History Main / DefconFive

* ''UltimateAvengers'': The Defcon is raised to 4 when aliens are spotted, and then "raised" again to 5 once the aliens actually begin to attack military installations.

* In ''{{Series/Community}}'':

* The Music/CheapTrick song Man-U-Lip-U-Lator includes the line "full alert, DEFCON 4."

* DEFCON 2: War is imminent. Armed Forces ready to deploy and engage in less than 6 hours - this is the highest level ever reached in history. Code Name: FAST PACE

* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by ''Series/ThirtyRock'':

* DEFCON 1: Nuclear war is imminent. Code Name: COCKED PISTOL

It should be pointed out that alert levels mean different things to different forces. An armoured division in the US is going to take several weeks at best to move and engage an enemy (unless the Russians are hitting Long Island right now), even at DEFCON 1. On the other hand, Nuclear Missile forces; designed to launch at a moments notice are essentially at DEFCON 1 at all times; even if the current status is DEFCON 5.

* Averted in ''Film/{{Salt}}'', [[spoiler: In the White House's bunker, one of the President's Cabinet correctly changes the Defcon level from '4' to '2'.]]

* Averted in ''WebOriginal/ZhirinovskysRussianEmpire'': DEFCON 1 is used to indicate [[spoiler: America is ready to attack the UIS if they try to invade Kosovo]].

* Averted in the Cold War campaign on ''RiseOfNations'', which has a global threat meter that starts at DEFCON 5 and is represented by a meter with one single green light. Any reckless act of aggression will decrease the DEFCON level, represented by your on-screen meter displaying yellow and red lights. When the DEFCON level hits 1, both blocs will be able to launch all the nukes they have, possibly resulting in nobody winning if both sides have enough to wipe out each other.
* Averted in ''{{Tropico}} 4'', where a mission requires you to keep tabs on the DEFCON number. This number goes down if you fail a quest or get hit by ill-intentioned foreign parties, but you can increase it by organizing a Pan-Caribbean Summit among other things. You want to keep the DEFCON level as high as possible, and if you hit DEFCON 1, the world goes to war and you fail the scenario.

* A conservative radio show host has threatened to go to [[UpToEleven DEFCON 6]] if California's ban on same-sex marriage is overturned, which [[CriticalResearchFailure if taken at face value]] means he intends to just give up.

* Done correctly in the track [[http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1975 Defcon Zero]] by [=ParagonX9=] of {{Newgrounds}}.

* Completely and utterly averted in ''Film/WarGames''. JOSHUA causes the US to go to DEFCON 1, which is correctly stated to be a state of nuclear readiness, and when JOSHUA is stopped and the day is saved, it is moved to DEFCON 5.

* Averted in ''Film/ThirteenDays'', where a general specifically mentions that the US is not at war until DEFCON 1. He also gets angry with a general for going to DEFCON 2 in spite of his orders to go DEFCON 3, as the US now looks more aggressive than he wanted.

* Averted in the Cold War campaign on ''RiseOfNations'', which has a global threat meter that starts at DEFCON 5 and is represented by a meter with one single green light. Any reckless act of aggression will decrease the DEFCON level, represented by your on-screen meter displaying yellow and red lights. When the DEFCON level hits 1, both blocs launch all the nukes and everybody loses.

* The episode titles in ''Aozora Shoujotai'' start with DEFCON I, counting up to DEFCON V… and beyond, with the final episode named DEFCON VI.

* Used mostly correctly in one episode of ''Series/{{Supergirl}}'': Defcon 5 was used at the beginning and was elevated to Defcon 2 after a nuclear missile was launched at National City. Given that there was an actual inbound missile that was minutes from impact, the Defcon level probably should have been set to 1 rather than 2, but it was still using the correct order of escalation.

* ''[=CounterSpy=]'' uses the scale correctly as the overarching threat in the game. Both sides start at Defcon 3, and they go up as you get detected by cameras, allow the guards to radio in after spotting you, or die. If a Defcon is raised again when it's at 1, the game turns into a TimedMission where the player has to get to the end immediately and shut down the launching nukes. Fail to do this? GameOver!

For the Record

* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2: Yuri's Revenge'' uses it correctly in the intro cinematic, with a background voice stating "we are now at Defcon 2".

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'', it changes levels correctly at various points within the campaign until the final mission in which it is lowered to Defcon 1. It is also used in the zombies level "Five" to unlock the Pack-A-Punch machine.

* Averted in ''WebOriginal/ZhirinovskysRussianEmpire'': DEFCON 1 is used to indicate [[spoiler: the America is ready to attack the UIS if they try to invade Kosovo]].

* Santa's Workshop gets it right in ''WesternAnimation/MickeysTwiceUponAChristmas'', of all places. The code for catastrophe is "Elf-Con 1"

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtheadDoAmerica'' gets it right. When Beavis winds up in the Oval Office and picks up the Red Phone - as Cornholio - he accidentally convinces the Pentagon to go to DEFCON 4, from DEFCON 5.

* DEFCON 4: Increased intelligence watch and strengthened security measures. Code Name: [[DoubleTake DOUBLE TAKE]][[note]]seems that someone in the military had an odd sense of humor[[/note]]

* In VideoGame/ActOfWar, and it's SpiritualSuccessor VideoGame/ActOfAggression, The US Tech tree is represented by the DEFCON system. At DEFCON 3 (the starting level) they're limited to basic infantry and light armor units; DEFCON 2 they break out the heavy armor (including the mighty Abrams tank) and attack aircraft; at DEFCON 1, the special forces come to the front lines and Tactical Nuclear weapons are authorized for use.

* In VideoGame/ActOfWar, and it's SpiritualSuccessor VideoGame/ActOfAggression, The US Tech tree is represented by the DEFCON system. At DEFCON 3 (the starting level) they're limited to basic infantry and light armor units; DEFCON 2 they break out the heavy armor (including the mighty Abrams tank) and attack aircraft; at DEFCON 1, their special forces come to the front lines and allows the use of Tactical Nuclear weapons.

* In VideoGame/ActOfWar, and it's SpiritualSuccessor VideoGame/ActOfAggression, The US Tech tree is represented by the DEFCON system. At DEFCON 3 (the starting level) they're limited to basic infantry and light armor units; DEFCON 2 the break out the heavy armor (including the mighty Abrams tank) and attack aircraft; DEFCON 1 allows for the use of tactical Nuclear weapons.

* Done correctly in ''VideoGame:MetalGearSolid:PeaceWalker''. The Americans go into Defcon 3 when NORAD detects unidentified targets, and move onto Defcon 2 when they're confirmed to be multiple Soviet [=ICBMs=] targeting the west coast, and the Americans prepare their own missiles in response.