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The New '10s
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A decade of spectrums, when there were protesters on the streets and superheroes on the screen...
"2013? I'm sick of hearing about 2013! If it's supposed to be 2013, how come I'm stuck driving this old beater instead of a flying car, eh? And why am I still wearing this threadbare old suit? Couldn't you give me something more dashing?"
Shunsaku Ban (to Osamu Tezuka), Astro Boy

The Twenty-Tens or Two Thousand (and) Tens. Or "the Teens". The Tense 2010s.

The first uses of the year 2010 surged late in the 20th century as a 20 Minutes into the Future date as the year 2000 was getting closer, apart from looking for something more original. The word "New" is used to distinguish the 2010s from the 1910s — arguably unnecessary since there are few people alive who remember The Edwardian Era (the current oldest living person as of 2023 was 3 when King Edward died, and just 7 when WWI began, and the oldest-known living Brit was 4).

In political terms, the decade began between 2008 and 2012, with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and Barack Obama's election as the first African American President of the United States in November. This was quickly followed by the swine influenza pandemic (2009); the first UK coalition government since World War II, the rise of WikiLeaks, the American Tea Party, the British UKIP, the Spaniard "Indignados" and the BP oil spill (2010); "Occupy Wall Street", the Arab Spring, the death of Osama bin Laden, Anonymous, the first American government shutdown since The '90s, the Tucson and Oslo massacres (2011); Vladimir Putin becoming President of Russia—for the second time, the Aurora and Sandy Hook massacres, and Barack Obama's reelection (2012). In popular culture terms, the decade began in 2010-12 with the rise of Hipster culture, which coincided with rock being replaced by electronic and urban music as the driving force of pop music. Smartphones and tablets quickly became commonplace, and Netflix and Spotify surged as major players, kickstarting the streaming business.

In the West, the decade began with young, cosmopolitan and progressive leaders being voted to replace the folksy, "gut feeling"-centered and conventional politicians that marked the 2000s. Their modernizing ambitions however ended up colliding with the realities brought upon by the economic downturn of 2005-10 and the Pyrrhic outcome of The War on Terror, which led to a widespread climate of distrust towards the establishment, embodied by the surge of populist movements both on the left and the right, gradually leading to a level of political confrontation not seen in decades. "Homegrown terrorism" became increasingly common, with politicians engaging into an endless debate about a response.

Social reforms (primarily regarding same-sex marriage) met with little approval and fierce criticism both from conservatives who did not ask for them as well from progressives who felt short-changed. The loss of economic certainty following the 2008-09 financial crisis led to calls for wider welfare provisions as well as the return of high-paying manufacturing jobs as the rise of the tech industry generated a long period of economic growth offset by little improvement at best for those not in said sector. A number of controversies regarding digital piracy and net neutrality generated more suspicion over the relationship between political and corporate interests, and the uncovering of the National Security Agency led to concerns about surveillance. Cases of police brutality against black people, anti-immigration policies, and hate crimes against minorities reduced faith in law and order among these groups. Feminism returned to prominence as the "gender gap" became a major source of concern. Towards the end of the decade, the exposure of prolific film producer Harvey Weinstein as a serial sexual abuser and anger over U.S. President Donald Trump’s alleged treatment of women kick-started the #MeToo movement,note  in which women (and some men) in Hollywood and beyond opened up about their experiences of sexual abuse, leading to the resignations and ostracism of many powerful men and the demand for greater sexual equality.

In the Arab world, the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011 did not end Islamic extremism. The Arab Spring, which began as a pro-democracy protest movement, soon gave way to civil war and brutal suppression in most places, particularly Syria and Libya. Many rebel groups sprang up (with those fighting the Syrian government being supported either by oil-rich Persian Gulf States, Western countries, or both) and began occupying territories that fell into anarchy after the U.S. pulled out of Iraq. Before long, during the second hald of the decade, the militant "Islamic State" had not only spread over numerous Arab countries, but also became infamous for taking hostages and beheading them. Their deeds also led to a massive exodus from those countries towards Europe and North America. The migrant crisis generated even more tensions, with anti-Muslim sentiments gaining traction over the ensuing rise in crime rates and fears that terrorists were trying to break through.

The East saw an increased influence over global affairs: China and (to a lesser extent) India largely avoided the Great Recession, becoming economic powerhouses, which seemed to make China Takes Over the World closer to reality. Russia recovered some of its Cold War-era power (becoming decisive over the Syrian conflict and supporting rightist populist movements throughout the West), and North Korea had the world worrying about a nuclear conflict with the West. In cultural terms, Japan's place as the continent's cultural and economic powerhouse became disputed by South Korea.

On the one hand, the early years of the decade were marked by escapist fare, such as Glee, the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, young adult-geared romantic dramas and "shiny reboots". However, sordid settings and cynical attitudes thrived in media, reflecting the turbulent sign of the times. Dystopian fiction (The Hunger Games, The Last of Us, Divergent) and horror films (The Purge) served as allegories for the growing social and economic divisions in American society. Dark cable dramas (Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad) took away the spotlight from broadcast network shows, and several franchises got acclaimed grim-and-gritty interpretations in the vein of The Dark Knight Trilogy. Even nostalgia got an ironic twist thanks to the Hipster subculture, ironically popularizing the past like never before, most markedly indicated by a noticeable burst in newfound enthusiasm for analog audiovisual media such as vinyl records, film stock, and CRT televisions. As the social climate became even more tense by the second half of the decade, escapism not only became totally unfashionable outside of kid-geared works, but also triggered a raging debate about works becoming either too politicized or not political enough.

The earlier years of the decade saw a change on what "manliness" meant in the West, while 1990s/2000s-era "lipstick feminism" took a more progressive, less debauched direction and popularized terms such as "empowerment" and "mansplaining", also reclaiming others previously used as slurs such as "witch" and "bitch", although by the end of it, gender conventions in general became openly questioned and defied. Similarly, LGBT characters began popping up in fiction and a number of celebrities came out/transitioned to little controversy, whereas the mere presence of gay characters in mainstream media had been an extremely touchy subject as recently as the end of the previous decade. In some ways, the late 2010s proved to be a turning point for the visibility of transgender and related subjects much like the late 1990s were for homosexuality.

After almost a half-century defining popular music, rock vanished from the mainstream (with only a few crossover hits), being replaced by Electronic Dance Music and Hip-Hop, as pop culture became increasingly centered on affluent urban, non-white and female audiences. Electronic Dance Music replaced the more upbeat Eurodance and Disco genres, and both cynicism and escapism were seen in this era of music videos. Whereas more adult-oriented music videos of the past tended to be upbeat and exciting, in this era they were often marked by the aesthetics of being tired or depressed. The beginning of the decade also marked the revival of the "musical heartthrob" phenomenon — but, this time, American acts took a backseat to those coming from Great Britain, whose culture became popular again as it gained a reputation as being highly sophisticated relative to more lowbrow North American counterparts. During the second half of the decade, Hispanic "Reggaeton" and Korean "KPop" acts became popular around the world after years of unabated dominance of their home bases.

While globalization became increasingly unpopular in politics, entertainment in general became more international (a notorious example being the influence of the Chinese market over Hollywood and sports), something attributable to the rise of mobile technology, which allowed anyone to keep "in touch" anywhere, absorbing social lives to a degree unimaginable ten years earlier. This also allowed "selfies" and "memes" to spread worldwide instantly. From a commercial point of view, online advertising encouraged some authors to prioritize the work over the earnings, and develop closer relationships with their fanbases. Content-wise, this also led to a substantial increase in creative freedom compared to the increased scrutiny in the mainstream, a development made visible by the explosion of streaming services, with series such as House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, Stranger Things and The Handmaid's Tale becoming huge hits. Meanwhile, Hollywood became dominated by superheroes, animated movies, continuations/reboots of popular franchises and action vehicles, with Disney gaining an unprecedented domination of the movie industry: out of the 10 highest grossing films of the decade, only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Transformers: Age of Extinction were not made by the company.

The gaming space saw an immense amount of growth this decade compared to prior ones; the first half of the decade saw the Mobile Phone Game genre absolutely explode into popularity, with Angry Birds , Candy Crush Saga, and Puzzle & Dragons not only bursting into the mainstream, but also introducing the Freemium business model into gaming, leading to the rise of Microtransactions that would controversially make its way into PC and console gaming, namely with Star Wars: Battlefront II and Middle-earth: Shadow of War. On the flip side, narrative-driven games became an even bigger commodity than they were in previous decade, namely with The Last of Us and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, being standout examples of narrative-driven games receiving mainstream attention throughout the decade. The Soulslike RPG genre also boomed in popularity thanks to the monumental release of Dark Souls, as did the Wide-Open Sandbox genre thanks to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Batman: Arkham City. Minecraft and Fortnite both became bona fide cultural phenomenons in the first and second halves of the decade respectively, leading to the boom of the Survival Sandbox and Battle Royale Game genres. In the console space, Sony managed to retake the lead from Microsoft with the PlayStation 4 as a result of Microsoft fumbling the Xbox One and Sony's own growing lineup of first-party exclusives such as Bloodborne, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and God of War, which has extended well beyond into The New '20s. Meanwhile, Nintendo saw sales of the Wii plateau hard at the beginning of the decade, leading to the rushed launches of the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. While the 3DS ended up gaining a large amount of momentum overall, the Wii U never did and so Nintendo were saddled with their biggest commercial failure until they discontinued it in 2017...upon which they released the Nintendo Switch and did a complete 180º, with the Switch quickly becoming their biggest console since the Nintendo DS, and quickly amassing a library of desirable exclusives like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as well as being the first Nintendo console in a while to receive actual third-party support, with popular titles like Doom and Dragon Ball Fighter Z making their way into the console early on. The Nintendo Switch's release and games also coincided with a general comeback of Japanese-developed games in the industry as a whole, with titles like Persona 5, Monster Hunter: World, and Resident Evil 2 all being critical and commercial hits and marking a general re-acceptance of Japanese-developed games. And last but certainly not least, the Indie Game market grew exponentially during this decade, which titles such as (but not limited to) Shovel Knight, Five Nights at Freddy's, Undertale, and Stardew Valley all making independent game development a much more viable market than it was before.

The success of apps like Uber and Airbnb led to hopes about the rise of the "collaborative economy," while Amazon was thought to solve whatever problem consumers could have. By the second half of the decade however, technological optimism gave way to skepticism (in the best of cases), as tech giants were blamed for the tribulations of numerous trades, and social media was now seen as a soapbox of sorts for scurrilous information and social engineering. The fact that start-ups from Twitter to Airbnb have spent their entire existences in the red has only flared alarms further.

For the first time since The '60s and '70s, the political and economic climate that began to take shape in 2014–2015 came to impact the socio-cultural lens in an inescapable fashion, especially compared to the "alternative" trends of the late 90s, 2000s and early 2010s (2010–2013), with an important focus on feminism and minorities. This caused a tremendous culture shock that extended even from early 2020s, and there is a good chance that, as in the 60s, this trend will extend beyond the decade. While chronologically the 2010s ended on December 31, 2019, a number of events from 2014–2019 marked a turning point that changed the political landscape into a vastly different one compared to 2010–2013, beginning with: Putin's Russia arising as an "anti-centrist" force in 2013-14 with the Syrian and Ukrainian crises, the global rise of populism, ISIS terrorizing Europe in 2015 and the Islamic migrant crisis, all of which triggered the populist wave that elected Donald Trump and decided Brexit in 2015–16. Meanwhile, there was also the Hollywood #MeToo scandals, questioning of gender conventions, the dominance of sci-fi/superhero, musical, and animated films over the box-office with more serious productions turned to streaming, the rise of trap and non-English pop music along with the quick decline of EDM and electropop divas, the various internet controversies and their lasting impact on media discourse (and arguably online discourse in general), and the general politicization of media. It's no wonder why many people believe that early 2010s felt like a very different decade than anything to come.

Check out the Useful Notes page for more details on notable aspects of this era. For current events that occurred during this decade, see its real life page.

See Also: The Turn of the Millennium, The New '20s, and The Millennium Age of Animation.


Tropes associated with the 2010s:


Examples of Media set in this decade:

    Unclear/Several years 
Anime and Manga

  • As Chizuru was born on April 19, 1998, and she turns 20 over the course of the story, Rent-A-Girlfriend takes place around 2017-2018.

Comic Books

Fan Works

  • Ma Fille: A large portion of the story takes place between September 2010 and November 2019.
  • We Are All Pokémon Trainers: The narrative proper from the Sinnoh Arc to the Entralink Arc takes place from February 2011 to December 2019.

Film

Literature

  • Brown Girl in the Ring is set some point at least ~12 years after 1999, given in-story hints.
  • Decomposing Angel by Asi Hart is set sometime after 2014.
  • Infinite Jest: David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest takes place 20 Minutes into the Future relative to the early-to-mid 1990s and is surmised by most to take place in 2010 give or take a year or two (although one theory puts it 2015), but since numbered years have been abolished to make way for years named after the corporate sponsor who pays for the naming rights, nobody can tell for sure.
  • The first update of the Web Serial Novel Worm is set on April 8th, 2011 — the first 19 arcs take place before the end of June, and the story then timeskips to 2013.
  • Kasia: Released in 2020, the modern-era portions of the story (aside from a scene in the year 2000 when Connor was a toddler and the epilogue in the year 2034) are set from October 2016 to July 2017 - the preface indicates that writing began around the time Kasia arrives in the 21st century.
  • Yes, Daddy: Released in 2021, the latter part of the novel - from Mace's trial onwards - is set from 2011 to the #MeToo movement, ending in 2018 or early 2019.

Live-Action Television

Video Games

  • Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation's Emmeria-Estovakia War takes place from August 2015 to March 2016.
  • The modern day portion of Assassin's Creed takes place in the 2010s up until Odyssey.
  • Fate/Grand Order is meant to take place in real time as each year progresses, but the regional and lapse of time differences between each server has led to their own mini-canon on when it actually started.
  • Grand Theft Auto Online: Initially set in 2013; starting from the 2017 Gunrunning update, set in whatever year the latest update came out.
  • The events of Undertale takes place in the year 201X. Though this ends up being a subversion, as it's the backstory of the game that takes place in 201X. The game itself an unspecified amount of time after 201X, which is implied to be decades or even centuries in the future.
  • The Touhou Project series from Ten Desires to Wily Beast and Weakest Creature takes place in the 2010s.
  • Kentucky Route Zero (whose acts were released from 2013 to 2020) is set at the height of the Great Recession, envisioning it as a new time of Southern Gothic.
  • killer7 takes place in the first half of the decade, most chapters between 2010 (Angel on January 30th, Sunset on February 10th) and 2011 (Cloudman on April 3rd, Encounter on August 10th, Alter Ego on October 26th, and Smile on December 16th), with the finale, Lion, skipping ahead to an unspecified day in 2014.
  • Resident Evil 6 takes place from roughly December 2012 to June 2013.

Webcomics

     2010 
Anime & Manga

Films

  • 2010: The Year We Make Contact is set in 2010.
  • In Back to the Future, Doc Brown originally planned to travel 25 years into the future, October 26, 2010, before being interrupted by disgruntled Libyan terrorists.note 
  • Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna: Made in 2020, set in 2010.
  • District 9, a Science Fiction Mockumentary/Satire/Social Statement, set in 2010 South Africa.

Literature

  • In 2010, the advent of unlimited storage space and bandwidth will kill Big Media, according to Peter F. Hamilton's Misspent Youth.
  • Numbers begins in the last months of 2010.

Live-Action TV

Music

  • Tim Wilson's "Jetpack" song, where he complains that the new millennium is not what he expected to be.

Video Games

  • The Boston scenario in SimCity is set in 2010. The nuclear meltdown fortunately never happened.
  • The first Psychic Force game is set in the year 2010; its sequel takes places two years later.
  • Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War takes place in the back part of 2010, starting around September and ending at the morning hours of December 31st.
  • Sofia? takes place in April 2010.

Western Animation

Webcomics

     2011 
Anime & Manga

Fan Works

Films

Literature

Live-Action TV

Webcomics

Web Original

  • Pact starts on August 11, 2013.
  • Stuart Hardy. He originally joined in 2011 on YouTube, though didn't start video reviews until 2012.

Video Games

     2012 

Anime & Manga

Comic Books

Films

Fan Works

Literature

Live-Action TV

Video Games

Western Animation

Real Life

Other

     2013 

Anime and Manga

  • The past portion of Your Name takes place in 2013.

Comic Books

Films

  • Escape from L.A. (the prologue opens in 2000, then skips to 2013 for the main story)
  • The Flash (2023): Made in 2023 and set mostly in 2013, though the titular hero time-travelling to his mother's death in 2004 is integral to the plot.
  • Pacific Rim places the first Kaiju making landfall on August 10th, 2013.
  • Patriots Day

Live-Action TV

  • Supergirl (2015) flashback to when the eponymous protagonist was hired at CatC happened in this year.

Video Games

     2014 
Anime & Manga

Comic Books

Fan Works

Films

Live-Action TV

  • D.☆P. takes place in 2014.
  • The Leftovers
  • 19-2 (The English version starts in 2014)
  • The first two seasons of Titans (2018) season frequently flashes back to this year as this was the year the original team was formed.

Video Games

     2015 
Anime & Manga

Literature

  • Eden Green (and the extradimensional disaster it covers) takes place in late July, 2015. The author also released a free web serial, City on the Edge of Nowhere, to recap events with bonus 2015 context.
  • Sorry, Bro is set around June 2015.
  • Worm's sequel Ward takes place in 2015.

Fan Works

Films

Live-Action TV

  • The Flash (2014): The eponymous protagonist time travels to this year (specifically the one set during Season 1's timeline) twice as of Season 5.
  • How I Met Your Mother has flashforwards to the birth of Ted's eldest child set in this year.

Podcasts

Video Games

Web Original

  • Ward takes place in 2015.

     2016 

Anime and Manga

Films

Literature

  • Penance: Published in 2023, the novel takes the form of a book written in the 2020s about the events of 2015-2016 in a small town in Yorkshire. Tumblr and assorted subcultures are mentioned by name.

Live-Action TV

  • How I Met Your Mother: The flashforward to Barney Stinson and Robin Scherbatsky's divorce, as well as the selling of the apartment which served as the setting of the show for much of the series's run, happened in this year.

Western Animation

Video Games

     2017 
Comic Books

Films

Literature

  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The epilogue of the last Harry Potter book (published in 2007) would, according to the official timeline, take place in 2017. We don't really get to see what the Muggle world is like by that time, but at the very least they still have cars and driving tests. We also know that they still have train stations and that they haven't found out about wizards yet.
  • My Dark Vanessa

Live-Action Series

  • The Dropout: 2022 Elizabeth Holmes Bio Pic set mostly on her 2017 trial but also has flashbacks from her college years in the early 2000s.

Video Games

Western Animation

     2018 
Film

Video Games

Visual Novels

     2019 
Anime and Manga

Comic Books

Films

Literature

  • Arthur C Clarke's July 20, 2019 is set on... that's right. (He chose that date because it's the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.)

Live-Action TV

Music

Video Games

Web Comics

  • Crystal Heroes has a narration box stating "The year is 2019" on the second page.

Western Animation

  • Amphibia takes place from mid to late 2019.

Works made during the 2010s

    Advertising 

    African Animation 

    Arts 

    Asian Animation 

    Comic Strips 
  • Arrowhead started in 2018.
  • Big Nate celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2011.
  • Bloom County returned in 2015 after a 25-year absence.
  • Brenda Starr ended in 2011.
  • Dogs of C-Kennel, started syndication in 2010.
  • Doonesbury: The daily strips entered a hiatus in 2014, being replaced by a recollection of noted continuities from the strip's history.
  • Dustin, started in 2010.
  • Gasoline Alley hit the 100-year mark in 2018, with Walt alive and kickin'.
  • Jimmy & Lupe Tornado
  • Macanudo was first syndicated in North America in 2014.
  • Guy Gilchrist's run on Nancy ended in 2018. He was followed by Olivia James, whose work became instantly celebrated.
  • Phoebe and Her Unicorn, started as a webcomic in 2013 and became a syndicated strip in 2015.
  • (Barney Google and) Snuffy Smith celebrated its centennial in 2019.
  • Wallace the Brave, started in 2018.
  • Wizard of Id celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014.

    Eastern European Animation 

    Han-guk Manhwa Aenimeisyeon 

    Podcasts 

    Puppet Shows 

    Radio 

Alternative Title(s): The New10s

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