Line #47 Main/WatchingTroyBurn


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6	[[quoteright:320:[[Literature/TheAeneid https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TroyInFlames.jpg]]]]
7	[-[[caption-width-right:320:Don't worry Aeneas, [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire you'll make those Greeks pay]].]]-]
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9	->''"Beneath an ancient laurel tree in the courtyard of King Priam’s palace stood the altar of Zeus. It was there that Hecuba gathered her daughters for sanctuary when they were woken by the din of the invading army and the shouts and screams in the streets below the palace. Frail as he was, Priam wanted to bring his spear with him, ready to hold the Argives off, but Hecuba held on to him, wailing that it was madness for a feeble old man to join the fight. So they were standing together beneath the tree, trembling at the terrifying noises rising up from the city."''
10	-->-- '''Lindsay Clarke''', ''[[Literature/TheTrojanCycle The War at Troy]]''
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12	Watching Troy Burn is what the heroes do as they see a home or place they care about being attacked and possibly even [[LateToTheTragedy having already been destroyed]]. And the thing that makes it so heart-wrenching to them is that for some reason, there's nothing that they can do about it. This trope is often paired with a camera technique to personalize this and drive it home to the viewers, who (let's face it) have likely been desensitized to this sort of thing. The camera will show the heroes approach a cliff/window and get a ReactionShot of each, then turn and take a good, long look at the burning/ruined panorama, zooming from behind the heroes to a bird's eye view. They'll likely stand agape, TheHeart will likely [[SecurityCling cling]] to TheHero and turn away from the carnage, and at least one hero will [[SkywardScream fall to their knees and/or scream to the heavens.]]
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14	It doesn't have to be their actual hometown, or even a town, though it can be and this makes it hurt all the more when [[WarComesHome a war unleashes chaos and destruction on the homefront]] when the war was supposed to be far away. A bad guy thrashing the [[HomeBase hero's secret base]], a BaseOnWheels, or a friendly king's castle can have the same effect. Basically, any landmark/large object/population center the heroes have a large emotional attachment to can be the "Troy." That said, burning a place that is physically gorgeous like the ShiningCity can have double the emotional impact. Villains into EvilGloating will likely enjoy [[ForcedToWatch forcing]] a captured hero watch the destruction.
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16	The placement of Watching Troy Burn in a story changes its intended effect. When used at the beginning it's a DoomedHometown, meant to [[ItsPersonal make it personal]] for the heroes. In the middle of a story, it ups the emotional stakes, AnyoneCanDie and this BigBad is ''not'' a HarmlessVillain whose defeat will [[InferredHolocaust ensure no harm happens]]. In the end, and it's likely a cause for a DownerEnding or at best BittersweetEnding. May lead to TheRuinsICaused, although often enough the hero is not given the chance to look back. This trope is often caused by TroubleFollowsYouHome
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18	This trope is named for the city of [[Literature/TheTrojanCycle Troy]], which after years of being besieged was penetrated by the TrojanHorse and razed to the ground. All over [[LivingMacGuffin Helen]].
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20	Often preceded by AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs. See also AMillionIsAStatistic. Contrast RapePillageAndBurn, which is what those within "Troy" experience. Contrast also WhileRomeBurns, for cases where the characters show a nonchalant attitude about the destruction.
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22	[[color:red:As you can guess, this is a '''{{Spoiler}} trope''', so read the examples at your own risk.]]
23
24	----
25	!!Examples:
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
29	* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' starts with Shingashina falling to the Titans after a hundred years. As Armin, Eren, and Mikasa sail away on a boat they hear the cries of fear and see the smoke rising from several places. Bonus points for Shingashina actually being surrounded by walls thought to be impregnable.
30	* The destruction of the ''Manga/BlackLagoon'''s dock and headquarters can be seen from the water during the Greenback Jane arc, while the boat is hauling engine to get there on time. They don't, but, it is rebuilt. It's one of the few times Dutch drops the Mother F Bomb.
31	* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' begins with the nation of Japan being attacked and occupied by Britannian forces as Lelouch and Suzaku, who are residing there, helplessly watch.
32	* In the WhamEpisode of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', this happens to the Section Six HQ.
33	* The titular character of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' returns to his beloved village... to find it has been crushed into a rubble-filled crater with hundreds, if not thousands, dead. While the deaths were reversed, this made the actual objective of Akatsuki painfully clear.
34	* ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'': Pejite.
35	* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
36	** As the only survivor from Ohara, Robin sailed away watching the island burn up in an inferno.
37	** The fate of Trafalgar Law's birthplace: "The White City" Flevance, a northern country that fell victim to an outbreak of lead poisoning. Neighboring kingdoms believed the sickness to be contagious and burnt Flevance to the ground following a mass genocide. Law, like Robin, was the only survivor.
38	* The fortress of Alania in ''Roleplay/RecordOfLodossWar'', with the heroes escaping to witness its destruction by the Black Knight, Ashram.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Comic Books]]
42	* When the Sentry brought Asgard to the ground in ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}'', this was the universal reaction.
43	* In ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'' comic book story "The Smurf Menace", the original Smurfs watched helplessly while being carried off in chains as the Gray Smurfs burned the Smurf Village to the ground.
44	* Issue 175 of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' had Eggman invade and raze Knothole to the ground. Sonic made it back after being attacked by Snively with enough time to watch Castle Acorn be obliterated.
45	* ''ComicBook/StarWarsLegacy'' opens with a young Cade Skywalker watching helplessly as the Jedi Temple on Ossus is sacked by the One Sith, culminating in his father Kol [[LastStand being cut down while trying to protect the survivors' retreat]]. The experience scars Cade for life, serving as the CynicismCatalyst that turns him from a hopeful padawan with great potential to a bitter, drug-addicted AntiHero.
46	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
47	** ''ComicBook/TheFallOfMetropolis'' has Perry White watch helplessly as Metropolis is destroyed by missiles meant to destroy the city in case of an alien invasion. They were launched because of a lackey of ComicBook/LexLuthor's refused to believe his boss would willingly surrender to Superman.
48	** In the Pre-Crisis era, three-year-old Kal-El watched helplessly as his parents shoved him in a rocket and launched him into space as their home crumbled around them and the planet exploded.
49	** In her different origin stories -''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton1959'', ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'', ''ComicBook/LastDaughterOfKrypton''...-, as well as different [[ComicBook/Injustice2 alternate universes]], ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} is the one who watches helplessly as her hometown Argo City gets destroyed and/or Krypton blows up while she gets blasted into space.
50	** At the climax of ''ComicBook/NewKrypton'', Superman is fighting Zod's soldiers and Supergirl is locked up in a radiation pod when the planet goes up in flames around them. And they can't do anything to save it.
51	* ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage'' has the Foot, led by a resurrected Shredder, attack the Turtles while they're living with April in her father's old junk shop, with the store being burned to the ground in the process, leading to the Turtles, April and Casey Jones going into exile in Massachusetts for a year, before kicking off the "Return To New York" storyarc. This storyline has been adapted in different ways, most notably in the 1990 movie and the 2003 cartoon.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
55	* ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' has the two main characters looking from afar as the nightclub they set up goes up in flames.
56	* At the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'', the village of Shostka, Russia suffers a pogrom at the hands of Russian Cossacks, and their [[CatsAreMean pet cats]]. They set fire to most of the buildings, and after the Mousekewitz family survives the attack, they watch from a distance as their village goes up in flames. Thus, they decide to go to America, where there are no cats. [[spoiler:Or so they think...]]
57	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'', while escaping in submarine, Unikitty watches the remnants of Cloud Cuckoo Land sink beneath the waves and forces herself not to give in to negative emotions.
58	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'', Ariel can only watch in helpless horror as her father King Triton [[TrashTheSet destroys her secret grotto]] [[UnstoppableRage by obliterating all her human treasures with his trident]] after she confessed her love for the human Prince Eric and her desperate pleas to stop only fall on deaf ears. Even Sebastian is visibly horrified and covers his eyes at one point.
59	* This happens in ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'', directly cutting off a cheery song to show us the burnt ruins of a village and an entire army. This can be heard in the soundtrack - where the final note just fades with a kind of horrified confusion.
60	* Sarah and her son Jim Hawkins in ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' look back at their burning home, the Benbow inn (torched by pirates led by Long John Silver), as they're sped away to safety. [[spoiler:Don't worry, it gets better and Jim gets enough treasure to get it rebuilt much bigger and grander.]]
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
64	* Towards the end of ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', Home Tree, the home of the Na'vi, come sunder attack by human forces.
65	* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'' can be summed up as Bruce's struggle to prevent this from happening to Gotham and his numerous failings along the way.
66	** Ra's Al Ghul burns down Wayne Manor in ''Film/BatmanBegins'' while trying to destroy the city.
67	** Gotham's citizens being driven into a frenzy in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' feels this way emotionally to the characters as well. Summed up by Alfred in reference to the Joker: "Some men just want to watch the world burn."
68	** Gotham City getting overrun by Bane in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' merges the two. An InvokedTrope by Bane who believes Bruce's punishment for interferring [[FateWorseThanDeath must be much more severe]] so he [[ForcedToWatch sets up a TV in his prison cell so he can watch it happening in real time.]] Not to mention all 'the fire rises' motifs he uses throughout the movie.
69	--->''"When Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die."''
70	* ''Film/{{Bumblebee}}'' has the titular protagonist in an escape pod fleeing Cybertron on his way to Earth and he watches his planet ablaze in flames because of the war, and he looks aghast at this.
71	* In ''Film/Dune2021'', Paul and Jessica crest a dune and see the burning city of Arrakeen after escaping the Harkonnens.
72	* Unlike the book, Smaug's reason for destroying Laketown in ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'' is because he wants Bilbo and Thorin to watch Laketown burn.
73	* In the film version of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers'' Arethen and Freda stop a moment to watch their village be burned by wildmen before they flee to Edoras.
74	* The end of ''Film/JurassicPark1993'' has Hammond grieving over the fall of his dinosaur theme park when the dinosaurs were let loose and ate his own staff.
75	* In ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'', Morpheus's ship the ''Nebuchadnezzar'' explodes after the Sentinels destroy it.
76	-->'''Morpheus:''' I have dreamed a dream. But now that dream is gone from me.
77	* ''Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie'' had Ivan Ooze smash their base and leave Zordon dying.
78	* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'': A villainous example: Cutler Beckett as his ship is torn to splinters.
79	* The bull dragon attacking the keep in ''Film/ReignOfFire'' applies here, especially as Christian Bale's character has to watch from the outside at first.
80	* Haven in ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. This one comes as a double blow due to [[spoiler:Shepherd Book]] being killed along with the settlers in the attack, but not before [[TakingYouWithMe taking the enemy's ship with him]] (not that he's proud of it).
81	%%* ''Film/{{Snatch}}'': Mickey's mom's trailer.
82	* In the final scene of ''Film/SodomAndGomorrah'', Ildith cannot resist taking one final look at the fire and brimstone consuming her former hometown, despite her husband Lot's warnings that [[DontLookBack Jehovah will smite anyone who looks back]] for doing so out of regret for the city's wicked ways. Sure enough, she is promptly [[TakenForGranite turned into a pillar of salt]].
83	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
84	** ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'': The ''Enterprise'' undergoes self-destruct to kill off its Klingon intruders, with her crew watching her burn up in the atmosphere.
85	** In the reboot ''Film/StarTrek2009'', the Romulan captain Nero forces Spock to witness the destruction of Vulcan.
86	* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
87	** In ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', Padmé watching the Jedi Temple burn. Not long afterwards, she experiences a more metaphorical version, watching in despair as Palpatine announces the dismantlement of the Republic and its reorganization into TheEmpire... and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity gets cheered on for it]].
88	** ''Film/ANewHope'': Princess Leia is forced to watch as the Death Star [[EarthShatteringKaboom annihilates]] her planet, Alderaan. The kicker is she had a front row seat because she was on the Death Star! There is also the "burning homestead" scene, when Luke finds his home destroyed and his foster parents murdered by stormtroopers for no other reason than [[HeKnowsTooMuch being potential witnesses]].
89	** ''Film/RogueOne'': The Rogues can't do a thing other than watch when Tarkin uses the Death Star to nuke the Holy City as a test. Later, [[spoiler:[[EverybodyDiesEnding the last survivors are caught in the blast when the Death Star is used again at their location.]] Andor and Jyn just hug, knowing death's coming.]]
90	** ''Film/TheForceAwakens'': While the actual event is not seen in full, Rey briefly [[DreamingOfTimesGoneBy has a Force vision]] of Luke and R2-D2 watching as the ''new'' Jedi Temple meets [[KillItWithFire meets the same fate as the old one]], this time at the hands of a newly-fallen Ben Solo and the Knights Of Ren. This hits especially hard for Luke because [[spoiler:it is, in no small part, [[CreateYourOwnVillain his fault]].]]
91	* ''Film/ToraToraTora'': As the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor continues, Admiral Kimmel stands in his office, watching his command and career literally going up in smoke knowing there is nothing he can do. A stray bullet then smashes a window and harmlessly bounces off his chest, to which he mutters "It would have been merciful had it killed me."
92	* Watching the Iso cities burn and the portal back to his own world flicker out is what pushes Flynn ''well'' past the DespairEventHorizon in ''Film/TronLegacy''.
93	* The film ''Film/{{Troy}}'' has a shot with [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/priam1.jpg Priam watching]] as the Greeks pillage his city.
94	* ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': In ''The Rogue Cut'', the older Professor X is crestfallen as he observes from the X-Jet his home being consumed by flames.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Literature]]
98	* In the final story arc of ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', Jake, Marco and Tobias watch as Bug fighters burn their hometown to nothing to make a dead zone around their mothership's landing site.
99	%%* ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'': Wyatt's Torch.
100	* In ''Literature/BoneDance'', the protagonist, Sparrow, has lovingly assembled a large collection of pre-war music and video. Halfway through the book, the BigBad sets Sparrow's entire building ablaze, out of sheer cruelty. Sparrow has to be physically restrained from running inside.
101	* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', there is a scene where two of the princesses stand in front of a building that explodes ... with many of their family members in it.
102	* ''Literature/DeptfordMice'': In ''The Oaken Throne'', the squirrel princess Ysabelle (chosen to be the next [[TheHighQueen Starwife]]) is forced to flee her home, Coll Regalis, with guards to protect her. The bat army is to attack at nightfall. Her parents and many inhabitants of the realm have stayed behind [[HeroicSacrifice as a diversion]] and it is certain that they will be killed. When the battle begins, Ysabelle and her entourage pause and sadly watch the destruction of their home in the distance behind them.
103	* Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheFallOfGondolin'': As Gondolin is being burned to the ground, Tuor manages to lead several hundreds of survivors towards the mountains. Before began climbing up the mountain pass, the crowd turn around to watch their city for the last time. As the sun sets in the West, they see the last tower going up in flames and crumbling down before darkness covers the valley.
104	* In Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' universe, upon returning to their homeland after the Cataclysm, the Kaled'a'in find a glass-floored crater where it had been, and look down from the cliff walls into it.
105	* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', there is an unusual example, where [[spoiler: the place was evacuated, the only ones in there were the villains, and the sadness, at least for Ward, the protagonist, comes from the fact that he himself made his own castle collapse by killing the GeniusLoci, Oreg, who was his friend. Oreg didn't fear death, and had planned for the whole thing, but Ward still had a breakdown after doing what had to be done. For other characters, though, it is]] watching the only place they ever called home collapse to a heap of rocks.
106	* In ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'' Prince Josua takes a last glance at his castle Naglimund after the Storm King’s forces have brought death and hell to it and set it ablaze, prompting a moment of severe OOCIsSeriousBusiness in which he swears revenge and to take the crown of Osten Ard for himself.
107	* In book two of the ''Literature/{{Nightrunner}}'' series, Seregil's real home at the Cockerel is destroyed and everyone inside mutilated. He burns the remains himself.
108	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': In the second book, Theon watches Winterfell go up in flames ([[spoiler:on his own orders]]), and Bran surveys the destruction afterward.
109	* ''Track'': In one of the action-adventure novels by Jerry Ahern, Dan Track and his girlfriend Desiree Goth go hiking up the mountain above their house, and so have a prime viewpoint when it suddenly explodes because a hit squad have attacked it thinking they're inside.
110	* ''Literature/WarriorCats'':
111	** In ''Literature/WarriorCatsTheNewProphecy'', [[spoiler:all the Clans go through this when the humans destroy their forest and they have to watch, knowing there's nothing they can do about it.]] One of the more impressive of these scenes comes at the end of ''Midnight'' when [[spoiler:Firestar watches as a bulldozer uproots Fourtrees, the ancient oak trees that the Clans thought would stand forever.]]
112	** The [=SkyClan=] saga {{prequel}} novella ''Cloudstar's Journey'' shows this happening to [=SkyClan=] while their home is developed to make way for a suburb. Cloudstar is helpless as trees around him are torn down, and it's pretty heartbreaking.
113	** Happens in the ''Warrior's Refuge'' and ''Warrior's Return'' comic book spinoffs when [[spoiler:Graystripe triumphantly returns to the forest, only to find it completely destroyed. He wanders around the destruction for a little while before Millie convinces him that his Clanmates are still out their somewhere.]]
114	* Lots of examples in ''Literature/WorldWarZ''. One particularly memorable one is the evacuation of Kyiv, where the city burns as the Ukrainian Army tries to sort out the infected refugees from the uninfected. Eventually, [[spoiler:the city and all the bridges leading out of it are bombed with nerve gas to kill them all, since the leadership thinks it's impossible to sort out the zombies otherwise]].
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
118	* ''Series/{{Angel}}''. In the CliffHanger ending to "Apocalypse Nowish", heroes and villains alike look on with fear as The Beast rains fire on Los Angeles.
119	* This was an essential aspect of both [[Series/BattlestarGalactica1978 the original]] and [[Series/BattleStarGalactica2003 the remake]] of ''Battlestar Galactica''.
120	** In the original, the ''Galactica'' left the Colonial Fleet during the Cylon ambush to race home because they feared the Cylon attack on the Fleet would be followed by an attack on the now-defenseless Colonies. They were too late; all they could do was watch in horror as the crowd that was gathered on Caprica to celebrate the peace treaty with the Cylons was instead massacred by strafing Cylon Raiders.
121	** In the remake, a lot of the miniseries and the mirror version ''The Plan'' showed the devastation of the Cylon attack, and the emotional devastation it wrought. The iconic photo of the soldier, fallen to his knees, in front of the burning skyline of the capitol city on Aerilon jumps to mind as a perfect example.
122	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
123	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii "The Fires of Pompeii"]] has a scene where the Doctor and Donna watch the eruption of Vesuvius with the family they saved from Pompeii.
124	** Another curious example: Although not a strict example of this trope, as it is not observed by any of the characters, anyone who is familiar with the brief views of Gallifrey in the classic series, the short flashback in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums "The Sound of Drums"]], or at the very least comprehends the awe of the place from the descriptions given by the Doctor in [[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie the TV Movie]] and the New Series, will feel this trope when they see the brief view of Gallifrey during the Time War in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]], with the smashed Citadel, wreckages of Dalek ships and fires.
125	** [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]] features a painting of Gallifrey's second city, Arcadia, in flames on the last day of the Time War. Being a Time Lord painting, it's in full 3D, of course. The title has some ambiguity, indicated as "No More"/"Gallifrey Falls", nobody is sure whether it's named in reference to the War Doctor's decision to end the war with a MutualKill or this trope respectively. [[spoiler:The end of the episode reveals the Doctors' efforts in the episode succeeded, and the title is actually "Gallifrey Falls No More".]]
126	* Detective Kathy Mallory has her childhood home (which is described as being the only place she has any emotional attachment to) with all her deceased parents' belongings burned to the ground in ''Killing Critics''.
127	* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
128	** ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'' ends with Divatox's force invading, destroying and completely leveling the Command Center ''with the rangers still inside''. They manage to survive but just barely.
129	** That was the second and far more dramatic time that happened. At the end of ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', they were forced to watch the Command Center (which was about to be called the Power Chamber) get destroyed... only for it to get rebuilt by Zordon's power or the Zeo crystal or something. It's never really explained how it came back together the first time.
130	* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
131	** In "Recap/SmallvilleS05E22Vessel", Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan watch as Metropolis burns in the chaos brought by ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}'s virus that heralds the arrival of [[DiscOneFinalBoss Zod.
132	** In ''Kandor'', Zod and Jor-El watches as Kandor explodes in the distance.
133	* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'''s [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E01Pilot pilot episode]], John Winchester watches his home burn with his wife inside while holding his two young sons.
134	* In ''Series/{{Westworld}}'' Season 3, a young Engerraund Serac and his brother, Jean-Mi, watched Paris being nuked. This made the former despise humanity which led him and Jean-Mi to build an A.I. that guide humanity from their dark impulses at the cost of their free will.
135	[[/folder]]
136
137	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
138	* In ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'', Jen watches as Aughra's lab is destroyed by the Garthim and Aughra is taken prisoner.
139	[[/folder]]
140
141	[[folder:Religion & Mythology]]
142	* Both times the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, first in 587 BCE by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and then in 70 CE by the Romans. The first one is the entire basis of the Literature/BookOfLamentations. Both times had such a deep effect on the Jewish people that the anniversary of the destruction (yes, it apparently happened on the same day each time) was enshrined as the holiday of [[UsefulNotes/JewishHolidays Tisha B'Av]].
143	* In ''Literature/TheBible'', Lot and his family were told not to look back as they fled from Sodom before its destruction by the Lord through fire and brimstone. Lot's wife, however, was the only one who looked back at the devastation, and was turned into a pillar of salt for it.
144	* ''Literature/TheAeneid'': Book II depicts the fall of Troy from Aeneas' point of view, replete with descriptions of fire and the destruction.
145	[[/folder]]
146
147	[[folder:Video Games]]
148	* At the beginning of ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'', Tiz watches his hometown of Norende collapse into a chasm. As if that weren't bad enough, his brother also falls to his death right in front of him.
149	* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2'': [[spoiler:Washington, D.C. Especially prominent in the beginning of "Of Their Own Accord", where the first thing the player sees upon exiting the makeshift bunker is the Washington Monument with several chunks blown out of it.]]
150	* The beginning of the ''VideoGame/ADanceWithRogues'' module. The Princess witnesses the destruction and slaughter that's taking place in her castle as she flees from the invading Dhorn. Later on, when she becomes a rogue and part of the Family criminal guild, the Dhorn again storm into their headquarters and kill almost everyone, with the Princess being unable to stop them.
151	* In ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'', several locations that you travel to where survivors are gathered up get attacked and overtaken by zombies after certain quests are completed.
152	* ''VideoGame/EnemyFront'' have the player character, Robert Hawkins, watching Warsaw burn when the Germans took over, and there's nothing he can do about it except flee with the rest of the partisans.
153	* In the prologue of ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', the Sole Survivor watches the Commonwealth get nuked as they and their spouse and son descend into Vault 111 to take part in its HumanPopsicle experiment.
154	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
155	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'''s Platform/PlayStation remake opens with the four protagonists, Firion, Maria, Guy, and Leon, fleeing from their burning hometown after the Emperor's forces have set torch to it. The cinema ends with them watching the conflagration from a nearby hilltop.
156	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Poor Cloud and Tifa go through this particular trauma several times throughout the course of the game. They see their hometown of Nibelheim burn to the ground once in person and then several times more thanks to Sephiroth's {{Mind Rape}}s and uncanny tendency to replay the scene whenever taunting Cloud.
157	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' has several of these where summons are used as weapons of mass destruction. You are generally treated to the complete destruction, or in the very least decimation, of every single town or settlement, and in one case an entire planet, that you visit. Dagger's first hometown, the Village of the Summoners gets DeathFromAbove from [[BigBad Garland]] before the game starts. Freya's hometown of Burmecia is a charred ruin by the time you arrive, Cleyra and its population get hit with [[InferredHolocaust Odin]], whose attack sequence plays out like an atom bomb. Lindblum is treated to a dual attack by Brahne's black mages and the summoned [[GravitySucks Atmos]]. In a serious PlayerPunch, Alexandria is ravaged by Bahamut, becomes a battleground between it and Alexander, before being carpet-bombed by Garland- [[DumbStruck leaving poor Dagger mute]]. Finally, Terra is treated to multiple [[EarthShatteringKaboom Ultimas]] via Kuja.
158	** Inverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', where the game starts off with Tidus beholding the ruins of his hometown, Zanarkand, before the 30-40 hour long flashback that is the game up to that point.
159	*** Played straight with Rikku and the Al Bhed watching the destruction of Home.
160	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'': Noctis, Gladio, Ignis and Prompto watch from a cliff as their home, Insomnia, is razed by Niflheim and their daemons.
161	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'': [[WhamEpisode Fort Zeakden]] isn't Ramza's hometown, but what happens there is still enough to change not only his outlook on life but the fate of Ivalice as a whole, and the first chapter ends on a freeze frame of it going up in flames.
162	* Done in both ''VideoGame/FreeSpace'' and the Silent Threat expansion. In the original, you have to try to fend of high-speed fighters in a bomber before an invincible superdestroyer finishes of the GTD Galatea, your homebase for the first half of the campaign. In the expansion, you can't keep the [[spoiler: GTI insurgency]] from destroying the GTD Krios, your homebase for the first part of the campaign. The emotional impact is helped by the fact that the main menu is the interior of the ship you are based on, so when they are destroyed and you have to relocate to another destroyer, the graphic changes.
163	* Happens in ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge''.
164	* Once could say that ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' is really just about this. Reach is doomed and mostly depopulated, but you stay in the burning ruins to the very end.
165	** Played especially straight at the opening cutscene of the "Exodus" level, when Noble Six crests a hill, only to see the "crown jewel" city of New Alexandria being razed and glassed by the Covenant. Includes a drawn-out camera reveal over the hill and a brief pause as Six surveys the damage, poignantly [[spoiler:holding Jorge's dogtags]].
166	* At the beginning of ''VideoGame/Haven2020'', the islet where Yu and Kay have stationed the Nest is fractured in two by an earthquake, causing the Nest to roll downhill and lose several vital parts as the couple helplessly watch. In the bad ending, a squad of Hornets descend on the Nest and capture Yu and Kay for [[{{Brainwashing}} recalibration]] into their {{arranged marriage}}s, reducing their former love nest to a smoking ruin in the process.
167	* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'': [[DoomedHometown Kharak]] in Mission 3. The burning planet serves as a backdrop as your forces rush to save the last 600,000 civilian survivors.
168	* In ''VideoGame/HyruleTotalWar'', this happens to Princess Zelda I when she witnesses the razing of Hyrule Castle at the hands of Ganon.
169	* The Monastery near the beginning of ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' also serves as an example.
170	* Alluded to in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' as the heroes flee the bombing of Taris. Carth (who'd already seen the same thing happen to Telos IV) and Mission (who'd lived on Taris her entire life) particularly take it hard.
171	* In ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'', if you choose to save Chloe at the end, the two of you hold hands while watching Arcadia Bay getting destroyed by the tornado.
172	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has several; namely the [[spoiler:Citadel]] at the end of the first game, the [[spoiler:Normandy [=SR1=]]] at the beginning of the second, and [[spoiler:Earth itself]], [[spoiler:Palaven, the turian homeworld - at one point Garrus points out the biggest area that's on fire and says he was born there -]] and [[spoiler:Thessia, the asari homeworld]] in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''.
173	* At the end of ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden (2003)'''s [[ForcedTutorial tutorial chapter]], Ryu witnesses his [[DoomedHometown home village]] being attacked and burned by Doku and his minions.
174	* Happens ''thrice'' in ''VideoGame/SuikodenV''. The first occurs after the coup, a major PlayerPunch accompanied by a real sense of loss even if it's sort of a ForegoneConclusion. The second is Lelcar being set ablaze, driving home just how far the enemy is willing to go since it's one of their own cities they're torching. The ''third'' is the attack on Beaver Lodge, which [[MoralEventHorizon pushes the enemy]] from any argument of WellIntentionedExtremist to monsters openly planning ''genocide'' to "purify Falena". In all cases, the target is the hometown of several of the 108 Stars of Destiny, and attention is always given to their reaction.
175	* The burning of Croft Manor in ''VideoGame/TombRaiderUnderworld''.
176	* The ending of ''VideoGame/{{Vietcong}}''.
177	* The beginning of ''VideoGame/WingCommander III'': Heart of the Tiger, when Luke Skywalker and Gimli view the wreckage of the TCS Concordia.
178	* ''VideoGame/Zone66'': The intro starts with our hero running to the top of a hill just in time to see his love interest's (and possibly his) town get leveled by a nuclear missile, kicking off the story.
179	[[/folder]]
180
181	[[folder:Webcomics]]
182	* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' has the nearly literal and spoiler-tastic [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1106 example]] of [[spoiler:Jones the [[TimeAbyss immortal]] [[{{Jossed}} not-a-robot-or-golem]]]] watching Rome burn.
183	* In ''Webcomic/ImpureBlood'', Mac seeing the town go was off-stage, but after her mad rush to warn, [[http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue4PAGES/ib082.html it starts to sink in.]]
184	** [[http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue4PAGES/ib095.html And later, they see another]].
185	* In ''Webcomic/InvinceaAndTheWarriorsFromHell'', Invincea’s efforts to save her town of Hillsnest from the Warriors from Hell very quickly becomes a horrible, traumatic nightmare where she is ambushed, pinned, and forced to watch its destruction while writhing in agony and helpless to stop it.
186	* In ''Webcomic/NipAndTuck'', the ShowWithinAShow ''Rebel Cry'' features [[http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/00701.html the destruction of a place that helped our hero and the kid stowaway]], and [[http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/00703.html it hits them hard]].
187	[[/folder]]
188
189	[[folder:Western Animation]]
190	* ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
191	** Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': At the end of the second season, our heroes take one last look at Ba Sing Se (now under enemy control). But the fallen capital doesn't look any different, because the takeover was entirely political.
192	** In the Sequel, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', it goes the other way with Amon and the Equalists [[spoiler:decimating the Pro-bending stadium and blowing up the ring. Unlike Ba Sing Se, ''everything'' is a wreck]].
193	*** Near the end of season 3 Ba Sing Se falls into this trope. [[spoiler:The Queen is assassinated and the city fall into chaos as rioters and looters overwhelm the place. The last we see the whole city is in flames.]]
194	* The first part of the season 1 finale of ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' ends with the Delightful Children Down the Lane destroying the KND's treehouse HQ as an afterthought of achieving their main goal of [[spoiler: turning Numbuh 1 into an adult]]. The next episode opens with the main characters reduced to using a cardboard box as a base. The treehouse is rebuilt during the credits of the season finale.
195	* In the final arc of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' Bill Cipher and his henchmaniacs [[spoiler:escape into the real world and unleashes Weirdmaggeddon on the town, capturing its terrified citizens and turning them to stone and reducing the town to a fiery wasteland over several days.]]
196	* In the season 3 finale of ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' we see Mainframe crash. Basically the entire city falls apart and everything but the Principal Office falls into the energy sea. The final shot is Dot and Bob staring at each other while everything fades to black. Fortunately [[DeusExMachina the User intervenes]] and fixes everything.
197	* One of Akus' preferred methods for dealing with strong opponents in ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', as was shown with both Jacks' Father and later talked of by a Viking Chieftain: watching as their cities were destroyed by the master of Darkness [[ForcedToWatch while they were bound in place.]] While Jack's father was able to break out of his imprisonment to seal away Aku and save his wife and newborn son, [[TaughtByExperience the Viking wasn't as fortunate due to Aku learning from his previous mistake]] and instead of anchoring him to a tree and left alone like he did to Jacks' father, the Viking was sealed in crystal and later buried beneath the earth after seeing his home and entire family destroyed.
198	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsTheSiegeOfLothal "The Siege of Lothal"]] gives us two: Ezra looking on his former house burning, and then seeing the remains of Tarkintown. The latter is a direct homage to the "burning homestead" scene in ''Film/ANewHope''.
199	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance'': In [[Recap/StarWarsResistanceS1E19NoEscapePartI "No Escape, Part I"]], Kaz, Torra and CB-23 spy on stormtroopers watching a broadcast of Starkiller Base's destruction of the Hosnian system. To make it extremely personal, Kaz is ''[[DoomedHometown from]]'' Hosnian Prime, and he's sent into a HeroicBSOD.
200	* The Season 2 finale of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' has Megatron discovering the location of the Autobot base and brings down laser cannons to fire down on it. June and Agent Fowler, who are in a helicopter next to the base, watch in horror and anguish.
201	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / WatchingTroyBurn