History BadFuture / WesternAnimation

** One episode showed one where Mandy had taken over the world by transforming into a giant worm like creature who entertains herself with Billy clones that regularly die.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': "The Choices" gives us personal examples of what Nicole's life would've been like if she hadn't met Richard. The first bad future involves her becoming everything her AbusiveParents wanted her to be, ultimately resulting in her becoming a megalomaniacal dictator that was so bad, Principal Brown says "Thank heavens she's gone." when the world is seemingly reduced to a barren wasteland and after she presumably been overthrown and executed.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' ended up here when they approached the speed of light. The future they found themselves in was one where their absence had caused the world to grow gradually worse until [[{{Satan}} Him]] was able to take over, transforming it into a blasted wasteland where all of the inhabitants of Townsville we see have long since been driven mad (such as the Professor obsessively trying to recreate the girls while haunted by hallucinations, Ms. Bellum ranting about how the girls disappeared while guarding the Mayor's hat and sash which are all that remain of him, and Ms. Keane standing in the ruins of the kindergarten [[MadnessMantra repeating the last thing she did before the girls vanished]]). Then they went backwards again, preventing it -- the future was bad only because they'd been absent in the years between.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' episode "Smurf Van Winkle", with Papa Smurf away the other Smurfs play a joke on Lazy by tricking him into thinking that he woke up in the far future with the village in ruin, all the Smurfs old and senile and Papa dead. Lazy thus uses a formula to rejuvenate them turning them into Smurflings.

** Yet another variant occurs when an AlternateUniverse Franchise/TheFlash, a member of the [[EvilCounterpart Justice Lords]] is killed by then [[PresidentEvil president]] ComicBook/LexLuthor, [[ForWantOfANail causing the Justice Lords]] to [[BerserkButton go rogue and kill him, in the oval office]]. This resulted in a BadFuture and a subsequent [[TheMultiverse universe crossover]], with the teams' [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans different]] but [[KnightTemplar similar]] moralities causing them to come to blows.

* The ''Westernanimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation: FUTURE" has this happen after Wally escapes from Madame Margaret, but not in time to save the rest of the team from girlification. 75 years later, Madame Margaret dominates the planet, having turned most of the population into girls; the [[{{la resistance}} last few boys]], led by an elderly Wally (who is apparently reliant on Mr Wink and Mr Fibb's chair technology), huddle together in a small cave, desperately seeking a way to survive.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MegaMan'' cartoon had this trope in the episode 'Future Shock'. Interestingly, Wily hadn't taken over completely at the insistence of Protoman, who wanted rebellions to crush. Things were still pretty bad, though.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' ended up here when they approached the speed of light. The future they found themselves in was when where their absence had caused the world to grow gradually worse until [[{{Satan}} Him]] was able to take over, transforming it into a blasted wasteland where all of the inhabitants of Townsville we see have long since been driven mad (such as the Professor obsessively trying to recreate the girls while haunted by hallucinations, Ms. Bellum ranting about how the girls disappeared while guarding the Mayor's hat and sash which are all that remain of him, and Ms. Keane standing in the ruins of the kindergarten [[MadnessMantra repeating the last thing she did before the girls vanished]]). Then they went backwards again, preventing it -- the future was bad only because they'd been absent in the years between.

** The ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkPostCovid'' special takes place in a future where COVID-19 continues devastating the world as well as cultural changes that include eating bugs in lieu of meat or comedy being reduced to nothing by PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad. For the characters, the Marsh family have gone through some horrific trauma that has resulted in Stan as a bitter alcoholic {{manchild}} constantly arguing with his [[VirtualSidekick Amazon Alexa]]. The continuation ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkPostCovidTheReturnOfCovid'' has the boys going back in time to attempt to fix things for the better. [[spoiler:They ultimately succeed in creating a future where everyone is happier save for Cartman, who goes from a Rabbi with a happy family in the original timeline to a CrazyHomelessPerson]].

* And speaking of Bishop, in the original ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' cartoon Bishop originally came from the "Days of Future Past", or something very like it, but ''every'' attempt he made to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong seemed to make things ''worse'' (Cable's Apocalypse-ruled future, for instance.)

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', Bart "Impulse" Allen, [[KidFromTheFuture grandson of]] Franchise/TheFlash, claims to be a time-traveling tourist TrappedInThePast, but viewers quickly learn that he's from a future where [[GalacticConqueror the Reach]] have conquered the Earth. His main objective is to prevent [[ComicBook/BlueBeetle Jaime]], who's bonded with Reach technology, from falling under their control. As a bonus, he comes back far enough to save his grandfather, who was going to be killed by Neutro, and Neutro himself, who was another BrainwashedAndCrazy slave to the Reach. In a twist, [[spoiler:a glimpse of the future implies that a bad future happens anyway]], though later events ([[spoiler:Mount Justice being destroyed by the good guys]]) means that this is open to interpretation.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "How Long is Forever", [[TheHeart Starfire]] accidentally travels to one of these when she tackles the villain Warp, ending up twenty years in a future where she hadn't been seen since that day. The Titans have separated. Cyborg is rusted and isolated from everyone, due to wear and tear forcing him to replace his battery with a heavy generator, trapping him in the remains of Titan's Tower. Beast Boy failed ''miserably'' as a solo hero, felt into a deep depression, and becomes a circus entertainer. Raven is locked up in an asylum for hallucinating. It's never stated what caused her to be locked up in a mental ward, but considering [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the danger]] [[TheLegionsOfHell of her]] [[OhCrap losing control]] [[DemonicPossession of her emotions]], she likely had herself committed for the good of the world. Hallucinations would result from a combination of years of isolation and regular sedatives. And, finally, Robin becomes a less charming version of [[FutureBadass Nightwing]] than he would normally be, had a HeroicBSOD, and completely refused to associate with anyone else ever again.

** The ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkPostCovid'' special takes place in a future where COVID-19 continues devastating the world as well as cultural changes that include eating bugs in lieu of meat or comedy being reduced to nothing by PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad. For the characters, the Marsh family have gone through some horrific trauma that has resulted in Stan as a bitter alcoholic {{manchild}} constantly arguing with his [[VirtualSidekick Amazon Alexa]].

** The Post-COVID special takes place in a future where COVID-19 continues devastating the world as well as cultural changes that include eating bugs in lieu of meat. For the characters, the Marsh family have gone through some horrific trauma that has resulted in Stan as a bitter alcoholic constantly arguing with his Amazon Alexa.

* The ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' Movie "WesternAnimation/TheUltimateEnemy": Danny finds out that he ''will'' [[FutureMeScaresMe become a rampaging]] [[PsychoForHire sadistic sociopath]] who would ''gladly'' and ''gleefully'' [[AxCrazy murder his mother, his father, his sister, his two best friends]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and his English teacher]] to [[MagnificentBastard protect his own existence]] and also happens to be the [[BigBad strongest]] ghost on the planet. He killed his ''[[OurGhostsAreDifferent human self]]'' and hinted to have killed [[OmnicidalManiac many, MANY more]]. All of it was because he [[NiceJobBreakingItHero got pretty much caught cheating on a test]] and his ensuing SurvivorsGuilt; which itself was caused by a StableTimeLoop only broken by [[TimeMaster Clockwork]] stepping in to sever said loop. The good sides? Vlad was reformed, which did not happen in the real timeline, tragically; and for all the bad in that future, it did give present!Danny access to a powerful ghost ability his future self had ''just perfected'', and it did let Danny know that his older sister discovered (and, more importantly, accepted) the fact that he was half-ghost. It is never explained whether that future remained inevitable after the events in the movie....

** In "The Cryonic Woman," Fry and Michelle, his girlfriend, end up in the year 4000, where it's nothing but a barren wasteland whose only known inhabitants were a gang of children with guns. [[spoiler:Subverted in that it was actually only two days in the future, and they were actually in Los Angeles.]]

*** In the same TOH short, one of the futures Homer visits is actually good where he is rich, Bart and Lisa are well behaved, and Patty and Selma are dead. However, doughnuts apparently do not exist in this timeline, making Homer start over again. As soon as he leaves, doughnuts start falling from the sky and one of the Simpsons comments "its raining".

** Season 5 (coming out ''13 years'' after S4) takes it UpToEleven. The future is still ruled by Aku, but he managed to destroy every time portal in the intervening fifty years, and Jack has become a depressed DeathSeeker anti-hero.

** The first bad future could be summed up as FromBadToWorse taken UpToEleven. First, Storm is driven mad by the Shadow King, and kills every living thing in Africa with her powers, before dying herself. Then, a mutant named Nitro is taken to Genosha, where his powers go off and take out at least half the island. Then the Sentinel program is introduced, which provokes Magneto into going to war. In the middle of all of this, [[spoiler:The Hellfire Club abduct Jean Grey, and the power of the Phoenix she has inside her. And they get it, only the Phoenix quickly goes out of control, and sets fire to most of the world, burning away the oceans, and what's left of Genosha.]] After this, there's a war between the Sentinels, who have TurnedAgainstTheirMasters, and the Mutants. Which the Mutants lose badly, with almost all of the X-Men dying, save Wolverine and Professor X. By the time we first see the bad future, there's no sign of any human cities left, or any civilisation at all. Just the Sentinels, and the Mutants, who are being slowly hunted down and eradicated.

* ''Series/MrMeaty:'' In ''Suburb of the Apes'', Parker builds a time machine so he and Josh can travel two months into the future for a new game console so they won't have to wait for it to restock. Instead, they accidentally wind up in 2676, [[AnimalIsTheNewMan where mankind has been overthrown by a race of baboons]] and the mall is [[RuinsOfTheModernAge an overgrown ruin]] littered with human skeletons. After beating the alpha male, the boys make it back and bring some back with them to beat up some bullies and get back their place in line. Josh wonders if these are [[StableTimeLoop the same ones who eventually conquer the world]], but Parker brushes it aside and [[SkewedPriorities is more interested in getting the new console.]]

* Series/MrMeaty: In ''Suburb of the Apes'', Parker builds a time machine so he and Josh can travel two months into the future for a new game console so they won't have to wait for it to restock. Instead, they accidentally wind up in 2676, [[AnimalIsTheNewMan where mankind has been overthrown by a race of baboons]] and the mall is [[RuinsOfTheModernAge an overgrown ruin]] littered with human skeletons. After beating the alpha male, the boys make it back and bring some back with them to beat up some bullies and get back their place in line. Josh wonders if these are [[StableTimeLoop the same ones who eventually conquer the world]], but Parker brushes it aside and [[SkewedPriorities is more interested in getting the new console.]]

* Series/MrMeaty: In ''Suburb of the Apes'', Parker builds a time machine so he and Josh can travel two months into the future for a new game console so they won't have to wait for it to restock. Instead, they accidentally wind up in 2676, [[AnimalIsTheNewMan where mankind has been overthrown by a race of baboons]] and the mall is [[RuinsOfTheModernAge an overgrown ruin]] littered with human skeletons. After beating the alpha male, the boys make it back and bring some back with them to beat up some bullies and get back their place in line. Josh wonders if these are [[StableTimeLoop the same monkeys who overthrow humanity]], Parker is more interested in getting the new game console.

* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' "Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo", Future Candace going to the past to bust the boys on the day they built The Rollercoaster in the first episode lead to a future where creativity has been banned, [[AndIMustScream children are all stored in]] PeopleJars until adulthood, and Perry the Platypus was incapacitated long enough for Doofenshmirtz to TakeOverTheWorld.

* ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen'' is mostly about the characters trying to avert the future Professor X finds himself in: two parts "Here Comes Tomorrow", one part Bishop's future, three parts "Days of Future Past", and all parts depressing. And once they succeed [[spoiler: it's replaced by a world that looks very much like the ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse]]. At least Professor X still has his house in this future.

* The ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' Movie "WesternAnimation/TheUltimateEnemy": Danny finds out that he ''will'' [[FutureMeScaresMe become a rampaging]] [[PsychoForHire sadistic sociopath]] who would ''gladly'' and ''gleefully'' [[AxCrazy murder his mother, his father, his sister, his two best friends]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and his English teacher]] to [[MagnificentBastard protect his own existance]] and also happens to be the [[BigBad strongest]] ghost on the planet. He killed his ''[[OurGhostsAreDifferent human self]]'' and hinted to have killed [[OmnicidalManiac many, MANY more]]. All of it was because he [[NiceJobBreakingItHero got pretty much caught cheating on a test]] and his ensuing SurvivorsGuilt; which itself was caused by a StableTimeLoop only broken by [[TimeMaster Clockwork]] stepping in to sever said loop. The good sides? Vlad was reformed, which did not happen in the real timeline, tragically; and for all the bad in that future, it did give present!Danny access to a powerful ghost ability his future self had ''just perfected'', and it did let Danny know that his older sister discovered (and, more importantly, accepted) the fact that he was half-ghost. It is never explained whether that future remained inevitable after the events in the movie....

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' did this in "Brave New Metropolis"; Lois finds herself in a Metropolis ruled by Lex Luthor, with Superman as his superpowered enforcer, having gone KnightTemplar after [[spoiler:failing to save his dimension's Lois from a car bomb]].

* WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug, in "Cat Blanc" has episode where [[spoiler:Adult Bunnyx takes main timeline Ladybug to a future where, though a series of events, Cat Noir has been akumatized into Cat Blanc, destroyed Paris, and in the process killed both Ladybug and Hawk Moth. For the first time, this episode averted InferredHolocaust and the titular akuma was KnightOfCerebus. While his timeline is ultimately averted, it still ratchets up the stakes of the main plot by showing just how disastrous things could turn out if the Miraculous Holders learn each other’s secrets.]]