Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / ThereAreNoGlobalConsequences

Go To

1So you're living in TheUnmasquedWorld, have the aliens out in the streets, vampires out of the coffin, etc. etc.
2
3That has been accomplished through TheReveal, in a flashy and dramatic fashion. However, people just go on.
4TheReveal, as dramatic as it was, leads to no worse thing than maybe a little FantasticRacism or a HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster.
5
6No crazy military group will hunt you for your powers, or try to replicate them.
7No religions will spontaneously form or be destroyed as the Revelation of You goes around.
8No political leaders hurry out to make contacts, pass laws, etc.
9No scientists tear their hair out in frustration, spew around theories and ask you to JustThinkOfThePotential. Nobody will sneak in at night and try to steal your TransformationTrinket or ClingyMacGuffin to be a little super. And AliceAndBob still go to school, stay out of trouble, keep their heads down and maybe join the "I love aliens!" fanclub.
10
11No matter how widespread the information, nobody cares. Things slip quickly and quietly into MundaneFantastic, with little ruckus.
12
13See also ReedRichardsIsUseless, InferredHolocaust, NoEndorHolocaust, WorldOfWeirdness, NoSuchThingAsWizardJesus, and LawOfConservationOfNormality. Compare ExtraStrengthMasquerade, when the Masquerade doesn't even break despite events that ''should'' break it. Compare LikeRealityUnlessNoted, where everything sure seems like real life until someone mentions something that couldn't possibly exist in real life.
14
15----
16!!Examples
17[[foldercontrol]]
18
19[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
20* Messed around a bit with in ''Manga/{{Guyver}}''. After X-Day when [[AncientConspiracy Kronos]] unveils themselves and take over the world there are major shake-ups at high levels of government and the protagonists are forced further into hiding since their pursuers no longer have to worry keeping up the {{Masquerade}}. However for the average person on the street who is not a member of LaResistance the only real difference is recruiting ads and posters and a Zoanoid Boy Band.
21* Averted pretty handily in ''Manga/CannonGodExaxxion''. The Riofaldians integrate themselves into Earth culture and their impressive technology revolutionizes humanity... to the point that when they reveal their plans for invasion, they control almost all of the technology on the planet.
22* Averted in the manga ''Manga/WatashiNoMessiahSama''. Once the protagonist is forced to do TheReveal about his powers in front of the media and military and declare that he would go against the world if he had to, things get chaotic ''very'' quickly. His school sides with him ''against the world'' and secedes from Japan, declaring independence with [[RuleOfCool armies of tanks and ninjas]] led by a [[ScaryShinyGlasses eerily hyper-competent teacher]], while different nations send in special ops forces to wipe the protagonist and his companions out, which results in [[spoiler:a secondary character getting shot and dying, causing her love interest (the so-far unawakened BigBad) to perform the biggest FaceHeelTurn of the series, propelling the main plot to its finale]].
23* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Most people in Furinkan know about Ranma's curse. That means they know magic exists, for one. They talk about it as if they were discussing the weather. You may wonder why the government or army is not interested in groups of {{One Man Arm|y}}ies running around and regularly damaging buildings - especially since there's a major JGSDF base in Nerima.
24* The second season of ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' shows absolutely no consequence blowing the lid on the existence of the Contractors. The general public are somewhat nervous of them, but the can still blend in comfortably with society. Government agencies still use Contractors and Dolls as pawns; the only difference is that they can acknowledge them in their diplomatic dealings with each other.
25* The end of the ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' manga screws continuity in favor of allowing the main characters an easy commute, and (due to Koenma's coup) opens the borders between the human and demon dimensions, relying on Enki's noninterference laws to keep everything smooth, and the Masquerade is also abandoned, though it takes a while for humans to start believing in the demon population. This goes quite calmly. One of the reasons it goes calmly is that Togashi retconned that demons aren't actually prone to violent crime, and all the proof that they were was due to Enma Senior's propaganda. This despite the fact that they come form a feudal society where AsskickingLeadsToLeadership is the only thing anyone recognizes, and a lot of them [[ImAHumanitarian have humans as their natural diet]]. On the other hand, dispossessed political elements within the spirit world stage a terrorist coup in response and nearly blow up the world with a laser cannon.
26* In ''Manga/DearS'', when the eponymous aliens arrive in Japan, they make quite a stir...but that's because they're hot. They have advanced technology, but none of it percolates out into the general public, and they smoothly integrate into society without so much as a ripple.
27* In the final episode of ''Anime/TerrorInResonance'', [[spoiler: Nine exposes the Japanese government's construction of an illegal nuclear bomb and detonates it in the skies above Tokyo.]] In the one year TimeSkip afterwards, there is absolutely no hint of any global reaction to this incident.
28[[/folder]]
29
30[[folder:Comics]]
31* The existence of superhumans rarely has any longterm sociological effects in comics save for FantasticRacism against mutants -- but ''not'' against those with any other SuperHeroOrigin. Sometimes the effects of living in a world full of not only superbeings, but aliens, magical beings, {{Alternate Universe}}s, TimeTravel, and {{Mad Scientist}}s who [[CutLexLuthorACheck hoard]] [[ReedRichardsIsUseless their technology]] is explored in {{Elseworlds}} such as ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' and in purpose-specific {{Deconstruction}}s or {{Reconstruction}}s, but for the most part, it's LikeRealityUnlessNoted, no matter how unrealistic that might be. The lack of wild reaction could be caused by the fact that the heroes were there all the time. Sure, there were periods that were super-light, but every "normal" remembers when the heroes were around. If they ever leave, we know they'll always come back. In Franchise/TheDCU, the first superhero was actually the first human. He invented fire. So, a paleolithic Reed Richards actually helped people. The Franchise/MarvelUniverse has ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} (and its many spin-off agencies) to handle this, and as of ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}'' the government has taken a more active stance in the superhuman world.
32* The main big two comic book universes also have the existence of the supernatural known to the public. Proof that souls exist, demons are real, etc. would have profound implications for our society, especially for religions.
33* Deities also should make a difference. Marvel has mounds of evidence for the existence of Greek and Norse deities, which ''should'' have more of an effect on religion. DC has more or less equal evidence for Greek, Egyptian, and Judeo-Christian, explaining the lack of departure from said religions there, although not the lack of flocking ''to'' them.
34** This varies. Knowledge of the existence of the Norse pantheon in Marvel comics, for example, might be no older than Thor's time as a New York-based superhero. Thanks to ComicBookTime, that's probably only 10 to 15 years. It's plausible that there would be a modern Aesir-worshipping movement after that much time but then again plausible that there wouldn't be, considering how many nigh-godlike beings there are in this world that ''don't'' claim to be gods or care about being worshipped. Some Marvel continuities, in particular the 2099 line, are set further in the future and do indeed worship Thor and show other cultural impacts of twentieth-century "age of heroes".
35** At least one story in the Thor comics (right before Walt Simonson's legendary run) involved Thor discovering a cult in Chicago (portrayed as good hearted but misguided) that publically worshipped him - he responded by making a comment to the effect that he no longer desired worshippers. The same storyline introduced a Fundamentalist Christian supervillain named "The Crusader".
36** They know that Thor and Zeus ''exist'', but that doesn't mean they believe they are ''gods''. The average modern citizen in the Marvel or DC universes presumably believes something like "In ancient times, people with superhuman powers were worshiped as gods; but in this modern age, we know they're just superheroes." There's also the fact that, as powerful as Thor is, there are a ''lot'' of other beings that can at least give him a good fight, if not completely outclass him, and are explicitly ''not'' gods, or even started as ordinary humans.
37*** This very explanation is how [[FlatEarthAtheist in-universe atheists]] like [[ComicBook/MisterTerrific Mr. Terrific]] justify their beliefs.
38*** This is also the approach taken during the first few volumes of ''ComicBook/TheUltimates''. Thor might be a god, he might be insane, and/or he might just be a super soldier.
39** In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'' Diana gets some near fanatical backlash from fundamentalist religious groups, because her history and parentage (she's [[Characters/WonderWomanAres Ares]]' granddaughter and regularly fights him) indicate that Greek mythology has a basis in reality. Some high school Wonder Woman fan clubs get forcibly disbanded as pagan cults by paranoid parents and "concerned citizens".
40** Considering AllMythsAreTrue, how could you be expected to choose ''any'' pantheon over another? If you lived in the DCU, and there was evidence for the Greek pantheon, Egyptian pantheon, and Judeo-Christian God, why wouldn't your religious deities be expected to exist as well?
41** It's worth noting that there are thousands of people worshiping Thor now, in the real world, when they have no better evidence for his existence than do any other religious folk. Having the potential to have him autograph your silver Mjolnir pendant for you might make some difference, but it's clearly not necessary.
42* Averted in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', where the global consequences of the existence of Dr. Manhattan are numerous - notably, the existence of various gizmos made possible by his synthesizing vast stocks of rare elements or that he invented himself. Politically, because "the Superman exists and he's American"[[note]]In fact, according to the "extra" material at the end of each issue, that's the modified quote. The original was "God exists, and he's American... and if that doesn't scare you, you're not thinking hard enough".[[/note]], the USA has enjoyed decades of strategic superiority, which has made the Communist bloc incredibly paranoid.
43* Averted quite nicely in the fourth volume of Mirage's ''Comicbook/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|Mirage}}'' series. The series starts out with the Utroms, aliens who have appeared in the story before, coming to Earth and offering the planet a chance to join the larger galactic community. The narration describes how the world reacts to the offer and knowledge that aliens exist. Among other things, religions try to fit the aliens' existence into their doctrines, several regimes are overthrown, and the stock market is thrown into chaos. There're more mundane consequences, such as a vicious bidding war between toy companies for the right to produce Utrom plushies. The story resumes after the governments of the world have mostly managed to smooth things out, but the way society has changed to accommodate the aliens is a major part of the series from that point on.
44* Averted in ''ComicBook/TheUniques'', where public knowledge of the existence of people with superpowers caused the Cold War to last several years longer than it did in the real world, and resulted in a superpowered terrorist attack that wiped out most of New York City in 1992. The America presented in ''The Uniques'' also seems somewhat more conservative; in this universe, the Republicans either held onto or re-took the White House in the nineties.
45* Averted in IDW's run of ''Franchise/TheTransformers''. The social and political effects that the sudden revelation that there are intelligent alien species out there and [[ParanoiaFuel they can perfectly blend in with earth technology]] is one of the major focuses following the end ''ComicBook/TheTransformersAllHailMegatron'' (while their existence had previously been outed in ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries Escalation]]'' and ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMaximumDinobots'', those were much smaller and more isolated incidents compared to All Hail Megatron where the Decepticons occupied New York and launched attacks against multiple sites around the world).
46* The ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse will basically just use any crazy idea, but none of it tends to have real consequences. In particular, advanced space travel is usually possible if you just spend some money on it, but nobody bothers to exploit this for either research or even profit unless Scrooge [=McDuck=] happens to get some crazy idea for one story. Gyro Gearloose and other {{Gadgeteer Genius}}es can build just about anything else too, but nobody bothers to use that for anything much either. Meanwhile, the ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse has a slightly milder case, because Mickey does occasionally get sent on high-tech adventures ForScience
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
50* ''Fanfic/AvengerOfSteel'': {{Averted|Trope}}. Superman is shown to have a definite effect on the world other than supervillain battles.
51** Using his advanced technology and superpowers, he able to track criminals in all sorts of ways, from the pedophiles and mobsters on the internet to using his super hearing to stop shootings. It gets to the point where the smarter criminals have to start adapting their methods to a world with Superman.
52** Superman's intervention in conflicts, and fear thereof, caused wars and military excursions around the world to grind to a halt. Natasha notes that it's the closest Earth's ever come to world peace.
53* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' plays with this trope, as it is quite clear that the events of the story have a ''significant'' effect on the real world, but Harry is largely insulated from it by his father and the other Avengers. However, this insulation only goes so far with a number of factions looking to use Harry and other newly emerging superhumans as part of the renewed LensmanArmsRace, spurred on by the fact that HYDRA - until chapter 75 - largely manage to evade the Avengers and SHIELD and strike with impunity, doing so with pinpoint precision owing to how deep the HYDRA infiltration of SHIELD goes (once they're found, however, they are monumentally screwed). Vague mention is also made of some people's renewed worship of Norse Gods, despite both Thor and Loki saying, 'no, really, we're not interested', while at least one atheist (Carol Danvers) has shifted to NayTheist. So the consequences aren't so much non-existent as... deferred.
54** Completely averted at the end of the fic. After the FinalBattle and near-destruction of the world, it's mentioned that governments everywhere are stepping up their defense programmes, both mundane and supernatural. The Chinese, Americans, Russians, French, Germans, Brazilians and Israelis are all working on getting helicarriers, and probably India, Japan and South Africa too.
55** And though the [[spoiler:resurgence of the Red Room]] in the sequel, ''Ghosts of the Past,'' only takes place across about twelve days, the social and political effects are felt around the world, and probably will be for years to come.
56* Averted in ''FanFic/WorldwarWarOfEquals''. The huge amount of defense spending causes a recession and the world's geography and politics changes rapidly and this is all ''before'' the invasion. During the war, many oil processing plants on land are destroyed by Race airstrikes and the prices of oil skyrocket.
57* FanFic/RealityChecksNyxverse averts this trope in regards to the [[Fanfic/PastSins original fanfic]]. Specifically, ''Alicornundrum'' shows that much of the world suffered from two weeks of TheNightThatNeverEnds on one side and EndlessDaytime on the other, and the political fallout from the need to hold someone responsible.
58[[/folder]]
59
60[[folder:Film]]
61* In ''Film/AirForceOne'', the titular plane is fired upon by Kazakhstani-piloted [=MiGs=]. That's a declaration of war right there. Presumably Washington and the UN are going to be having a little talk once the (former) Liberty 2-4 gets back.
62* ''{{Film/Bright}}'' takes place in a world where fantastical creatures like orcs, elves, dwarves and etc., have existed side by side with humanity since the dawn of time. This is also a world where [[InSpiteOfANail things turned out the same way as ours]] with at least Christianity still existing (Los Angeles was founded by Catholic missionaries and several characters drops several "Jesus Christ" swears) alongside widely different religious beliefs like the Orcish faith (which has traits of [[CrystalDragonJesus Christianity and druidic faiths cobbled together]]). Movies like Franchise/{{Shrek}} and historical events such as the Mexican-American War are also referenced and the Crips exist despite orcs being an oppressed minority.
63* Quietly touched on in the ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' trilogy. In the final scene of the first film, the family gathers around the table to partake of an enlarged turkey dinner, and there is talk of eliminating world hunger. However, the second film shows the attempt to perfect an enlargement ray, although Wayne is now part of an official lab. The direct-to-video third film may hold the key to this apparent CanonDiscontinuity: Wayne was forbidden to use the shrink ray again, under orders from a committee of the FDA and his wife Diane, despite now being president of Szalinski Labs. Let's apply some FridgeLogic: either the calorie count of enlarged food remains identical, or some other side effect of using the shrink ray as an enlarger showed up in a way that threatened the food supply and somehow ruined that dinner.
64* The box-office bomb ''{{Film/Stealth}}'' depicts Hollywood-hero pilot Ben Gannon and his unruly UCAV friend EDI fly into Russian airspace where three of the country's Su-37s attack them for it, but that's as close to global consequences as it gets. When not only do the duo toast all three Russian pilots on THEIR OWN SOIL, but then rescue their token-love interest pilot Kara Wade from NORTH KOREA by gunning down a bunch of N. Korean soldiers...once again, on their own soil. Does Russia declare another Cold War that actually goes ahead with the Nukes, with N. Korea joining in turning it into WWIII? Nope!
65* {{Justified}} in ''Film/TopGun''. The climactic dogfight between the USS ''Enterprise'' air wing and an [[AnonymousRinger unidentified Warsaw Pact-aligned country]] ought to have resulted in significant repercussions up to and including war, but Air Boss "Stinger" Johnson says afterwards that the other side is apparently [[InternalRetcon denying the battle even took place]], possibly out of embarrassment at their pilots' poor performance against the TOPGUN grads (attacking at six to three odds and losing four [=MiG-28s=] to one F-14).
66* ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': The previous film took place during the Nixon administration. It's interesting to note that the "new" timeline in 1983 has Reagan as the U.S. President and a Germany that remains divided into West and East. Despite all of the events in 1973, the Cold War seems unaffected. Not even Apocalypse himself could change things: [[spoiler:he launched all the world's nuclear weapons into space, but by the end of the movie, the countries are rebuilding their arsenals]].
67* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', after the existence of people who turn into giant red pandas is revealed to the world after the climax, nothing significant changes for Mei and her family other than her family temple becoming more popular because of her panda form.
68[[/folder]]
69
70[[folder:Literature]]
71* Averted in ''Literature/TheSookieStackhouseMysteries''. The U.S. is one of only a handful of countries that [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman considers vampires legally people]] (read: it's illegal to [[VanHelsingHateCrimes hunt them down and kill them]] -- though that doesn't stop people from doing so and using vamp blood as a potent drug). The first book mentions that the citizens of Afghanistan ripped their vampire spokeswoman into bloody shreds. And there's The Brotherhood of the Sun -- an anti-vamp Christian sect. This may have something to do with the fact that they ''[[ImAHumanitarian eat people]]''.
72* Both averted and played straight in ''Literature/PandorasStar''. Humanity has changed irretrievably by the time the main story begins, and the general population is aware of this. The ''alien antagonists'', however, are taken over by a single alien mind, which nukes the competing aliens and is oblivious or indifferent to the fact it has caused a nuclear winter on its home world, carrying out plans for an invasion as if nothing has changed.
73** Primes care nothing about any life than theirs. They eradicated all other life on their home world, including plants, that isn’t Prime. The introduction to their world mentions they use radioactive jets to land spaceships and that newly hatched Primes have neurological damage and radiation burns. A nuclear winter, if it didn’t already exist, would make little difference.
74* ''Literature/LeftBehind'': The hand of God reaching down to spare Israel from the entire military might of both Russia and Ethiopia before the series begins, changes nobody's mind about religion, leaving most of the world to be Left Behind when the rapture comes. When a third of the world's population disappears (including all the children), everybody who's been Left Behind continues on as if everything were normal. All the massive changes that later follow to the world's economy, religions, and spiritual structure come about as a result of the Antichrist's manipulations, which have no earthly cause/effect relationship to the Rapture event. Yeah, there are people who don't like this series very much. Similar criticisms can be leveled against [[ComicBook/ChickTracts Jack Chick's]] versions of the Rapture and Tribulation.
75* Averted in the last ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' book. For starters, two years after the end of the war Jake is hired by the UN to train morph-capable paramilitary units to combat terrorism against alien tourists.
76* In ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'' series, vampyres ostensibly suffer immense FantasticRacism, but most popular actors, singers, and others in the entertainment industry are vampyres. Vampyres also were many historical figures, who were apparently just as influential as they were in real life. Nor do the governments have any problem with the vampyres keeping their own government, setting up Houses of Night in various towns (even though regular people supposedly hate the presence of vampyres), and automatically having all fledglings legally emancipated- although these things are partly explained by both sides' desire for segregation. Also, even though vampyrism is supposed to occur because of junk DNA and a hormonal imbalance, there's no talk of scientists studying vampyres to find ways to prevent regular people from turning into them or reduce the risk of fledglings dying horrible deaths.
77* Nicely averted in Creator/DavidBrin's ''Literature/{{Existence}}'', in which humans find themselves fighting off a very ''slow'' invasion by, essentially, religious parasites. Global society is heavily disrupted because ''that's how the invasion fights''.
78* Avertedin the closing volume of ''Magic Ex Libris'', in which the {{Masquerade}} being demolished results in a heaping helping of military kidnappings, terrorism against fantastical folk, and eventually the creation of a Vatican City-esque demi-nation to prevent the constant attempts at military applications for Libriomancy.
79* In the world of ''Literature/DanShambleZombiePI'', ten years after the Big Uneasy transformed a significant fraction of humanity into supernatural creatures and the dead started returning from the grave, society is pretty much back to normal. Yes, Dan's home city now boasts its own Unnatural Quarter, a few hate groups have changed their branding to add "anti-monster" to their roster of bigotries, and Dan's partner Robin has built her legal career around defending Unnaturals' civil rights, but the biggest ''overall'' social change mentioned is that the Goth subculture has disappeared among mundane humans, as "spooky" is now too mainstream for ex-Goths' tastes.
80* ''Literature/WhenSupernaturalBattlesBecameCommonplace'', a group of {{Ordinary High School Student}}s with an addition of one {{Chuunibyou}} randomly receive godlike magical powers. Their lives are forever altered, they are no longer 'humans', but gods. Together they control the elements, the act of creation and time itself. There's nothing they cannot accomplish, acquire or do -- But, does it really change anything? Well, Not really. They cast the {{Phlebotinum}} aside and carry on with their high school club activities. This is helped by the fact that [[spoiler:one of the characters is trying to keep them LockedOutOfTheLoop from the superpower battle royale the best he can]].
81[[/folder]]
82
83[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
84* Initially ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' in the first few seasons presented the idea that superheroes and supervillains (and later super-powered humans) were a new thing in that setting, which was mostly identical to our world save for a few geographic differences, with the origin of [[Series/TheFlash2014 the Flash]] being the open introduction of people with superpowers and everyone befuddled by the concept. Go forward a few more seasons in the Arrowverse and it's revealed there was at least one costumed supervillain operating two decades previously, that an official team of superheroes fought on behalf of the Allies in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, that magic existed with its own community of users, and that the US government (at least) was well aware of the existence of hostile aliens since the 1950s. And yet none of this changed the world in any significant way until Oliver Queen returned to Starling City and put on a green hood.
85* The {{Masquerade}} and WeirdnessCensor were firmly in place in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', but ''Series/{{Angel}}'' more or less eliminated that, showing that the masquerade was mostly a facade and there are huge communities not only aware of demons, but ''composed'' of demons, and magic and weirdness abound (and can't even be handwaved away by the fact that everyone's weird in LA). Sure, the really powerful keep a lid on things, right? But shopkeepers are aware of this stuff, and use it, and yet somehow everything looks perfectly normal out there. In Buffy the federal government ''did'' get involved at one point, but even that didn't lead to any noticeable long-term effects past the end of the given season (4).
86* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' looks like a case of no global consequences, with things exactly like real life despite Earth suffering monster attacks since 1993 and making formal FirstContact in '98. But keep in mind that the government debuted [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue their own Ranger team]] to deal with paranormal threats in 2000, Ranger tech was used to create clean energy in 2019, and by [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2025]] aliens will have settled on earth and there'll be SpacePolice to deal with alien criminals.
87** There are also hints that morphing technology is out there for those who want it, even if only a very few can get it (a private corporation studied Ranger tech in 2001; the 2007 team was publicly backed by a billionaire with his own company; and the 2008 mentor got morphers "from a guy who knew a guy who had an uncle", which to some suggests a black market). They're still lowballing the consequences by a long shot, but they're there.
88** Of course, part of the reason it can get away with this is because some series that ''do'' have undeniable global effects (''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' had a robot apocalypse, and ''Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge'' ended with time travel shenanigans where [[spoiler:the dinosaurs never went extinct]]) are turned into parallel dimensions that don't affect the "main" universe.
89* The Franchise/StargateVerse didn't have the opportunity to end the SGC's masquerade (the reveal having been slated for the movie ''Stargate Revolution'', which ended in DevelopmentHell) but a few {{alternate universe}}s visited in ''Series/StargateSG1'' avert the trope. In "The Road Not Taken", the United States has been under under martial law for three years due to widespread riots after the president revealed the existence of aliens and the Stargate program during Anubis' attack on Antarctica.
90** In the main universe, the masquerade seems to have been implausibly durable, since by the beginning of ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' (concurrent with season 8 of ''SG-1'') there's more than 2 dozen nations and tens of thousands of personnel directly involved in the Stargate program and Atlantis expedition. Even accounting for the possibility that not every national government that has some of its citizens represented in the Atlantis expedition was actually informed and instead it was just carefully-vetted individual scientists from those nations being invited, that's still a secret that's been spread far too widely to plausibly avoid getting leaked. And at a minimum, the governments of all 5 permanent member nations of the UN Security Council (US, UK, France, Russia and China) ''are'' in on the secret by this point.
91* Averted in ''Series/TrueBlood'', based on ''Literature/TheSookieStackhouseMysteries'' novels (see above). The mockumentary detailing the events leading to the series mentions that within hours of vampires revealing themselves, many world cities were engulfed in panic and rioting.
92* ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|1975}}'': In "Judgment from Outer Space", the world is visited by a confirmed alien who demonstrates his powers and meets with world leaders such as President Roosevelt. But once Wonder Woman beats up a few Nazis and rescues everyone from their clutches, the very existence of extraterrestrial life drops out of everyone's sight.
93* Totally averted in ''Series/TorchwoodMiracleDay'' when the entire human race stops dying, but still age, get sick, and suffer bodily harm while remaining fully alive with any injury, even decapitation, unless incinerated. Not only has the entire political climate changed, a complete overhaul of the medical care system is in the works since the very definition of life has changed. It eventually culminates in a second Great Depression and draconian methods of PopulationControl, namely [[spoiler:throwing comatose, brain-dead or undesirable people into ovens]]. If anything, the global changes may be happening faster than they would in reality, though it's hard to judge without a real-world example.
94** Ironically, there are also global consequences once the Miracle ends, when all the people who should've died during it (besides those who've had the opportunity to heal) die at once. Jack points out that most funeral homes are scheduling at least ten funerals every hour due to the "backlog".
95[[/folder]]
96
97[[folder:Video Games]]
98* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'': This is revealed to be the ''invoked point'' of the ludicrously expensive Big Shell; it was branded with all the red flags of a madman designer who worshiped a global terrorist, while its control center is a superintelligent AI that has been trained to micromanage all the anxiety and suspicion of living on and/or around something so insane. When the Shell ''crashes into New York City'', the AI is so good at its job that people go about their daily lives, completely ignoring the giant oil rig / war machine hybrid that has rammed itself straight into a museum, and it does this ''while it's high on a computer virus''. Deeming the project a success, the conspiracy applies the AI to pretty much anything the conspiracy wants to keep under wraps, and the world goes insane.
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Web Comics]]
102* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'', Bob & Jean were afraid for Molly the Monster's safety after she was born in a lab accident, so they [[PutOnABus sent her to live with Jean's Uncle]] on a farm in the middle of nowhere. When they realized she was unhappy there, they let her come back home, darn the consequences... and there don't seem to have ''been'' many consequences. Most of the townsfolk concluded she's a relative of Bob's who is deformed and hairy, but otherwise harmless. Well, they ''did'' form a small angry mob to hunt her down once, but that was [[EvilTwin Galatea's]] fault.
103* If you start reading ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'' without reading the previous works set in the same [[Webcomic/WalkyVerse shared universe]], you'd completely miss out on the fact that ''Shortpacked!'' takes place in a world where aliens have been publicly revealed to exist, it's public knowledge that the US government has reversed engineered alien technology including giant robots and spaceships, and where just a short time before Shortpacked! starts, Earth fought a war against the Martians who wanted to KillAllHumans.
104* Very few people in ''Webcomic/{{minus}}'' seem to care that there is an [[LittleMissAlmighty omnipotent child]] running around causing strange things to happen-- even after her actions result in aliens and the animal kingdom declaring war on the human race which is only stopped when said omnipotent child summons a giant octopus which destroys a city. [[spoiler:After minus accidentally sends everyone to the spirit world, this trope is averted, as the smartest people who ever lived get together and force her to sort things out.]] No one ever gets that upset because ''minus doesn't want them to.''
105* ''WebComic/AndShineHeavenNow'': While Erin has admitted that she made the final story arc a TimeSkip specifically so she didn't have to work out the ramifications of humanity finding out vampires and the supernatural exist, [[WordOfGod she has confirmed]] that world militaries now have anti-vampire units and first responders are trained on how to deal with supernatural problems. Conversely, though, because of the devastation the Millennium attacks caused, vampire and zombie media don't get a resurgence because it's no longer seen as appropriate for fantasy fodder. There is also mention in the final arc about the U.S. and Brazilian governments arguing over who has jurisdiction to handle a rogue dragon.
106[[/folder]]
107
108[[folder:Web Original]]
109* In the ''WebOriginal/{{Paradise}}'' setting, humans are changed into {{Funny Animal}}s, but the effects of the change are InvisibleToNormals who see the Changed as the people they used to be…until the setting's WeirdnessCensor stops working. After [[TheUnmasquedWorld the unmasquing]], the world seems to go on largely the same as usual (with one or two notable exceptions), with Changed being generally accepted into society. This is probably due to lingering effects of the [[WeirdnessCensor "Reality Distortion Field"]], which may still be influencing humanity even as it lets them see the Changed's true faces. (It may also be that stories in which more global consequences do happen simply haven't been written yet.) Also partially justified by the fact that the governments of the world had a few years of advance warning; they didn't know the Reality Distortion Field was going to go kaput, but they ''did'' know that the number of Changed was doubling every year and that it was going to be impossible to keep this quiet forever, so extensive preparations were made for the inevitable BrokenMasquerade.
110[[/folder]]
111
112[[folder:Western Animation]]
113* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'', there are aliens -- especially Ben's -- all over the news, but besides the established [[TheMenInBlack Men in Black]], The Plumbers, and one task force, humanity seems to not care that there are other sentient lifeforms out there. The only scientist to ever go near Ben is the [[MadScientist crazy one]] who wants the [[MacGuffin Omnitrix]]. As does every alien and their grandmothers -- but no humans. That said the introduction of the Forever Knights began to change this, as they demonstrated many humans were against aliens, and as future seasons debuted their role increased and revealed a whole alien/human conflict conspiracy ongoing since ancient times. By ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' aliens have integrated into society and most of the impact has been had already.
114** This more jarring in the [[LighterAndSofter 2016 reboot]], where Ben doesn't even try to maintain a SecretIdentity and everyone treats a ten year old shapeshifting using alien technology like an UnusuallyUninterestingSight.
115* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}: The Goliath Chronicles''. After the {{Masquerade}} is nuked, a {{Fantastic Racis|m}}t group forms against them, and lawmakers try to figure out just where a Gargoyle stands in regard to the law (including a memorable case where Goliath is arrested and brought to trial and his lawyer asks him to try to get off on the grounds that he's not human).
116* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': An odd case. The series is rife with AlternateHistory (some of which may or may not have been influenced by the gems) and subtle differences to the real world (geography included) if you pay close attention, but overall the world is mostly similar to our own and the general course of human history remains mostly unchanged by the events of the gem war (the U.S. still exists for example). Even within Beach City, the gems' home base, people seem to barely know that they exist, and apparently there have been no attempts to excavate sites formed during the days of gem colonization.
117[[/folder]]

Top