History Main / EMP

* One ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' story involved Dredd bringing a rookie on assessment into a city block that gets hit with an EMP. This ends up causing a major problem for Dredd, since his natural eyes were replaced with ElectronicEyes many years prior.

In particular, silicon transistors — the building block of modern electronics — are very sensitive to these power surges. The induced current burns and destroys them. They are so sensitive, in fact, it has been theorized that a single nuke, detonated in the right part of the upper atmosphere, could take out most of the unprotected computers in the United States. Also, it is theorized that a high-intensity EMP burst could destroy silicon transistor circuitry even if the device is turned off. Military hardware has to be specially shielded to withstand most of the effects. Interestingly, ancient computers from the 1950s would also be resistant; they were built with vacuum tubes, which can take the pulse a lot better than modern transistors, especially if they were powered down at the time. Also, it's possible that early transistors, which were made of germanium rather than silicon, might be able to withstand an EMP if the device is powered down.

* In ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'', "The Second Renaissance", it is said that the machines had little to fear from nuclear explosions as they were not affected by the heat and fallout, completely forgetting about the effects described in the page's intro. Which is weird because ''the movies play it straight.''

** The MinovskyParticle in the Universal Century timeline is also mentioned as capable of emitting EMP. Not only did this render long-range radar useless and made it necessary to shield electronics in bulky armor, but it also made the very ''idea'' of mobile suit combat possible.

* In ''Fanfic/AeonNatumEngel'', among the standard depictions of EMP, it's also one of the main reason for the Iceland's DecadeDissonance.
* ''FanFic/BetweenMinds'' (''VideoGame/HalfLife'' × ''Videogame/{{Portal}}'') uses one to nuke a couple Advisors' life support during an aerial battle!

* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. Tom Paris brags about how the [[ZeeRust vacuum tubes]] on Voyager's [[MasterComputer Computer Deck]] have been upgraded to [[PhlebotinumDuJour transistors]], only for the transistors to get fused by an electromagnetic pulse during the final battle.
* A few kaiju and Breachers have this ability in ''Fanfic/TheNewAgeOfMonsters''. To counter this, Jaegers possess the ability to temporarily insulate their conn pod, meaning that they only need to reboot for a minute instead of being taken out for hours like in the [[Film/PacificRim original movie]].
* ''Fanfic/InvaderZimABadThingNeverEnds'': [=MiMi=] is equipped with an EMP emitter that Tak has her use on a regular basis to disable her enemies' weapons and defenses.

[[folder:Film — Animation]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/AirForceOne'' a stewardess mentions [[UsefulNotes/AirForceOne the eponymous plane]] is protected against this, which we can suppose is TruthInTelevision.
* In Creator/JohnWoo's ''Film/{{Broken Arrow|1996}}'', a nuke detonated underground produces enough EMP to knock down a helicopter flying above it. Just before the detonation, the BigBad tells his [[TheDragon Dragon]] to shut off the car to spare it the same fate.

* In ''VisualNovel/TheBottomOfTheWell'', the nuclear bombardment causes electronics — such as Alice's laptop — to stop working. If players haven't already used the laptop to find the location of a nearby bomb shelter, it's too late to do so.

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'', Kokichi Ouma [[spoiler:gets Miu Iruma to build EMP hammers and bombs for him. He gives them to the other students to get through the [[PlatformHell Death Road of Despair]].]] The characters later use them to [[spoiler:break into the Exisal hangar. They also serve as piece of evidence in the trial, as Kokichi used one of the Electrobombs to disable the Nanokumas so the mastermind couldn't know who the real victim is.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDeep'': In "Bloop", the Nektons uses an EMP generator to knock out a mining machine that is threatening to destroy a unique coral reef. However, a backup generator kicks in a minute or so later and restarts the machine.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': In [[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS4E7Reunion "Reunion"]], Varrick [[MacGyvering MacGyvers one up]] at the Earth Empire checkpoint out of a generator, a table, and a screwdriver to defeat the PoweredArmor {{Mook}}s that were overwhelming Bolin and the other escapees.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer joins a group of "preppers", who believe an EMP would cause the end of civilization, and they would be the only ones ready. When an EMP does occur (thanks to Homer's incompetence, of course), the preppers bug out and hide out in their compound, awaiting the apocalypse. Eventually the Simpsons return to Springfield with the intent of helping them, but find everything back to normal. Seems the effects of the surge were only temporary, and with all the crazy people (meaning the preppers) gone, order was restored with surprising ease.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarcomTheUSSpaceforce'': BigBad Emperor Dark develops a powerful EMP device in episode 6. His underlings test it out on Mars, leaving half the planet’s cities without power until [=StarCom=] manages to destroy the device.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'':
** Clone troopers often carry EMP grenades, nicknamed "droid poppers".
** [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS2E18TheZilloBeast "The Zillo Beast"]] provides the page image. When the Separatist droid army attacks the planet Malastare, the Republic's important fuel-supplier, and the clone army's efforts to repel them fail, the leadership decides to test their new EMP bomb there. It works, and wins the battle for them, but it also creates a giant sinkhole and awakens the [[NotZilla Zillo Beast]], possibly explaining why they opted to never use the bomb again.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': In [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS1E13FireAcrossTheGalaxy "Fire Across the Galaxy"]], Sabine rigs up a stolen TIE fighter with a massive EMP trigger that, when activated, both disables Grand Moff Tarkin's Star Destroyer ''and'' knocks out all of the stormtroopers onboard by overloading their helmet electronics.

* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' episode "Modern Love" has the turtles whip up an [=EMP=] to disable a rampaging {{Nano|machines}}.

* In ''Literature/SimonBlackAtSea'', an American air force officer complains about the primitive electronics in the Firefly 4, a SpacePlane designed to employ nuclear weapons. Simon and Alan Grant argue that the Firefly 4 is designed for Armageddon, when the upper atmosphere will be such a mess it will screw up any radar or radio. EMP isn't mentioned specifically because the novel was published in 1961.

** In ''Film/{{Godzilla|2014}}'' (2014), the [=MUTOs=] have the ability to emit natural electromagnetic pulses. Indeed, the lights suddenly going out in the area serves as an indirect sign that they are nearby. It also makes it difficult to use many modern weapons against them, as evidenced by the scene where a bunch of fighter jets sent to take one out suddenly shut down and crash into San Francisco Bay.[[note]]Real fighter jets are hardened to resist EMP for exactly this reason; but even if all the electronics on a fighter ''did'' get fried, it wouldn't suddenly go into an unrecoverable flat spin as shown in the movie as the engines would still be running for a while. It would probably be rendered useless as a weapons platform, though.[[/note]] Of note, at first it seems the use this accidentally (as it seems more them trying to use the shockwave that accompanies them setting it off), but by the time of the San Francisco, the male Muto has seemed to learn to use it offensively (they have absolutely no effect on Godzilla though, so why they even have the ability is unclear). According to the novelization, the EMP effect weakens Godzilla's [[BreathWeapon atomic breath]], which would explain why the attack was not as destructive as it is normally portrayed.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' has EMP grenades, mines and artillery shells, while the [[DropTheHammer Zeushammer]] melee weapon deals a lesser EMP burst with each strike. Such weapons will stun [[KillerRobot mechanoid]] enemies or [[SentryGun turrets]] for several seconds, and they can also collapse [[DeflectorShield force fields]] in a single strike, or cause unconsciousness or vomiting in organic targets with [[{{Cyborg}} cybernetic implants]]. Unfortunately, mechanoids will adapt after getting stunned by an EMP attack and become immune to the condition for a time, so you can't quite StunLock your way through a mech cluster attack.

* The last-resort weapons against the robots in ''Film/TheMatrix'' trilogy. Big problem there is that they disable your own devices as well. That includes the devices that plug people into the Matrix.

* ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'': Mumbo can use an EMP spell in Grunty Industries to temporarily shut down factory machinery. In one case, after Mumbo incapacitates two large crushers and then crosses to the other side, he can press a switch that turns them off for good. In the other, after Banjo and Kazooie (while transformed into washing machines courtesy of Humba) presses the switch that was being kept by the incapacitated electromagnet, the latter will remain damaged permanently.

** The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series. ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' includes Pulse Mines as well. ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' also adds a "Pulse Gun," an energy weapon implied to be an ''electromagnetic'' pulse gun, as it has the same damage bonus vs robots and PoweredArmor as EMP grenades, along with Pulse Shotgun Slugs. The nuclear war-induced EMP's may also be the reason the only working pre-war electronics run on vacuum tubes.

* The nuclear bomb in the MadeForTVMovie ''Medusa's Child'', unless defused, would generate a continent-wide EMP in addition to wiping Washington DC off the map.

* Aylee from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' has her InvoluntaryShapeshifting mutate her into a living EMP generator in response to a [[{{Nanotechnology}} nanite infection]]. It caused problems as she had to routinely run away from the house for fear of accidentally setting off one of Riff's inventions. Or worse, erasing Bun-Bun's ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'' video tapes!

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|2003}}'' (2003) episode "Modern Love" has the turtles whip up an [=EMP=] to disable a rampaging {{Nano|machines}}.

* Creator/TheBBC's nuclear holocaust drama ''Film/{{Threads}}'': The Soviets detonate an airburst above Britain to knock out communications and computers with EMP before [[NoKillLikeOverkill nuking the rest of the country]].

* ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown''
** You can eventually research the EMP Cannon, an air-to-air weapon that can be used to quickly bring down a UFO without physically damaging its systems. The weapon is very powerful, capable of bringing down an alien ''battleship'' with only two hits. However, it requires the fighter to get very close, so it's really only a good idea on a [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum Firestorm]], as a regular jet fighter will probably get chewed up by the enemy plasma cannons pretty quickly, even using the Dodge ability.
** ''[[ExpansionPack Enemy Within]]'' adds "Electro Pulse", a level 3 MEC suit subsystem. It deals 5 damage to anything in the area of effect but the MEC itself and shuts down robotic enemies that aren't destroyed by the blast. [[ArmorPiercingAttack It also ignores the damage reduction skills of Sectopods and psi-shielded Mechtoids]].
* ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' has the "Bluescreen Protocol" research (described in-game as "named for an inexplicable computing phenomenon common before [[AlienInvasion the war]]") that unlocks EMP weapons. Bluescreen Rounds can be equipped by soldiers so that their guns deal extra damage to robotic units and lower their [[HackYourEnemy hack resistance]][[note]]and completely bypass the ADVENT Shieldbearer's DeflectorShields[[/note]], while EMP Grenades and later EMP Bombs deal even more damage and also have a chance to shutdown robot units for two turns, but can ''only'' affect robot units. More ambiguously synthetic units like the Codex, Spectre and Gatekeeper take extra damage from EMP attacks, but can't be shutdown[[note]]they can be Stunned[[/note]] or hacked.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarComTheUSSpaceForce'': BigBad Emperor Dark develops a powerful EMP device in episode 6. His underlings test it out on Mars, leaving half the planet’s cities without power until [=StarCom=] manages to destroy the device.

* This is the favorite weapon of Blackout in the live-action ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' film, and other Transformers have used such weapons, if only mentioned in their Tech Specs.