History Main / BigDisasterPlot

* ''Series/{{Emergency}}'', naturally, featured any number of fires, building collapses, bus or plane crashes, and other small- or medium-scale examples. Averted for ''large''-scale incidents, when plans for a county-wide earthquake response story were scuttled by a writers' strike.

* Episode [[Recap/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPowerS1E7TheEye "The Eye"]] of ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'' deals with the aftermath of Orodruin's eruption. The eruption completely destroyed the Southlands leaving its natives without a home and many dead, Queen Miriel is left blind, Galadriel reveals new {{Hidden Depth}}s about herself, and Adar claims what was left from the Southlands for his Orcs and renames the place {{Mordor}}.

[[folder: Films -- Animated]]

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action]]

** ''Film/TwentyTwelve'' - Planetary Alignment / The Mayan Calendar running out of dates / Neutrinos "mutating"[[note]]As noted by Creator/DaraOBriain, Neutrinos are particles whose structure is fundamental to the structure of universe, they can't just change[[/note]].

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

* A number of episodes of ''Series/BabylonFive'' have plots kicked off by docking accidents, most particularly ''By Any Means Necessary'', which centered more on the concerns of the dockworkers (obsolete or faulty equipment, insufficient manpower to keep up with the high flow of shipping traffic in and out of the station, etc.) and Earth's attempts to put an end to their strike.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' has a plane crash-centered episode in "Tempus Fugit".

[[folder: Western Animation]]

[[folder: Films]]

* The turning point in ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' is a fire where [[spoiler: the protagonist's older brother]] dies by means of an HeroicSacrifice -- in trying to help his Professor evacuate, he took too long to exit the building. This causes [[spoiler: Hiro]] to fall into a severe depression, feel too demotivated to engage in his passion (Robotics), and experience crankiness and constant mood changes. The cause of the disaster remains unsolved for most of the plot. As it turns out, the villain did it in order to [[spoiler: fake his own death. The villain's callousness about the incident prompts Hiro to go into a RoaringRampageOfRevenge]].

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "April 9th," acted as the series response to the September 11th [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror terrorist]] [[Post911TerrorismMovie attacks.]] It tells of Lakewood Elementary catching fire during one day and how all the different people involved are affected by it. The story is spread across the entire episode, unlike the usual two 11-minute episodes that most of the rest of the series has. It was also substantially [[DarkerAndEdgier much more serious and somber]] than the series normally is, showing the very real symptoms of PTSD that can occur such as Arthur constantly stressing over his father, who was trapped in the building longer than everyone else (a family-friendly surrogate of the people who died in the 9/11 attacks), Sue Ellen suffering over losing her diary that she'd kept for years (symbolizing the memories that were destroyed when the attacks occurred), Mr. Morris suffering injuries that cause him to retire, and Binky being so traumatized by it that he pulls the fire alarm for no reason as an outlet for his fear.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "April 9th," acted as the series response to the September 11th [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror terrorist]] [[PostNineElevenTerrorismMovie attacks.]] It tells of Lakewood Elementary catching fire during one day and how all the different people involved are affected by it. The story is spread across the entire episode, unlike the usual two 11-minute episodes that most of the rest of the series has. It was also substantially [[DarkerAndEdgier much more serious and somber]] than the series normally is, showing the very real symptoms of PTSD that can occur such as Arthur constantly stressing over his father, who was trapped in the building longer than everyone else (a family-friendly surrogate of the people who died in the 9/11 attacks), Sue Ellen suffering over losing her diary that she'd kept for years (symbolizing the memories that were destroyed when the attacks occurred), Mr. Morris suffering injuries that cause him to retire, and Binky being so traumatized by it that he pulls the fire alarm for no reason as an outlet for his fear.

* ''Series/{{Emergency}}'', naturally, featured any number of fires, building collapses, bus or plane crashes, and other small- or medium-scale examples. Averted when plans for a county-wide earthquake response story were scuttled by a writers' strike.

* Par for the course in season openers on ''Series/NineOneOne'', so far having featured an earthquake, a tsunami, a dam collapse and mudslide, and a mass ransomware attack that incapacitated much of L.A.'s infrastructure.

* {{Subverted}} and PlayedForLaughs in the episode "Hot to the Touch" of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. The chaotic Flame Princess decides to take over the Goblin Kingdom and turn it into an extension of the Flame Kingdom for which she needs to set everything and everyone on fire. As Finn and Jake have spent the better part of the episode following her because Finn is infatuated with her and wants to approach her, they have to drop their attempts and go rescue the goblins. Only for most of the rescuing happening off-screen and by Jake because Finn is too occupied calming down Flame Princess, which extinguishes the fires in the process. Jake even messes Finn up by telling him all of the goblins died while he wasn't watching. In reality, they are fine if a little scorched.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': Caitlyn, a Piltover enforcer, is punished with the graveyard shift of the Day of Progress for messing around with an investigation she wasn't assigned to. While her fellow enforcers mock her for being so uptight and coming from a very wealthy family, she spots the uprising blazes of an explosion and the subsequent fires. She and the other enforcers go to investigate and are lured to the core of the disaster by the cries for help of a little girl. It turns out, [[spoiler: Jinx, the perpetrator, of the explosion prerecorded the message and attached it to one of her monkey bombs, killing six enforcers and severely injuring Caitlyn with its blast. The whole ordeal was used by Jinx as a diversion so she could steal the very valuable hexgem]].

* The fifth season of ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' opens with one of this. An oil tank explodes provoking an oil spill near Gardenia's (the protagonist's hometown) shores and it's up to the eponymous sextet of fairies to use their magic to restore the tank and rescue the oil platform workers. The Winx also damage control by magically cleansing most of the spilled oil and turning the oil platform into a more Eco-friendly facility (it now works with renewable energies). This incident has double importance -- first, because it marks the soft reboot of the series (now aiming at younger audiences) and secondly because it sets the plot in motion. The ArcVillain, a submarine creature, gets accidentally polluted by the remaining oil, mutates into a monster, and gains new magical powers as a result.

* The protagonists of ''Film/TheHurricaneHeist'' {{exploit}} this trope as a cover of their robbery. To clarify, the disaster in question is a category five hurricane first approaching then devastating the town they live in.

* {{Subverted}} and PlayedForLaughs in the episode "Hot to the Touch" of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. Chaotic Flame Princess decides to take over the Goblin Kingdom and turn it into an extension of the Flame Kingdom for which she needs to set everything and everyone on fire. As Finn and Jake have spent the better part of the episode following her because Finn is infatuated with her and wants to approach her, they have to drop their attempts and go rescue the goblins. Only for most of the rescuing happening off-screen and by Jake because Finn was too occupied calming down Flame Princess, which extinguished the flames in the process. Jake even messes Finn up by telling him all of the goblins died while he wasn't watching. In reality, they were fine if a little scorched.

This is any episode of a show that focuses around a big disaster. Frequently used as a season opener (or finale), this will usually involve the creation of a spectacular crash scene and may well get covered in ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' or another such publication.

Common in the MedicalDrama and CrimeAndPunishmentSeries. Compare BigStormEpisode and DisasterMovie. For plots that could be described as disastrous, see DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Films]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]

** Season 18 opened with a train derailment two-parter, that resulted in the death of one of the nurses who was on the crashed train.

* ''Series/CrossingJordan'' had a subway derailment and an office building bombing that both created mass-casualties.

** Season 15x07 & 08: A major windstorm hits Seattle, flooding the hospital with impalements. Oh, and the hospital looses power ''for the third time'', resulting in the show's ''second'' elevator surgery.

* ''Series/LawAndOrder'' over its run has featured a ferry boat crash, an arson at a packed nightclub, a car-bombing and an actual train wreck.
* ''Series/LondonsBurning'' generally ended each SeasonFinale with one of these. Memorable examples include a fairground ride collapse, a fire in a builder's yard with about a hundred gas cylinders and a fire engine plunging down an embankment.

** Train crashes were also the subject of an earlier episode, "Sabotage", though none of those incidents were of the same scale. [[spoiler:The one that the FBI ultimately foiled, however, quite possibly would have been a massive disaster if the saboteur had been able to carry out his plan.]]
* The premiere of ''Peter Benchley's Amazon'' included a plane crashing in a jungle with the main characters - some of the crash is seen from different passenger perspectives throughout the first three episodes. Interestingly, this also predate ''Series/{{Lost}}'''s plane-crash scenario by two years.
* ''Series/PressGang'': In "The Rest of My Life", there is a huge explosion at a local block of flats which has a busy record shop underneath. Lynda motivates the team into hurrying to report the breaking news, until she notices that Spike is not present. Lying amongst the rubble, Spike talks to a girl called Mary Brien, buried deeper below the debris and badly injured.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "April 9th," acted as the series response to the September 11th [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror terrorist]] [[PostNineElevenTerrorismMovie attacks.]] It tells of Lakewood Elementary catching fire during one day and how all the different people involved are affected by it. The story is spread across the entire episode unlike the usual two 11-minute episodes that most of the rest of the series has. It was also substantially [[DarkerAndEdgier much more serious and somber]] than the series normally is, showing the very real symptoms of PTSD that can occur such as Arthur constantly stressing over his father, who was trapped in the building longer than everyone else (a family-friendly surrogate of the people who died in the 9/11 attacks), Sue Ellen suffering over losing her diary that she'd kept for years (symbolizing the memories that were destroyed when the attacks occurred), Mr. Morris suffering injuries that cause him to retire, and Binky being so traumatized by it that he pulls the fire alarm for no reason as an outlet for his fear.

[[folder:Film--Live Action]]
* The ''Film/FinalDestination'' movies all open with a elaborate 'anatomy of an accident' scene.

* The fifth season of ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' opens with one of this. An oil tank explodes provoking an oil spill near Gardenia's (the protagonist's hometown) shores and it's up to the eponymous sextet of fairies to use their magic to restore the tank and rescue the oil platform workers. The Winx also damage control by magically cleansing most of the spilled oil and turning the oil platform into a more Eco-friendly facility (it now works with renewable energies). This incident has double importance -- first, because it marked the soft reboot of the series (now aiming at younger audiences) and secondly because it set the plot in motion. The ArcVillain, a submarine creature, got accidentally polluted by the remaining oil and gained new magical powers as a result.

* The ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'' episode "In Concert" centered around the then-recent [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who_concert_disaster The Who concert disaster of 1979]]. While the actual events of the crush aren't shown, most of the cast had attended the concert and witnessed the event,[[note]]Due to the nature of the disaster, some of them didn't even realize what had happened until afterwards[[/note]] with the latter half of the episode devoted to them trying to process what happened. The episode served as [[VerySpecialEpisode an indictment of festival seating, which was considered to be a contributing factor to the disaster]].

* The ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'' episode "In Concert" centered around the real-life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who_concert_disaster The Who concert disaster of 1979]]. While the actual events of the crush aren't shown, most of the cast had attended the concert and witnessed the event,[[note]]Due to the nature of the disaster, some of them didn't even realize what had happened until afterwards[[/note]] with the latter half of the episode devoted to them trying to process what happened. The episode served as [[VerySpecialEpisode an indictment of festival seating, which was considered to be a contributing factor to the disaster]].

* The ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'' episode "In Concert" centered around the real-life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who_concert_disaster The Who concert disaster of 1979]]. While the actual events of the crush aren't shown, most of the cast had attended the concert and witnessed the event, with the latter half of the episode devoted to them trying to process what happened. The episode served as [[VerySpecialEpisode an indictment of festival seating, which was considered to be a contributing factor to the disaster]].