History Main / BigDamPlot

* ''Series/AftermathPopulationZero'': The Glen Canyon Dam, which is the 2nd largest dam on the Colorado River, collapses after 200 years due to erosion, creating a massive surge of water that rushes down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and eventually reaches the still standing Hoover Dam 300 miles downriver. However, despite also having spent two centuries without any human maintenance, it has suffered far less erosion than it's counterpart and is still strong enough to withstand the crushing forces of the flood impacting it. But due to how massive the surge is, the Hoover Dam is ultimately overtopped within seconds. A massive cascade of water pours over the dam and continues downstream. Wiping out everything in it's path, while also swamping numerous other eroding and degrading dams on it's way before eventually reaching the Gulf of California. Causing the Colorado River for the first time in centuries to reach the ocean as a flood rather than a small stream.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood "Before the Flood"]], the Doctor is trapped in a fake town beneath a dam that knows is going to break and flood the valley. [[spoiler:He ultimately ends up blowing open the dam and causing the flood himself in order to kill the Fisher King.]]
* ''[[Series/GiantRobo Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot]]'': The episode "Destroy the Dam" as the title characters needing to bust open a dam to flood the water to deactivate the MonsterOfTheWeek.

* Echoing the devastating Zaporizhzhia dam destruction of 1941 mentioned above, the Kakhovka Dam (which is situated downstream on the Dnieper compared to Zaporizhzhia) was destroyed on June 6, 2023 during the UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}. The dam was under Russian control and was preemptively mined by them, and strong evidence suggests they blew it up. The flood has caused much damage, especially in the Kherson area, and the Kakhovka Reservoir is no more, revealing the original course of the Dnieper as well as [[SunkenCity several towns that were drowned]] and remains of World War II soldiers from battles that happened there 80 years prior.

The GiantWallOfWateryDoom is a pretty scary threat. Consider that a dam needs to contain an outright gigantic amount of water, a bit of MonumentalBattle, or worse, threat of MonumentalDamage can be VERY scary. In the United States, the prototypical dam for this to happen at is Hoover Dam, thanks to TheEiffelTowerEffect and the big potential for SceneryPorn.

* Echoing the devastating Zaporizhzhia dam destruction of 1941 mentioned above, the Kakhovka Dam (which is situated downstream on the Dnieper compared to Zaporizhzhia) was blown up on June 6, 2023 during the UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}. The dam was under Russian control and was preemptively mined by them. The flood has caused much damage, especially in the Kherson area, and the Kakhovka Reservoir is no more, revealing the original course of the Dnieper as well as [[SunkenCity several towns that were drowned]] and remains of World War II soldiers from battles that happened there 80 years prior.

* ''Film/OurManFlint''. The Galaxy organization uses its WeatherControlMachine to destroy a dam.

* Completely melting the polar ice caps would result in a planetary-scale example of the trope, with sea levels rising up to 200 ft if every single body of ice on Earth melted away.

** Retreating [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Red Army]] troops blew up the dam of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (which was an object of pride in the UsefulNotes/{{Soviet|Russia Ukraine And So On}} [[UsefulNotes/TheSovietTwenties Twenties]]) near the city of Zaporizhzhia in the [[UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} Ukrainian SSR]] (nowadays' Ukraine) in the summer of 1941 as scorched-earth policy to slow down the [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German]] advance during the latter's Operation Barbarossa. The resulting flood killed between 20,000 and 100,000 unsuspecting civilians.

* This is the main plot of [[WesternAnimation/BobtheBuilder ''Bob the Builder: Mega Machines'']], due to the villain Conrad sabotaging the construction of the dam by tricking his own machines into building it in a way so that it is too weak to hold back the water.

* This is the main plot of ''WesternAnimation/BobtheBuilderMegaMachines'', due to the villain sabotaging the construction of the dam by tricking his own machines into building it in a way so that it is too weak to hold back the water.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Thumbelina|1992}}'' has a breaking dam as a plot point; Thumbelina must warn the prince about the dam or else, the prairie will be in a flood and the Little People will drown probably alongside many animals.

** For a view of the factors that have led to such disasters: FascinatingHorror covers the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1zZVGoKJO4 Vajont Dam]] (Italy) and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um4WQ1r3uIY&t=2s St. Francis Dam]] (California, USA), each in around ten minutes.

* In ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'', the Positron Task Force revolves around the Clockwork, Circle of Thorns, and Vahzilok all hatching plots involving the city dam in Faultline. The finale of the second part[[note]]the original version too, although that used a generic lab map and the mission entrance was in a different zone[[/note]] – which awards the [[JustForPun Dam Hero]] badge – has all three plans coming together simultaneously.

* Echoing the devastating Zaporizhzhia dam destruction of 1941 mentioned above, the Kakhovka Dam (which is situated downstream on the Dnieper compared to Zaporizhzhia) was blown up on June 6, 2023 during the UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}. The dam was under Russian control and was preemptively mined by them. The flood has caused much damage, especially in the Kherson area, and the Kakhovka Reservoir is no more, revealing the original course of the Dnieper.

* Echoing the devastating Zaporizhzhia dam destruction of 1941 mentioned above, the Kakhovka Dam (which is situated downstream on the Dnieper compared to Zaporizhzhia) was blown up on June 6, 2023 during the UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}. The dam was under Russian control and was preemptively mined by them. The flood has caused much damage, especially in the Kherson area.

* Stage 2 of the NES ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' game has you attempting to stop the Foot Clan from blowing up a dam. It is the only stage in the game where [[DownTheDrain you are required to swim]], [[TimedMission you're on a time limit]] that will give you a NonStandardGameOver if you fail to find and disarm all eight bombs before time runs out (which you'll be hard-pressed to do without a map), and you have to do it while [[EverythingTryingToKillYou avoiding electric traps and electric seaweed that want to kill you]]. Yeah. It's ThatOneLevel for a reason.

* Echoing the devastating Zaporizhzhia dam destruction of 1941 mentioned above, the Kakhovka Dam (which is situated downstream on the Dnieper compared to Zaporizhzhia) was blown up on June 6, 2023 during the UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n invasion of Ukraine. The dam was under Russian control and was preemptively mined by them. The flood has caused much damage, especially in the Kherson area.

* Echoing the devastating Dnieper dam destruction of 1941 mentioned above, the Kakhovka Dam (which is situated downstream on the Dnieper compared to Zaporizhzhia) was blown up on June 6, 2023 during the UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n invasion of Ukraine. The dam was under Russian control and was preemptively mined by them. The flood has caused much damage, especially in the Kherson area.

* Echoing the devastating Dnieper dam destruction of 1941 mentioned above, the Kakhovka Dam (which is situated downstream compared to Zaporizhzhia) was blown up on June 6, 2023 during the UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n invasion of Ukraine. The dam was under Russian control and was preemptively mined by them. The flood has caused much damage, especially in the Kherson area.

* The Japanese I-400 class submarines (each of which could carry three seaplane torpedo bombers) were intended to destroy the outer locks of the Panama Canal, causing the canal (which is above sea level) to drain and become unusable for American warships. Later it was decided that torpedo attacks against dams and locks were unreliable, and that [[SuicideAttack kamikaze attacks]] would be more successful, but by this point it was too late in the war to matter and the plan was cancelled.

** Retreating [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Red Army]] troops blew up the dam of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (which was an object of pride in the UsefulNotes/{{Soviet|Russia Ukraine And So On}} [[UsefulNotes/TheSovietTwenties Twenties]]) near the city of Zaporizhzhia in the [[UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} Ukrainian SSR]] (nowadays' Ukraine) in the summer of 1941 to slow down the [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German]] advance during the latter's Operation Barbarossa. The resulting flood killed between 20,000 and 100,000 unsuspecting civilians.

* Operation Chastise is the best-remembered wartime example of this. Although the actual damage and disruption was minor compared to the fire-bombing that came later in [=WW2=], it provided an [[StiffUpperLip important morale booster]] to the British public. It also showcased the engineering abilities of Barnes Wallis, who designed the "bouncing bombs" used in the mission.

* In one of the Creator/DarkHorseComics' ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' issues, Shrek tries to get rid of a dam that has flooded his swamp.

* The Japanese I-400 class submarines (each of which could carry three seaplane torpedo bombers) were intended to destroy the outer locks of the Panama Canal, causing the canal (which is above sea level) to drain and become unusable for American warships. Later it was decided that torpedo attacks against dams and locks were unreliable, and that [[SuicideAttack kamakize attacks]] would be more successful, but by this point it was too late in the war to matter and the plan was cancelled.

* Stage 2 of the NES ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' game has you attempting to stop the Foot Clan from blowing up a dam. It is the only stage in the game where [[DownTheDrain you are required to swim]], [[TimedMission you're on a time limit]] that will give you a NonStandardGameOver if you fail to find and disarm all eight bombs before time runs out (which you'll be hard-pressed to do without a map), and you have to do it while [[EverythingTryingToKillYou avoiding electric traps and electric seaweed that want to kill you]]. Yeah. It's ThatOneLevel for a reason.