discussing their plan to remould Seattle in their image, explain how every city has a heart, and if you cut that out you demoralise the populace. Cut to the Space Needle collapsing. |
| 75 | * ''ComicBook/TheImmortalThor'': Toranos announces himself by blasting the Statue of Liberty to pieces with a single lightning bolt. |
| 76 | * During the ''ComicBook/Inferno1988'', the villains take over the Empire State building and turn it into their demonic EvilTowerOfOminousness. |
| 77 | * ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}''. Qubit forces the supervillain Plutonian to help him clean up the radiation that's been dispersed across the Earth by having Plutonian create giant spears of [[AppliedPhlebotinum radiation-absorbing metal]] and drop them in various places. Plutonian agrees not to drop them on InnocentBystanders, but [[ExactWords drops one on]] Art/TheSphinx [[EvilIsPetty just to piss Qubit off]]. |
| 78 | * ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': |
| 79 | ** In ''America'', pro-democracy terrorists attempt to blow up the already degraded Art/StatueOfLiberty as a symbol of protest against the oppressive rule of the Judges. |
| 80 | ** During ''Day of Chaos'', the Statue of Justice is destroyed in a missile attack. Done for both symbolic and practical reasons; as the building also functioned as a surveillance center, it crippled the eyes and ears of Justice Department. |
| 81 | * ''ComicBook/{{Kamandi}}: The Last Boy on Earth'': The first issue's cover prominently shows a fractured Art/StatueOfLiberty listing in floodwaters. |
| 82 | * ''ComicBook/PacificRimTalesFromYearZero'': Unlike in the film where this is glossed over, Tendo's flashback to K-Day devotes several panels to the kaiju plowing through the Golden Gate Bridge. |
| 83 | * The Art/StatueOfLiberty really suffers during the ''ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar''. First, Cyborg-Superman punches Superman through part of it. Then the Sinestros decide to just tear the whole thing down and replace it with a statue of Sinestro. Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner fix her back up during the epilogue. |
| 84 | * ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'' has Hyperion and his evil doppelganger from another universe fighting it out at Mount Rushmore (named President's Mountain in this reality), destroying it. It's later mentioned that it's being rebuilt. |
| 85 | * DC Comics ComicBook/{{Steel}} and Guy Gardner fought villain Sledge and couldn't put him down until the Washington Monument fell on his head. |
| 86 | * ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': |
| 87 | ** In one storyline, the Eradicator, in his "Krypton Man" persona, alters the Lincoln Memorial so that Honest Abe is instead standing and wearing Kryptonian robes. |
| 88 | ** ''ComicBook/TwoForTheDeathOfOne'': The nose of the Great Sphinx of Giza gets crushed into dirt during the final battle between Superman and Lord Satanis (time travel was involved). |
| 89 | ** In ''ComicBook/StrangersAtTheHeartsCore'', Klax-Ar wants to begin his planet-wide destructive rampage by blowing the Statue of Liberty up, but his weaponized flying sled malfunctions before he can do so. |
| 90 | ** At the start of ''ComicBook/SupermanVsShazam'', the Brooklyn Bridge gets shattered, and Captain Marvel and ComicBook/MaryMarvel must stop it from crumbling down. Later, [[BigBad Karmang]]'s visions include a tsunami sweeping over the Big Ben and a lightning storm battering Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. |
| 91 | ** ''ComicBook/TheSuperDuelInSpace'': Brainiac shrinks and bottles Rome, Paris, London and New York. Then, Brainiac uses a pair of tweezers to rip the George Washington Bridge, the Eiffel Tower and other monuments loose, using a pair of huge tweezers, to examine them under a magnifying glass. |
| 92 | ** In ''ComicBook/TheStrangeRevengeOfLenaLuthor'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and Blackrock almost completely destroy the Washington Square Arch while fighting. |
| 93 | ** In ''ComicBook/TheHuntForReactron'', Flamebird puts a dent in the Eiffel Tower when she smashes Supergirl into it. |
| 94 | ** "ComicBook/TheSuperSteedOfSteel" Comet is mind-controlled by villain Vostar into destroying the Hoover Damn, beheading the Statue of Liberty, knocking the Washington Monument down and sabotaging the Panama Canal. |
| 95 | ** In ''ComicBook/Superboy1949'' #117, as an alien is revealing his plan to destroy humanity, he is imagining buildings like the Roman Coliseum, the Notre-Dame cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the Big Ben Tower, the Sphinx of Giza and the Washington Monument being chucked out into space, and the Statue of Liberty and the entirety of Manhattan disappearing under the water. |
| 96 | * ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': |
| 97 | ** ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'': Downplayed in issue #23. The Battlechargers Runabout and Runamuck are revealed to be plotting something against various United States landmarks, such as Mount Rushmore, Independence Hall, the Washington Monument, and especially the Art/StatueOfLiberty. What is their nefarious plan? To...[[PokeThePoodle vandalize them by spray-painting "humans are wimps!" on everything]]. The Battlechargers ''are'' a couple of numbskulls after all. |
| 98 | ** ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW: Regeneration One'': The first visual of Earth's surface, 21 years after the end of the Marvel series, is of a destroyed Golden Gate Bridge lying on the bed of the vaporized strait. Several other cities are shown as destroyed as well, including Washington, D.C., where the Capitol Dome is visible among the ruins, and where [[BigBad Megatron]] [[MythologyGag once again has a throne]], though this time it's ''not'' the chair from the Lincoln Memorial (instead being cobbled together from various buildings and structures). |
| 99 | * Recurring in ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'': |
| 100 | ** During the retreat from Paris, the Allies are forced to destroy many landmarks to keep the Nazis from using them as vantage points; the Eiffel Tower is shown exploding. |
| 101 | ** During the invasion of London, [[DarkActionGirl Sieglinde]] decapitates Nelson's Column [[spoiler:and [[DecapitationPresentation places Churchhill's head on top]]]]. |
| 102 | ** The cover of the first issue of ''Invasion'' shows the Statue of Liberty with its face partially melted off. In the comic proper, Siegfried begins the invasion by [[MindOverMatter reshaping the White House into an enormous swastika]]. |
| 103 | ** A later issue of ''Invasion'' shows the Statue of Liberty's head reshaped into a swastika as well. |
| 104 | * In ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen2001'', where do the newly-formed Brotherhood of Mutants strike first? Why, London's [[ClockTower Big Ben]] of course! |
| 105 | * In ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' - some super-powered soldiers push over the Art/StatueOfLiberty. Later, some superheroes pull it back up again. Averted in the same story where [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Ultimate Cap]] and [[EvilCounterpart The Colonel]] duke it out along The Wall (the Vietnam War Memorial) and it is not damaged. |
| 106 | * ''ComicBook/XForce'': The Juggernaut destroys the Twin Towers in the "Sabotage" storyline; oddly enough, they return within only a few issues, and the story is rarely spoken of today. |
| 107 | * ''Franchise/WonderWoman'': |
| 108 | ** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Issue 32 seems to open with the Empire State Building being blown up by the alien invader Uvo, but the next page [[ProsceniumReveal reveals it was a scale model]] built to test out invasion plans. |
| 109 | ** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Decay destroys the foundation of the Boston Massacre Monument and when Diana prevents the monument from landing on tourists Decay reduces the whole thing to dust. The comic's monument is a bit different from the real one, putting the Spirit of the Revolution at the top of the tapering column. |
| 110 | ** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2006'': The Washington Monument is destroyed in one of the tie in issues for ''ComicBook/AmazonsAttack''. |
| 111 | [[/folder]] |
| 112 | |
| 113 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 114 | * ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': There are a couple examples which are slightly tamer than usual disaster movie standards considering the Monuments' obscurity in RealLife. There's the underwater damage done to the Yonaguni Monument by Godzilla's battle against the Many in Chapter 13, and there's the steeple of the Khram Vo Imya church in Berezniki [[spoiler: [[ImprovisedWeapon being used as a weapon]] by Monster X to [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impale [=MaNi=]/Elder Brother]], as well as implicitly getting leveled with the rest of the city]], in Chapter 17. |
| 115 | * ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': |
| 116 | ** At the beginning of ''R2 -- Revolution'', [[LaResistance the Autobots and Black Knights]] blow up Mt. Fuji to deny the Decepticons access to its massive Energon deposits. Notably, the Japanese Black Knights do so despite how sacred Mt. Fuji is to them, as it's been defiled beyond recognition by the 'Cons. |
| 117 | ** The fourth Iacon Relic is buried under the Great Wall of China, which leads to chunks of the wall being destroyed during the resulting fight between the Combaticons and Theta Team (the Aerialbots and the Black Dragon Unit). |
| 118 | * ''Fanfic/ConsequencesMiraculousLadybug'': In ''WORLD BEYOND'', Hawkmoth uses the Miraculouses that he's stolen to go on a worldwide murder spree, visiting various monuments and destroying them while slaughtering everyone that he can. Why? Because Ladybug and Chat Noir can't follow him outside Paris -- and more importantly in his eyes, can't use the [[WorldHealingWave Miraculous Cure]] to erase the damage and save his victims. Naturally, he blames the heroes, declaring that he'll only stop his rampage if they surrender their Miraculouses to him. This ultimately [[spoiler:catches up to him after he's finally LuredIntoATrap and arrested, as he's now HatedByAll and has much of the world baying for his blood]]. |
| 119 | * ''Fanfic/GlassMarionetteNaruto'': When [[spoiler:Shimura Danzo]] is taken down, they take a chunk of Hokage Rock with them, destroying a sizable chunk of the Sandaime's face on the monument. |
| 120 | * ''Fanfic/GodzillaNewEra'': Several landmarks in Kyoto are destroyed over the course of the final battle. Kyoto Tower is broken and used as a make-shift spear by Godzilla to pin down and heavily damage the Millennian UFO after being stabbed through a break in its hull. Flashbacks to the [[Film/TheReturnOfGodzilla 1984 attack]] prominently show the Sunshine 60 Tower as the skyscraper that was collapsed ontop of and crushed the Super-X. |
| 121 | * An attacker in ''Fanfic/HeroesOfTheDeskRepercussions'' does a [[RuleOfThree threefer]] by smashing up the London Bridge, Big Ben, and the Eiffel Tower. |
| 122 | * In a flashback from ''Fanfic/JustAnUnorthodoxThief'', Goemon ''cuts down the Golden Gate Bridge'' so that Lupin can escape Kiritsugu and Zenigata alike after the former attempts to assassinate one of Lupin's clients and he elects to stop the Magus Killer, as it would be "bad for business." |
| 123 | * In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3735743/1/The-Moment-It-Began The Moment It Began]]'', [[spoiler:Voldemort and the Death Eaters destroy the Palace of Westminster.]] |
| 124 | * Due to it being a Godzilla-centric fic, this kind of stuff tends to happen in ''Fanfic/TheNewAgeOfMonsters''. Kamakuras attack on Paris destroys the Arc de Triomphe and the Tokyo Sky Needle is destroyed during the battle against Megaguirus. |
| 125 | * ''Fanfic/RedFireRedPlanet'' has an offhand mention that [[ANaziByAnyOtherName the Optimum]] (from ''Literature/StarTrekFederation'') [[ColonyDrop dropped an asteroid]] on UsefulNotes/{{Mecca}} in 2060. The author's note explains this as their way of cowing the Islamic countries, which violently resisted their global takeover attempt, into submission. |
| 126 | * The ''Tranformers World's Worst'' fanfics have turned the destruction of the Lincoln Memorial into a RunningGag. Two words: [[http://www.worlds-worst.com/worldsworst/fanfic/index.php?viewCat=5 Abebird Files.]] |
| 127 | [[/folder]] |
| 128 | |
| 129 | [[folder:Films — Animation]] |
| 130 | * Art/TheSphinx's nose is destroyed in the animated film ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' as well as ''Recap/AsterixAndCleopatra''. |
| 131 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} vs. Caesar'', Obelix causes the partial destruction of the Colosseum by accidentally backing into a support pillar. This is despite the fact that construction of the Colosseum didn't start until 120 years after the time period those stories take place in. |
| 132 | ** And in ''WesternAnimation/TheTwelveTasksOfAsterix'' Obelix breaks the arms of the Art/VenusDeMilo while in [[VastBureaucracy The Place That Sends You Mad]]. |
| 133 | * PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'', as giant food items start falling on various national monuments in an ironic fashion - a sandwich skewered on the Eiffel Tower, fortune cookies on the Great Wall that predict what will hit it next, pies hitting Mount Rushmore, and so on. The newscaster even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades it]] by explicitly saying that the food storm is hitting monuments first. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Naturally]], only [[HistoricalInJoke Lincoln's]] gets hit in the ''[[CrossesTheLineTwice back]]'' [[CrossesTheLineTwice of the head]]. |
| 134 | ** ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs2'' has a character point out that the Art/StatueOfLiberty was the only monument spared, but that it might not be should it happen again. |
| 135 | * {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe3''; not only does the 'Hollywood' Sign only get partially destroyed (and not Roland Emmerich like) by Bratt's robot, while the Capitol Records Building (named the World Records Building) ''does'' collapse, we only get to briefly see the top part of it fall onto the ground. As for the rest of Hollywood? It's sadly offscreen. |
| 136 | * Near the end of ''{{WesternAnimation/Minions}}'', during the final battle between [[spoiler: [[Attackofthe50FootWhatever a giant]]]] Kevin and [[BigBad Scarlett Overkill]], when Scarlett yanks Kevin into the air when he tries to grab her [[PoweredArmor rocket dress]], this also results in the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral being destroyed in the process. |
| 137 | * The title character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' also breaks the Art/VenusDeMilo's arms while skipping stones. Megara claims it looks better that way.[[note]]"No, it really does."[[/note]] |
| 138 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'': During their chariot race at the start of the film, Ramses and Moses drive into a construction area at one of the main temple complexes in Memphis, causing some damage (including inadvertently breaking off the nose of a colossus of Ramses' father, Seti, though it might have been intended as Art/TheSphinx). |
| 139 | * PlayedWith in ''WesternAnimation/Home2015''. We see several Earth monuments, but many aren't really damaged, just floating in air. [[spoiler:The ones with faces have been modified to look like Captain Smek. In the end, the Boov fix it.]] |
| 140 | * The Golden Gate Bridge comes tumbling down in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens''. |
| 141 | * ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheFastAndTheFurry'': The title characters are given jet planes so they can race around the world "in 5 minutes". The monuments destroyed (and how) in order of appearance, are: |
| 142 | ** The island of Borneo (set on fire) |
| 143 | ** Taj Mahal (largest onion dome turns upside down, spins like a top, and bumps into the other parts of the building) |
| 144 | ** Mt. Everest (jets rammed through. Reduced to rubble except for the peak, which falls to the ground) |
| 145 | ** Great Wall of China (jets rammed through, reduced to rubble) |
| 146 | ** St. Basil's Cathedral (treated like a pinball machine until it collapses) |
| 147 | ** Leaning Tower of Pisa (straightened, received with applause. No damage occurs) |
| 148 | ** Colosseum (jets rammed through, reduced to rubble) |
| 149 | ** A castle (transformed into a trailer park) |
| 150 | ** Eiffel Tower (uprooted, bent into a pretzel shape) |
| 151 | ** Big Ben (one clock face ripped off, revealing a cuckoo bird) |
| 152 | ** Stonehenge (reduced to rubble without the jets touching it) |
| 153 | ** Loch Ness (water removed, revealing the famous monster) |
| 154 | ** Statue of Liberty (cloak removed, revealing a bikini. She promptly changes her pose) |
| 155 | ** Grand Canyon (both sides make contact, shutting the canyon, now just flat desert) |
| 156 | ** Hollywood Walk of Fame (the stars are blown off the sidewalk) |
| 157 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', the [=SkyDome=] is partially destroyed [[spoiler:during Ming's rampage as a red panda. Following the TimeSkip, the stadium is undergoing repairs and the revenue coming in from visitors to the temple is paying for the damage.]] |
| 158 | * ''Animation/WarOfTheWorldsGoliath''. Everyone's cheering over having defeated the Martian forces attacking New York City, when a giant Martian flying wing rises from the harbour and knocks the Statue of Liberty off its pedestal. Incidentally Art/LadyLiberty is holding a sword rather than a torch, as it's a war memorial for the previous Martian invasion. |
| 159 | * In ''WesternAnimation/WonderWoman2009'', the Memorials, the Capitol, and the White House. While there was a battle [[{{Irony}} in front]] of UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Memorial, it was spared. |
| 160 | [[/folder]] |
| 161 | |
| 162 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 163 | !!!'''By Author:''' |
| 164 | * One might get the impression that Creator/HGWells didn't like the St. Paul's Cathedral in London very much... |
| 165 | ** In ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds1898'', it ends up with what the narrator describes as "a huge gaping cavity on its western side". |
| 166 | ** In ''Literature/TheShapeOfThingsToCome'', the cathedral even ends up completely destroyed, along with a great chunk of London's inner city at the northern shore of the Thames. |
| 167 | |
| 168 | !!!'''By Work:''' |
| 169 | * ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo'' series: |
| 170 | ** During the climax of ''1632'', the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wartburg Wartburg castle]] gets napalmed. Comments are made to the effect of "I bet that [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble back in the future]], that was a historic monument". |
| 171 | ** In ''1634: The Baltic War'', as part of the distractions during their escape from London, Harry Lefferts blows up the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London Tower of London]], partially collapses the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge London Bridge]] and sets fire to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_Theatre Globe Theatre]]. Even funnier, his ''history teacher'', Melissa "Schoolmarm from Hell" Mailey, is present and goes utterly berserk. |
| 172 | ** The climax of ''1635: The Cannon Law'' blows up a large part of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castel_Sant%27Angelo Castel Sant'Angelo]] to permit an escape. |
| 173 | * ''Literature/TheAgeOfZeus'' features a whole series of these to punish the protagonists for their acts of insurrection. Zeus himself destroys the Sydney Opera House with a series of lightning bolts, Poseidon sweeps away the Golden Gate Bridge with a tidal wave, Hades (who has a death touch) and Dionysus (who can induce madness) team up to massacre the crowd in front of St. Peter's Basilica, Ares and Heracles smash the faces on Mt. Rushmore, and Hephaestus crumples the Eiffel Tower into a ball. |
| 174 | * The second novel in ''Literature/TheBartimaeusTrilogy'' features a hilarious fight scene inside the British Museum where Bartimaeus, not knowing its significance, uses the Rosetta Stone as a projectile weapon. HilarityEnsues. In the third novel, Nelson's Column gets sliced in half by Nathaniel trying out the Staff. |
| 175 | * ''Literature/{{Campione}}'''s protagonist Godou will accidentally destroy in the process of fighting ''any monument'' that is introduced in the story. So much that you could probably make a DrinkingGame out of it. |
| 176 | * ''Literature/CiaphasCain'': Invoked by Ciaphas, Hero of the Imperium, in ''Cain's Last Stand''. He mentions that he hopes that an attack on the capital city of Perlia managed to destroy a particularly hated monument to him (a clock that features him decapitating an orc every hour), but he's disappointed to learn it's still standing. |
| 177 | * The fifth ''Literature/DirkPittAdventures'' book, ''Vixen 03'', features a rare attack on the Lincoln Memorial. The roof collapses and the columns are knocked down but the statue remains upright (five books later, [[CanonDiscontinuity Cussler had already forgotten about that]]). The EvilPlan involves terrorists (actually a FalseFlagOperation) using a decommissioned battleship to shell Washington D.C. It becomes a DiscussedTrope during the attack when it's pointed out that a car bomb that killed a few innocents would quickly be forgotten, but a warship raining down fire on the nation's capital causing MonumentalDamage would long be remembered. |
| 178 | * ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'': |
| 179 | ** ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novels: |
| 180 | *** Canterbury Cathedral is destroyed in ''Warlock''. |
| 181 | *** In ''No Future'', terrorists (in an alternate timeline) bomb [[ClockTower Big Ben]]. |
| 182 | ** The [[Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations novelization]] of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose Rose]]" has the London Eye collapse when the Nestene Consciousness' lair beneath it is destroyed. (''Only'' the novelization, mind.) |
| 183 | * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': |
| 184 | ** In ''Literature/{{Changes}}'', Harry and his friends wreck part of Chichén Itzá when facing off against the Red Court vampires. Not surprising as this is [[DestructiveSaviour Harry Dresden]] we're discussing. |
| 185 | ** Pretty much ''any'' major Chicago landmark is liable to suffer collateral property damage when Harry's around, sooner or later. |
| 186 | * In the ''Literature/EclipseTrilogy'' series, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is destroyed by British fascists. |
| 187 | * ''The Execution Channel'' by Creator/KenMacLeod is set in an AlternateHistory where, instead of New York and Washington D.C., the 9/11 attacks occurred on American historical monuments in Boston and Philadelphia, specifically the Massachusettes State House, Faneuil Hall and Independence Hall. The Hancock and Prudential Towers were also demolished by a coordinated attack with [=SUVs=] packed with THX. |
| 188 | * In ''Literature/TheLastShip'', an American ship steams up the Thames River to link up with friendly forces after a nuclear war. Through the irradiated fog can be seen the ruins of London and [[ClockTower Big Ben]]. |
| 189 | * Jesus destroyed the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem at His SecondComing in the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' book ''Glorious Appearing''. |
| 190 | * ''Literature/LegacyOfTheAldenata'': The Washington Monument comes under massive fire from plasma and HVM rounds, as a reaction to a human sniper using the monument as a firing point. The Lincoln Memorial also is destroyed, though by human forces. |
| 191 | * The ''Outrider'' series by Richard Harding had a Lincoln Memorial version, with the hero's arch enemy using Lincoln's [[RuinsOfTheModernAge vandalized statue]] as his throne in an AfterTheEnd America. |
| 192 | * ''Literature/StarTrekTheLostEra -- The Sundered'' has a mention that Mecca was hit hard by WorldWarIII, including somebody detonating a nuke there in the 2050s. |
| 193 | * In the BizarroUniverse ''Literature/TransformersShatteredGlass'' story "Eye in the Sky", Rodimus hijacks the USA's KillSat and uses it to hold the world hostage to his demands. To show his threat is serious, he uses his control of the satellite to destroy the [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Image:Statue_of_Liberty_SG.gif sword-holding Statue of Liberty]]. |
| 194 | * ''Literature/VictoriaANovelOf4thGenerationWar'' sees many iconic American monuments smashed as the nation descends into depression, disorder and civil war. Washington itself is ravaged by looters and rioters when the Federal Government evacuates to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and the halls of government are ruined and defaced much like those of Detroit in real life. Protagonist John Rumford comments bitterly: |
| 195 | -->In the former District of Columbia, the Capitol and the White House were vandalized, partly burned and finally taken over by bums and crack-heads as places to squat. Having ruined the nation, they became ruins themselves. |
| 196 | * In the ''Literature/WildCards'' book ''Aces Abroad'', the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro has been altered to depict the version of Jesus worshipped by [[FantasticReligiousWeirdness the Church of Jesus Christ Joker.]] |
| 197 | [[/folder]] |
| 198 | |
| 199 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 200 | * ''Series/{{Aftermath}}'': Famous monuments such as the Eiffel Tower and the Art/StatueOfLiberty begin to degrade from unaddressed rust decay and erosion after about a century. The Eiffel Tower eventually disappears in a new swamp that appears in the former Paris metropolitan area. The Statue of Liberty falls apart and its pedestal is ground down by the expanding Ice Age glacier in North America. |
| 201 | * ''Series/AlmostLive'' did a parody of ''Independence Day'', which features the aliens blowing up various local landmarks... that were all really ugly. The military is inclined to let the aliens carry on until the attackers make the mistake of destroying Dick's Drive-In, the town's perennial favorite LocalHangout. "Nuke 'em!!" |
| 202 | * ''Series/DesignatedSurvivor'': The U.S. Capitol Building is blown up in a terrorist attack during a State of the Union address, which decapitates the whole government so severely that the 11th person in the line of succession (the character of the title) is sworn in as President. |
| 203 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 204 | ** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E2TheDalekInvasionOfEarth The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]", Nelson's Column gets some "Dalek graffiti" on it[[note]]and the BBC got in some hot water when the chalk they used turned out to be more difficult to remove than previously thought[[/note]]. Elsewhere, landmarks such as Battersea Power Station had fallen to Dalek bombardment (the extent of the damage is much clearer in the Special Edition DVD). |
| 205 | ** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon Aliens of London]]"/"[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E5WorldWarThree World War Three]]" involves a convoluted alien hoax plot (well, a convoluted hoax perpetrated by aliens) where they deliberately crash their spaceship into Big Ben to put the world on high alert in order to get their claws on the UK's nuclear launch codes. |
| 206 | --->'''The Doctor:''' Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben, come on. |
| 207 | ** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E10InTheForestOfTheNight In the Forest of the Night]]", the sudden worldwide forest causes Nelson's Column to fall, nearly hitting the Doctor and Clara. |
| 208 | * In an episode of ''Series/TheEvent'', all the [[spoiler:[[HumanAliens non-humans]]]] are trapped in a church, surrounded by government forces. [[spoiler:Sophia]] responds by using their [[OurWormholesAreDifferent portal]] technology to destroy the Washington Monument and claims this was only a taste of how far they're willing to go. Turns out, [[spoiler:it was just a bluff. The portal device only had enough fuel to open a small "window"]]. The President proceeds to order an [[spoiler:Apache helicopter to kill all the "terrorists"]]. |
| 209 | * In the pilot of ''Series/ForThePeople'', Sandra is assigned to defend a young man accused of trying to blow up the Statue of Liberty. |
| 210 | * In the AlternateHistory of ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', on 9/11/2001, terrorists have successfully attacked the Pentagon and the White House. The World Trade Center towers are still intact. The White House was rebuilt with a glass roof. |
| 211 | * ''Series/FullFrontal'': A spoof of ''Film/IndependenceDay'' has a group of Australians [[ApatheticCitizens having a barbeque]] and watching with mild annoyance while the aliens are "destroying our national monuments". Cue a FlyingSaucer blowing up the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Pineapple Big Pineapple]] and showering them with pineapple slices. |
| 212 | * ''Series/TheGoodies'': The award-winning "Kitten Kong" episode sees the eponymous giant kitten destroying the Post Office Tower in London (now known as the BT Tower). Not exactly a world landmark, but pretty well-known in Britain. The shot became part of subsequent seasons' episode title montage. In the same scene, Twinkle also sticks its head out of the dome of St Paul's Cathedral. |
| 213 | * ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'': When June visits Washington D.C. with Serena and Fred, she sees now that the whole Washington Monument is no more, replaced by a huge cross. The statue at the Lincoln Memorial has been half destroyed and left that way. |
| 214 | * ''Series/Hawkeye2021'' has this on a temporary landmark, as Clint Barton ends up stuck in the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, visited by millions during the holidays, and Kate Bishop solves it by knocking the tree down with a TrickArrow. |
| 215 | * ''Series/LifeAfterPeople'' speculates, among other things, how long certain man-made structures would last were people to suddenly disappear. Every episode has to have at least one famous monument destroyed by the ravages of time, with said destruction always featuring in promos. |
| 216 | * ''Series/TheManInTheHighCastle'' |
| 217 | ** In season 3, the Nazis initiate a plan to tear down former American monuments, such as Mount Rushmore and the Statue of Liberty, and replacing them with ones exalting National Socialist ideology. They [[spoiler:succeed in blowing up the Statue of Liberty in a pompous ceremony.]] |
| 218 | ** A literal version when the Japanese test an atomic bomb in Monument Valley, damaging though not actually destroying the Buttes. |
| 219 | * ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': |
| 220 | ** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S2E12InconstantMoon Inconstant Moon]]", Professor Stan Hurst imagines UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, with the Art/StatueOfLiberty and the World Trade Center in full view, being destroyed as a result of UsefulNotes/TheSun going nova. |
| 221 | ** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S3E13DeadMansSwitch Dead Man's Switch]]", UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC is in ruins after the alien attack. TheWhiteHouse, the Capitol Building, and especially the Washington Monument are severely damaged. |
| 222 | ** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S6E22FinalAppealPartTwo Final Appeal, Part Two]]", [[spoiler:Ezekiel's cold fusion device detonates in the Supreme Court Building, and the blastwave destroys the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument within seconds. Assuming Ezekiel was telling the truth about its blast radius, half of the Eastern Seaboard is devastated by his device]]. |
| 223 | * In The90s remake of ''Series/TheProfessionals'', a scientist who worked on the Star Wars program is selling control of a secret KillSat to an ArmsDealer, who says that for the price he's asking, the buyer would want a demonstration of its full power. The scientist tells him to let the buyer name the target--the Empire State Building or Buckingham Palace -- and he can see the results on the news. He chooses the Eiffel Tower, but the scientist has a last-minute change of heart because there will be hundreds of innocent people there (like the first two options don't?). |
| 224 | * In the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS09E22Salvation Salvation]]", Zod and his minions burn the crest of Zod onto the Great Wall of China, Temple of Athena, a pyramid, and the Washington Monument. |
| 225 | * ''Series/SleepyHollow'' averts the "don't damage the Lincoln Memorial" thing. The head gets blown off the statue while the characters are fighting the demon that possessed John Wilkes Booth in the series lore. |
| 226 | * In the opening scene of ''Series/{{SSGB}}'', London appears surprisingly intact fourteen months after the [[AlternateHistoryNaziVictory Nazis won the Battle of Britain]], but then we're shown that Buckingham Palace is a bombed-out ruin. |
| 227 | * ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': The Golden Gate Bridge is [[http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/File:San_Francisco_attacked2.jpg pretty messed up]] when the Breen attack Earth in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E20TheChangingFaceOfEvil The Changing Face of Evil]]". As in Film (above), this isn't just wanton destruction, as Starfleet Headquarters is in the Presidio right next door. |
| 228 | * ''Series/TheStrainTVSeries'': In the [[WhamShot closing scenes]] of the Season 3 finale, [[spoiler:the Master's stolen nuclear bomb is detonated on Liberty Island, destroying the Statue of Liberty]]. |
| 229 | * ''Franchise/UltraSeries'': |
| 230 | ** One episode of ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' had Osaka Castle get completely plowed down by the MonsterOfTheWeek Gomora. |
| 231 | ** In ''Series/ReturnOfUltraman'', Ultraman Jack has to battle the beetle kaiju Nokogilin in Tokyo. During battle Jack dodges Nokogilin's antenna-ray, which ends up hitting the Tokyo Tower and bending into half. |
| 232 | [[/folder]] |
| 233 | |
| 234 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 235 | * Part of the backstory for the Music/NineInchNails album ''Year Zero'' involves a terrorist attack on Hollywood, complete with a photo of the ruined Hollywood sign. |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
| 237 | |
| 238 | [[folder:Pinball]] |
| 239 | * ''Pinball/AttackFromMars'' has the Attack Mode, wherein you travel to various cities and stop the Martians from damaging their famous monuments (i.e. straightening the Tower of Pisa). |
| 240 | ** Its sequel, ''Pinball/RevengeFromMars'', has a mode where you must stop the Martians from playing tug-o-war with the Tower of Pisa. |
| 241 | * One animation in ''Pinball/JohnnyMnemonic''[='=]s "{{Yakuza}} Strike" mode shows a man firing a rocket launcher at the Golden Gate Bridge, destroying it. |
| 242 | [[/folder]] |
| 243 | |
| 244 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 245 | * According to the "Would the Avengers be Better off Without the Hulk?" episode of ''Podcast/PlumbingTheDeathStar'', the Hulk's absence from ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' would force Thor to handle the nuke at the end of the movie. While he'd stop it from destroying New York, he'd probably try to return it to its owners - at the Pentagon. Needless to say, Washington D.C. would not have fared too well. |
| 246 | [[/folder]] |
| 247 | |
| 248 | [[folder:Theme Parks]] |
| 249 | * Promotional images for the former ''Ride/TwisterRideItOut'' attraction showed the tornado destroying the Ride/UniversalStudios arch. |
| 250 | [[/folder]] |
| 251 | |
| 252 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 253 | * ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}'': [[http://adventurers.keenspot.com/d/20041009.html "Why are you just targeting landmarks?"]] |
| 254 | [[/folder]] |
| 255 | |
| 256 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 257 | * Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom: |
| 258 | ** Operation Teufelseelöwe is a thread lampshading many tropes. The Tower of London is destroyed by Panza tanks (prior to which the Ravens fly off with the Crown Jewels'. The Nazi attack on London also gets Tower Bridge: |
| 259 | --->The beautiful Tower Bridge, a marvel of turn-of-the-century engineering...\ |
| 260 | Bold and daring, she is, the perfect statement of Old World meets New as she lay in the shadow of the Tower of London. With a landmark of this fame, this glory, this history, you know it's totally fucked in a TL like this. |
| 261 | ** ''Literature/TheAngloAmericanNaziWar'', another thread from AH.com, has a [[TearJerker particularly tragic example of this]]. After a number of key victories for the Allies signals the defeat of the Reich, the increasingly insane Nazi leadership adopt Order 571, a policy of systematic destruction across Western Europe, to basically deprive future generations of the European untermensch of centuries of European cultural heritage, and to spite the winners. Several irreplaceable monuments and works of art, including the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, and the Lourdes Grotto, are not only reduced to rubble [[EvilGloating but the destructions are filmed and broadcast to Britain]]. |
| 262 | ** In ''Literature/TheFireNeverDies'', the Red Army flattens the White House with an artillery barrage during the Battle of Washington, along with the nearby State, War, and Navy Building (today the Eisenhower Executive Office Building), in order to decapitate the White leadership. |
| 263 | ** ''Literature/ForAllTime'' has the Nazis launch an air raid on New York City. Most of their Ju-390's don't manage to get past the anti-air guns, but one manages to start a fire that damages much of Harlem and another crashes into the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and the impact detonates its onboard stockpile of bombs, toppling the statue into the fire. It's rebuilt after the war. |
| 264 | ** In ''Literature/AGiantSuckingSound'', members of the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria hijack a plane and crash it into the Eiffel Tower in December 1994, causing it to collapse and kill 1,157 people. This event triggers a European [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror War On Terror]]. |
| 265 | * The Art/StatueOfLiberty is ''Website/{{Cracked}}'''s #1 [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19924_5-iconic-building-that-were-barely-saved-from-destruction_p2.html Iconic Building That Was Barely Saved from Destruction]] because "when Lady Liberty gets destroyed, it means the apocalypse is here". |
| 266 | * In one of the ''WebAnimation/CheatCommandos'' shorts on ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', the villainous Blue Laser plot to blow up the ocean. |
| 267 | -->'''Crackotage''': Those loonies are gonna blow up the ocean!\ |
| 268 | '''Blue Laser Commander''': We'll blow up the ocean! |
| 269 | * ''WebVideo/TheMonumentMythos:'' |
| 270 | ** The Cairo Tower is entirely destroyed after a run-in with a crab-like creature awakened in the Suez Canal, which carried the Evergiven freighter ship on its back right until it tripped on the tower and dumped the ship's contents into it by accident; the events killed well over a thousand people. |
| 271 | ** Mount Rushmore is afflicted by some manner of infection thanks to the ADA. The nature of it is unknown, but whatever it does seems to cause the whole mountain to grow bizarre stains, let the presidents' visages turn creepy, and [[spoiler:sprout dozens of enormous spikes of unknown material, origin or nature by the end of the week]]. It's unknown, however, if this is actual damage to the monument or simply unmasking its (unknown) nature. |
| 272 | ** The Statue of Liberty remained unharmed for quite a while, despite [[spoiler:its base housing some kind of corpse-eating monstrosity"]]. At some point in time, however, it seems to have just disappeared, pedestal and all; as of 2003, the Statue of Liberty is just entirely gone. |
| 273 | ** Attempted with the Statue of Freedom standing atop the Capitol Building during a massive ADA riot; the rioters succeeded in shooting it off the dome. Unfortunately for them, however, [[spoiler:[[LivingStatue the monument]] fought back in spades, with about 150 deaths to follow]]. |
| 274 | ** Unnervingly subverted with the Washington Monument, which holds a [[BotanicalAbomination Special Tree]] within it. At some point during 2003, the Tree's transportation reflex activated, and the monument couldn't stop it from bending, but it didn't shatter either. It just bent ''anyways'', tower and all, [[EldritchLocation like the brickwork itself had become part of the tree]]. |
| 275 | [[/folder]] |
| 276 | |
| 277 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 278 | * One episode of the ''[[WesternAnimation/BabyHuey Baby Huey Show]]'' has the fox try to kill Huey with a ''nuke''. Cue a rip off [[Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968 the Liberty Statue scene]]. |
| 279 | * ''Franchise/Ben10'': |
| 280 | ** In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' the heads of Mt. Rushmore get destroyed twice and have to be replaced by holograms. |
| 281 | ** In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' Will Harangue uses a KillerRobot in a bid to defeat Ben Tennyson on national television; only for the robot to crash into the Washington Monument and nearly cause it to fall. Ben immediately transforms into Humongousaur to catch it and slowly set it back upright again. To save face and make Ben look bad, Will uses ManipulativeEditing to play the footage in-reverse later on to make it look like Ben was slowly lowering the Monument to the ground. |
| 282 | ** In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'', after the Incurseans conquer Earth, Emperor Milleous has the Waybads replace Lincoln's head with his own, as well as the Statue of Liberty's with his daughter Attea's. |
| 283 | ** Played with in ''WesternAnimation/Ben102016''. The Xerge invasion is shown on TV destroying significant landmarks throughout the world, but it's soon revealed the footage comes from Las Vegas and simply the copies of famous monuments were affected. They ''are'' invading the whole world, however. |
| 284 | * The WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoon "Grand Canyonscope" has Donald and a mountain lion cause a landslide that fills up the Grand Canyon. The cartoon ends with Ranger Woodlore making the both of them fix it by digging up the whole canyon again. |
| 285 | * The third and fourth episodes of ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'' each had a montage showing the Neosapien invasion of Earth that featured Neo E-Frames blowing up a number of world-renowned structures, including the Golden Gate Bridge, the United States Capitol, the Taj Mahal, and Art/TheSphinx. |
| 286 | * On ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', when Timmy accidentally frees all the anti-fairies, their bad luck spree destroys several monuments, like the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. |
| 287 | * ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': The third season sees the Team Squad visiting a post-apocalyptic version of Earth [[spoiler:after the planet was physically dragged into Final Space in Season 1]], and we see the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and the London Eye lying in ruins. |
| 288 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': |
| 289 | ** There's a send-up of the trope in the episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E12WhenAliensAttack When Aliens Attack]]", by having the alien invasion occur on Monument Beach, where a former {{supervillain}} governor of New York left his collection of stolen world monuments, complete with the White House being blown up by an alien saucer in a parody of ''Independence Day''. The aliens then go on to destroy Fry's sandcastle with a tiny saucer to complete the parody. The aliens even refer to their weapon as an [[LampshadeHanging "anti-monument laser"]]. |
| 290 | ** Mocked again in "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E8ThatDarnKatz That Darn Katz]]"; when the Earth stops spinning, we see a shot of the Eiffel Tower... which snaps off and flies offscreen, only for Big Ben to land in its place. Then Big Ben is hit by a flying Art/StatueOfLiberty. |
| 291 | ** The Leaning Tower of Pisa gets this again, being rebuilt in Pisa after having been destroyed in Monument Beach. In "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E19TheCryonicWoman The Cryonic Woman]]", Fry and Bender joyride across the world with the Planet Express ship hitting the tower upright then knocked down completely with the Planet Express building being tethered behind the ship. |
| 292 | * In the finale of the five-part episode of ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' where Serpentor was born, the eponymous villain leads an attack on Washington DC, and while he doesn't ''damage'' the Lincoln Memorial, he ''is'' enough of an egotist to use it as a throne until the heroes arrive to kick him out. (As even many members of Cobra said but only Cobra Commander would say out loud, the rather spontaneous and reckless assault was the first sign that Serpentor would be no better than the guy he replaced.) |
| 293 | * This, ultimately, is what gets Phil Ken Sebben the impeachment he wanted in ''[[WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw Harvey Birdman: Attorney General]]''. During his inauguration, Ernie Devlin's antics destroyed a monument to Samuel Hahnemann, which Phil took the blame for. |
| 294 | -->'''Phil:''' Aaaaaand we're impeached!\ |
| 295 | '''Birdgirl:''' [reading a copy of the Constitution] The penalty for defacing a monument is up to five months in prison ''or impeachment''! Way to go, D-uh, Phil! |
| 296 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Inhumanoids}}'', Metlar animates the Statue of Liberty when he's been dosed with a love potion and is looking for a date. Possibly justified, as there aren't that many Inhumanoid-sized female statues made of metal he could choose from. Also, in the opening StoryArc, one of the statues in Metlar's army resembles the Colossus of Rhodes. |
| 297 | * In the Book 2 finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' [[spoiler:the giant version of Unalaq pulls down]] the statue of Aang that looks a lot like the Art/StatueOfLiberty. |
| 298 | * PlayedForLaughs in the Creator/{{MGM}} cartoon "WesternAnimation/LittleJohnnyJet". As the protagonist and his son (both anthropomorphic airplanes) rocket around the world at high speed, some famous monuments get the Trope equivalent of AmusingInjuries; the Sphinx is given a crew cut, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is tilted the other way, the Eiffel Tower barely avoids a collision by lifting its "legs", and rushing past the Statue of Liberty [[ComedicUnderwearExposure reveals her panties]] as her dress is blown to the side. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer (Seriously.)]] |
| 299 | * In the Bugs Bunny short ''WesternAnimation/LongHairedHare'', the Hollywood Bowl collapses on the opera singer Bugs has a grudge on. |
| 300 | * In the fourth episode of the Creator/RubySpears ''WesternAnimation/{{Mega Man|RubySpears}}'' cartoon, Mega Man [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI8RPO87vSc jumped in front of]] the statue of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln in Washington DC when Proto Man turned his [[ArmCannon Proto Buster]] on it- |
| 301 | -->'''Mega Man:''' Missed me again, [[PsychoPrototype number one son!]]\ |
| 302 | '''Proto Man:''' But I won't miss ''this'' time! ''[Turns toward the Lincoln statue and begins charging up a shot]''\ |
| 303 | '''Mega Man:''' [[MemeticMutation Oh no, HE'S GONNA BLAST PRESIDENT LINCOLN!]] ''[[[TakingTheBullet Jumps in front of Proto Man's shot to protect the statue as he fires.]]]''\ |
| 304 | '''Proto Man:''' ''HA!'' I knew you'd risk yourself for Mr. Lincoln! |
| 305 | * In ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'', Coop once filled in the Grand Canyon to defeat the MonsterOfTheWeek. Granted, it's not man-made, but it's recognizable enough to count. He destroyed the Hoover Dam in the same episode; it was faster than turning off the power (the monster fed on energy) like a sane person would. |
| 306 | * Tends to be played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'': |
| 307 | ** The Louvre was burned to the ground as a birthday present for Murderface after he declared all the art in it stank. |
| 308 | ** Mount Rushmore was defaced by fans in protest of Dethklok's delaying their album. |
| 309 | ** The Sphinx ends up beheaded after a performance in Egypt, when cats started going berserk and jumped on the button that turned up the bass, the vibrations causing the Sphinx to break apart. It's seen being repaired at the end of the episode, only for the sarcophagus containing Toki's dead cat to fall on it, crushing it. |
| 310 | * ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': Since Ladybug's [[WorldHealingWave restoration power]] allows her to repair any damage done fighting the villain, monuments get destroyed on a semi-regular basis. |
| 311 | ** The Eiffel Tower is damaged in some episodes, notably in "The Mime" and "Gigantitan", where the whole tower is cut down and toppled. Fortunately, they use Ladybug's power to return everything to normal. |
| 312 | ** In "Anansi", Ladybug tricks the titular villain into destroying the Arc de Triomphe and causing it to fall on her. As usual, the damage is repaired by the end of the episode. |
| 313 | ** In "Startrain", Ladybug has the newly empowered Pegasus teleport an entire train back to Earth after defeating the villain that had turned it into a spaceship. However, his aim is off and he crashes it through Elizabeth Tower in London. Again, Ladybug magics that damage away. |
| 314 | ** Played as a RunningGag in "Optigami", when they repeatedly rely on Kaalki to transport them around. Each time, monuments, buildings and vehicles end up in the strangest places (deserts, the ocean, ''a volcano'', the moon...). None of these things were even nearby; Kaalki's PowerIncontinence is just that bad. |
| 315 | * ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': In "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS5E6RickAndMortysThanksploitationSpectacular Rick and Morty's Thanksploitation Spectacular]]", Morty mishandling a laser while helping Rick steal the Constitution ends up destroying it, the Lincoln Memorial, the Liberty Bell and the Statue of Liberty (as well as unleashing a [[HumongousMecha gigantic]], [[{{Steampunk}} steam-powered]] robot assassin hidden inside the last as a TrojanHorse by the French). Later in the episode, the Washington Monument gets converted into a weapon to [[ItMakesSenseInContext turn all of America's turkeys into super-soldiers]] and Morty ends up destroying it and the Lunar Flag Assembley. |
| 316 | * As mentioned under Film, in the original ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' the episode "Atlantis Arise" centered on the Decepticons allying with the city of Sub-Atlantica to attack [[WashingtonDCInvasion Washington, DC]]. The Decepticons damaged the Washington Monument to the point where it would have toppled had the Autobots not intervened, and Megatron himself strode into the Lincoln Memorial and ripped the Abraham Lincoln part of the statue off to claim its chair as his throne. Impossible (hence why the movie version shot the statue), but the symbolism is still effective. |
| 317 | [[/folder]] |
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