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1->'''Brain:''' Come, we have work to do.\
2'''Pinky:''' Oh, right, taking over the world, and all...\
3'''Brain:''' No, Pinky -- tonight, we must ''save'' the world!\
4'''Pinky:''' Egad, Brain -- ''save'' the world?!\
5'''Brain:''' YES! So it is available to take over ''tomorrow'' night.
6-->-- ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'', "Snowball"
7
8While villains want to TakeOverTheWorld or [[OmnicidalManiac cause]] TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, the heroes are most likely motivated by the polar opposite, saving the world. A fairly simple plot/motivation related to ForGreatJustice and what not, this trope is pretty broad and ''very'' common for many stories not focused on character interaction only. Frequently, this means the main character(s) preventing a preventable apocalypse, such as from the Undead or a natural disaster.
9
10Most of the time, this is the result of TheCall, or occasionally may be someone who JumpedAtTheCall and is just trying to be able to do this. Note, this doesn't always ''happen'' and it's entirely possible for [[TheBadGuyWins the bad guy to win]] and the Earth to be destroyed. Sometimes, [[EnemyMine the villain will actually help with this goal]], [[EvilVersusOblivion as what's the point in taking over a pile of rubble after all]]? (Especially if it's NotMeThisTime.)
11
12Extremely common in some genres, such as HighFantasy, soft ScienceFiction, and TheEpic.
13
14If the plot escalates to this, it's SaveTheWorldClimax.
15
16----
17!!Examples:
18[[foldercontrol]]
19
20[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
21* ''Anime/{{Tsuritama}}'': What Yuki is supposed to be doing by being forced to fish... somehow.
22* ''Anime/FinalFantasyUnlimited'': Or in this case, several worlds.
23* ''Anime/PersiaTheMagicFairy'': Persia is sent with [[NonHumanSidekick three kappa]] into the regular world with the mission of [[GottaCatchEmAll collecting love energy]] to [[SavingTheWorld thaw the frozen Lovely Dream]].
24* ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'': Van ''has'' to take every level in badass he can if he wants to stop TheEmpire and [[SavingTheWorld save the world]].
25* ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'': The Unicron Singularity is sucking the universe up, and only the Cyber Planet Keys can save it.
26* ''Literature/SundayWithoutGod'': Ai's goal is to save the world God has abandoned, and part of her journey involves learning what exactly it means to save the world.
27* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': [[MentorMascot Kyubey’s]] goal is to recruit [[MagicalGirl magical girls]] to fight [[TheDreaded Walpurgisnacht]] and her coven of [[EldritchAbomination witches]], who threaten to destroy the planet. Kyubey also plans to use thier energy to save the universe from heat death. However, what makes this a unique example is that [[spoiler: Kyubey is the ''BigBad'' who [[ManBehindTheMan created the witches:]] it’s ultimate plan is to [[WellIntentionedExtremist convert humanity's despair into energy to keep the universe running.]]]]
28* [[TheHero Yugi Muto]] from ''Anime/YuGiOh'' is constantly dueling to save the world from demons and evil sorcerers -- much to the exasperation of [[TheRival Seto Kaiba]], who spends most of the story [[FlatEarthAtheist refusing to believe in all the "hocus-pocus magic"]].
29--> '''Kaiba:''' Why don't you stop "saving the world" and ''get a hobby''?
30* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': It starts off with the basic premise of the last remnants of Humanity fighting man-eating giants in the hope of one day reclaiming the world they lost. [[spoiler:A massive {{Deconstruction}} ensues when the "last remnants" find out that they were [[LostColony living on an isolated island]] the whole time and the rest of the world is fully populated. This fully populated world openly hates the inhabitants of the isolated island, referring to them as a race of devils who deserve extermination due to the [[SinsOfOurFathers atrocities committed by their ancestors]] using the power of the Titans. Seeing that any prospect of peace was impossible, Eren Yeager initiates the long-feared [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Rumbling]] in response to the world's hostility to save his ''own'' world from further attacks]].
31[[/folder]]
32
33[[folder:Comic Books]]
34* Franchise/{{Superman}} and Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} are determined and committed to save the world and protect people for reasons that go beyond simple justice or righteousness: they are the only survivors of a dead world. They cannot bear the thought of losing their adoptive home. Many of their stories lay emphasis on this:
35** In ''Comicbook/KryptonNoMore'', Superman is having a breakdown because he fears losing Earth the way he lost Krypton, and he swears he will not let the planet die.
36** In ''Comicbook/WarWorld'', both cousins fight a planet-buster, star-sized killing satellite to save the whole universe.
37--->'''Superman''': It seems the only thing capable of destroying Warworld... was Warworld itself! The universe has been saved — at least from this menace!
38** In ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'', Kara explains why worldwide genocide and planetary destruction are very personal issues for her:
39--->'''Supergirl''': How could anyone make it their mission in life to murder whole worlds? Can you imagine what an abomination that is to an orphan from a dead planet? [...] This world-killing stuff... it hits a nerve. It makes me furious, and the ring just fans the flame!
40** In ''ComicBook/SupergirlCosmicAdventuresInThe8thGrade'', Supergirl manages -with help of Supragirl and Lena- to save all dimensions from being turned into energy fuel for Mxyzptlk.
41** In ''ComicBook/{{Bizarrogirl}}'', Supergirl and Bizarrogirl team up to save Bizarro World, the former feeling compelled to help because she failed to save ComicBook/NewKrypton.
42[[/folder]]
43
44[[folder:Fan Works]]
45* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''/''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' crossover story ''Fanfic/TheVampireOfSteel'', the lead heroines have to stop an eldritch abomination from being drawn into the human plane; later they destroy a Kryptonian turned vampire who attempts to open the Hellmouth.
46* In ''ComicBook/PowerGirl'' fanfic ''Fanfic/AForceOfFour'', several old enemies of Superman and Wonder Woman team up to take revenge by blowing Earth up, but Power Girl and the world's heroes manage to thwart their plans.
47* ''Fanfic/BloodBondBloodOmenSeries'': Not just Kim's schtick in this series. Eventually nearly everyone gets in on it.
48* In ''Fanfic/FateStarryNight'', Ritsuka has saved the world time and again from Demon Gods, Beasts, and even Outer Gods. Shinji mocks the absurdity of such a thing, but Ritsuka offers Shinji and a chance to do so and prove himself to Zouken.
49-->'''Ritsuka:''' Matou Shinji. You want to prove to everyone that you're worthy of becoming the Matou successor? Then help me. Together, we'll save the world. There's no better way to prove it than doing something so grand, right?\
50'''Shinji:''' ''[staring before laughing]'' Saving the world? [[ThisIsReality What do you think this is, some sort of anime?]] This game wouldn't threaten the world!\
51'''Ritsuka:''' ''[dead serious]'' When Chaldea's involved, the stakes are very rarely any lower.
52* ''FanFic/KingdomHeartsLinkToLife'': Well, worlds. However, they're actually all little worlds that were broken off from one world, so technically that's still one world.
53* ''FanFic/ToTheStars'': Several of them, all colonized by humans.
54* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', formerly just best friends in suburbia, end up doing this several times in the {{Actionized|Sequel}} FanSequel ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries''.
55* ''Fanfic/DigimonLegend'' has a new group of kids try to save both the Digital World and their home universe.
56* In crossover fanfiction ''Fanfic/OnceUponAShootingStar'', several music bands come together to seek out the final few chosen, learn more of the once-shrouded Redemption Organization, and, ultimately, set out to save the world.
57* In ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', several dozens of heroes come together to prevent cosmic-level villains such like [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Mordru]] or ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} from enslaving the whole universe.
58* In ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'', Kaji recruits Superman -in this story, Shinji Ikari with Kryptonian DNA- to save the world from a Darkseid cult.
59* In SelfInsertFic ''Fanfic/SecurityWorm'', Mike ''tells'' people straight-out what he's trying to do.
60[[/folder]]
61
62[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
63* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'': The monsters earn respect by doing this.
64[[/folder]]
65
66[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
67* ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'': "If we don't stop it, there won't be any home to go back to!"
68* ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'': Tony and 5 other [[DysfunctionJunction dysfunctional]] heroes [[SuperTeam team-up]] to [[SavingTheWorld save the Earth]] from an AlienInvasion.
69* ''Film/QueenOfTheDamned'': Marius (Vincent Perez) and student of the paranormal, Jessica “Jesse” Reeves (Marguerite Moreau) are trying to stop [[MonsterProgenitor Akasha]] from mowing down humans and vampires alike in her ascent to power.
70* ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': The X-Men stop Apocalypse.
71* [[AlienInvasion Aliens]] are stopped from destroying the earth in ''Film/IndependenceDay'' and ''Film/IndependenceDayResurgence''.
72* ''Film/TheFifthElement'': Leeloo saves the Earth from [[BigBad the Great Evil]] (a sinister planet-sized entity that aims to clash against the planet), after she and her friends manage to gather the first fourth elements (Leeloo herself is the fifth).
73* ''Film/TomorrowLand'': The [[PowerTrio Three Heroes]] save the earth from a vaguely defined cataclysm.
74[[/folder]]
75
76[[folder:Literature]]
77* ''Literature/TheQuestportChronicles'': The goal of the first two years.
78* The protagonist of ''Literature/TheLastDragon'' is the subject of an ancient prophecy stating that he must do exactly that.
79* ''Literature/CassandraPalmer'': [[spoiler:By preventing the return of the ancient gods.]]
80* [[spoiler:''Literature/EdgarAndEllen'': The plot of the Nodyssey books.]]
81%% * ''Literature/MaximumRide'': Max left her parents to do this.
82* Literature/HarryPotter
83* The ultimate goal of Gary Seven and Roberta in ''Literature/StarTrekTheEugenicsWars''.
84* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': The last villains have to do this from the forces of so-called Good, no less, who are destroying the world by their efforts to cleans it of Evil, which [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil imbalances things]].
85[[/folder]]
86
87[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
88* ''Series/TreintaYUnMinutos'': In 'Maguito explosivo' and the 'La Amenaza Siluria' StoryArc.
89* Standard recurring plot in ''Series/DoctorWho''.
90* Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer has saved the world more times than she can count.
91* The plot and motivation of nearly every single ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' series ''ever''. Be it from some evil witch or wizard, space pirates, warlords, demons, or mutants, boasting about saving the world means very little to any ranger, as they've ''all'' done it.
92* The entire plot of Season 3 of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' is the titular ship and her crew fighting to save Earth from the Xindi. Things become complicated when the Xindi's motivations are revealed.
93* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' at the end of season five (Lucifer), six (Eve and Raphael), seven (Leviathans), and eleven (The Darkness).
94* A common plot thread in ''Series/{{The Middleman}}''
95* Duncan Macleod from ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' saved the earth from [[BigBad Ahriman]].
96* So common in ''[[Series/StargateSG1 Stargate SG-1]]'' it is even joked about.
97-->'''O'Neill''': What's your time frame there?\
98'''Felger''': Uh, a day or so, then you guys can get right back to saving the world again. (laughs) For the seventh time.\
99'''Teal'c''': Eighth.\
100'''O'Neill''': What, you're counting?
101* Season 4 of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' and Season 2 of ''Series/TheFlash2014'' involve saving the earth.
102* In the episode "Better Angels" of ''Series/{{Supergirl 2015}}''.
103* Hercules saves the earth from Dahak, The Titans, and angels in ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys''.
104* Clark Kent saves the earth from [[BigBad Apokolips]] in the final episode of ''Series/{{Smallville}}''.
105* The ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' sisters save the earth on a number of occasions.
106[[/folder]]
107
108[[folder:Pinball]]
109* Featured in the very title of ''Pinball/PopeyeSavesTheEarth''.
110[[/folder]]
111
112[[folder:Theme Parks]]
113* In ''Ride/SpaceFantasyTheRide'' at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal Studios Japan]], guests are sent out on a mission to save the ''entire universe'' by restoring life to the sun.
114[[/folder]]
115
116[[folder:Video Games]]
117* In ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie: Nuts & Bolts'', one of the characters, Klungo, creates a [[StylisticSuck horrendous]] 8-bit arcade platforming game (which he proclaims to be the best ever), titled ''Hero Klungo Sssavesss Teh World'', in which you save the world by ''holding it over your head''.
118* In ''VideoGame/BlackSigil'', your ultimate goal is prevent the world from being [[spoiler: destroyed by The Forbidden]].
119* Crono from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' wants nothing more than to go to the Millennial Fair, but ends up roped into a {{time travel}}ing quest to save his planet from annihilation at the hands of an incomprehensible EldritchAbomination.
120* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' subverts this -- while your inevitable goal is to prevent Big Bad from taking over the world, you can't actually save the world. It's in ruins and your choice is who to hand the reconstruction contract to [[spoiler:an AI who wants to assimilate with you, a "compassionate conspiracy" leader that keeps his mentor in cryogenic almost-stasis in his basement, or a well-intentioned ally who thinks that the BigBad's technology is more trouble than it's worth and wants to destroy it and send the world into anarchy.]] If any of that counts as "saved" is largely a matter of opinion (or, as the game would put it, choice).
121** ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' goes one step further and allows you to pick any faction, even [[UnwittingPawn the until-then Bad Guys]], and hand the world over to them. Or [[OmnicidalNeutral kill them all]]. According to canon, none of these choices prevent ''Deus Ex 1'' from taking place.
122* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' plays with this trope. While ''technically'' you are saving the world by stopping the Blight (i.e. a vast horde of [[AlwaysChaoticEvil evil]] [[TheLegionsOfHell monsters]] led by a corrupted Dragon-God), the game's codex makes it quite clear that failure on your part will not actually lead to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world]]. Blights reoccur every few centuries in Thedas, so people who dedicate their lives to stopping them have created a military organization, the Grey Wardens, just for that purpose. If you do not succeed, then one of the other members of your organization, which is thousands strong, would finish it in your place. By stopping the Blight, all you really do is keep the country that you live in from being destroyed before the other Wardens could act. Your victory simply means that the threat ended before the rest of the world noticed the problem.
123** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' averts this: [[spoiler: Templars and mages ''will'' end up fighting one another]], but [[ForegoneConclusion how that]] [[FramingDevice comes about]] is up to [[PlayerCharacter Hawke]].
124* ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'' is notable here in that, while the first and fourth endings employ this, the second ending straight-up tells you that FailureIsTheOnlyOption, the third ending is mildly ambiguous as the world still needs saving, and the fifth ending... [[DroppedABridgeOnHim well, it's hard to tell really]].
125** According to WordOfGod, the fifth ending caused the downfall of [[VideoGame/{{Nier}} another world]]...
126*** And in ''that'' world, [[spoiler:Nier ultimately destroys the last hope for humanity, driving them all to extinction within a generation.]]
127* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' usually have this present in their main quest. It may start out with something smaller scale, especially in the first few games of the series, but by the end, there is usually some force threatening to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, if not [[ApocalypseHow destroy it entirely]].
128** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'', the EvilSorcerer Jagar Tharn has usurped the throne of the [[TheGoodKing benevolent emperor Uriel Septim VII]] and is allowing the Empire to fall apart (and even helping it along). Naturally, you must defeat him and restore the rightful Emperor to the throne. (Later games reveal that Tharn was [[TheManBehindTheMan in league with]] Mehrunes Dagon, see below.)
129** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'', you initially start off investigating the haunting of the eponymous city by the ghost of a former king as a favor to the Emperor. Naturally, this escalates until you are retrieving the key to an [[LostSuperweapon ancient superweapon]] and must decide which of several parties to give it to. One of the MultipleEndings has you activate yourself, with cataclysmic results.
130** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', you initially start off as an agent of the Empire investigating local superstitions. Naturally, this escalates until you are stepping up to face the BigBad PhysicalGod Dagoth Ur, who is using the power of [[CosmicKeystone the heart]] of the [[GodIsDead dead creator god]] to spread a MysticalPlague and, eventually, will use the power of said heart to activate a copy of the superweapon mentioned above, with the goal of TakingOverTheWorld. (And, according to some deeper lore, also [[EldritchAbomination imprinting his twisted and broken mind on reality itself]].)
131** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' plays it completely straight, with the entire world of Nirn being threatened by the ApocalypseCult and LegionsOfHell of Mehrunes Dagon, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of [[DestroyerDeity Destruction]], whose chief desire is [[OmnicidalManiac utterly destroy Nirn]].
132** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' again plays it straight with return of the dragon Alduin, the BeastOfTheApocalypse in [[HornyVikings Nordic]] tradition, who prophesied to "eat" the current world in order to make room for the next one. Naturally, you must stop him in order to save all of existence.
133** In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'', an {{MMORPG}} prequel to the main series, the world is threatened by Molag Bal, the Daedric Prince of [[TheCorrupter Corruption and Domination]], and one of the closest beings to a true GodOfEvil in the series. He's attempting to perform a "Planemeld", merging his [[EldritchLocation Oblivion realm]] of [[BloodyBowelsOfHell Coldharbour]] with Mundus, the mortal plane. Naturally, you must prevent this.
134* Frequently the case in ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games. The trope is played straight in I - V, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII VII]], and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII VIII]] and {{invoked|Trope}} in [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI VI]], [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX IX]] and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII XIII]] by the villains and in X by the heroes.
135** XII has the team of heroes trying to save the kingdom/city-state from becoming the battleground between two rival empires. Not the same scale, but played for just as much drama.
136** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII FFVII]] actually deconstructed this, [[DeconstructorFleet as it did with many other JRPG tropes.]] The line gets thrown around a lot, but as we learn more about the characters it becomes clear that there are more personal matters that drive them. Indeed, it almost becomes an excuse; an easy answer that people use because they don't want to admit to their real reasons, or can't explain. In the End, Cloud breaks RPG tradition and admits that the reason he's going after BigBad Sephiroth isn't due to some higher cause. For him it's a [[ItsPersonal Personal matter]], a fight that was started years ago that he intends to finish. Saving the Planet just happens to be a part of that.
137* Subverted in ''VideoGame/GoodbyeVolcanoHigh''. When the dinosaurs discover that a massive asteroid has entered the solar system and may collide with the planet in eight months, social media becomes littered with ideas of how to stop it, or at the very least survive the impact, or hopes that it'll miss and the panic was pointless. But it gradually becomes clear the asteroid ''will'' hit and there's no way of stopping or surviving it, forcing the dinosaurs to figure out how they'll spend their final days, leading to ApocalypseAnarchy [[spoiler:and, ultimately, DoNotGoGentle]].
138* In the RPG parts of ''VideoGame/HalfMinuteHero'', saving the world is so mundane task that while the hero is busy killing the boss to prevent it from catching world destruction spell, he will do other things like put out forest fires in the meantime.
139* The original ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' trilogy is primarily about Master Chief, Cortana, and friends trying to prevent the galaxy-killing Halos from firing. The other games have been a mix of world-saving and more small-scale stories.
140* Particularly galling in ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'', where your goal is generally exploring ancient ruins and collecting mystic statues.
141* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'': Jak does this every game. Not that he ever gets a "thank you" lasting more than 30 seconds into the next game...
142** Actually, he does get ''some'' respect in the third game, mostly from your allies and commoners, but it's easy to miss because literally everyone (yourself included) is preoccupied with the [[MeleeATrois three-way war]] that's slowly reducing the city to rubble.
143** Also, the fact that the upper class (reduced to consisting of [[EvilChancellor one guy]]) still hates you in the third game is a plot point.
144* Despite being rooted in the effort to SaveThePrincess, most games in the ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series fit this trope. In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', for example, you're trying to prevent the destruction of the world by keeping the moon from crashing into the realm of Termina. Several of the games involve preventing Hyrule from falling under the control of Ganondorf -- or, in the case of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', wresting it away from his control.
145* Being an epic SciFi trilogy, ''Franchise/MassEffect'' uses the scaled-up version: Shepard and friends are out to save all sentient life in the galaxy [[spoiler:as they have done every 50,000 years for, according to the "Leviathan" DLC for ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', at least ''ten billion years'']].
146* One of the complaints against the plot of ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' is that you aren't saving the world, and the titular city isn't attacked in the BadEnding, because StatusQuoIsGod in the Forgotten Realms.
147* One of the driving plot points for ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'' and ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve2''. The other point is trying to figure out why a bunch of animals are mutating and attacking people.
148* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'''s WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld plot really only involves saving random people in your city, but the heroes act as if they've saved the world. [[spoiler:Then it turns out that the entire world really is at stake, the heroes' lives included]], and they ''[[HeroicBSOD freak out]]''.
149* One of the (many) notable aspects of ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' was that the plot had nothing to do with saving ''anything'', be it city, world, plane etc. Rather, your main quest involved an amnesiac immortal trying to figure out who he is, who took his mortality, and eventually ''die''.
150** On one occasion you do have to save a town that had literally gone straight to hell. Or, more strictly speaking, it restores itself to its rightful place once you defeat the local villain.
151** Similarly, ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2: Mask of The Betrayer''. While there is a (in the grand scheme, rather small) danger to the world involved if you fail, but the majority of your motivation is that solving [[spoiler:the spirit eater curse]] prevents you from dying, the fact that it no longer terrorizes the world at large is only casually mentioned. This is due to many shared developers.
152*** Averted by the ''real'' evil ending which has [[spoiler:the player devouring the curse thus ''becoming'' the curse itself, getting him/herself expelled from the City of the Dead, then cleansed countless githyanki cities by devouring the souls of all the adults and then delivering their children to their mortal enemies, the ''brain-sucking'', ''mind-raping'' mind flayers aka Illithids. If that's not enough, he/she devours the spirits/souls inhabiting the land where he/she once helped (or screwed depending on your playing preference), turning it into a wasteland filled with the walking dead. As if that is still not enough, the player then travels to the planes of existence where the souls of his/her dead former treacherous companions are now resting... and eats them. Whoa. Understandably, the gods get so pissed off, they assembled a humongous army to kill the player and guess what? He/she eats some of the gods too!]]
153* Most of the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' films. And in the ''Diamond'', ''Pearl'', and ''Platinum'' games, replace "the world" with "all existence".
154** All of the games have this as a major subplot integrated with the main plot of ToBeAMaster since Gen III, barring the remakes of Gen I and Gen II. It started with May and Brendan in ''Ruby'', ''Sapphire'', and ''Emerald'', and proceeded to escalate from there, up to the above situation.
155* ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant'' shows why it's important to save the SaveTheWorld element for last. Being told that the end boss is going to destroy the world loses a lot of kick when you've already saved the world twice; even once before the halfway point of the game.
156* The ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games twist this around: the world is [[AfterTheEnd already destroyed]], and you get to "save" it by choosing how the pieces are put back together.
157* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' spends most of its time as a charming adventure revolving around exploration and piracy... until the final ten hours or so, when TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon is raised from the depths of the planet, a devastating superweapon is unleashed, a country is leveled, and {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s abound.
158* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Every core game focuses on the eponymous hero's quest to save the world. Initially from [[TakeOverTheWorld would-be world conqueror]] [[BigBad Dr. Eggman]], later games upped the stakes by having humanity and the world get threatened by [[AncientEvil Ancient Evils]] and [[OmnicidalManiac Omnicidal Maniacs]].
159* ''VideoGame/StarOcean''. All of them. ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'' and ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheLastHope'' replace "world" with "universe".
160* Many ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games mostly focus on [[SaveThePrincess rescuing Princess Peach]], but a good handful of the RPG spinoffs have saving the world as the main plot. For example, in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' Mario is tasked with finding the [[MacGuffin Crystal Stars]] before [[BigBad Grodus]] does, otherwise he will use the Crystal Stars to unlock an ancient power to conquer the world with.
161* ''VideoGame/UltimaIV'' averts this entirely, as there is no threat to the world whatsoever. ''VideoGame/UltimaVIII'' kind of subverts it, as you wind up doing a great deal of damage to one world in order to have the opportunity to try to save another. The rest of the main ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}s'' play this trope to varying degrees of straight.
162* The ultimate goal in [[spoiler:the pacifist run of]] {{VideoGame/Undertale}} is saving the world, both the underground and the surface world, from [[spoiler:Asriel]]. Even the final battle theme is called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin SAVE The World]]!
163* Every ''VideoGame/WildArms'' game.
164* [[NonIndicativeName Ironically]] [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''. The world never even comes close to being destroyed. The plot of the game is about getting [[spoiler:BackFromTheDead. The title refers to the fact that Neku needs to expand his horizons and stop being a gloomy loner. That said, Shibuya does come close to being destroyed and the heroes do have to save ''that''. Perhaps a more appropriate title would have been ''A Small District of Tokyo Ends With You'']].
165* Despite appearances of a plotless pretty-looking PuzzleGame, ''VideoGame/WorldOfGoo'''s WhamEpisode sets you down this path when you have to journey down [[CyberSpace the Information Superhighway]] and discover you can thwart the enemy by [[spoiler:flooding all their inboxes with spam, and not just any spam, all and any messages deleted in the history of the internet.]].
166* The plots of three of the first four ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'' games revolved around stopping two separate {{Alien Invasion}}s from destroying the [[TheAlliance Community of Planets]]. ''X: Beyond the Frontier'' saw [[YouCantGoHomeAgain fish-out-of-water]] Major Kyle William Brennan join up with the Argon Federation to stop a [[AIIsACrapshoot Xenon]] planet-killer. ''X2: The Threat'' had his son Julian Gardna working to destroy a [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Kha'ak]] planet-killer before it could be used a second time. ''X3: Reunion'' continued this storyline with Gardna working to stop the Kha'ak warfleet itself.
167* ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' did this in different quantities at the end of each game. Since the setting of the game is universal, the first game, which merely threatens the existence of a planet, can't really be a "Saving the World" scenario. The second game is rather unclear in whether or not the characters are saving the world or just fighting some bad guys. The 3rd game is phenomenally epic in scale.
168* ''VideoGame/YouHaveToBurnTheRope'': In the expository theme ("Now you're a hero, you burned the rope and saved us a-all"). This seems to be the only place in the game where this particular plot-point is mentioned, however. Interesting that the boss was a threat to the world, given that he's too tall to get out of his headquarters.
169[[/folder]]
170
171[[folder:Web Comics]]
172* ''Webcomic/OffWhite'': [[spoiler: Hugin said Munin's name]] after the former got blasted by [[spoiler: a spell Sköll cast.]]
173* ''Webcomic/{{Bard}}'': [[http://barred.smackjeeves.com/comics/814058/lunchbreak-saviour/ Averted and lampshaded]].
174-->'''Shelia''': Vaaas, what have I told you about saving the world?\
175'''Vas''': ''(sigh)'' "I am not to save the world or otherwise prevent its destruction during work hours."\
176'''Shelia''': Good boy.
177* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': MadScientist Kevyn Andreyasn wants to [[SavingTheWorld Save The Galaxy]], but the [[ObstructiveBureaucrat UNS]] is blocking.
178[[/folder]]
179
180[[folder:Western Animation]]
181* ''WesternAnimation/GadgetBoyAndHeather'': Gadget Boy, from the [[BigBad evil]] [[FemmeFatale villainess]] Spydra.
182* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': A recurring plot for the titular Avatar each arc. Korra had to save her world from non-bending terrorists, an EldritchAbomination, and a cabal that seeks to eliminate the world's governments.
183* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'': A recurring plot.
184** The earlier ''Franchise/Ben10'' series had this as a recurring theme (on several occasions, extending to the entire universe), but ''Omniverse'' makes it almost OnceAnEpisode and it seems like TheWorldIsAlwaysDoomed despite this being the LighterAndSofter series.
185* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': Danny and all the other ghosts turn the entire Earth intangible so the disasteroid could pass through.
186* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': One of its advertisement slogans is ''Saving the world before bedtime!''
187* In ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'', Fry and the rest of the Planet Express crew have saved the world (and sometimes the universe) more times then they can count. At one point, Fry saved the earth from giant brains.
188* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'':
189** Stated right at the beginning of the BraggingThemeTune: "I'm your basic average girl, and I'm here to save the world".
190** In the GrandFinale, Drakken and Shego end up [[EnemyMine helping to save the world]] from an AlienInvasion, much to Drakken's embarrassment.
191* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Twilight Sparkle and her friends do this at least once a season. They actually save the world by redeeming a thousand year old villain in the first two episodes, defeat a god of chaos at the beginning of the second season and stop an evil queen's plot at the end, restore a long-lost empire in the third season by defeating the evil emperor, so on and so on. By season 5, their friends and family have become used to it; at several points, they are surprised to be given the benefit of the doubt in odd situations, and everyone else points out that they've saved the world half a dozen times already.
192-->'''Pinkie Pie:''' ''(Just before the FinalBattle of the series)'' What are we going to do, Twilight?\
193'''Twilight:''' [[ShoutOut The same thing we do every time, Pinkie]]...[[WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain Try to]] ''[[WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain save]]'' [[WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain the world!]]
194* In ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'', Zim saved the earth from the Planet Jackers. Furthermore, Dib and Zim saved the earth from Tak in the episode Tak the hideous new girl. Dib also saved the earth from the various [[EvilPlan schemes]] of Zim.
195[[/folder]]

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